Finally, it has arrived: The Day of the Doctor.


That’s the title of the much-anticipated Doctor Who 50th Anniversary Special, as revealed today.

Perhaps The Day of the Doctors, plural, might have been more appropriate, with the BBC confirming what fans already knew – that Eleventh Doctor Matt Smith will be joined by his predecessor David Tennant along with John Hurt, who was introduced as a previously unknown incarnation of the Time Lord at the end of the last series.

The celebratory episode will be feature-length, not quite running to the 90 minutes fans might have expected after Steven Moffat told us a while back that it would be “film length”, but still constituting a healthy 75 minutes.

It will air 50 years to the day since Doctor Who first hit TV screens, on Saturday 23 November.

The story is also set to feature the return of classic Who monsters the Zygons, as well as Daleks, Cybermen and the Doctor’s allies UNIT.

Danny Cohen, Director of BBC Television, said: “It’s an astonishing achievement for a drama to reach its 50th anniversary. I’d like to thank every person – on both sides of the camera – who has been involved with its creative journey over so many years.”

Moffat added: “50 years has turned Doctor Who from a television show into a cultural landmark. Personally I can’t wait to see what it becomes after a hundred.”


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