Not enough Classic Who in your 50th Anniversary? Peter Davison to the rescue! Our favorite 5th Doctor wrote and directed this little gem, titled “The Five(ish) Doctors Reboot,” and not only is it a marvelous way to get your fix of the Doctors we missed, but it is jam packed full of inside jokes that Whovians are sure to go crazy for.
The half-hour episode starts by featuring Jon Pertwee’s son, and the references just get more involved from there. Everyone is in on this gorgeous thing, from David Tennant and his wife Georgia (Davison’s daughter, who helped to produce the thing) to John Barrowman to flipping Peter Jackson and Sir Ian McKellen on the set of The Hobbit. There are jokes about Slyvester McCoy’s new “film career,” about John Barrowman’s lovely singing voice, about Steven Moffat ignoring people’s calls, about Paul McGann actually having a real job, and the Fifth Doctor’s regeneration sequence. It’s just a ball of fan-fun collapsing in on itself to create some sort of Whovian black hole.
Tegan shows up to scold her Doctor! (Hi Janet Fielding!) Dalek adventures are had and security guards are avoided! There’s a hilarious shoutout to Tom Baker’s un-appearance in “The Five Doctors”! Most importantly, the short film answers the question of its own existence: when McCoy and Baker ask Davison why they’re even bothering, there is only one answer Davison can come up with—the fans. Which is really why they’re always out there talking to us in the first place.
Also, the final cameo is just the greatest thing.
In fact, despite how much fun the 50th Anniversary special was… this is it. This is the love letter that fans had been holding out for. This was made for us. So thank you to everyone who made this crazy thing we’re still watching 50 years later! We love you all, too.
It is a bit repetive in the begining and too long.
That was fun. It is somehow very Whovian that the Tenth Doctor is married to the Fifth Doctor’s daughter.
The final cameo? Matt Smith and the zygons?
Cute, and a nice antidote for the overwhelming publicity surrounding the 50th. Now I understand the news report 3 weeks ago that 5 was standing in front of BBC HQ holding a protest sign (which sparked bizzarre speculation in the Whoniverse)…
I loved this. Started laughing out loud when Peter Jackson turned up, which caused my son to come see what all the fuss was. He likes Lord of the Rings, but not Doctor Who, and he still watched the rest of it and thought it very funny.
It was so twee that I fast-forwarded a lot of it. I’m more amazed at the people Davison got to participate (McKellan and Jackson on set), etc. than the actual content of the special. It does make me wonder how much of the grumbling by the other Doctors that they weren’t included was a put-on.
After having seen Peter’s short films done for the Gallifrey One convention, I was looking forward to this and it didn’t disappoint.
Those films are available under his account on vimeo.
vimeo.com/peterdavison5
This was an absolute joy!
Oddly, I found this more entertaining than the actual special.
Wait. Were they really in it?!? I’ve seen references to it, but I never thought they were real!
Oh, dear, all the feels! :D
Throughout all of this, I’ve (somewhat unexpectedly) found myself just missing Elisabeth Sladen something fierce. I knew I missed her, but the sudden intensity of it is a bit of a shock for me.
(This little special made me happy. I agree with the the surprise that they got Ian McKellan and others to participate! But I do tend to think of the UK acting world as a fairly clost and cozy one.)