"The Day of the Doctor" is the ideal 50th anniversary special: it simultaneously celebrates the past of the series, while opening new roads for the future. Writer Steven Moffat and director Nick Hurran cover all the bases: this episode is funny ("We're confusing the polarity!"), dark, brain-twisting, and epic. The concept of the "paintings" which are really three-dimensional snapshots of reality frozen in time in which it possible to enter (and exit) is brilliant. The team of the three Doctors is extremely entertaining, while Billie Piper, returning as The Moment (a weapon so powerful it has a conscience of its own), gives what is probably her finest performance since the season 2 finale, "Doomsday". Although the episode is fairly accessible to casual fans, series devotees will undeniably get more out of it - call it a reward for their devotion. ***1/2 out of 4.

Before watching this, think back to the end of series 7: "Introducing John Hurt As The Doctor" reads the caption. The War Doctor was by far the greatest character reveal in TV history. The Eleventh Doctor has kept him hidden for fighting in the time war and it turns out that The War Doctor fits in between Eight and Nine as an unnumbered incarnation of our favourite time-traveller. He's the main character this time round.This special is really all about him. This is a character study of the Not-Last Timelord exploring how the actions of The War Doctor have had knock-on effects on his successors Ten and Eleven. Tennant and Smith make a great pair as their more excitable versions of the character bounce off each other, Clara, UNIT, Queen Elizabeth I, Zygons and of course The War Doctor. Jenna Coleman is also fantastic, proving herself as a serious actress rather than just eye-candy (but face it, she's excellent at that too), with Jemma Redgrave making a nice return as Kate Stewart: It's easy to believe she is truly the Brigadier's daughter. Bille Piper is back too which I wasn't especially pleased to hear (Rose Tyler is an annoying spoilt brat) but she is terrific as The Moment, though criminally underused here. She always had excellent chemistry with Tennant but the two don't interact here even once! Still, that's only a minor issue and one we'll permit this once since she works really well with Hurt instead.Wonderful though the cast all are, it comes as no surprise that the most experienced star steals every scene he's in. John Hurt is perfectly cast in this as the man torn by the ultimate dilemma. He's not a world famous actor for nothing and they don't just give anyone a CBE! He has excellent ability as an actor and uses his skill to its full potential at every opportunity.This is filled with several references to classic Who as well. Every Doctor gets a look-in during the final moments of the Time War (via archive footage) and images of most companions are seen in the Black Archive. Quotes are used to great effect (We're both reversing the polarity!) and we finally get to see some of the implied relationship between Doctor Ten and Liz One when two of his other selves attend his wedding: For those keeping count this is the second, chronologically, of his four known weddings (Susan's Grandmother, Marilyn Monroe and River Song being the others).There's not a great deal I can say without spoiling the episode due to the large number of plot twists this is filled with. In short, the biggest highlights have to be the two cameo appearances of some new Doctors. Twelve briefly gets seen but more exciting is the final scene: Tom Baker as The Curator. He's still as great at Dr Who as he ever was and this episode is made all the more special because he's in it. He'll probably never be in Dr Who again (except via archive footage perhaps) but it's exciting to see him return.This is THE way to celebrate TV milestones. A TV Event like this will not be forgotten for a long time. Unlike the awful 30th & 40th anniversary specials, this is truly wonderful. 10/10

Doctor Who: The Day of the Doctor is truly considered to be a major 50th Anniversary failure. Why is this movie so STUPID and terrible and how it's bad? Here's why. First off, I'm kind of like the other half of George Lucas a little bit. I had the same problems George Lucas had with Star Wars. I tried to get Steven Moffat, the executive producer to get copyrighted characters from other franchises (such as Star Wars, Lord of the Rings, Harry Potter, Power Rangers and other franchises). He replied to me in the summer of 2012 and he said he would do his best. I found a page for Doctor Who's 50th Anniversary Special on Wikipedia and clicked on the page thinking that Steven Moffat got characters from other franchises to guest star. But Steven Moffat had new ideas for the special and a new title for it: "The Day of the Doctor". And not only that, Steven Moffat couldn't get characters from other franchises to guest star in Doctor Who because of licensing issues. The BBC used their original ideas for the special instead. They threw my ideas in the trash and shut them out into the cold city dump forever. It's like there telling me the word "NO, I'm sorry but it's just not practical". We'll SCREW THAT! I give Doctor Who: The Day of the Doctor zero stars for it because if Steven Moffat would've got my ideas into the special, my disappointment of the special wouldn't never have happened because if those copyrighted characters guest appeared in the special, then I would've been happy that characters from Star Wars, Lord of the Rings, Harry Potter, Power Rangers and other franchises are in it and things would've been a lot different for me and I wouldn't have to be so disappointed in Doctor Who: The Day of the Doctor. But it didn't happen. But I wasn't always disappointed in the special. I was excited for it at the time but when I found out that none of the copyrighted characters made it in, that's when it all changed my excitement into huge disappointment.

After 50 years of highs and lows Doctor Who has survived to give hope that even a man with nothing to loose can help as many people as he can. This anniversary episode serves as a brilliant love letter to the show that has changed so many lives. Almost every object that can be seen throughout the special can be tracked back to a previous episode. The acting is perfect and fans who were lucky enough to be at the right spot at the right time were able to be a part of their favorite show. I could not think of a more perfect way to celebrate 50 years of the greatest show to ever grace our television sets. David Tennant is remarkable, one can not help but smile when he is on screen. All 12 actors to have officially portrayed The Doctor are given screen time, even Peter Capaldi who will take on the role Christmas Day 2013 was given a line and screen time.