Sorry I meant generous with regards to what we are realistically likely to be getting with regards the running time. 90 minutes is probably longer than we will get.

I agree it should be at least feature length but I dont see this as Moffats fault. He has been allocated a budget and a time slot. He doesn't have free reign to do whatever he wants.

For a 50th year anniversay special that would be very disappointing.
50 years. That's like Doctor Who's Golden Jubilee.

If it's just mainly characters since 2005 then it may as well be called its 8th year anniversary.

Simply being presented as its 50 Years Anniversary Special suggests that its on the cards.

But surely you remember the Queen's Jubilee last year? You know the one, it's where the nation celebrated the Queen's reign - from 2005-2012

I'm glad they've finally confirmed it. I was getting tired of (some) people basically implying that Davison, McCoy and co were lying every time they issued a denial.

It wouldn't surprise in the least if there are people saying they are going to boycott the special because it's not going to feature all the surviving Doctors. Me I'm delighted that the special is only going to feature just Matt and David because IMO if it featured all the surviving Doctors it would of ended up a mess.

I'm very dissapointed in this, and this in the future will make Moffat a very unliked person in some fans eyes.

While people may not have wanted The Classic Doctors to come back (I'm astonished as to why that's the case), This would be their last opportunity to play the role in front of a large audience. This in turn, will introduce new audiences (mainly DW fangirls who crush over DT & MS) to the old DW, whether they like it or not. It gives them the chance to experience past talent who made The Doctor their own, as well as influenced today's doctors in their roles now.

It sounds pathetic to be angry, but what the 50th anniversary is to many fans is the celebration of the entire show and how its contributed to the growth of television. To sideline one aspect of it, in favour of another is only going to fuel anger in many fans, and put in the BBC in a bad light. Whether the creative decision was Moffat's, Cohen's or someone higher.

Maybe Michael Grade ?

I'd be fine if this is true - but I don't buy it, I still think all 11 (+ 12) will be featuring in some capacity. This is just a logical extrapolation of their "outright lie" policy they seem to be enacting with regards to 50th anniversary details in all instances they can (see billie pipers denial, neve mcintosh's denial last year about returning only to be spotted the next day filming). They only announced david's return because we were going to find out anyway due to outdoors filming.

How were the classic Doctors going to appear exactly? Disinter Hartnell, Troughton and Pertwee, while the others squeeze into their old costumes and drag their arthritic old limbs across the screen to trot out their old schtick? Well, no thank-you. I'd rather remember them as they were in their brilliant prime.

This news may disappoint some, but artistically it is mature and utterly correct. Coronation Street didn't feel the need to dredge up Bet Lynch or Hilda Ogden for their 50th. Skyfall managed to celebrate 50 years of James Bond with just a few smart nods to the past - most notably reintroducing a couple of old characters but in radically different guises - but didn't bring back any old fan favourites like Jaws or Oddjob. Hell, it even killed off one classic character.

I was dreading the prospect of a fanw*nk celebration of Who. Today, I feel much happier.

Very disappointing. If Eccleston was an option, why not McGann etc? Of course they didn't mention classic series companions, but being a realist I'm sure that ain't going to happen either.

To be honest I would rather we had nobody back than just Billie and David. That hardly seems fair, and more a celebration of the revived series then the last fifty (especially with the original plan to bring Chris back as well).

I didn't want an eleven Doctor extravaganza, I just want the classic series to have some proper representation that goes beyond some paintings. The Revived Series gets two Doctors and two companions; the Classic Series gets a race that appeared in one serial and the surname Stewart.

You cannot compare the 50th anniversary episode to Skyfall. Skyfall had no previous James Bonds in it, having David Tennant in the 50th anniversary would be the Bond equivalent of having Piers Brosnan with Daniel Craig in a James Bond film.

Also there are ways of featuring classic series doctors without showing the actors age. I liked the idea of having paintings (Harry Potter style) of all the doctors.

Oh, but some fans wanted all the previous Bonds in it, believe me. The suggestion that Sean Connery could play Bond's Dad being one of the sillier suggestions...

I am not saying that wasn't the case. I am saying you cannot compare Skyfall with the 50th anniversary episode because David Tennant is in it.

I don't care what DWM says, I'm just going to wish really really hard!!!

Rule one Moffat lies

No but they did bring back Dennis Tanner (son of Elsie Tanner), a character that hadn't appeared in over four decades and even had a whole story about his family history despite the fact millions of viewers were not even born when he last appeared. If soap fans can cope and not feel alienated with old characters from years gone by returning all the time, why can't the Doctor Who audience for one single episode. I managed perfectly well with School Reunion, despite having never heard of either Sarah Jane or K-9.

They can. They're bringing back the zygons.

filming is nearly finished????
they only started 2 weeks ago didnt they?

lol..

Exactly - As cool as it would be to have classic Doctors and companions back on screen, it could so easily get in the way of telling a good story. I trust that Steven will deliver a great celebratory episode that looks to the future of the show...

The first location filming was on 2nd April, so no.

That's a race not a character. Races are easy to bring back, all you need is a single line about how the Doctor has meet said race before and your done.

My point was soap audiences can seemingly cope with characters and their back stories / baggage being brought back, decades after said characters left, perfectly well. So I don't get all this worry about 'alienating' casual viewers for this one single celebratory episode.

And I hardly think bringing back a race that appeared in one four episode serial thirty eight years ago is equal to the two Doctors and two companions New Who is getting to represent.

The episode should have just been 11 and Clara, not 10, Rose and originally 9 as well. That's just totally biased towards the last eight years, not the last fifty.

There needs to be some sort of middle ground. It doesn't have to be a big reunion party, but it needn't (and shouldn't) neglect the show's past either. By which I mean the entire 50 years it has existed, not just 2005 onwards.

Cramming all eleven Doctors into one 90 minute (at most) special and having a strong story to back it up, is simply not practical. The only way I could see it working is if we were to have something similar to the Star Trek episode Trials and Tribble-ations, in which The Doctor is forced to revisit his past adventures so as to ensure his timeline is kept intact from a "big bad", as already suggested. A traditional multi-Doctor story featuring all of his past selves is a whole different ball game however.

Conversely I would like something a little more significant than a few paintings. Some cameos would be nice, but it doesn't look as though we'll be getting those either.

FWIW though I doubt Moffat would be silly enough to brush the classic era to one side for such an important milestone in the show's history. His version of Who already contains plenty of references to pre-2005 adventures on a regular basis, so I can't quite imagine him turning the 50th into a revived era wankfest.

Lol well 4 weeks then. Plus they don't work on weekends. How can they of done it already?

Not seen the five doctors then? Plus all the aliens/foes in. The managed to squeeze all that in there.