Doctor Who: The 50th Anniversary Miracle

[@idlescree]

Thank you everyone who attended the premiere! It was such a pleasure to have you all join us! We premiere every video live and we're in the chat for 30 minutes before the video begins, so if you'd like to have a chat or ask us a question be sure to turn up early~

[@Featherus_]

I remember being so hyped for this episode back in 2013 and it definitely didn’t disappoint. This was a wonderful look back on the episode. Fantastic job! I’d love to see more Doctor Who here.

[@idlescree]

Thank you so much! I have a lot more to say about the show, and I'm sure I'll have a lot to talk about when the 60th drops too :D -The Bird

[@merlinriches]

I love seeing a Dr who video come from this channel! Dr who is my favourite show of all time and I love the 50th anniversary special. I was 8 when it came out

[@idlescree]

Glad you enjoyed it, I loved making it!! Share it around with your Doctor Who friends and I'll keep covering the show :D -The Bird

[@Turai12]

I was in my mid 20. I feel oh so old now.

[@idlescree]

This must be how fans of "The Three Doctors" felt when "The Five Doctors" came out. -The Bird

[@adammyers7383]

Definitely would love to see more Doctor Who from you!!

[@idlescree]

Would love to make more for you!! -The Bird

[@spikystringsnuffle]

I would LOVE to see more doctor who content,this was AMAZING,bird you did so great on this video! Also I remeber my brother loved dw so much he kept on saying allons-y and geronimo to the point where we had to ban him from saying it,he said them that much.

[@idlescree]

Thank you so much! I'd love to make more Doctor Who content, especially with the 60th just days away D: -The Bird

[@arzadu1138]

An absolute BANGER of a video, bird you did so fantastic on this. Please please please more!!

[@idlescree]

Thank you so much for attending, it was an absolute pleasure :D

[@bushb3568]

I need more doctor who deep dives thatvare this good and nuanced. Please keep going

[@idlescree]

Thank you so much, that means a lot to all of us! Stay tuned, you're going to like our next video (spoilers!) :D -The Bird

[@SwogglesFroggles]

I never got into Doctor Who outside of David Tennant, and I happened to catch bits and pieces of this during a little party when it first aired. People were hyped but I didn't really have all the context for it. Thank you for letting me go on the journey with you, this was so rad.

[@idlescree]

That truly means so much to me to hear that. This was such an important moment for the show, for television, and for me. I'm very glad you enjoyed experiencing it 10 years later through this video! -The Bird

[@misterpootis123]

babe wake up new idle scree video essay just dropped

[@idlescree]

Wake the people up, let them know!! :D

[@Ray-xv9dn]

I remember watching The Doctor growing up and as you do ending up forgetting ALOT of Doctor Who before I rewatched it, but this special I never forgot. I mean how could you!?!

[@idlescree]

It's genuinely an extraordinary one-of-a-kind celebration. Especially after the 60th Anniversary concluding, I can confidently say there is no other episode quite as big as this! -The Bird

[@sephnitomsol2294]

You did a wonderful job!!!

[@idlescree]

Thank you so much!!! -The Bird

[@dylanehooverlibrarian7026]

While I didn't quite love this episode (I felt it was a bit of a fanservice crossover...I don't like too much valorizing of Past Achievements which the current writers didn't engage in), but I ADORED the idea of the sentient doomsday device with a conscience. That was the Doctor Who high concept at it's best. A perfect weapon of annihilation which will argue with you about the ethics of using it is a perfect high concept. That worked so well for me, and made me glad to see it resolve itself peaceably. THAT, to me, is Doctor Who

[@idlescree]

Yeah, "The Moment" has some of the coolest lore for being something meaningless that RTD randomly wrote into a single line for 10's last episode. The idea that it bargains with you to see what great cost you'll suffer to use it is fascinating. Makes you wonder if the Ancient Gallifreyans ever used it before. Personally I think the 50th deserved to be a little congratulatory because that's half a century of storytelling, but I am glad the limited runtime prevented it from being a total "remember this?" episode. Most of the references are a single line or a prop in the background of an otherwise original story. 13's last episode, I felt, suffered from this a bit more. I loved seeing the old actors but I'm not huge on corny lines like "The Master's Dalek Plan" being read slowly and directly down camera but that's just me >_> -The Bird

[@Jell000]

It’s been a while since I watched doctor who (I had some issues with the last few seasons) but u reminded me of what I originally loved from the series :) Great work, keep it up

[@idlescree]

Thank you so much! There's a lot that can be said about the last few seasons, but for now I am enjoying a look back at what was while we wait for the 60th Anniversary to show us what will be! -The Bird

[@VixeyFrost]

So happy to see Doctor Who content in 2023. This show was everything to me in middle school and early high school, and I look back on it so fondly. Amazing work on this analysis!

[@idlescree]

Thank you, the Bird does such a thorough job. We are so glad you enjoyed it! -- The Bat

[@Turai12]

Yay a bird video I can watch because I know what he's talking about xD Really enjoyable watch.

[@idlescree]

That means a lot, thank you! -The Bird

[@WinglessMoonstone]

I feel bad for waiting so long to watch this! This is really well made! I'm only very vaguely familiar with Doctor Who lore, as I was never a super fan like a lot of people, but I still really love hearing everyone's devotion to the franchise and learning why people love it. You did a great job explaining why you liked this episode and what it means for the series as a whole. I wish you the best, and have a great day! :)

[@idlescree]

The Bird is on vacation atm so I will answer on his behalf--thank you so much for taking a look at it! The Bird is sincerely passionate and very thorough in his approach, I'm glad you had a good time watching and we'll pass on your wishes to the Bird when he returns :D -The Bat

[@DanS044]

I’m allowed to watch this video now since I saw the special. It felt like a gift to be able to watch all of the 50th anniversary pieces in one day not over the span of agonising months. You (Bird) said you could talk about Doctor Who forever and I’d love nothing more than that.

[@idlescree]

Thank you so much for watching and taking the time to comment, it means a lot to me especially on these videos that don't get as much exposure! How did you feel about the 50th? Super curious on the perspective of someone seeing it for the first time ten years later :o Also don't worry, there's more Doctor Who content on the way~ -The Bird

[@DanS044]

I started watching from Eccleston about 3 months ago just watching them in order. I think my keen nerd eyes and ears picked up on most of the fan service and references although that’s impossible since I wouldn’t get anything from the original series except the colourful scarf. I loved the special as an excellent piece of television and story. It was just so INCREDIBLE and funny and emotionally damaging. Saving Gallifrey wasn’t a problem for me, nor was just seeing it, which it could have been. If It’s portrayal wasn’t so spectacular it might’ve ruined the mythical aspect of the events that occurred during The Time War which haunted the protagonist for so long. 12 immediately hit us in his 1st or 2nd episode with “Am I a good man?” So all isn’t just suddenly ‘well’. I was pretty much spoiler free too which I suppose is important. Doctor Who isn’t big enough like some stories or media where the twists and events are so widely known about it’s literally feasibly impossible for someone to experience them blind.

[@idlescree]

That's actually quite impressive to experience it spoiler-free nearly a decade later, I'm happy for you! Glad to hear that this special still resonates to new audiences all this time later :D It's still massively important to me personally. -The Bird

[@Crawver]

One thing to add. While I won't explain much about it, I have experienced intense trauma for something that turned out not to be true as well. And while I learned the truth a literal decade ago, the pain you felt for all the time you believed it to be true doesn't go away. You can handle it better, and the grief and guilt you feel from it certainly lessens. But it isn't gone. So the idea that galifrey not burning actually would undermine the behaviour of the doctor before, or how the doctor behaved afterwards isn't the case. He would and will always feel some pain, for something he actually didn't do, given just how much that belief haunted him. Just my reading.

[@idlescree]

Absolutely 100%. As I said, it's the truth and consequences as they know it and that's what matters. Thank you for sharing that with us. -The Bird

[@ashbridgeindustries380]

Just to weigh in on the War Doctor not remembering any of this, it's been implied before (and since) that when crossing your own timeline, only the most recent version of yourself can retain the memories. A similar thing happens in Twice Upon a Time, where the First Doctor goes on to forget the entire adventure, and just before that in World Enough And Time, Missy is unable to remember her former self having been there already. It was never outright stated in the Classic series, but it adds up when you consider how surprised the Doctor usually is when meeting their past selves.

[@tomtombinks1830]

Paul Mcgan. I loved this thanks!

[@idlescree]

Thank you so much!! YT really buried this one so it means a lot to me every time we get a new view and especially a new comment! More Doctor Who stuff coming soon to the channel~! -The Bird

[@ventusthekey5187]

I can't wait to hear yalls thoughts about the 60th. I thought it was spectacular. Dr Who always knocks it out of the park with their special episodes.

[@idlescree]

The Bat and I have been exchanging thoughts on it for a while now, I think we can expect a video on the 60th specials some time in the future~ Thanks so much for watching! -The Bird

[@lknight8854]

that first 50th trailer really was (and hell still is) something special... shame about the wig tho lol

[@idlescree]

We need a George Lucas-style re-release where they digitally fix his hair for that final shot

[@talesofnelda]

Oh my god I'm Australian so I'm so used to hearing Aussie voices that I didn't even *register* that that was the accent I was hearing until the bird mentioned theatre culture in Australia

[@idlescree]

I'm the only Australian Screeture, so I genuinely worry about the accent and lingo getting in the way of conveying my points to an international audience :x Thank you so much for watching and commenting! Our DW content doesn't get as much attention so it really means a lot to us all to see people getting into it! -The Bird

[@Camstone0646]

Sorry for the late comment, but this is exceptional. Really want to watch the series

[@idlescree]

Thank you so much, that means a lot to me! If you haven't watched the series before, there are a few jumping on points. Series 1 (2005) is the most ubiquitous jumping on point, though there's some charming goofiness in that early series as the show found its feet. Still, it contains some dynamite unmissable episodes! The upcoming series releasing after the upcoming anniversary will also be a jumping on point (literally resetting the season counter to "1" again for the second time in DW history), though it's hard to say how the viewing experience will be starting from there as we've not yet seen it ourselves :P My recommendation is, if you're willing to stick through a couple of weird episodes, start with Series 1 (2005) and once you've got a feel for the show it can be a good idea to look up some massively popular Classic stories to enjoy too :) Sorry for the word vomit and also sorry that I just spoiled the resolution to eight years of a show you haven't watched yet but I hope you enjoy the journey nevertheless! -The Bird

[@Camstone0646]

@@idlescree thanks man, I didn’t actually know that the new series would be a reboot of sorts, so that’s interesting!

[@idlescree]

@@Camstone0646 Doctor Who's length and varying styles has meant that its numbering has reset twice now despite it being one shared continuity. From the first ever black and white 1963 episode of Doctor Who all the way to the modern show is canon to the upcoming new "Season 1". It's the softest "soft reboot" imaginable. Technically speaking, the 2005 "Series 1" I recommend you starting with is the 27th season of the show. That would make the 2024 "Season 1" the 40th season! @0@ -The Bird

[@dadman3992]

It's implied but not outright stated (Moffat likes doing that) that the Doctor might in fact be changing his own past by saving Gallifrey. Later episodes support this interpretation: he's ready to push the button right up until he sees how aghast Clara is. But how can Clara be there? She died in 2013, uploaded by a Spoonhead to feed the Great Intelligence... an event someone (later revealed to be the Master) changed by giving her the Doctor's phone number, ensuring he was there to save her. So there's a version of events where the Master didn't do that, and with nobody else there to talk him out of it (fudging out Clara's other contributions to the plot...) the Doctor did end up destroying Gallifrey. Long story short, I think a good answer to "doesn't this invalidate the Doctor's previous grief over Gallifrey, if he'd actually saved it and just forgot?" is, "he hadn't saved it yet"

[@idlescree]

! I used to enjoy the linear interpretation of "he did it the first time around, and stopped himself the second time" when it first came out. What brought me around was mostly realising that this is supposed to be the War Doctor's story. The Moment says "they THINK their future is real" referring to our Doctors and the eight years of NuWho we understood to be real at the time, which on re-watch I felt cemented the order of events. Clara, and the Nu Doctors, are projections of a would-be future from the Timelord's most powerful and mystic piece of technology ever. So the question is: was the War Doctor **always** given this projection? It seems so, at least to my eyes. How else would NuWho be canon if the choice which canonises that path (the saving of Gallifrey) didn't happen the first time around? The fact that he can still choose in the end, according to the Moment, means he has the ability to un-write the Zygons in England and the memory wipe in the Black Archives. He can un-write his involvement in Utopia leading to The Master reawakening, he can un-write Clara becoming an echo scattered on his own timeline. Everything is on the line with that decision. But he makes the ONE decision that leads down the path we'd been walking for eight years now, and I think that implies that this is always what has happened. That's just my reading though ~ I like imagining that knock-on consequences of "what if the Clara who lived ALSO died?" especially since Oswin and Snowmen Clara died. For all we know we could have lost out on colossal canon-changing stories for losing those incarnations. Sorry for the ramble, and thanks for watching! It means a lot to me that people are still finding this. -The Bird

[@thesmilyguyguy9799]

(:D Not A Big Doctor Who Fan But I Like This

[@idlescree]

Very glad to hear it, thank you :D -The Bird

[@thesmilyguyguy9799]

@@idlescree Thakk Skal Du Ha (Thank You In Norwegian)

[@pencilnib7106]

DOCTOR WHO VIDEO DOCTOR WHO VIDEO

[@idlescree]

DOCTOR WHO FAN DOCTOR WHO FAN. Thank you so much for watching, I hope you enjoyed! This project meant a lot to me. New Doctor Who video on the horizon ;) -The Bird

[@yospidey0078]

Paul McGann should have been the War Doctor. But of course, John Hurt was amazing in the role regardless.

[@idlescree]

A cut joke from this video was that the difference is basically that Paul's War Doctor would have been the Nine Inch Nails original version of "Hurt" compared to Hurt's Doctor being Johnny Cash's cover of the same song. But still, one of the great crimes of our time will always be that Paul McGann was almost entirely relegated to audio-only stories. -The Bird