One of the most enjoyable things that came out of Doctor Who's 50th Anniversary year was the short feature written and directed by the 5th Doctor himself, Peter Davison. Titled "The Five(ish) Doctors Reboot", it concerns the efforts of the five surviving actors from the Doctor Who's classic era to somehow be part of Steve Moffat's plans for the 50th Anniversary special. Well, five...ish. (Naturally, Tom Baker gets caught in a temporal distortion...again.) So Peter Davison, Colin Baker (who is really, really desperate to get in this thing) and Sylvester McCoy (who reminds us at every opportunity that he is busy working with director PETER JACKSON on the MAJOR MOTION PICTURE adaption of THE HOBBIT) join forces to connive a way to get on the set and be a part of the special.
Along the way they meet up with 8th Doctor Paul McGann who wants in on whatever they're planning; McGann later disappears "mysteriously". (This is when I suppose he goes away to shoot "Night of the Doctor" so who needs those other guys.)
Through the course of the special, we see a lot of people from the show's classic era and from the time of the relaunch. Peter Davison enlists his daughter Georgia who in turns appeals to her husband to help her dad; her husband, of course, is 10th Doctor David Tennant. Peter, Colin and Sylvester hitch a ride to Cardiff with John Barrowman. The featurette is jam packed with clever cameos from former companions, production staff and more.
It is a hilarious special helped in no small part by the willingness of Peter, Colin and Sylvester to appear utterly foolish but they are not fools. Davison's story is filled to the brim with laughs but it is also a story that is very sweet. It is a bit of a lark with a surprisingly touching and human core.
The reason I'm writing about the "The Five(ish) Doctors Reboot" now is the recent announcement that it was coming to DVD. Which is great but...
Why wasn't this packaged with the 50th Anniversary special in the first place? As much as I enjoyed "Day of the Doctor", the DVD release was distressingly short on at least two special features: Peter Davison's short film and the clever cinema intro with Dan Starkey as Sontaran Strax followed by Matt Smith and David Tennant (a version of which, for now, can be found on You Tube). As it stands, I believe I heard Davison's film will be part of some larger Matt Smith era box set.
Sigh. The BBC really likes our money, don't they?
Davison's feature itself is not on You Tube but here's a link to a compilation of funny moments from the special.
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OK, that is that for this week's Doctor Who Weekend. Next week, a look back to the classic era and a 3rd Doctor adventure, The Claws of Axos.
Until then, be good to one another.
Dave-El
I'm So Glad My Suffering Amuses You
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