‘THE FIVE(ISH) DOCTORS REBOOT’
Please feel free to comment on my review.
Peter Davison’s 50th Anniversary Special – Celebrating 50 Years of ‘Doctor Who’
At long last! I get to review ‘The Five(ish) Doctors Reboot’!
I love ‘The Five(ish) Doctors Reboot’ by Peter Davison! It made the 50th anniversary of ‘Doctor Who’ for me, although you have to watch ‘The Day of the Doctor’ first, as it ties closely to this TV special.
I was in Chichester when I saw ‘The Five(ish) Doctors Reboot’ on the BBC Red Button Channel. It made my dream come true for the 50th anniversary, as I wanted to see all the Doctors and companions, classic and new. I also wanted this special to have its own DVD release and it came true.
‘The Five(ish) Doctor Reboot’ has now been released as a special feature on the ’50th Anniversary Collector’s Edition DVD’ of ‘Doctor Who’ and is on Disc 4 with ‘An Adventure in Space and Time’.
I chatted to Sarah Sutton (who plays Nyssa in ‘Doctor Who’ and appears in this special) about ‘The Five(ish) Doctors Reboot’ at the ‘Time Warp’ convention in Weston-super-Mare, July 2014. Both Sarah and I really like this special and we agreed that it was better than ‘The Day of the Doctor’, as it’s poignant as well as funny.
‘The Five(ish) Doctors Reboot’ starts with Peter Davison watching ‘The Snowmen’ with his sons on Christmas Day, 2012. Believing he won’t take part in the anniversary special, Peter with Colin Baker and Sylvester McCoy set out to ‘invade’ the BBC studios in Cardiff and get an appearance in the episode.
I got a buzz from watching this special, as I was at one of the locations where they were filming ‘The Five(ish) Doctors Reboot’. It was at the ‘Doctor Who’ convention ‘Project Motor Mouth 2’ at the Copthrone Hotel in Slough, August 2013 where they filmed the earlier scenes of Peter Davison attending a convention in March, 2013 (?!).
It was funny to see Peter signing autographs for fans at the convention, knowing that I was one of the attendees on that day. They also filmed the Steven Moffat dream sequence with the companions, as it was at the ‘Project Motor Mouth 2’ convention run by Janet Fielding on that day.
Peter Davison (The Fifth Doctor) is superb as he’s my favourite Doctor. I really liked how Peter gently mocks his own ego in this special. Peter is the one who motives Colin and Sylvester to join him in his campaign and for them to appear in the 50th anniversary special. He says they’re doing it ‘for the fans’.
Colin Baker (The Sixth Doctor) is equally good, being very funny and gets the comedy timing right. I enjoyed Colin’s antagonistic in-joke rivalry between him and Sylvester about ‘The Hobbit’ film trilogy. It was great to see Colin’s family in the anniversary special, as his wife and his four daughters appear in this.
Sylvester McCoy (The Seventh Doctor) is also very funny in this. Sylvester is making ‘The Hobbit’ with Peter Jackson in this special. But he also wants to be involved in the 50th anniversary too. I found it very funny when Sylvester constantly remarks about being in ‘The Hobbit’ and gets Colin annoyed.
Paul McGann (The Eighth Doctor) appears in too, as well as Matt Smith (The Eleventh Doctor) and David Tennant (The Tenth Doctor). Tom Baker isn’t in this special I’m afraid, apart from an inserted clip from ‘Shada’ in ‘The Five Doctors’ with Jon Culshaw as the voice of Tom Baker on Colin’s mobile.
It was lovely to see the ‘Doctor Who’ companions in this special. There’s Jenna Coleman (Clara); Janet Fielding (Tegan); Sarah Sutton (Nyssa); Katy Manning (Jo); Louise Jameson (Leela); Carole Ann Ford (Susan); Deborah Watling (Victoria); Sophie Aldred (Ace); Lalla Ward (Romana II); K-9 (voiced by John Leeson); Anneke Wills (Polly); Lisa Bowerman (Bernice Summerfield from Big Finish); Matthew Waterhouse (Adric) and John Barrowman (Captain Jack). Most of the companions appear in the Steven Moffat dream scene.
Director Peter Jackson and Sir Ian McKellen of ‘The Hobbit’ film trilogy also make an appearance in this 50th anniversary special too. This got me excited, as I love ‘The Lord of the Rings’ film trilogy. It was funny to see when Peter Jackson in New Zealand discovers that his Radagast star Sylvester McCoy has gone missing.
Steven Moffat appears as the villain of this special, as he isn’t interested in the classic Doctors; avoids talking to them on the phone and avoids getting them to appear in the 50th anniversary special. Of course, it wouldn’t be the 50th anniversary without Russell T! Russell ‘The’ Davies! Ha, funny. I loved the scene where Russell calls Peter on his mobile and asks to appear in his 50th anniversary special.
I really enjoyed ‘The Five(ish) Doctors Reboot’! This is a wonderful 50th anniversary spoof of ‘Doctor Who’ by Peter Davison. It filled in the party-feel that I wanted for the anniversary year. I love how it gently mocks the real-life scenario of ‘Doctor Who’ and it’s great to watch the people I’ve met at conventions over the years in this.
‘The Five(ish) Doctors Reboot’ rating – 10/10
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Bradley's Basement 
I loved this story, it’s hilarious & quite touching, the scene were Colin Baker locks his family in the house with him to watch the Vengeance Of Varos special edition cracks me up as well as David Tennant forgetting his wifes in labour.
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I love ‘The Five(ish) Doctors Reboot’. It’s the best 50th anniversary special on TV for me. I’m very grateful to Peter Davison for making this for us fans.
Thanks for your comments, Simon. Glad you enjoyed my review. I loved the Colin Baker scene with his family and him forcing them to watch ‘The Five(ish) Doctors’. I’m sure he doesn’t do that in real life by making his family watch his ‘Doctor Who’s. Also the David Tennant moment was a joy to see for me.
My favourite bit from this special was of course the companions including Sarah Sutton shouting ‘Steven’ to Mr. Moffat when he was asleep and Matthew Waterhouse appearing at the end. That was such a joy to see. Also the hotel scenes where Peter was signing autogrpahs with Kourtney with K was funny, as I was at that particular convention myself.
Thanks Timelord Simon. Glad you enjoyed my review on ‘The Five(ish) Doctors Reboot’.
Tim. 🙂
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Nice review Tim.
I finally got round to watching this after purchasing the steelbook edition of the 50th anniversary specials. I found it to be hilarious. My favourite scenes were Peter telling his sons that he might not be in the 50th anniversary special, Stephen Moffat’s dream and Peter, Colin and Sylvester calling Tom.
One scene I found interesting was when they met John Barrowman and he showed them his secret wife and kids before driving to Cardiff. John’s wife was played by actress Sarah Churm who appeared in ‘At Home with the Braithwaites’, the series that I mentioned yesterday on your review of ‘The Rebel Flesh/The Almost People’. She plays another one of Peter’s onscreen daughters so when you get around to watching the series you will see her.
Another fact you now know is that Peter has been the co-star of three different Sarah’s in his career. Sarah Churm, Sarah Smart and of course, Sarah Sutton.
Take care, WF92.
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Hi WF92.
Glad you enjoyed my review on ‘The Five(ish) Doctors Reboot’. I would like to revisit it someday and perhaps extend my thoughts on it. Glad you enjoyed watching ‘The Five(ish) Doctors Reboot’ and glad you found it funny. I wonder if a sequel will be made for the show’s 60th anniversary. 😀 Thanks for telling about Sarah Churm who played John Barrowman’s wife in the special. I had no idea she was in ‘At Home with the Braithwaites’. Interesting to know Peter Davison has worked with three Sarahs in his acting career. Possibly more than that. 😀
Many thanks for your comments.
Best wishes,
Tim. 🙂
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