A review by supeskenobi
Doctor Who: The Day of the Doctor by Steven Moffat

adventurous challenging emotional funny hopeful inspiring lighthearted mysterious reflective sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

The Day of the Doctor. The fiftieth anniversary episode celebrating the greatest sci-fi show of all time. A triumph in writing and acting, The Day of the Doctor has gone on to be, rightfully, celebrated as one of the greatest episodes of Doctor Who ever made. However if one reads or watches any interview with the episode's writer, the then show-runner, Steven Moffat; you will know that the writing of the episode was something akin to a nightmare. So the fact that Moffat decided to come back to the story five years later and, in many ways, re-write the damn thing, is either incredibly commendable; or bloody insane. Or perhaps, like The Doctor himself; it's a little bit of both. 

 

For the most part, the story is the same as what was broadcast nearly ten years ago this November. Three incarnations of The Doctor (the Tenth, Eleventh and a never before seen incarnation called 'The War Doctor' or 'The Warrior played by the late, great Sir John Hurt) join forces on the last day of 'The Time War' to thwart the schemes of Zygons in Elizabethan England and save The Doctor's home world from destruction that will come at either the hands of The Doctor's mortal enemies, The Daleks or by his own hand. 

 

Perhaps the best, and oftentimes the most confusing, aspect of this novelisation is, unlike most stories that are being told, where there is either a first or third person narrative (or in rare circumstances a second person narrative); this book is told across multiple point of views, in both first and third person, sometimes in the same chapter and even sometimes from the same character. This is most evident during any chapter written by The Doctor (which is most of them), for you see, this book is not a conventional re-telling of the story, but rather told from a collection of papers called "The Doctor Papers"; each written by The Doctor themselves. Each chapter has a small "breather" section written from someone else’s point of view. 

 

Now whilst this is brilliant as it allows the story to be told in a fresh and newer, more sexier (as the Moff would be wont to say) could be a bit of a bugger for new readers. It is therefore advised that before reading this book, one should reacquaint oneself with the television story, especially the six minute short "The Night of the Doctor" beforehand. Once you have done that, what you'll find is a largely faithful retelling of the story; however, by allowing us to go inside The Doctor's heads (there are three of them after all) we see and understand so much more than we were allowed to see on TV. Also moments become far more detailed and explored, such as why the Tenth Doctor was flirting it off with Elizabeth I? 

 

All in all, The Day of the Doctor, much like it's televisual counterpart, is a masterpiece in non-linear, wibbly-wobbly, timey-wimey storytelling, with many laughs, tears, shouts of joy, callbacks and fan-service to leave the most diehard Doctor Who fan pleased.