The Five(ish) Doctors Reboot

The Five(ish) Doctors Reboot
Left to right: former Doctor actors Colin Baker, Sylvester McCoy and Peter Davison
Written by	Peter Davison
Directed by	Peter Davison
Starring	Peter Davison Sylvester McCoy Colin Baker Paul McGann
Country of origin	United Kingdom
Original language	English
No. of episodes	1
Production
Producer	Georgia Tennant
Cinematography	Simon Walton
Running time	31:02
Original release
Network	BBC Red Button
Release	23 November 2013 (2013-11-23)

The Five(ish) Doctors Reboot is a 2013 comedy spoof and homage to the British science fiction television programme Doctor Who. It debuted on the BBC Red Button service after the broadcast of "The Day of the Doctor", the series's official 50th anniversary special. The programme was written and directed by Peter Davison, who stars alongside fellow former Doctor actors Sylvester McCoy, Colin Baker and Paul McGann. It includes cameos from another former Doctor David Tennant, the incumbent Doctor Matt Smith, the current companion Jenna Coleman, the former companion John Barrowman, Doctor Who executive producer Steven Moffat, former producer Russell T Davies, and numerous others connected to the programme, many parodying themselves.

The plot focuses on the fictionalised, disgruntled Davison, Baker and McCoy, who become embroiled in misadventures as they attempt to sneak onto the set of the official Doctor Who 50th anniversary special.

Before transmission, teasers hinted at the "Fish Dr", and a Twitter account @DayoftheFishDr.

Plot

At Christmas 2012, former Fifth Doctor actor Peter Davison watches "The Snowmen" with his children. They remark on the upcoming 50th anniversary special and speculate as to whether Davison will be invited to return or if it will simply feature the most recent two Doctors, David Tennant and Matt Smith. Davison has a dream where he is invited back and given special treatment, ending with a vision of Janet Fielding telling him that none of the old Doctors will be asked to return. Over the next couple of months, he, Sixth Doctor actor Colin Baker and Seventh Doctor actor Sylvester McCoy desperately await a call inviting them to star in the special. A disillusioned Davison attends a convention, where he is unrecognised by the hotel receptionist and asked by fans if he has heard about appearing in the episode. He rings current Doctor Who executive producer Steven Moffat, who is more interested in playing with his action figures and deletes his messages from Davison, as well as Baker and McCoy who have also called about appearing.

At another convention appearance, Davison, Baker and McCoy all eye Eighth Doctor actor Paul McGann suspiciously. They discuss inviting Fourth Doctor actor Tom Baker to helping them get involved, but when Colin rings him he is revealed to be stuck in the Time Vortex again. McGann, having received no Doctor Who news from his agent, says he wants in on their plans – "work permitting, obviously." After the convention, McCoy returns to New Zealand to continue filming The Hobbit, but decides to return to England after director Peter Jackson leaves him sitting around doing nothing. Davison's scheme is revealed to involve the three of them (McGann has work commitments) protesting with picket signs outside the BBC Television Centre. John Barrowman informs them that Doctor Who filming now takes place in Cardiff, and abandons his secret wife and children to drive the trio there.

The former Doctors enter the Doctor Who Experience, steal their old costumes, and with the help of Davison's son-in-law David Tennant are able to infiltrate Roath Lock and get onto the set of the 50th anniversary special, "The Day of the Doctor". They are initially unsure how to proceed with getting in the special, but end up taking the place of the three Dalek operators after locking them in their room. After a close call with some security guards which leads to the trio having to hide back on the set, they manage to escape and catch a bus back to London. Davison receives a call and ignores it; it turns out to be former Doctor Who executive producer Russell T Davies asking for a part, as he has also been left out of the 50th celebrations.

In the coda, Moffat deletes the scene where the former Doctors play Daleks. However, when Moffat's editor reviews another scene, he sees the former Doctors evade the on-set security guards by hiding under shrouds in the undergallery set; the editor conceals this from Moffat, ensuring that the former Doctors appear in the special after all.

Reviews

Ben Lawrence writing in The Telegraph gave the programme 4 stars (out of 5), describing it as "a sweet, often funny homage to the show," concluding that it "was both a satisfying in-joke for Whovians and a naughty dig at the neediness of actors." Comparing the programme to the 50th anniversary special, Los Angeles Times Television Critic, Robert Lloyd, described it as "equally wonderful in its way".

Cast

The actors mainly make cameo roles as themselves. The summary below lists their original connection with the Doctor Who series. In order of appearance:

• Sean Pertwee – son of actor Jon Pertwee who played the Third Doctor
• Olivia Colman – who played "Mother" in the episode "The Eleventh Hour"
• Peter Davison – who played the Fifth Doctor
• Louis and Joel Davison – Peter Davison's sons
• Matt Smith – who plays the Eleventh Doctor
• Jenna Coleman – who plays Clara Oswald, companion to the Eleventh Doctor
• Steven Moffat – executive producer and lead writer of Doctor Who – fifth series onwards
• Heddi-Joy Taylor-Welch – Doctor Who runner and 3rd assistant director
• Louisa Cavell – Doctor Who assistant director
• Lauren Kilcar
• James DeHaviland – Doctor Who 2nd assistant director
• Janet Fielding – who played Tegan Jovanka, a companion of the Fourth and Fifth Doctors.
• Sylvester McCoy – who played the Seventh Doctor
• Colin Baker – who played the Sixth Doctor
• Rhys Thomas - comedian, actor and writer and Doctor Who fan.
• Georgia Moffett – Played Jenny, the Doctor's daughter. The real life daughter of Peter Davison (Fifth Doctor), and wife of David Tennant (Tenth Doctor). She also was the programme's producer, using her married name Georgia Tennant.
• Olivia Darnley
• Niky Wardley – Tamsin Drew, companion to the Eighth Doctor in audio dramas
• Marion Baker – Colin Baker's wife
• Katy Manning – Jo Grant, companion to the Third Doctor
• Louise Jameson – Leela, companion to the Fourth Doctor
• Carole Ann Ford – Susan Foreman, granddaughter of the First Doctor
• Deborah Watling – Victoria Waterfield, companion to the Second Doctor
• Sophie Aldred – Ace, companion to the Seventh Doctor
• Sarah Sutton – Nyssa, companion to the Fourth Doctor and Fifth Doctor
• Lalla Ward – Romana (II), companion to the Fourth Doctor
• John Leeson – Voice of K-9 the robotic dog and companion of the Fourth and Tenth Doctors
• Anneke Wills – Polly, companion to the First and Second Doctors
• Lisa Bowerman – Karra and Bernice Summerfield, companions to the Seventh Doctor
• Matthew Waterhouse – Adric, companion to the Fourth and Fifth Doctors
• Paul McGann – who played the Eighth Doctor
• Jon Culshaw – who impersonates Tom Baker, the Fourth Doctor, paired with scenes on a punt from the unaired 1979 serial Shada
• Jemma Churchill – who voiced Lady Forleon in the Doctor Who audio drama, Creatures of Beauty
• Lucy Baker, Bindy Baker, Lally Baker, Rosie Baker – Colin Baker's daughters
• Bruno du Bois – assistant director of The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey.
• Peter Jackson – director of The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey. McCoy plays Radagast the Brown in this movie.
• Ian McKellen – who voiced the Great Intelligence in the episode "The Snowmen".
• John Barrowman – who played Captain Jack Harkness with the Ninth and Tenth Doctors, and in the spin-off Torchwood.
• Sarah Churm - plays part of John Barrowman's secret family. She also played Sarah Braithwaite alongside Peter Davison in At Home with the Braithwaites.
• Alice Knight, Nick Jordan also play part of John Barrowman's secret family.
• Brad Kelly – commercial manager of the Doctor Who Experience exhibition
• David Tennant – who played the Tenth Doctor, and who is married in real life to Georgia Moffett, the real life daughter of Peter Davison
• Richard Cookson – script editor for the 50th anniversary special, "The Day of the Doctor"
• Elizabeth Morton – wife of Peter Davison
• Marcus Elliott - plays a security guard
• Ty Tennant – son of Georgia Moffett and adopted son of David Tennant
• Barnaby Edwards – principal Dalek operator, and director of several Doctor Who audio plays at Big Finish Productions
• Nicholas Pegg – principal Dalek operator, and writer and director of several Doctor Who audio plays at Big Finish Productions
• David Troughton – son of Patrick Troughton, the Second Doctor. Appeared in The Enemy of the World (1967-8), The War Games (1969), The Curse of Peladon (1972) and "Midnight" (2008)
• Nicholas Briggs – voice artist of several Doctor Who monsters, and director of several Doctor Who audio plays at Big Finish Productions
• Frank Skinner – comedian and self-proclaimed Doctor Who fan.
• Adam Paul Harvey – former partner of Georgia Moffett
• Derek Ritchie – Doctor Who script editor
• Michael Houghton – plays a security guard
• Dan Starkey – originally played Sontaran Commander Skorr in "The Sontaran Stratagem", currently playing the character Strax since 2011
• Russell T Davies – Doctor Who writer and executive producer responsible for the relaunch of the Ninth Doctor and the Revived series in 2005
• Des Hughes – Doctor Who producer since 2012
• Gabriella Ricci – Doctor Who assistant production coordinator 2012–2013
• Sandra Cosfeld – production secretary for the episode "Asylum of the Daleks"
• Christian Brassington – voice actor who played Alfred Stahlbaum in the Doctor Who audio drama The Silver Turk

External links

• BBC Website