After a solid year-or-so of reviewing every season of Doctor Who, I should probably stay away from entries that focus on just my opinions or tastes. And, for a very brief stint, I have. But I do acknowledge that those Season Reviews got a lot of views. They also sparked tons of conversation and interaction in the various fan groups I post links on. The fact of the matter is: you guys seem to like when I express how I feel about the show.
Never afraid to give my audience what they want, I will subject you to some more of my tirades. This time, however, I will do it in the form of a list...
I've said it before and I'll say it again: I loves me some multi-incarnation stories! Provided they're done properly, I could watch them forever. The show could have different versions of the Doctor meet with each other on a regular basis (maybe even, like, once a season) and I think I would actually be okay with that! I just find the whole concept of multiple actors that have played the same role interacting with each other in the same story to be immensely fascinating. Especially since the character seems to have a terrible time getting along with himself!
Naturally enough, there are some multi-incarnation stories that I love more than others. Or, perhaps, even some that I don't like at all. So I thought I would go through all of them and rank them in order of preference. But I'm not just going to compile some brief list that will take all of thirty seconds to read. Oh no. That's not how we work here! I'm also going to explain why I like or dislike them so much with a little Review of each adventure.
DEFINING THROUGH EXCEPTIONS
As always, I like to lay a few ground rules before getting underway with these things. We should first state what constitutes a "proper" multi-incarnation tale. Now, I could go through some lengthy, technical-sounding definition that would bore you to death and stop you from reading the rest of my entry. Or, I could do as I usually do. I could take things that look like the topic we're discussing and explain why they're not. In showing you how they disqualify from being what we're talking about, I define what it is that we are examining.
Clever, eh?
The most obvious exceptions are stories like Day of the Daleks or episodes like The Big Bang. In such adventures, the Doctor does end up crossing his own timestream and encountering a future or past version of himself. However, it's still himself in his current body. Clearly, this doesn't qualify as a multi-incarnation story because, though the Doctor is meeting himself, it's not a different incarnation. It's just Three having a confrontation with Three. Or Eleven meeting Eleven.
Stories like Name of the Doctor and Deep Breath come closer to being multi-incarnation stories but still don't quite pass. Another stipulation (for me, at least) is that the different versions of the Doctor need to interact with each other. In Name, we do see quite a few different Doctors dashing about. But they never actually talk to each other much (War and Eleven do have a very short discussion at the end of the episode - but, as we will learn in a future paragraph, it's not enough!) Nor do they indulge in any of that notorious banter that we all love so much.
When Eleven calls Clara at the end of Breath, he does hear his future self in the distance and asks briefly about him. That does come perilously close to interacting with himself, but it still doesn't really qualify.
Episodes like The Timeless Children and Once, Upon Time, on the other hand, do have very brief scenes where two different versions of the Doctor talk to each other. But the operative term, here, is brief. Those scenes need to go on for a long enough period of time. But, because they don't, these episodes are more like a story with a multi-incarnation cameo than an actual multi-incarnation adventure.
And then, of course, there's World Enough and Time/The Doctor Falls. This story also contains two different aspects of the same Time Lord. But that Time Lord, of course, is not the Doctor. So we'll leave this one out of the competition too!
So, there we go. The term, as usual, is defined by explaining what it isn't. A multi-incarnation story needs to have different versions of the Doctor interacting with each other. A certain percentage of the story's run-time needs to contain scenes of this nature. And, most significantly, they have to genuinely involve different incarnations! Not just the Doctor meeting himself in the same body.
With all this in mind, let's start ranking. We'll start with my least favorite multi-incarnation story and work our way up:
9) Short But Effete (Rhymes With Sweet)
Time Crash, in many ways, should not even be included here. But I'm going to put it in, anyway!
If you go all the way back to my very second entry, ever (https://robtymec.blogspot.com/2015/03/doin-it-with-style.html), you will see that I have chosen to accept both Time Crash and Night of the Doctor as canon. Even though they are not "proper" episodes.
While it was still quite exciting to get a multi-Doctor story so quickly in the New Series, I would have been happier to wait longer if it had meant that the story would actually be considerably better than it was.
There are quite a few problems with Time Crash. The biggest being that it is pretty difficult to build up much of any kind of real story in so short a run-time. Night of the Doctor, however, does prove that this is totally possible. So we can only use this as so much of an excuse.
Another major issue with the script is a phenomenon that we end up seeing a few times when previous Doctors are brought back. The writer ends up "misremembering" what that earlier incarnation was actually like. The re-creation of the character feels far from accurate.
Time Crash does almost feel like it should have brought back the Sixth Doctor rather than the Fifth. Yes, Five could still get a bit tetchy, in places. But, even then, Davison would often make the character more petulant than genuinely cranky. In Crash, he really does fly off the handle quite a bit. Much in the same way as Colin Baker did when he later got the role. So, in many instances, this doesn't really feel like we're watching the Fifth Doctor. But, rather, 'Ole Sixie in Five's body! Given how much I love Colin in the part, I would have been happy to see his return. However, it was Peter Davison who reprised the role. So the character should have actually resembled him more.
My other major beef with this mini-sode is its very weird "meta" moment where Ten proclaims: "You were my Doctor" to Five. It does sound more like David Tennant talking about how much he loved watching Doctor Who when Peter Davison played the part rather than one incarnation of the Doctor complimenting another. Which just feels a bit odd and out-of-place.
Still, there are things that I like about the story. Ten saving the day by simply remembering what he saw himself do back when he was Five is a clever resolution to the whole plot. Although, this does open up a whole new can of worms regarding how much one incarnation seems to remember when he meets another (to his credit, Moff stitches this problem up in a later story). There is, as usual, some very fun banter between the two incarnations. Which is always a good time. I do also like how it takes a while for Five to realize who he's actually dealing with. Although I'm not entirely sure how he would know who LINDA was!
All in all, Time Crash is still passable. But it is certainly riddled with its fair share of problems. It's probably good that it's not a full episode. Not just because it's not a big enough plot to constitute 46 minutes, but the increased run-time would have also allowed for even more glaring errors to occur!
8) "Have You No Regenerations, Sir?"
Another big example of "misremembering" what a previous incarnation was actually like. Although, like Five in Time Crash, it's not as bad as some fans would have you believe.
The fact of the matter is: One could be very conservative, at times. To the point where it could slightly embarrass a more progressive incarnation like Twelve. When discussing this episode, I like to point out how One threatens to give Bill a "jolly smacked bottom" when he hears her swearing. Which is, of course, a direct quote from something he once said to Susan during The Dalek Invasion of Earth. It's almost like Moff is saying to us: "Remember? He really could be this bad, sometimes! I'm not making this up!"
The real problem with taking this sort of tact with the character is that One was only occasionally conservative. For the most part, he wasn't threatening to smack the jolly bottoms of young girls. I would even say that he was quite progressive most of the time (particularly for the time in which the show was being made). But, suddenly, the episode contains this ridiculously high concentration of instances where the First Doctor is being horrifically old-fashioned. It's being done to create a sort of counterpoint between the two incarnations. I get it. But it still really only works so well. Mainly because Moffat has made the Original Doctor way worse of an individual than he actually was. Which is especially bad since we are seeing this version of the Time Lord in his last few minutes. If this incarnation had been plucked from the early days of Season One, it would all feel more believable. The Doctor was more of an anti-hero back then. But, by this point, Hartnell and the writers had softened the character considerably. Making him suddenly so unlikeable again just doesn't sit well within the show's general continuity.
I do really think David Bradley is excellent in the role of the Original Doctor. For some reason, fandom seems to appreciate Richard Hurndall's turn in the part better. I think it's because he makes only a vague attempt to resemble One in The Five Doctors. Instead of imitating Hartnell, he seems to be doing his own thing with the character. Which, in some sense, makes him a "truer" actor.
Personally, I prefer that Bradley is very much doing an impersonation. To me, if you're re-creating something another performer once played, that's what you should be doing. Or, at least, you should be in a show like Doctor Who. I don't hate what Hurndall did, of course. It's still quite good. But I do like Bradley better. While the writing is a bit off, the portrayal really does feel like the First Doctor is definitely back.
The plot to Twice Upon a Time is fairly threadbare. But there is just enough there to sustain it. And there is a very succinct moment where it stops being a multi-Doctor story and just concentrates on ending an era. Which stops it from dragging too much. But it also means that we get quite a bit of time where it's not a multi-incarnation adventure anymore. Which helps to cause it to get such a low ranking in a list of this nature. If a significant chunk of the run-time no longer deals with different aspects of the same Time Lord interacting with himself, then it's not going to score well, here. Even if I do love how Twelve's last few minutes of existence were handled (his speech really is the best final words a Doctor's ever had), it still works to the detriment of this being a good multi-incarnation tale.
I will add, however, that how they take One in and out of The Tenth Planet was brilliant! Bradley perfectly assuming Hartnell's prone position just before he transforms into Troughton gives me the chills every time!
7) Dancin' to the Spice Girls
This story displays another interesting trend that pops up from time-to-time in this particular type of adventure. I call it "The Multi-Incarnation Story That We Didn't Know Was Going to be a Multi-Incarnation Story"!
To all intents and purposes, The Giggle appears to be a big climactic battle between the Doctor and his old enemy, the Toymaker. A very fun conclusion to the less-than-spectacular Sixtieth Anniversary Specials that we got in 2023. According to everything we'd been hearing, the conflict would end with the Doctor's latest regeneration. Tennant would bow out and Gatwa would step in.
There had been whispers, of course. Word on the Street was that this latest regeneration would be a weird one. A sort of mitosis would occur that would cause both incarnations to exist at the same time. It seemed pretty ridiculous so I didn't take it too seriously.
But then, it actually happened! I was a bit shocked. I immediately found myself questioning the whole scenario. I had not been particularly happy with the regeneration that had been wasted in the Series Four finale. Was this going to be the same sort of situation? A weird regeneration can actually work. The whole drama involving the Watcher during Logopolis had been quite cool. So it was possible that this one might be equally-interesting. It was tough, though. That debacle at the end of Series Four had left a foul taste in my mouth. And it was the same Headwriter that was now engineering this one!
As I was busy sorting out my feelings on the matter, a strange realization came over me. This wasn't just a regeneration story, anymore. This was also a multi-incarnation tale at the same time! After all, two different Doctors were interacting with each other. And, while it was only happening towards the end of the episode, it was still going on long enough for it to qualify.
So now the issue was becoming even more complicated! I might be okay with the regeneration - but what about the fact that this was a multi-incarnation story that was suddenly coming out of nowhere?! Were the scenes with Fourteen and Fifteen genuinely entertaining? Was Ncuti going to put some pants on soon?! So many questions! As a great man once said a short while before he self-destructed: "I can't stand the confusion in my mind!"
It helped, of course, that we had seen some of this sort of thing before. A multi-incarnation story that happens at the same time as the Doctor regenerates had been done in Twice Upon a Time. There was even a precedent for a "surprise" multi-incarnation adventure.
All this helped me to settle down a bit.
Eventually, I caught my breath. Now calm, I quickly re-watched The Giggle. I had been hyperventilating too much to really appreciate that conclusion the first time round!
This time, I actually enjoyed the bold decisions RTD was making. The weird regeneration worked. The multi-incarnation stuff was quite enjoyable. Especially since it was genuinely unique. No real banter, for once. The two incarnations were actually getting along very well. I was especially impressed with how much Fifteen was comforting Fourteen. They even hugged!
The fact that Fifteen was handling things so differently from other occasions when he meets himself struck me as a bit of signposting. After so many years of New Who Doctors that were all more-or-less the same, it really does feel like we're going to get something very different with Ncuti. The Christmas Special that came a short while later definitely helped to re-enforce this. With this regeneration, the Doctor really does appear to have changed.
Ultimately, though, it's not that much of a multi-incarnation story. We only get the two incarnations working together for about ten minutes or so. Most the plot is about Fourteen battling the Toymaker. Which was some great stuff. The sort of thing I'd been genuinely hoping for during these Specials.
But, even though it's a great episode, it has a similar problem to Twice Upon a Time. Because a significant amount of its content doesn't actually involve different versions of the Doctor interacting with each other, it falls quite low on this list.
6) "I've Come a Long Way for You!"
What a divisive little story The Two Doctors is. Fans seem to either love it or hate it. There is no middle ground.
Except with me. I, somehow, seem capable of viewing both sides of the coin when I watch this yarn. I can, easily, see why some like it so much. But I also understand why there are those who despise it.
While only two multi-Doctor stories had come before it, some very important foundations seem to get laid in both of them. Essentially, adventures involving more than one incarnation of the Doctor seem to work to a certain pattern. The Two Doctors, I feel, both succeeds and fails because it broke most of the rules that had been established in Three and Five Doctors.
One of the more important guidelines for a multi-doctor story, for instance, is Division of Labor. While there had been behind-the-scenes reasons with both tales that caused certain actors to only have a very limited presence in the plot, it was ensured that the ones that could be there were given a significant time in the spotlight. Basically, every incarnation got equal amounts of attention.
Two Doctors breaks this rule quite badly during its second episode. Most of the focus is kept on Six as he is trying to figure out where his former self has gotten to. Two spends much of the episode unconscious. When he is awake, he's strapped into a gurney and can do no more than argue with people. He is used in an extremely limited way during this Part.
I can see why this bothered some fans. Why bring back Patrick Troughton if you're just going to ask him to lie prone for the better part of an episode?! He should be actually doing stuff rather than just waiting around to be rescued by a future incarnation.
But that's also what makes Part Two of the The Two Doctors so cool. It breaks the mold by putting one incarnation in peril while the other tries to save him. Instead of saying: "Okay! Everyone get to that tower!" or "Go through that Black Hole and argue with Omega!", it gives us a different dynamic.
And this is the case with so much of The Two Doctors. Each time it chooses to go against the grain, it does so with both positive and negative consequences. You can either take a glass half full or a glass half empty approach with it. It's rare that you find someone that can do both. But I do tend to agree with either side. If really pressed to make a final judgement, I mostly enjoy the story. Although there are one or two choices it makes that I can't really get behind.
I have a hard time, for instance, with just how truly morbid the story gets. I'm not even really referring to the non-sequitur Six uses after dispatching Shockeye. There was an actual logic to it. The Doctor had no choice but to defend himself and the Androgum really had done some horrible things. He really was, in many ways, getting his "just desserts". So the Doctor really doesn't seem that callous, here. His actions are fairly well-justified.
However, the behavior of Androgums, in general, is a bit too graphic. Shockeye snapping the neck of a rat and then eating it. Or Chessene licking blood off the ground. These seem like, perhaps, something that doesn't really belong in Doctor Who. I rarely make this sort of call. I actually like that this show can go in so many different directions. I don't feel anyone should really say stuff like: "This isn't Doctor Who!" But this just might be one of those rare occasions where lines do get legitimately crossed.
This is also the multi-incarnation story where the ultimate "misremembering" occurs. Holmes still, more-or-less, gets the Second Doctor's character right (he is, perhaps, a bit more cantankerous than normal - but there are some extenuating circumstances that may have aggravated his mood), but the writer really does botch up the continuity of that era. Amusingly enough, the fans find a way to make it canon. To the point where everyone now seems to love the concept of Season 6b!
While there's lots to like about The Two Doctors, it is still quite the mixed bag. I will even admit that my own personal mood affects my enjoyment of the way it bucks so much convention. There are times when I even think that morbid stuff I complained about is quite cool!
Overall, the story definitely sits nicely near the middle of this list. There's some really great stuff in it. But there are also some detractors.
5) "A Dandy and a Clown"
The Three Doctors, of course, started it all. This was the story where, for the first time, the production team asked themselves: "Let's see if the guys before him want to come back!"
This fact, alone, makes the whole tale quite monumental. This is the story that establishes the basic formula of how multi-incarnation interaction works. It doesn't just accomplish this because it's the first time we try a premise like this out. All other stories of this nature get measured against it because The Three Doctors is just so gosh-darned enjoyable. It's an absolute treat with a sense of magic to it that all of its successors will attempt to re-create.
Now, I get it. Such a bold statement might be slightly befuddling some of you.
"Rob," you might be asking, "if you love this story so much then why do you have it so low on your list?"
It's chocked full of charm, of course, but The Three Doctors also has the most threadbare of plots. And, what does exist of it, is not always so well-constructed. Often, when I review this story, I love to point out how Part Four comes to a screeching halt for several long minutes while various characters step through some dry ice steam and disappear in the most horrible of cross-fades! There's just not enough content to fill the run-time so they resort to a protracted farewell scene for the various supports and guest stars in order to pad things out. This is The Three Doctors' most glaring instance of how poorly-plotted things can get.
But there are subtler examples. How Two is used during the second episode is, pretty much, a gigantic waste of time. Three, of course, is the exact opposite. He and Jo are propelling the plot forward quite nicely. Two really needs to just join them so they can find the recorder and nobble Omega. But the plot isn't quite ready for the Second Doctor to get there. So he's given a useless runaround for most of the episode. A completely obvious time-filler of little or no consequence. Then the whole UNIT base gets pulled through the Black Hole for the cliffhanger. This is what needed to happen, of course, so that the next stage of the narrative could kick in. But it couldn't occur 'til this point in the story. So a bunch of stalling took place where Two tries to get the super-imposed blobby monster under control. Only to fail miserably at it. It's a bit like when they fill an episode by having the leads get captured, only to have them create an elaborate escape, but then they get re-captured again. Everything gets re-set to zero so that the plot can properly advance but the better part of an episode got filled up before doing so. The Second Doctor's "mission" during this part works to the same effect.
Admittedly, Troughton is so entertaining that we almost don't notice the whole issue. But, if we're being brutally honest, he might as well have been strapped to a gurney the whole time! He's as equally ineffective, here, as he was in the second part of The Two Doctors. At least in Two, it's done intentionally to give us something different. Here, it's just another example of how badly-paced the whole tale is.
The Three Doctors is a prime example of style over substance. There is just so much fun to be had here as Two and Three work unharmoniously to save the Universe. While One, of course, occasionally gets on their cases from the TARDIS scanner. It's all quite delightful.
But, as much as I want to just focus on the good, I can't ignore some pretty fundamental structural problems too.
4) "Yo Go No Go So Jo Ro" (Translation: "Beware of Judoon by the Lagoon")
Another prime example of "a multi-incarnation story when you didn't expect it to be". One could almost make the claim that Fugitive of the Judoon is identical to The Giggle: All the actual multi-Doctor action doesn't really happen until near the end.
But, in many ways, it doesn't. Ruth is in the whole story (she is, in fact, the first character we see in the episode). Somewhere beneath her surface identity, the Doctor is lurking. She even pops out a bit early when Lee sends her some trigger words.
If anything, Fugitive of the Judoon is more like Utopia. An episode that we consider a Master Story even though the Master doesn't truly manifest himself until minutes before the conclusion. Because of this, I won't accord Fugitive quite the same penalty that I did The Giggle. It is very much a multi-incarnation story all-the-way through. We just don't realize it the first time we're watching it.
Having said all that, we don't really get the usual fun that a multi-Doctor story has until Ruth goes to the lighthouse and smashes the glass. Which only happens a little past the halfway mark of the run-time (unlike The Giggle, where we only get that sort of thing when there's only about ten to twelve minutes left). But once the banter does start, it's some of the best that's ever been delivered. Thirteen and Fugitive arguing in the Old-School console room and trying to figure out where they fit in the grander scheme of things is an entertaining scene. Thirteen failing miserably to keep her mouth shut as Fugitive confronts Gath on the Judoon ship is also great fun. It's all very nicely done.
And, of course, there's the Grand Mystery of who the Fugitive Doctor truly is. Naturally enough, it's a similar vibe to what we got with the War Doctor at the conclusion of Name of the Doctor. But it's done much more effectively. John Hurt's appearance is just a quick tease at the end of the episode. Whereas Jo Martin is given quite a bit of time to establish both the false and real identity of her character. Because of this, we are far more captivated by her. The War Doctor is still quite fascinating, don't get me wrong. But I found the Fugitive Doctor far more intriguing.
This is a fantastically-constructed episode. With all kinds of great stuff going on even outside of the multi-incarnation plotline. It's particularly great, for instance, to see Captain Jack making a return after all this time.
But, ultimately, it can only climb so far up this particular list. There are, quite simply, stories that do a better job of showing us more than one incarnation of the Doctor operating within a single plot. Nonetheless, there's a lot to be said for the quality of Fugitive of Judoon. Which is why it does beat out quite a few other tales of this style.
While it's still extremely good, quite a bit of it doesn't really feel like a "proper" multi-incarnation adventure. The part that does, however, is some of the best banter we've ever gotten!
3) "I Don't Do Robes!"
Let's just get this out of the way: Power of the Doctor almost doesn't qualify to be on this list. The first scene where Thirteen meets her various previous incarnations isn't that particularly long. The second one is infinitesimal. The appearances of Five and Seven as AI holograms that finally bury the hatchet with companions they parted with on bad terms add a bit to the "multi-incarnation run-time" (although one could argue that we're still seeing only one incarnation so they don't actually count). And, of course, the Fugitive Doctor comes along for a bit too. She's also an AI hologram but she does actually interact with another version of herself.
But there's still probably less multi-Doctor action, here, than what we get in The Giggle. That story scored low because it's really only so much of a multi-incarnation adventure. So why is Power of the Doctor so high on this list?!
The answer is simple: Power of the Doctor is just a really awesome story. While it's not much of a multi-Doctor tale, it still does an incredible job of it. Every line that the incarnations deliver to each other as they talk at the cliff's edge is masterfully-crafted.. By both the writer and, of course, those wonderful actors that were brought back to briefly re-inhabit their characters. It's particularly great that we still get a dash of humor as Eight refuses to wear robes.
It's not a long scene. But it's got everything that a great multi-incarnation encounter needs. So much so, that I actually like it better than most other stories that have featured these sort of sequences.
When you grow up with the Classic Series, you tend to develop a desire to see certain things happen in the show that New Who does eventually deliver on. It was a longtime dream for many Old School fans, for instance, to see the Daleks and Cybermen do battle. That wish finally came true at the end of Series Two. Although, I will say that the confrontation never quite lived up to my expectations. In fact, I'd love to see a better-written re-match.
I think it's fair to say that a lot of fans have also dreamt of the idea that there is a mindscape that exists in the Doctor's subconscious where he or she can interact with his/her past selves. That's something else we've wanted to see play out for quite some time. On this occasion, the actual execution of such an idea went as well as we had envisioned it. Perhaps even better. As I don't think any of us expected such a confrontation in the Doctor's Id to be so inspirational. The past incarnations really do manage to boost Thirteen's spirits as she struggles to get her body back. Although I also love the irony of Thirteen giving another of her famous uplifting speeches only to suddenly find herself completely alone at the cliff's edge as she finishes it.
I don't doubt that some of you reading this will find this choice to be an unfair placement on the list. A few of you will probably think that this story belongs very near or even at the very bottom. Not because it's a bad multi-Doctor adventure. But, moreso, because there's just so little content involving the different incarnations of the Doctor.
The brief snippets that we do get, however, are just so good that it ridiculously elevates the little material in the plot that deals with multiple Doctors. It's so absolutely brilliant that it totally deserves to be where it's at in these rankings.
2) "And I'm Wearing Sand Shoes!"
The first "genuine" multi-incarnation story in the New Series. Time Crash was a cute little mini-sode, but this is the first effort to make a full-length story using the device.
And it actually does a great job. One of the best, in fact.
Moff understood all-too-well what the core ingredient of any multi-Doctor story needs to be. We absolutely love to watch the Doctor take the piss out of himself. Each incarnation almost seems to hold the belief that they are the best version of themselves and has to ridicule the other Doctors in the room in order to establish their supremacy. Hilarious banter ensues as they look for any little detail on the other incarnations to make fun of. If it's done properly, the whole plot can come to a screeching halt for a bit just so we can watch the verbal sparring. And we actually don't mind.
This is, of course, one of the crucial "ground rules" that The Three Doctors laid down. For the most part, we see this every time a story of this nature is made. The Giggle is about the only exception to the rule. Even Power of the Doctor has the briefest of tiffs between Seven and Eight.
Day of the Doctor delivers gigantic amounts of banter. I would even say that the in-fighting is more severe than what we got between Two and Three during the first multi-Doctor story, ever. Which was a battle I never thought would be topped. But Day pulls it off. And it's great fun to watch.
On top of all that fun banter, however, is some other really fascinating stuff involving multiple incarnations. We get to witness a "hidden" incarnation of the Doctor in action for the first time. On top of that, a future incarnation that has not actually had any episodes at all yet makes the briefest of appearances (those sinister eyebrows!).
And then there's the mysterious Curator. He appears to be a future incarnation that has re-adopted an old face. It was nice to see Tom back in the role and having some fun with it. He might not be high on my list of fave Doctors, but he still deserves the tribute he receives, here. It was, perhaps, a bit troublesome for us pedants that we had no idea where such a version of the Time Lord was going to fit in to the Doctor's timeline. But, now that we've gotten the bi-generation, we can see where he might go.
Moff using old footage to represent all the other Doctors besides War, Ten and Eleven was also very nicely done. It was good to give all the Doctors some kind of presence in the story. Realistically, getting all of them to have adequate screentime could have been too mammoth of an undertaking. This was a nice alternative. The dream sequence at the end of the episode where One to Eleven are standing in dry ice was also a nice little touch that gave a greater sense of presence to all of the Doctors. Even if the CGI only looked so good!
Day of the Doctor really is everything a multi-incarnation adventure ought to be - and then some!
1) "Splendid Chap. All of them!"
Admittedly, Day of the Doctor should have won this competition. But, as much as I deliberated over this, I still found myself liking The Five Doctors that little bit better.
Part of what led me to this decision would be sheer nostalgia. The Five Doctors is the very first multi-incarnation story I ever saw. And it completely blew me away.
I had learnt, in the most brutal of ways, that the Doctor could regenerate. I just suddenly watched Tom Baker "die" one day and turn into Peter Davison. Without knowing that the Doctor actually did this from time-to-time. It was with an equal level of shock that I discovered that, every once in a while, previous incarnations of the Doctor would return to help the most current one.
Whereas learning about regeneration had been a bit traumatic, my first encounter with a multi-incarnation story was sheer delight. Those older versions of the Doctor came back once in a while - and I loved the whole concept of it! Several aspects of the same hero working together at once to combat some Great Evil struck me as completely awesome. There was just no other TV show that did stuff like this. I would even go so far to say that The Five Doctors was instrumental in getting me to fall so deeply and madly in love with Doctor Who.
So it's a bit tough to be objective about these things!
But, even without the rose-colored glasses, Five Doctors does a lot of heavy lifting that other multi-incarnation stories don't always accomplish so well. This is the tale that takes the most incarnations and gives them all something useful to do. Whilst, at the same time, getting them all equal amounts of screentime. It's even nice that Terrance Dicks doesn't "cheap out" and just make the Dark Tower have four entrances. One Doctor does make his way to the Citadel in order to deal with the intrigue that is brewing there.
Yes, Five Doctors is still just a bit light on plot. But the plot that does exist is written so tightly you can bounce quarters off of it. There is no hint of any kind of the "drag" that we got in The Three Doctors. A story that was also very light on plot. Instead, The Five Doctors marks its time with awesome battles between the Cybermen and a Raston Warrior robot. Or the Master tricking the Cybermen into their own destruction on a deadly checkerboard. Or even a fun little chase from a Yeti through an underground cave. All of the "filler" we get in this narrative adds to the pace rather than detracting from it. Which makes for a very enjoyable watch every time.
This is also the first time that the original actor that portrayed an earlier incarnation wasn't capable of reprising the role so a different performer was brought in. While I have already discussed who I like better between Hurndall and Bradley, I will still pay a ton of respect to Richard. He took a huge chance when he accepted the part. Fans could have been really upset with someone else playing the First Doctor. But he did such a solid job that we couldn't help but accept him. Even if the costume wasn't quite right!
All in all, The Five Doctors does belong at the top. The Three Doctors may have laid the foundations. Day of the Doctor may have had the most multi-incarnation stuff in it. And all the other stories on this list have also done some rather interesting things with the premise. But Five Doctors really does feel like it got all the elements of a multi-Doctor formula just right.
I don't think there will ever be another story that will nail it better than this one did.
