As for "The Day Of The Doctor" itself, I really enjoyed that too! A little disappointment here and there but in the grand scheme of things it was due to good reasons. Possibly a little too heavy on the comedy but I'd guess it was there to balance out the historical references and convoluted plot - it doesn't matter if you don't quite know what they're babbling on about because they'll say/do something funny in a minute! I have to say I was disappointed by the Zygons though. The way they were used felt sloppy as if it were an after thought - yes the shape shifting dopplganger aspect worked in the plot but the fact that it was Zygons behind it felt like it was just to throw in a successful monster from the past. They looked good, in the brief moments they were seen, but I didn't feel the shape was right - the best part of their original appearance was the way their silhouette was less human despite being a man in a suit, more curve to the spine, bulging chest and practically no shoulders. All things considered, I think Moffat pulled off a lot of great feats in terms of homage, tradition, development and growth and finally closed the gaping hole between TV movie and the shows return - almost...The opening was a nice homage to the shows beginnings, indeed the very first episode. The swirling titles give way to a dark misty shot of a policeman walking down the street and into view comes a sign for "I.M.Foreman Scrap Merchant" The original titles were used in a truncated form with extra wobble and slight remix of the music with added reverb, the black and white picture gradually becomes colour and you see that it is in fact a bright sunny day and the policeman is modern... also it's in slow motion! The "I.M.Foreman" sign is giving directions rather than being the gate and it is on the wall of Coal Hill Secondary School... The Coal Hill sign states that the Chairman Of Governors is I. Chesterton and the Headmaster is W. Coburn. Plenty for the fangeeks to squeal about there! Though I'm not sure about "W. Coburn" - Anthony Coburn wrote the first serial, but why the W? Possibly a nod to Wendy Coburn who was a friend of Susan's in a novel (at which point the name was presumably in homage to Anthony anyway!) but this could very well be one of those little details that keep fans talking in circles for years to come. Finally, a few moments later, we see a clock as Clara leaves the School and the time is 5:16, the time the first episode was broadcast - although naratively there is a sense that classes have only just finished in which case the actual time would be a couple of hours earlier. There are plenty more references and connections but I won't go into that here, if you want more, check out the lists on Buzz Feed.com and BBC America, though they're not complete either.
My one criticism of that opening, if you overlook the unlikelyhood of Totter's Lane being so close the Coal Hill, is the brightness of the initial shot after the titles. It's a really small criticism, but the atmosphere of the original would have been evoked a little better had it been darker with a gradual brightening as the colour came in. But forget that, Clara is teaching and is laying down plot clues! And on that note, The Day Of The Doctor is full of clues and plot twists and turns as well as weaving in three Doctors and their respective time-lines. It was with little surprise that I read Steven Moffat stating that this was probably the toughest episode he has ever written! Including the mini prequel The Night Of The Doctor, he has managed to close loops and tie up loose ends that have been around since 1996 when Paul McGann set off on his journey as the eighth Doctor. The next time we saw the Doctor was at the start of the revived series in 2005 when he was played by Christopher Ecclestone and had not long regenerated (he sees his reflection for the first time and references his big ears), he made references to the Time War, which we had never seen, and how he had brought it all to an end by destroying the whole of Gallifrey along with all the Time Lords and Daleks... themes that would ripple through all series to date. With The Night Of The Doctor we finally get to see Paul McGann in action again and get a glimpse of the Time War along with a reappearance of the Sisterhood of Karn (from The Brain Of Morbius 1976) who help him regenerate into a young John Hurt, thus ending speculation as to how he would fit into the story. Then at the end of the episode we see John Hurt touching his TARDIS console and commenting that his body is wearing thin as he starts to regenerate (just as William Hartnell Did in 1966)... thus closing the loop and becoming the Ecclestone Doctor, though we only get a hint of that new face before the picture cuts away. As exciting as the anticipation was with hope and wonder as to whether Ecclestone would feature having said repeatedly that he wouldn't return to the show and as frustrating as it was when we cut away and realise that he wouldn't, it does make sense narratively. If we were to see the new Doctor it would require a scene setting his new momentum which should be the drive forward, but that wasn't the direction the episode was going in and he wasn't the Doctor we were following so the emphasis had to return to Matt Smith. However, that dashed hope was soon to be equalled and topped by the real surprise cameo... Tom Baker, the fourth and nearly always regarded as the best Doctor, had first agreed but ultimately declined to appear in the 20th Anniversary The Five Doctors so it felt like a real coo when his unmistakable voice was heard before we saw the frail old Curator giving advice to the young Doctor. It is a curious fact that as each of the three Doctors stepped into their respective TARDISes they would all be facing their regeneration - John Hurt as described above, David Tennant would be off to The End Of Time (at the start of the episode he tells Ood Sigma about getting married to Elizabeth I) and Matt Smith of course is due to regenerate in The Time Of The Doctor at Christmas
When I first saw the Paul McGann regeneration I predicted that we would see John Hurts in the main episode, so I was pleased to have been right. My next thought was that maybe Matt Smith would regenerate somewhere in the middle of the Christmas episode rather than right at the end... Having seen Peter Capaldi's surprise, uncredited cameo in extreme close up at the helm of his TARDIS, I wonder if there might be a cross reference coming up as well but that might be step too far, maybe as the Christmas episode comes to an end he will say something about rescuing Gallifrey...
Special mention has to go to the use of 3D photography. A first for Doctor Who and not just as a gimmick but an integral part of the plot. Of course, the scenes of the TARDIS being flown over London by a UNIT helicopter would have been good but the key moment would have been the reveal of the 3D Paintings. Sadly, not having a 3D television or seeing it in the cinema, the extra depth of the painting wasn't apparent to me until the camera moved but even in 2D it was an impressive image!
Of course, mention also has to go to the presence of David Tennant and Billie Piper, but not quite as you would expect. Tennant's hair is longer and not so spiky while Piper is, well, not exactly playing Rose! Her performance is reminiscent of the time she was possessed by Cassandra on New Earth but there is plenty of Rose still in there and her costume looks great.
Of course, it's not just the tenth Doctor who return (and I'm not just talking about the surprise of 4th and 12th)... There is a scene where all Doctors come together and while we only get brief shots of them on monitor screens (or rather the virtual, floating in the air projection equivalent) taken from historic episodes, the parting shot uses the wonders of modern technology to see them all lined up together. I am left wondering, however, whether the Tom Baker face was deliberately made to look like his wax work, as used in his absence for publicity photos for The Five Doctors!
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