The Five(ish) Doctors Reboot

Plot

On Christmas Day 2012, Peter Davison watched "The Snowmen" with his sons and started wondering if he'd get a call for the 50th anniversary special. He had a dream where he was welcomed back with fanfare, but then a nightmare where Janet Fielding told him the production team wanted nothing to do with the older Doctors. Davison, Colin Baker, and Sylvester McCoy sat around waiting for invitations that never arrived, while Steven Moffat dodged their calls.

Davison mentioned he had a contact on the special. They thought about bringing in Tom Baker, but his voicemail claimed he was stuck in the Time Vortex. Paul McGann asked to be included. McCoy went back to New Zealand to film The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey, got bored, and flew back to England.

Davison's plan had the three of them protesting outside BBC Television Centre. John Barrowman left his secret wife and kids to drive them to Cardiff, where Doctor Who was being made. In New Zealand, McCoy's absence messed up a scene, though Ian McKellen told Peter Jackson it might actually be better. The former Doctors snuck into the Doctor Who Experience, stole their old costumes, and with David Tennant's help got into Roath Lock Studios.

They locked three Dalek operators in a room and took their places. After nearly getting caught by security, they hid on set, then escaped and took a bus back to London. Davison deleted a voicemail from Russell T Davies asking to join in. During post-production, Moffat cut the Dalek scene, but the editor noticed the former Doctors hiding under shrouds in the Under Gallery footage and kept it from Moffat, making sure they ended up in the special.

Production

Peter Davison decided to produce his own "fan video" after not being invited to appear in the 50th anniversary special, having previously made skit videos for the convention Gallifrey One. His original vision was for a five-minute video about classic Doctor actors trying to get a part. After offering Steven Moffat an acting role at a party, Davison sent the script and received BBC funding and a camera crew. Some filming had been done with Davison in Australia before the BBC's involvement.

The film was Davison's first professional directing experience; his daughter Georgia Tennant produced it. Sylvester McCoy, Colin Baker and Paul McGann played fictionalised versions of themselves. Only one person asked to appear turned down the offer. Davison wrote a scene where Tom Baker rejects the scheme, but when Baker did not respond to emails, Davison used a Doctor Who clip from the unaired story Shada to explain his absence—the same clip had been used to cover Baker's absence from "The Five Doctors".

Impressionist Jon Culshaw performed Baker's voicemail. The remaining cast had very limited availability and were not paid.

Reception

Ben Lawrence of The Telegraph called the film "a sweet, often funny homage to the show" and "both a satisfying in-joke for Whovians and a naughty dig at the neediness of actors." Robert Lloyd of the Los Angeles Times found it "equally wonderful in its way" as "The Day of the Doctor" and praised the cameo appearances. Patrick Mulkern of Radio Times described it as "sublime" and compared the trio to the Three Stooges. Doctor Who researcher Mark Wright wrote that it "cannot be dismissed merely as a comedy sketch" and called it a road movie.

Proposed sequel

In June 2014, Paul McGann reportedly said production had begun on a sequel. In July, Colin Baker contradicted this, stating that after discussion with Davison, they agreed they did not want to do a "pale imitation" of the first film. In April 2015, Davison said he would write a sequel if he came up with an idea "good enough" or "better" than the original, noting the difficulty of reassembling the cast without pay. In July 2020, Baker agreed a sequel would need a commercial basis the BBC likely would not allow, but said Davison, McCoy and McGann were all keen.

In July 2023, Davison stated a planned sequel for Doctor Who's 60th anniversary was scrapped because he would have had to compromise significantly on the concept. He said the concept was deemed "utterly unacceptable" by those he showed it to, adding "It's a different world now" and that his sense of humour may be "out of sync with the sense of humour that now exists."

Did You Know?

• All cast members are credited as playing themselves on the BBC website, except Marcus Elliott, Michael Houghton and Chido Nyashanu.
• The film was released on DVD and Blu-ray in September 2014 as part of the limited edition "50th Anniversary Collectors Edition" boxset.
• In March 2026, the film was released with new commentary on the Doctor Who: The Collection: Season 21 boxset.