Special

Pros

• The first multidoctor story since the show came back in 2005
• The Doctors have a chance to really interact with each other
• Peter Davison gives a smashing look at a more mature, but still passionate, Fifth Doctor

Cons

• David Tennant is great, but comes off as a fanboy of his own earlier persona (which was the intent)
• Davison is made to say Tennant's new catch-phrase, "wibbly-wobbly timey-wimey"
• It's only eight minutes

Description

• The story takes place as an insertion into the last minutes of the season 3 finale, "Last of the Time Lords"
• The collision threatens to make a disaster the size of Belgium, which quickly expands to threaten the universe
• Davison explored an older Fifth Doctor in Big Finish audio: he's fully realized here and a nice foil to the excitable Tenth
• Steven Moffat also wrote "The Empty Child"/"The Doctor Dances", "The Girl in the Fireplace", and "Blink".

Guide Review - Special

Doctor Who fans have been waiting for multi-Doctor stories; executive producer Russell T. Davies never explicitly ruled it out, but apart from reinventing old villains Davies has understandably curbed the self-reference that nearly wrecked 1980s Doctor Who.

Still, multi-Doctor episodes have become a staple, ever since "The Three Doctors" (1972) celebrated the show's tenth season. After that more two multi-Doctor serials were produced, "The Five Doctors" (1983) for the twentieth anniversary and "The Two Doctors" (1985) for no particular reason.

After the show went off the air in 1989 at the end of its twenty-sixth season, a special two-part story was commissioned for the BBC charity drive, Children in Need. This aired as the vastly incoherent but fun "Dimensions in Time" (1993), starring literally everyone who was alive and available.

This year the Children in Need/multi-Doctor connection has been reborn, in the form of "Time Crash," a brief two-hander in which the Fifth Doctor (Peter Davison) accidentally merges his TARDIS with the Tenth's (David Tennant) thanks to the latter having left the shields off. The Tenth Doctor naturally recognizes his former self and is thrilled to see him, gleefully ticking off his mannerisms, but the Fifth Doctor is suspicious and at first decides the skinny stranger is a fan. The script, full of quick jokes and genuine fondness for the Fifth Doctor ("You were my Doctor"), is by Steven Moffat, who has some experience: he also wrote "Curse of the Fatal Death" (1999) for Comic Relief, featuring the multiple regenerations (including Joanna Lumley!).

The Nov. 16 special netted 10.9 million viewers, according to the BBC. It's available from the BBC site to UK viewers through Nov. 23.

To thank the BBC for making this happen, donate to Children in Need.