Doctor Who’s 50th Anniversary Special Will Be Simulcast Around The Globe
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Want more proof that Doctor Who is a bigger global phenomenon than ever before? The BBC has been celebrating the show’s five decades of life in a variety of ways over the past year, ranging from monthly short stories to comics to retrospective specials looking back at each of the Doctor’s incarnations over the decades. The big kahuna of them all, of course, is the upcoming 50th anniversary special “The Day of the Doctor,” set to air on November 23rd. Now it’s going even bigger: the BBC has announced it will simulcast the special globally, meaning Who fans will all get to experience it simultaneously, regardless of what time it is in their respective time zone.
BBC Worldwide’s Tim Davie said of the simulcast:
Few TV shows can still lay claim to being appointment viewing but Doctor Who takes this to another level.In its 50th Anniversary year we wanted to create a truly international event for Doctor Who fans in as many countries as possible and the simultaneous broadcast and cinema screening of the special across so many countries will make for a fitting birthday tribute to our Time Lord.
The episode will simulcast in countries including Canada, Colombia, Brazil, and Mexico, along with the U.K. and the United States, obviously. There hasn’t been an official time slot announced just yet.
Sometime before then we’ll actually get to see a trailer for the damn thing. Well, some of us already did, actually — assuming anybody reading this got to see the one they screened at Comic-Con. That trailer was exclusive to the Con — which caused a little consternation (ahem) among U.K. fans who understandably thought they ought to get the first look since it’s their damn show after all. Instead a new trailer is in the works, and here’s proof: a behind-the-scenes shot. Yes, we’re now getting behind-the-scenes stills from trailers. Then again, we get teasers for trailers all the time these days, so this is only slightly less ridiculous.
So while at this point all we can do is hurry up and wait for the anniversary special — unless you’ve got your own TARDIS tucked away somewhere — here’s a little something to tide you over. YouTuber billydakiduk created an original take on the show’s iconic introductory sequence, specifically one for the next Doctor, to be played by Peter Capaldi. It’s very different from the usual time-honored time vortex, but the mix of clocks, gears, and Gallifreyan symbols is pretty cool, if I do say so myself. Nice work, sir.
