A race of aliens known as the Time Lords originated on the planet of Gallifrey. Located far outside of the Milky Way, Gallifrey fell when war with the Daleks broke out, destroying the planet and wiping out the Time Lord race… except for one. So far, there have been 11 doctors due to a process known as regeneration within the alien which allows an old or fatally wounded Doctor to transform into a new physical form with new personality traits. However no matter how he looks, he is always called the Doctor. He comes from somewhere else, he has a machine called a TARDIS (disguised as 1960’s police call box) that can travel anywhere in time and space, and he runs away with his human companions on adventures that might just end up saving the world.

The Doctor has been travelling since 1963 and was seen as the ultimate form of nerd culture in the past, however when the show was revived in 2005 with a new modern storyline, the fandom saw a huge spike in popularity. With each new regeneration a different Doctor rises, with a new companion and an all new sonic screwdriver (a tool used by the doctor which has been upgraded over the years and has a number of applications ranging from lock picking to computer hacking). Fans have been closely following the Doctor and were even more excited to know that the 50th anniversary special would be airing on November 23rd 2013.

The special featured the current Doctor (known as the 11th Doctor who is played by Matt Smith) and his companion Clara on mission to find out why London’s National Gallery paintings have come to life. The special also features a return of the 10th Doctor, played by David Tennant, a fan favorite. The two quirky men, one in his signature bow tie and the other in the famous pin stripe suit, add an even more exciting and whimsical element to the special. However, there was more to this episode than a few past characters. After all this time, the last day of the Time War were shown, the day in which the Doctor killed the Daleks on his home planet but also wiped out his own species in the process. The first form of the Doctor appears, the Doctor who had to choose between his species or the Universe. He is followed by the weapon he used to decimate Gallifrey known as the Moment which has taken on the form of a human (a human companion of a later Doctor nonetheless known as Rose) and is a weapon of mass destruction so deadly and sophisticated that it has developed a conscience.

The strange three Doctor anomaly makes for some intense scenes and a few clever tricks that would not have been possible with just one Doctor. As the trio is thrown into the past due to fissures in time a strange series of events involving yet another strange alien species is taking place in the National Gallery. However this is just a subplot compared to the major theme. Will the Doctor (or should I say Doctors) forever change the fabric of time and change a fated decision made thousands of years ago? With the help of a compassionate weapon of mass destruction taking the form of Rose, a spunky yet concerned Clara, and the wit and clever intelligence of three Doctors the fate of the world changes. All Doctors past, present, and even maybe one future join together to capture the planet of Gallifrey in a strange 3D picture known to the Time Lords. Within each of these pictures is a moment, a time, a person captured in time and preserved for later. When the Doctors return to the present, they are unsure of whether their quick and clumsy plan worked. Perhaps the first and tenth Doctor will never know.

However, as Doctor number eleven takes a look at the 3D picture of his once home planet, he is a little less heavy hearted. The titles still bother him though. For there has been dispute over what it’s actual name is, split between “No More” and “Gallifrey Falls” each title seemed to match the foreboding nature of the planet’s ill fate. It is then that the curator reveals to the Doctor it’s real title, for there was no mistranslation only a bit of confusion. The title, the curator tells the Doctor, is “Gallifrey Falls No More.”