Get your sonics out, it's Doctor Who day! Whoop!
55 years ago, the world's longest-running, record-breaking sci-fi show aired on this very day. Over the years, the series has not been shy about celebrating various landmarks in its esteemed history.
We're already getting excited about the 60th Anniversary, which will no doubt see the Doctor rewrite the events of the Time War once more.
So let's count down those big years in the history of Doctor Who and find out which one is the best.
6. 30th Anniversary – 1993
Fans were still reeling from the show's cancellation in 1989 and were teased with the prospect of the Tom Baker-starring special entitled 'The Dark Dimension'. A feature-length story, it would have seen the former Time Lord in an alternate timeline with, of course, lots of other regenerations, friends and monsters too.
What fans got did include multiple Doctors, companions and familiar aliens but it somewhat missed the mark. And that's putting it politely.
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'Dimensions In Time' was, it's fair to say, an abomination.
This "special" crossover with BBC soap Eastenders was a charity event that aired in two parts over two nights – during Children In Need and '90s Saturday-night behemoth Noel's House Party.
Some Whovians enjoy its camp and outrageous nature but seriously: it's absolute tosh.
5. 25th Anniversary – 1988
Sylvester McCoy's difficult second album, sorry year, turned out to be quite the celebratory affair, besting his debut season by some margin.
The opener, 'Remembrance of the Daleks', was an instant hit with Whovians and remains a firm classic, regularly featuring in the higher reaches of fan polls. The story itself played with the mythology of the Doctor, Gallifrey and the Daleks.
Later that year, the Cybermen would also make a return in the anniversary episode, fittingly titled 'Silver Nemesis'. Sadly, unlike their intergalactic pepper pot counterparts, the Cybermen weren't treated quite as well with an adventure that's best left forgotten.
4. 40th Anniversary – 2003
Another anniversary with no actual show on air.
The BBC had seemingly given up putting the show on television so experimented with the new-fangled entity known as "the internet".
Webcast 'Scream of the Shalka' was written by Paul Cornell, who would go on to pen the brilliant 'Father's Day' and 'Human Nature' when the show returned proper, and featured a brand-new Doctor.
Withnail & I's Richard E Grant looked like a vampirey, heroin-chic Time Lord and was joined by Derek Jacobi as The Master ( a role he would come back to in 2007's 'Utopia'). Also making an uncredited appearance was a little-known chap by the name of David Tennant. Wonder what happened to him?
Sadly for the team behind 'Shalka', something was stirring in the BBC. Something that would put an end to any further adventures in this format. Instead of a Michael Grade-style cancellation, it would be quite the opposite.
In September of the 40th anniversary year, the BBC announced that Doctor Who was back on TV with Russell T Davies in charge. A more perfect gift for fans we cannot imagine.
3. 10th Anniversary – 1973
This is a very slight cheat as the time-traveling show's first self-celebration actually aired just weeks after it reached the nine-year mark.
Regardless, 'The Three Doctors' saw returns for original Doctor William Hartnell and his hobo successor Patrick Troughton as they teamed up with the Time Lord of the moment Jon Pertwee to battle one of the founders of Time Lord tech, Omega.
The story established the bickering relationship between the regenerations that would last for decades.
2. 20th Anniversary – 1983
The '80s were all about being bigger and better. And Doctor Who was no exception when it came to its second celebration.
'The Five Doctors' boasted more Doctors (despite using recycled footage of Tom Baker and replacing the late William Hartnell with Richard Hurndall), more companions (SO many companions) and even managed to fit in Daleks, Cybermen, Yeti and The Master.
It was a joyous 90-minute romp that saw even more inter-Doctor bitching.
And afficionados of acting could also enjoy the line,"No, not the Mind Probe!", now permanently entered into Who lore.
Fans who wanted to enjoy the adventures of their favourite Gallifreyan IRL could take a trip to the Doctor Who Convention in Longleat. There, they could meet various incarnations of the Doctor, including the then-elusive Tom Baker, numerous companions and come face-to-face with monsters, props and sets from the series' history.
1. 50th Anniversary – 2013
The hugely-anticipated anniversary lived up to the wait and the hype.
After the second half of Doctor Who series seven aired (where we were introduced to John Hurt's War Doctor, standing in for an unwilling Christopher Eccleston), Whovians across the globe had months to sit out before the anniversary month delivered in spectacular style.
Mini-episode 'The Night of the Doctor' dropped out of the blue and saw Paul McGann return as the Eighth Doctor for the first time on screen since 1996. It was like he was never away.
To be honest, this alone would have made the 50th anniversary special enough. But Steven Moffat had other plans in store.
'The Day of the Doctor' aired on the show's 50th birthday, which, thankfully, turned out to be a Saturday (the day of the week the show debuted on in 1963).
It performed that rare feat of pleasing everyone, fans and regular viewers. And it also managed to bag a Guinness world record for largest simulcast of a TV drama.
It doesn't end there though.
November 2013 also treated Whovians to a drama about the genesis of the show, An Adventure in Space and Time. Written by Sherlock's Mark Gatiss, it starring David Bradley as the actor behind the First Doctor, William Hartnell – a role which bagged him a return as the original Doctor in Peter Capaldi's finale.
And, as if that weren't enough, The Five(ish) Doctors Reboot comedy special gave us old-skool Doctor actors getting up to all sorts of nonsense behind the scenes of the 50th anniversary special. If any fans were upset at no "classic" representation in 'The Day of the Doctor', then their ire would certainly have been quashed with this delicious, self-deprecating outing, written and directed by Peter Davison.
Phew. What. A. YEAR!
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