During this time of what feels like darkness and uncertainty, the one thing we know to be true is how technology and social media can keep us more connected than ever before. A re-watch trend on Twitter of BBC’s Doctor Who began this month, and it has proven to be a light to fans around the world. This was organized by Doctor Who Magazine‘s Emily Cook (@Emily_Rosina on Twitter) to unite Whovians (what Doctor Who fans call themselves) all over the world to watch episodes at the same time.
“Day of the Doctor”
Emily Cook tweeted about having a world-wide watch and live-tweet along of the 50th Anniversary episode of Doctor Who. In this episode, the 11th Doctor (played by Matt Smith) ends up meeting his former selves, the 10th Doctor (played by David Tennant) and the Doctor who fought in the Time War (played by John Hurt). The three of them simultaneously save planet Earth as well as their home planet. So, on March 21st, Whovians around the world pressed play at the same time to beat the social-distancing blues. Using the hashtag #SavetheDay, fans were able to share their joy of “Day of the Doctor” with each other. What a beautiful way to connect! In fact, Steven Moffat, the writer of the episode, created a temporary Twitter account just for the occasion (@StevenWMoffat). The hashtag was trending at number 1 in the UK! It was even trending higher than the Coronavirus crisis.
Scrap that… WE’RE #1! 😀
(Not sure what #2 is all about. Not sure I want to know 😂)#SaveTheDay #DoctorWho https://t.co/dsDpiccnjY pic.twitter.com/zKJXUkC1c5
— Emily Cook (@Emily_Rosina) March 21, 2020
Zygons are red,
The TARDIS is blue,
What brings us together?@Emily_Rosina and #DoctorWho #SaveTheDay— Head💙💙desk (@MissHeadDesk) March 21, 2020
This was so well received, that more world-wide episode watches have been organized.
I will do my very best to coordinate something of this nature! I have already suggested Rose for 26th March and The Eleventh Hour on 3 April 🙂
And I would love to get fans involved in picking which episodes we watch together too, perhaps with Twitter polls.
Watch this space! https://t.co/p2k8FJtwNJ
— Emily Cook (@Emily_Rosina) March 21, 2020
“Rose”
Because fans around the world felt so connected during a time where it’s so easy to feel disconnected, Emily Cook organized a re-watch of “Rose.” “Rose” was the very first episode of the return of Doctor Who in 2005. It starred Christopher Eccleston as the Doctor and Billie Piper as Rose, his companion. Rose meets the Doctor and realizes that Earth is in danger from an alien attack. After following him around, helping him save the human race, Rose decides she absolutely needs to travel with the Doctor. On March 26th, we all pressed play again as we dove into the episode that resurrected our beloved show. This was special in so many ways. Not only was this the 15th anniversary of the return of the show, but it was also the anniversary of so many of us becoming fans. Following what writer Steven Moffat did, Russel T Davies also created a temporary Twitter account to tweet along with everyone watching. Russel T Davies was the writer of the episode “Rose.” Also, the actor who played Clive Finch, Mark Benton, joined in the tweet along. The hashtag used for this episode was #TipOfALifetime, and it was trending yet again! Those of us watching were able to fade out the noise of quarantine news and enjoy the bliss and nostalgia that this episode brought.
https://twitter.com/StarryEyedGir11/status/1243116807910756353
“Vincent and the Doctor”
March 30, 1853, was when the famous painter Vincent Van Gogh was born. In honor of his birthday, a watch of the 11th Doctor’s episode “Vincent and the Doctor” was organized. Van Gogh was a brilliant artist who was not appreciated in his time. He was tormented by depression, but through his pain, he created gorgeous masterpieces of what life looked like through his eyes. As you can probably guess from the title, this episode is about the Doctor traveling back in time with his companion Amy (played by Karen Gillan) to watch Van Gogh (played by Tony Curran) create his painting of The Church at Auvers. They notice a sinister-looking monster in the window of the painting and go to investigate. This episode is a beautiful ode to Van Gogh’s work, and it touches on mental health. During this tweet along, Karen Gillan joined in along with Matt Smith himself and Bill Nighy (the actor who plays the museum guide). Tony Curran joined as well, along with the writer of the episode Richard Curtis and script editor Emma Freud. Also, Amazon Prime in the United States had the episode available for free so everyone who wanted to watch was able. Using the hashtag #TheUltimeGinger, Whovians could again share their love for a beautiful, exciting episode. Again, this hashtag was trending at number 1 in the UK. In addition to the fun side of tweeting, there were also donations being made for COVID-19 relief to the Film and Television Charity.
📢 Shout out to @Emily_Rosina for organising Doctor Who Lockdown! 📺 You can join in tonight by donating and tweeting along with cast and crew to a fantastic episode of Doctor Who. See you at 7pm for Vincent and the Doctor! 🌻 https://t.co/npEgqSkYO3 pic.twitter.com/ukbe8oQrq2
— The Film and TV Charity (@FilmTVCharity) March 30, 2020
Keep an eye on Twitter for the next watch and tweet alongs! On Friday, April 3rd, we will be watching “The Eleventh Hour.” It will be the 10th anniversary of Matt Smith’s debut as the Doctor.
I’m VERY pleased to say that Steven Moffat will be back, live-tweeting with us for The Eleventh Hour watchalong on Friday 3 April at 7pm (UK time)!#FishCustard #DoctorWho pic.twitter.com/ZHKdMEYnAz
— Emily Cook (@Emily_Rosina) March 30, 2020
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