Revising the backstory, the Doctor succumbs to Clara Oswald's plea to change his mind; and instead he freezes his war-torn home planet in a single moment in time and hides it in a pocket universe, rather than destroy it; the time distortions incurred causes all but his latest incarnation to have no memory of the changed decision.

Rounding out the guest cast are Joanna Page as Queen Elizabeth I and Jemma Redgrave as Kate Stewart, the daughter of central figure Brigadier Lethbridge-Stewart.

It received critical acclaim and has been described by producer Marcus Wilson as a "love letter to the fans" and then-BBC One controller Danny Cohen as an "event drama".

After being resurrected temporarily by the Sisterhood of Karn in the aftermath of a spaceship crash, the Doctor is persuaded by the sisters to take action to end the Time War, offering him a selection of potions to control his regeneration.

"The Last Day" is filmed from the first-person perspective of a soldier who has had a camera implanted in his head when the Gallifrey city of Arcadia falls to the Daleks.

The Eleventh Doctor and Clara Oswald are brought by military organisation UNIT head Kate Stewart to the National Gallery.

There, the Zygons enter three-dimensional paintings made with the Time Lords' stasis cubes, and go into suspended animation to emerge in 2013.

Kate Stewart starts a countdown for a nuclear warhead beneath the Tower that will destroy the advanced technology along with London.

The War Doctor, convinced that detonating the Moment will save many more lives in the longer term, returns to his time.

Echoing the opening of "An Unearthly Child", the first episode of the first Doctor Who serial, a policeman is shown walking past the sign for I.M.

[17] The Tower of London's Black Archive, containing alien artefacts collected by UNIT, has photographs of many of the Doctor's former companions.

[28] On 30 March 2013, a distribution error occurred, and many subscribers to Doctor Who Magazine received the issue five days before the official release date.

[12] Moffat did not want to bring Rose the character back because he felt her story was wrapped up and did not feel comfortable adding to his predecessor Russell T Davies' arc.

However, he liked the concept of bringing back her Bad Wolf persona and felt that Piper needed to be in the special as she symbolised the rebirth of Doctor Who.

[43] Eccleston would later state that he declined due to a combination of it not doing "justice to the Ninth Doctor", as well as still being hurt by BBC's actions during his tenure.

[47] Moffat was developing ideas for the 50th anniversary episode as early as late 2011, when he stated that the team "knew what [they] want[ed] to do" and were "revving up" for the episode in an interview discussing his work on the 2011 film The Adventures of Tintin,[48] and began writing the script for "The Day of the Doctor" in late 2012, announcing that, as a security precaution, he had not produced any copies, instead keeping it on his computer "under lock and key" until it was needed.

"[52] Due in part to the stress surrounding planning the episode, Moffat has gone on record as stating that Series 7 was his least favorite to work on.

[54][further explanation needed] Although Matt Smith and Tennant ended up co-starring in the episode, neither actor was under contract for the series at the time, and at one point Moffat devised a plotline featuring Jenna Coleman as the sole regular cast member in case either declined.

The technique of using Dalek toys as models for filming was a common method of presenting entire armies in the classic series.

[68][69][70] On 26 July, the BBC responded to criticisms by saying the trailer was intended to be exclusive to Comic-Con attendees and that content for all other audiences would be forthcoming at a later date.

[72] On 19 October 2013, a specially made teaser trailer, directed by Matt Losasso, was shown on BBC One, and was then subsequently posted online.

It contained icons from the history of the show and had a monologue by Matt Smith, as well as body doubles and CGI to create shots of previous Doctors.

[76] Furthermore, before the release of the main trailers, a short clip previewed the Eleventh Doctor and Clara examining a seemingly impossible painting.

On 7 November 2013, a video starring Smith in character as the Eleventh Doctor was released promoting the hashtag, promising exclusive content.

[90] The cinema version played with an introduction featuring Dan Starkey as Strax and John Hurt, David Tennant and Matt Smith as the Doctors, respectively.

"[98] Simon Brew of Den of Geek praised the special, calling it "terrific", and stating that it was "pulsating with comedy, ambition, and top to bottom entertainment."

[102] Chris Taylor of Mashable stated that the episode is "one designed to please fans and newcomers alike," and that it "shows why the Doctor is finding his way into ever more homes and hearts.

[107] The box office takings for the cinema screenings totalled £1.7m, which placed it at number three in the UK film chart for the week, behind The Hunger Games: Catching Fire and Gravity.

Selected pieces of score from "The Day of the Doctor", as composed by Murray Gold, were released on 24 November 2014 by Silva Screen Records.

[130] A novelisation of this story written by Steven Moffat, including "The Night of the Doctor" storyline, was released in paperback and digital formats on 5 April 2018 as part of the Target Collection.