The Night of the Doctor

During the Time War, the Eighth Doctor attempts to rescue pilot Cass, whose spacecraft is crashing into the planet Karn.

The Sisterhood offer the Doctor a selection of potions which, if consumed before he expires, will not only trigger his regeneration into a new form, but allow him to choose which characteristics his next incarnation will have.

Saluting the memory of his past companions, he drinks the potion and regenerates into a new incarnation, who wears Cass's bandolier, and is "Doctor No More".

[2] Before regenerating, the Doctor mentions Charley Pollard, C'rizz, Lucie Miller, Tamsin Drew, and Molly O'Sullivan, his companions in audio dramas produced by Big Finish Productions.

[3] This marks the first time that original characters from the Big Finish audio series have been mentioned in the television show.

[6] An archival photograph of John Hurt as Rodion Raskolnikov in the 1979 BBC adaptation of Crime and Punishment was used to represent the reflection of the young War Doctor.

The mini-episode was intended to be released during the actual week of the anniversary, but was brought forward as its existence, as well as the surprise presence of McGann as the Eighth Doctor, were about to be leaked.

McGann's reprise performance was met with acclaim; fans of the episode campaigned for the BBC to grant the Eighth Doctor his own spin-off series, with one petition on Change.org accumulating over 15,000 signatures.

[12] BBC America aired the episode on 25 December 2013 as part of an expanded broadcast of "The Day of the Doctor" including deleted scenes excluded from the normal US broadcast honouring the 50th Anniversary as well as Matt Smith's final episode which aired immediately following it and his farewell special.