<P> "The Day of the Doctor" is a special episode of the British science fiction television programme Doctor Who, marking the programme's 50th anniversary . It was written by Steven Moffat, an executive producer alongside Faith Penhale . It was shown on BBC One on 23 November 2013, in both 2D and 3D . The special was broadcast simultaneously in 94 countries, and was shown concurrently in 3D in some cinemas . It achieved the Guinness World Record for the largest ever simulcast of a TV drama and won the Radio Times Audience Award at the 2014 British Academy Television Awards . </P> <P> The 77 - minute episode shows the last day of the Time War, in which the War Doctor (John Hurt) chooses to kill both Daleks and his own race of Time Lords to end the destructive conflict, paralleling this with a present - day choice by paramilitary organisation UNIT to destroy London rather than allow an alien invasion . Revising the back story, the Doctor succumbs to Clara Oswald's plea to change his mind; and instead, at the last instant of the Time War, he hides his war - torn home planet in time, rather than destroy it . Unfortunately the time distortions incurred causes all but his latest incarnation to have no memory of his changed decision . </P> <P> The episode starred Matt Smith as the Eleventh Doctor and Jenna Coleman as his companion, Clara Oswald . Previous lead actors David Tennant and Billie Piper returned for the episode, Tennant reprising his role as the Tenth Doctor, while Piper portrayed a sentient doomsday weapon called the Moment, projected as an image based on her character Rose Tyler . She is invisible and inaudible to everyone but the War Doctor (John Hurt). Other appearances included a very brief glimpse of the then - upcoming Twelfth Doctor (Peter Capaldi), who would succeed Matt Smith in "The Time of the Doctor", and a guest appearance by Fourth Doctor actor Tom Baker, in his late 70s . Rounding out the guest cast were Joanna Page as Queen Elizabeth I and Jemma Redgrave as Kate Stewart, the daughter of 1970s central figure Brigadier Lethbridge - Stewart . The special also featured the return of the Daleks and the Zygons, shape - shifting aliens who had previously appeared only in Terror of the Zygons (1975). </P> <P> As the episode celebrates fifty years of the programme, it references and alludes to various concepts featured throughout the show's run . It has been described by series producer Marcus Wilson as a "love letter to the fans" and by the controller of BBC One, Danny Cohen, as an "event drama". </P>

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