This Saturday’s “Day of the Doctor” 50th anniversary Doctor Who special is probably the most important globally televised event in history that doesn’t involve sports, Korean war doctors or the prolonged explanation of the meeting of mothers. The special — which unites both 11th Doctor Matt Smith and 10th (and best) Doctor David Tennant, plus a slew of sure-to-be-surprises, including John Hurt’s awesome-sounding WAR DOCTOR — will be drawing out all the spacetime nerds from all over Brooklyn like a bowl of hand-churned, farm-raised fish fingers and custard.
You’ve got a couple options to celebrate the event, and a few spots to watch the worldwide simulcast for free too: in a true feat of bigger on the inside, The Way Station, Brooklyn’s Doctor Who HQ in Prospect Heights, has even partnered with some neighboring bars for extra screening room.
DOCTOR WHO TRIVIA
50 years is waaaay too many episodes to ever actually be an expert on, but this Doctor Who trivia party at Dumbo’s Powerhouse Arena on Friday focuses only on the post-2005 reboot era. The cost is $10, but it comes not only with a free glass of wine from Dark Horse wines, but also a free Doctor Who adventure book of your choice from Broadway Books.
The event also has a DW photo booth and TARDIS-blue cupcakes and jammy dodgers from One Girl Cookies. Top teams win prizes, costumes are encouraged. Run there you clever boys and girls, and remember your trivia. 8pm, Friday.
SCREENINGS
The Way Station
The good folks at The Way Station are going all out for Saturday’s screening: since the bar itself is rather small, it’s partnering with five nearby bars (aka “away stations”) for free overflow screenings. Also, last time the bar hosted a major Doctor Who screening earlier this year, showrunner Steven Moffat and star Matt Smith showed up!
UPDATE: The other bars showing the screenings are: Bar 706, Branded Saloon, Beast, Sharlene’s and Prospect Place (a new cafe at the corner of Prospect Place and Washington that used to be called Skazzy’s).
Doors open at 1pm, the special starts at 2:50pm.
If you want to go to Way Station proper, wear your favorite Doctor-related cosplay and you could win some prizes (we went to one of these screenings last year, and people do not mess around); best costumes wins free drinks and other prizes. The bar is also be off the Way Station’s Doctor Who Shadowboxes, created by artist Jonathan Fritz.
If you can’t make it Saturday or just want to avoid the crowds, the bar will screen it three more times on Sunday at 2, 4 and 6pm, followed by a special time travel edition of Nerd Karaoke.
Cinemas, in 3D
Let’s say for whatever reason a bar full of half-tipsy Judoon cosplayers is not your ideal way to watch the show. A few theaters around the city are showing it on the big screen, in 3D (but if they’re not those Tennant-era old school 3D specs you should feel cheated), and some in IMAX too. Tickets are near the $20 range (and a lot are sold out already so get moving on it):
Union Square Stadium 14
Empire 25 with IMAX
Kips Bay 15 with IMAX
Village 7
34th Street 14 with IMAX
Anywhere else showing it that we missed? Put it in the comments, if you have a heart or two.
Follow Tim for more weebly wobbly news: @timdonnelly.