On Saturday, November 23, millions of people tuned into the BBC for Doctor Who’s 50th Anniversary Special. From cosplayers sporting bowties and fezzes to long-time fans who had been watching the show from Day One in 1963, the fiftieth was a very exciting time for Whovians around the world.

Doctor Who is a BBC sci-fi show about an alien time traveler called the Doctor. The Doctor explores the vast expanse of time and space in his time machine, called the TARDIS. The Doctor usually travels with one or two human companions, and together they get into breathtaking adventures in other times and on other planets, usually encountering some nasty villains along the way.

Doctor Who is currently written by the infamous Steven Moffat (who is also the head writer of BBC’s Sherlock). Moffat did an excellent job with the fiftieth — with an audience ranging from die-hard fans who memorize every detail of the show to newcomers who just started watching this summer — he wrote an engrossing, humorous, and bittersweet tribute to Doctor Who’s long run.

Moffat also managed to totally turn the show around — the ending of the 50th promises new adventures, and a new quest that the Doctor has to fulfill.  Peter Capaldi, the next Doctor who will be introduced in the 2013 Christmas special, already has his work cut out for him — with a new story arc that will reference how the Doctor is growing up in a sense.  He will change from the jester, Matt Smith, into a more mentally mature and physically older figure.

In Day of the Doctor, viewers got a special treat because the story was not focused around just one regeneration of the Doctor, but three different Doctors, Matt Smith, the current Time Lord and his companion Clara (Jenna-Louise Coleman) were part, but Smith was also joined by the illustrious David Tennant, who was the tenth Doctor and acted the part from 2005 to 2010. Billie Piper, who was the Doctor’s companion in seasons one and two was also in the episode, but she did not act her former role as Rose Tyler, and instead took on a new part. A new face also appeared — John Hurt. Hurt, who was introduced at the end of series seven in April, is basically the 8.5 regeneration of the Doctor, and is an enigma of unwritten tales up to the Day of the Doctor. All of the lead actors gave brilliant performances, leaving the audience breathless by the end.

I did not get the chance to catch the day of the Doctor on BBC America on Saturday, but I bought tickets to go see it with a group of friends at the movies on Monday. It was amazing — from the moment when I first walked inside the theater, pretty much all of the people there were sporting some form of Doctor Who merchandise. Among the sea of fezzes and tweed jackets, there were also striped scarves from the Tom Baker Era, and knit TARDIS hats. The movie was in 3D, and there were other features such as an intro with Matt Smith and David Tennant, a behind the scenes featurette after the credits, and Movie Etiquette 101 by everyone’s favorite grenade-loving Sontaran, Strax. The theater was packed and there was camaraderie in the air, especially with the collective gasps, laughter, and shock at all of the same moments — from the time Tennant was making fun of Matt Smith’s TARDIS to when everyone clapped during the final scene.

Most of all, the Day of the Doctor really goes into what it means to be the Doctor. The Doctor is the bringer of hope. Even at the point in his history when there was nothing left for him, and he has committed an unthinkable act, he found that what he needed centuries later when he met the only person who could assure him everything would turn out okay — himself.