Doctor Who At 50: Today Is ‘The Day of the Doctor!’

Mark November 23, 2013 on your calendar: Today is a landmark date in television history.

Fifty years ago today, Doctor Who launched on the BBC as a children’s “tea time” show. Today it’s the longest-running science fiction series of all time.

BBC and BBC America have been celebrating with new specials and marathons all week long (all year long, really) — but today is the BIG day. A brand new, 75-minute episode airs to mark the occasion. “The Day of the Doctor” stars Matt Smith, David Tennant, and John Hurt as three different incarnations of the titular character, alongside companions Jenna Coleman (Clara Oswald) and Billie Piper (Rose Tyler).

The episode will have a global simulcast in more than 70 countries, airing at 7:50pm on BBC One in the U.K. In the United States, that’s 2:50pm Eastern time today on BBC America, 1:50pm Central time, and 11:50am on the West Coast.

If you can’t watch the episode in the middle of the day, BBC America will rebroadcast the episode starting at 7:00pm (6 Central). This 2-hour event will include exclusive “Inside Look” interviews with Matt Smith and David Tennant during the broadcast. (The U.S. debut of Atlantis follows at 9/8c.)

Watch all the trailers, check out the photo gallery, and read more about the episode in our Doctor Who show guide! (Also don’t miss the 7-minute prequel webisode, starring Eighth Doctor Paul McGann.) Then head over to our forum at GateWorld to talk about “The Day of the Doctor” after it has aired.