We watch the last half of “The Five Doctors”, the 20th anniversary special that posits the eternal query: “If Tom Baker can’t be bothered to show up, is it really all that special?” As we ponder that question, the Doctor encounters (yet doesn’t recognize) his childhood bestie, the Doctor encounters phantom companions he shouldn’t know that they shouldn’t recognize him, the Doctor encounters a clumsily-plot-necessary Sarah Jane Smith, the Doctor encounters unused filmed footage, all whilst the then current Doctor saves the day after encountering all that prior stuff (spoilers...?). My brain still hurts trying to make sense of the plot more that forty years after the original airing.

We watch the first two episodes of the 20th anniversary serial “The Five Doctors” in which the Doctors and their assorted companions get transmatted to the infamous Death Zone on Gallifrey... but none of them actually die? As said surviving is going down, the Doctor acts sexist, the Doctor attends the Brig’s poorly attended retirement party, the Doctor drags Sarah Jane behind Bessie, the Doctor gets stuck in the transporter buffer (that’s for you Trekkies), all whilst the Doctor is going through a “phase”. And that’s about as clear as the plot was to me.