A buzz filled the theatre at Mission Valley Cinema this Saturday. Not just the metaphoric buzz used to describe an anticipatory crowd, but also the buzz of who-knows-how-many replica sonic screwdrivers — iconic to the Doctor Who series.

Doctor Who is a British science-fiction series that follows the Doctor, who has been portrayed, at this point, by 13 men, through space and time in his bigger-on-the-inside TARDIS, which disguises itself as a 1950s police box.

On May 18, fans of the show stared agog at their screens, jaws collectively dropped, as the season 33 finale ended with one of the biggest cliffhangers in the show’s history. Show-runner Steven Moffat teased us with a big, “TO BE CONTINUED NOVEMBER 23RD,” after introducing the legendary John Hurt as an unnumbered, forgotten incarnation of the Doctor, who we later call “The War Doctor.”

Most fans knew Nov. 23 to be the date of Doctor Who’s 50th anniversary, which would be celebrated with a film-length episode, “The Day of the Doctor,” written by Moffat.

Within the first 30 seconds, the audience saw no fewer than five references to the first episode — one of which being a policeman walking past Coal Hill School, where everything began.

From that point on, I knew the film would be chock-full of all sorts of throwbacks to the classic series, which I had worried might not happen.

The special featured the return of fan-favorites David Tennant, who portrayed the tenth incarnation of the Doctor, and Billie Piper, who portrayed Ninth and Tenth Doctors’ companion Rose Tyler.

Moffat had only ever written a few episodes for Tennant and even fewer for Piper, so I was apprehensive about how he might go about portraying them. But, of course, Moffat didn’t disappoint. We see Tennant playing the lovesick Doctor as always, carrying on with a romantic affair with Elizabeth I (Joanna Page). As for Piper’s performance, I didn’t expect it to be at all what it was, but it was my favorite of hers by far.

Currently portraying the Eleventh Doctor, Matt Smith also returned alongside current companion Clara Oswald (Jenna-Louise Coleman). Smith’s performance is just about flawless, as he plays off his co-stars exceptionally well.

The episode centers on an invasion of Earth, staged by Zygons — creatures Classic Who fans hadn’t seen onscreen since 1975 — as well as the last day of the Time War, which The War Doctor supposedly ended centuries ago by destroying his planet, an act of genocide that would haunt the Doctor for his ninth, tenth and eleventh incarnations.

Funny, nostalgic and plot-driven, the episode is utterly flawless. And, more importantly, it puts the show on track. More than just looking back on the past 50 years, Moffat ensured the show would continue forward.

When the show returned in 2005 after a pretty long hiatus, then-show-runner and developer Russell T. Davies incorporated a new concept into the show: the Time War. Davies depicted the Doctor as a last-of-his-kind, lonely-god figure. Though that made for some moving stories, it was good to see Moffat effectively undo Davies’ change in an artful and compelling way. And even better to see this character finally have a purpose beyond aimlessly wandering about the universe.

Moffat also played well off of the deus ex machina Davies used in 2008’s “Journey’s End,” making for a brilliant and exciting climax and, in some way, resolution to much of the show’s prevailing conflict of the past eight years.

To avoid giving too much away, all I’ll say about the cameos is that they are perfect. They had us looking to the past and future, which makes sense for a show about time travel. 

It was also nice to see Hurt’s Doctor regenerate into the Ninth Doctor. With the inclusion of Moffat’s “Night of the Doctor” short, which featured Paul McGann’s regeneration into the War Doctor, and the upcoming Christmas special, which will feature Smith’s regeneration into Peter Capaldi as the Twelfth, that makes three regeneration scenes in one year. That’s pretty impressive in my book.

All in all, the episode could not have been better. Moffat again asserts himself as one of the most clever television writers alive, using some of the finest actors Britain has to offer to create a memorable and beautiful ode to the show’s saga.

The episode was simulcast across the globe, winning the show a Guinness world record and providing fans the opportunity to watch the episode at the exact same time.

If the Christmas special, also Moffat’s handiwork, is half as good as “The Day of the Doctor,” I’m sure I’ll love it.