The point of this story is that despite what the soldier is saying, the reflection is NOT an hallucination. The Time Lords have taken to reanimating the dead. In past episodes it's been said that war crimes were committed by both sides, that the Time Lords fell to the level of the monsters they were fighting.

I feel like this is the beginning of a videogame.

"Welcome to Arcadia, the safest place on Gallifrey!" Reminds me of this: "I never had much liking for the word impregnable...sounds too much like unsinkable." "What's wrong with unsinkable?" "Nothing, as the iceberg said to the Titanic."

These Gallifreyan soldiers have northern English accents like Doctor no. 9! They must be from the North of Gallifrey! "Lots of planets have a North!"

That speck there? Pretend it's a Dalek. No! You pretended too hard! AAUUGHH!

"Arcadia has fallen. I repeat, Arcadia has fallen." "He was there." "Who?" "Me. I was there. On the last day of the Time War. At the Fall of Arcadia."

"don't worry, nothing can get through a sky trench" *daleks get through sky trenches*

From the way the first Dalek is moving and looking around, it's almost like it can't believe it is where it is lol.

I would LOVE a miniseries or spinoff set in the Time War. There is so much potential untapped in this area in Who canon.

The Time Lords and the Daleks were repeatedly changing time every time they lose and these poor soldiers were caught in the middle of it, doomed to repeatedly fight and die.

I love this. Its basically, "Kid, nothing can get through, but if one does, we're screwed."

To everyone asking how the daleks made it through so easily I'm wondering if rassilon actually opened up the sky trenches and allowed the daleks in on purpose so that the council would vote in favor of his "final sanction" idea?

"a bird or something" Funny how nonchalant you can be about something that could possibly result in the Fall of Arcadia.

BLACK DALEK: How did you survive the Time War? DOCTOR: By fighting. On the front line. I was there at the fall of Arcadia. Someday I might even come to terms with that. But you lot ran away! And here it is! Awesome!

I love how paradoxical Time Lords seem. A time machine that is bigger on the inside, space age clockwork, and Sky Trenches.

i want to see a time war spin off series

"Don't worry" they said... "It not a premonition" they said... "It the safest place on Gallifrey" they said....

"Hey new guy who's never even seen this equipment before, lets put you in charge of the lookout post that determines whether we all live or die." Good plan.

The best part of doctor who, is that you never expexct it to be scary, so whenever it decides to drill it into your skull that it's serious, it gives you it's good old fashioned scare, and sends you spiralling back in your chair. Love you doctor who.

I love how this was done like a psychological horror, more of this please!

I can imagine the Dalek commander giving it's briefing to all the Daleks and they look back at it and say "Is getting past the sky trench going to be that easy?".

repeat after me. Not. All. Gallifreyans. Were. TIMELORDS. same as in any society, you have upper crust, middle, and lower, these men werw simply Gallifreyan soldiers. The Timelords were in the center of the fight, these men were meant to guard the homefront. THEY. WERE. NOT. TIMELORDS.

Some people may think this was trashy and rushed. In my opinion, I thought this was very very clever, a very interesting way of positioning the audience on Gallifrey. I honestly feel Steven Moffat and the BBC are knocking the build up to the 50th out of the park.

Time Lords while having insanely powerful stuff, they are weaker than you would expect. They even got invaded by Sontarans at one time in the classic series before the Time War (although the Sontarans had help to get in). And the timelords needed the 4th Doctor's help to fend them off. (Episode: Invasion of Time)

*The Last Day: A mini-episode - The Day of the Doctor prequel* I love how we're seeing bits and pieces of the Time War. Very exciting.

I think one of my favourite things about the Daleks is the reason they’re so scary. They don’t look scary, it’s a bin with a whisk and a plunger, but it’s their views their technology and what they represent that’s terrifying. Daleks are completely evil, narcissistic, sadistic and hateful creatures, they view themselves as the superior race in the universe and will wipe out anything that isn’t them just to prove it. They revel in their own hatred for non Dalek kind that it’s considered art to them, something that’s considered beautiful and worthy of keeping, an example of this being the asylum. But worst of all is that they have the ability to wipe out billions within a blink of an eye, one dalek trapped in a room with hundreds of soldiers armed to the teeth in the latest military grade tech could win because of its technology and determination to rid the universe of anything that isn’t it. They represent the phrase “it’s not because of what it will do but because of what it can do.” And even the time lords know that. Listen to the desperation and fear in that soldier’s voice over just one of these things and it’ll tell you everything you need to know, even a race of beings with the tools and tech needed to kill these things are sent shaking in their boots when just one is on the planet. To the point of sirens being set off over it. You don’t set precautions like that up for one enemy without reason, its appearance maybe ridiculous but it’s everything else that’s scary about it, the fact it could and would wipe out billions of people on its own without a shred of remorse or hesitation for the soul reason whatever it’s killing not being it is more terrifying than any other creature in doctor who and it’s why in my eyes they’re the best and worst enemy in the series.

Was I the only one actually scared when they realised that it really was a dalek?

As soon as he said "safest place on Galifrey" i was like well crap. this is the end.

wait, he said "in the event of your death you head cam memories will be stripped from your cerebral cortex and uploaded to your family drives." does that mean that youtube is his family drives??

At 2:12-2:13 you can see something blew up.

this should turn into a full videogame, and name it the fall of Arcadia, 100% I would buy, even this mini episode looks like a game, with the first person shooter look.

Game over. Press a to restart

"That bird or something"

Because one dalek made it through 400 sheilds and even if they disabled I still have another question THERES BIRDS on GALLIFREY!?

Consider the Cthulhu mythos: just looking at Cthulhu is supposed to drive you insane, and that makes filming him a disappointing shadow of what he's supposed to be. So it's best to not actually show him. I'm feeling the same way about the Time War right now. Perhaps it would have been best to not show any of it.

please make this into a video game

don't know what you are all complaining about. there is nothing wrong with the cgi, it's fine. it's a mini episode, not a hollywood blockbuster. and steven moffat is delivering briliantly, don't know why people feel the need to always complain!

And how did the Daleks get through the sky trenches? Through a plot hole of course!

heh. I know how they did it. The Sky Trenches were the last best defense the Time Lords can invent. Layers or inverted time, some slower, some faster, some reverse, designed so that no living being could live to cross them, weapons fired through them would encounter the quick time ribbons and disperse, living beings would be torn apart by alternate superaging and rejuvinating different parts of the body until the victim died of old age, regressed past infancy, or a mix of the two. Dalek armor was useless against it because the manipulated time fields played havoc with the pilot regardless of armor. The space of the trench itself was literally impossible for a living being to occupy or fire through. It was the perfect defense -- as long as the enemy could be kept on their side of the trench. The Daleks. solved the problem in a very simple way, doing the one thing the Time Lords didn't think to ward against. They sent an empty Dalek suit down, using an automated drone as pilot. One designed to be incredibly simple and last for billions of years if needed. Aging, regressing and slowing had no effect on the drone, and Dalek shells themselves are designed to endure almost anything. Once the drone was through they had a reference point to bring their whole force through the barrier and Arcadia fell.

This looks like the beginning of a video game.

For all the problems this had, I still got chills when he said Arcadia and I realised what was about to go down.

"It's a bird, but pretend it's a Dalek" ...That's no bird.

Well that was.... um... dark...

That was mega awesome, i loved it, the first person point of view was awesome I'm always saying they should do more scary things in 1st person point of view, makes the audience get into more, and seem like they are really there making the whole thing seem really scary.

"What COULD possibly go wrong?"

I think it was important to show, even token fashion, that the Time War affected ordinary people. We see it in this minisode from the perspective of low-ranking soldiers and during the Day of the Doctor when unarmed civilians are shown trying to make their escape from Arcadia.

Imagine if the Doctor had just killed all the Daleks when he first met them, back when they were so wimpy that if they weren't sliding on metal floors, they were immobilized and ordinary humans could just climb inside the shell like it's nothing.

Oh gosh, that mirror scene spooked me so bad!! I had to rewatch a few times to understand what I was seeing.

Thanks for the nightmares

Boy that guy who was all “It’s not a premonition” sure ran for cover as soon as that Dalek showed up. He showed up later, alive, in The Day Of The Doctor after Arcadia had, for all intents and purposes, fallen and the Doctor showed up

man the Time War could have it's own show

Even in Gallifrey these Vlogers spread!

'I was there at the fall of arkadia, some day I might actually come to terms with that!'

1:08 kind of reminds me of the sliders.

Oh, for heaven's sake! Whovians! Time Lords are Gallifreyans, Gallifreyans are Time Lords! Well, let us not forget The Time Ladies, or The Shoboogans and the Outsiders and...How many have you forgotten that their are more than just Gallifreyans on Gallifrey? All Gallifreyans have the ability to regenerate. BUT, what sets them apart between Gallifreyans and Time Lords is Time Travel. All stand before the untempered schism when they reach the age of 8 but only those Gallifreyans who graduate from The Academy earn the title of Time Lord and only those with that title get a TARDIS! Though there might have been times where those who haven't graduated gained a TARDIS either as a hand me down heirloom or from a Gallifreyan junkyard. But why am I telling you all this? ;)

The Doctor was there at the fall of Arcadia. The 50th is gonna be so epic, we finally learn about the time war I can't wait!!!

This would make an amazing FPS.

I watched this for the first time here. I don't think I'll be hitting the replay button. I had a strange, almost physical reaction at the end of this. I felt a little sick and had a cold shiver down the back, don't know why but I did...Interesting...I'm still going to see the episode at the cinema tomorrow. : )

And the fall of Arcadia begins

"By fighting on the front line. I was there at the fall of Arcadia" -The Doctor S1 E6 Dalek

Very late, but this would make for a perfect DW Videogame.

Its true, that's the safest place on gallifrey. that just doesn't mean much when you have a billion Daleks coming in. Its like how there's a safest space to be in a field of landmines. But you're still in a field of landmines.

Years later, my heart still absolutely sinks when the Dalek Army appears behind the first Dalek

On the one hand, this is awesome and I screamed when I heard Arcadia, on the other hand, I don't really like this because they are just too human-like... this is too simple for the Time War, this looks like they could be just advanced humans, and Arcadia should have been a planet, not just a city on Gallifrey... it should have been BIGGER. ...Yeah, I still have very, very mixed feelings about the whole 50th package.

1 Dalek=Destroy Most Protected City of Galifry. 1 Doctor=Millions and Billions of Daleks Destroyed. Therfore 1 Doctor=Billions of Millions of Gallifrys destroyed.

The reasons why the Time Lords had such a hard time fighting the Daleks despite having the most advanced technology in the universe is because their weapons and defensive technological advancements lagged behind some other races and species. Although, to be fair, they were WAY ahead in every other aspect of science and technology! That's how they survived as long as they did in the war.

God, those Daleks looked awful.

"don't be silly, those aren't premonitons. we are timelords, trust me"

Gaius Baltar handed over the secret defense codes to a tall blonde. Daleks may be short and bald, but their plungers could suck the chrome off a trailer hitch. Not saying' I know how they got through the sky trenches, I'm just sayin'

I played the New Soldier in this minisode, good fun to film with a great crew. Hope all enjoyed!

The Time Lords have gone from an all powerful civilization when they were first introduced with the Second Doctor, to nothing more than humans with a little bit of neuro-tech. Even if you argue that these may have just been Gallifreyans and that Time Lords are the upper class, the Time Lords should easily have predicted this and teleported the Daleks away. Or even destroyed them with the infinite power they posses with the eye of harmony.

this feels like the start of a time lord first person shooter... which i'm totally down for despite how shit i am at first person shooters.

idk how many times i jumped out of fear in the past 3 minutes and 41 seconds

This was awesome. The CGI was fine. I read the comments beforehand and the Daleks looked decent. Keep in mind this was a quick mini-sode. They didn't have to break the bank on this.

Today at 19.50 GMT over 500 million Whovians from over 80 countries will gather. Actors, Musicians, Footballers, CEOs and even The Queen herself will witness this milestone, this achievement in British Television and Culture. This is The Moment, this is The Day of The Doctor.

looks almost like the Time Lords were building their own versions of Daleks ( or Cybermen ) or at least super - soldiers before the fall.

I honestly wish we had a full first-person Doctor Who episode.

Besides the Citadel Guards, we finally see a Gallifreyan Military and man this really need a Time War series with John Hurt. This is when Moffat still has it as a talented Who writer with characters and twist. I cannot say the same with Series 6-10. Then again, Moffat’s era is Gold compared to Chibnall’s !

and for once I liked matt smiths acting. Not over the top. Smith sometimes gets it right but other times I think hes too kooky...but thank god Tom Baker was bought back. My dr whom I grew up on and loved. Hope he is used again sometime. First Mcgann and now Tom Baker. Moffat, great trick pretending they were not gonna feature. For a minute, when hurt was regenerating, I thought that ecclestone was going to come back for it too LOL Oh well, a few back is better than none.

1:08 What the HECK?????

"They're not premonitions" Ha!

struggling to believe time lords are aliens, here they just act like normal human soldiers

I'm watching Doctor Who since 2017. It was a 10th series. I thought that I have seen all doctor who content that can be possible to see, but this one is like the brand new for me. First time watching

They did such a good job building up to this! Can't waint until I have more free time!

THIS is the kind of shit that made me a Moffat fan in the first place! We need scary Moffat back for Series 8.

Not gonna lie, I think a video game based on Gallifrey would be awesome. Only if they did it right though

"I was there at the fall of Arcadia. Someday I might even come to terms with that." I am bursting out of my skin waiting for day of the doctor!

There's 1000% chance that I'm gonna bawl my eyes out at the final episode for Eleven.

I actually like how the Time War's final days weren't anything grand and majestic like the rest of it, just one final effort. It really underlines the futility and stupidity of the entire war. It's just another planetary invasion and destruction, at the cost of most of the universe.

Might've been even more effective if you heard an echo of "EXTERMINATE" as the sound of static sets in.

Saying that your defenses are impenetrable is the worst thing you could do...it make the place more of a challenge and a prize. Like Constantinople

3:04- Oh hai Dalek! 3:24- Oh dear lord, they're OVER 9000!

This would have been cool as a video game, give the player really easy tasks and then an unwinable challenge.

I originally couldn't take the daleks that seriously because of their design but after seeing how stong they are and the level of destruction they're capable of I can understand why people are scared of them.

Brilliant! This is one of the best Doctor Who episodes of all times!!!

1:08 Probably one of the horrors of the Time War being the "Horde of Travesties" that the Doctor mentioned in the End of Time, probably time lord soldiers modified to survive over the regeneration limit in the battlefield.

This was excellent.

What I never understood is why 'one Dalek' would be enough to destroy an entire Time Lord city. "We're the best defended place on Gallifrey, but not a man among us can hit an eye stalk and our weapons produce less explosive yield than 20th Century Earth tech. One Dalek would flatten us." They make the statement so pointedly, and so often. You can't help but think it would have made much more sense for the soldiers of Arcadia to be overconfident, and perhaps even...a little bored? "Don't worry recruit, this is the safest place on Gallifrey. The Dalek fleet? Oh, it's up there - they attack us, day after day, but almost nothing gets through a sky trench. Nothing in HISTORY has ever gotten through two, and we've got 400 of them. I hope you joined up to make beds and polish boots - the truth is, I doubt you'll ever see real combat. - - - Would you look at that! One of the monsters actually made it! Must have tried some kind of temporal shift and got lucky... Everyone, to the heavy artillery - one of you gets to shoot something today! 100 credits to the soldier who brings it down!" THEN, you do the reveal of the rest of the swarm, and the cheering and the excitement turn to panic as they realize the trenches have fallen. The bored soldiers who a moment ago were wishing for some excitement now face this horrifying reality. It just makes so much more sense to me in terms of Time Lord capability.

That was freaking cool. I loved it. This is a great way to deal with some of the big questions of the Time War and how it all unfolded. Arcadia was a big thing.

Thank you.