The Extended Trailer

This one is almost twice as  long as the one from this morining, and also a bit more spoilery. But in a good way. 

One thing which came to my mind while watching the trailer is that Moffat said that he wants the special to "be the first step on the next journey. So looking at the trailer in this way, what if Moffat is bringing back Gallifrey. The idea would fit. After all, John Hurt's Doctor seems to be the one who destroys, sorry, time-locks it, and it takes two other Doctors to stop him, because they have figured out another way of ending the Time War, one which does not require the end of Gallifrey... At the same time I hope I'm wrong. Because it would make the story of the 1oth Doctor a bit dodgy, given the fact that one of the last things he does is to make sure that Gallifrey stays timelocked. And if we change this, then the Time Lords do not need the Master to bring their home planet back into exitance,  i.e. the Master does not conquer the earth, the whole radiation stuff never happens, because of what Wilf does not go into the chamber and does not end up knocking 4 times... Unless the Mighty Moff has another far less logical, timey-wimey solution for the plot. Let's wait and see.

'The Day of the Doctor' Marketing Campaign Is On

Once a wise man said it never rains, but pours. So the official Doctor Who marketing campaign of the BBC has started yesterday evening and we still can't see the end of it. 

It all started when yesterday the guys responsible for the BBC Wales twitter account tweeted:

 I.e. we'll get  a 'The Day of the Doctor' trailer this weekend. After the Comic-Con trailer disappointment this summer (they got an exclusive trailer, in fact so exclusive that it didn't even made it to the internet) this is more than just.

Additionally, there are some rather interesting interviews with the Fab Four of Who and Joenna Page. And if you prefer watching rather than reading them (because it's worth it) you can do so, by clicking on the names.

We have Steven Moffat talking about writing 'The Day of the Doctor', the reason for bringing the Zygons back, John Hurt's Doctor, and how it was to have two, well, actually 3 Doctors on set at the same time. And last but not least, how and where he's planning to spend November 23rd.

Matt Smith, David Tennant and Jenna Coleman chat about  the great time they had filming the special, the chemistry on and off set,  and how it was like to film in 3D.

And then there is Joenna Page *mild spoiler alert, seriously* who is Queen Elizabeth I in this year's special, just in case you didn't know. Actually, the whole interview should come with a 'mild spoiler alert' sign. But once you know that Queen Elizabeth I is part of the story, it's not difficult to come  up with what some part of the special will have to be about. After all, Elizabeth I has some sort of a reputation in the Whoniverse. Her describing the actually freezing picnic scene made me giggle. Because that's yet another thing Who is quite famous for and they seem to have been eager to keep up the tradition.

And last but not least, this is a friendly reminder that the BBC is asking us with this video to get #SaveTheDay trending on twitter. I think a note on Who's official site would have done it all the same...

UPDATE: And yet another Strax's field report. This time about the Zygons. Is it just me or am I getting too old for this?

Re-watching 'A Study in Pink'

Statistically speaking, Sherlock may be the most watched TV series on earth. Seriously. Just start to imagine how often you can finish watching all Sherlock seasons in one year. And it's been three since 'A Study in Pink'. 

Watching an episode again and again and again has side effects. And I'm not only referring to the irresponsible amount of Sherlock references on tumblr or pinterest, by which one may assume that Sherlock does not have only 6 episodes by know, but six seasons. At least. But, I'm rather trying to hint at the many many details to which you start paying attention when watching an episode a second time. And frankly, most Sherlockians have seen the complete series a bit more than that. In fact, most may say they've lost count.

So, to cut a short story even shorter, here is a list of a few things which struck me as odd when re-watching Moffat's masteripeice 'A Study in Pink'.

• Why did the bottles of the other victims contain more than one pill?
   
• Sherlock and Watson leave 221b Bakerstreet at daylight to visit the crime scene. And all of a sudden it turns dark. Sure, it's winter, but how far can Brixton Lauriston Gardens be? I know, according to Google Maps, about 30 minutes... My point is, however, still standing.
   
• Why should Anderson be wearing a different deo when Sally is the one who did not make it home last night?
   
• Why is the pink lady's umbrella white when she has a pink suitcase. Come on. It's more difficult to get a pink suitcase than a pink umbrella. Have you never been shopping?
   
• I love the fact that Anderson (well, Jonathan Aris) can pronounce the German word 'Rache' correctly.
   
• And, I also love that Sherlock, the big genius, follows anyone's first instinct, and 'decides' not to trust the cabbie when taking the bottle the cabbie apparently wanted to take himself, i.e. the one he did not offer to Sherlock. According to Sherlock it was not a double bluff. Just a bluff.  It's either that or he is the one having trust issues and not John. Then again, anyone would find it difficult to trust a murderer. 

The Show Must Go On

Ever since Peter Capaldi has been announced to be the 12th Doctor (and Hurt's non-Doctor assumedly increasing the number of used regenerations by one) the question of how Moffat (or the then showrunner in charge) is going to avoid the 12 regenerations rule has been on fans' minds.  After all, nobody expects the show to drop dead when Peter Capaldi will decide to bid his farewells.

And while it's not difficult to come up with an explanation of why the Doctor could have more than 12 regenerations, it's difficult to find an option without changing the show itself. 

Because the problem with saying that the Time Lords were in charge of the 12 regenerations rule and with them gone, the Doctor can have as many regenerations as he pleases is not that it's terribly unoriginal (at least for the Mighty Moff's standards) - well, that too - but that it would grant the Doctor immortality, at least in the right circumstances. And when dying stops having consequences (important consequences, I'm not saying that getting a new *body* is not a consequence, but there may be more important ones, erm, like ending a life) then dangerous situations stop being dangerous. Life is the most valuable thing someone can have. And as soon as it stops being at stake people simply tend to care a lot less than before.

Unfortunately, even Neil Gaiman's idea is failing to address the problematical immortal part of this issue:

MY OPINION (which is not Canon) is that the regeneration limit is a lot like the speed limit. You can break it, but things get a lot more dangerous if you do. The Time Lords were the traffic cops: they enforced the limit. With them gone, the Doctor can keep regenerating beyond 13, but with consequences.

On the plus side, he suggests that regenerating more than 12 times should have 'consequences' but apparently in his opinion dying should not be one of them. And that's not a good point to be at as a writer.

Let's not forget that we already had an immortal character, the famous Captain Jack Harkness. Plot-wise I do not think it did him any good. And that Torchwood isn't running anymore just emphasises the point.

One of the most important things from which Moffat's episodes derive their suspense is that the Doctor can die. Not only in an 'oh River*, put that gun down'-way, but that he can run out of regenerations. He is not immortal. Dying matters to him. Not only because it makes him change, but also because every regeneration brings him one step closer to his maximal 'life expectancy'. Unlike Superman, or Spiderman he has one. Unfortunately, the moment the Doctor stops having a life-expectancy the biggest difference between him and Marvel's superheroes stops to exist. And I'm not sure if we'd like to see the Doctor being turned into a superhero.
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* or taking the 11th Doctor into account that may read *oh Doctor* instead

Moffat on Continuty Fixes, Scarfs and Shoelaces

Ladies and Gentlemen, this is the Nerdcubed team interviewing the Mighty Moff.

And actually, as nerds go, the big, important questions which have been nagging Who's fanbase do not get asked, because it's a well known fact that Moffat would not answer them. So, why waste time and ask him in the first place.

But there is some new information we get. The Moff promies that the Peter-Capaldi-in-'The Fires of Pompeii'-thing will be addressed in the future...

He also says why the Doctor seems to have a certain fondness for humans and Earth: we look like his people and additionally, he points out that we do not see those stories in which he interacts with 'jellymonsters on jellyplanet' which are, 'frankly just too boring to watch'. And yes, those are actual quotes.

One of the most shocking things (as far as I'm concerned) is that Steven Moffat considers the TARDIS to be a machine which closely resembles a living creature, while the series actually makes us suggesting the opposite (a living thing which resembles a machine): after all, the Doctor states several times that the TARDIS cannot be built and that at least parts of it are grown, and  biologically, it's only living things which grow.  At the same time, Moffat says that he sees the TARDIS as a party animal who thinks about the Doctor as her pet.

The Moff does not approve of the popular regeneration theory, saying that the Doctor gets close to immune to whatever has induced the regeneration process. He mentions that in 'The End of Time' was not the first time the Doctor had to regenerate due to a radiation overdose.

Then we have some comments on the role of the Silence when it comes to Who's several continuity fixes, why Doctor Who and the show's ratings are not going down, and that Moffat is not planning to leave a mark on the UK's other cultural landmarks.

'Who' Minisodes

One of the reasons why Whovians are so keen on the Beeb releasing the Who DVD boxsets is that to shorten the ridiculously long waits between seasons (and episodes; season 8 won't start till autumn 2o14, just saying) they generally feature minisodes. And also this year Moffat and his team have not disappointed us. So, dear fellow Whovians, here they are. This year's 3 minisodes. Please, press the play button and enjoy.

The quality is a mess, and this year they are a bit silly, less spectacular and informative. But having them is still better than having nothing to watch till 'The Day of the Doctor'.

Moffat on the Past and the Future

With  'WorldScreen' getting the Mighty Moff to talk Who the interview-frenzy continues and they are contributing some rather interesting reading material.  Here are some snippets. 

On Moffat's first year as Who's headwriter:

I remember thinking, if these two things screw up, I’m finished! [...] This could be a really terrible year. I could crash Doctor Who and screw up Sherlock Holmes and if I’d just shot Daniel Craig in the face I’d have ended all of British culture. But it didn't work out that way.

On what Mattt Smith has brought to the role:

The last thing anybody thought when we cast the 26-year-old was that what we’d get is a return to the eccentric old boffin that he is at heart, the hipster boffin.

 On casting the new Doctor:

At the end of the day the objective is to convince the nation that somehow, despite the apocalyptic change, it really is the same person.

There are also some Sherlock bits, like  how he and Mark Gatiss came up with the idea and how updating it felt like a natural process.

Then we get a comment on the changing nature of watching TV schedule-free:

Your bookcase doesn't tell you when you can read. Why should your television tell you when you can watch? We’re heading towards the world of the download, and that’s a good thing. It will favor quality, I believe.

And, last but not least, why he thinks Who to be the most perfect  TV show ever envented:

It is the show you can’t kill. [...] It is dependent on no individual. You give it your all for the years that you do it and when you leave it won’t even notice [...] Not only can you recast the Doctor, you can create a Doctor who is appropriate for the times. He can always be modern. He can always be new. It’s an ancient tradition and yet it’s a brand-new iteration of that tradition. So it feels old and new at the same time.

But go on, and read the whole stuff, even though some of the statements may appear familiar to you, especially when you've been following Comic Con. However, some of the background-information has been utterly new to me, and there's a chance it will be new to you too. 

Moffat on Why We Didn't Get a Female Doctor

Yesterday 'The Telegraph' was running an article in which they where citing Moffat describing why he did not choose an actress as the 12th Doctor: 

I didn’t feel enough people wanted it [...] Oddly enough, most people who said they were dead against it were women.

I for my part am glad that Peter Capaldi is not a Petra Capaldi, however, I can't help feeling a bit disappointed about Moffat not mentioning to have any other reasons than peer-pressure. I mean, the Doctor has been a guy for 1000 plus years. Why should I change that, or even want to change that? It has become part of his identity. Sure, some may think it to be fun and the audience could cope. But could he? Could the stories? Wouldn't that be the famous jump over the shark? 

Changing his gender is not necessary, not story-wise and even not gender-policy-wise. For isn't the basic idea of emancipation that there is no difference between men and women, both of them have theoretically the same abilities, the same potential? So why should it be better to make him a her?

I simply fail to come up with a compelling reason. Maybe one day someone will. But I hope, for the sake of the fans and the show, that it will be a good one.

Moffat on His Choice

To many fans, especially those who weren't spoiled by the leaks, Moffat casting Peter Capaldi as the 12th Doctor came as a surprise. Well, I do not know about you and your friends but if someone would have made a poll among my circle of friends, their guess would have been a less experienced actor. 

However, it's certainly not only them, but all Whovians who are keen on the story behind Moffat's choice, and fortunately 'DigitalSpy' makes sure we get served. 

Maybe the most burning question coming to our mind is if Moffat's big plan was to go for an older actor as the Doctor all along. His answer:

I  think it's good that we've got a different age [...] after Matt showed us all how to be a 20s Doctor. I don't know what you would do after that, because he was so perfect. [...] So it makes life easier, I suppose, that Peter is different. But that wasn't the reason.

And, the most important question of all of them; how is the 12th Doctor going to be like? Moffat does not know yet. 

And what will he wear?

Clothes. Anything else would be just really shocking!

The New Tenant of the TARDIS

The die is cast and after a ridiculous life-event we know that Peter Capaldi is the 12th Doctor. As things are at the moment, with Hurt's 'Doctor' increasing the number of the Doctor's completed regenerations, he also may be the last, strictly speaking, canonical Doctor. After all, we're still waiting for the BBC's emergency protocols to become effective and the Mighty Moff coming up with a solution for the 'odd 12 regenerations rule', as RTD used to call it.

So who is the new guy? If his name does not ring a bell to you, then you're either not living in the UK and/or are not familiar with British TV history. I'm sorry if that sounds harsh, but Capaldi is a legend.

Which is, ironically, the only, really, the only downside I can see in casting him. For nobody will refer to the big Peter Capaldi as “the guy from Doctor Who”. 

Apart from that I'm surprisingly pleased with Moffat's decision, because his choice fulfils my only requirement: I wanted someone who's a fan of the show. And Capaldi is famous for being in love with Doctor Who.

He's also Scottish, which is amusing as now we're having a Scottish showrunner, we had a Scottish actress playing a Scottish companion and this is the 2nd Scottish actor playing the Doctor within... has it been 4 years? I'm not complaining. So the only remaining question is whether he'll be allowed to keep his accent. Would that be fair?

And he's in his mid-50ies. Actually, that's the second, even though rather small, reason why Moffat's choice is a bit surprising. At least, for a change, nobody is complaining about the new guy being too young. And Capaldi looks as if he'd start every day with jogging ten miles, so he'll be certainly able to keep up with all the required running. No worries about that.

But it's somewhat unexpected that Moffat decided against 'playing it safe'. I thought he'd bend to the public pressure and cast someone looking 25. Because, let's face it, some of those people who have been regularly  watching Doctor Who for a few years now have not spent their Saturday afternoon in front of the telly because of the TV show's awesome concept or Moffat's writing abilities. But those, mostly female, viewers wanted to see Matt Smith in a bowtie saving the universe, or whoever needed to be saved that weekend. There will be certainly people watching Doctor Who because of Capaldi. But it makes this decision nevertheless a risk. One worth taking, IMHO, because it serves the story. We like to forget that our favourite 1000plus years old Time Lord is not 25 any more. At the same time Capaldi has already proven to be an excellent actor so I have no doubts that we won't be missing the Doctor's, let's call it bouncy qualities in season 8.

The last remaining question to tackle is his costume. Will the 12th Doctor still think bow ties are cool? And who's for combining them with a pair of blue jeans, which is the only clothing item I cannot remember the Doctor has been ever wearing. Will he go back to the tradition of having a favourite intensifier? Or a catchphrase? Sorry, that's more than just one question. But they are exiting ones.

So, I don't care if Peter Capaldi was not on your personal list, or if there may be other, much better people out there, in your opinion. I don't care because ATM I'm too curious to find out how Moffat will make this work.

'io9's Comic Con Interview

And, last but not least, also 'io9' did some questioning of the 'Who' cast, with some rather interesting stuff. 

First of all, Moffat promises to tackle some of the yet unanswered questions in this year's Christmas special. Maybe not all, though. However, I'm a bit disappointed that he does not have any plans of bringing River back. We're still waiting to find out why she knows his name. And I thought that Matt Smith's last episode would have been the perfect opportunity for that; with all the hints at the Doctor's name. But maybe that's just the Moff doing what he does best: lying and not giving any teasers away.

Then he talks about the despairing fact of not having learnt anything since 2oo5 when he started writing for 'Doctor Who'. Its episodes are so different form each other that he wonders how he's been able to write so much for 'Who' and every time still needing to figure out anew what's working and what's not.

The second part of 'io9's article is them talking to Matt and Jenna about if and how Clara knowing 'everything' about the Doctor's past (and his future?) changes the relationship between the Doctor and his companion.

'Doctor Who' @ 'Nerd HQ'

Maybe one of the most interesting panels (and the longest video I'm going to post) is 'Nerd HQ's Conversation for a Cause; (just in case you're interested, the video starts at 2:10.) And even though it's about as long as a regular 'Doctor Who' episode, it's definitely the most entertaining one you'll find on the net, which makes it worth watching. There are many usual questions but also some more extraordinary ones. I for my part have never heard the story of how the Mighty Moff got involved with writing for 'Doctor Who'.

 Besides, as usual with American interviews, we are nicely reminded that Americans and Britons do not speak the same language. Bucket list, anyone? And I'm really going to miss watching Matt and the Moff teasing each other. They are an entertaining match.

But my personal highlight is when the host asks if they are feeling a responsibility to this cultural phenomenon and Matt's answer is 'yes, because these people get angry if we get it wrong.' I guess that captures the idea of writing for 'Doctor Who' pretty well. I love Moffat still thinking it to be an honour to be a part of Doctor Who.

"Doctor Who will go on perfectly well without all of us".

Now that's a perfectly modest statement coming from the most powerful guy in the Whoniverse.

Besides, calling the Mighty Moff Steven does not sound right, IMHO. Everyone can call themselves Steven. But there's just one Big Moff.

Then there is Moffat saying that he has been always trying to avoid writing scenes in which the Doctor and River are alone in the TARDIS.

"What does that woman do to him the moment the door is shut?"

And the master of all catch-phrases reveals the secret that he's actually not a big fan of them, and that he's trying to avoid them. Those used by Matt's Doctor are entirely Matt's own fault. 

'Sherlock' New's Round-Up

'Fashion&Style' did a great job in summarising the latest developments regarding 'Sherlock'.

The bad news is that due to certain delays in filming (and script writing) it seems we won't get season 3 till 2014.

But, as we have plenty of time at hand to analyse every single detail the 'Sherlock' team is throwing at us, which is remarkably little, it may be of interest that 'F&S' notes

Andrew Scott recently revealed that the “Sherlock” cast has been banned from sharing plot points with friends and family.

Moriarty died in season 2, as we all remember. I guess shooting yourself in the head is as fatal as it can get. So why should Andrew Scott be familiar with plot points of season 3 in the first place? Are we getting flash-backs? Please, don't tell me he survived too, because if yes then Moffat's inability of killing people is getting out of hand. However, the flash-back theory seems to be more likely.

So, let's the wait continue. 

Entertainment Weekly's Moffat Interview

This is Entertainment Weekly's famous Steven Moffat interview in which he actually answers some really interesting questions. 

You don't believe me, right? After reading it my first though was who is that guy and what has he done with the Mighty Moff? Because some answers are so much not like him. Like, the first one: 

EW: When do you hope to announce the identity of the new Doctor? 

Moffat: Unless we have an insane plan, we’ll announce a new Doctor within days of finalizing the new Doctor. Because it’s very very hard to keep any kind of a secret. The last time, when we chose Matt, we had to hold over on that one, because there was a Christmas Doctor Who special called “The Next Doctor” for which Russell was playing the game of pretending it was going to be David Morrissey. So we couldn’t deflate that. [Laughs]. But I think we’ll go public pretty fast.

Moffat is usually the first to admit to have an insane plan. Actually, I would have bet  my 'Doctor Who' DVD box set collection on him trying to keep the name of the actor stepping into Matt Smith's shoes a secret as long as possible (i.e. till Christmas? August 2014?) Well, on a more realistic level, my guess was rather a few weeks after casting him (yes, I'm still ignoring other possibilities for the moment) but not days.

And on that issue, Moffat has officially not ruled out the possibility of having a female Doctor. He says: 

I’m not going to comment at all on the direction we’re going. Sorry!

 The other questions are less exciting, but nonetheless interesting (will Matt Smith have to wear a wig, when and how did Steven Moffat learn about his intentions of leaving, does Moffat have any plans of leaving 'Who', (not yet *whoo-hoo*), what was it like to have two Doctors on one set, just to name some of them). 

And even though I won't post the whole interview, it's worth reading. After all, it's one of those few official statements on all things 'Who' (and some 'Sherlock') we'll get this long summer.

The Mighy Moff's Dream Comes True...

According to the Radio Times it seems the Mighty Moff gets his way as the big guys of 'Doctor Who' "won’t be announcing the new Doctor until early autumn", which is when they'll start filming the Christmas special or maybe even season 8. This means the speculations of who's going to be the next Doctor will last for several more weeks, if not longer. After all, no one is promising us that we'll actually know who's going to be the next Doctor by then. And knowing how much Moffat loves secrets it's not difficult to picture him laughing gleefully at being able to  keep things wrapped up as long as possible.

Another interesting detail revealed by that article is that apparently some people hoped that filming the Christmas special will start earlier, in late summer. There can be two obvious reasons for this shift. First of all, it may be Matt Smith's hair needing more time to grow back (well, I'm obviously joking; at least I hope I am). The second, and much more likely reason is that Steven Moffat has a pretty tight schedule this year. He's responsible for two shows with really demanding (not to say ridiculously complex) plots and sadly, those scripts won't write themselves. Also the fact that filming Sherlock was delayed too and only started in March may have affected his plans*. So, it's not only us who, when confronted with impossible-to-make deadlines, wish the TARDIS  was real...

As for the names mentioned who may (or may not) become the next Doctor, in my humble opinion, Moffat will choose someone who is not known as 'the guy from [insert popular cine-/telematic masterpiece here]'. Because whoever will get the part will be known as "the guy from 'Doctor Who'" and not vice versa.

___

* On the plus side,  the seemingly endless wait for season 3 is going to come to an end on October 31st.

On the Chances of Steven Moffat Casting a Female Doctor

Every time we are sort of in-between Doctors, there is one rumour which never fails to come up: could the next Doctor be female? While several sites are already speculating about this possibility, this time we are actually able to pinpoint things down a bit, after all, Steven Moffat seems to be the one who'll play a significant role in making that pretty important decision.

Interestingly enough, back in 2010, after being almost halfway into season 5, 'Newsarama' asked the Mighty Moff about the possibilities of having a female Doctor flying the TARDIS. And this is what he said: 

Well, never say never.  I'd never rule anything out.  I didn't contemplate it this time.  I'd have my worries about it, only from the point of view that, would you still believe it was the same person?  Is that taking it that one step too far?  What is River Song (Alex Kingston) going to think?  [laughs]  I would worry, but maybe someone with a bigger imagination than me will prove me wrong on that score.  You can get carried away with the idea of the regenerating Doctor. 

What I mean by that is, there aren't eleven Doctors.  There is one Doctor with eleven faces.  The primary idea is that you have to show the audience that this is fundamentally the same person with a makeover.  I think I would worry that the makeover, turning him into a woman would just take that one step too far.  That's not me saying I don't think a woman is good enough to be the Doctor by the way.  [laughs]  At all.  It's just that I'd worry that you'd lose the sense.  You might just fragment the sense that it's still him.

I know, Moffat lies, people change and that's a 3 years old interview. However, somehow I think that was really his opinion back then, and he certainly had his reasons. And there is a good chance that he still has those reasons today. I, at least, hope so. Because only because it is possible to have a female Doctor, does not mean that you should actually have one. If there are the right motivations (e.g. it adds something important, and not only something new to a story), then go for it.. I'm not saying I'll be happy with it, but if there are the right arguments, then there is not much you can do. But doing it only because you can, is the wrong attitude, because then you're running into danger of screwing things up.

Then again, the Mighty Moff loves screwing and breaking rules and to be fair, that is the only rule he has not touched yet (or rather smashed to pieces, only to put them together again). I for my part hope that his love and respect for 'Doctor Who' will be stronger than his craving. Because IMHO I have to agree with what he says there: chances are high that it would take things one step too far.

The Mighty Moff on 'Doctor Who' and 'Sherlock'

2 weeks ago Steven Moffat was made to answer a few questions. And he did not.  At least not the *really* important ones. However, those he did answer are also pretty interesting, like, the fact that he sees John and Sherlock as "blokes who get on, instantly"  and that even though he thinks it's good that fans have their own shipping-theories, he has no intentions of changing their relationship (whoo-hoo!).

As for 'Doctor Who' and the anniversary, there is not much RedCarpetTV could get out of him. The Moff explains why he thinks it's good to have it made in 3D, and he makes a comment on fan's utterly wrong theories.

Oh I love you all Doctor Who fans, but honestly, now and then don't believe everything you hear or don't hear.

We had worse.

Oh, and there is that part on how he won't kidnap Peter Jackson to direct 'Doctor Who'. Good to know. I just love his sense of humour.

Changing 'Who'story

Moffat has a record on not keeping promises and on dubbing every single finale written by him 'a gamechanger', something which will have an impact on 'everything', including the past, the present and the future of 'Doctor Who'. That's the idea, that's his promise. But usually he does  not live up to it.

 And then came "The Name of the Doctor" and Moffat kept his promise: with that episode he did changed 'Who'story forever and by doing so, he made himself the most important showrunner of all time. You might think that's an exaggeration. But you have to admit that none of his forerunners have been brave enough to leave their permanent mark on the show's history, at least not like that. We got tiny bits like occasional references about the Time Lords, about Gallifrey, his family, about that famous 12 regeneration rule which has managed to stick around; but we do not know why he left his homeplanet, not to mention his real  name, or  the reason why he is obviously not using it.

Now, revealing certain things about the Doctor's past comes with certain problems. Not knowing has become a permanent rule, a fixed point, one of those few things everyone could rely on. Which means that everybody working on 'Who' before Moffat shaped the series accordingly. So, when Moffat has come along and introduced John Hurt as a former Doctor* the first thing coming to any sensible fan's mind is the question, 'so where do we fit that one in then?' 

On a basic level, there are two rather plausible options. First of all, there are, strictly speaking, no canonical records on why Hurt's Doctor could not have regenerated into William Hartnell's Doctor°. One big advantage of this theory is that we know that already back then the Doctor has not been using his *real* name. And by featuring the really first (maybe-not-yet) Doctor there is the chance of learning the *original* reason of why he decided to go by 'the Doctor'.

But let's not get too excited because at the same time, this is the very reason why it's not really likely that Moffat will tell us about the Doctor's actual pre-series past. It would break 'Who's 5o-years old rule. Which means that it's more likely that Hurt's Doctor is set after number 8. This is supported by the fact that we know that somewhen between McGann's Doctor regenerated into Eccelston's, the Doctor was fighting in the Great Time War#, during which he did things he is not proud of, like destroying (time-locking) Gallifrey and the Time Lords. A point in favour of this theory is that the 11th Doctor says about Hurt's Doctor that  

The name you choose is like a promise you make.
 He's the one who broke the promise.

From a linear perspective, although that's not necessarily the way 'Who' works, to be able to break a promise you need to have made one in the first place. So maybe, back in the dark old days, after doing something even more terrible than he did in the Great Time War, he decided to make time forget his real name, and started calling himself the Doctor, and by doing so he made the promise that whatever happened back then will never happen again, because he'll see it as his personal responsibility to take care of it. And then he becomes involved into the Great Time War and he fails to keep his old promise.

The second, even more important hint in favour of this theory is that the BBC asked Christopher Eccelston if he was willing to be involved into the 5oth anniversary. He obviously said no.

Solving things like this we would still get a rather awesome episode, even though it would only fill the gap of the Great Time War.

 ___

* Strictly speaking John Hurt's Doctor is  not a 'Doctor' as the Doctor does not grant him that 'title'. He simply does not deserve it. This means that luckily we do not need to change the numbering. But for the lack of a better alternative, I hope you don't mind if I'm using the word 'Doctor' for John Hut's 'Doctor' anyway.

°Well, looking at the plot as such, there is a problem after all. We know that Time Lords are supposed to have two hearts. However, this fact was not introduced for several seasons, because of which the 'first' Doctor appears to have just one heart ("The Edge of Destruction"). To resolve this plothole, some people came up with the idea that Time Lords get their second heart after their 1st regeneration, which makes Hartnell's Doctor the first. However then Hurt's Doctor cannot be placed before him; (then again, in "The Wheel in Space" featuring the 2nd Doctor, he still seems to be one-hearted.) Naturally, this rules does not actually feature in any episodes, for what it can be dismissed.

# Interestingly, the book in which Clara comes across the real name of the Doctor has the title "The History of the Time War" and not "The History of the Great Time War". Of course, this could be a simple mistake, but maybe there is more to it. After all,  it is possible that the Time Lords were involved in more than just one Time War.

The Name of the Doctor Cliffhanger

I strongly recommend not watching this YouTube clip if you have not seen the actual episode. I'm only posting this because it is the most important scene in 'Who' I can think of as it is the very first time that the almost 50 year old question 'Doctor who?' becomes really teased... So, enjoy and pay attention, as that minute is all Moffat offers us to survive the next 6 'Who'-less months.

Run You Clever Boy and Remember Me.

When you are a time traveller, 
 there is one place you must never go...

Ever since the Mighty Moff started his reign I have been waiting for a plausible, non-timey-wimey finale written by him, one which did not involve rewriting all of history, the end of civilisation, or that of the Doctor, or all three of these. And what do we get? "The Name of the Doctor" in which Moffat rewrites the Doctor's past. Twice. He kills him. Several times. And whole stellar constellations come to their end. Nevertheless, I have to say that this was the least timey-wimey, most plausible and, most importantly, best finale I've seen for ages. Because it made sense.

Sort of. Moffat made an effort to come up with brilliant explanations for several things. E.g. how the Paternoster Gang, post-library River and Clara could have a conference meeting regardless the obvious restrictions set by time and space. Even though, let's not really start to go into that matter, because I don't know why it was easier for them to get an actually dead River to attend that meeting, than a still living version of her...

Besides, there may be fans who'd love to have an explanation how post-library River can be the Doctor's  imaginary friend (is the TARDIS linked to the Library's data core, and if yes why is the Doctor (and Clara) the only one who's able to see her?) But I'm willing to accept that anyway, because him not wanting to say goodbye to her was heartbreaking. If there's one scene perfectly summarising their relationship, or the Doctor's life, then it's that one. Because he does hate goodbyes and endings. 

And I'm not sure if it was really necessary to use the *recent* TARDIS interior design for the Doctor's tomb. Or more importantly, how did the Paternoster Gang end up at Trenzalore? How did they time travel? Can the Great Intelligence and his Whispermen time travel as well, or have they been simply waiting for the Doctor to turn up at Trenzalore one day? Or what was the Great Intelligence's actual motivation behind destroying the Doctor's life? Why does it mean 'peace at last' for him? I hope Moffat will come back to these snippets. Maybe, and this is a very bold guess, he's the one responsible for the exploding TARDIS in "The Big Bang", something which is still waiting to be tackled.

At least, thank you for not revealing the Doctor's actual name. When they were trying to open the tomb I was worried for a split second... For a moment I thought the code word was 'please'. Now that would have been very didactic.

But luckily, "The Name of the Doctor" also gives us some answers. We find out how Clara can be the impossible girl: she sacrifices her life, scatters herself over time and space to be there and save the Doctor whenever it is needed. BTW, the flashbacks actually made me shiver. They were brilliantly done.  Clara's conversation with the Doctor who's just about to steal, sorry, borrow, the TARDIS was a masterpiece. I've no idea how they did that. But it was top notch.

However, with the Mighty Moff, each answer comes with several questions. Because, if Clara rewrites the Doctor's history, it's a bit strange that he hasn't noticed her sooner. Sure, Clara says he can't always see or hear her, but this statement does not *really* explain why it took him so long to actually notice her being there. Well, then again, I guess this is the best possible explanation Moffat can offer us, and we'll have to take what we get. And let's not start to think about how the Doctor could save Clara by entering his own timestream. It worked, somehow; that's another thing we'll have to put up with, I guess.

But there is yet another point. Clara enters the timeline of a future Doctor, one who will die at Trenzalore. Therefore, it's logical that she claims that she's seen all of him. The only thing which is not logical is why "all of him" should only include "11 faces" as she puts it. Time Lords can regenerate 12 times, which equals 13 different bodies, so, even with the "dark pre-Doctor" form the cliffhanger there should be one regeneration left. But there is not, according to Calra, which means it has to be the 11th Doctor who dies at Trenzalore... I know, time can be rewritten, and we have more exciting things to worry about at the moment, but all of a sudden, the last, final, ultimo episode of 'Who' seems to have come a lot closer.

All in all, this was certainly the best finale I've ever seen. If somebody has ever doubted the Big Moff's abilities in the past, "The Name of the Doctor" proves that he deserves his place. As much as I hate the fact that he's messing with the Doctor's past, I'm glad that it's him who's carving his ideas about it into stone, and not someone else.

Now, all I need is to borrow a TARDIS myself, because the Mighty Moff can't expect us to wait 6 months till the next episode. That would be torture...