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...

She Said, He Said - A Prequel

Now, generally, I don't like prequels. They are meant to be appetisers, but they seldom are... They just end up making you less hungry. And sadly, this one is no exception.

And people should be careful when messing with the Doctor's past. Because there are questions whose answers we do not really want to know. And making it everybody else know, but not us, is not a fair solution to this problem either... 

But I'm looking forward to Clara's secret. Because she is perfect. The only companion who can never die, not properly (hold on, wasn't that Rory last season?). I for my part am dying to find out about the woman in the shop who gave her the Doctor's number in "The Bell's of Saint John". Was she River or someone else... I hope Moffat addresses that next week and that he has an awesome solution up his sleeves; one which is worth revealing the Doctor's secret.

The Big Moff and 'Who''s Golden Rules

 I'm not sure what Sydney Newman (you know, the guy who basically invented 'Doctor Who') would think of the title of season 7's finale episode. Being dead there don't seem to be  many options left but turning over in his grave, even though, he may wait and save that for another occasion, like when someone will turn the Doctor into a woman (*shudder*). But teasing to reveal the biggest mystery in the Whoniverse comes actually pretty close to that. Well, we know Moffat is not *really* up to it. After all, this series is called 'Doctor Who' for a reason,and I'm pretty sure Moffat is aware of that too.You simply cannot go and break 'Who's golden rules at your will.

Sadly, it's almost as if Moffat's big goal was to try how far he can go interfering with those aforementioned rules without actually breaking them: he made the Doctor marrying River, he even killed him, and know he's trying to reveal the one secret which nobody really wants to know. Well, we know it's much ado about nothing, as Moffat has a record on not keeping his promises, but even teasing things like this should be forbidden. If you add something to that part of 'Who's legacy then it becomes to stay forever, just like that odd 13-lives rule (which is there for a really important reason, so I'm not complaining). And as much as I love most of Moffat's episodes, I'm not sure if I want him to have this much power. Because if you're messing with the Doctor's past you're craving your own ideas into stone, and future main editors will have to stick to them, no matter if they like it or not, or if it's worth it. 

On the other side, this is something which would have happened at one point in the future anyway. And I can come up with much worse scriptwriters than Moffat who could have had a go at it (I'm glad RTD didn't). So we can deal with it know, and settle things forever. And let's hope that Moffat has a brilliant solution to deal with this very obvious red herring, i.e. without causing too much damage.