'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. 

'Doctorw Who' @ Comic Con 2013

When you're a 'Doctor Who' fan one of the most important happenings of a summer is Comic Con. And as this summer is far from earning the attribute 'usual', with us waiting for the new Doctor to be announced and the anniversary crawling nearer and nearer, Comic Con is becoming even more important; after all, maybe, if we're really lucky and the wind stands fair someone may drop a line and give something away. For a change. So let's get started.



In the first video Matt Smith is talking to 'IGN' about the way his Doctor has changed over the past 4 years, the Doctor's playfulness but also about playing his 'dark side'. Matt also mentions the anniversary, and how much he enjoyed working with the other Doctors, John Hurt and David Tennant. And can 'The Final Hour' be the name of this year's Christmas special? It seems possible.  Of course, Matt Smith also has to comment on his successor, and he gives a very diplomatic answer:

Whoever it is will be the right actor or actress. It can be anyone and that's the great things about the part.

Then, there is this interview with Matt Smith and Jenna Coleman done by 'Digital Spy', and this time the questions are why he's leaving now, what he's going to miss the most about playing the Doctor and why 'Doctor Who' has managed to be such a successful show over the past 5o years. And yes, let's forget about it having a 16 years long hiatus. Comic Con is celebrating the success of all stuff nerdy, and not their failings.  

'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. 

Why Most Fans Are Against a Female Doctor

Even though some newspapers claim that Whovians wouldn't mind having a female Doctor, there are polls suggesting otherwise (87% con, only 13% pro). Now, it shouldn't really matter. In the 21st century we wouldn't care about giving the most powerful weapons of mankind into the neatly manicured hands of a female president, or rather, if we made a poll on having a female president in the USA results would certainly not be this clear.

So, why are we willing to accept the idea of a woman taking the precious seat in the oval office, but at the same time we do not want to have one driving the TARDIS? The short answer to that is that while many women were among those people who'd be for a female president (or at least not against it) there are many women (well, girls) who are against a female Doctor. And that's making a difference.

The longer answer is that most fans, female fans, of 'Who' are not only into this show because of its superb science-fictional quality, or the Mighty Mofff's scripts, or RTD's less brilliant stories. And even though there may be more handsome guys than those people who have been cast as the Doctor, they are still guys and when you're a girl the idea of running away with the Doctor is just more fun when your partner in crime is not another sassy girl.

Of course, there are other less fangirly reasons why fans may be against an actress getting that role. First of all, storywise there is no real reason why he should be she.There may be more clever people proving me wrong, but I cannot think of a scenario which would make it necessary for the Doctor to change gender.

Besides, he's always been a he. The picture you get when hearing the words 'the Doctor in the TARDIS' is not that of a woman in a blue box. I know, this is a self-fulfilling prophecy, but we have been conditioned for 5o years that way  and simply ignoring that fact would be stupid. It's like changing the direction in which you're reading letters. elbissop s'tI. But only because you can do something does not mean you should. 

Maybe one day we'll have a female Doctor. But it seems the whoniverse is not ready for it yet.

'Who's at the Proms

 One reason why I'm sad about Matt Smith leaving is that with the new Doctor we are also going to get a new Doctor's theme. And to me Eleventh's theme is among the most beautiful pieces of (soundtrack) music I've ever heard. Some of Murray Gold's music may be too bombastic for my taste, but most of his recurring themes do what film music is supposed to do: supporting action and not drawing attention away from it. To some Danny Elfman is the king of film music, to me Murray Gold comes a close second at worst.

Having said this it does not come at a surprise that I love having the Proms featuring 'Who's soundtrack. So, without further ado here is the original BBC Radio 3 link where you can listen to part 1 of yesterday's programme (there is a 2nd link for part 2 on that page). And, as it's going to disappear in less than a week WhoniverseMusic's channel is an excellent alternative.

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 Final Problem - How Did Sherlock Fake His Death?

There's just one more thing, one more thing, one more miracle, Sherlock, for me.
Don't. Be.
Dead.

Going by the evidence of Doyle's original story, the final seconds of Sherlock's last episode and that we know season 3 is going to air some when within this millennia starring Benedict Cumberbatch, you don't need to be Sherlock Holmes to deduct that he must have faked his really realistic looking death in "The Reichenbach Fall". So, the more advanced question is how he did do it.

How does one survive jumping from the top of a building? The answer is, you don't. But assuming that it was possible, it might be logical to say that Molly helped him with it. After all, we see him seeking her help. And when you're Sherlock Holmes, that's not something you'd usually do. And being familiar with Moffat's trolling capabilities that's what he may have been pointing at when saying the clue is all there... However, the episode offers us more than this.

First of all,  let's not forget that Sherlock is the one inviting Moriarty to join him on the rooftop. He's the one setting the when and where. Therefore, it's just logical to assume that he did not show up there without making some preparations.

The night before jumping Sherlock is constantly playing with a rubber ball. And given the fact that John only checks Sherlock's wrist and not his neck for pulse, there is the possibility that he used it to create the illusion that his heart stopped beating. (Of course he's doing it right after jumping off a building, which makes this [if this was real] even more remarkable).

But there is even more. We can assume that Sherlock is telling John Moriarty's lie because he does not want John to suffer. He hopes that by implying how much he betrayed him John will terminate their friendship or at least, he will take things more easily. The last time they see each other he makes John mad at him by implying that he does not care about Mrs Hudson having a possibly life-threatening incident, something he has obviously came up with for this very purpose. Sherlock does not gain anything by this, in fact it hurts his own feelings because John's opinion and his friendship are important to him. Sherlock shows when he has to choose between his reputation and John, that John's the winner. Putting the sentimental aspect of this aside, and focusing on the fact that Sherlock is obviously not wanting to hurt him, he nevertheless asks him a rather inappropriate thing to do: to watch him jump. He wants John to keep his eyes on him, while he's falling.

 There may be several reasons for this request, however, the most rational one is that he does not want John to notice what is happening around him. But before going into further detail, let's focus on the location of Sherlock's 'suicide'.

The  hospital from John's point of view

Looking at the two first pictures on the left we learn the building off which Sherlock jumps has 2 floors.

The red-brick building

Just in case you are wondering if that picture shows the right building, it does. The red-brick base is a second building standing between the hospital and John, from where he watches Sherlock jump This becomes more obvious when we take a look at the situation form Sherlock's point of view

And John from Sherlock's point of view.

(picture 3 on the left).

This fact is interesting because we know that the first thing Sherlock tells John on the phone is precise directions where to stand. And Sherlock wants him to stand behind the red brick building which doesn't allow him to see Sherlock hitting the ground. To get to Sherlock he has to go round it and that's when the cyclist runs into him. This means, that John is not really able to see how Sherlock hits the ground. The brick building is simply blocking his view.

Having settled this point there is also the fact that Sherlock's 'fatal' injuries do not match the way he hits the ground.

When falling we know that Sherlock does not flip. The building has only 2 floors and we see both of them in this picture. It is obvious that it will be his feet which will touch the ground first. Not his head, or torso.

Nevertheless, when John finally sees his friend, he has a head injury. How on earth is it possible to get a head injury when falling like that? It simply does not match, i.e. the head injury is not real.

Sherlock's and the truck's position is wrong.

Taking only the rational aspect of this into account he may have got several other injuries, but he certainly does not damage his head, not like that.

The last thing which may, or may not, require an answer is that in the end Sherlock seems to have rotated 9o°C  between falling and hitting the ground. Knowing that he lands 'on his feet', more or less, there is the possibility that when hitting the ground his weight isn't shifted equally and he falls over. However, there should be noted that even if he falls over his feet have already absorbed most of the impact, i.e. when his head finally touches the ground the result is certainly not such a sever looking injury.

Unfortunately, the only thing which cannot be explained away is the distance between the rooftop and the pavement. Because no matter what, Sherlock has to jump. He has to make the killers believe that he takes his life. Sherlock certainly figures out in advance what Moriarty is up to, the whole conversation on the rooftop is mostly a show. This means that Sherlock could have taken preparations to guarantee himself a somewhat softer landing. But he can't risk doing something obvious*. Maybe the fact that when entering the rooftop he's keeping his hands behind his back has something to do with this. And when standing the first time on the edge he asks Moriarty to give him a moment. Does he really need it? Is it part of the show? Or does he use it to do something else?  Besides, I don't think that Sherlock simply needs Molly to give him a rubber ball and to fake an autopsy. She helped him, somehow. And finding out how she helped him performing his magic trick is the reason why I'm looking forward to the next episode. I know Sherlock Holmes wouldn't agree with this, but I think being able to deduct the whole story would leave us with just too many spoilers.

__
*Yes, there is that truck packed with some soft-looking washing bags, as we can easily see in the last picture... but wouldn't that be too obvious? Besides, if you're comparing it with this picture you'll notice that the truck is standing wrongly. If it had been standing where Sherlock landed, to get into that position afterwards, the driver would have had to backup. Something he certainly did not, given the fact that it would have been much easier not to back up and to drive away.

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.

'The Ocean at the End of the Lane' on BBC Radio 4

Funnily enough most of my friends know Neil Gaiman as the grand writer of awesome short-stories and fantasy, while to me he has been the guy who wrote 'The Doctor's Wife', which is, by the way, one of the most beautiful episodes in my humble opinion.

Luckily, the media has been busy correcting my personal (rather distorted) image of him, as recently his new novel got published: 'The Ocean at the End of the Lane". 

Frankly, as much as I love books and Neil Gaiman, I wouldn't have been drawing this to your attention, because I hate showing people what I can't give them access to. However, the lovely Beeb announced that they got Michael Sheen to read the book for BBC Radio 4’s Book At Bedtime strand. It's going to be broadcast in July, Monday to Friday at 10:45 pm which means that you'll be able to listen to the programme life, no matter where you're living. Plus, if you should miss it you're going to be able to catch up with it later via their lovely site. So, save the date.

Why Gallifrey's Sky Is Red

It seems that one of the most stunning optical qualities of Gallifrey were its two suns orbiting the Shining World of the Seventh System in a red-orange sky. 

Red...

And even though 'Doctor Who' does not feature many episodes which are set on the Doctor's home planet, or show glimpses of it, when it does, its skies are not always red ("The Five Doctors" or more recently "The Name of the Doctor"). 

... and not so red.

So, did the big guys responsible for the show get something wrong (again)? Not necessarily. Because, surprisingly, this time there may be a physical explanation behind it.

Now, when our sun sets or rises, our skies are usually tinted red too. This is because at sunset the light hits earth at a different angle which makes it travel longer distance than at noon. And the shorter wavelengths of the light (green and blue) become scattered on the way. It's only the longer wavelengths (red, pink, orange) which manage to make the long way. But to get the best effect it also takes a lot of particles (e.g. clouds, oxygen) in the sky which allows the light-waves to bounce off and to become visible.

Gallifrey has two suns and if one of them is setting or rising the air becomes flooded with long reddish wavelengths and the skies turn red. However, when none of them is the sky is of an ordinary blue.

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.

'How Long Are You Goint To Stay With Me?' - 'Forever'.

Matt Smith is leaving 'Doctor Who'. It's official, after all, publishing it on the BBC's official 'Doctor Who' page is as official as it gets. And surprisingly it's already this Christmas when we say good-bye to his Doctor. 

Luckily, Steven Moffat does seem to stick around a bit longer. Even though, ever since he declared that he'd love to stay forever as Who's showrunner, I've been worried that he'd leave the show at the next convenient opportunity. After all, that's what 'staying forever' seems to stand for in this fandom (just take this Steven Moffat interview as reference, regarding Matt Smith's time on 'Who')

But back to Matt Smith. Surprisingly, I'm not devastated by his decision. I'm not saying I didn't like his Doctor. Matt Smith did a good job. I like what he did with the role and I appreciate it. But at the same time I hope the next actor getting 'the best job in the universe' will be just as good (or even better). So, today's date will certainly not burn itself into my memory as the day Matt Smith decided to leave the TARDIS (unlike the 28th October 2008) simply because 11 is not my Doctor. If he's yours, well, welcome to the ever growing club of Whovians to whom the current Doctor is not the one who made them fall in love with this show. Because you have to fall in love with the talent, and not the actor. Being a Whovian there are two lessons you have to learn: first, Moffat lies. And, the even harder one, 'Doctor Who' is about changes. If you can't handle that, then, I'm sorry, but you're not a proper Whovian. 

So, the next question to answer is  'who will be next?' and more importantly, 'will he be ginger?'

Why 'Doctor Who' Is Against Racism

Is 'Doctor Who' a TV-series reflecting a racist world-view? According to a soon-gona-be published book 'Doctor Who And Race' some scholars seem to think that's the case. To be fair, the book's official page asks people not to judge the book's content before reading it.

The book's editor claims that the recent fuss in the media is caused by one sentence (namely "perhaps the biggest elephant in the room is the problem, privately nursed by many fans, of loving a television show even when it is thunderingly racist") which appears to have "been taken thunderingly out of context". Nevertheless, in my humble unscholarly opinion, that sentence does not leave much room for interpretation. Does it? Sure, the author of that sentence tries to tune things down a bit (see official page for more detail). I can see how episodes like "An Unearthly Child" may appear to be 'racist' today. But then it's us who are taking the show out of context, namely, the context of time. Saying that something that has aired half a century ago on TV gives people a certain impression today cannot be taken as a basic element of an argument about its 'racism'. Because the problem here is pretty much the same as with that never-ending controversy about Mark Twain's 'Huckleberry Finn'. If it had been written today, then I'd be willing to see a problem. Even though its plot tells a completely different story.

So let the 'Doctor Who's stories speak. Are they racist? Well, I guess it depends on how you're interpreting racism. Because the Time Lords are certainly a bit proud of themselves... maybe not the Doctor, though. After all, he is pretty much aware of their mistakes, and he does not seem to be too fond of them, or their rules, given the fact that even before time-locking/destroying Galiffrey he was not too eager to spend much time there. Aww, that sounds harsh. On the other hand, his folks certainly accomplished some remarkable things... and the Doctor is aware of that too. Still, it's made pretty clear that he appreciates them rather for their achievements than their origin.

However, I have to say that there have been scenes, tiny moments, which may not even be part of its canon which seem to be out of place... E.g. in one of the 'Pond Life'  minisodes the Doctor apparently invents pasta. And given the fact that the TARDIS translates every language (plus, in one of the classic series we learn that the Doctor actually speaks Mandarin) I don't know why he did not just talk to them*... Well, then we have to take into account that those minisodes are written by Chris Chibnall, and even though he knows how to write crime, he yet has to prove that he can constantly deliver good sci-fi stories. Besides, Chibnall is certainly not too familiar with 'Doctor Who's canon. Actually that's the reason why I'm not sure if 'Pond Life' is even part of it...

At the same time it should be said that the overall idea of 'Doctor Who' is certainly against racism. The people (well, aliens) we see in 'Doctor Who' often come in all shapes and sizes, and it's humans who have usually rather inappropriate reactions to them. The Doctor on the other hand often finds himself embracing differences, and getting ridiculously exited by them. Usually, while everyone is appalled by the alien creature, its him who stands there declaring it to be beautiful ("Tooth and Claws", "The Unicorn and the Wasp"). In "Daleks in Manhattan" he even would have been willing to relocate his arch-enemies, the Daleks, simply because one of them changed its° mind on the Daleks' fundamental idea on differences, which is to 'EXTERMINATE' everything non-Dalek. In fact, if you're looking for racism in 'Doctor Who' then have a good look at the Daleks, to whom genes and origin is everything. And know think about the Doctor, and the fact that he's been fighting them for ages. 'Doctor Who' is about fighting racism and not supporting it. Because if you can't see that, then my friend, you simply weren't paying enough attention.

____

* I know, Mandarin is not the only language spoken in China, actually, they may have more languages than we have in whole Europe. But this argument does not change my actual point. 

° as far as I know, they do not have a concept of gender, do they?

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.