We are now down to the final three episodes of the Matt
Smith era and it’s the beginning of the Doctor trilogy which incorporates the
50th Anniversary Special and the Christmas Special. This is the 42nd
episode for Matt Smith and is now tied with Sylvester McCoy in terms of
episodes. The problem when episode names are revealed is that fans (myself
including) of jumping to conclusions. When it was revealed that this episode
would be called The Name of the Doctor, people would assume that we learn what
the Doctor’s name is. Of course things would never be that simple.
The episode starts off fantastically because it starts off
with the First Doctor stealing the TARDIS (with Susan). Then we see the
remaining Doctors and there is some clever editing used to put Jenna Coleman in
with already recorded footage of the previous Doctors. It’s a sign of how good
technology has become that this can be achieved and achieved well.
I don’t quite know why, but its good to see River Song
again. It’s her first appearance since The Wedding of River Song and it felt
like enough time had passed since that story. This is at the time of writing
her last appearance in the show and the final scene for her was quite nice and
it was good that her last word was her catchphrase.
Trenzalore is a word that has been mentioned occasionally
throughout the last year and it becomes quite important to the story which I
liked. Trenzalore is a place that a time traveller should never find themselves
in. This is where the Doctor is buried. I like the build up to us seeing inside
the tomb which is the console room and a bright white light where the console
was. I love that look of the TARDIS because it shows the console room in the
worst way imaginable.
The mystery about Clara is also revealed. The Clara seen in
Asylum of the Daleks and The Snowmen are splintered versions of Clara. It’s a
nice idea from Steven Moffat and it’s the ultimate sacrifice from Clara for the
Doctor. It has been another good episode for Jenna Coleman who gets a lot to do
and does it rather well.
The Whisper Men are a good creation and very effective in
the story. It’s good to have Richard E Grant back because he is clearly loving
playing the Great Intelligence. The Great Intelligence wants to go into the Doctor’s
timeline and change every aspect of the Doctor’s timeline which is quite a bold
idea. I think that they could be a monster in their own way without needing the
Great Intelligence being in the story.
The final scene is fantastic and sees John Hurt introduced
as The Doctor. This is a great moment because the Doctor finds Clara and it’s
at this point we see the back of John Hurt and the Doctor reveals that this
person is the Doctor who ‘broke the promise’ and is the Doctor’s secret. When
he turns around and the caption appears INTRODUCING JOHN HURT AS THE DOCTOR.
This was at a time when Peter Capaldi hadn’t been announced as the Doctor yet
but Matt Smith’s departure had been announced so there was a possibility that
John Hurt could be the Doctor.
This was a great ending to a series that has been very good.
Even when we include the Amy/Rory part to the series, I have to say that the quality
of stories has been better and the whole tone of the series has been better
because it’s wallowing in darkness. This story does two things and does them
quite well. The first thing is that is ends the series in the best way possible
and also it leads up to the 50th Anniversary. I am looking forward
to tomorrows episode and the end seems to be getting closer.
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