3 weeks till new Who!

[Guest 85555]

Yeah, the explanation for Clara was pretty sensible; far less hand-wavey than I'd expected. This finale felt a lot more organic (and IMO moving) that "The Wedding of River Song" last year. Very good episode, and it wrapped up what I thought was a very good run this Spring.

Agree. And they mentioned the Valeyard, which I think may be coming down the pike if Hurt's character is the incarnation people say. It also sounded like the great intelligence said he would be known as the beast as well. But the only beast i could think of is the one from the Satan Pit.

 

[Dannyalcatraz]

Perhaps its a hint of a crossover with Marvel Comics...

 

[RangerWickett]

Dr. Hank McCoy
Dr. Leonard McCoy
Dr. Sweetie McCoy? (Based on the show, his name is either Sweetie or Please.)

 

[Dannyalcatraz]

Its not please, and we don't actually know what she said to open it.

 

[MarkB]

I felt that it took a little too long getting to the point of Clara jumping in after the GI did - it was plainly obvious from the opener that that's what she was going to do, so it just felt like we were marking time waiting for her to do it. I think I'd have had more patience for the scene if the episode's opening scene hadn't been there to spell it out.

The Doctor's farewell scene with River was spot-on, though, and was the real emotional heart of the episode.

Clara had three chances to learn the Doctor's name during this episode, but it's uncertain whether she did so.

First, she got back part of her time-looped memory during their trip through the depths of the TARDIS, enough to remember the Doctor telling her about the times she'd died, but did she get it all back, including the library scene? If so, she too knows the Doctor's name, and that bit where she gets a volume of the Encyclopedia Gallifreya poured over her head may have future relevance after all.

Second, she was linked to River and may have heard River say the Doctor's name to open the tomb, if she wasn't too distracted by the GI-mook who was trying to kill her.

Third, she's seen every moment of the Doctor's time-travelling life, which may or may not include that particular personal detail - but does the Clara who the Doctor saved remember that experience?

I'm still not quite sure whether we're supposed to take from this that the Doctor's secret name is "Valeyard" or not, but I'm definitely interested to find out.

 

[Morrus]

So are they saying that the last 9th and the Valeyard are one and the same? I thought the Valeyard was "between the 12th and 13th". I never knew what that means, but I like the reasoning that he's an incarnation, but not of "the Doctor", but of the Time Lord who adopts that name for all but one of his incarnations.

 

[Mark Hope]

Yeah, I thought that the Valeyard came late in the Doctor's timeline, some kind of penultimate incarnation, or an interim manifestation like the Watcher or that Tibetan dude.

Hurt could be playing an aged version of Doctor #8, who forsook his own name in order to fight the Time War. When he turned round, the first thing I thought of was McGann's revised hairstyle and costume, only on a much older man.

Spoiler

And there's also that leaked photo from the set of the anniversary episode that shows John Hurt wandering about in Ecclestone's leather coat. That says to me that he's either an older version of Doctor #8 or an incarnation that comes between McGann and Ecclestone. Presumably Doctor #9 keeps the coat following regeneration?

 

[Guest 85555]

So are they saying that the last 9th and the Valeyard are one and the same? I thought the Valeyard was "between the 12th and 13th". I never knew what that means, but I like the reasoning that he's an incarnation, but not of "the Doctor", but of the Time Lord who adopts that name for all but one of his incarnations.

I think that may be what is going on(maybe hurt's doctor hitches a way out of with the doctor and clara and the valeyard is more like an echo of the true ninth doctor? I suppose if matt us number twlelve that would qualify for "between 12 and 13). Or the big revelation is just that hurts doctors is the ninth Matt is number twelve, and the next story arch leads up to the valeyard.

 

[Herschel]

The thing I still wonder is the bit with River. Living River has been showing up throughout the Smith era but this was the 'Library" River, saved in the data core for "eternity". The Doctor's memory/connection wouldn't be defunct because he's still doing things with the living her. We still don't know how/when River actually met Vastra/Jenny/Strax and River knew of, but just "met" Clara (or was it Clara just meeting her and she actually knew Clara?)

 

[Dannyalcatraz]

I have to say I'm a touch envious.

I was an Army Brat who was introduced to The Doctor when I was about 9 years old, when we went on a 1 week trip to London and I bought a stack of the books to read in the hotel room. I finished them before we got back home.

As we moved as a family (or later, as I traveled for school), I got to see the movie with the first Doctor, some Pertwee episodes, and almost all of the Tom Baker stuff, but only a few from earlier and later Doctors until the "New Who" shows. Result: some of the series history is completely unknown to me, like the Valeyard.