Now that I’ve had a couple of days to digest it, I think I’m ready to talk about this episode. It was fantastic! It is probably my favorite episode of any TV show since Buffy the Vampire Slayer was on. I loved all the callbacks to the original series. That doesn’t mean I don’t have anything to discuss.
I wonder how much time has elapsed between The Name of the Doctor and now? Clara apparently is teaching school (at Susan’s old school) and not a nanny anymore. Obviously, she doesn’t travel with him constantly, but how can she just leave from a job when he calls? He doesn’t have the best track record of getting people back to the exact time they left from.
Why did Kate Stewart have the Tardis picked up? She was supposed to summon The Doctor, found it in the middle of a field and had it hauled in? She told him she didn’t realize he was in it so how did she expect to find him? Did she think he’d just find his way to it somehow? She also knows that he parks in odd places sometimes. It made for a great, funny visual but it bugged me for some reason.
Rose was never my favorite companion. Having said that, even I was a bit disappointed that Rose and Ten didn’t have any interaction with each other. Why didn’t she make herself visible to the others? The guys over at tomandlorenzo.com posited a theory that didn’t occur to me while I was watching the episode but it’s a good one. The Moment was actually Rose during that brief time when she was the Bad Wolf. Remember, she made stops along the time line and left messages. This was one of those stops. Really, go read it, I put a link below.
I loved seeing Matt Smith and David Tennant together. They were just like two teenage boys goofing around with each other. John Hurt was great as well. I was sure that his Doctor would be so serious but, even though he was a warrior, he still had that lightness and spark that all The Doctors have had. I liked seeing the Doctors interact with Clara but I would also have liked to see her and The Doctors interact with another of the companions. They could have gone to any point in Ten’s timeline and met up with him when he was with Martha or Donna.
As fun as this episode was, it carried a lot of emotional weight. I teared up at several places in this episode. When The War Doctor was talking about what extraordinary men Ten and Eleven are but couldn’t see the same about himself. Strangely, when all The Doctors showed up to save Gallifrey, it was when Thirteen showed up that I got misty again. The last one, I’ll talk about in a bit.
What happened with the negotiations with the Zygons?
I sort of understand why The War Doctor and Ten won’t remember what happened. It was out of sync with their original timelines but I got the impression that Eleven will remember. If The War Doctor and Ten don’t remember, what do they think happened that day? Won’t they still have this immense sadness because they think they destroyed their planet?
Tom Baker!!! I nearly sobbed when he came on screen. When I was a kid, I used to catch the odd episode on PBS late at night. He was my first Doctor. The whole scene between Tom and Matt was just wonderful. It gave Eleven hope that he will live a life long enough to be able to retire and enjoy himself. I love the idea that, at some point, The Doctor will choose to go back and re-visit old faces. Will he have a family?
I’m sad and excited about the next episode. Christmas is too soon and too far away at the same time.
Favorite Lines (There were a lot.):
- “Make no more argument about what a good man should be. Be one.” – Marcus Aurelius (via Clara)
- “Someday, you could just walk past a fez.” – Clara “Never gonna happen.” – Eleven
- “Compensating?” – Ten “For what?” – Eleven “Regeneration. It’s a lottery.” – Ten
- “Why are you pointing your screwdrivers like that? They’re scientific instruments, not water pistols!” – The War Doctor
- “Are you capable of speaking without flapping your hands about?” – The War Doctor “Yes. No.” – Eleven
- “The pointing again. They’re screwdrivers! What are you gonna do, assemble a cabinet at them?!” – The War Doctor
- “Timey wimey?” – The War Doctor “I have no idea where he picks that stuff up.” – Ten
- “Do you have to talk like children?” – The War Doctor
- “Hey, look! The round things!” – Eleven “Oh, I love the round things!” – Ten “What are the round things?” – Eleven “No idea.” – Ten
- “Oh, you’ve redecorated! Ooh, I don’t like it.” – Ten
Related:
http://tomandlorenzo.com/2013/11/doctor-who-the-day-of-the-doctor.html
http://acollectivemind.wordpress.com/2013/11/23/no-more-whovians-the-wait-is-over/
Photo Credit: GetGlue.com and BBC
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