The Name of the Doctor (TV story)

The Name of the Doctor
Doctor:	Eleventh Doctor
Companion(s):	Clara
Featuring:	River, Vastra, Jenny, Strax
Main enemy:	The Great Intelligence, Whisper Men
Main setting:	Gallifrey; United Kingdom (1893 and 2013); Trenzalore
Key crew
Writer:	Steven Moffat
Director:	Saul Metzstein
Producer:	Denise Paul
Release details
Story number:	238
Premiere broadcast:	18 May 2013
Premiere network:	BBC One
Format:	1x45 minute episode
Production code:	3.13
Doctor Who television stories
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Production order
← Previous	Nightmare in Silver

The Name of the Doctor was the thirteenth and the last episode of the seventh series of Doctor Who produced by BBC Wales. It revealed the mystery of Clara Oswin Oswald and introduced an unknown incarnation of The Doctor.

Synopsis

Vastra is gathering Jenny, Strax, Clara and River, but everything goes wrong when the deadly Whisper Men take over the gathering. Clara wakes up in the Maitland family house, and finds the Doctor. When she tells him about the Whisper Men, the Doctor understands that this is the time to go to the place he must never be in. Where no creature can speak false. A place where a question that must never be answered will be asked - Trenzalore.

Plot

In a workshop at the base of the Capitol on Gallifrey two engineers notice a security breach in the repair shop. One notes how foolish it is to steal a malfunctioning TARDIS. Two people, the First Doctor and his granddaughter Susan Foreman begin entering a capsule, however suddenly the Doctor is stopped by Clara. She tells him he is about to make a big mistake. Clara is seen falling through a golden vortex. She remarks that she does not know where she is, but remembers one thing: she is the Impossible Girl, and she was born to save the Doctor.

Cast

• The Doctor - Matt Smith
• Clara Oswald - Jenna-Louise Coleman
• River Song - Alex Kingston
• The Great Intelligence - Richard E. Grant
• Madame Vastra – Neve McIntosh
• Jenny Flint - Catrin Stewart
• Strax – Dan Starkey
• Angie Maitland - Eve De Leon Allen
• Artie Maitland - Kassius Carey Johnson
• Andro - Nasi Voustsas
• Fabian - David Avery
• Clarence - Michael Jenn
• Archie - Rab Affleck
• Messenger Boy - Samuel Irvine
• Young Victorian Clara – Sophie Downham
• Whisper Man – Paul Kasey
• The Doctor – John Hurt

References

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Story notes

• In this episode, it is revealed that Clara has lived thousands of lives throughout the Doctor's history, saving him from the Great Intelligence's sabotage in each life, finally revealing why the Doctor met two versions her at the Dalek Asylum and in Victorian London, respectively. However, according to her, he almost never notices her, with the exception of the First Doctor and the Eleventh Doctor
• This episode shows clips of different versions of Clara scattered throughout the Doctor's timeline: advising the First Doctor to steal his Type 40 TARDIS on Gallifrey, calling out for the Third Doctor as he's driving away in Bessie, chasing after the Fourth Doctor on Gallifrey (from TV: The Invasion of Time), finding the Fifth Doctor trapped (from TV: Arc of Infinity), trying to find the Sixth Doctor on his TARDIS, attempting to rescue the Seventh Doctor from falling off of a cliff (from TV: Dragonfire), running after the Second Doctor and the Eighth Doctor, and watching the Tenth Doctor in The Library.
• This story features for the first time on television, the Doctor prior to stealing the TARDIS. The event had previously been seen in the comic strip adventure: Time & Time Again. His granddaughter Susan Foreman appears briefly when the First Doctor helps her into a TARDIS before the Gallifreyan Clara suggests he take the older model.
• While trapped in the Doctor's time stream, the First, Fourth, Fifth, Sixth and Ninth Doctors move past, behind, and in front of Clara. Unknown actors portrayed them without their faces being shown.
• This story contains the greatest number of Doctors in any medium.
• In the final scene, Clara refers to having seen 11 Doctors meaning she has not interacted with any future incarnations of the Doctor, if there are any.
• This is the first televised story in which we see the Doctor's TARDIS in what appears to be its "default" form, in the scenes set on Gallifrey. We also see it flying through the vortex soon after the First Doctor steals it.

Ratings

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Filming locations

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Production errors

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Continuity

• The Great Intelligence refers to The Valeyard as a future name of the Doctor. (TV: The Trial of a Time Lord)
• The Great Intelligence mentions the deaths of the Sycorax Leader (TV: The Christmas Invasion) and Solomon the Trader. (TV: Dinosaurs on a Spaceship)
• Clara gets her memories of being trapped in the TARDIS back. (TV: Journey to the Centre of the TARDIS)
• The 'most important leaf in history' is shown and is returned to Clara. (TV: The Bells of Saint John, The Rings of Akhaten)
• River Song appears from the databanks of CAL at the The Library (TV: Silence in the Library, Forest of the Dead)
• Vastra witnesses the disappearing stars in the sky, and says that "the stars are going out." (TV: Turn Left) This could be in reference to Davros's reality bomb successfully activating due to the Great Intelligence's changes to the timeline. (TV: Journey's End)
• The prophecy of the First Question is referred to again, and silence indeed falls just as it did when the Pandorica opened (TV: The Pandorica Opens).

Home video releases

DVD releases

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Blu-ray releases

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External links

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