The Time of the Doctor (TV story)

From Tardis Wiki, the free Doctor Who reference
Revision as of 21:57, 25 December 2013 by 37.208.130.149 (talk) (→‎Cast: Corrected hyperlink for "Barnaby Edwards".)
RealWorld.png

The Time of the Doctor was the 2013 Doctor Who Christmas special, and the final appearance of the Matt Smith as the Eleventh Doctor. It served as a conclusion to the entirety of the Smith era, bringing back both the Silence and Trenzalore and bringing their stories to a close. The episode tackled the issue of limited regenerations, and had the Doctor regenerate into his twelfth incarnation at the end.

Synopsis

Orbiting a quiet backwater planet, the massed forces of the universe's deadliest species gather, drawn to a mysterious message that echoes out to the stars. Among them, the Doctor. Rescuing Clara from a family Christmas dinner, the Time Lord and his companion must learn what this enigmatic signal means for his own fate and that of the universe.

Plot

This section needs a cleanup.

It contains several grammatical or factual errors, or otherwise offends our our Manual of Style.

The Doctor is among thousands of ships orbiting a planet after hearing a message being broadcast from it, a message that no-one can understand. He visits two of them, first being attacked by the Dalek's, as he was holding a Dalek eyestalk, then being attacked by the Cybermen as he was holding a Cyberman's head (which he calls Handles. He then picks up Clara from her home and takes her to the planets orbit where, when asked to identify the planet, Handles claims it is Gallifrey, a fact the Doctor refutes. They then board the Papal Mainframe, a space church headed by Mother Superious Tasha Lem (Orla Brady). She sends the Doctor and Clara to the planet, to a town called Christmas, surrounded by a truth field, so no-one can lie., Here the Doctor finds a crack in time through which the message is being broadcast. The message is a repeat of the same question; Doctor who? The doctor says this is the Time Lords, trapped in a pocket universe, trying to get out. If the Doctor speaks his name, the Time Lords will know they are in the right place and come through and all the alien species above will descend on the planet and begin the Time War anew. Tasha contacts the Doctor, telling him this cannot happen and the Doctor refuses to withdraw and let her destroy the planet, which she reveals to be Trenzalore. The Doctor tricks Clara into plugging a device into the TARDIS that transports her home and for the next 300 years defends Trenzalore. Clara returns after gripping the sides of the TARDIS and forcing the TARDIS to increase the shields and bring her back through the Time Vortex, slowing it down considerably. She meets a Doctor who is over 1500 years old, having spent 3 centuries defending the town of Christmas. He reveals to her his is in his 13th and final life (the 10th Doctor regenerated twice and the War Doctor). He is then transported, with Clara, to the Papal Mainframe, now the Church of the Silence (the Silence creatures are revealed to by genetically engineered senior priests) whose aim is to ensure the Doctor does not release the Time Lords (it is revealed the Kovarian Chapter broke away and travelled back in time to stop the Doctor reaching Tenzalore). After it is revealed that Tasha and her crew have been killed by the Daleks and turned into Dalek puppets, the Doctor (with help from Tasha, who regains her mind and defends the Doctor) escapes from the ship and tricks Clara home for a second time. Clara later hears the TARDIS engines and runs outside, to find the TARDIS piloted by Tasha, claiming; "flying the TARDIS is easy, its flying the Doctor that hard". She returns Clara to Trenzalore to see the Doctor, saying she could not let him die alone. The Doctor is now very old and often acts slow and slightly confused. He still won't release the Time Lords, knowing that it would mean Hell for all the universe. All his enemies have withdrawn save for the Dalek's, whom he has been fighting with the aid of the Silence. The Dalek's launch their final attack and the Doctor, out of ideas, weapons and regenerations, goes to meet them. Clara cannot watch this and returns to the crack, pleading with the Time Lords to save the Doctor, saying; "his name is The Doctor! All the name he needs, everything you need to know about him! And if you love him and you should, help him!". The crack vanishes. At the top of Christmas's clock tower, the Doctor is preparing to die. Then, the Crack appears in the night sky and through it, the Time Lords grant the Doctor a new Cycle of Regenerations. As his 13th regeneration starts, the Doctor uses the energy to destroy the Dalek ship. In the Aftermath, Clara finds the doctor, young again, back in the TARDIS. He states that his new regeneration is taking some time to start up, but soon he will change. He starts to hallucinate about Amelia Pond, the first face "this Face" saw. She tells him "raggedy man, good night" and He regenerates into the 12th Doctor, whose first words are; "Kidneys! I've got new kidneys!". The episode ends with the 12th Doctor asking Clara is she knows how to fly the TARDIS, implying he may not be able to.

Cast

with Karen Gillan as Amy Pond, and introducing Peter Capaldi as The Doctor.

Crew

to be added

References

to be added

Story notes

  • This is the first televised regeneration story in which the Doctor regenerates at the end of the story to end on a shot of a character other than the Doctor and the second since The War Games not to end on the Doctor's new incarnation. In this case, this story's final frame shows Clara's reaction to the newly regenerated Twelfth Doctor, not the Twelfth Doctor himself.

Ratings

to be added

Filming locations

to be added

Production errors

If you'd like to talk about narrative problems with this story — like plot holes and things that seem to contradict other stories — please go to this episode's discontinuity discussion.

to be added

Continuity

to be added

Home video releases

to be added

External links

to be added