The Name of the Doctor (TV story)
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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.
A man who received the death penalty offers information about the doctor in exchange for being set free.
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 of 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 (from TV: The Five Doctors), 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, altough the actor portraying the first Doctor resembles the appearance of Richard Hurndall, who replaced William Hartnell in The Five Doctors.
- 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 the Library Data Core. (TV: Silence in the Library, Forest of the Dead)
- The Doctor has been killed prematurely before, and, just as in Name, the stars went out, and his actions undone. (TV: Turn Left)
- Among things that were undone were: saving Jenny, making Strax good, (TV: A Good Man Goes to War) and stopping Davros from obliterating the Universe with his Reality Bomb. (TV: Journey's End)
- Vastra mentions the Doctor dying in the Dalek Asylum, (TV: Asylum of the Daleks) on Androzani (TV: The Caves of Androzani) and in Victorian London. (TV: The Snowmen)
- The prophecy of the First Question is referred to again, and silence indeed falls. (TV: The Pandorica Opens, Let's Kill Hitler, The Wedding of River Song)
- River Song and the Doctor both mention the Doctor's hatred of endings. (TV: The Angels Take Manhattan) River states this as the reason for him saving her to the Data Core. Ironically, this took place in the same story in which the Doctor exclaimed, "You need a good death. Without death, there'd only be comedies. Dying gives us size." (TV: Silence in the Library)
- Clara screams "I don't know where I am" several times while going through the Doctor's timeline. She's said this before in The Bells of Saint John and as a copy of her in the Dalek Asylum was being converted. (TV: Asylum of the Daleks)
- Clara attempts to make soufflés and states that her love of them stemmed from her mother. Interestingly, her Oswin Oswald self in the Dalek Asylum made a soufflé specifically on the occasion of her mother's birthday. (TV: Asylum of the Daleks, The Snowmen)
- Strax expresses that he did not know that River is a woman, once again demonstrating his difficulty of separating the genders. (TV: A Good Man Goes to War, The Snowmen, et al.) He also thinks the boy with the message is a girl.
- Whilst discussing the Doctor's secrets, Vastra states that the Doctor doesn't share his secrets with anyone, and that if Clara is under the impression that she is an exception, she should ask herself what is his name. Previously, in a conversation with the Dream Lord, Amy Pond stated she was the Doctor's closest confidante. The Dream Lord proved her wrong by asking her what the Doctor's name is, which she couldn't answer. (TV: Amy's Choice)
Home video releases
DVD releases
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Blu-ray releases
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External links
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