The Name of the Doctor (TV story)

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The Name of the Doctor was the finale of the seventh series of Doctor Who produced by BBC Wales. It revealed both the mystery of Clara Oswald's multiple lives and what the Doctor's greatest secret is. The episode also marks the most Doctors ever seen in a single episode - 11 including a previously unseen incarnation. More about how the TARDIS works is explained in the episode, also revealing what becomes of the Doctor's. The fate of the Great Intelligence is also shown.

Synopsis

When the deadly Whisper Men begin kidnapping his friends, the Doctor sets course for the one time and place he should never find himself - Trenzalore. The Doctor's past, present and future are in danger of unravelling as his greatest secret looks set to be uncovered. Who is Clara Oswald, the Impossible Girl? What does her existence mean for the Doctor? And more importantly... Doctor who?

Plot

In a workshop, two engineers hear an alarm. One reports that it is from the repair shop, asking "What kind of idiot would try and steal a faulty TARDIS"? The workshop is at the base of the Capitol on Gallifrey, "A very long time ago..."

The First Doctor and his granddaughter Susan Foreman begin entering a capsule, but some calls to the Doctor, stopping him. He turns to greet a woman who looks like Clara, who tells him he is about to make a very 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. She is shown meeting him in several of his incarnations, but some of them don't even notice her. However, not all of them remain ignorant, the Eleventh Doctor noticed her.

In Victorian London, a man locked in a jail cell rants in rhythmic fashion about 'the Whisper Men'. Suddenly he is disturbed by a veiled figure, Madame Vastra, standing outside the bars of his prison. The man, Clarence DeMarco, says that she could save him from being hanged with a single word, but Vastra promises him only silence. She states that due to his murder of 14 women he is doomed to be executed, but then the convict mentions the Doctor, saying he knows all about him. Speaking about one specific secret among the Doctor's many, the convict says, "He has one he will take to the grave...and it is discovered."

Later Vastra is with Jenny, who protests that they must not let the man live. Vastra states that he will live until she understands what he told her, and that they will need a "conference call". Jenny leaves the room to fetch the candles, and hears a mystifying whisper coming from outside. When Vastra asks where Strax has gone, Jenny tells him "the usual" as it's hsi weekend off. Vastra only says "I wish he never discovered that place."

The location Vastra is speaking of is Glasgow, where Strax is in the middle with a brawl with a large Scottish man. Both toss insults at each other, holding a blunt weapon each. However, a boy arrives, informing Strax that he has an urgent telegram. Upon finding out that it's another conference call, Strax apologises to Archie, his opponent, for not being able to finish, and asks the man to render him unconscious.

File:Whisp.jpg
The Whisper Men, the Great Intelligence's sinister allies.

Vastra and Jenny are seen sitting at a table, lighting a candle to enter a trance state. Vastra is pleased to notice that their surroundings have changed from the last "conference call", as she was getting a bit tired of the Taj Mahal. The pair begin to pour tea. Strax soon appears, stating agitatedly that he would like to return to his fight with 'very pleasant primitives'. Vastra apologises, but tells him there's an important matter concerning the Doctor that they need to discuss. When Stax asks who else is coming, and Vastra says 'the women'.

On 10 April 2013, Clara prepares to make a soufflé in the Maitlands' kitchen. She tells the children what her mother had once told her: "The soufflé isn't the soufflé, the soufflé is the recipe". Clara then picks up a letter, which the children say was left for her that day. Opening it when alone, the message, addressed from Madame Vastra, states that she must light the enclosed candle to enter a trance state, in order to speak with the rest of the Paternoster Gang across time. Clara expresses some scepticism about this, but the letter goes on to say that Madame Vastra anticipated this, so infused the substance of the candle into the letter paper. Clara promptly passes out and awakens in the same 'room' as Vastra, Strax, and Jenny.

Vastra tells Clara time travel has always been possible in dreams, and that she is exactly where she was, but sleeping. She then says that they are still waiting on one more person. Strax groans, wondering if it's "the one with the big head", only to be corrected by Jenny. At this point River Song appears, and is greeted by Vastra. Changing her teacup into a glass of champagne, River is then introduced to Clara, (who although having heard about her was unaware Professor Song was female), while River exhibits some mild jealousy when Clara is referred to as the Doctor's "companion."; Vastra hastily corrects herself and changes it to "latest travelling assistant".

Vastra displays and recounts the information given to her by the prisoner using some floating dust. It shifts into Gallifreyan symbols, which River identifies as space-time coordinates. Vastra tells the group that the coordinates lead to the location of the Doctor's greatest secret. Jenny experiences some discomfort as a figure walks past her in their house, outside their dream. River says that the Doctor had told her his name, and that she was 'a little more than a friend' of his. She also said that he hasn't contacted her, as he doesn't like endings.

Vastra says to River that Clarence told her one word that connected to the Doctor: Trenzalore. River asks her to describe what the old man told her, and Vastra plays back Clarence's prophesy in the floating dust. River says they misunderstood what he was saying. Jenny suddenly says she forgot to lock the door in their house, a factor Vastra dismisses, until Jenny tells them that someone has broken in. She discovers, to her own dismay, that she has in fact already been killed. Her form flickers and fades away. River informs Vastra that she is under attack and must wake up, and then slaps her. Vastra awakens surrounded by the Whisper Men and demands they tell her who they are. River wakes up Strax by throwing her champagne in his face, and he finds himself also surrounded by the Whisper Men upon waking. The Whisper Men then enter the trance with River and Clara, and order Clara to tell the Doctor something: The face of Walter Simeon appears in the dust, to say 'His friends are lost forever more, unless he goes to Trenzalore'. River protests against this, and Clara wakes up.

Clara goes downstairs, finding the Doctor walking around the Maitland house blindfolded and calling for the children. It transpires they tricked him into playing 'Blind man's bluff' so that they could sneak out to the cinema. Learning this, the Doctor can only say "the little Daleks" in annoyance. Clara asks the Doctor about River: He calls her his ex before changing the subject to Vastra's message. As Clara repeats it a visibly distraught Doctor asks her if it really was Trenzalore. Brought close to tears, he abruptly snaps out of it and runs off to the TARDIS.

Clara finds him below the console. The Doctor mentions he heard the name Trenzalore before, from Dorium Maldovar and a few others, and that River surely knew as she always did. He links Clara to the TARDIS' Telepathic circuits, then states that Trenzalore is the one place you don't want to go as a time traveller, and that Clara misunderstood the message. It didn't speak of the secret the Doctor will take to his grave, but the grave itself: The final resting place of the Doctor has been found. He has to save Vastra, Strax and Jenny - if the latter is still alive - by "breaking into my own tomb", as they were there for him during his dark times, never questioning, never judging.

As the Doctor sets course for Trenzalore, the TARDIS realises what he is about to do and protests hard, fighting the coordinates while the Doctor forces her onwards. Explosions shake the console room, and the TARDIS powers down to stop him. Coming to a stop in Trenzalore's orbit, they open the door to look at the planet below. Clara asks him if they are going to jump, which he dismisses as silly. The TARDIS has powered down everything, aside from the antigravs. Declaring "guess what I'm turning off", he sends the TARDIS plunging down through Trenzalore's atmosphere to the surface.

They land in a graveyard, one assembled during a battle. The Doctor explains that more important the warrior, the bigger the tombstone. A giant TARDIS shell looms on the horizon - "Hell of a momument." The Doctor identifies it as the actual TARDIS rather than just a monument. Sometimes when a TARDIS is dying, its "bigger on the inside" qualities begin to leak out. A psychic echo of River Song appears to Clara, saying that only she can see or hear her and to not mention her presence to the Doctor. On River's words, Clara directs the Doctor's attention to a grave that shouldn't be there, marked "River Song". Realising that his wife's grave would only be there to cover up something like a secret entrance to the tomb, they enter, just as the Whisper Men are closing in on them.

During their climb up through the catacombs Clara suddenly starts to remember wandering through a broken down TARDIS and the Doctor telling her about her lives and deaths. He cuts her short as she tries to ask him about it.

The Intelligence demands that the Doctor speak his name.

Inside the TARDIS 'monument', Strax and Madame Vastra awake, and Strax is able to revive the nearby Jenny who was thought dead. Once the Doctor, Clara and the River echo arrive, all are surrounded by the Great Intelligence (using the appearance of Walter Simeon) and his Whisper Men. The Great Intelligence stands at the door to the Doctor's tomb, stating that only the Doctor's name will open it, demanding they gain access. Before everyone can be killed, River Song's apparition (unheard by the audience) calls out his name to open the crypt.

Inside is an overgrown TARDIS control room, with a glowing, writhing beam of light where the main console would usually be. The Doctor explains that this is his "mark" on the universe - his own personal timeline, past and future, and everything that resulted from it. The Doctor collapses from the influence of being so close to his past and future in this way. The Great Intelligence reveals his plan to re-write the Doctor's entire history, turning all his victories into failures. He knows that he will be killed, but the Doctor will surely be destroyed. The Great Intelligence steps into the light and is killed; the light turns red, and the Doctor falls to the floor, visibly in pain as he is being destroyed all at once. Horrified, Vastra declares that a universe without the Doctor will have consequences. She flees outside and sees the stars go dark as entire star systems are erased from history. Jenny, having been saved by the Doctor previously, is also erased, while Strax turns hostile. Grief-stricken, Vastra is forced to vaporise him.

Against both the Doctor's and River's protests, Clara decides to act - and with the words "run, you clever boy, and remember me," she follows the Great Intelligence into the Doctor's timeline to save him. A million copies of Clara appear throughout history, each one correcting the Doctor's timeline in her own way. On Gallifrey, one of the Claras tells the First Doctor he's about to make a very big mistake – by stealing the wrong TARDIS. She then directs him to the "proper" TARDIS, saying it would be more fun with a broken navigation system.

With everyone restored except the Great Intelligence and Clara, the Doctor says he will enter his own timeline, risking its collapse to get Clara back. A frustrated River moves to slap him, but the Doctor catches her hand. The Doctor reveals that he could see her all along, he was just worried talking to her would hurt too much - which it does. They kiss passionately, which the Doctor jokingly says must look strange to Vastra, Jenny and Strax since they can't see her. River tells the Doctor that he never said goodbye to her and he admits he didn't know how. So she explains the only goodbye she would accept is one which promises their paths will cross again. They banter for a moment like they used to, and she reveals that she was telepathically linked to Clara, and would not still exist if Clara had died. As he asks what happened to her then, River smiles and simply states: "Spoilers." She dissipates with a final, "Goodbye Sweetie."

The Doctor then steps into his own time stream.

"The one who broke the promise."

Clara lands in a dark, misty and cavernous place. As she stands up, various incarnations of the Doctor run past her on all sides. She hears the voice of the Eleventh Doctor talking to her. Her leaf appears, which she grabs, as the voice of the Doctor instructs her. The Doctor then arrives, promising to save her and take her home. As they embrace, they both notice a shadowy figure standing nearby, with his back to them. Clara does not recognise this figure, despite having thought she'd seen all of the Doctor's faces. The Doctor, showing great apprehension, explains that his real name was not the point; he chose the name "the Doctor" himself like a promise, and this mysterious man was "the one who broke the promise." He is his secret. As Clara collapses from exhaustion, the figure defends himself, saying that he had no choice and that his actions were "in the name of peace and sanity". The Doctor acknowledges this but states that it had not been "in the name of the Doctor." As the Doctor carries Clara away, the man turns around, showing his elderly face as an on-screen caption reveals his identity to be "the Doctor".

Cast

and

References

Cultural references from the real world

Individuals

  • Because the Doctor was responsible for saving Jenny's life and turning Strax into a nurse, his absence from the universe makes Jenny disappear and Strax revert to a more typical Sontaran, before Vastra kills him. Vastra herself does not immediately change or vanish, however.

The Doctor

  • "The fields of Trenzalore" are shown to be the Doctor's final battlefield.
  • The Doctor's TARDIS is used as his tomb after his death, which instead of his body, holds his timestream.
  • A previously unknown incarnation of the Doctor is revealed in his memory.
  • As she is being retrieved by the Doctor, Clara does not appear to recall encounters with any future (i.e, post-Eleventh) incarnations.

TARDIS

  • When a TARDIS decays, it may begin leaking some of its interior dimensions to the outside, in this case causing the TARDIS' shell to expand to enormous size, with chameleon properties still intact. This is referred to as a "size-leak" phenomenon.

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. The First Doctor and the Eleventh Doctor interact with her, and the Third Doctor and Seventh Doctor appear to notice her, but only for a moment. Despite the First Doctor actually carrying on a brief conversation with her, it would appear he later forgets this as the Eleventh Doctor doesn't recognise Clara.
  • This episode has the record for the most Doctors in one episode, with all 11, plus the unknown Doctor played by John Hurt.
  • Ultimately, Clara's companionship with the Doctor is something of an ontological paradox; the Doctor might not have invited 21st Century Clara to travel with him if he had not met the echoes of her in the Dalek Asylum and Victorian London, but if she never travelled with the Doctor, those echoes would never have existed.
  • 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, watching the Seventh Doctor hang on to dear life on his umbrella (from TV: Dragonfire), running after the Second Doctor (with footage taken from TV: The Five Doctors) and the Eighth Doctor, The Tenth Doctor as he stands in The Library and seeing the Ninth Doctor run past her while she was inside the Doctor's time stream. Also, when the Great Intelligence is in the Doctors timeline we additionally see the First Doctor examining the seal under the tomb of Yetaxa (taken from TV: The Aztecs) and the Great Intelligence's former henchmen, the Yeti, from the London Underground (TV: The Web of Fear)
  • While many of these appearances are taken from actual footage of the original actors in character, many of them are lifted from different contexts than they appear here. As mentioned below, for example, there was no previous footage of the First Doctor stealing the TARDIS that would become his (or, if you prefer, the TARDIS stealing the First Doctor)! Similarly, the Second Doctor was never before seen running across a palm-tree lined beach in a fur coat, although he was seen running in a fur coat, in TV: The Five Doctors.
  • The Second and Eighth Doctors had an adventure together, as evidenced by Clara observing both of them within seconds of each other on the same palm tree-lined beach.
  • This story features for the first time on television, the Doctor prior to stealing the TARDIS. The event had previously been portrayed differently 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 another one because it will be more "fun".
  • While trapped in the Doctor's time stream, the First, Sixth, Fifth, Ninth, and Fourth Doctors move past, behind, and in front of Clara. Unknown actors portrayed them, although the actor portraying the first Doctor resembles the appearance of Richard Hurndall, who replaced William Hartnell in The Five Doctors.
  • 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.
  • The default form is slightly different from, but similar to, those seen in the TARDIS bay on Gallifrey in TV: The War Games during the Second Doctor's time, though the Doctor's own TARDIS was already stuck as a Police Box then. Plus, it has been long established that the Doctor's TARDIS is an obsolete model, whereas the TARDISes seen in The War Games were likely more recent styles.
  • This is the second series finale of the revived series not to feature a Dalek (TV: Last of the Time Lords), though the Dalek Asylum is mentioned and appears in a flashback (TV: Asylum of the Daleks).
  • This marks the first television story in the revived series to use the complete moniker of "(Number) Doctor" when Clara says "You are the Eleventh Doctor". This has arguably happened before, however; in The Three Doctors, Sergeant Benton specifically refers to Patrick Troughton's character as "the Second Doctor" (albeit not really due to him being the second incarnation). Many previous stories, such as TV: The Lodger or The Five Doctors have either used just the number ("Eleventh") or regeneration ("Fourth regeneration") respectively. John Hurt's unknown Doctor notwithstanding, this could be seen to finally put to bed speculation as to whether the unknown faces during the "mental duel" in TV: The Brain of Morbius were pre-Hartnell incarnations of the Doctor.

Ratings

7.45

Filming locations

to be added

Production errors

to be added

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.

Continuity

  • Jenny also indicates that he has an inability to distinguish River's "big hair" from her "big head".

Home video releases

DVD releases

to be added

Blu-ray releases

to be added

External links

to be added

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