Home Entertainment Steven Moffat has blessed unto us an early Christmas with THE NIGHT OF THE DOCTOR

Steven Moffat has blessed unto us an early Christmas with THE NIGHT OF THE DOCTOR

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Love him or hate him (or a healthy weekly rotation of both), Steven Moffat loves nothing more than to catch his fans off guard and while we were expecting a Doctor Who mini-episode that is going to tie in to the Day of the Doctor, that us here at The Movies have lovingly bedazzled with hearts on our calendars, none of us expected that it will have such a big significance for not only the episode, but Doctor Who canon as a whole.

50th-Minisode-The-Night-of-the-Doctor-Pic_thumbToday, let’s do things a bit backwards. Here’s The Night of the Doctor! Play close attention, there will be a 3-hour exam afterwards.

Hell’s bells. That’s a mighty fine piece of writing from Steven “Best Hair Ever” Moffat and for those of you who are only watching it for the seventh time now, I’ll do you a favour and summarise what you need to take away from this (besides a healthy dose of gratitude for having just watched something that cool):

[SPOILER WARNING for the Night of the Doctor]

– We were robbed from not seeing Paul McGann as the 8th Doctor more. He’s awesome.

– The War Doctor, John Hurt, falls squarely in between the 8th and the 9th. It doesn’t change that fact that the 9th is the 9th Doctor…he just isn’t the 9th incarnation.

– We are most likely going to see the final days of the Time War between the Time Lords and the Daleks.

– The Doctor can be female, as he had the option for it. This is already canon, however, as the Corsair has been referred to as both male and female.

– “I’m a doctor, but probably not the one you’re expecting.” and “Will it hurt?” – some clever word play from Steven Moffat, a nod to his knowing fans for not expecting the 8th and naturally, the Doctor changing into John Hurt.

– The Sisters of Karn are responsible for eternal life and can control a Time Lord’s regeneration.

– John Hurt’s youthful face at the end of the mini-episode is a good indication of how long he must have been fighting if he is now the aged John Hurt we’ve seen.

I’m sure there’s more, but I’ll leave you to discover them all! John Hurt being confirmed as a warrior, the War Doctor, is the biggest surprise. It was frequently mused upon that he might be the Doctor that fought in the Time Wars but nobody expected it to be confirmed so soon…even before the actual episode airs.

All I know is, come November the 23rd, nothing in the world will be able to wrench me from my armchair as I whoop and cheer for the latest Doctor Who adventure before falling into a deep sadness when I remember that Matt Smith is almost on his way out.

Last Updated: November 15, 2013

5 Comments

  1. I am not ashamed to be squeeing like a twilight fan-girl at this.

    Reply

    • Kervyn Cloete

      November 15, 2013 at 11:07

      Nobody should be ashamed to be squeeing at this. In fact, squeeing is mandatory.

      Reply

  2. Major Commodore 64 Darryn B

    November 15, 2013 at 11:12

    MCGANN!

    Reply

  3. Kervyn Cloete

    November 15, 2013 at 11:15

    While I was convinced that John Hurt would be between Doctors 8 and 9, I really, really didn’t expect Moffat and co to reveal it this early.
    Now that its confirmed, meaning that incoming Doctor Peter Capaldi is actually the 12th and supposed to be final regeneration, I have feeling that the new series is going to have an overarching story of him either trying to find a loophole in the whole “Only 13 lives” thing, or us finding out how he solved it already.

    Reply

    • Lourens Corleone

      November 15, 2013 at 11:30

      I heard suggest that the whole War Doctor already nullifies the 13 regenerations issue. The Sisters of Karn can give more regenerations, so it can easily be stated that the limit was removed for the War Doctor and never reinstated.

      Reply

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