Well, I officially have more questions than I do answers now. *tries to pull self together enough to assess what she's just seen*
I wasn't surprised that this was our final farewell to River, seeing as she's not really a relevant character at this point in the series. (Not that I don't love her, but she faded out with the Ponds.) I liked how we got to see post-Library River, since I've always wondered about the Doctor just leaving her in the database like that. Also, River and the Doctor had a sweet farewell.
As for Clara's big unfolding, I liked it; her mysterious nature suddenly makes sense now, and I liked how we got to see her appear in all the different Doctors' storylines. (Apparently at one point she was even a Time Lady, seeing as we saw her on Gallifrey!) Also, if River said the Doctor's name, and Clara was the only one who could hear River, does that mean that Clara knows the Doctor's name now? And I know how fangirly this is going to sound, and how typical and frivolous and all, but now that River is gone for good, am I allowed to ship Clara and the Doctor? I'm sorry, I'm terrible, but the Doctor said it himself in the prequel, she's perfect for him in every way--not just in a lame romantic way, but as a friend and companion. Also, he's extremely affectionate with her, and even as far as companions go, she's become very dear to him very quickly.
Also, the final scene of the finale scrambled my brain. HOW ON EARTH CAN I WAIT UNTIL NOVEMBER?? Also, in the minutes following the big reveal, I've been fan theorizing with other Whovians that maybe this John Hurt rendition of the Doctor, who allegedly did what he did "not in the name of the Doctor", is a sort of Non-Doctor that came between Eight and Nine and was the one who destroyed Gallifrey in the Time War.
Re: Doctor Who Series Preview
Posted: Sat May 18, 2013 7:26 pm
by Shennifer
Just finished it.
wow. what just happened?
Re: Doctor Who Series Preview
Posted: Sat May 18, 2013 7:27 pm
by Caswin
So. Uh.
He said it would Hurt too much.
And he was right.
Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha
Where is this going I don't know
Re: Doctor Who Series Preview
Posted: Sat May 18, 2013 7:37 pm
by Amethystic
Wow, now I'm actually impressed how coherent I was compared to all of you guys. Though I did scream at my sister earlier to alleviate some pent up emotional frustration.
Re: Doctor Who Series Preview
Posted: Sat May 18, 2013 8:05 pm
by 31899
I don't think we've seen the last of River Song. They meet out of order. There are still stories to be told (I think).
Edit: I do not like the Doctor which was introduced. (Yes I know that is a bit premature). I really liked the way they worked Clara into the Doctor's past. I thought that was clever. Particularly when stealing the TARDIS.
Re: Doctor Who Series Preview
Posted: Sat May 18, 2013 8:17 pm
by God's Daughter
I saw it also...
This episode was so confusing, emotional, and...awesome. o.o I really loved the whole Clara thing, and being able to see parts of the Doctor's past was really cool. Completely unexpected and really good. I'm even more excited for the 50th now.
Re: Doctor Who Series Preview
Posted: Sat May 18, 2013 10:05 pm
by The Kings Daughter
Amethystic wrote:
but now that River is gone for good, am I allowed to ship Clara and the Doctor? I'm sorry, I'm terrible, but the Doctor said it himself in the prequel, she's perfect for him in every way--not just in a lame romantic way, but as a friend and companion. Also, he's extremely affectionate with her, and even as far as companions go, she's become very dear to him very quickly.
In a word: NEVER.
Re: Doctor Who Series Preview
Posted: Sat May 18, 2013 11:15 pm
by Shennifer
The Kings Daughter wrote:
Amethystic wrote:
but now that River is gone for good, am I allowed to ship Clara and the Doctor? I'm sorry, I'm terrible, but the Doctor said it himself in the prequel, she's perfect for him in every way--not just in a lame romantic way, but as a friend and companion. Also, he's extremely affectionate with her, and even as far as companions go, she's become very dear to him very quickly.
In a word: NEVER.
I actually kinda agree with Amy on this one, though it's more of a friendship for me than a romantic love (because he's already with River). And I still want to know how River knows the Doctor's name
But yes, I like Amy's theory about this "new" Doctor.
Anyway, it was a creative way for Clara to have been integrated in the Doctors' timeline, especially since she knew she had already saved him. (kinda reminded me of when Harry and Hermione went back in time in The Prisoner of Azkaban and Harry realizes it was himself that had saved him and Sirius and that he could do it this time because he had already done it. If that makes any sense at all
Re: Doctor Who Series Preview
Posted: Sun May 19, 2013 9:00 am
by 31899
This episode reminds me a bit of Silence in the Library in that
Everybody knows that everybody dies, but not every day. Not today. Some days are special. Some days are so, so blessed. Some days, nobody dies at all. Now and then, every once in a very long while, every day in a million days, when the wind stands fair and the Doctor comes to call, everybody lives.
I think the Doctor and Clara fall into the Harry and Hermione category of friendship.
Re: Doctor Who Series Preview
Posted: Sun May 19, 2013 12:46 pm
by Termite
Okay, so about this new Doctor. Aeva and I were Skyping last night, and I was poking around on the internet when I found several interesting articles that led to a clue about this new Doctor... John Hurt told The Sun that he was going to be a part of a 'trinity' with David Tennant and Matt Smith... the writer of the article I read this on then began speculating on how (s)he? believes that John Hurt's Doctor might actually be Nine, not Christopher Eccleston. After giving it some more though, I actually think that's what he might be.
Think about it. The Time War happened over a very long period of time. How would the Doctor (CE Nine) not know what he looked like at some point during that? Or did he go that long of a time period without EVER seeing himself?
Then, when Clara was in the Doctor's timeline tunnel thing, regenerations One through CE Nine were all moving through it since they were, in their respective lives, going about business as usual. However, John Hurt was just standing there, able to speak with the Doctor, as if he were time locked, just like the war was.
The thing the Doctor said about names, and New Doctor being his biggest secret- because he was ashamed of what he had to do- leads me to believe that yes, this WAS the real Nine, and the Doctor was just so horrified at what he'd done that he locked New Doctor away and sealed him up, the tried to forget he ever existed, excluding that regeneration from the count.
Anyway. I think that'd be pretty cool if they could work that out. ^_^
Re: Doctor Who Series Preview
Posted: Sun May 19, 2013 1:19 pm
by Aeva
Now that I've calmed down, I'll share my thoughts.
I loved this episode; it was fantastic in every regard (except for one). The lines were great, the climax was beautiful, and the ending was simply stunning. Strax is so funny: "You need to knock me unconscious.... This might take a while." Even though I still don't ship The Doctor and River, I have to admit that I felt something during their farewell. It was a lovely scene, although I laughed out loud when The Doctor pointed out that nobody else could see River. That was a hilarious mental picture. The Doctor's timeline, grave thing was absolutely fascinating, and as soon as they showed it, my mom guessed that Clara was going to step into it even before I did. I'm so proud. Termite and I have successfully created a Whovian. :') November can't get here soon enough!
The one thing that disappointed me was that Jenny did not stay dead. I thought her murder during the conference call was a brilliant moment, but then, of course, she was brought back to life. Sometimes you need a poignant death, I think.
Re: Doctor Who Series Preview
Posted: Sun May 19, 2013 1:36 pm
by Termite
That was another thing I forgot to mention that we talked about... the one thing that's been wrong with Moffat's Who: nobody dies. Russel T. Davies killed too many people, so it ended up being repetitively depressing, but an occasional sacrifice is all right.
And the dying TARDIS.
Re: Doctor Who Series Preview
Posted: Sun May 19, 2013 2:39 pm
by Amethystic
Termite wrote:
Okay, so about this new Doctor. Aeva and I were Skyping last night, and I was poking around on the internet when I found several interesting articles that led to a clue about this new Doctor... John Hurt told The Sun that he was going to be a part of a 'trinity' with David Tennant and Matt Smith... the writer of the article I read this on then began speculating on how (s)he? believes that John Hurt's Doctor might actually be Nine, not Christopher Eccleston. After giving it some more though, I actually think that's what he might be.
Think about it. The Time War happened over a very long period of time. How would the Doctor (CE Nine) not know what he looked like at some point during that? Or did he go that long of a time period without EVER seeing himself?
Then, when Clara was in the Doctor's timeline tunnel thing, regenerations One through CE Nine were all moving through it since they were, in their respective lives, going about business as usual. However, John Hurt was just standing there, able to speak with the Doctor, as if he were time locked, just like the war was.
The thing the Doctor said about names, and New Doctor being his biggest secret- because he was ashamed of what he had to do- leads me to believe that yes, this WAS the real Nine, and the Doctor was just so horrified at what he'd done that he locked New Doctor away and sealed him up, the tried to forget he ever existed, excluding that regeneration from the count.
Anyway. I think that'd be pretty cool if they could work that out. ^_^
I saw that article too, and I'm extremely intrigued to see how this Doctorly trinity turns out. I think your theory pretty much reflects mine. And good point about the time lock thing, I hadn't thought of it that way.
Hmmm... at the same time, though, it's common knowledge that the Doctor was behind Gallifrey's destruction in the Time War, so I don't know if it could be considered his "biggest secret" necessarily. Perhaps there's more to the story than we know? Or perhaps there's something even darker in the Doctor's past that we've yet to discover.
Re: Doctor Who Series Preview
Posted: Sun May 19, 2013 3:30 pm
by Shennifer
With Moffat, it seems like someone is dead, but then they are brought back to life somehow. I kinda agree with Aeva on this one, a meaingful death can be sad to watch but also occasionally necessary.
and I'm not going to rant about why I don't mind when the Doctor is depressed
Re: Doctor Who Series Preview
Posted: Sun May 19, 2013 3:45 pm
by 31899
We must remember, we do not know how the Doctor destroyed Gallifrey. We only know he used something know as "The Moment." There is still much to be learned about the Last Great Time War, in my opinion.
P.S. Did anyone else notice "The stars are going out" reference which we also saw at the cracks in time and of course the Medusa Cascade.
Re: Doctor Who Series Preview
Posted: Mon May 20, 2013 6:19 am
by Joy
Wow. Just wow. Um...
Haha, when I looked in here, before I saw the episode, with the comments you guys put outside of the spoiler, I thought that the episode was terrible or something, so I was worried.
But anywho, many interesting theories.
And, I mean, Summer hasn't even started, and I'm already wishing for it to go by quickly, or something. What's with that?
Oh. Tennant is s'posed to be in the next series? Someone coulda told me that.
The Clara thing was explained nicely, but, since the Doctor changed the timeline, does that mean all that stuff with Clara before never happened?
So, the episode kinda left me speechless, and emotional.
Re: Doctor Who Series Preview
Posted: Mon May 20, 2013 4:15 pm
by Termite
DT is only going to be in the 50th, and then he's back off again... it was usual for past Doctors to pop in for anniversaries. ^_^ BUT somewhere I heard that it might not even be Ten, but since Rose is coming back as well it'll probably be the Other Ten. (can't think of the term for him xP you know, the one that came out of Donna) so it won't be the Doctor the Doctor, but he'll be the META CRISIS. That's it. The Meta Crisis Ten.
No, it DID happen; the Doctor just saved the original Clara from spending eternity down inside his timeline; however, the echoes are all still there.
Re: Doctor Who Series Preview
Posted: Tue May 21, 2013 9:56 pm
by jasonjannajerryjohn
Re: Doctor Who Series Preview
Posted: Sat May 25, 2013 12:04 pm
by Musical Shutterbug
I have so many unanswered questions.
I really don't know how I'm supposed to survive until November.
"The Name of The Doctor" was absolutely breathtaking. I loved the acting, the way that Clara's storyline was finally pieced together, the cliffhanger, and the emotional tension within the episode. Well played, Moffat. I am eagerly awaiting the 50th Anniversary show.
I'm sorry, I'm terrible, but the Doctor said it himself in the prequel, she's perfect for him in every way--not just in a lame romantic way, but as a friend and companion. Also, he's extremely affectionate with her, and even as far as companions go, she's become very dear to him very quickly. 
Though I did scream at my sister earlier to alleviate some pent up emotional frustration.
Even though I still don't ship The Doctor and River, I have to admit that I felt something during their farewell. It was a lovely scene, although I laughed out loud when The Doctor pointed out that nobody else could see River. That was a hilarious mental picture. The Doctor's timeline, grave thing was absolutely fascinating, and as soon as they showed it, my mom guessed that Clara was going to step into it even before I did. I'm so proud. Termite and I have successfully created a Whovian. :') November can't get here soon enough!