A series that begun all the way back in September, and a second half that began eight weeks ago, has finally completed. Series 7 has its finale and it is The Name of the Doctor. Did the finale answer the question of who Clara is? Do we get to know the Doctor's name? Do we have more questions that answers?
I will just let the cat out of the bag right here in the beginning, I loved this episode. This is one of the best, if not THE best, Doctor Who episodes I have ever seen. This was just amazing. The story was fantastic. The directing by Saul Metzstein was great. The episode just looked great, great cinematography. It was a dark episode and it worked very well in this episode. It dealt with the death of the Doctor and needed that dark feel to it.
The supporting cast was pretty good. Vasthra, Jenny, and Strax were at their best in the beginning. After the first ten minutes, after the conference call, they were pretty underused. Alex Kingston made her return as River Song. This time she appeared as River after the events of Silence in the Library. This was echo/computer back up River. Her appearance probably wasn't totally necessary, but who cares? River is amazing and anytime she can show up is fine with me. Kingston is amazing once again and always. Her scene with Matt Smith near the end is one of the best between the two actors. Hope to see more River in future.
Richard E. Grant was great in his role as Dr. Simeon/Great Intelligence. I have seen some people have called his performance bland, but really what else is expected from a non-corporeal being inhabiting a human. He may have been devoid of emotion, but that is what I would expect from the GI. The Whisper Men were an incredibly scary new monster. I am sad that they ended up being tied to the GI. I would've loved to see them in the future and still hold hope that they make a return at some time.
The finale also brought another joy to fans of the show. This episode brought the 50th Anniversary to TV sets early. The pre-credit opening was nothing but a giant callback. We saw all Seven Classic Series Doctors in the sequence. We see Clara edited in with old footage of the Doctor's and are left to wonder what was going. We do get the resolution to why Clara is there, and I will discuss that next. There were many callbacks to old Doctor Who and this episode leads directly into the 50th Anniversary in November.
We have been waiting since September when Jenna-Louise Coleman made a surprise appearance in Asylum of the Daleks to finally get an answer to the question, who is Clara Oswald. Steven Moffat gave us the answer in the series finale. It turns out that Clara has appeared at different times in space because she had jumped into the Doctor's time stream and she was split into thousand pieces. She was flung through space and time to different points, different Claras. She was the girl "born to save the Doctor." She jumped into the time stream after the Great Intelligence to stop the GI from messing with the Doctor's past and future. I liked the explanation we were given, but it did kind of seem a little disappointing. It was a slight let down only because of all the fantastic, out of the world theories that have been flying around the Internet. It was very simple, but of course something that no one thought of. Good job Moffat you got us again.
The final "small" thing that must be discussed is the revelation in the last two minutes. Much like Jenna-Louise in Asylum of the Daleks, John Hurt made a surprise appearance in The Name of the Doctor. This was huge because Hurt had already been confirmed as a guest-star in the 50th Anniversary episode and there has been much speculation as to his character. Well he showed up here. This is what I felt was the most compelling, most intense, most spectacular two minutes in Doctor Who that I have ever seen. Hurt is revealed after The Doctor and Clara are both immersed in the Doctor's time stream. The Doctor tells Clara that everyone down here is him. Clara confused because she had seen all the Doctors expect him. Hurt is revealed to be the Doctor's biggest secret. The dialogue between Matt Smith and Hurt is great and it is great writing by Moffat.
Smith: "He is my secret."
Hurt: "What I did, I did without choice."
Smith: "I know."
Hurt: "In the name of peace and sanity."
Smith: "But not in the Name of the Doctor."
Hurt turns around to face the camera and text reads "Introducing John Hurt as The Doctor." I for one didn't think the text was necessary, but it isn't too important. So now the question is, which Doctor is Hurt? Who exactly is he? That is a question for another post.
Overall I loved this episode. Everything about it was great. This was amazing and a perfect way to end this season. 9.5 out of 10.
I will post a full season review soon. Do I still feel the same about each episode? How do I rank the episodes of Series 7? Find out next time.
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