{"id":14517,"date":"2013-05-18T22:10:26","date_gmt":"2013-05-19T02:10:26","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/religionprof\/?p=14517"},"modified":"2013-05-18T22:10:26","modified_gmt":"2013-05-19T02:10:26","slug":"doctor-who-the-name-of-the-doctor","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/religionprof\/2013\/05\/doctor-who-the-name-of-the-doctor.html","title":{"rendered":"Doctor Who: The Name of the Doctor"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

If you\u2019re expecting the episode \u201cThe Name of the Doctor\u201d to make perfect logical sense, you must be new to Doctor Who. As it has from the beginning, Doctor Who skirts the boundary between science fiction and fantasy, and so some of the \u201cscience\u201d is always little different from \u201cmagic.\u201d But on a storytelling and an emotional level, I think it worked, and makes a nice set up for the 50th anniversary special coming in November. Spoilers ahead!<\/p>\n

So in this episode we do learn the Doctor\u2019s secret, possibly his biggest. And it is much more satisfying than if we had simply had a bit of dialogue that said,<\/p>\n

Great Intelligence: What is your name? Doctor Who?<\/p>\n

The Doctor: OK, my name is Christoreslvdespovratorcovor De Lungbarrow.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Early on, we hear from someone who says that \u201cthe Doctor has many secrets, but one he will take to his grave. It is discovered.\u201d It turns out that what has been discovered is the Doctor\u2019s grave. Its location is Trenzalore.<\/p>\n

<\/div>\n

\"\"The one place a time traveler must never go is their own grave, apparently. Too many paradoxes. I would have thought that the moment of their conception would be even more risky and paradoxical, but whatever.<\/p>\n

The best part of the episode for me was the resolution to a longstanding question about River Song. River appears in the episode, but at long last it is River from the library, the \u201cbackup copy\u201d that the Doctor had saved \u2013 and then apparently never went back to visit, because it would be too painful for him and he hates goodbyes. The Doctor says, in words that echo Ecclesiastes, \u201cThere is a time to live, and there is a time to sleep.\u201d But there is a hint that River may be able to live on \u2013 with one more great reference to \u201cspoilers.\u201d And the Doctor\u2019s words about always seeing her were deeply moving.<\/p>\n

\"\"The resolution to the mystery of the Impossible Girl was wonderfully done, I thought. And even if they only managed to get the other Doctors into the story by using old footage, it was still fitting that in this year of the 50th anniversary, there should be an episode that is as close to \u201cThe Twelve Doctors\u201d as one could have hoped for.<\/p>\n

<\/div>\n

Twelve? Ah yes, that\u2019s the Doctor\u2019s dirty secret. There is another instance of him, one who did things that the Doctor is ashamed of. \u201cWhat I did, I did without choice\u2026in the name of peace and sanity\u201d he says. And the eleventh \u2013 or is it the twelfth? \u2013 replies, \u201cBut not in the name of the Doctor.\u201d And so apparently the big secret is not the Doctor\u2019s name, but his identity, and a past \u2013 or is it a future? that he has tried to forget along with his name. Kind of like Darth Vader in relation to Anakin Skywalker, only in reverse.<\/p>\n

I am curious whether that Doctor is one who did unspeakable things in the time war, or before even the \u201cfirst\u201d Doctor. Or is it in the future \u2013 is he the Valeyard? The Great Intelligence makes a reference to the Doctor\u2019s \u201cbloodsoaked\u201d history, and says he has gone by other names: \u201cStorm, the Beast, the Valeyard.\u201d That was a nice touch.<\/p>\n

We can\u2019t not talk about religion. Was it just me, or does Vashtra blurt out \u201cDear goddess\u201d at one point?<\/p>\n

What did you think of \u201cThe Name of the Doctor\u201d? Satisfying revelations? Sufficient mysteries preserved and presented, to keep us going for another 50 years?<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

If you\u2019re expecting the episode \u201cThe Name of the Doctor\u201d to make perfect logical sense, you must be new to Doctor Who. 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