# Doctor Who 7x14: The Name of the Doctor **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [May 18, 2013, 7:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/doctor-who-7x14-the-name-of-the-doctor/658695 "2013-05-18T19:57:21Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 5
**Author:** ![dropzone](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dropzone/32/7515_2.png) [@dropzone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dropzone)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2013, 12:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/doctor-who-7x14-the-name-of-the-doctor/658695/81 "2013-05-21T00:54:26Z")
The SDMB has determined that [Cardiff really is a dump,](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=682283&highlight=cardiff) but as the DW people have to work there, it was unlikely to be the horrible and violent place that Strax would go on his weekends off. So was anybody surprised he goes to Glasgow and fits right in? ETA: d&r ---
**Author:** ![Nobody](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/94ad74/32.png) [@Nobody](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nobody)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2013, 2:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/doctor-who-7x14-the-name-of-the-doctor/658695/82 "2013-05-21T02:08:48Z")
Link to a rumor, which if true, is a minor spoiler. [Scroll down and click on + John Hurt 50th anniversary spoiler?](http://www.kasterborous.com/2013/04/curious-50th-anniversary-rumour-spoilers/) ---
**Author:** ![Monkey\_Chews](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/65b543/32.png) [@Monkey\_Chews](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Monkey_Chews)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2013, 2:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/doctor-who-7x14-the-name-of-the-doctor/658695/83 "2013-05-21T02:19:06Z")
> [@Inner\_Stickler](#): > > Yeah, the scene was really well done and powerful and her immediate revival by Strax undercut it and I found it odd how blase Strax was about it. Even with the understanding that Vastra has a stronger relationship and connection with Jenny, her almost breakdown and Strax’s nonchalance were really at odds. But it did lead to the best exchange of the whole damn series. Strax: The heart is a relatively simple thing Vastra: I have not found it to be so. Delivered so beautifully by Neve McIntosh. Vastra had the other best line of the episode: “Time travel has always been possible in dreams.” Such a wonderful, truthful idea communicated so elegantly. ---
**Author:** ![dropzone](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dropzone/32/7515_2.png) [@dropzone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dropzone)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2013, 2:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/doctor-who-7x14-the-name-of-the-doctor/658695/84 "2013-05-21T02:26:57Z")
For a lizard she’s awful damned elegant. And hot. She leaves me confused. But Jabe confused me, too, and she was a tree. ---
**Author:** ![Slade](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b5ac83/32.png) [@Slade](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Slade)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2013, 7:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/doctor-who-7x14-the-name-of-the-doctor/658695/85 "2013-05-21T07:29:37Z")
I’m getting the impression here that’s there some kind of missing doctor at around the eight-and-a-halfth incarnation. Have I got that right? And could someone just give me a very basic Coles Notes summary of this issue? Thanks. ---
**Author:** ![CandidGamera](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/candidgamera/32/2878_2.png) [@CandidGamera](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CandidGamera)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2013, 1:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/doctor-who-7x14-the-name-of-the-doctor/658695/86 "2013-05-21T13:30:22Z")
I can’t explain the exploding TARDIS. But I have an idea about the Silence. The Silence want to stop the Doctor from going to Trenzalore. So they try to arrange a fixed point in time and his death. They want to do this because of what nearly happened in “The Name of the Doctor” - the Doctor is lured to Trenzalore and his ‘time path’ exploited by one of his enemies to try and undo his life’s work - resulting in the extermination of all life in the universe (at the hands of the Daleks, or the Time Lords, or countless other menaces.) So in their mind, killing the Doctor before Trenzalore is the only way to prevent that catastrophe? ---
**Author:** ![The\_Hamster\_King](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/8edcca/32.png) [@The\_Hamster\_King](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Hamster_King)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2013, 1:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/doctor-who-7x14-the-name-of-the-doctor/658695/87 "2013-05-21T13:32:18Z")
> [@Slade](#): > > I’m getting the impression here that’s there some kind of missing doctor at around the eight-and-a-halfth incarnation. Have I got that right? And could someone just give me a very basic Coles Notes summary of this issue? There hasn’t been an official “missing Doctor” until the latest episode raised the possibility. The original series ran up to Seven. In 1992 there was a standalone TV movie that began with Seven regenerating into Eight. When the new series started up, there were clues that Nine had recently regenerated. (He stops to look at himself in a mirror and comments on his features, for example.) Everyone assumed that this meant that Eight had been the Doctor who fought in the Time War and killed off all the Time Lords. And then after the deed was done he regenerated into Nine and the new series started. However, there’s a gap in the continuity between the 1992 movie and the new series. Because they never showed Eight turning into Nine it’s possible to insert an extra regeneration between them. And this actually kind of makes sense because from what we’ve seen of the Eighth Doctor, he doesn’t really seem like the genocide type. ---
**Author:** ![johnspartan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/a183cd/32.png) [@johnspartan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/johnspartan)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2013, 3:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/doctor-who-7x14-the-name-of-the-doctor/658695/88 "2013-05-21T15:09:25Z")
> [@CorneaGenii](#): > > I want the time I spent watching series 5, 6, and 7 back, and I so very desperately want RTD back. ☹ > > I started watching thinking I was going to be disappointed, but GOOD GOD! This is the first time in the entire run of New Who that I can say I didn’t care for any part of an episode. > > Clara’s “I’m the impossible girl. I’m the impossible girl.” Don’t care. > Trenzalore and the Doctor’s tomb. Don’t care. > Vastra, Strax, and Jenny. UGH, Don’t care. :rolleyes: > The Great Intelligence. Ditto. > River Song, her space hair, and her “spoilers”. Emphatically, violently DO. NOT. GIVE. A. FLYING. FUCK!!! :mad: > As for the newest incarnation of the Doctor. Whoop-dee-freakin-do. > > I know I’m in the minority, but I remember being on the edge of my seat or emotionally invested with the finales of RTD’s run, but since Moffat took over, my reaction to the finales of series 5 - 7 has been either meh or wtf. > > So here is a big FUCK YOU MOFFAT for taking a ginormous, steaming, malodorous dump on my enjoyment of this character and this show. If you’re in the minority with those opinions then I’m there along with you. Strax is moderately amusing. I mean the character is one-note comic relief, but it’s an ok note anyway. The other two in that group… good grief. For how many times they got plopped back in this season, they’re STILL really quite one-dimensional… and barely that. And the smacking in the face that they’re romantically linked. We GET it. Move along. All the Matt Smith years have been pretty meh. The second half of this season has, for me, also varied between whatever and WTF. There was a lot of WTFery in the final We’ve rewatched some of the season 1 reboot years with the 9th doctor. That tone (which was apparently under Russell T Davies’ thumb) was much better, I think. ---
**Author:** ![Scubaqueen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c0e974/32.png) [@Scubaqueen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scubaqueen)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2013, 6:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/doctor-who-7x14-the-name-of-the-doctor/658695/89 "2013-05-21T18:19:07Z")
> [@Jragon](#): > > According to the Tardis wiki, some of the canon text works strongly imply that the Doctor is the reincarnation of The Other after he threw himself into The Loom. I’ve heard the same thing and not from Tardis wiki. If he is, it would add a helluva wrinkle to things… ---
**Author:** ![Unauthorized\_Cinnamon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/bc8723/32.png) [@Unauthorized\_Cinnamon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Unauthorized_Cinnamon)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2013, 7:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/doctor-who-7x14-the-name-of-the-doctor/658695/90 "2013-05-21T19:02:12Z")
Season 5 was pretty good, but only as long as I don’t think about it too hard, and just focus on going along for the ride. A few standout episodes in Season 6, but the whole thing didn’t hang together for me at all. Season 7 has been pretty much a bust as far as I’m concerned, though I’m intrigued by John Hurt. It’s so weird to me that Moffat has written some of my favorite episodes (as well as run two other series I love), but I have to agree that I don’t like his handling of the whole shebang. He also created two cool, iconic elements of NuWho (River and the angels), then overused, over-complicated, and generally overworked them into rather tedious, disappointing “not again!” factors. I also agree that there’s no tension when they give everyone extra lives like it’s a video game. Jenny’s “I’m so sorry mum, I’m afraid I’ve been murdered!” would have been effective and poignant, except they undid it. Same with River - we all know they might haul her out again at the slightest provocation, so who can care when they say goodbye? ---
**Author:** ![Jragon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e19b73/32.png) [@Jragon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jragon)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2013, 7:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/doctor-who-7x14-the-name-of-the-doctor/658695/91 "2013-05-21T19:18:51Z")
> [@Unauthorized\_Cinnamon](#): > > I also agree that there’s no tension when they give everyone extra lives like it’s a video game. Jenny’s “I’m so sorry **mum** , I’m afraid I’ve been murdered!” would have been effective and poignant, except they undid it. Same with River - we all know they might haul her out again at the slightest provocation, so who can care when they say goodbye? (bolding mine) Ma’am – I think interspecies lesbians with aeons of difference in age is enough without throwing in incest :p. ---
**Author:** ![Nobody](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/94ad74/32.png) [@Nobody](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nobody)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2013, 9:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/doctor-who-7x14-the-name-of-the-doctor/658695/92 "2013-05-21T21:42:41Z")
> [@CandidGamera](#): > > I can’t explain the exploding TARDIS. But I have an idea about the Silence. > > The Silence want to stop the Doctor from going to Trenzalore. So they try to arrange a fixed point in time and his death. > > They want to do this because of what nearly happened in “The Name of the Doctor” - the Doctor is lured to Trenzalore and his ‘time path’ exploited by one of his enemies to try and undo his life’s work - resulting in the extermination of all life in the universe (at the hands of the Daleks, or the Time Lords, or countless other menaces.) > > So in their mind, killing the Doctor before Trenzalore is the only way to prevent that catastrophe? See, if the fans have to try and make up explanations as to what happened, then Moffat isn’t doing his job properly. ---
**Author:** ![dropzone](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dropzone/32/7515_2.png) [@dropzone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dropzone)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2013, 12:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/doctor-who-7x14-the-name-of-the-doctor/658695/93 "2013-05-22T00:35:26Z")
But then what will we talk about until November? ---
**Author:** ![Nobody](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/94ad74/32.png) [@Nobody](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nobody)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2013, 1:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/doctor-who-7x14-the-name-of-the-doctor/658695/94 "2013-05-22T01:31:05Z")
Good point. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![deltasigma](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e5b9ba/32.png) [@deltasigma](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/deltasigma)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2013, 1:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/doctor-who-7x14-the-name-of-the-doctor/658695/95 "2013-05-22T01:43:32Z")
What happens if you make a weeping angel look at itself in a mirror. ---
**Author:** ![Inner\_Stickler](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/inner_stickler/32/318_2.png) [@Inner\_Stickler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Inner_Stickler)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2013, 4:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/doctor-who-7x14-the-name-of-the-doctor/658695/96 "2013-05-22T04:34:08Z")
Presumably the same thing as when two weeping angels look at each other. ---
**Author:** ![Nobody](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/94ad74/32.png) [@Nobody](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nobody)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2013, 5:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/doctor-who-7x14-the-name-of-the-doctor/658695/97 "2013-05-22T05:15:08Z")
Hell, in “Flesh and Stone” Amy was blind but walked around as if she could see and that tricked the angels into turning to stone. ---
**Author:** ![gonzoron](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a6a055/32.png) [@gonzoron](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gonzoron)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2013, 1:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/doctor-who-7x14-the-name-of-the-doctor/658695/98 "2013-05-22T13:24:45Z")
OK, on rewatch, I still loved the ep, but one thing bothered me: Why did River open the tomb? A fit of pique over being left behind in the library? I doubt it, since she seemed to understand that was the doctor’s way and be at peace with it. On top of that, she loves him, so why would she do something that a) he clearly didn’t want done, even under threat to his friends, and b) that she knew would be extremely dangerous to him? I mean, yes, she’s impulsive and wacky, but to see that not opening the tomb was tearing the doctor apart and yet he still wouldn’t do it, and then to go ahead and do it… huh? ---
**Author:** ![yellowjacketcoder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/4bbf92/32.png) [@yellowjacketcoder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/yellowjacketcoder)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2013, 1:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/doctor-who-7x14-the-name-of-the-doctor/658695/99 "2013-05-22T13:39:18Z")
I think River opening the tomb was because she figured the doctor was too wimpy to do so himself (note how indecisive he was being), not opening the tomb would have killed all the companions, and she figured that whatever was in the tomb would not be as useful to the GI as it would be to the doctor. I don’t know if she knew about the time-scar or not, but I have a feeling she knew whatever was in there was making the Doctor nervous because of the potential for mishap, not because it would be useful to the GI. The GI’s problem is hubris, and River figured that out. ---
**Author:** ![Prof.Pepperwinkle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/prof.pepperwinkle/32/13627_2.png) [@Prof.Pepperwinkle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Prof.Pepperwinkle)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2013, 1:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/doctor-who-7x14-the-name-of-the-doctor/658695/100 "2013-05-22T13:57:31Z")
My guess is River opened the door because she had advance knowledge of what would happen if she did, and how it would go down. It’s not good writing, it’s… Spoilers, Sweetie. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/doctor-who-7x14-the-name-of-the-doctor/658695.md?page=4) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/doctor-who-7x14-the-name-of-the-doctor/658695.md?page=6)