Thats a relief. I’m not ready for another regeneration this soon. Hope Jenna-Louise Coleman is back too.
I can’t find the link again, but I read earlier that Matt Smith, Jenna-Louise Coleman and Steven Moffat are all back for the next season, though it looks like it might be a split season again across 2014/2015, with the Christmas special in-between…
Speculating, that would be a “natural” spot for another companion switch or regeneration or who knows what’s going to be on the other side of the Big Ol’ 50th.
I liked the Doctor’s name. It fits somehow.
I’m pretty sure River’s whole speech about spoilers means she is going to escape the library. And Clara’s comment about soufflés trumps the Doctor’s concerns about her and River just being “echoes”.
I got the impression that John Hurt is a past incarnation, not a future one.
A decent episode, though it didn’t quite play out the way the Silence described it.
Pretty sure John Hurt’s Doctor will be the one who sentenced all the other Time Lords to ‘death’ to prevent them from destroying the universe as the final solution to the Dalek problem.
Looking forward to that story being told.
His name was never said.
I thought this was a great episode, best of the season by far, and I can’t wait to see what happens in the 50th Anniversary special!
Definitely agree though that RTD’s season finales really had you on the edge of your seat, and IMO Moffat hasn’t been able to achieve that.
God, I hope so. I have never found that anything but horrifying.
I don’t mind River Song so much. It’s just a tad annoying at how piecemeal they are at putting together the threads of her story. I get the feeling that when all is said and done, it’s going to be truly Lostian in its disappointment.
Yes, it was. He said “Please” and the door opened 
I guess this means that he was born with a very polite name.
I guess now that they have killed off River’s data ghost, it might (barring the usual time travel provisos) be the last time we see her?
They weren’t just trying to do it to end the Daleks, but to become the dominant (and only) life-force in the universe. And also to transcend physical bodies.
Considering that David Tennant will be back for the 50th Anniversary episode, I don’t recall seeing him in any of those Clara flashbacks. I saw every Doctor but the 8th and the 10th.
I paid more attention.
I thought River said his name.
Doctor: I never said my name.
River: But I did.
Wahahahahahaha…
The news that John Hurt was cast as the Ninth Doctor has just become such a beautifully epic troll.
I thought it was MacGuffin.
Seriously. I like it better when The Doctor is saving the universe, not at the center of it.
I was puzzled at the end when the Doctor kept saying (paraphrasing) “just this ONE TIME let ME save YOU, rather than the other way around!” Huh? The Doctor saved Clara from being downloaded by the Great Intelligence twice, pulled her away from the soul-eating ‘voice’ of Akhaten, saved her from Sardek, and rescued her from Mrs. Peel’s bell jar, and stopped the Cybermen from advancing on her. Maybe Clara has come through for him a number of times, but it’s not like she’s perpetually pulling his fat out of the fire.
They also still haven’t definitively answered the question as to who gave modern day Clara the phone number to the “St. John” phone in the TARDIS. Clara didn’t seem to recognize River when they had the conference call, and didn’t say anything like “I remember you from the shoppe” that would’ve definitively asserted it was thanks to River. I guess it’s still possible (like I had expected) that Clara herself from a future point in time gave her the number.
As for the big twist, I really liked it. The idea that there was a secret, “disgraced” incarnation of the Doctor is interesting. It’s also keeping in line with how Eccleston played the “ninth” (or tenth?) Doctor…somebody ashamed of the things he’d done in the past, wanting to atone for major sins. And it was a fantastic reversal on the “Doctor…Who?” joke that’s been running through the whole of this series.
Obviously I can’t speak for everyone, but for me it is that she is so obviously and explicitly written as a ‘cool’ character. Ever since her first appearance we have been hit over the head with her alleged awesomeness. It would have worked better if that had developed from her role more naturally. As it is, she is sometimes dangerously close to Poochie territory.
Well, what was it?
I’m not sure what you’re going for here. River said his name to open the doors but we as the viewers never heard it. His name is still unknown.
She’s a sentient smirk.
Just a WAG but I think the Doctors name ties in with the bad Doctor that John Hurt plays. Whatever ever he did tarnished the Doctors name and he’s ashamed of it.
We may still hear his name in the 50th special.
Another season finale where the stars go out? Perhaps the universe needs to send a strongly worded letter to the power company, or maybe buy a reliable generator for emergencies.