# Doctor Who - Series Six - Part II **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [August 24, 2011, 3:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/doctor-who-series-six-part-ii/593860 "2011-08-24T03:38:31Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 7
**Author:** ![AlsoNamedBort](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alsonamedbort/32/3213_2.png) [@AlsoNamedBort](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AlsoNamedBort)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2011, 2:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/doctor-who-series-six-part-ii/593860/121 "2011-08-30T02:27:43Z")
> [@chrisk](#): > > Didn’t they leave her in a century that was ‘future enough’ for this? The hospital was run by cat-people after all, and we’ve only really seen them in the year five billion episodes before - New Earth and Gridlock. (Unless I’m missing something.) I don’t think he put her in the cat hospital. That was just a human nun. ETA: But it was in the future though. ---
**Author:** ![Kamino\_Neko](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kamino_neko/32/34_2.png) [@Kamino\_Neko](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kamino_Neko)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2011, 2:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/doctor-who-series-six-part-ii/593860/122 "2011-08-30T02:35:38Z")
The Catkind were the Sisters of Plenitude, not the Sisters of the Infinite Schism. ---
**Author:** ![Banquet\_Bear](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/banquet_bear/32/373_2.png) [@Banquet\_Bear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Banquet_Bear)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2011, 1:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/doctor-who-series-six-part-ii/593860/123 "2011-08-30T13:38:27Z")
> [@Bakhesh](#): > > As far as I’m concerned, Moffat is making this show the best it has ever been. I cannot agree with any of the complaints I’m reading. Honestly, is it really that complicated? I’m not having any problem following it, and I’m loving the long story arcs. > > Some brilliant humour in this episode, with Rory being fantastic (“putting hitler in the cupboard” being the best line). A load more questions thought, including the oldest question, hidden in plain sight. I’m guessing this question is “Who?” … :: points up :: This is how I feel. Peter Davidson was my first Doctor, and still my favourite from the original series. Thanks to his Doctor I developed my life-long passion for following cricket (although I didn’t end up liking celery!). I’ve seen nearly every episode from Pertwee to Davidson, along with most of McCoy. (Unfortunately I never got to see much, if any of Colin Baker) I loved Eccelston’s Doctor, and was upset to hear he was leaving after only one series. I had my doubts about Tennant, but he soon blew me away and I ended up loving his Doctor too. When Tennant left, I had my worries about Matt Smith. But once we got to “Fish Custard”, he had me hooked. Matt Smith has easily become my favourite Doctor, and the last couple of years of Doctor Who has easily become my favourite series of all time. I could watch Matt Smith reading the phone book. In fact, I could even watch him act in “Curse of the Black Spot.” 😛 I love the direction that Moffatt has taken the series, and delight in the curve balls the scripts and the acting take us each week. I’m over the moon with the big push to get the series into the US, and overjoyed at the reception its getting. To sum up my feelings I’ll leave it to Craig Ferguson: [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/M9P4SxtphJ4/hqdefault.jpg "Craig Ferguson - The lost "Dr. Who" cold open.") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M9P4SxtphJ4) “Intellect and Romance over Brute force and Cynicism.” ---
**Author:** ![Merijeek](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f05b48/32.png) [@Merijeek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Merijeek)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2011, 2:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/doctor-who-series-six-part-ii/593860/124 "2011-08-30T14:53:29Z")
> [@DSeid](#): > > Then raised for several years by the Silents, conditioned to kill The Doctor. There were pictures in the orphanage of presumed baby Melody with Amy as a baby. Not sure if they fit in anywhere though. United States space program born specifically to produce the astronaut suit for her to use, but she somehow tore her way out of it. Why? Why did they need to create a space suit for the girl? Why all that effort? The only thing I can think of is that they know that it has been observed that “someone directly observed the Doctor being killed by someone in a space suit. So, we need to put our assassin in a suit to match what’s been observed so she can succeed”. -Joe ---
**Author:** ![Yllaria](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yllaria/32/3452_2.png) [@Yllaria](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yllaria)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2011, 5:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/doctor-who-series-six-part-ii/593860/125 "2011-08-30T17:04:14Z")
I keep remembering that River didn’t really embrace the idea of helping the Doctor until the TARDIS taught her to operate the TARDIS. Is the TARDIS shipping\* the Doctor? - arranging for him to have a relationship ---
**Author:** ![Merijeek](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f05b48/32.png) [@Merijeek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Merijeek)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2011, 5:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/doctor-who-series-six-part-ii/593860/126 "2011-08-30T17:05:45Z")
> [@Yllaria](#): > > I keep remembering that River didn’t really embrace the idea of helping the Doctor until the TARDIS taught her to operate the TARDIS. Is the TARDIS shipping\* the Doctor? > > - arranging for him to have a relationship Maybe. Maybe not. Remember that River could have been gone for months, years, or even centuries when she popped off in the TARDIS for a bit. -Joe ---
**Author:** ![fluiddruid](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/c2a13f/32.png) [@fluiddruid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/fluiddruid)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2011, 5:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/doctor-who-series-six-part-ii/593860/127 "2011-08-30T17:22:07Z")
> [@WolfpackJeep](#): > > Speculation I’ve read says it was… Actually, this isn’t speculation. The Doctor himself expressly stated later on that this was indeed what she said: “There’s only one reason I would ever tell anyone my name. There’s only one time I could.” ---
**Author:** ![Drunky\_Smurf](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/drunky_smurf/32/449_2.png) [@Drunky\_Smurf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Drunky_Smurf)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2011, 7:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/doctor-who-series-six-part-ii/593860/128 "2011-08-30T19:56:50Z")
Even though we know the Doctor has a real name I am afraid we will never know what it is. I believe that he technically but maybe not canonically has a name. I don’t remember if it was from a radio broadcast or book but he is from some House of something or other so he should at least have a last name. But I’ve never listened to the radio shows or read any of the books so I would like to find out his name through the tv show. ---
**Author:** ![Mollie\_Magill](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mollie_magill/32/20882_2.png) [@Mollie\_Magill](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mollie_Magill)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2011, 10:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/doctor-who-series-six-part-ii/593860/129 "2011-08-30T22:53:01Z")
> [@Drunky\_Smurf](#): > > But I’ve never listened to the radio shows or read any of the books so I would like to find out his name through the tv show. Didn’t Drax address him by his fist name in The Armageddon Factor ? ---
**Author:** ![Nan\_Sequitur](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/e36b37/32.png) [@Nan\_Sequitur](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nan_Sequitur)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2011, 11:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/doctor-who-series-six-part-ii/593860/130 "2011-08-30T23:23:01Z")
> [@Mollie\_Magill](#): > > Didn’t Drax address him by his fist name in The Armageddon Factor ? According to [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The\_Armageddon\_Factor](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Armageddon_Factor): • Drax refers to the Doctor by the name “Theta Sigma”. Not counting aliases like John Smith, this was the first time an actual name (albeit a nickname) was attached to the Doctor. Later, in The Happiness Patrol, the Doctor states that Theta Sigma was his old college nickname. Later, in “The Pandorica Opens” (2010 series), the characters for theta and sigma are the first two symbols under River Song’s “Hello Sweetie” message written to the Doctor as the oldest words in recorded history. This is what I mean about rewarding the faithful… I didn’t even spot this one. Moffat is great about doing stuff like this. Gotta say he’s my favorite by far and I’m a fan from Doctor #4. ---
**Author:** ![Merijeek](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f05b48/32.png) [@Merijeek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Merijeek)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2011, 11:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/doctor-who-series-six-part-ii/593860/131 "2011-08-30T23:23:07Z")
> [@Mollie\_Magill](#): > > Didn’t Drax address him by his **fist** name in The Armageddon Factor ? Was it “LOVE” or “HATE”? -Joe ---
**Author:** ![Mollie\_Magill](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mollie_magill/32/20882_2.png) [@Mollie\_Magill](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mollie_Magill)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2011, 11:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/doctor-who-series-six-part-ii/593860/132 "2011-08-30T23:45:32Z")
> [@Merijeek](#): > > Was it “LOVE” or “HATE”? > > -Joe It was “JAKE BLUES”. ---
**Author:** ![DSeid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dseid/32/20194_2.png) [@DSeid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DSeid)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2011, 11:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/doctor-who-series-six-part-ii/593860/133 "2011-08-30T23:48:32Z")
> [@fluiddruid](#): > > Actually, this isn’t speculation. The Doctor himself expressly stated later on that this was indeed what she said: > > “There’s only one reason I would ever tell anyone my name. There’s only one time I could.” That’s what\* she\* whispered in _his_ ear, in the library, not what _he_ whispered to _her_. Or maybe it is that too. I guess his imminent death could be the only time he could tell his name, but somehow I don’t think that’s what it was. ---
**Author:** ![DianaG](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/7ab992/32.png) [@DianaG](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DianaG)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2011, 11:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/doctor-who-series-six-part-ii/593860/134 "2011-08-30T23:57:29Z")
It seems more likely that he might tell someone his name before he marries them. Having rewatched, I do have two little nitpicks, perhaps already mentioned, but if so I missed it. 1. Why couldn’t Amy just sonic their wristbands back to green? 2. How is it that the Tesselecta was too early in Hitler’s timestream, but not Melody/River’s\*? \*Perhaps not a nitpick. Perhaps evidence that it is indeed very young River in a spacesuit who kills the doctor. But probably not. ---
**Author:** ![Kamino\_Neko](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kamino_neko/32/34_2.png) [@Kamino\_Neko](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kamino_Neko)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2011, 12:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/doctor-who-series-six-part-ii/593860/135 "2011-08-31T00:02:21Z")
> [@Drunky\_Smurf](#): > > Even though we know the Doctor has a real name I am afraid we will never know what it is. I believe that he technically but maybe not canonically has a name. > > I don’t remember if it was from a radio broadcast or book but he is from some House of something or other so he should at least have a last name. Hardly a spoiler, since it’s the title of the book it comes up in - the Doctor is part of the House of Lungbarrow. His name in the series is unlikely to include the word ‘Lungbarrow’ however - even in the novel, the Gallifreyan names given don’t include the house name, and it’s questionable whether they’ll take anything from it into the series, anyway, as major aspects of the plot of the book are contradicted by the TV canon. They’re connected to the Looms - devices that build full-grown Time Lords, as the species can’t, in that particular branch of the novels, reproduce sexually. The existence of the Doctor’s cot, the flashbacks in Tennant’s run to the Doctor and the Master as kids, references to him being a father (before Jenny), and other things, don’t mesh with the Looms. If another show runner came along and wanted to canonize the Looms, of course, these could be written off as lies, misinterpretations, and ‘we never said that!’, but since this is all from RTD and Moffat, it’s pretty clear the current team’s interpretation of the Time Lords doesn’t involve asexual reproduction. ---
**Author:** ![Kamino\_Neko](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kamino_neko/32/34_2.png) [@Kamino\_Neko](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kamino_Neko)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2011, 12:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/doctor-who-series-six-part-ii/593860/136 "2011-08-31T00:23:28Z")
> [@DianaG](#): > > 1. Why couldn’t Amy just sonic their wristbands back to green? > 2. How is it that the Tesselecta was too early in Hitler’s timestream, but not Melody/River’s\*? 1. Easily wanked - Amy’s skilled enough with the Sonic to break the bracelets, not enough to fix them. 2. That’s been bugging me, too. Although the thing that’s REALLY bugging me is why nobody seemed to notice all the Swastikas until they saw Hitler’s face. ---
**Author:** ![AlsoNamedBort](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alsonamedbort/32/3213_2.png) [@AlsoNamedBort](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AlsoNamedBort)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2011, 12:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/doctor-who-series-six-part-ii/593860/137 "2011-08-31T00:37:26Z")
> [@DianaG](#): > > 1. How is it that the Tesselecta was too early in Hitler’s timestream, but not Melody/River’s\*? They were early, but I thing it was such a good find, they just didn’t care. And it looked to them like the Doctor was going die, so they could go ahead and punish her for what she did. ---
**Author:** ![Yllaria](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yllaria/32/3452_2.png) [@Yllaria](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yllaria)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2011, 12:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/doctor-who-series-six-part-ii/593860/138 "2011-08-31T00:43:14Z")
> [@Tengu](#): > > . . . 2) That’s been bugging me, too. Although the thing that’s REALLY bugging me is why nobody seemed to notice all the Swastikas until they saw Hitler’s face. Perhaps the restriction only applies to people whose timestreams are strictly chronological, and it’s a matter of record that River jumps around. Or they have no way to figure out when her last moments will be. ---
**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:** [August 31, 2011, 1:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/doctor-who-series-six-part-ii/593860/139 "2011-08-31T01:16:15Z")
Ugh, I can’t believe I’m going here… but spoilers for Lungbarrow. (Not that anyone should really care about spoilers for Lungbarrow, but it’s probably better to hide this stuff anyway.)[spoiler] > [@Tengu](#): > > They’re connected to the Looms - devices that build full-grown Time Lords, as the species can’t, in that particular branch of the novels, reproduce sexually. The existence of the Doctor’s cot, the flashbacks in Tennant’s run to the Doctor and the Master as kids, These things don’t contradict Lungbarrow and the idea of the Looms. When we first get a flashback to the Doctor being loomed (in the novel Human Nature, if memory serves) we see him being loomed as a baby. > [@](#): > > references to him being a father (before Jenny) Nor does this. Lungbarrow itself went to great pains to explain how he could be both loomed and Susan’s grandfather.[/spoiler] ---
**Author:** ![msmith537](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d9b06d/32.png) [@msmith537](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/msmith537)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2011, 3:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/doctor-who-series-six-part-ii/593860/140 "2011-08-31T03:23:04Z")
> [@AlsoNamedBort](#): > > One interesting idea I heard on another site (or possibly on this very topic, I get confused easily), was that Mel was basically saying their manifesto that whole time. They’re not waging war on him for all the bad things he’s done, they’re mad at him for all the terrible things that _he didn’t stop._ The thing is, I remember in the old series (mostly Tom Baker), other than his work with UNIT, he was largely an anonymous figure. He’d drop in unexpectedly on some undermanned outpost on an alien world waging war against some other undermanned enemy outpost within a few hours walking distance. After a lot of running back and forth, they would either wipe each other out (usually to the benefit of some benevolent third party) or reach some sort of accord. Or they land on some sort of ship/space station/outpost under seige by some monster. But for the most part, with the exception of episodes like The Face of Evil, pretty much no one knew who the heck he was. Most of the time, the survivors (if there were any) could hardly hear themselves saying “thanks” over the departing TARDIS engine noise. Now everywhere he goes he’s practically greated like some sort of amalgamation of James Bond, Keiser Soze, and a White British Space Christ. It’s a big fucking universe. Why should anyone know about some civilization he saved / failed to prevent the destruction of 10,000 years ago halfway across the galaxy? That said, it does seem like a lot of people get jacked up wherever he goes, often on his behalf. It’s nice to see over the past few seasons it’s had an effect on him. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/doctor-who-series-six-part-ii/593860.md?page=6) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/doctor-who-series-six-part-ii/593860.md?page=8)