And it almost blew a whole in the Universe the size of Belgium! (Although that may have been due to the merging of two Tardises - Tardi - Tardes - it’s all a bit wibbly-wobbly. When the ninth Doctor and Rose crossed into their own past (“Father’s Day”), it created a vulnerable spot in time, but the really bad stuff didn’t happen until Rose interfered with events, and later when she touched herself (ahem).
Different incarnations of the Doctor seem to have no problem with being in the same room in “The Three Doctors” and “The Five Doctors,” but they were deliberately brought together by the Time Lords of Gallifrey, who may have arranged some sort of protective measures. This wouldn’t apply to “The Two Doctors,” but that story does quite a number on continuity anyway.
I’m curious where the Chick from the library fits in the timeline. She obviously expected the doctor in that body to recognize her, and he didn’t I guess it would have to be an off camera interaction between the library and the end of time, but she gave the impression of years of relationship.
If River Song had the kind of relationship where the Doctor told her his real name, then she would also learn who he was no matter which regeneration he was in. But she wouldn’t be able to know which order they came in.
I think that as Steven Moffat created the character, it’s safe to assume she will return now that he is in charge of the whole shebang. He says knowingly.
I was half hoping he would appear in a couple of shots when the Time Lords were talking about the Doctor’s role in the Time War, because at that point in the events it was the Eighth Doctor incarnation who had been behind it.
It would have been quite a thrill to have slipped in such a sequence, and surprise the fans with it.
That would have been cool. (In the nerdy sense of the word.) And you beat me to the punch, but I’m posting anyway:
[spoiler]Alex Kingston has been photographed on set and/or location with Matt Smith. That doesn’t guarantee she’s playing River Song again, but since the character was created by Steven Moffat, who is the new show runner, the odds are good.
“Silence in the Library” never established that River had met the Doctor in that body. If their relationship was as intimate as was intimated, she could well have known that he might regenerate. Since she had sent a distress call, and he had apparently answered previous distress calls, it wouldn’t be hard for her to guess that the only male in the Library who didn’t arrive with her was, in fact, the Doctor.[/spoiler]
Re: the Timelord lady. I’m pretty sure she’s Susan, the granddaughter. When Wilf asks who she was, the Doctor gives Donna a fairly lingering look before pulling out the lotto ticket (Timelords who are about to regenerate apparently CAN give you the winning numbers).
Re: Rassilon. I think it is THE Rassilon, as the Doctor mentioned they broke the rules and ressurected an awful lot of dead old Timelords for the Time War.
Didn’t she say something like “you look so young!” If so, then if she shows up and has an adventure with the new kid, he can’t be the iteration she spends years with, since he looks even younger. Of course, she could have been referring to his mind.
I’m pretty sure the implication was that River Song knew the doctor in his tenth (Tennant) incarnation, and that that connection could well have happened between (in the doctors timeline) between The Waters of Mars and The End of Time. He does claim to have done quite a lot (including possibly marrying Queen Elizabeth I, explaining her antipathy to him in The Shakespeare Code).
After Silence in the Library/Forest of the Dead the Doctor starts clicking his fingers to open the TARDIS (something River Song claimed he could do) - at the beginning of The End Of Time, he is using a key fob - he has obviously moved past the finger-clicking and River Song.
I don’t think they’d have had to resurrect him. As seen in The Five Doctors, Rassilon was… something; I don’t know if you’d call it in stasis, or beyond time as we know it, or imprisoned, but almost certainly not dead. Certainly it’s not unthinkable that in Gallifrey’s greatest crisis he might return. And it’s long been hinted that however revered he might be for creating the means of limitless time travel, Rassilon was NOT a very nice person.
Rassilon’s character in the Five Doctors, while being dangerous to cross, or even dangerous to accept gifts from, was far different than the Rassilon in “The end of time,” although as previously mentioned, the time war could have changed his personality.
Also, as a ghost, or hologram, or whatever he was, he seemed much more powerful than he was with flesh and blood. As a corpse or prisoner he seemed to be able to materialize all of the doctors Tardises, free the Master, and free the fourth Doctor from a time vortex with the power of his will. But then maybe being free of his body is what gave him all of those abilities and that’s why he longed to be free of it again.
Given the number of [del]magical[/del] technologically advanced innovations and artifacts associated with him, it’s possible that his so-called tomb was actually a vast power generator and transmitter under the control of his disembodied consciousness, or his embodied consciousness, or a computer simulation of his consciousness. Anyhoo, this complex may have been destroyed or irreparably damaged in the early days of the Last Great Time War.
Or we may be giving continuity a lot more thought than most Doctor Who writers.
I just rewatched that part. It sure looks to me like the Master walked into the white area and right up to Rassilon, finishing him off with his fourth, final blast. Then they were all gone together. As far as I can tell, the Master is time-locked at the end of the Time War right along with the others.
There’s already Internet rumors that Moffat will bring the Master back and cast James Nesbitt. I’m almost certain this is nothing more than a rumor, but man, Nesbitt would definitely bring a different sort of edge to the character. And by that, I mean, he’d probably be scary as fuck.