# The Night of The Doctor Mini-episode (Open Spoilers) **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [November 14, 2013, 2:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-night-of-the-doctor-mini-episode-open-spoilers/673908 "2013-11-14T14:15:53Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![jayjay](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jayjay/32/6765_2.png) [@jayjay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jayjay)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2013, 1:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-night-of-the-doctor-mini-episode-open-spoilers/673908/41 "2013-11-15T13:27:10Z")
> [@Smeghead](#): > > There was a Big Finish adventure I listened to where Eight spent something like five or six hundred years stuck on a planet by himself. If that were canon, then Nine and Ten were lying about their age, or else Eight existed for well over half of his entire lifetime. Between Classic Who and New Who, we’ve already had several different ages given by the Doctor. Rule One: The Doctor Lies. ---
**Author:** ![leahcim](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/b4bc9f/32.png) [@leahcim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/leahcim)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2013, 4:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-night-of-the-doctor-mini-episode-open-spoilers/673908/42 "2013-11-15T16:08:33Z")
> [@Smeghead](#): > > There was a Big Finish adventure I listened to where Eight spent something like five or six hundred years stuck on a planet by himself. If that were canon, then Nine and Ten were lying about their age, or else Eight existed for well over half of his entire lifetime. Did it say what the orbital period of that planet he was stuck on actually was? ---
**Author:** ![andros](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e480ec/32.png) [@andros](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/andros)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2013, 5:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-night-of-the-doctor-mini-episode-open-spoilers/673908/43 "2013-11-15T17:21:41Z")
> [@jayjay](#): > > Between Classic Who and New Who, we’ve already had several different ages given by the Doctor. Rule One: The Doctor Lies. Rule Two: Wibbly wobbly timey wimey. Honestly, the idea of getting hung up on timelines and “canon” is silly. If you need realism, continuity, and internal continuity, find another show. When we try to codify even the “official BBC” television canon we end up with too goddamn many contradictions anyway, far too many to be easily waved away. To reconcile even that history requires breaking everything open IMO. AFAIC, in an infinite universe, where our protagonist is an effectively immortal demigod who rips both space and time to shreds for funsies and sighseeing, _everything_ is canon. See, that lets me love everything Doctor without getting my fanboy panties in a knot. I’m perfectly happy to consider the Shalka Doctor canon–why the hell not? Alternate timeline, baby! Wibbly wobbly! I get to accept the comics, the novels, Big Finish, proms, even the Jim’ll Fix It episode and the Eastenders crossover, as part of the infinite tapestry of the Doctor\*\*\*\*\*. (Even “The Curse of Fatal Death,” though that just might be due to my recurring sweaty dreams about Joanna Lumley.) On the other hand, we’re fans, and fans get to whinge and argue about silly stuff. It’s all good. 😃 \*\*\*\*\*NB: _Nothing_ forgives “The Twin Dilemma.” My tent is large, but even I have limits. ---
**Author:** ![Draelin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ce73a5/32.png) [@Draelin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Draelin)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2013, 5:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-night-of-the-doctor-mini-episode-open-spoilers/673908/44 "2013-11-15T17:58:13Z")
> [@andros](#): > > …actually, that could be close to the way the special goes. The face of the newly-regenerated War Doctor is definitely not current John Hurt. Ghod only knows how much time elapses between “Night” and “Day.” I was just watching it at work and hoping nobody noticed, and seeing the face of a _young_ John Hurt in the reflection almost made me yell. Epic. ---
**Author:** ![Miller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/miller/32/481_2.png) [@Miller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miller)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2013, 6:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-night-of-the-doctor-mini-episode-open-spoilers/673908/45 "2013-11-15T18:02:29Z")
A young John Hurt? I didn’t think there was any such animal. ---
**Author:** ![andros](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e480ec/32.png) [@andros](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/andros)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2013, 6:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-night-of-the-doctor-mini-episode-open-spoilers/673908/46 "2013-11-15T18:14:54Z")
> [@Miller](#): > > A young John Hurt? > > I didn’t think there was any such animal. Cute boy! [http://www.clickautographs.com/detail.php?id=3245](http://www.clickautographs.com/detail.php?id=3245) ---
**Author:** ![Miller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/miller/32/481_2.png) [@Miller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miller)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2013, 6:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-night-of-the-doctor-mini-episode-open-spoilers/673908/47 "2013-11-15T18:16:03Z")
Even there, he still looks fifteen going on fifty. ---
**Author:** ![andros](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e480ec/32.png) [@andros](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/andros)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2013, 6:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-night-of-the-doctor-mini-episode-open-spoilers/673908/48 "2013-11-15T18:31:25Z")
> [@Miller](#): > > Even there, he still looks fifteen going on fifty. Fair. ---
**Author:** ![Miller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/miller/32/481_2.png) [@Miller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miller)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2013, 6:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-night-of-the-doctor-mini-episode-open-spoilers/673908/49 "2013-11-15T18:40:30Z")
When I was in high school, after reading _1984_, we watched the movie with John Hurt as Winston Smith. At one point, commenting on the movie, my teacher explained that, to portray the physical effects of living in a totalitarian regime, they’d deliberately cast Hurt, who (she said) was dying of lung cancer at the time, and had passed away shortly after the film was completed. I don’t know where she got the idea that John Hurt had cancer from, but watching him in that movie, you could totally believe that he was a relatively young man, aged beyond his years by the ravages of disease. Thirty years later… ---
**Author:** ![Jragon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e19b73/32.png) [@Jragon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jragon)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2013, 7:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-night-of-the-doctor-mini-episode-open-spoilers/673908/50 "2013-11-15T19:39:48Z")
This is all a setup, all the commercials and this mini-episode? Lies. This is a bait and switch. Day of the Doctor will be a long-awaited second sequel to Dr. Who and the Daleks. ---
**Author:** ![Penfeather](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/penfeather/32/384_2.png) [@Penfeather](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Penfeather)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2013, 8:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-night-of-the-doctor-mini-episode-open-spoilers/673908/51 "2013-11-15T20:16:47Z")
> [@andros](#): > > Cute boy! [http://www.clickautographs.com/detail.php?id=3245](http://www.clickautographs.com/detail.php?id=3245) He looks like he was in Joy Division. ---
**Author:** ![Miller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/miller/32/481_2.png) [@Miller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miller)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2013, 8:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-night-of-the-doctor-mini-episode-open-spoilers/673908/52 "2013-11-15T20:26:16Z")
> [@Penfeather](#): > > He looks like he was in Joy Division. Ouch. ---
**Author:** ![What\_Exit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/what_exit/32/10652_2.png) [@What\_Exit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/What_Exit)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2013, 8:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-night-of-the-doctor-mini-episode-open-spoilers/673908/53 "2013-11-15T20:41:31Z")
> [@Jragon](#): > > This is all a setup, all the commercials and this mini-episode? Lies. This is a bait and switch. Day of the Doctor will be a long-awaited second sequel to Dr. Who and the Daleks. Actually that already happened: [Daleks – Invasion Earth: 2150 A.D.](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Daleks_%E2%80%93_Invasion_Earth:_2150_A.D.) Donna’s [Grandfather](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bernard_Cribbins)was in it. I watched it maybe 2 years ago. It was so bad it was funny. ---
**Author:** ![Penfeather](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/penfeather/32/384_2.png) [@Penfeather](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Penfeather)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2013, 10:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-night-of-the-doctor-mini-episode-open-spoilers/673908/54 "2013-11-15T22:20:32Z")
> [@Miller](#): > > Ouch. Hey! Joy Division were awesome. ---
**Author:** ![LawMonkey](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/d6d6ee/32.png) [@LawMonkey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LawMonkey)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2013, 10:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-night-of-the-doctor-mini-episode-open-spoilers/673908/55 "2013-11-15T22:23:37Z")
> [@What\_Exit](#): > > Donna’s [Grandfather](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bernard_Cribbins)was in it. I watched it maybe 2 years ago. It was so bad it was funny. I was about to jump you for daring to badmouth (even by association) the totally awesome Bernard Cribbins, as I thought you were talking about the new Who. Didn’t realize it was a sixties flick, so you’re spared for now. I’ll be keeping an eye on you, though. Bernie’s my boy, yo. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Penfeather](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/penfeather/32/384_2.png) [@Penfeather](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Penfeather)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2013, 10:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-night-of-the-doctor-mini-episode-open-spoilers/673908/56 "2013-11-15T22:26:37Z")
> [@What\_Exit](#): > > Actually that already happened: [Daleks – Invasion Earth: 2150 A.D.](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Daleks_%E2%80%93_Invasion_Earth:_2150_A.D.) > > Donna’s [Grandfather](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bernard_Cribbins)was in it. I watched it maybe 2 years ago. It was so bad it was funny. He was in [The Horror of Glam Rock](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Horror_of_Glam_Rock), too. Along with Una Stubbs, who was the weirdly hot [Aunt Sally](http://www.themakeupgallery.info/images/various/stat/worzel5.jpg), Jon Pertwee’s squeeze in Worzel Gummidge. eta: [Glam rock Doctor Who theme!](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w1bctN3dGpo) ---
**Author:** ![Dendarii\_Dame](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/bbce88/32.png) [@Dendarii\_Dame](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dendarii_Dame)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2013, 11:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-night-of-the-doctor-mini-episode-open-spoilers/673908/57 "2013-11-15T23:07:30Z")
When I realized it was the Sisterhood of Karn, it was all I could do not to hiss “Sacred fire, sacred flame”! I think I can still do their dance. Another point: IIRC, in the episode “Silver Nemesis”, a villain blackmailed the Seventh Doctor, threatening to reveal to his companion(s) at the time some horrible, unspeakable thing he’d done. And the Doctor was at least wobbling on the issue! Whatever it was, he didn’t want Ace to know what he’d done! And Ace wasn’t exactly Miss Innocent who’d faint with shock if he’d gotten his hands dirty. I’d been thinking that the John Hurt character was an earlier Doctor than the Seventh one for that reason. OTOH, the Seventh Doctor was a chessmaster. If any of the Doctors would know anything about the future, it would be that one. I, for one, have wanted to see the Nightmare Child ever since it was mentioned in (I think) “Dalek”. So maybe that will happen. ---
**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:** [November 15, 2013, 11:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-night-of-the-doctor-mini-episode-open-spoilers/673908/58 "2013-11-15T23:08:01Z")
In the interests of Bernard Cribbins appreciation: [Right Said Fred](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r5XX9LX2es4) ---
**Author:** ![LawMonkey](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/d6d6ee/32.png) [@LawMonkey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LawMonkey)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2013, 11:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-night-of-the-doctor-mini-episode-open-spoilers/673908/59 "2013-11-15T23:57:56Z")
> [@The\_Hamster\_King](#): > > In the interests of Bernard Cribbins appreciation: > > [Right Said Fred](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r5XX9LX2es4) He’s too sexy for the Doctor, too sexy for the Doctor, too sexy… ummm… by… a factor… ---
**Author:** ![JacobSwan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/a6a055/32.png) [@JacobSwan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JacobSwan)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2013, 1:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-night-of-the-doctor-mini-episode-open-spoilers/673908/60 "2013-11-16T13:28:00Z")
> [@Miller](#): > > When I was in high school, after reading _1984_, we watched the movie with John Hurt as Winston Smith. At one point, commenting on the movie, my teacher explained that, to portray the physical effects of living in a totalitarian regime, they’d deliberately cast Hurt, who (she said) was dying of lung cancer at the time, and had passed away shortly after the film was completed. > > I don’t know where she got the idea that John Hurt had cancer from, but watching him in that movie, you could totally believe that he was a relatively young man, aged beyond his years by the ravages of disease. > > Thirty years later… Richard Burton died shortly after completing this film, so that might be where your teacher got confused. I saw John Hurt walking along the south bank in London earlier this year. He got all excited as I was wearing a bowler hat as usual and he came over to talk to me. A lovely man, but he wears his years on his face. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-night-of-the-doctor-mini-episode-open-spoilers/673908.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-night-of-the-doctor-mini-episode-open-spoilers/673908.md?page=4)