The Name of the Doctor

"I don't know where I am. It's like I'm breaking into a million pieces and there is only one thing I remember: I have to save the Doctor. He always looks different. I always know it's him. Sometimes I think I'm everywhere at once, running every second just to find him. Just to save him. But he never hears me. Almost never. I blew into this world on a leaf. I'm still blowing. I don't think I'll ever land. I'm Clara Oswald. I'm the impossible girl. I was born to save the Doctor. 

Writer: Steven Moffat

Format: TV

Broadcast: 18th May 2013

Series: 7.13

Featuring: Eleventh Doctor, Clara, River, Paternoster Gang

Synopsis 

A prophecy is coming true. The Eleventh Doctor is summoned to Trenzalore where it was said he would fall. But what does the alleged site of his final battle have to do with the mystery of Clara Oswald? Can the Paternoster Gang help him avoid his apparent destiny? And most of all, prevent him from revealing his name?

Verdict 

The Name of the Doctor really is an incredible series finale to what has been an enigmatic, adventurous and mostly superb series! All is revealed about Clara and how she came to die twice and still travel with the Doctor in the TARDIS. The pre-titles scene was the best in Doctor a Who history I would argue. Utterly amazing. Not only is Clara the impossible girl, but she was seen close to or being noticed by many past incarnations of the Doctor! Oh, and just the small matter of fact that she was there on Gallifrey when the First Doctor and Susan left! I remember on broadcast having to pause the opening titles because I was in utter shock at what I had just witnessed. I was astounded in an extremely good way! Never did I think that we'd see the moment the Doctor left home depicted on television! Some amazing effects there. Now, into the story itself. The return of the Great Intelligence was greatly welcomed (no pun intended) after the successful double return in The Snowmen and The Bells of Saint John. Doctor Simeon's body continuing the portrayal of the mind with no body was superb. I loved how he'd dumped Snowmen for Whispermen and these newbie enemies were just as mysterious and horrifying! The conference call was very clever with anything being possible inside a dream. The arrival of Strax, Clara and River to the party was wonderful to see. Strax was the highlight of the Paternoster trio in this episode I thought with his continued magnificent humour and his brawling in Glasgow with the fearsome Scots! Goodness knows what the brutes from way up North were like during the Victorian Age! The conversation of the call was splendid and the shock and horror in River's voice when she knew what was happening with regards to Trenzalore was fantastic. I loved the play on words, not just in regards to the grave being found not the secret, but also with the episode title. The desperate pledge to get to Trenzalore by the Doctor in the TARDIS was brilliant and I loved how he barely had to think when considering going to the place of his tomb to save his friends who he now owed after the events of A Good Man Goes to War, The Snowmen and The Crimson Horror. And I adored how Clara asked no questions in regards to coming with him. Her questioning of Trenzalore and River was nice to see with the calm fashion and the emotion seen by the Doctor when he realised he had to go to his grave was outstanding by Matt Smith. The gravestone of River being an entrance was a good addition and it loved Clara's reaction to discovering that the women with the "giant hair" was in fact that Doctor's wife. I loved the continuity from Silence in the Library/Forest of the Dead with River knowing her fate and the Doctor not liking endings. The scene where he prevented River from slapping him and basically told her he undoubtedly loved her was amazing! The Doctor initiated the kiss! Excellent. The Great Intelligence's attack on the tombed scar of the Doctor was a brilliant attempt of sabotage! Simeon was going to enter the time stream of the Doctor and reverse every victory he'd ever had and poison every friendship. The effects would have been similar to Turn Left but on a much larger and wider scale! But then, the series arc that started way back in Asylum of the Daleks came full circle. All was revealed about the beautiful Clara Oswald. She jumped into the time stream of the Doctor too, repairing the damage of the Great Intelligence. She was there when the Third Doctor was in the Death Zone on Gallifrey. She was there when the Fifth Doctor was at the mercy of the Master. She was there when the Tenth Doctor broke up the gridlock of New New York. Millions of versions of herself were scattered across time and space to save the Doctor. That's how they kept on running into each other. Very, very clever by Mr Moffat yet again! But the Doctor, despite being restored, wasn't going back without his impossible girl. He ran into his own time stream to retrieve his companion from danger and once he had, the cliffhanger was phenomenal. We saw a version of the Doctor we've never seen before. The Eleventh Doctor recognised him and knew of him, so that ruled out a future incarnation. An amazing thing occurred, we were introduced to a brand new incarnation of the Doctor that we've never seen before. One who broke the promise. One who didn't deserve recognition as the Doctor. Upon broadcast, we had to wait six months for everything to be revealed! Looking back, I just admire the astounding cliffhanger. 

Rating: 10/10