The Day of the Doctor

Hello everyone and welcome to a wibbly wobbly timey wimey version of The Magical Mystery Blog.

This past weekend we have received new looks into the upcoming Doctor Who 50^th Anniversary Special. We were given two new trailers that show us more footage than we could have ever imagined. On the screen Daleks exterminated before our eyes, 10 and 11 complimented each others’ glasses, Gallifrey was being destroyed, and Rose and Clara were reunited with the Doctor once more.

So what does all of this excellence mean?  We won’t know until November 23^rd in theaters and on television screens. Until then, here are some homemade theories regarding the 50^th Anniversary.

WARNING, THE FOLLOWING FAN THEORIES BELOW CONSIST OF SPOILERS, SWEETIES. READ AT YOUR OWN RISK OR RETURN FROM THE DIMENSION FROM WHENCE YOU CAME.

John Hurt’s Doctor

Let’s examine this new Doctor. He appears to be much older than 10 and 11, but I wouldn't say older than the future 12^th Doctor. If anything, he seems younger than the 12th Doctor and even the very first Doctor. We see him somehow involved in the Time War, where Gallifrey was exterminated by the Daleks. Gallifrey is sealed away in a time lock so that the Doctor can never return to it again which leads us to the following question: if Gallifrey is inaccessible, how is the new John Hurt Doctor there?

We only see him there and not 10/10.5 or 11. If anything, we see 10/10.5 and 11 roaming about a forest, sitting in a control room, and in variations of the Tardis. This brings me to a rather, crazy idea of: what if John Hurt was the first Doctor and not William Hartnell’s character? As far as I’m concerned, John Hurt’s Doctor is the only one able to get to Gallifrey. However, if he was there to begin with he could well be the first Doctor, especially since we see him involved with the Time War. The images of Gallifrey being destroyed are what he could be seeing during his time there. Furthermore, we see him at the heart of his planet staring a ruby like button with fire locked inside. 

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Don't push the button, don't push the extremely tempting button.....

Throughout the trailer he also claims that great men are forged in fire – this could mean the fires of war. We also hear the 11^th Doctor claiming that there is a life he wishes to forget, which we are then presented with an image of the John Hurt Doctor. He wants to forget that life because it is when he was a part of the Time War. In the last seen episode of Doctor Who, he claims what he did was in the name of peace and sanity. Since we saw him on Gallifrey, standing before an ominous button, he could have brought an end to the Time War to spare the lives of his fellow species.  

However, if this theory is true and John Hurt was the very first Doctor, then wouldn't Clara remember him? Clara has secretly been there for the Doctor throughout his regenerations.  When we last saw her, she was in the Time Vortex and asked the 11^th Doctor who the shadowy figure was before them. That mysterious person was the John Hurt Doctor – someone she never met before. This also brings a halt to everyone’s speculated idea that John Hurt is the 9.5 or 8.5 Doctor. Clearly Clara would have remembered him as she did the others.

Crossing the Streams

There are different scenes in the trailers: the forest, Gallifrey, and variations of the Tardis (10/10.5’s, John’s, and 11’s). In other clips promoting the special, we are also shown modern day London (burning and unscathed by fire), a mountainous terrain, and a private chamber. The overall plot of the special is something terrible arising in London’s National Gallery, in 2013. Meanwhile, a murderous plot is unraveling in Elizabethan England, and somewhere in the galaxy an ancient battle is coming to a close.

From how it appears, the 10/10.5^th Doctor is dealing with a young queen Elizabeth in a forest while the 11^th Doctor is conflicted with the John Hurt Doctor. I can imagine 11’s plot picks up right where we left off – in his Time Vortex, rescuing Clara, and encountering the John Hurt Doctor. That event happens in one universe but in the Time Vortex, the Doctor is presented with his multiple selves, and their eras. Since it is his own vortex, would he be allowed to go into his other lives?

If he is able to do so, he could enter the life of his past reincarnation, the 10/10.5^th Doctor. Or he could enter the time stream of his John Hurt Doctor and confront his darkest hour. But that leaves us wondering where the 10/10.5^th Doctor could possibly enter. If he does enter another life, he might not be able to do much as seeing everything that happened in those lives are fixed events – the Time War included. It’s obvious that at some point, him and 11 meet up, and they encounter the John Hurt Doctor. In order to do meet up, they would have to cross dimensions to see each other.

Return of Rose/Bad Wolf

Nearly everyone is elated that Rose is returning, but many wonder how she is coming back. We see her mostly with the John Hurt Doctor, even though the last Doctor she was with was the 10.5 Doctor. He would grow old with her and be just like her beloved 10/10.5^th Doctor but without the time lord qualities. Even her outfit implies that she was with the 10.5 Doctor. In this picture, notice the garment under her jacket – it’s lacy, long, and very feminine, similar to a wedding dress. She loved the 10.5 Doctor and quite possibly, married him. However, it appears that something has interrupted their nuptials because of how the dress appears. It's dusty and even tied up, leaving her feet free for some possible running - but from what?

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The 10.5 Doctor cannot be the John Hurt Doctor. We’ve seen an older 10^th Doctor when he went under the alias of John Smith during his days with Martha Jones. His 10.5 clone would bear the same, aged look.

Rose was sent to an alternative universe but still had tracings of the Doctor. She followed him to Bad Wolf Bay where he gave her the 10.5 clone and a part of the Tardis so that she may grow her own. She would be able to look into 10.5’s Tardis and summon the Bad Wolf. She would also be able to time travel with 10.5 and enter other dimensions where she could possibly meet the 10^th Doctor, the John Hurt Doctor, and/or the 11^th Doctor. Crossing dimensions would be the only way for her to meet up with the other Doctors.

We will receive more hints as to what the 50^th anniversary as in store for us on November 15^th, during BBC’s Children in Need program. Until then, what are your thoughts and theories on the special? Feel free to leave your comments below and as always, feedback and followers are welcomed.