The Time of the Doctor (TV story)

The Time of the Doctor was the 2013 Doctor Who Christmas special, and the final appearance of the Matt Smith as the Eleventh Doctor. It served as a conclusion to the entirety of the Smith era, bringing back both the Silence and Trenzalore and bringing their stories to a close. The episode tackled the issue of limited regenerations, and had the Doctor regenerate into his twelfth incarnation at the end. This served as Peter Capaldi's formal introduction as the new Doctor.

Synopsis
Orbiting a quiet backwater planet, the massed forces of the universe's deadliest species gather, drawn to a mysterious message that echoes out to the stars. Among them, the Doctor. Rescuing Clara from a family Christmas dinner, the Time Lord and his companion must learn what this enigmatic signal means for his own fate and that of the universe.

Plot
The Doctor is among thousands of ships orbiting a planet after hearing a message being broadcast from it, a message that no-one can understand. He visits a ship, holding a Dalek eyestalk to show his bravery. Unfortunately, the ship belongs to Daleks, who fire at him until he teleports back to the TARDIS, where a disembodied Cyberman head that he calls "Handles" is plugged into the console. Clara calls the Doctor via the TARDIS phone, and pleads that he pretend to be her boyfriend for her family's Christmas dinner. The Doctor then accidentally visits a Cybership while holding Handles, where he is also shot at until he teleports back to the TARDIS again.

The Doctor picks up Clara from her home and takes her to the planet's orbit where, when asked to identify the planet, Handles claims it is Gallifrey, a fact the Doctor refutes. The two are invited aboard the Papal Mainframe, a space church headed by Mother Superious Tasha Lem. Tasha and the Doctor discuss the signal coming from the mysterious planet, while Clara continuously sees and forgets several Silents that surround her. She bursts into the room where the Doctor and Tasha are conversing, but forgets why she came there.

Tasha sends the Doctor and Clara to the planet, to a town called Christmas, surrounded by a truth field, so no-one can lie., Here the Doctor finds a Crack in time through which the message is being broadcast. The message is a repeat of the same question; Doctor who? The doctor says this is the Time Lords, trapped in a pocket universe, trying to get out. If the Doctor speaks his name, the Time Lords will know they are in the right place and come through and all the alien species above will descend on the planet and begin the Time War anew. Tasha contacts the Doctor, telling him this cannot happen and the Doctor refuses to withdraw and let her destroy the planet, which she reveals to be Trenzalore.

The Doctor tricks Clara into plugging a device into the TARDIS that transports her home and for the next 300 years defends Trenzalore. Clara returns after gripping the sides of the TARDIS and forcing the TARDIS to increase the shields and bring her back through the Time Vortex, slowing it down considerably. She meets a Doctor who is over 1500 years old, having spent three centuries defending the town of Christmas. He reveals to her his is in his thirteenth and final life (including the regeneration into the War Doctor and the regeneration energy used by the Tenth Doctor during his Meta-Crisis). He is then transported, with Clara, to the Papal Mainframe, now the Church of the Silence. The Silents are revealed to by genetically engineered senior priests, whose aim is to ensure the Doctor does not release the Time Lords. (The Kovarian Chapter broke away and travelled back in time to stop the Doctor reaching Trenzalore). After it is revealed that Tasha and her crew have been killed by the Daleks and turned into Dalek puppets, the Doctor, with help from Tasha, who regains her mind and defends the Doctor, escapes from the ship and tricks Clara home for a second time. Clara later hears the TARDIS engines and runs outside, to find the TARDIS piloted by Tasha, claiming, "Flying the TARDIS is easy, it's flying the Doctor that's hard."

She returns Clara to Trenzalore to see the Doctor, saying she could not let him die alone. The Doctor is now very old and often acts slow and slightly confused. He still won't release the Time Lords, knowing that it would mean Hell for all the universe. All his enemies have withdrawn save for the Daleks, whom he has been fighting with the aid of the Silence. The Daleks launch their final attack and the Doctor, out of ideas, weapons and regenerations, goes to meet them. Clara cannot watch this and returns to the crack, pleading with the Time Lords to save the Doctor, saying; "His name is the Doctor! All the name he needs, everything you need to know about him, and if you love him, and you should, help him!". The crack vanishes. At the top of Christmas's clock tower, the Doctor is preparing to die. Then, the Crack appears in the night sky and through it, the Time Lords grant the Doctor a new Cycle of regenerations. As his regeneration process begins, the Doctor uses the energy to destroy the Dalek ship.

In the aftermath, Clara returns to the TARDIS, finding the Doctor, whose youth has been restored. Despite this, he tells her he will regenerate anyway, and that it is taking some time to begin. He starts to reminisce about Amelia Pond, "the first face this face saw." He sees her in the TARDIS, and she tells him, "Raggedy Man, good night." The Doctor removes his bowtie. In tears, Clara begs him not to change. He smiles, and then rather abruptly regenerates into the first incarnation of his new regeneration cycle, whose first words are; "Kidneys! I've got new kidneys!". Suddenly, the TARDIS begins shaking, and the new Doctor asks Clara if she knows how to fly the TARDIS...

Cast

 * The Doctor - Matt Smith
 * Clara - Jenna Coleman
 * Tasha Lem - Orla Brady
 * Dad - James Buller
 * Linda - Elizabeth Rider
 * Gran - Sheila Reid
 * Colonel Albero - Mark Anthony Brighton
 * Abramal - Rob Jarvis
 * Marta - Tessa Peake-Jones
 * Barnable - Jack Hollington
 * Colonel Meme - Sonita Henry
 * Handles' Voice - Kayvan Novak
 * Young Man - Tom Gibbins
 * Cyberman - Aiden Cook
 * Voice of the Daleks - Nicholas Briggs
 * Dalek 1 - Barnaby Edwards
 * Dalek 2 - Nicholas Pegg
 * Silent - Ross Mullan


 * Amy Pond - Karen Gillan
 * The Doctor - Peter Capaldi

Story notes

 * This is the first televised regeneration story in which the Doctor regenerates at the end of the story to end on a shot of a character other than the Doctor and the second since The War Games not to end on the Doctor's new incarnation. In this case, this story's final frame shows Clara's reaction to the newly regenerated Twelfth Doctor, not the Twelfth Doctor himself.
 * This is the shortest story (in overall run time) to feature a regeneration broadcast on BBC1. The Night of the Doctor (TV story) was only on Red Button.

Ratings
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Filming locations
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Production errors
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Continuity

 * The Doctor tricks Clara into returning home in the TARDIS, presumably using Emergency Program One. The Ninth Doctor previously tricked Rose into returning home in the TARDIS, and just like Clara, she manages to return both herself and the TARDIS to the Doctor. (TV: The Parting of the Ways).
 * While investigating the Crack, the Doctor shows Clara a Seal of the High Council of Gallifrey, claiming he "nicked it of the Master in the Death Zone." This is a direct reference to the events of (TV: The Five Doctors), in which the Master, tasked with locating the Doctor in the Death Zone, is given the Seal to prove his credentials.
 * It is mentioned that a branch of the 'Church Of Silence' broke off (Madam Kovarian) to train someone (River Song) to kill the Doctor.

Home video releases
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