Howling:What was in the Doctor's room in God Complex?

I was watching this episode again today and started thinking about what was in his room, so I've been looking for some theories on what was in his room but nobody's said mine so I thought I'd throw it out there. I think he saw David Tennant (himself as 10) having sex with Rose. Here's why. Every room isn't necessarily the person's greatest fear; they always refer to the things in the rooms as "bad dreams." I mostly think this because as he leaves, he puts the "Do Not Disturb" sign on the door, which sort of signals something is going on inside he wouldn't want anybody else to see. This seems like it would logically be his worst dream because of how in love with Rose he is, but didn't get to be with her even though she got to be with him. Has anybody else thought of this?
 * Please sign your posts. Thanks. I'm actually surprised you listened to me. Anyways, on topic: Did you notice the cloister bell in the background? It sounds when there's a danger in the TARDIS. Let's go through what we know: the person who hates the Doctor the most is himself. His worst fear could be what he thinks he may become, as he's becoming more and more ruthless, that he'll slowly turn evil (ie. Valeyard) Or it could be himself alone, meaning that Ponds will have gone (ie. his worst fear is losing the people closest to him - it certainly has an impact on him as shown in The Snowmen). It could be him dying, or watching River have to go through killing him. The possibilities are endless. What are other theories that you've come across? SmallerOnTheOutside ☎  05:43, January 28, 2013 (UTC)

I think it was in Mind of Evil, though I could be remembering wrong, that there was a similar concept where there was a machine or something which made people see their worst fears or something like that. When the Doctor was affected, one could see fire and hear the Daleks screaming "exterminate!" Maybe, building on that, the Doctor's worst dream now would have something to do with the Daleks and destroying his planet. It could be seeing the Daleks having killed someone he loved, or the devastation that happened on his own planet because of the Daleks happening on another planet, maybe his beloved Earth. Anyway, I expect it to have something to do with the Daleks and/or the Time War. I really don't think it would be Rose and Meta-Ten... y'know. This is a family show and website. Imamadmad ☎  05:53, January 28, 2013 (UTC)


 * Interesting thought, actually. I didn't think of the Time War. But I still think it has more to do with his future than with his past. I like my earlier idea of himself becoming evil and destroying worlds himself (a stretch of the choices he makes now - destroying one group to save another). He didn't seem particularly happy to find that "doctor" means "mighty warrior" in a lot of languages. Eleven's slowly slipping into a "Time Lord Victorious" phase. He's turning darker. He's afraid he's making the wrong choices and he's afraid that in the future he'll have an even bigger choice to make and he'll make the wrong decision. SmallerOnTheOutside ☎  06:04, January 28, 2013 (UTC)

It's probably something to do with losing companions. Note how he drops Amy and Rory off back on Earth after this adventure, like he saw the loss of his companions coming. 94.72.235.63talk to me 16:57, January 28, 2013 (UTC)

Maybe it was Adric. Bit of a nightmare for so many reasons. --89.241.64.101talk to me 03:37, January 29, 2013 (UTC)

Well, that all depends on how one sees Adric in said nightmare. Maybe The Doctor saw Adric surviving?

In all seriousness, though, I'm sure it's to do with losing companions. Or maybe he saw himself? 94.72.235.63talk to me 16:30, January 29, 2013 (UTC)


 * Which is pretty much my suggestion. Himself, or what he thinks he is, or what he thinks he'll become. SmallerOnTheOutside ☎  04:47, January 30, 2013 (UTC)

I imagine himself crying, standing over the Pond's dead bodies. Opalsaloony-  We are the Superior Beings  09:42, February 1, 2013 (UTC)

Although there's a lot of merit in the "death of companions" idea, the one thing we actually know about whatever was in that room is that the Cloister Bell was tolling. That certainly doesn't exclude the "death of companions" idea but it does mean there'd have to be more to it than that. Some kind of ultimate disaster -- perhaps one that was the Doctor's own fault. --89.241.72.95talk to me 09:53, February 1, 2013 (UTC)

There's a short story called The Fear that suggests the thing the Doctor fears most is losing his mind. This could fit with the Cloister Bell, as he and the TARDIS are so connected, but I can't see how that would be depicted in a hotel room. Shambala108 ☎  15:19, February 1, 2013 (UTC)

Easily. A crazy Doctor in a TARDIS. 94.72.235.63talk to me 17:01, February 1, 2013 (UTC)

Possibly a crazy Doctor in a TARDIS standing over the bodies of companions, with the Cloister Bell tolling to indicate a major disaster was imminent, because of their deaths. The Complex played on existing fears, so that last bit wouldn't need to be shown explicitly. The Doctor's own interpretation would supply it. The resulting scenario is: Doctor has lost his mind, got his companions killed & the universe is about to be destroyed because of it -- the ultimate screw-up! --89.240.250.22talk to me 03:45, February 2, 2013 (UTC)

All great thoughts - but some of you are losing sight of the "Who else?" comment. Who indeed? AthertonX ☎  06:33, February 12, 2013 (UTC) I feel like it's himself and the poignance of that - especially with the throwaway manner in which it's treated ...

I have this picture that he saw himself, so far beyond despair, so far beyond evil, giving in and becoming all that he hates, destroying everything, on purpose, because he has come to believe it was the right thing to do. Moreover, his reaction implies that it would be easy - so easy - to do, especially if he loses the balance of empathy and compassion that he uses his companions to refresh. Essentially, I believe he saw himself become like Rassilion at the end of the Time War - consumed by the hubris to which he knows he is prone.ComicBookGoddess ☎  04:58, March 3, 2013 (UTC)

I think Adric is likely, but it could be any companion who has died, or all of them, such as Jamie, Gus or Ace. Or it could be someone he feels guilty about, perhaps Susan. Probably not Aunt Sally, though. -- Graske  of the  Mandragora  09:55, April 23, 2013 (UTC)

We now have a new possibility: The unknown (John Hurt) incarnation, who's "not the Doctor", from The Name of the Doctor. --2.96.17.223talk to me 08:00, May 23, 2013 (UTC)


 * I was thinking that. Also, the room being #11 could be: he's the 11th to be called "the Doctor" while reminding him of the lie that he's not actually his 11th incarnation (if Hurt is between McGann and Eccleston). Of course, him smiling and the light-sounding music aren't very indicative of him seeing a past life that has been "disowned". —BioniclesaurKing4t2 - "Hello, I'm the Doctor. Basically, . . . run." 22:27, May 25, 2013 (UTC)


 * Since whatever was in the room was supposed to be his greatest fear, the smile & the music wouldn't really fit anyone it might be. They also don't fit the Cloister Bell tolling. --89.242.73.110talk to me 23:39, May 25, 2013 (UTC)

Working from the language and the story, I think we may have to go a different direction. The point of the fear was to cause people to summon up their faith, expose in what they have faith. The 10th Doctor once said, of Rose,


 * I've seen fake gods and bad gods,demi-gods and would be gods. I've had the whole pantheon. But if I belive in one thing, just one thing, I belive in her.

The question might be, what could he see that would bring that out now? And could it have anything to do with why Rose is supposed to be in the anniversary show?Phil Stone ☎  15:25, June 3, 2013 (UTC)

Even if the idea hadn't occurred at the time to Toby Whithouse (who wrote The God Complex) or to Moffat, there's nothing to stop Moffat deciding later on that that's what happened. Because we didn't see who/what was in the room, he can "retcon" it any way that suits him. The question is: Who/what would make the Doctor rely on Rose & rely on her to that extent? --89.240.250.172talk to me 18:08, June 3, 2013 (UTC)


 * At this point, don't you think he saw John Hurt in that room? Badwolff ☎  20:25, June 3, 2013 (UTC)


 * I was 2 (not 89) when I suggested the same at 08:00, May 23, 2013 (UTC), above, but obviously "great minds think alike." --89.240.250.172talk to me 22:31, June 3, 2013 (UTC)


 * D'uh! When I see a long, long page of text, I usually read the OP, skim the middle and then read the most recent replies. I missed that completely. And, while it "makes sense" that it would be Hurt, I'm now think "No"...mainly because it seemed like Hurt was a source of shame and regret for the Eleventh, not fear. Badwolff ☎  22:39, June 3, 2013 (UTC)

I oould tend to agree. His concern for being there seems not to be connected to Hurt so much as the laws of time being problematic about him going to his own future tomb, just as he doesn't want to cross his own timeline normally.

As for Rose, her "task" is to keep 10.1 out of trouble. Perhaps if the Doctor saw 10.1 doing something like Hurt did, or with Hurt? But the faith in Rose approach depends on the maze presenting,perhaps not the greatest fear, but something calculated to demand faith as a reaction. And that seems not only a bit convoluted, but not as good an explanation for what we actually saw in the rooms. For example, the teasing by girls doesn't strike me as designed to stimulate notions of CIA conspiracies, but it could easily go to a basic fear.Phil Stone ☎  03:03, June 4, 2013 (UTC)--Phil Stone  ☎  03:03, June 4, 2013 (UTC)
 * I agree with that. I thought the Doctor just saw himself. It was a matter of specifics he just knows the sort of things he's capable of. In The God Complex faith was simply presented as something people fall back on when faced with fear not something the trap is calculated to produce. The beginning of the show was that the diary read, I didn't know what it was but when I discovered it, it couldn't be anything else.DCT ☎  12:31, June 4, 2013 (UTC)

Rose, first & foremost, was the one who healed the Doctor after the Time War. That was what he said when they finally parted & he left the Meta-Crisis Doctor with her. Keeping him out of trouble, apart from being virtually impossible (he's the Doctor, after all), was very much secondary & she was often as keen to get involved in trouble as he was. The opening of The Impossible Planet illustrates that. To both of them, the idea of just going away & not finding out what was wrong (i.e., idea of staying out of trouble) was simply a joke. The Doctor (as the Master pointed out) is the one who "makes people better". Rose was the one who made him better. --89.240.250.172talk to me 03:38, June 4, 2013 (UTC)

Sorry, I was unclear. By "stay out of trouble" I meant steer him to act the way the Doctor would, ie no more genocide, or other things that the Doctor would (no longer) consider doing. The question becomes whether Rose could make John Hurt better before he does what he did? Or, could she help him to notmake a habit of it once done once? But I dont see how it relates to the Doctor's room.Phil Stone ☎  04:43, June 6, 2013 (UTC)

In that case, what you meant by keeping him of trouble was at least part of what I meant by healing him, though I also had in mind her effect on his feelings about himself.

The only way I can see that being connected with whatever was in the Doctor's room is if what he's most afraid of is what he might become (which is possible) & he'd rely on Rose to steer him away from becoming that. I'm not convinced by the latter part of that idea. (I was 89 earlier.) --2.101.59.118talk to me 09:59, June 6, 2013 (UTC)

I think and this is my personal opinion that he sees an older self standing over the bodies of dead companions and him no longer caring or he sacrificed them for the 'bigger picture' because of what i've seen from the ninth and tenth doctor is that the only thing keeping him sane is that he feels guilty of what he did to the Time lords and true fear is when sees himself no longer caring about the lives he takes which I think the John Hurt doctor did losing the right to call himself the doctor as he no longer 'make people better'.abdikko ☎  23:18 June 27, 2013 (UTC)

What he saw in that room was John Hurt holding a sign. "You﻿ will never be ginger."