I think it's important to remember that we would never have had The War Doctor if Christopher Eccleston had agreed to return as the 9th Doctor.
The War Doctor was specifically created to fill a gap in the story of the anniversary special, which seems a rather poor reason to create an entire additional incarnation of the Doctor.
And the narrative around the War Doctor just doesn't make sense. There was no timey-whimey meddling with his timeline. The Doctor just chose to ignore the fact he existed. But that doesn't explain why (for instance) the Cybermen had no record of him in their infostamp in The Next Doctor.
And, for me, I guess I am still wondering why the 8th Doctor (Paul McGann) simply wasn't utilized instead. I think that would have been much more interesting, to see how the dashing and romantic 8th Doctor became a man willing to destroy his own world. And Paul's a great actor.
I don't want to start a big Moffat-bashing thread, but for me this was typical of his glib approach to Doctor Who continuity.
Hmm. I would say continuity has been treated in a fairly cavalier way throughout Doctor Who's history.
Those doubting the War Doctor as a warrior, don't forget that he was a young man following Eight's regeneration in Night... and a grizzled old man in Day... leaving lots of unseen time for him to have done the more shameful things. It seems odd to me that all the audios portray him as old too, failing to fill in any stories from his youth. I know it'll be to do with promoting the stuff (got to have current John Hurt photos on) bit audio seems the perfect medium in which to 'show' the younger version we could never see on screen.
More weirdness is when you literally have Tom Baker in the episode (and have Paul McGann filming a tie-in) you don't at the very least record new 4th Doctor dialogue and new 8th Doctor scenes for the finale when all the Doctors turn up : /
I was watching Day of the Doctor the other.... day... and at the end when the 3 Doctors appear to the War Council, you have Smith and Tennant announce themselves as The Doctor and then John Hurt goes "Also, The Doctor" or something like that. The way it is presented on screen is so matter-of-fact.
I was thinking that that moment really should have been bigged up; like it was a huge deal that the 'War Doctor' was introducing himself as 'The Doctor' especially as a fundamental aspect of his character was that he had shamed the Doctor name and had stopped using it. You could have had a reaction shot of Smith giving his approval.
I dunno, it just seems to me that the premise set up in Name of the Doctor was pretty much forgotten and John Hurt was just another Doctor instead of being this no-nonsense wildcard.
More weirdness is when you literally have Tom Baker in the episode (and have Paul McGann filming a tie-in) you don't at the very least record new 4th Doctor dialogue and new 8th Doctor scenes for the finale when all the Doctors turn up : /
I suspect that any attempt to do this would end up feeling quite shoehorned in, and would make the whole thing feel more fragmented.
But I still thing The Night of the Doctor would have made a brilliant pre-credits-esque extended scene. People wanted a longer anniversary episode, this would have been a brilliant and shocking way to kick things off...alien planet, a Doctor no one is expecting, kicking off the anniversary by binding Classic Who and NuWho together in a way like never before. Of course the short accomplished all of that anyway, but it would have been a hell of a way to kick off the main event, and would have given Paul McGann the chance to appear in the show proper... that he still hasn't surprises me.
I suspect that any attempt to do this would end up feeling quite shoehorned in, and would make the whole thing feel more fragmented.
But I still thing The Night of the Doctor would have made a brilliant pre-credits-esque extended scene. People wanted a longer anniversary episode, this would have been a brilliant and shocking way to kick things off...alien planet, a Doctor no one is expecting, kicking off the anniversary by binding Classic Who and NuWho together in a way like never before. Of course the short accomplished all of that anyway, but it would have been a hell of a way to kick off the main event, and would have given Paul McGann the chance to appear in the show proper... that he still hasn't surprises me.
It wouldn't fit. Different director, different production, not in 3-D. Plus there would be the whole problem of the story having two openings.
It's a 6-minute one-shot because that's all it was ever designed to be. Tacking it onto the start of Day of the Doctor wouldn't work at all.
I always thought Eight was the best choice for any "War Doctor" as his Doctor was the ultimate optimist who always looked to avoid violence,him being forced to commit genocide makes 9 and 10s guilt even more apt.
I liked the 50th but I'm afraid I'll never be convinced that The War Doctor was a good idea or made any sense
It wouldn't fit. Different director, different production, not in 3-D. Plus there would be the whole problem of the story having two openings.
It's a 6-minute one-shot because that's all it was ever designed to be. Tacking it onto the start of Day of the Doctor wouldn't work at all.
But conceptually it could have been made to work. Not exactly as the finished product we got, but made specifically as part of the anniversary episode.
Comments
Hmm. I would say continuity has been treated in a fairly cavalier way throughout Doctor Who's history.
Absolutely wonderful Doctor, for me.:)
I suspect that any attempt to do this would end up feeling quite shoehorned in, and would make the whole thing feel more fragmented.
But I still thing The Night of the Doctor would have made a brilliant pre-credits-esque extended scene. People wanted a longer anniversary episode, this would have been a brilliant and shocking way to kick things off...alien planet, a Doctor no one is expecting, kicking off the anniversary by binding Classic Who and NuWho together in a way like never before. Of course the short accomplished all of that anyway, but it would have been a hell of a way to kick off the main event, and would have given Paul McGann the chance to appear in the show proper... that he still hasn't surprises me.
It wouldn't fit. Different director, different production, not in 3-D. Plus there would be the whole problem of the story having two openings.
It's a 6-minute one-shot because that's all it was ever designed to be. Tacking it onto the start of Day of the Doctor wouldn't work at all.
I liked the 50th but I'm afraid I'll never be convinced that The War Doctor was a good idea or made any sense