What's in a Name? [SPOILERS for NuWho ep Journey to the Centre of the TARDIS, but mainly fan-rant!]

[jjpor]

Comments

[persiflage_1]

I rather enjoyed that episode - largely, I admit, for the fannish glee I got from seeing the TARDIS library - which was everything it ought to be for a man who once said "Books - best weapons in the world!"

As for the Doctor's name, well I no more expect the ep to be about that than 'The Doctor's Wife' was about either Susan's grandmother or River. And to be frank, anyone who expects it to reveal the Doctor's name is living in la-la-land!

[jjpor]

I really did like the library, and the bottles full of words and the voices from the past and so on. As I say, I have to watch it again - it could go either way for me right now. I need to get my head around what actually happened and what it means with regard to Clara and so on.

And I agree on that point - clearly it's Moffat yanking fandom's chain in some sense, but I don't know...just the idea of it really irks me for some reason. I think the repeated "Doctor Who?!" thing kind of got to me. Having said that, the Radio Times article about the season finale really did my head in too. ;)

[persiflage_1]

I've no idea what's supposed to be happening in the finale - and don't want to know until it happens.

[jjpor]

Well, I will say no more, other than that based on the promotional material I've seen I'm looking forward more to the two episodes we still have to come before it than I am to the finale itself. But we all know the dangers of forming opinions on things before you see them, so I am willing to be pleasantly surprised by it.

[gonzo21]

I'm reduced to feeling like I now want to punch somebody every time we get Doctor? DOCTOR WHO? WHOOOOOOO? over and over again on the show. It was sort of cool the first time. But the same thing for the gazillionth time is grating

[jjpor]

I really never want to hear the "Doctor Who...? Doctor Who??!!" thing again. I suspect I'm probably going to, though

[gonzo21]

God, that would be awesome. Time Lord Flashheart with his go-faster Tardis and Codpiece Of Time. WOOF!

I remember Moffat talking about how kids all over the country since time immemorial had been asking about the show 'Doctor Who?' And you know? When I were a lad, I can't remember any of us asking 'Who' this 'Doctor Who' was, we just assumed his name was Doctor Who and that was that. Or possibly because he kept introducing himself as 'The Doctor' and people would ask 'Doctor Who?' And he'd say 'No, just The Doctor'.

In fact I'm sure that exact line of dialogue has been used in the show time and time again.

And yep, it was bog standard NuWho running through corridors while stuff blows up and a timer counts down towards destruction. We've seen this story waaaaaaaay too many times now.

[jjpor]

Well yeah, me neither. And I can't honestly say I've ever seen it being discussed in fandom, other than in a tongue-in-cheek or idle speculation sort of way. Sounds like it's just something Moffat either has a bee in his bonnet about or is trying to push as an idea for reasons known only to him. It could be he has a really clever story idea that will make me eat my words, or that it's cover for something else he plans to spring. We will have to wait and see, I guess.

Yes - I was wanting something a bit more grandiose and/or weirder than that kind of story...again. The bits that worked best for me were the bits that provided that e.g. the library, the disappearing doors etc.

[akashasheiress]

Agreed completely, as we've discussed before. Not only is his name apparently significant, it's MAGIC or something.

[jjpor]

Yeah, it's hard to see what they could reveal that wouldn't seem very stupid or a massive letdown. I strongly suspect that we won't find any name out at all, but as I say just the idea that we're supposed to care about it really annoys me.

[akashasheiress]

I have a feeling they're going for some kind ''Don't say Jehova!'' * type thing. Which is yet more of the whole ''americanization'' of the Doctor by turning him into a more conventional, god-like superhero, rather than the Trickster with a Social Conscience. I know because I wrote an essay, man. ;D

*And now I'm half-hoping that Eleven will be like ''Look, there's nothing significant about my name!'' and then starts shouting it again and again like that bloke in Life of Brian. And then he gets stoned for blaspheming against himself. ;D

[jjpor]

By a load of women in false beards! That would certainly be the best way of playing it, I think. ;D

[ravenskyewalker]

I like the thought that maybe the Doctor's name is Susan, and he's now his own grandfather/granddaughter. *evil grin*

I've never been terribly concerned with the Doctor's name -- probably something unpronouncibly Gallifreyan such as Whovanixandrelshnar or something, so that's why he never has a problem with "Doctor Who?"

I've been reading righteous rants like "How dare Moffat think HE has the right to reveal the Doctor's name?!" Oh, come off it, fandom... it would've been just as gratuitously unnecessary if done by any other producer.

No opinions on the ep yet; I'll be seeing it tonight. ... Have seen it now, and I'm sure it wanted to be good, but I missed the first several minutes, and then BBC America kept shoving ads in, as usual, which didn't help with continuity, so...

[akashasheiress]

Well, it might be that they mean that no showrunner has the ''right'' to reveal the name, including Moffat.

[jjpor]

Well, that's called thinking outside the box. I like it. ;D

That's really my own thinking on it - it's not something I've ever really been curious about other than in a very casual way, and I never thought it would be anything other than that sort of thing. Just not that important, imho. His name's "the Doctor" as far as I'm concerned.

[sciathan_file]

I thought that episode was a hot mess of a narrative, logical, and character train wreck.

However, the TARDIS library is now my new favorite fictional library, made all the better for being in the TARDIS.

[jjpor]

Agreed, with the same caveat mentioned above that I really need to watch it again. But yes, that library makes up for a lot, I think. I did squee a little at the past Doctor's voices emanating from the bottles. Apparently, all the book titles and stuff are covered by the TARDIS translation protocols as well...

[ravenskyewalker]

I ended up watching a late-night repeat as well as the first airing, and agree that the plot's a hot mess, but the ep had something going for it -- some excellent use of light and shadow and color. Someone on Tumblr posted a very pretty set of examples, and I reblogged it due to sheer visual appreciation. :-)

[jjpor]

Yes, the direction and production design on this series and the previous couple has been very, very good indeed. This and the submarine episode in particular had some extremely striking visuals, I agree.