A slightly long winded analysis of The Night Of The Doctor

{Spoiler} In my opinion The Night Of The Doctor remains a very clever piece of writing and one of the most tragic, thought provoking regeneration stories of them all, moving though heroism to tragedy, ticking most of the boxes of a typical Who episode, and capping off Paul McGann's era in less than seven minutes. It isn't a groundbreaking story by any means, and as a seven minute minisode it does come across as somewhat rushed (reintroducing and regenerating the 8th Doctor in a suitably dramatic manner, setting up the scale of the time war and explaining the how and why of the War Doctor would have been hard even in a standard episode), but it remains a very fitting, gripping ending for McGann's Doctor i.m.o, packed with a surprising amount of pathos and nods to the Eigtht Doctor's legacy.


Firstly it's interesting to note the parallels between NOTD and the TV Movie. The 7th Doctor made a brief appearance in the TV Movie, which hints he had already been through a significant ordeal not too long ago off-screen (and doesn't bother explaining why he was transporting the Master's ashes...whilst NOTD dosen't bother explaining how the Doctor happened to be in the same general area as Cass's ship and Karn...though this may be closer to a plot hole or a 'wait and see' part of writing than reference...), while after his regeneration, his immediate successor has massive involvement with the story. In NOTD McGann makes a brief, unexpected appearance (for some...but those of us who had followed the rumours at the time kinda knew what to expect) but with a huge involvement in the plot of his regeneration story, while his immediate successor has no involvement with the plot, but immediately prepares to enter a the huge conflict followin off-screen. The TV Movie and NOTD are mirroring book ends for the 8th Doctor, both starting midway through a wider story. The Seventh Doctor regenerated into the 8th a couple of hours after his supposed "death", in NOTD , the Eighth Doctor dies in a spaceship crash and is resurrected long enough to allow him to regenerate into the War Doctor, whether on purpose or on accident, some of the plot structure of NOTD very much hearkens back to McGann's first story (and in some ways The 5th Doctor's final story 'The Caves of Adrozani-a very kind, emotionally fragile Doctor battling against the odds to save a woman he barely knows), at first glance it's arguably overtly referenctial, but I'd still argue it was a nice move on Moffat's part, McGann sadly never had the chance to explore the character very far on T.V and it feels only right his final adventure (or perhaps more accurately, the bit we see of it...) pays tribute to his first.


The very first thing the Doctor says in this episode is refer to himself as a Doctor, the very last thing he does is declare himself to be "Doctor no more". It's rather ironic, in the TV Movie the 8th Doctor started out as an amnesiac unsure of how or what he was 'WHO AM I???' but upon regaining his memories in the park showed himself as something of a joyous romantic, in NOTD, he dies by choosing to regenerate into something the antithesis of his usual personality, it's a very interesting parallel and a full circle journey for McGann's Doctor, told in barely a hour's screentime.


Watching back NOTD recently, I thought it was interesting to think about the reasoning behind upgrading the Eighth Doctor's outfit in NOTD (beyond the obvious facts that A) his costume would have changed in such a long lifespan and B) Licencing issues meaning his Dark Eyes costume couldn't be used). The new outfit does seem to take limited inspiration from the costume he wears in the Dark Eyes (and presuemably all of the Doom Coalition) stories-darker hues, more practical and 'lived in' material that seems more like an adventurer's day to day clothes, rather than the Edwardian Costume he wears in the TV Movie (not that I don't like his TV Movie costume, it suited his younger personality perfectly). I recall McGann mentioining in an interview (it may have been on the Dark Eyes Bonus Disc) that the leather Jacket he picks up in Dark Eyes was meant to be a WW1 Naval Jacket-reflecting both the idea of the Doctor as a 'space mariner' of sorts (i.e much like a sailor he's a wanderer in time and space, the difference being the vortex and space are his ocean) and his persona hardening by age and darkness as the time war approached, here it's evolved into a trench coat.

But overall, the 8th Doctor's new costume in NOTD seems to be a more aged and 'grown up' version of his TV Movie costume — still vaguely Edwardian and with similar elements and colour scheme, but redesigned from the ground up as something more practical. Like his tardis, it's very battered around the edges, the recycling idea suggests i.m.o that the Doctor was desperate to return to 'better times' (or perhaps, as he tells Cass desperate to keep telling himself he was still the Doctor and still a good man) and recapture his early, carefree days. It also reinforces the idea of his Doctor coming full circle (a new but familiar costume shows the passing of time, but reassures fans of the TV Movie we are in some ways picking up where we left off again for McGann's Doctor)...all of this was probably obvious to most viewers watching it but I hadn't really thought about the new costume (beyond thinking it looks really cool) before.


NOTD, despite being less than 7 minutes long packs alot into its narrative, with room for a three act structure. The first part of NOTD takes a regular event of 'New Who' - the introduction of a potential new companion, as the Doctor invites Cass to travel with him, and then twists it into something completely unexpected, the expected ''bigger on the inside” line is cheerfully delivered as always, but becomes an immediate source of anger/terror for Cass, as she immediately rejects the Doctors's offer to travel with him, once she realises what he is, and chooses death instead, quite a nasty way to set up the Doctor's heroism, and it throws the audiences's expectation out of the window.(A couple of easter eggs I like were noted on the TV tropes page; in the novel The Eight Doctors, which starts immediately after the end of the TV movie, the 8th Dr says: "Let's just say that I'm a Doctor. There's more than one, you know. Clearly, I'm not the one you were expecting.", his first lines in NOTD are very similar. Whilst The Doctor arguing with a suspicious female acquaintance he's just met through a locked door in a moment of crisis is another callback to the TV movie, he does the same with Grace in her house).


Cass's action does several things at once, firstly and obviously, it offers a sufficiently important reason for the Doctor to die in the opening minutes of the minisode , a companion refusing to join the Doctor (especially one as cheery and open as Eight) is a very rare occurrence and it instantly explains to viewers just how bad the time war is getting, if even the Doctor is seen in a negative light (and such a battered state) and has to clarify that he is 'one of the nice ones'.


It also gives McGann some simple, but clear and strong material to react against and guide his performance that doesn’t really require any characterization or detailed info dumping about the 8th Doctor, much of his performance in the TV Movie i.m.o (from memory) was driven by the Doctor's enthusiasm about figuring how who the new 'him'was, here with only a few minutes to spare Moffat evidently has the sense/lack of courage to give McGann dialogue that makes a lot of the decisions for him  here his Doctor is very much sure in morals and purpose (however misguided), the story is driving the Doctor, not the other way around, and I think it was more McGann's pronunciation and body language that truly sold the persona of the 8th Doctor here, rather than the lines themselves (though the dead pan 'The Front crashes first think things through!' 'Bring me knitting' and the moral idealism of 'Yes, but I'm one of the nice ones' seem straight out of a B.F audio), Moffat though apparently a fan of McGann (I recall reading he was actually approached by B.F when it first started, but turned them down as he only wanted to write for the then unsigned McGann) probably wasn't overly familiar with McGann's Doctor and wisely i.m.o lets him play the role rather than writing it for him.


This is more obvious on Karn (8 having met them in Sisters of the Flame/ Vengeance of Morbius). This second section is basically a three minute climax - a quick build up to McGann’s regeneration and, in turn, to Day of the Doctor. NOTD was the first official acknowledgment of the nature of the War Doctor (though most of us had guessed who he was months beforehand)and exactly how he fitted into continuity, so McGann who was himself the first attempted torchbearer from Old to New Who does the same sort of thing once more passing on the character to another 'missing link' in the list of Doctors.


A would be companion and innocent bystander dying as a consequence of the Doctors actions seems exciting/tragic enough to justify a regeneration (as we all know companions of Eight dying is regular occurrence unfortunately for him, no wonder the poor bugger didn't want to fight) but justifying the abandonment of the title and promise of “Doctor” is a much harder to sell especially with a largely unknown doctor (reestablishing McGann, and/or turning his character around in just one minisode or ep was always going to be hard no matter how Moffat wrote him) but one with a very clear personality and legacy, it's something that relies on the mythical weight of the barely explored Time War, and prior knowledge of 8's persona to get the job done, I think McGann makes it work largely due to his charisma, but NOTD is perhaps a little too ambitious for seven minutes in this regard.


The Eighth Doctor dies by getting caught in a jumble of continuity references, downbeat darkness, and small scale heroism, after cheerfully blundering into someone else's mess with out of the blue with little to no apparent plan, now having listened to almost of all of McGann's audios and read an increasingly large number of the EDAs, I think it remains an oddly fitting ending for such a last minute, quickly written production....


I rather like the symbolism in Eight's first and last actions as the Doctor-in the TV Movie, when Eight is looking for clothes in the hospital right after regenerating, he finds the Wild Bill costume in a locker, reaching into the locker he finds the gun holster, examines it quizzically and puts it down straight away. Before taking the Elixir on Karn he picks up Cass' bandoleer and surveys it forlornly, when he regenerates into the War Doctor, he immediately picks up Cass's bandoleer and puts it on, this is pretty powerful i.m.o , one of Eight's first acts was showing his abhorrence of violence, whereas the War Doctor's first was in immediate preparation for it. To me that's a true journey (if a very obvious piece of symbolism) the 8th Doctor had spent his life trying to stick to a strick moral code, avoiding using weaponry or conflict if he could, very much a healer not warrior, this one act shows his journey from idealistic romantic to battle scarred adult forced to grow up and take responsibility, he is given the choice as to how to regenerate, and picks a warrior, the very thing he had spent his incarnation striving not to be, it's a tragic and complete 180 degrees journey told in barely an hour of screentime.


This tragic irony is proven further by looking at the 'Promise': Never cowardly or cruel. Never give up, never give in (another ironic callback for Eight, in Zagreus, infected by the virus of the title name he encounters visions of the previous Doctors who tell him 'No matter what happens, no matter the odds, we never, ever, ever give up!')

Eight broke the promise by finally giving up , it's more tragic considering he was one of the least cruelest Doctors of them all. Perceived as a monster simply by being a Time Lord, no matter how much of a 'good man' he tries to be, Eights final downfall as a Doctor was remaining a moral idealist till death, it's a tragic, heroic way to go.

My interpretation is that the Doctor chose to crash (In Max Warp, 8 supposedly dies in a spaceship crash but it turns out to be a flight program, whilst in "To the Death" he wanted to save Lucie Miller from a crashing spaceship but was convinced not to. Here he actually does die in a spaceship crash, after failing once more to save a passenger on board...he dosen't have much luck with spaceships does he?) because finally broken, he understood, via the death of Cass, that no matter what he did, the war would continue to tear apart the universe and no amount of 'healing' (metaphorical or actual) as the Doctor would/could bring it to an end. The 8th Doctor might have saved himself from the crash by simply stepping back into the TARDIS and running away once more, but he chose not to, staying in a futile bid to persuade Cass to put aside he hatred and terror and come with him, although the last living act of this Doctor was one of futile heroism (a gesture which tells you everything you need to know about 8), the 8th Doctor was actually the first to break the promise by giving up and giving in to his fears.


That desperation arguably carries over into the actions of the War Doctor, who, though born into battle, doing terrible, but necessary deeds in the process and (judging from his personality in DOTD, Engines of War and Only The Monstorous) believing himself to be a monster wanted nothing more than to be the Doctor, to prove himself as equal to the man he once was, yet fought willingly all the same, the morality and courage of the War Doctor acts as an inversion of the 8ths i.m.o, as he walks an opposite path, starting out as a outcast warrior, ironically becoming more of a doctor as he approaches the decisions to deploy the moment, it subverts the usual journey you'd expect a soldier to follow in a war, and i.m.o is one of a number of reasons why creating the War Doctor over using 8 or 9 made for a more interesting story (even it was a piece of retroactive continuity thought off at a reasonably late stage of production)


That said, it is hard to say 8 wouldn't be changed and developed and changed by the war. Although the 8th Dr seemingly retains his streak as a romantic, largely idealistic pacifist at the time of his death (albeit rather wearier and more bitter around the edges) it doesn't mean he didn't experience the full horrors of the war first hand, it is very clear from the way he says his final lines in NOTD he was close to breaking point, doing everything he could to stay the 'good man' to the very end.

Thinking about how NOTD reflects his journey in the audios, this conversation between him and Lucy springs to mind, reflecting on his differences with the 7th Doctor:


The Doctor: "This is how evil starts. With the belief that the ends justify the means. But once you start down that road, there's no turning back. What if you can save five million lives but you have to let ten people die? Or a hundred? Or a hundred thousand? Where do you stop?"



Lucie Miller: "But you did. You did stop."



Doctor: "I did. But by then I ended up traveling alone. Because I couldn't trust myself with anyone's life. Not after..."



Lucie: "Not after? Not saying. OK. Then what made you change from being a lonely bean counter to companionable time traveler?"



Doctor: "A new body. A clean slate, a fresh start. From that day I knew I never would countenance the death of a single living being. That's why I no longer travel alone. "



Lucie: "Why?"



Doctor: "So I could never forget how precious a single life is."


Coupled with the memory of his much younger self's evident terror and disgust at encountering the older, war weary version of him (an encounter he had probably repeated from the opposite perspective pretty recently) in 'Mary's Story', I think 8's moral posistion on the war shown in NOTD was very fitting, even if Dark Eyes etc hadn't really begun to explore that far into his timeline at that point.


Personally I think there's is more drama (and likely better stories) seeing a Doctor pushed close to the edge, rather than falling right over it, a man who makes the choice to become a warrior is more cliched than a man faced with no choice (and i.m.o harder to sympathize with, I guess it depends on how cliched you view the Doctors pacist streak is) The War Doctor is born into Battle rather than forced into it, it was a massive break from the character of the Doctor, now that Hurt has signed up for the audios, it will be interesting to see how far BF explore the parallels and differences between the 8th and War Doctors, we are going to hear two very different viewpoints of the time war, starting at opposite ends of the conflict oever the coming years, and I for one can't wait...


I've read some argue 8s actions and refusal to fight are an abdication of responsibility and that it diminishes this Dr by giving him the easy way out, and whilst's that's an easy point to make, I don't agree. The more I've explored McGann's Doctor, the more I see it as a testament to his strength of character, to me there's something reassuring and poetic, that the Eighth doctor doesn't consider his long history of personal losses and grievances good enough cause for walking down the road to double genocide (the Doctor has always seemed to be above petty grudges i.m.o), rather the losses and grievances he suffered turn him in the opposite direction, steering him into doing his utmost to save lives from the outskirts of the conflict, seventeen years after his first appearance he'd grown older and wearier but remained fundamentally the same sort of Doctor. More importantly McGann virtually picks up where he left off i.m.o, you can still see traces of 'These Shoes! They fit perfectly!'in his performance, the wry humour and warmth of the TV Movie are there, but it's easy to see them worn down by the weight and trauma of 12+ years of audios stories. I think there is alot of scope and drama to be found in the upcoming time war audios (or any other medium which explores it), exploring why he doesn't fight even after all his losses (and likewise why even the War Doctor has his reservations), to me it adds to the insanity and mystery of the conflict, knowing even the Doctor after so many losses would have to be forced into taking part, it certainly speaks volumes about 8s idealism and misplaced sense of hope.


The War Doctor was eventually willing to further break the Promise by taking a calculated decision to sacrifice innocents to end the war, however as DOTD showed he in fact, redeemed the lost and broken Doctor before him as well, by not destroying Gallifrey and giving reason for those incarnations that followed to reclaim the name of the Doctor-obviously before Hurt's Dr was invented we'd all assumed it was 8 or 9 that 'pushed the button' (for me it was the latter) and there wasn't all that stuff about the promise and innocent children being pushed down out throats, however I was always a little confused/curious as to why Eccleston's Dr, seemingly reasonably fresh from the Time War was apparently fine with picking up the name and purpose of the Doctor straight away (more to the point...it would be a little odd to be slaughtering Daleks left right and center whilst calling yourself a 'Doctor') without 'earning it back' first...if Eccleston ever does Big Finish audio adventures, a pre-Rose 'Year Zero' arc for him would be very interesting to explore for similar reasons...Anyway as such two, not one doctors were redeemed by the events of Day Of The Doctor, NOTD clears up a few issues I personally had with the time war and Eights final sacrifice strikes home all the harder i.m.o, he may not have been willing to fight in the war, but he realized the bigger picture and was, in the end willing to sacrifice himself to become a man capable of ending the war, the War doctor gave up his morals without choice, the Eighth Doctor gave up his life twice over, it's hard to say which one took more courage.


When the Eighth Doctor died to protect his 'promise' during the Time War, finally broken but at peace knowing he had kept true to himself, the universe brought him back to life and threw it all back in his face almost mocking him, even in death he couldn't sacrifice himself to save another. It's ironically tragic and pretty damn cruel, The Doctor with such a love of life, who would rather die than fight, dying as a broken man then being brought back to life, confronted with the corpse of the woman he failed to save, being convinced that killing is necessary, then almost immediately 'dying' again to become a man capable of it in the space of a few minutes...it's alot to fit into such a short time, and as such NOTD does come across as a little rushed the more you watch it, but it remains a very powerful way to go, packed with symbolism. Eight dying and then being resurrected forces him to re-evaluate his role, and moral position on the time war, he can be the Doctor and run away from it again, or he can change and do what needs to be done. As I read it, he knew in his hearts that his current incarnation could never could sink that low, but his final action is choosing to regenerate into a incarnation capable of doing so. In a metaphorical way, the universe at this point was invalidating the whole of the Eighth Doctor's life.


So the Eighth Doctor dies both a failure and hero, sure it's not as epic as destroying Gallifrey would be, but having 8 'destroy' Gallifrey, only for his actions to be cancelled out again by the moment or (depending on your interpretation) being stopped from happening wouldn't have been worth hypothetically breaking the 8th Doctor into a bloodsoaked outcast i.m.o. In NOTD he dies as hero saving a stranger, then once more chooses to regenerate into a warrior foretold to bring an end to the conflict, as a doctor he's both redeemed and outcast by these actions twice over, for such wide eyed Doctor I think it remains very fitting his regeneration was heroic, but ultimately futile and downbeat, rather than bittersweet and hopeful like the War Doctors was, but I suppose that's an argument for another post...


The Eighth Doctor questions whether the regeneration will hurt, wanting to be in pain as he becomes the Warrior, horribly conflicted about what he's going to do as his next incarnation (something else noted on TV Tropes, ''The Doctor yells "Get out! GET OUT!" exactly like he did in "To the Death" and "Dark Eyes: The Great War" don't recall if that's accurate though), that's why the despairing line ''Physician heal thyself" hits so hard, it shows his terror about what will follow, a dispearing hope that things might return to normal in the future as well as him seeking redemption for the breaking of the promise by the incarnation that followed. The last act of hope of a desperate and dying man, it also acts as an apology of sorts (it's particularly ironic considering the fates of the companions he names) finally at his breaking point, he is directly harming "The Doctor" (both the person and 'promise' of the name) in order to become the warrior that will end the war, but as it's a quote from Christ (fitting the literary Byronic romantic that is Eight), it also brings to mind the idea of him passing on the burden to the next Doctor (it vaguely reminded me of Indiana Jones and The Last Crusade, like the Holy Grail it's a literal cup of life/death).


I'm partially inclined to say that the 8th Doctor 'Era' as it were, by virtue of being almost entirely explored in fan aimed ancillary material needed to end quietly, unsatisfying or surprisingly (NOTD manages all three to some extent), I'd argue the 8th Doctor for many is unfortunately more defined by his absence than stories - a character whose defining trait is that he was played by Paul McGann in a wig (and I don't mean that in a degroatory way...it's mostly down to NOTD introducing me to Big Finish that McGann became 'my' doctor!) an actor who spent most of the era not playing him officially on screen, except at the very beginning and end, for most his Dr is notable for appearing of a pair of regeneration stories and not much more recognizable as Doctor Who (well at least in terms of the TV show, the audio dramas, comics and novels though all great formats in their own way are probably out of reach or of limited interest to many casual viewers unfortunately) so having a short, downbeat internet minisode for his regeneration story seems oddly fitting from a out of universe perspective.


Looking back on NOTD 2 yrs later, 8 going out as a tragic hero essentially committing suicide due to a sense of misplaced moral idealism and chivalry in a simple, straight forward Doctor saves civilian story, still seems a surprisingly fitting ending i.m.o, especially considering it was thrown together at the last minute, evidently Moffat did his homework, or works better under pressure...NOTD may have started half way through a story, and as a 7 minute internet minisode it probably wasn't what many McGann fans were hoping for after such along screen absence for the 8th Doctor, but i.m.o it's a very symbolic, unflinchingly tragic ending to the 8th Doctor, though I understand why others may have felt differently and realise as it was basically my introduction to his Doctor I'm probably more biased than some...


At the very least, without a clear finale in sight for McGann's Dr in the wilderness years, NOTD now gives Big Finish a very clear ending to work towards as they explore the time war in greater depth over the course of future years (wheras with the War Doctor's he arrived fully formed at the end of his life, B.F have a interesting challenge of working backwards and building his Doctor's character up from the middle of his timeline...) and it leaves just enough questions and breathing room (why did the Sisterhood have those potions ready? How was Cass's ship damaged? Why was the Doctor keeping neutral for so long? And what happened to 8's other sonic screwdriver? etc) for a very interesting lead in/expanded final story for McGann whenever that happens to be...