Doctor Time

The doctor is a traveler in space and time. He looks like a man, but belongs to the race of Time Lords from the planet Gallifrey , who have the ability to regenerate (reborn) when receiving lethal damage. As a result of regeneration, the Time Lord changes his appearance and character. As a means of transportation, the Doctor uses the TARDIS ( English TARDIS - T ime A nd R élative D imension (s) I n S pace) - a living time machine and, at the same time, a spacecraft , externally replicating the English blue police box from the 1960s, but containing a huge space ^[1] . In his travels, the Doctor saves various worlds, including mankind. Almost always he is accompanied by a satellite or a satellite . The doctor has the intellect of a genius. As an improvised tool for performing minor operations with objects (locking-unlocking locks, fixing devices, scanning something, etc.) they use a sonic screwdriver ^{[2] [3]} .

On December 25, 2009 and January 1, 2010, two parts of the “Doctor Who” Christmas special edition entitled “ The End of Time ” were shown. Due to the circumstances (a large dose of radiation was incompatible with life), the Tenth Doctor regenerated in the Eleventh Doctor ^{[4] [5] [6]} .

From the planet Trenzalor at all times and the space begins to be transmitted encrypted message. Many races, including those far away, cybermen, slivines, and crying angels, want to go to the planet in order to find out the origin of the signal. But no one can do this, because the Papal Mainframe Church - the organization that provides the security of the universe - has surrounded Trenzalor with a force field. The doctor, using his acquaintance with the head of the Papal Mainframe, Tasha Lem ( Eagle Brady ), enters the planet with his companion Clara Oswald.

On Trenzalore, a couple finds a small town Christmas and finds out that the mysterious signal comes from a crack in space. The doctor decrypts the message, which turns out to be a recurring question: “Doctor who?” The time traveler understands that this question comes from his home planet Gallifrey and is addressed to him: if the Doctor answers it, calling his real name, then the Time Lords will return from the pocket universe In this. The doctor realizes that he cannot help his race now, since if Gallifrey is reborn on Trenzalore, then other aliens will immediately attack him and a new War of Time will begin.

The doctor sends Clara home to Earth, and he remains on Trenzalore to protect Christmas. Over time, hostile aliens begin to penetrate the planet, and the Doctor is forced to confront them. So passes 300 years. Clara again arrives at Trenzalore, where he spends the evening with the aged Doctor, after which he fraudulently sends Clara home to Earth in her time.

Subsequently, Tasha Lem gives Clara another opportunity to see the Doctor, who has grown old for another 600 years. At the same time, the Dalek flagship breaks through the protection of the Papal Mainframe and hovers above the city. The doctor goes to the opponents, and Clara, realizing that he is about to be killed, asks for help from the Time Lords through a crack in space. At the moment of the Doctor’s conversation with the distant, the Gallifreans create a new crack in the sky and send regeneration energy through it.

The doctor takes the sent energy for a whole new cycle of regenerations and shoots it into the ship of the distant. The flagship explodes. Clara takes people out of hiding and returns to the TARDIS. Removes the hanging handset. The next season, Clara understands why the Doctor got her. The doctor also enters the TARDIS. Then he summed up the small argument that everything is not forever. In the course he sees the image of the first man he met after regeneration, his first companion Amelia Pond ( Karen Gillan ). The Eleventh Doctor says farewell to Clara and instantly regenerates into the Twelfth Doctor ( Peter Capaldi ). Because of the post-regenerative trauma, he has memory problems: he asks Clara if she knows how to manage the TARDIS.

Casting for the role of the Twelfth Doctor

On June 1, 2013, the BBC announced that after nearly four years of participation in the series, Matt Smith would leave the role of Doctor . This has caused a lot of speculation in the media and among the fans about who will play the role of the next, the Twelfth Doctor ^[7] . On August 4, during the special Doctor Who Live: The Next Doctor program, it was announced that the Scottish actor, the Oscar winner for the best gaming short film Peter Capaldi would play the twelfth incarnation of the traveler in time and space ^[8] . The actor made his debut as the Doctor in a special episode " Doctor Day ", dedicated to the 50th anniversary of the series, where he appeared in a cameo towards the end of the series. In the episode, only his eyes and his hand were shown ^{[9] [10]} .

Preparation

The script for the special issue was written by the executive producer and showrunner of the series Stephen Moffat . In August 2013, Moffat said in an interview that the Christmas series would tie together the plot lines of the Eleventh Doctor era, some of which were introduced in the “ Eleventh Hour ” episode ^[11] . In the same month, the appearance of cybermen at the special issue was announced. The stuntman Darrell "Daz" Parker, constantly working on the show, tweeted that she would play the role of one of the cyber-men ^{[12] [13]} . Actor Matt Smith said that the filming of the series will start when he finishes working in the film “The Lost River ”. Smith later said that they would begin in September. ^[14]

Shooting

The filming of the series began on September 8, 2013 ^[15] . On September 10, Matt Smith and Jenna Coleman were filmed near the Lidgtep house in Cardiff , which was previously used as the home of Rosa Tyler in the first and second seasons of the revived show ^[16] . On September 19, filming took place in Puzzlewood Forest on a site covered with artificial snow ^[17] . On October 5, the producer of the series, Markus Wilson, reported via Twitter that the filming of the series was completed ^[18] .

The episode was directed by Jamie Payne, who previously worked on the episode " Hide " ^[19] . Matt Smith starred in a wig to imitate the Doctor's hair, as his role in the movie “The Lost River” required him to shave his head ^[20] .

The preview of the episode was shown after the broadcast of the special issue “ Day of the Doctor ”, announcing the participation of cybermen , Silence , Daleks , Sontarans and crying angels , as well as confirming the Doctor’s return to the planet Trenzalor ^[21] . The title of the series and the poster were presented on November 26 ^[22] . The BBC Christmas trailer includes fragments that also confirm the appearance of Daleks and cybermen ^[23] . Most promotional materials were presented in December on the series’s website in the Adventure Calendar section ^[24] . On December 11, the BBC hosted the premiere of a 35-second trailer attended by far, uttering the phrase "Doctor regenerates!" A good man goes to war, ”as well as the Doctor and Clara ^[25] . On December 17, BBC One released another Christmas trailer, which shows Clara talking on the phone to the Doctor during an attack by cyber-men on the TARDIS ^[26] . Before the broadcast of the series, three additional previews were presented ^{[27] [28] [29]} .

The Time of the Doctor episode was shown in the UK on BBC One at Christmas 2013 and received an initial rating of 8.30 million viewers against 7.9 million viewers who watched the long-running British TV series Coronation Street (however, the final figure was 8 27 million in view of the rerun on ITV + 1 ). Doctor Who became the most popular TV program for the whole day, and the last five minutes of the series (regeneration scene from Smith to Capaldi) received the highest peak of the audience, which was 10.2 million ^[30] . The final figure was 11.14 million, which made the episode the fifth most popular Christmas show ^{on the} show ^[31] . Also on December 25, a show was held in the United States on BBC America ^[32] , which gathered an audience of 2.47 million viewers, thereby breaking the previous record set by the Doctors Day series ^[33] . In Canada, the series was shown on Space ^[34] in Germany on Fox and in Israel on Yes Action ^[35] . On December 26, the episode was broadcast in Australia on ABC1 ^[36] and in New Zealand on Prime Television , where 106,390 viewers watched it ^[37] .

In the UK, the series received a high index score of 83 ^[38] . The series has a rating of 75% "freshness" on the Rotten Tomatoes website ^[39] .

The episode "Doctor Time" basically received positive reviews from critics. Dan Martin from The Guardian newspaper called the series "extremely good." According to him, Stephen Moffat "performed a remix from the mythology of the show for the fourth time in a row, linking the threads that stretch to the beginning of Matt Smith's journey." He also added: “It's great that the reboot of his regeneration cycle was done simply ... Who could have imagined that the renewed cycle of regenerations would be bargained only because the best friend would politely ask of him?” ^[40] .

Site IGN rated the episode at 8.4 points. The review included the following opinion: ““ Doctor's Time ”is an exemplary exercise in honoring a loved one who will have to leave. If your eyes were able to stay dry while the Doctor said goodbye to Clara, then you should probably check and double-check your heart’s work. ” Reviewers also praised Karen Gillan for "quite pleasant for the masses and tearful cameo." Criticizing the “fast, almost breathless” pace of the series, they concluded that it “became melancholic and yet, ultimately, a fun ending for one of the best Docs of the show to date” ^[41] .

The Los Angeles Times article emphasized that Matt Smith left the series “With Comic Energy” and “Grace” ^[42] .

The io9 blog noted the similarity between the episode and the previous story with regeneration: in “The End of Time ” before changing the appearance, the Doctor also sees the person he first met in his current incarnation. Moffat was criticized resource for the next "carnival of monsters, this time unjustified, except for the possible steepness of the moment." It was also suggested that the plot should be divided into two series, as in the case of “The End of Time”, which would allow the screenwriter to reveal some details more deeply. At the same time, bloggers praised Smith, stressing "a worthy end to his era" ^[43] .

John Cooper from The Daily Mirror newspaper gave a positive review of the episode, calling it "undoubtedly the bright moment of the Christmas TV show" and "giving Matt Smith the perfect farewell." He criticized the tempo of the series: "The audience, hoping for an intergalactic carnage, must have remained disappointed, as hundreds of years of inter-specific war were missed in the blink of an eye." Also, Cooper considered the need for each of the enemies of the Doctor separately to be meaningless, noting that "only the distant ones were more than enough." Like some other reviewers, he found similarities with The End of Time, mainly in the reincarnation scene, in which the Doctor removes one of the elements of his costume, and the traditional reference to the previous regeneration with Kapaldi's introductory remark about the kidneys. The final score was four out of five stars ^[44] .

In the review of The Independent, it was noted that "Smith gave a destructive final speech before leaving the audience," and the episode itself was called "scientifically fantastically exciting." Negative reaction caused too complicated plot ^[45]

Morgan Jeffrey from Digital Spy has put a four-star out of five episode. According to him, "Matt Smith drew attention to himself, and his last appearance in" Doctor Who "is one of the best, perhaps the best." He also drew a parallel with the final episode of David Tennant, noting "the beauty of Smith's regeneration scene, in which, like Tennant before him, he managed to slightly destroy the fourth wall " in his long last monologue, "which was wonderful." Jeffrey praised Jenna Coleman's acting. In his opinion, the image of Klara is registered in a more humane, empathetic manner, “on the wave of the line of the Impossible Girl.” Despite the fact that such approaches were “well-intentioned, but hurried,” the reviewer called them “steps in the right direction” of character development. Speaking of minuses, he called "Doctor's Time" "a case when some parts are superior to the whole," because "there are great scenes and outstanding moments in it, but it is not a great episode." In addition, the script was criticized for “a repetitive plot structure that deprived many key moments of its power” ^[46] .

The journalist of the AV Club portal Alasdair Wilkins praised the series for subtle emotional problems in his review. In his opinion, “this episode belongs to Matt Smith, and is likely to go down in history as his best work in this role,” and Stephen Moffat put in focus the best aspects of Dr. Smith: “He is alternately grumpy, funny, awkward, flirty , inquisitive, windy and heartbroken. " The aging make-up Wilkins called “not entirely convincing,” and at the same time added that “any age make-up didn’t look convincing before,” and “Smith performed perfectly well in the images of more and more decrepit versions of the Doctor.” He also praised the episode as a spectacular “final act”, rather than an independent story, and gave him an “A” rating ^[47] .

According to Kyle Anderson of Nerdist , "Doctor's Time" "can leave a certain part of the fandom indifferent," and at the same time he "could not imagine a better way to complete [Smith's] tenure as the Eleventh Doctor." He noted that "despite the large number of unrelated plot lines, Stephen Moffatt was able to somehow combine them." The defense of Trenzalore by the Doctor was described as follows: “This is the very event that is the perfect farewell to the Eleventh Doctor. He is a Doctor who ran more than any other, not wanting to be attached to one place or time ... forced to stay in order to save every life that he can. " In the final scene, according to Anderson, “The Eleventh Doctor Leaves with Dignity,” and “in the first fleeting presentation, the next Doctor, Peter Capaldi, is as intense and strange as was probably expected” ^[48] .

In a review for The Daily Telegraph, Tim Martin put the three stars in the episode, criticizing his confusion and the fact that the answers to all the plot holes of the past three seasons were given in just sixty minutes: limit, and the writers only pumped out the remnants of the [plot] for later. What's the matter with the creepy brainwashing creatures known as Silence? Then. Doctor's name? Then. And then we get “Doctor Time,” where every second comment seems like a note in some secret wiki article on Whovian lore. ” Martin praised Smith's last appearance, writing that “the actor was quite good in the role of a childishly direct alien” ^[49] .

Radio Times reviewers stated that “they were really inspired by their current companion, especially when she was freed from the baggage of the Impossible Girl.” They described Clara as played by Jenna Coleman as “a lively, resourceful and best friend in the flesh”, which is “a tangible echo of Sarah Liz Sladen ”. The scene in which the Doctor sees Amy before reincarnation, as well as the scene of the destruction of a ship far away with arthron energy, by analogy with the destruction of the TARDIS during the regeneration of the Tenth Doctor, were noted as references to the special issue “End of Time”. In Peter Kapaldi, journalists saw The Doctor of Dream ^[50] .

The Time of Doctor series was released on DVD and Blu-Ray in the UK on January 20, 2014, in Australia on January 22, and was to be released in the USA on March 4. The disc contains additional materials “ Behind the Lens ”, “Tales from the TARDIS” and “Farewell to Matt Smith” ( Eng. Farewell to Matt Smith ). In the UK and Australia, one more CD with special Christmas episodes for 2010, 2011, and 2012, “ Christmas Carol ”, “ Doctor, Widow and Wardrobe ” and “ Snowman ” respectively ^{[51] [52] [53]} is included in the package.

• "The Time of the Doctor" (Eng.) On the official website of "Doctor Who"
• The Time of the Doctor on the Tardis Data Core, external wiki site
• "The Time of the Doctor" (Eng.) On the resource " Doctor Who: A Brief History Of Time (Travel) "