tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9987513.post7169712958172117413..comments2024-03-18T08:38:01.678+00:00Comments on The Life And Opinions of Andrew Rilstone: The Name of the Doctor (7.14)Unknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger20125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9987513.post-33710010820331003652013-06-21T17:18:37.584+01:002013-06-21T17:18:37.584+01:00Spock said his first name was unpronounceable in T...Spock said his first name was unpronounceable in <i>This Side of Paradise</i> and his mother said that her married name (i.e. Sarek's family name) was unpronounceable in <i>Journey to Babel</i>. So presumably, Spock's first name is also his family name (which makes sense since his father is called something other than Spock) and they actually made it impossible to reveal, since the actors can't pronounce it. (Spock's mother does say she <i>can</i> pronounce it "after a fashion and after many years of practice." But no name anyone can come up with could live up to that billing.Andrew Stevenshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13453328821252013152noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9987513.post-177133572225357562013-06-19T20:20:34.096+01:002013-06-19T20:20:34.096+01:00I think it's going to be called 'The Natio...I think it's going to be called <i>'The National Insurance Number of the Doctor.'</i>Gavin Burrowshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16347163260510316959noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9987513.post-4203730480710345612013-06-19T15:34:10.514+01:002013-06-19T15:34:10.514+01:00But we have has a set up in which the Doctor's...But we have has a set up in which the Doctor's name is so important that he's surprised that River knows it; that Clara is at least somewhat surprised when she finds out what it is; and that a whole alien religious cult is dedicated to finding it out. Or at any rate answering the question "doctor who?", which is "the first question". So there does have to be answer within the universe (even though I'm sure it won't actually be spoken on screen) which tells us why it is so important. <br /><br />Interestingly, back in the day, everyone kind of accepted that the mathematical formula from Making of Doctor Who was his name, and didn't seem to feel that it was that big a deal. Niether a travesty against the series nor an earthshaking revelation. Just, like, his name.<br /><br />Has Spock's first name ever been revealed, by the way?Andrew Rilstonehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16934052271846235431noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9987513.post-51042913106876244812013-06-18T17:31:29.716+01:002013-06-18T17:31:29.716+01:00You think it might be called "The Actual Name...You think it might be called "The <i>Actual</i> Name Of The Doctor"? :-)Mike Taylorhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06039663158335543317noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9987513.post-42535331666291903262013-06-18T17:28:41.460+01:002013-06-18T17:28:41.460+01:00Looking back I may have been unfair to Mike T.
I...Looking back I may have been unfair to Mike T. <br /><br />It is entirely possible that Moffat thinks that the last minute bit about the Doctor's name is supposed to be what the episode was leading up to.<br /><br />But this still won't do. By that point the episode is over and done with and the fans are pissed at not being serviced. The final appearance of John Hurt is about what happens next, what happens in the anniversary episode which will not be called THE NAME OF THE DOCTOR. <br /><br />Oh dear, I just realised how much I'm dreading learning what it will be called... <br /><br />I think I must go and lie down and try to recover my bubbling optimism...Michael Culehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02902598479648624471noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9987513.post-9772379159160638672013-06-17T19:07:17.785+01:002013-06-17T19:07:17.785+01:00Mike, I very much agree with your point that it “t...Mike, I very much agree with your point that it “ties in very well with the general Whovian philosophy.” But I find it hard to treat it as the right answer to the wrong question when it was only Moffat who was asking the question in the first place.<br /> <br />Casual viewers would assume the main character was called Doctor Who, for the same reason they assumed Flash Gordon was called Flash Gordon or Jim Hacker a Minister who people sometimes said “yes” to. Fans would consider themselves clever for knowing he was really ‘The Doctor’. (Which never really answered the question of who the show was supposed to be named after, but never mind.) A whole lot of people didn’t care about any of that. (For example, I didn’t.)<br /> <br />I shouldn’t imagine <i>anybody</i> was imagining they’d be sitting in front of the closing credits saying “who would have thought it? Archibald Henderson!”Gavin Burrowshttp://lucidfrenzy.blogspot.co.uknoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9987513.post-79171608591462587732013-06-17T16:14:26.432+01:002013-06-17T16:14:26.432+01:00I don't think so. At least, I'm not so com...I don't think so. At least, I'm not so committed to the idea that Moffat always knows what he's doing as to have been <a href="http://reprog.wordpress.com/2011/10/06/the-wedding-of-river-song-doctor-who-series-6-episode-13/" rel="nofollow">satisfied by <i>The Wedding of River Song</i></a>, so I do have at least a modicum of perspective.<br /><br />I just thought it was really good reading of what a "name" really is: an identity, not a label.<br />Mike Taylorhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06039663158335543317noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9987513.post-43776380090036110882013-06-17T16:00:59.887+01:002013-06-17T16:00:59.887+01:00I think Mike that you are so desperate for a resol...I think Mike that you are so desperate for a resolution you see one where it is not intended. If the idea of the role being the important thing rather than the name is there it's deeply implicit rather than openly stated. Perhaps it will be there in the 30th anniversary show. But it isn't in the show that we've just seen.<br /><br />I may be mistaken but I think not. I still feel cheated. Michael Culehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02902598479648624471noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9987513.post-17619667341785227982013-06-16T15:45:46.218+01:002013-06-16T15:45:46.218+01:00Actually, I completely disagree with Michael on th...Actually, I completely disagree with Michael on this. I thought the resolution of the Name McGuffin was tremendous: the revelation that the given name was really not of much significance and that the chosen name Doctor was what counts. That ties in very well with the general Whovian philosophy that the decisions we make matter more than the raw material we're working with.Mike Taylorhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06039663158335543317noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9987513.post-16706355270699399582013-06-16T14:47:47.562+01:002013-06-16T14:47:47.562+01:00My objection to THE NAME OF THE DOCTOR is simpler ...My objection to THE NAME OF THE DOCTOR is simpler than that. It boils down to the whole episode being a violation of the Law of Checkov's Gun or perhaps the Trades Description Act. <br /><br />You cannot build up the importance of the Doctor's Name for several series and then in the episode called after it, dismiss it as a side issue, resolved off screen. <br /><br />You may have become horribly aware that none of the ideas you could have used to justify the use of this schtick would be in the least bit good enough. You may have become horribly aware that whatever you do will cause a large group of fans to hate you.<br /><br />Tough. You should have thought of that going in. It doesn't allow you to pull this sort of flim-flam. <br /><br />Ah, well: I'm an eternal optimist. I will look forward to whatever they do with John Hurt and maintain my idiot hope that it will be Awesome or at least Not Embarrassing. <br /><br />My money is on him being 8.5 and the secret being how he brought the Time Lords into the Time War and then had to trap his own people outside time to compensate for the evil he had caused. But Doctor 0 is a good idea too.Michael Culehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02902598479648624471noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9987513.post-80122314928734791972013-06-13T00:48:38.005+01:002013-06-13T00:48:38.005+01:00> "The Doctor has always had plot immunity...<br />> "The Doctor has always had plot immunity -- we know that he can't ever be killed off 'cos [...] the programme's got his name on it."<br /><br />Err, there's a certain other series with Terry Nation/ Robert Holmes/ Chris Boucher scripts but the name of it escapes me.Tom Rhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06246157794276270490noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9987513.post-58695630133043991932013-06-09T16:28:25.889+01:002013-06-09T16:28:25.889+01:00So, you are an adherent of the First Approach, yes...So, you are an adherent of the First Approach, yes?Andrew Rilstonehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16934052271846235431noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9987513.post-70760737149009743622013-06-07T01:58:36.998+01:002013-06-07T01:58:36.998+01:00Meh. It makes sense. Not literal sense, sure, but ...Meh. It makes sense. Not literal sense, sure, but who cares? The TARDIS is like a television set. William Hartnell told us so, in 1963. It fits, it works, it's okay. A celebration, not a desecration. The wounds no sooner inflicted than begun to heal, but the shape changes. Clara never was, before now. Clara always was, after now.<br /><br /><i>we know what he did -- he ended the war by destroying the Daleks and the Time Lords all at once.</i><br />We know how he ended the war, true. We know nothing else. Nothing.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9987513.post-16635281911410775602013-06-03T14:34:38.969+01:002013-06-03T14:34:38.969+01:00"The trouble is, we know what he did -- he en...<i>"The trouble is, we know what he did -- he ended the war by destroying the Daleks and the Time Lords all at once. And although he regrets having dones this, it isn't a secret"</i><br /><br />This is a reason why it isn't a particularly good idea, rather than why it won't be <i>their</i> idea. I think it's what we're going to get.Gavin Burrowshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16347163260510316959noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9987513.post-84351201556536333652013-06-03T05:02:23.453+01:002013-06-03T05:02:23.453+01:00Enjoyed this very much, thank you. I want to espec...Enjoyed this very much, thank you. I want to especially thank you for "Romanadvoratnelundar," the pronunciation that got retconned away. Cheers.Danny Mnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9987513.post-73660570044483863682013-06-02T23:40:45.428+01:002013-06-02T23:40:45.428+01:00It increasingly strikes me that the New Who (and b...It increasingly strikes me that the New Who (and bear in my I loved whole series of the New Who) *is* the US relaunch that fandom spent a chunk of the hiatus fretting about. The rapping TARDIS just turned out to be metaphorical.Graham MF Greenehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12401026199760777673noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9987513.post-13161221378606887252013-06-01T21:48:53.180+01:002013-06-01T21:48:53.180+01:00Excellent essay, though a quick addendum: we do ac...Excellent essay, though a quick addendum: we do actually see McGann, albeit in a literally blink-and-you'll-miss-it moment; he's the figure who walks in front of Clara right before Troughton runs past her.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9987513.post-71948914086464682802013-06-01T13:33:38.544+01:002013-06-01T13:33:38.544+01:00Both. Definitely both. Both. Definitely both. Andrew Rilstonehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16934052271846235431noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9987513.post-3123140069551380782013-06-01T13:33:24.457+01:002013-06-01T13:33:24.457+01:00Er...Er...Andrew Rilstonehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16934052271846235431noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9987513.post-33262721014549867452013-06-01T12:23:41.676+01:002013-06-01T12:23:41.676+01:00Very interesting. When you wrote "Then we see...Very interesting. When you wrote "Then we see another person who Amy doesn't recognize" was that a simple mistake, or were you making a point that I missed?Mike Taylorhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06039663158335543317noreply@blogger.com