‘Doctor Who’ season 8 spoilers: What did John Hurt first say about role?

When it comes to being a polarizing conclusion to a season, we’re not sure that we have seen anything draw as much reaction as “The Name of the Doctor,” the final episode of “Doctor Who” that aired on Saturday night. Through it, we learned that there existed another Doctor, played by John Hurt, at some point in the chronology, presumably in a place where he could be seen as the ninth on the list, though we and many others much prefer referring to him as the twelfth. (Plus, you’d have to go back and change a lot of history otherwise.)

The numerology will surely be discussed more in the coming months, though we are not quite sure that we will receive the same sort of openness when it comes to answers about this long-“forgotten” version of the character’s role in the story … at least not until the anniversary special airs on November 23. What we do want to bring your attention to is an old interview that Hurt gave earlier this spring, in which he said that he was going to playing “part of the Doctor” in a “kind of trinity” that also seemingly includes David Tennant.

At the time when this quote was first out there, no one may have thought anything of it save for an eyebrow raise. However, you do have to have a certain sort of appreciation for the words that are specifically used here. The phrase “part of the Doctor” clearly suggests that this man is not whole, but in turn you have to then ponder if any version of the character really is, or are just varying manifestations. The whole existence of a new / old character, and a person representing a “part” rather than a whole, is a meta fan’s dream come true.

We understand that there is value to the argument that part of the joy in The Doctor comes in his enigmatic nature, and thus there may be some that feel as though such a journey down the pipelines of the past is unneeded; however, we personally commend Steven Moffat for taking such a big risk in such a place in which he did not necessarily have to. Of course, if this idea blows up in his face, it may be hard to necessarily feel the same way.

If you want to see a complete roster of those returning for the 50th anniversary special of the series, all you have to do is visit the link here.

Photo: BBC