My thoughts on Series 7 of Doctor Who

So now that we know that Peter Capaldi is the new Doctor, it's finally time to take a look back. Yes, it has been almost three months since the series 7 of new Doctor Who ended and I am going to post my thoughts on it *now*. What can I say? I'm a lazy ass.

Overall, I will say that series 7 was one of the most ambitious series of new Who so far. We now know that it is Matt Smith's last series as the Doctor *sniff* as it was both Karen Gillan's and Arthur Darvill's as Amy and Rory *sniff sniff* when they left us in the mid-series finale last year.

Series 7 saw for the first time in new Who, no two-parter episodes. Steven Moffat, the head-writer, wanted to make mini-blockbusters every episode and while I do think that was aiming a little too high for the limited running time of the show, I also believe that there were cinematic genres and tropes at work in every episode. The series was a bit roller-coaster-like in the quality of its episodes- part 1 was better than part 2 but both had high points and low points.

This was also the first time I actually said goodbye to companions and welcomed a new one in the form of Jenna Coleman's Clara. I love Clara, but she's still not of the level of other companions yet, since most of her run so far was spent in trying to figure out who she is and not what sort of a person she is.

While I had hoped that Matt Smith would have had a series 4-like send-off (still the best series of new Who), only a blind idiot will disagree when I say that he has done some of his best stuff in series 7. That man can act and the Eleventh Doctor is just so wonderful and multi-faceted. I am so happy that Smith is leaving at such a high point for himself, though I still think he could have stayed longer.

Without further adieu, this is how I would rank all the episodes of series 7 of Doctor Who.

14.

Written by Neil Gaiman, Directed by Stephen Woolfenden

My recap.

This may surprise people. After all, Gaiman's previous outing into the world of Who-writing gave us one of the most beloved modern Who episodes "The Doctor's Wife". Even if I was to not take into account the expectations this put on the episode, what annoyed me about it was the wasted potential. The entire setting was a goldmine that just wasn't exploited. However, I must also admit that this episode showcased Matt Smith's acting skills better than almost any other in his run as the Doctor. Also, loved Clara's bossiness and Warwick Davis's naturalness. On the flipside though, those children deserved to be "upgraded".

Favourite scene- Clara meets Mr. Clever for the first time.

Favourite quotes-

Mr. Clever: "That's cheating!"

The Doctor: "Just taking advantage of the local resources."

The Doctor: "Impossible girl. A mystery wrapped in an enigma squeezed into a skirt that's just a little bit too tight."

13.

Written by Neil Cross, Directed by Farren Blackburn

My recap.

So the singing. That was random, eh? As amazing as Murray Gold is, having a musical-esque Doctor Who episode was a bit out there for me. Again, this episode gave very high hopes and didn't deliver on them. All the talk about ALL OF THE ALIENS, and we barely meet any of them. And again, Matt Smith's speech at the end is nothing short of spectacular, easily one of his greatest moments in the show. This episode also had some great visuals but was a bit of a mess if you think about it.

Favourite scene- The Doctor faces the Old God and asks it to take his memories.

Favourite quotes-

Dave Oswald: "...this exact leaf had to grow in that exact way, in that exact place, so that precise wind could tear it from that precise branch, and make it fly into this exact face. At that exact moment. And if just one of those tiny little things never happened, I'd never have met you. Which makes this the most important leaf in human history."

Clara: "So we're moving through actual time? So what's it made of, time? I mean if you can just roll right through it, it's got to be made of stuff. Like jam's made of strawberries. So what's it made of?"

The Doctor: "Well not strawberries, no. No no no. That would be unacceptable."

The Doctor: "Hey. Do you mind if I tell you a story? One you might not have heard. All the elements in your body were forged many many millions of years ago in the heart of a faraway star that exploded and died. That explosion scattered those elements across the desolations of deep space. After so, so many millions of years, these elements came together to form new stars and new planets. And on and on it went. The elements came together and burst apart, forming shoes and ships and sealing wax and cabbages and kings. Until, eventually, they came together to make you. You are unique in the universe. There is only one Merry Galel. And there will never be another."

The Doctor: "Can you hear them singing? Oh you like to think you're a god. But you're not a god. You're just a parasite. Eat now with jealousy and envy and longing for the lives of others. You feed on them. On the memory of love and loss and birth and death and joy and sorrow, so... so come on then. Take mine. Take my memories. But I hope you're got a big a big appetite. Because I've lived a long life. And I've seen a few things. I walked away from the last great Time War. I marked the passing of the Time Lords. I saw the birth of the universe and watched as time ran out, moment by moment, until nothing remained. No time, no space. Just me! I walked in universes where the laws of physics were devised by the mind of a madman! And I watched universes freeze and creation burn! I have seen things you wouldn't believe! I have lost things you will never understand! And I know things, secrets that must never be told, knowledge that must never be spoken! Knowledge that will make parasite gods blaze! So come on then! Take it! Take it all, baby! Have it! You have it all!"

12.

Written by Steven Moffat, Directed by Saul Metzstein

I actually really like this episode (then again, I really like/love all of them). After the heartbreaking farewell to Ponds, we see that the Doctor is as devastated as us and who better to bring him back into the world of the living than the Impossible Girl aka Clara? Jenna Coleman is an absolute doll in this, going from barmaid to governess in seconds. Her chemistry with Smith is magnetic. The supporting players in the form of Madame Vastra, Jenny, Strax, and the villain Dr. Gideon, played by the eeriely brilliant Richard E. Grant, are all excellent too. This episode also had one of my most favourite visuals in Doctor Who- the winding staircase to the TARDIS in the clouds. Just magical.

Favourite scene- The Doctor pretends to be Sherlock Holmes (fangirl fantasy come true).

Favourite quotes-

The Doctor: "Over a thousand years of saving the universe, Strax, you know the one thing I learned? The universe doesn't care."

The Doctor: "I'm the clever one. You're the potato one."

The Doctor: "No, I do the hand grabbing! That's my job, that's always me!"

Clara: "It's smaller on the outside!"

11.

Written by Chris Chibnall, Directed by Saul Metzstein

My recap.

I recently read an article in which the writer claims that "Dinosaurs on a Spaceship" is an unsung classic. I am beginning to see what he/she meant. Yes, it is a bit crazy and childish, but we have some great moments in this episode. And I'm not only talking about the Doctor-Rory kiss. We meet Rory's amazing dad, Brian. We see Amy play Doctor. We get to witness a very dark side of the Doctor when just moments ago he was acting like a kid discovering dinosaurs on a spaceship. We have David Mitchell and Robert Webb playing robots. We also encounter one of the most sinister villains in recent Who history, Solomon played by Walder Frey David Bradley. Pretty awesome episode.

Favourite scene- Rory, Brian and The Doctor on the beach.

Favourite quotes-

Brian: "What sort of a man doesn't carry a trowel? Put it on your Christmas list."

Rory: "Dad, I'm thirty-one. I don't have a Christmas list anymore."

The Doctor: "I do!"

The Doctor: "Go Tricey! Run like the wind! How do you start a triceratops?"

Riddell: "Dinosaurs ahead. A lady at my side. About to be blown up. I'm not sure I've ever been happier."

10.

Written by Stephen Thompson, Directed by Mat King

My recap.

Again, I loved this episode but seeing how the TARDIS is infinite, there was just *so* much more we could have seen. Having said that, it was another gorgeous-looking episode. Both Coleman and Smith were on top form and had amazing chemistry together. In all the topsy-turviness of the TARDIS, we even got a nice little emotional story with the salvage brothers. And of course, the Doctor's precious relationship with his one true love, the TARDIS.

Favourit scene- The Doctor and Clara in the heart of the TARDIS.

Favourite quotes-

The Doctor: "Don't get into a spaceship with a madman. Didn't anyone ever teach you that?"

The Doctor: "Smart bunch, Time Lords. No dress sense. Dreadful hats. But smart."

Clara: "What do you keep in here? Why have you got zombie creatures? Good guys do not have zombie creatures. Rule one, basic story telling." 

The Doctor: "There's no way I can save her now. She's just always been there for me and taken care of me and now it's my turn and I don't know what to do."

The Doctor: "Running away with a space man in a box. Anything can happen to you." 

Clara: "That's what I'm counting on."

9.

Written by Neil Cross, Directed by Jamie Payne

My recap.

I loved all the different genres that this series of Doctor Who explored. "Hide" was an old-timey horror story, which was actually, as we find out in the end, a love story. The supporting actors, Douglas Scott and Jessica Raine, were some of the best of this series. The contrast between their relationship and that of Doctor and Clara was one of the many highlights of this episode. This episode also had some of the most incredible quotes from this series. The entire concept was just lovely and so meaningful, especially seeing the kind of life the Doctor has lived.

Favourite scene- The Doctor and Alec discussing the ghosts of their past.

Favourite quotes-

The Doctor: "You know I do love a toggle switch. Actually I like the word. "Toggle." Nice noun. Excellent verb."

Alec: "He's certainly got the right demeanor. Capricious. Brilliant."

Emma: "Deceitful."

Alec: "Yes. He's a liar. But you know, that's often the way that it is when someone's seen a thing or two. Experience makes liars of us all. We lie about who we are, about what we've done."

Emma: "And how we feel?"

Alec: "Yes. Always. Always that."

The Doctor: "How does that man, that war hero, end up here? In a lonely old house looking for ghosts."

Alec: "Because I killed. And I caused to have killed. I sent young men and women to their deaths. And yet here I am, still alive. It does tend to haunt you. Living after so much of... the other thing."

The Doctor: "The TARDIS is like a cat. A bit slow to trust, but it'll get there in the end."

Clara: "To you I haven't been born yet. And to you I've been dead a hundred billion years. Is my body out there somewhere? In the ground?"

The Doctor: "Yes, I suppose it is." 

Clara: "But here we are talking. So I am a ghost. To you, I'm a ghost. We're all ghosts to you. We must be nothing."

The Doctor: "No. No. You're not that."

Clara: "Then what are we? What can we possibly be?"

The Doctor: "You are the only mystery worth solving."

Emma: "What did you see?"

Clara: "That everything ends."

Emma: "No, not everything. Not love. Not always."

The Doctor: "Every lonely monster needs a companion." 

The Doctor: "It's the oldest story in the universe. This one or any other. Boy and girl fall in love, get separated by events--war, politics, accidents in time. She's thrown out of the hex or he's thrown into it. Since then they've been yearning for each other across time and space. Across dimensions. This isn't a ghost story, it's a love story."

8.

Written by Steven Moffat, Directed by Colm McCarthy

My recap.

Series 7 part 2 started off with a bang with this episode. It was both slick and fun. We meet both- the real Clara and Eleven's new costume. There were a slightly satirical tinge to the story, and a number of  salutes to Skyfall in the look and concept. Miss Kizlet was a creepy and sexy villainess who made it all so much better. Plus, I do love the Doctor on vehicles other than the TARDIS, in this case the plane and that awesome motorcycle.

Favourite scenes- Every exchange between the Doctor and Clara, from the phone call to the window to the "snog box".

Favourite quotes-

Clara: "It's gone. The internet. Can't find it anywhere. Where is it?"

The Doctor: "The internet?"

The Doctor: "Do you remember me?"

Clara: "No. Should I? Who are you?"

The Doctor: "The Doctor! No? The Doctor?"

Clara: "Doctor who?"

The Doctor: "No, just The Doctor. Actually. Sorry. Could you just ask me that again?"

Clara: "Could I what?"

The Doctor: "Could you just ask me that question again."

Clara: "Doctor who?"

The Doctor: "Okay, just once more."

Clara: "Doctor who?"

The Doctor: "Do you know, I never realize how much I enjoy hearing that said out loud. Thank you."

The Doctor: "Imagine that. Human souls trapped like flies in the World Wide Web. Stuck forever. Crying out for help."

Clara: "Isn't that basically Twitter?"

The Doctor: "I'm The Doctor. I'm an alien from outer space. I'm one thousand years old, I've got two hearts and I can't fly a plane!"

The Doctor: "It's a time machine. You never have to wait for breakfast."

7.

Written by Mark Gatiss, Directed by Saul Metzstein

My recap.

Funnest episode of this series by a mile, which was great because we'd almost forgotten about it. Steampunk, fanatical villains, incredible female characters, old-school filming techniques, Matt Smith's northern accent, and of course, Strax- all of these helped in making this a super enjoyable ride. My favourite feature of this episode was the character of Ada, played superbly by Rachael Stirling, who reminded us of the great supporting characters that Doctor Who shows us every now and then who almost steal the entire spotlight, like a Joan Redfern or a Wilf Mott.

Favorite scene- The entire flashback made to look like an old cinematograph film.

Favourite quotes-

Strax: "I'm gonna go and play with my grenades."

The Doctor: "Hang on! Hang on! I've got a sonic screwdriver."

Clara: "Yeah? I've got a chair."

6.

Written by Mark Gatiss, Directed by Douglas Mackinnon

My recap.

Not only did Gatiss write the most fun episode of this series, he also wrote the scariest one. Hell, this is one of the scariest episodes ever in new Who. The stakes are super high, the villain is an old one but with a new danger about him, the tension is just palpable all the way through, though not without some seriously funny bits thanks to Smith's fantastic timing. Again, it was a spectacular-looking episode, the kind that wouldn't have been possible a couple of years back. Really love this one.

Favourite scene- Clara goes to talk to Skaldak.

Favourite quotes-

Professor Grisenko: "Have I interrupted something?"

Captain Zhukov: "We were about to blow up the world, Professor."

Professor Grisenko: "Again?"

Captain Zhukov: "If The Doctor is right, then we are all that stands between this creature and the destruction of the world. Control of one missile is all he needs. We are expendable, comrades. Our world is not."

Professor Grisenko: "Ultravox! Do they split up?"

Skaldak: "You would sacrifice yourself?"

The Doctor: "In a heartbeat."

5.

Written by Chris Chibnall, Directed by Douglas Mackinnon

My recap.

This episode has been growing on me ever since I saw it. I was not all that impressed when I first saw it, but after the Ponds' departure, their last happy moments with the Doctor became all the more precious. It is a small, simple episode that focuses on the longest relationship the Doctor has had in the new series. The Ponds are his family and he actually lives with them in this episode- becomes a part of their lives as much as they have a been a part of his. Funny, touching and memorable, "The Power of Three" is one little star of an episode.

Favourite scene- The raggedy man and the girl who waited sit by the Thames and discuss their future.

Favourite quotes-

Rory: "What do you think we do when we're not with you?"

The Doctor: "I’d imagine mostly kissing."

Rory: "There are soldiers all over my house and I'm in my pants."

Amy: "My whole life I've dreamed of saying that, and I miss it by being someone else."

The Doctor: "I'm not running away. But this is one corner of one country on one continent on one planet that's a corner of a galaxy that's a corner of a universe that is forever growing and shrinking and creating and growing and never remaining the same for a single millisecond, and there is so much—so much to see, Amy. Because it goes so fast. I'm not running away from things, I am running to them. Before they flare and fade forever. One day—soon maybe—you'll stop. I've known for a while."

Amy: "Then why do you keep coming back for us?"

The Doctor: "Because you were the first. The first face this face saw. And you were seared onto my hearts, Amelia Pond. You always will be. I'm running to you, and Rory, before you fade from me." 

The Doctor: "I better get going. Things to do. Worlds to save. Swings to... swing on. Look. I know. You both have lives here. Beautiful, messy lives. That is what makes you so fabulously... human."

Brian: "Go with him. Go save every world you can find. Who else has that chance? Life will still be here."

The Doctor: "You could come, Brian."

Brian: "Somebody's got to water the plants. Just bring them back safe."

(*shakes fist* MOFFAT!)

4.

Written by Steven Moffat, Directed by Nick Hurran

My recap.

So this was a killer opening episode. The look, the scale, the story- everything was as amazing as a Moffat story can get. I mean, talk about the surprises- the Ponds breaking up, the new companion showing up out of nowhere and then turning into a Dalek and then DYING! Also, that awesome opening when the Daleks ask the Doctor to save them. One of the best theories I have read about this show is how all the Daleks in the asylum were put there because they showed human feelings, like Oswin and like how tripped up Amy sees them (that ballerina Dalek, come on!). Also, as much as I love Clara, Oswin was really the best! Excellent, excellent episode.

Favourite scenes- The first time and the last time the Doctor talks to Oswin- the first is fun and the latter is scary and superb.

Favourite quotes-

Rory: "So how much trouble are we in?"

The Doctor: "How much trouble, Mr. Pond? Out of ten? Eleven."

Oswin: "Happy Birthday, mum. I did make you a soufflé but it was too beautiful to live."

Prime Minister: "It is offensive to us to extinguish such divine hatred."

The Doctor: "Offensive?"

Prime Minister: "Does it surprise you to know that Daleks have a concept of beauty?"

The Doctor: "I thought you'd run out of ways to make me sick. But hello again. You think hatred is beautiful?"

Prime Minister: "Perhaps that is why we have never been able to kill you."

The Doctor: "What have you been doing on your own against the Daleks for a year?"

Oswin: "Making soufflés?"

The Doctor: "Soufflés. Against the Daleks. Where'd you get the milk?"

The Doctor: "How can you hack into everything? It should be impossible. You're in a crashed ship!"

Oswin: "Long story. Is there a word for total screaming genius that sounds modest and a tiny bit sexy?"

The Doctor: "Doctor. You call me the Doctor."

Oswin: "I see what you did there."

Oswin: "Loving this. The nose and the chin. You two could fence."

Amy: "Don't you dare talk to me about waiting outside a box because that is nothing, Rory, nothing! Compared to giving you up."

Oswin: "Run, you clever boy. And remember."

Dalek: "Doctor who?! Doctor who?!"

The Doctor: "Fellas, you're never gonna stop asking."

3.

Written by Toby Whithouse, Directed by Saul Metzstein

My recap.

Oh this episode just blew me away with its landscapes, its symbolism and its exploration of the Doctor's light and dark sides. I love it when we question the Doctor's morality. It just shows how complex this madman with a box really is. And Matt Smith just brings his A-game. His anger is absolutely terrifying. And Adrian Scarborough as Kahler Jex is the perfect yin to his yang here. Plus, that is one stunning episode. Saul Metzstein's direction in this entire series has been remarkable. An all-round incredible episode, one of the best in new Who.

Favourite scene- The Doctor talks to an imprisoned Kahler Jex.

Favourite quotes-

The Doctor: "Anachronistic electricity. Keep Out signs. Aggressive stares. Has someone been peeking at my Christmas list?"

The Doctor: "Tea. But the strong stuff. Leave the bag in."

The Doctor: "I speak horse. He's called Susan. And he wants you to respect his life choices."

Kahler-Jex: "Looking at you, Doctor, is like looking into a mirror almost. There's rage there, like me. Guilt there, like me. Solitude. Everything but the nerve to do what needs to be done. Thank the gods my people weren't relying on you to save them!"

The Doctor: "Every time I negotiate, I try to understand. Well not today. No, today I honor the victims first. His, The Master's, the Daleks'. All the people that died because of my mercy!"

The Doctor: "Frightened people. Give me a Dalek any day."

Kahler-Jex: "It would be so much simpler if I was just one thing, wouldn't it? The mad scientist who made that killing machine. Or the physician who's dedicated his life to serving this town. The fact that I'm both bewilders you."

2.

Written by Steven Moffat, Directed by Nick Hurran

Now this took a lot of thinking. The top two episodes are neck-in-neck in terms of storytelling, emotions, acting, stakes, pay-offs- just everything really. The heart-rendering "Angels Take Manhattan" only comes second by a tiny margin because it *is* a GREAT episode. I did not write a recap for it because I was that devastated by the Ponds' farewell. This show continued the series's trend of genre episodes, this one being a noir-esque tale. I love the way it opens and how naturally it moves from one act to another. The Weeping Angels are as terrifying as ever and Moffat really brings the danger back in this episode. Also, the tearworks this episode lead to were ridiculous. I have never cried in a television show like this. Of course, there was Amy's farewell and the breaking down of Eleven. But there was also Rory- amazing, wonderful Rory, willing to give his life again for the woman he loves. I mean that rooftop scene just kills me. And oh, the ending. Amy's letter. Eleven running to it. I can't even. Such a beautiful episode.

Favourite scenes- The rooftop scene and the farewell at the graveyard.

Favourite quotes-

The Doctor: "Oh I always rip out the last page of a book. Then it doesn't have to end. I hate endings!"

Amy: "Beware the Yowzah! Do not, at this point, yowz."

River: "Didn't you used to be somebody?"

The Doctor: "Weren't you the woman who killed the Doctor?"

River: "Doctor Who?"

River: "When one's in love with an ageless god who insists on the face of a twelve-year-old, one does one's best to hide the damage."

Rory: "I always wanted to visit the Statue of Liberty. I guess she got impatient."

Rory: "To save you, I could do anything."

Amy: "It'll be fine. I know it will. I'll be with him like I should be. Me and Rory together."

Amy: "Raggedy Man, goodbye."

Amy: "There's a little girl waiting in a garden. She's going to wait a long while, so she's going to need a lot of hope. Go to her. Tell her a story. Tell her that if she's patient, the days are coming that she'll never forget. Tell her she'll go to see and fight pirates. She'll fall in love with a man who'll wait two thousand years to keep her safe. Tell her she'll give hope to the greatest painter who ever lived. And save a whale in outer space. Tell her, this is the story of Amelia Pond. And this is how it ends."

1.

Written by Steven Moffat, Directed by Saul Metzstein

My recap.

I was almost certain that "Angels Take Manhattan" was going to top this list. Reason- heart over brains. However, on a rewatch, I came to the realisation that "The Name of the Doctor" is as poignant as it is brilliant. I was and still am completely blown away by this episode. The ambition, the various threads that tied together so spectacularly, the acting, River, John Hurt, THAT AMAZEBALLS KISS- it was an episode that really shows the greatness Doctor Who is capable of. As much as one wants to hate on Moffat, the man is a friggin' genius. And he knows how to write a cliffhanger. That last shot is still fantastic. There couldn't have been a better episode to lead to the milestone 50th episode.

Favourite scenes- Clara meeting the various Doctors, River and Eleven, the revelation of the secret.

Favourite quotes-

Clara: "I blew into this world on a leaf. I'm still blowing. I don't think I'll ever land. I'm Clara Oswald. I'm the impossible girl. I was born to save the Doctor."

Vastra: "Time travel has always been possible in dreams."

The Doctor: "The little Daleks!"

Strax: "Surrender your women and your intellectuals!"

Strax: "The heart is a relatively simple thing."

Vastra: "I have not found it to be so."

GI: "Welcome to the final resting of the cruel tyrant. Of the slaughterer of the ten billion. And the vessel of the final darkness. Welcome to the tomb of the Doctor!"

GI: "The key is a word lost to time. A secret hidden in the deepest shadow, and known to you alone. The answer to a question."

The Doctor: "I will not open my tomb."

GI: "Doctor. What is your name?"

Vastra: "The universe without the Doctor. There will be consequences."

River: "How are you even doing that? I'm not really here." 

The Doctor: "You're always here to me. And I always listen. And I can always see you."

The Doctor: "There is a time to live and a time to sleep. You are an echo, River. Like Clara, like all of this. In the end, my fault, I know. But you should have faded by now."

River: "It's hard to leave when you haven't said goodbye."

The Doctor: "Then tell me, because I don't know. How do I say it?"

River: "There's only one way I would accept. If you ever loved me, say it like you're going to come back."

The Doctor: "Well then. See you around, Professor River Song."

River: "'Til the next time, Doctor."

The Doctor: "Don't wait up."

River: "Oh there's one more thing."

The Doctor: "Isn't there always?"

River: "Goodbye. Sweetie."

The Doctor: "My name, my real name, that is not the point. The name I chose is the Doctor. The name you choose, it's like, it's like a promise you make. He's the one who broke the promise. He is my secret."

The Old Man: "What I did, I did without choice."

The Doctor: "I know."

The Old Man: "In the name of peace and sanity."

The Doctor: "But not in the name of the Doctor."

         So that's it. Very late post but I hope it was worth it. Now we just wait for November 23rd.

"The Doctor has a secret that he will take to the grave. It is discovered."

       HOLY MOFFAT THAT WAS A GREAT EPISODE! So sorry that I doubted Moffat's genius. The man has delivered a whopper of a finale, the true brilliance of which can only be realised gradually. Because your first viewing is basically a big WHAAAAAAAAT??!! But the more one thinks about it, the more they come to recognise the little clues that Moffat has left all along. And he really is one great puzzle-maker. Obviously, this praise is still premature. The tantalizingly titled series 7 finale "The Name of the Doctor" is only the stepping stone to the big shindig that is the 50th Anniversary that will take place on 23rd November. That is a full six months worth of waiting, but seriously, what else do those whose lives hang on Steven Moffat-helmed TV shows do?

Note: This is a complete recap full of SPOILERS and quite long too. As Amy Pond said in another great finale-

1) The pre-credits scene. It is one of the best that I have seen so far. What we basically see is the First Doctor, played by William Hartnell, and his granddaughter Susan Foreman stealing a TARDIS in Gallifrey, and who should stop him but Clara. 

2) Then we get a montage of Clara in different points in the lives of the different Doctors. She says that she blew into this world on a leaf, as we saw in "The Rings of Akhaten", and that she still feels like she's blowing and never land. And then of course, she says something we've been wondering about ever since "The Asylum of the Daleks"- that she is the impossible girl, and that she was born to save the Doctor. Ooo. I really liked the montage. No, they're not the best of effects, but meh, it's Doctor Who. Jenna-Louise Coleman looked really pretty in all the clips.

3) After the credits, we are taken back to London, 1893, when a convict is saying some really interesting things- "Do you hear the Whispermen? The Whispermen are near. If you hear the Whisper Men, then turn away your ear. Do not hear the Whisper Men, whatever else you do! For once you’ve heard the Whisper Men, they’ll stop…and look at you." When our favourite reptilian detective, Madame Vastra, comes to visit, he tells her that he has information about the Doctor and that his greatest secret, for the Doctor is a man of many secrets, the one that he will take to the grave and has been discovered.
4) So Vastra tells Jenny that they need to hold a conference call to figure this out. This conference call is one that takes place in dreams as "Time travel has always been possible in dreams". This is one of the loveliest concepts that Moffat has come up with. Of course time travel can happen in dreams. This is why Doctor Who is as much a science fiction show as it is a fairytale.
5) The conference call needs its other members. One of which is Strax who is fighting Scots, clearly reminiscing about his Sontaran battle days. Still, he asks his burly opponent to knock him out for the call. The other two members are the Doctor's "women". Clara is tricked by Vastra as she inhales a soporific letter and passes out, instead of making her mother's famous souffle. The last member is, as Strax points out somewhat, "The one with the gigantic hair", the one and only, River Song.
6) Can I just say, I have missed River. She is my favourite character in the show after the Doctor. And Alex Kingston plays her with so much sexy wit. Like the way she says "Disgracefully" when they ask her how she turned the dream tea into champagne.
7) Also, this is the first meeting between Clara and River. Vastra explains that Clara is the Doctor's latest "traveling assistant" and Clara informs River that even though the Doctor had mentioned a Professor Song, she never realised that it was a woman he was talking about.

OH NO SHE DIDN'T! *snap snap*

8) Vastra and Jenny inform them about the convict and that he has given them the space-time coordinates to the location of the Doctor's greatest secret. Clara asks what that is, and Jenny tells them that she doesn't know. Vastra further explains that the Doctor keeps many secrets that he doesn't tell his friends about, and if Clara thinks that she is special, can she tell his name? Well, obviously not, though River knows it. She tells that she made him tell her and that it took some time.
9) Now level with me here. River in "Silence of the Library"/"Forest of the Dead" knew the Doctor's name. He says that there was only one time he would tell it. And he didn't tell her when they were married and she already knows it before "his greatest secret is revealed", and this is post-Library River. So that basically leads to the only conclusion about how River found out- crazy Timelore/part-Timelord sex. How else has she worked upon him? The Doctor dances well, my friends. This is my theory and I'm sticking with it unless you can provide me with a more logical one.
10) So what is this big secret all about. TRENZALORE! This was a major plot point in series 6. There is a prophecy- "On the fields of Trenzalore, at the fall of the eleventh, when no living creature can speak falsely or fail to answer, a question will be asked, a question that must never, ever be answered." The said question is- "The First Question, the oldest question in the Universe, hidden in plain sight." I'm mentioning all this because Moffat has played a masterstroke with all of it.
11) However, River gets worried because Vastra has misunderstood the message. Just then, Jenny starts to feel uneasy as we find out that the Whisper Men, who are the new pretty scary-looking monsters, have broken into her and Vastra's house. The part when the actress Catrin Stewart says "So sorry ma'am... I think I've been murdered." is both chilling and very sad at the same time. Saul Metzstein's direction is excellent.

12) River then wakes Vastra and Strax up, by slapping and throwing champagne on the face respectively and they are shown to be surrounded by the Whisper Men. They even come inside the dream and then Dr. Simeon, played fabulously by Richard E. Grant, from "The Snowmen" appears to them and tells them to tell the Doctor that "His friends are lost for ever more, unless he goes to Trenzalore."
13) Clara wakes up then and we finally see the Doctor, who has been fooled to play blind man's bluff by Artie and Angie because they wanted to go to the cinemas. "The little Daleks" is my new favourite curse.

14) So Clara tells the Doctor everything and this really shakes him up. Let me just say that Matt Smith in this scene deserves all of the awards. Eleven crying is usually the saddest thing ever, but this was so much more hopeless and quiet and just heartbreaking, and Smith made it so honest and didn't overdo it in anyway. I would like to point out that I'm still not completely sure why the Doctor is crying here. For River? For Trenzalore and all that it means?

"And it was Trenzalore? It was definitely Trenzalore?"

15) But still, Eleven decides to go to Trenzalore to save Vastra, Strax and Jenny as they were kind to him in his darkest times, as seen in "The Snowmen". He uses Clara's psychic memory to get the space-time coordinates. And what is at Trenzalore? A secret the Doctor will take to the grave. Not just any grave, but the Doctor's grave. That's where the Doctor is buried. We heard a similar thing in "Hide" in which Clara talks about her own grave. She talks about how all his companions are ghosts for the Doctor because they are all buried somewhere (Amy and Rory *sniff*), but if we use the same logic on the Doctor, he is like a living ghost too. Or at least versions of him are (more on that later).
16) So when they are near Trenzalore, the TARDIS starts acting up because she realises where it is that they are going. She shuts down and hovers over Trenzalore, which looks like a war-ravaged planet. When Clara asks if they will jump down there, the Doctor replies "Don't be silly. We fall." FALL OF THE ELEVENTH! I'm pretty certain I wasn't the only one who thought that meant the end of the Eleventh regeneration of the Doctor, but Moffat had other plans. Moffat masterstroke #1.
17) The Doctor shuts down the only thing the TARDIS still has on- the anti-gravs. It plunges down and lands on the fields of Trenzalore. The Doctor is scared because a time-traveler's grave is one place he or she should never visit. And no one has traveled more than him, so his grave is probably the most dangerous place in the universe. Hence the whole Silence subplot in series 6. They called themselves the sentinels of history and wanted the Doctor to never visit his grave in Trenzalore because of this very reason.
18) The graveyard was a battlefield where the size of the tombstones corresponded to the rank of the soldier. Guess who has the biggest and what it is made of?

19) Obviously the Doctor. And his tombstone? His dying TARDIS, which has now become bigger on the outside and is thus gigantic. "What else would they bury me in?"
20) So it turns out the River has kept the "conference call" open and only Clara can still see and hear her. And right where she is standing is a tombstone. River Song's tombstone. Both Clara and the Doctor are shocked, because she has died a long time ago. Just then the Whisper Men come, and River tells Clara to tell Doctor that her grave is not real and is actually the opening to his tomb, which they fall into just as the Doctor reveals that River is his wife.
21) Vastra and Strax wake up in Trenzalore. Jenny's heart had been stopped through a shock, which Strax reverses and hence saves her life. Another wonderful lines of dialogue are heard here-

Strax: "The heart is a relatively simple thing."

Vastra: "I have not found it to be so."

22) Just then the the Whisper Men and Simeon appear. Of course, Simeon had died in "The Snowmen", and this is actually The Great Intelligence (TGI) which has retained his form. He welcomes them to the tomb of the Doctor.

23) Meanwhile in the catacombs, Clara asks the Doctor about how she met his dead wife, leading to both him and River explaining the events of "Silence of the Library"/"Forest of the Dead" when he saved her in a database and thus didn't let her die, but did not go back to visit her to say goodbye either. "He doesn't like endings." A simple sentence that has now come to mean so much more.
24) Back with TGI, he tells the gang about how there was a huge battle in the fields of Trenzalore, though a minor skirmish by the Doctor's standards and he finally succumbed to it. They oppose this bloadthirsty image of the Doctor, but TGI rebukes them by reminding them about all the races that have met their end in the hands of the Doctor, whether it be the leader of the Sycorax, or Solomon the trader from "Dinosaurs on a Spaceship" or the Daleks. Which is why he will be given names like the Storm, the Beast and the Valeyard before the end of his days. Oh and then there are very cool effects as TGI reveals that it indeed is "a mind without a body" when Simeon tears his face off and there is nothing inside and then another Whisper Man replaces him as its featureless face takes Simeon's visage.

25) While Clara and the Doctor are still running from the Whisper Men, the dimensioning forces inside the TARDIS lead Clara to remember events from "Journey to the Centre of the TARDIS", even though those times had been rewritten. She remembers when the Doctor had asked her about what she is since both Oswin and Clara Oswin Oswald had died saving him. She asks him about it, but the Doctor doesn't answer.
26) The finally reach where the rest of the gang and TGI are and it asks the Doctor to open the doors to the dying TARDIS or his tomb. The password? The name of the Doctor of course. "Silence will fall when the question is asked" and the Doctor doesn't answer. Moffat masterstroke #2.
27) Of course TGI won't let go and the Whisper Men start to surround the Doctor's friends. Strax is really funny here, but it is quite a tense scene. So tense that when the Doctor screams "Please!" to make them stop, and the door opens, many people thought that that was the Doctor's name. I actually heard "bees", so imagine me. Doctor Bees? :P

28) The doors open because River tells the name (see point 9) as the TARDIS can still hear her, since she is the TARDIS's daughter in a way. The Doctor asks TGI if it knows what is in there, and it replies "For me, peace at last. For you, pain everlasting."
29) They enter a leaf-covered (???), desolate TARDIS console room which has blinding threads of light in its centre. This is the Doctor's grave. "What were you expecting? A body? Bodies are boring. I've had loads of them." The lines in this episode are really amazing.
30) What it is is the scars of all the time-traveling that the Doctor has ever done left upon the universe. It is his entire life, or lives, past and future, from Gallifrey to Trenzalore. I love how beautifully this is captured. Of course, the Doctor's life is shimmering and blinding and beautiful. When the Doctor sonics it, we can hear all the Doctors talking.

31) The Doctor is weakened being in such close proximity to this, as the paradox is very bad. But then TGI reveals its major plan. What it wants to do is enter the Doctor's time stream and rewrite his entire history, turning his every victory into defeat and poisoning all of his relationships and delivering great pain. Even though this will kill TGI as it will be scattered along the Doctor's timeline as confetti, it will completely destroy the Doctor. And he does so.
32) We see as TGI causes pain to each of the Doctor's lives, killing him all at once, Eleven writhes in pain as he dies in the Dalek Asylum and in Victorian England and everywhere else. The timeline gets corrupted as Vastra realises something horrific and runs outside. And surely, slowly many stars start dying out in the night sky as a universe without the Doctor is a scary place. This is why the Silence wanted the Doctor to die, before he can cancel out everything he has done for the universe. They were the sentinels of history of the universe, which is intertwined with his history, which was being rewritten. Moffat masterstroke #3.
33) Even Jenny disappears as the Doctor had saved her and Strax forgets about his friendship with Vastra and wants to kill her, but she kills him in defence.
34) Inside, Clara realises that the reason why she had saved the Doctor in the Dalek Asylum and Victorian England was because she too had entered this stream. The Doctor tries to stop her but she sees how weak he is and how this is the only way. River also tries to stop her, explaining how she will only become an echo of herself, as she too will be spread like confetti, but Clara replies, using her mother's souffle philosophy as she is both the Souffle Girl and the Impossible Girl- "the souffle isn't the souffle, the souffle is the recipe". She will be real enough to save him.

35) She enters the time stream, though right before she turns around and tells the Doctor, one last time "Run you clever boy, and remember me." I would like to point out this additional "me" because I feel it is important as this was the original Clara, THE Impossible Girl, who sacrificed herself to save the Doctor at every point in his life. Even though Clara has been relatively bland, and her reasons for this complete sacrifice isn't as affecting as the other companions, I think we can all agree and respect that this is a good, kind woman, a motherly figure from the start, who wants to protect her friend who has shown her so much, and as she said in "Cold War", this is what they do- save the world/universe. And now that this whole thing is over, we can focus just on Clara, the person, in the next series.
36) Here we get a repeat of the pre-credits scene, with total understanding of what Clara is now. What is especially tantalizingly wonderful is that she is shown to be the one who told the First Doctor to take his TARDIS, as he was going to steal another one instead. This also of course means that Clara was once a Time Lady. Oooo.

"I don’t know where I am. I just know I’m running. Sometimes it’s like I’ve lived a thousand lives in a thousand places. I’m born. I live. I die. And always there’s the Doctor. Always, I’m running to save the Doctor again, and again, and again. And he hardly ever hears me, but I’ve always been there. Right from the very beginning. Right from the day he started running. Run you clever boy, and remember me."

37) The Doctor is up now, but not happy about losing Clara. He decides to enter the timestream, but River keeps screaming at the Doctor as he's being stupid and it's very dangerous and she goes to hit him and HE STOPS HER HAND! He has been able to see and hear her the entire time because he can always feel her presence. Allow me to stop and sob and gush and die over this couple right now.

MY OTP- RIVER SONG AND THE ELEVENTH DOCTOR

When I had read that this episode will finally reveal what the Doctor truly feels about River, I never expected this. She is always there for him, but he never responds because it hurts him that much. I know people say that Rose was his love, but I honestly feel that the relationship between Eleven and River is so much deeper and longer and full of obstacles that they kept trying to overcome and spend whatever time they can together. And this time had seemingly come to an end for the Doctor, but he could not forget River. She should have faded for him (reminds me of the talk between Eleven and Amy in "The Power of Three") by now. Also, that kiss. My heart hurts and my Matt Smith feelings have been intensified exponentially.

River says that she can't fade from him before he says goodbye. And how does he say it?

River: "There's only one way I'd accept. If you ever loved me, say it like you're coming back."

Doctor: "Well, then... See you around, Professor River Song."

River: "Until next time."

Doctor: "Don't wait up."

River: "Oh there's one more thing."

Doctor: "Isn't there always?"

Here, I would like to add that both Smith and Kingston and their chemistry is just fantastic. I especially love the way he says the last line.

38) Anyways, this one thing is that River was mentally linked with Clara, so if she was still there, it meant Clara was still alive. And then River fades away with a "Spoilers" and a "Goodbye sweetie." Once again, allow me to stop and gush and cry and die over this woman.

MY FAVOURITE WHO CHARACTER- RIVER SONG

Barring the Doctor himself, there is no other character I love in Doctor Who as much as River. As much as I love her sass and her bravery and well, her hair, her love for the Doctor is one of those crazy, idealistic, spectacular loves that one can only dream about. Her story is like a fairytale (why else would it have spoilers?), and it kills me. She had this dialogue with Eleven in the very first set of River episodes I saw "Time of the Angels"/"Flesh and Stone" in series 5, when the Doctor whispers in her ears regarding the Pandorica "That's a fairytale" and River replies, "Aren't we all?" It connected with me more than many other more quotable Doctor Who lines because I have this hatred of real life and somehow this one simple line by River encapsulates everything I love about fictional characters and their wonderful lives. Similarly in "The Wedding of River Song", there is this part-

I don't think River will be returning after this, and she shouldn't. This was the perfect goodbye to a perfect character. She might be shown in the final episodes of Eleven, but that's about it. I am adamant about this and the only exception I can make is if there is a spin-off with Captain Jack Harness and Professor River Song.

39) Okay now that I am done with this (SO MANY TEARS), I will return to "The Name of the Doctor". We see Clara floating in the Doctor's timeline after she has saved him, and she finally lands in a barren place. She is alone and scared and repeats the line "I don't know where I am" from "Asylum of the Daleks" and "The Bells of St. John" and breaks down crying when the Doctor calls out to her. He tells her that she can hear him because he is everywhere around her, and she sees his many versions pass by her. As he is inside his own timestream, it's starting to collapse but he will save her as she is his Impossible Girl. He sends her the leaf from "The Rings of Akhaten" to remind her that she is the original Clara, as she has been divided into so many echoes of herself.

40) Jenna-Louise Coleman is excellent here. She's so lost and full of despair, that it hurts. I mean whatever the shortcomings the character of Clara has, Coleman has done one helluva job with her. Clara finally sees that the Doctor is behind her who tells her that to let him, "just for the hell of it" save her life once, since she has saved him so many times. The way she collapses into his embrace and he finally has his Clara back is another very touching moment of this episode.

41) Which is immediately followed by a shady figure who appears. The Doctor looks scared and Clara is baffled as she has seen all eleven faces of the Doctor, but not this man, and everything there IS the Doctor. The Doctor explains that though this man IS him, he isn't the Doctor. He explains that his real name isn't the point (breathe easy now, crazy Who fans. Moffat has not revealed the Doctor's name), but instead it is the name that he chose that matters. The name "the Doctor" is a promise he had made, and this shady man is the one who broke this promise. Clara collapses then and as the Doctor carries her in his arms, he reveals that this man is his secret.

42) The man then speaks and says that he had no choice in whatever he did, as he did it for the sake of peace and sanity. And then Eleven, in very blockbuster-twist fashion, says "But not in the name of the Doctor." Moffat masterstroke #4.

43) And then the man turns around and in very very blockbustery fashion, we see that it's John Hurt and it says that he is the Doctor. HIS GREATEST SECRET REVEALED. Moffat masterstroke #5

44) Now, about who Hurt is playing. There are a number of theories flying about. The first is that this is the Doctor before he was the Doctor, i.e., before Hartnell became the First Doctor. He never had the name. This isn't that incredible a theory. The next is that he is actually the Ninth Doctor, the one who fought in the Time War and caused so much destruction and death and Christopher Eccleston is actually the Tenth Doctor who sort of did away with this brutal incarnation. The last and most logical one, as he has already been mentioned in this episode, is that he is the Valeyard, who was the amalgamation of all the darkness in the Doctor and came between the Doctor's 12th regeneration and his final one. Now whichever one of these is true, we can all agree that this "Doctor" is the dark side of the Doctor. I feel this is what "hidden in plain sight" refers to in the Trenzalore prophecy. The Doctor's darkness has been a constant talking point in the show, and his darkest avatar can may well be his greatest secret. As Dorium said in "The Wedding of River Song", the Doctor is "a man with a long and dangerous past, but [his] future is infinitely more terrifying."

45) Anyhoo, we have till November to theorize so one can expect many other such possibilities being discussed. Also, can I just point out all the failed theories about who Clara is. For example, her missing ages in her book which had nothing to do with anything. I remember when people were going nuts about snow, but again, no connection anywhere. 

         So that's it. Crazy fucking finale that will forever be revered or hated, but I thought it was incredible. Moffat's ambition is one of the things that attracted me to this show in the first place, and it still manages to fill me up with awe. This episode sets up beautifully for the 50th Anniversary where we will see who Hurt is and also a return of Ten and Rose. Again, there is a fear that it won't live up to its hype, but if "The Name of the Doctor" proves anything, it's that in Moffat we trust. Come on, you old troll. Make us see the stars!