1. The War Doctor
And now we come to what I believe, is perhaps the most surprising moment in all of Doctor Who. For three series, Steven Moffat had crafted a long story arc that we still don’t know the full details of. The core of the arc seems to be the answer to the question, Doctor who? The answer seemed to be coming in the appropriately titled, The Name of the Doctor, with promises of The Doctor’s secret to be revealed.
But no, it wasn’t the Doctor’s name that was revealed, it was something far more surprising. Some fans may have been frustrated that it didn’t resolve the story arc like they thought it would, but I think that whatever criticisms they had was overshadowed with the reveal of a brand new Doctor, played by John Hurt.
While I would’ve preferred calling him The Hurt Doctor, he was officially credited as The War Doctor in the prequel. The idea of a secret, hidden Doctor in his past never crossed my mind, and I’m sure most fans would say the same. Given the gap between the Eighth and Ninth Doctor, there was a great opportunity to do something like that, and Moffat took complete advantage of it. On a side note, I love that the title of the episode meant something very different from what we had expected by the time the credits rolled.
It remains to be seen what this means for the future and what John Hurt will be like in The Day of the Doctor, but as of now, it stands as one of the most surprising and brilliant twists in Doctor Who history, and I am fully confident that the 50th anniversary will be worth it.
Take a look at that unforgettable scene below:
What are your favorite Doctor Who surprises, is there anything I missed but shouldn’t have? Let us know in the comments.