Great men are forged in fire. It is the privilege of lesser men to light the flame.
Whatever the cost.
The War Doctor, The Day of the Doctor.
John Hurt does excellent work as the War Doctor, a jaded, aged figure who has seen so much suffering perpetuated in the name of war that he is willing to sacrifice his own people along with the Daleks simply to end the collateral damage being inflicted upon a helpless universe throughout all of time and space. And even at the last, when he has seen how two of his future selves have suffered over the centuries as a results of his decision, he still chooses to endure the same punishment in the name of peace.
His weapon of choice is the Moment, a device of such power and potential that its operating system, played by Billie Piper, has achieved sentience - and developed a conscience. As such, it stands in judgement of anyone who choses to invoke its destructive potential.As part of that judgement, the Moment opens portals in time and space in order to show the Doctor the effects of his choice on his future selves - the Moment having decreed that his fate for making that choice is that he will survive the experience, and be forced to live with the memory of the fall of Gallifrey.
The episode cleverly raises the question of consequence and responsibility. Does the Doctor's regret for causing the death of billions of children create a better man as a result? Would the Doctor be as compassionate, as heroic, were it not for the shadow over his past? As the War Doctor observes, "How many worlds has his regret saved, do you think?"
Ultimately, those future selves join the War Doctor in that final decision to activate the Moment, a decision which is made "not out of fear or hatred. It is done because there is no other way." The last minute alternative which presents itself revolves around the centuries of regret which have passed since the use of the Moment, and ingeniously echoes an earlier plot point regarding time travel to change the fate of both Gallifrey and the Doctor.
The brilliant final solution involves cameos by all the Doctors, including a quick glimpse of the next one, and the episode ends with a brief, exceptional appearance by Tom Baker, the Fourth Doctor. Baker, now 79 years old, may or may not be the most popular version of the Doctor, but he very much set the standard by which the others were judged. It was a wistful, enigmatic performance with just a hint of the unpredictable character he once played, providing a wonderful capstone to a well written and well directed episode.
Regardless of Hurt's masterful performance as the War Doctor, I do wish that they hadn't confused the issue by introducing a new regeneration into the Doctor's lineage. In a perfect world, I would have loved to have seen Christopher Eccleston return for the anniversary - as would most other fans, the writers, the producers, and in fact almost everyone except Christopher Eccleston himself, which pretty much short-circuited the process.
But failing that, why not use Paul McGann as the incarnation of the Doctor responsible for the end of the Time War? He's well established in canon; he did an acceptable job in the 1996 movie version; he's done a variety of audio performances as the Eighth Doctor; and he was obviously willing to be involved, as demonstrated by the YouTube prequel* showing his transformation into a young John Hurt.
That prequel showed a very different face to the Eighth Doctor than the one that we'd seen in the movie: the romantic, fanciful character has long since lost his innocence, and is willing to suffer in order to deliberately regenerate as a warrior. That disappointment and sense of loss and change could easily have been used to show the evolution of a Doctor who is willing - and able - to commit genocide to save the rest of the universe.
Regardless, there is a much more fundamental issue with the introduction of another regeneration into the lineup. Doctor Who canon clearly states that a Time Lord only has 13 incarnations available, after which their next encounter with death would be permanent.
Until the anniversary episode, Matt Smith was the 11th Doctor, and Peter Capaldi on deck to be number 12. With the addition of John Hurt, Mr. Capaldi is now the 13th Doctor, and the clock is ticking - so to speak.
- Sid
* I have to give the BBC full points for the two supporting minisodes that they released on YouTube - The Night of the Doctor and The Last Day.
