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Topics: Doctor Who (2005), Doctor Who (1963)

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The Doctors Name

Does anyone of the old series Fans know which situation the doctor meant, when he told there was only one reason he could have told Dr. River Song his name?

It was heartbreaking.

A really brilliant episode...

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loading | by JulischkaSend a Compliment at 1:49 PDT, 8 June, 2008

Comments (11 comments)

1. jam007Send a Compliment - 14:20 PDT, 10 June, 2008

   I loved it too! Sadly, I don't think there are any answers in the original series either.

   
   

   He used to have a nickname that a fellow Time Lord used back in the "Academy," but other than that, the Doctor never engaged in any kind of relationship overtly onscreen during the original series run.

2. ZEDenterprizesSend a Compliment - 15:13 PDT, 10 June, 2008

   Pure speculation, but I wonder if it would not be that he could only share his true name with his spouse. Maybe he married her?

3. jam007Send a Compliment - 20:14 PDT, 11 June, 2008

   That's the only thing I can think would cause the Doctor to tell someone his true name. They did have an interesting reaction when Lux said they were "fighting like an old married couple."

4. trolloksSend a Compliment - 9:14 PDT, 12 June, 2008

   in the old series, there was certain things going on and being said that sometime in the future he get married.

   all thats happened in this episode is that he has met his future wife, but in a altered order (meeting her, before he has "met" her)

   so she knows his name because she is/will be his wife.

5. roboticeyeSend a Compliment - 1:46 PDT, 13 June, 2008

   He gave her his sonic screw driver to save her life, he told her his name for the sake of getting him to trust her when his younger self comes. The Doctor is above marriage and other primate activities.

   
   

   He knew she was gonna die the whole time they traveled together, everything he did was to keep the timeline the same because he made a promise not to change anything.

6. b3antownSend a Compliment - 14:44 PDT, 13 June, 2008

   Well in the very first episode of Doctor Who, in the 60s.

   
   

   He is an old man with a grandaughter living in a trash dump.

   
   

   So obviously he got married at some point, and had a kid, who had another kid.

   
   

   whether they decide to connect that doctor with the new ones, i dont know.

   
   

   b ut thats wht i know...

   
   
7. bigbenstonerSend a Compliment - 17:39 PDT, 13 June, 2008

   i am wonndering if she could be the elder version of his cloned daughter jeny or aqm i picking at straws its just that it seems that her being his wife is to plausable

8. fallen.magicSend a Compliment - 21:40 PDT, 14 June, 2008

   if he got married. or he was about to die for the last time (i mean when he can't regenerate any more) - but then again, the David Tennant regeneration isn't his last one, so since River Song knew this regeneration in an older form, that can't be it... but even so...

9. fishmilkSend a Compliment - 19:31 PDT, 23 June, 2008

   I'm guessing that the "only one time" the doctor could share his name was on gallifrey. I'd guess (and hope because I think it would be cool for the show) that somehow the return of davros will signal to the doctor that the time war is not sealed off as he thinks. I know somehow the missing bee's have to have something to do with the creation of new daleks, doctor who has always been good at answering questions like that be the end of a series, but bringing back the timelords has been something that fans hoped for last series end and would greatly expand the show's scope.

10. ninety6tearsSend a Compliment - 23:58 PDT, 9 August, 2008

    I don't quite believe that it's because they were married; if you watch the scene when Song whispers in his hear, she's very hesitant to reveal that she knows his name, and his reaction is one of quiet devastation. It would seem that whatever situation calls for the Doctor telling it to someone is a grave one. I think the Doctor would be *surprised* if it was revealed to him that he eventually marries (probably not for the first time, by the way, if you keep in mind he had children on Gallifrey), but the look on his face is like somebody just died.

    That reaction to the "fighting like a married couple" comment, though, does give me pause. I have to wonder if it's supposed to mislead us. My theory is that River Song's story is something none of us could really guess.

11. kauiSend a Compliment - 23:17 PDT, 5 September, 2008

    Spoilers...

    
    

    It could go either way, I think. I mean, she's an archeologist, he's a Time Lord... ::shrugs:: They'd make a great pair, either way [I think I read somewhere that the two actors actually started dating, too? Hmmm... Don'o. Anyway!] There's also the diary. Why would he tell an archeologist his ENTIRE Life's story? Why would they both get together to write it all down? Why would she be hesitant to share it with the younger Doctor?

    
    

    I mean, it would make sense that she would be ANOTHER one of his many companions, right? That's why he was "crying the night before" and why he "couldn't bring [himself] to let [her] go."

    
    

    I think there's something in the name, though... The Master; The Doctor... All formal names they've given themselves... All beings that can look into the depths of time and space, and see everything that was, is, and will ever be... The name's gotta be SOMEthing devastating. Doesn't it? (Like myths of Demons; you learn their names, and you have dominion over them... etc.)

    
    

    But, what would be so... Important, that an [almost] eternal being would share something so terribly personal...?

    
    

    I think that we're on the twelfth Doctor, now, anyway. And... I think they can only regenerate 12 times, right? The 10 was the first bald guy, and the 11th and 12th are the wiry guy with the "great hair."

    
    

    Just enjoy the ride while it lasts... =0)