History Recap / DoctorWho2013CSTheTimeOfTheDoctor

*** Eleven regenerates to "[[Recap/DoctorWhoS33E7TheRingsOfAkhaten Infinite Potential]]", an instrumental version of "[[AwesomeMusic The Long Song]]", which contained the lyrics "Rest now" followed by "Live, wake up" and are very appropriate for a regeneration.

* TheNthDoctor: In addition to the transition to the Twelfth Doctor, there is a cameo by Creator/TomBaker that implies a future incarnation that decided to re-take the look of the Fourth Doctor.
-->'''The Curator:''' If I were you... oh, if ''I'' were ''you''... Perhaps I ''was'' you, of course! Or perhaps, ''you'' are ''me''.

%%HandlingSpoilers: Recap pages: An episode recap page is, by default, a spoiler. Readers of these pages are expected to have watched the episode in question. Therefore, there are no spoiler tags on recap pages. Conversely, do not add spoilers for future episodes, even under tags. Those go on the later episode pages.

* AnAssKickingChristmas: The Doctor versus his greatest foes in all-out war. Merry Christmas. The Doctor spends over ''900'' years defending the town of Christmas from all of his enemies. From Clara's perspective, it takes place over the course of a few hours on one Christmas Day. (Not only that, but the first act of "[[Recap/DoctorWhoS34E1DeepBreath Deep Breath]]" appears to also, from Clara's perspective, take place on the same day.)

* AnAssKickingChristmas: The Doctor versus his greatest foes in all-out war. Merry Christmas.
** The Doctor spends over ''900'' years defending the town of Christmas from all of his enemies. From Clara's perspective, it takes place over the course of a few hours on one Christmas Day. (Not only that, but the first act of "[[Recap/DoctorWhoS34E1DeepBreath Deep Breath]]" appears to also, from Clara's perspective, take place on the same day.)

* AnAssKickingChristmas: The Doctor spends over ''900'' years defending the town of Christmas from all of his enemies. From Clara's perspective, it takes place over the course of a few hours on one Christmas Day. (Not only that, but the first act of "[[Recap/DoctorWhoS34E1DeepBreath Deep Breath]]" appears to also, from Clara's perspective, take place on the same day.)

* AsideGlance: The Doctor seems to throw one during his "when the Doctor was me" line.
* AnAssKickingChristmas: The Doctor versus his greatest foes in all-out war. Merry Christmas.

* AllThereInTheManual: Why the Doctor starts walking with a cane and a limp midway through the episode is never actually explained. Reading the spin-off short story collection ''Tales of Trenzalore'' reveals that the Doctor actually loses a leg at one point due to a blind Tsunami Snake and spends the remainder of the regeneration using a wooden leg. References to the wooden leg were deleted from the episode.

* MundaneSolution: The Doctor defeats a Weeping Angel by simply hanging a mirror in front of it.[[note]]Signed "With Love from the Doctor!"[[/note]]
* MythologyGag: The page quote is one, as Matt Smith started his tenure with "[[Recap/DoctorWhoS31E1TheEleventhHour The Eleventh Hour]]", and his "hour" finally runs out here.

-->'''Clara:''' I may have accidentally invented a boyfriend.\\

* MythologyGag: The page quote is one, as Matt Smith started his tenure with "The Eleventh Hour", and his "hour" finally runs out here.

* MythologyGag: To ''WebAnimation/ScreamOfTheShalka'' -- may also count as a ContinuityNod, though the canonicity of that that story is up for debate.

The one where [[MovingTheGoalposts the Doctor's continues got a refill.]]

* GenreSavvy: The Doctor's immediate reaction to seeing the crack.
-->'''The Doctor:''' ''[to the crack]'' There you are. What took you so long?\\
'''Clara:''' What's wrong? It's only a crack in the wall.\\
'''The Doctor:''' [[IKnewIt I knew.]] I always knew it wasn't over.

* Not the first time that the Doctor has had a robot sidekick... though Handles is in no way as autonomous as K-9.

-->'''Sontaran:''' Commander Skarr. That's the detection warning. Our invisibility cloak is compromised.
-->'''Skarr:''' What's wrong with it?
-->'''Sontaran:''' I don't know. I can't see it.

** [[invoked]]Although they'd been flirting throughout the season, this is the episode where it becomes clear that Clara fancies the Doctor, in part because for the first time she actually says so in dialogue (and under the influence of a truth field, yet). WordOfSaintPaul (Jenna Coleman, speaking at a convention) is that Clara finally realizes she's in love with the Doctor during this episode (specifically just before he regenerates).

* CryCute: Clara turns on those "puppy dog" eyes at the end when the Doctor is dying of old age.

** Technically speaking, the Doctor and his female companion are naked, together, for part of the episode. In very close quarters at one point, too.

[[ChristmasEpisode This Christmas]][[TagLine...]] [[PortentOfDoom Silence Will Fall]].

[[ChristmasEpisode This Christmas]][[TagLine . . .]] [[PortentOfDoom Silence Will Fall]].

* AnAssKickingChristmas: The Doctor spends over ''900'' years defending the town of Christmas from all of his enemies. From Clara's perspective, it takes place over the course of a few hours on one Christmas Day. (Not only that, but the first act of [[Recap/DoctorWhoS34E1DeepBreath "Deep Breath"]] appears to also, from Clara's perspective, take place on the same day.)

** As with the previous new series regeneration stories ([[Recap/DoctorWhoS27E13ThePartingOfTheWays "The Parting of the Ways"]], [[Recap/DoctorWhoS30E17E18TheEndOfTime "The End of Time"]], [[Recap/DoctorWho50thPrequelTheNightOfTheDoctor "The Night of the Doctor"]]), Creator/PeterCapaldi gets an "And Introducing" credit.

** Maybe "like" is a better term here, but despite their somewhat adversarial relationship, Tasha Lem still takes time to . . . keep the Doctor supplied with marshmallows.

** The Eleventh Doctor's run began in [[Recap/DoctorWhoS31E1TheEleventhHour "The Eleventh Hour"]]. It ends atop a clock tower, as the hands strike Twelve.

** For one of the longest Brick Jokes on ''Doctor Who'', the Doctor uses the Seal of the High Council. In his Third incarnation he took it from the Master in the Death Zone in [[Recap/DoctorWho20thASTheFiveDoctors "The Five Doctors"]], thinking the Master had stolen it and saying he'd return it. It turns out he never did.

** Room 11 from [[Recap/DoctorWhoS32E11TheGodComplex "The God Complex"]] returns and is shown to house a crack.

** The Doctor produces the seal of the High Council that he confiscated from the Master waaaaaay back in [[Recap/DoctorWho20thASTheFiveDoctors "The Five Doctors"]]. It is perhaps not coincidental that this was the episode in which the concept of the High Council granting an extension/renewal of a Time Lord's regeneration cycle was first introduced.

** One of the longest in ''Doctor Who'', taking 30 years to go off. In [[Recap/DoctorWho20thASTheFiveDoctors "The Five Doctors"]], the Time Lords claimed they could give another regeneration cycle. This is what happens here.
*** Another example from "The Five Doctors": The Seal of the High Council, which returns here and is used to translate the message from Ancient Gallifreyan.
** After the Daleks are destroyed, Clara returns to the TARDIS to see the external phone hanging from its cord. We don't see how that happened until the next episode, [[Recap/DoctorWhoS34E1DeepBreath "Deep Breath"]].

** Clara acts like this a little. Here is a woman who splintered herself though history to save multiple versions of the Doctor, who on several occasions is shown mastering alien tech without so much as a manual handy (the speeder bike in [[Recap/DoctorWhoS33E7TheRingsOfAkhaten "The Rings of Akhaten"]], the vortex manipulator in [[Recap/DoctorWho50thASTheDayOfTheDoctor "The Day of the Doctor"]]), yet she panics when faced with cooking a turkey, and if the Doctor is to be believed she uses the TARDIS instead of bothering to learn how to make iPlayer work.

** The Narrator of a Christmas Special makes a big proclamation to their assembled underlings while "Final Days" plays in the background, just like [[Recap/DoctorWhoS30E17E18TheEndOfTime "The End of Time"]].
** The stand-off at the start is quite similar to the amassed army of the Doctor's enemies in [[Recap/DoctorWhoS31E12ThePandoricaOpens "The Pandorica Opens"]].
** In [[Recap/DoctorWhoS33E1AsylumOfTheDaleks "Asylum of the Daleks"]], the Doctor previously tried to get someone who was converted into a Dalek puppet to regain their own will. This time, he's actually successful.

** The Doctor sports the same outfit he wore in [[Recap/DoctorWho2012CSTheSnowmen "The Snowmen"]], the 2012 Christmas special.

** The Doctor repeats his drunk giraffe dance from [[Recap/DoctorWhoS31E13TheBigBang "The Big Bang"]].

** In [[Recap/DoctorWhoS32E8LetsKillHitler "Let's Kill Hitler"]], as the Doctor is dying from Melody's poisoned lipstick, he mentions that the kidneys are always the first to go. Here, he gets new ones, but "I don't like the colour."

* FinalBattle: This is the battle where the Doctor was told he would die, in [[Recap/DoctorWhoS33E13TheNameOfTheDoctor "The Name of the Doctor"]]. Dorium first mentioned Trenzalore way back in [[Recap/DoctorWhoS32E13TheWeddingOfRiverSong "The Wedding of River Song"]]. This is the "Fall of the Eleventh" that the Order of the Silence was trying to prevent. A centuries-long siege of all the nasties in the universe vs. the Doctor.

* ForegoneConclusion: The tension over the Doctor's supposed death is rendered moot by the previous episode, [[Recap/DoctorWho50thASTheDayOfTheDoctor "The Day of the Doctor"]], which gave us a glimpse of the [[Creator/PeterCapaldi Twelfth Doctor]], as well as the [[Creator/TomBaker museum curator]], who was heavily implied to be another future incarnation. (In the real world, Capaldi's casting as the Doctor was so heavily publicized that even those few who missed the anniversary special would know it was coming.)

* IdiosyncraticEpisodeNaming: Third episode in a row to be named "X of the Doctor", forming the final part of a trilogy that signals the end for the Eleventh Doctor. Fourth if you count [[Recap/DoctorWho50thPrequelTheNightOfTheDoctor "The Night of the Doctor"]].

-->'''The Doctor:''' '''[[BadassBoast IF YOU WANT MY LIFE]] . . . [[PunctuatedForEmphasis COME . . . AND . . . GET IT!]]'''

* MeaningfulEcho: With [[Recap/DoctorWhoS30E17E18TheEndOfTime "The End of Time"]]. There the Tenth Doctor regarded his regeneration as a form of death and something to fear and resist. The Eleventh Doctor regards his as a source of hope and something to embrace. He also borrows another one of River Song's declarations, "[[Recap/DoctorWhoS30E8SilenceInTheLibrary not one line]]". (A major difference, however, is that the Tenth Doctor only existed for a relatively short time -- as little as ''five years'' if the age he gives in [[Recap/DoctorWhoS30E17E18TheEndOfTime "The End of Time"]] is correct -- whereas Eleven not only endured ''900'' or so years on Trenzalore, he had also already lived for another 200 or so prior to this, making him arguably the longest-lived Doctor to date; he was ready to go).

** The end of Eleven's regeneration. He takes off his bowtie, slow music begins playing, Clara cries for him not to change . . . and just as the audience is expecting a dramatic explosion of regeneration energy like the previous Doctors' big finales, he throws his head back and his appearance literally flashes over in less than a second.[[note]]This makes sense in a FridgeBrilliance kind of way, since the Doctor had an '''immense''' regeneration explosion several minutes prior that crashes a Dalek mothership and blew up a bell tower. This was apparently his reset button for a new regeneration cycle and finished most of the process with just the change itself left over.[[/note]] Fast Celtic-style music starts to play, the Doctor [[{{Cloudcuckoolander}} complains about the colour of his new kidneys]], the TARDIS begins crashing and the Doctor forgot how to fly it.

** When Tasha reveals that everyone in the Church is trained to see past holographic clothing, Clara rolls her eyes and mutters "Oh great . . ."

* NewOldFlame: Tasha Lem, the leader of the Papal Mainframe, has had intimate relations with the Doctor in the past.[[note]]On his end, however, it seems he last saw her at the very latest prior to the events of [[Recap/DoctorWhoS30E17E18TheEndOfTime "The End of Time"]], given she makes it clear in her first scene she's never met Eleven before.[[/note]]

* OutOfContinues: This special confirms the thirteen-regeneration limit to be in canon, even factoring in the War Doctor and the metacrisis Doctor (or "Doctor Blue" or "Handy") from [[Recap/DoctorWhoS30E13JourneysEnd "Journey's End"]]. Eleven chuckles and chalks it up to his past self's "[[GallowsHumor vanity issues]]", though he's clearly feeling irritated at his Tenth incarnation about now.

-->'''Clara:''' No . . . No . . . Please don't change.
* PrayerIsALastResort: Invoked. It's the DarkestHour and the Doctor is hobbling out to face the Daleks for the last time, and Clara's final solution is "praying" . . . ''to the Time Lords.'' And in lieu of a miracle, ''the final crack closes!''

* ReversePsychology: When Tasha Lem is turned into a Dalek puppet and holding Clara hostage, the Doctor berates Tasha and her religion, negatively compares her to Clara . . . all of which rouses Tasha's real mind and spirit to reclaim her now Dalekized body and use her new Dalek weapons to kick Dalek ass (fortunately, she doesn't decide to zap the Doctor too for good measure).

* ShirtlessScene: Much like the [[Creator/DavidTennant Tenth Doctor]] in [[Recap/DoctorWhoS30E13JourneysEnd "Journey's End"]], [[Creator/MattSmith Eleven]] gets a naked scene.

* TimeyWimeyBall: The Doctor visited his own grave on Trenzalore in [[Recap/DoctorWhoS33E13TheNameOfTheDoctor "The Name of the Doctor"]], but as a result of intervention by the Time Lords, who need him alive to set them free, he's been granted a new regeneration cycle and the town of Christmas is left standing.

** Madame Kovarian appears to have been one too . . . [[AntiVillain she just went way beyond Tasha Lem's orders in trying to make sure the Time War never restarted.]]

** The Eleventh Doctor regenerates in this episode, but not before wrapping up plot threads going as far back as [[Recap/DoctorWhoS31E1TheEleventhHour "The Eleventh Hour"]].
** The resolution of the question of how many lives the Doctor has resolves a piece of backstory dating back to the 1976 storyline [[Recap/DoctorWhoS14E3TheDeadlyAssassin "The Deadly Assassin"]], and which has been referenced in numerous episodes since (and indeed was a major plot point of the 1996 TV movie).

** The "eleventh" Doctor is actually the thirteenth, as the Metacrisis from [[Recap/DoctorWhoS30E13JourneysEnd "Journey's End"]] and the War Doctor from [[Recap/DoctorWho50thASTheDayOfTheDoctor "The Day of the Doctor"]] used up two regenerations. He is instead the eleventh distinct personality to use the title (the War Doctor renounced it at the start of his life and only reclaimed it at the end).
** The Daleks have regained their memories of the Doctor, which they originally lost in [[Recap/DoctorWhoS33E1AsylumOfTheDaleks "Asylum of the Daleks]].

--->'''Twelfth Doctor:''' Stay calm! Just one question . . . [[IHaveNoIdeaWhatImDoing Do you happen to know how to fly this thing?!]]

* TheXOfY: The ''Time'' of the ''Doctor''. The '''124[[superscript:th]]''' episode to use this naming convention, and the fourth in a row to use ". . . of the Doctor" following [[Recap/DoctorWhoS33E13TheNameOfTheDoctor "The Name"]], [[Recap/DoctorWho50thPrequelTheNightOfTheDoctor "The Night"]], and [[Recap/DoctorWho50thASTheDayOfTheDoctor "The Day of the Doctor"]] (as the four episodes form an arc).

The one where the Doctor remembers that seal he took from the Master.

* BadassCape: The Doctor starts the episode with a mauve cape, brandishing a Dalek eye-stalk around like a wise king with his sceptre.

* BattleTrophy: When boarding one of the alien ships, the Doctor brings a Dalek eyestalk with him as proof of his courage. Unfortunately [[OhCrap it turns out to be a Dalek ship]]. He also does the exact same thing with Handles the Cyberman Head on a Cyber-ship.

* BigBadEnsemble: The Silence, Sontarans, Cybermen, Daleks and Weeping Angels all appear in this episode to try and kill the Doctor (and each other). Though the Daleks win out in the end.

* BitingTheHandHumour: Even after [[Recap/DoctorWhoS33E6TheBellsOfSaintJohn Clara has had an expert's computer skills uploaded into her brain]], and [[Recap/DoctorWho50thASTheDayOfTheDoctor figured out how to use Jack Harkness' vortex manipulator on her own]], she still can't work out how to use iPlayer.

* BringIt: The Doctor screams that [[DoNotGoGentle if his worst enemies want him, they'll have to come and get him.]]

*** "All The Strange, Strange Creatures" also makes its first full appearance in a long time, when Tasha Lem founds the Order of the Silence.

* DiedInYourArmsTonight: Due to an nearly ''three hundred years'' without an maintenance, Handles stops functioning in the Doctor's arms.

* DoNotGoGentle: Even in the fate of just growing old and dying, the 11th Doctor simply would not stand down or go down without a fight.
* TheDreaded: Even when he's ''dying of old age'' the Daleks are still too afraid of the Doctor to JustShootHim.

--> '''Tasha''': I tried. I died in this room screaming your name. ''[{{beat}}]'' Oh. I died. It's funny the things that slip your mind.

* ForegoneConclusion: The tension over the Doctor's supposed death is rendered moot by the previous episode, [[Recap/DoctorWho50thASTheDayOfTheDoctor "The Day of the Doctor"]], which gave us a glimpse of the [[Creator/PeterCapaldi Twelfth Doctor]], as well as the [[Creator/TomBaker museum curator]], who was heavily implied to be another future incarnation. (In the real world Capaldi's casting as the Doctor was so heavily publicized that even those few who missed the anniversary special would know it was coming.)

-->'''The Doctor:''' (''to the crack'') There you are. What took you so long?\\

** Although we see them wearing clothes, for a good chunk of the first part of the episode both Clara and the Doctor are actually naked. During this time they take a roll in the snow together in order to fight off some Weeping Angels, after the Doctor gives Clara a rather thorough rub-down to warm her up (at one point it basically becomes him hugging her from behind) - and she seems to enjoy the experience...

*** Not everything got past the radar. One scene where the two share a warm hug, only for Clara to remember the Doctor was still naked, was filmed but cut from the episode, later appearing as a deleted scene on the DVD.
* GlasgowGrin: The cracks in Handles's mouthpiece resemble one. Even so, he's just as [[TheStoic emotionless]] as any other Cyberman.

-->'''Papal Computer:''' The Papal Mainframe [[ApologeticAttacker apologises]] for your deaths. [[BlackComedy The relevant afterlives have been notified]].

* MeaningfulEcho: With [[Recap/DoctorWhoS30E17E18TheEndOfTime "The End of Time"]]. There the Tenth Doctor regarded his regeneration as a form of death and something to fear and resist. The Eleventh Doctor regards his as a source of hope and something to embrace. He also borrows another one of River Song's declarations, "[[Recap/DoctorWhoS30E8SilenceInTheLibrary not one line]]". (A major difference, however, is that the Tenth Doctor only existed for a relatively short time -- as little as ''five years'' if the age he gives in "The End of Time, Part Two" is correct - whereas Eleven not only endured ''900'' or so years on Trenzalore, he had also already lived for another 200 or so prior to this, making him arguably the longest-lived Doctor to date; he was ready to go).

** The look on the Doctor's face when he's told he's on ''Trenzalore''.
** The Daleks when they realise he's regenerating.
--->'''Daleks:''' ''[panicked]'' [[AC:Emergency! Emergency!!! The Doctor is regenerating! The Doctor is regenerating!!! Exterminate! Exterminate the Doctor!!!]]

** When the Doctor realises that there are Weeping Angels buried in the snow ''right underneath him''.

--> '''Dalek:''' Information concerning the Doctor was harvested from the cadaver of Tasha Lem.\\

'''Dalek:''' Several times.

* ReversePsychology: When Tasha Lem is turned into a Dalek-puppet and holding Clara hostage, the Doctor berates Tasha and her religion, negatively compares her to Clara . . . all of which rouses Tasha's real mind and spirit to reclaim her now Dalekized body and use her new Dalek weapons to kick Dalek ass (fortunately, she doesn't decide to zap the Doctor too for good measure).

---> '''The Doctor:''' But you're still too afraid to shoot me! You're still afraid I've got something up my sleeve!

* ExplainExplainOhCrap: Tasha Lem suddenly realising she'd already been killed by the Daleks and turned into a puppet.

* NiceJobBreakingItHero: How much of this could've been avoided if the Doctor didn't have Handles translate the message going through the cracks in the Universe from the Time Lords?

* InternalHomage: To "Orbis", where the Eighth Doctor gets trapped on the planet Orbis for '''600''' years, (though he points out in this story he doesn't always use Earth years) and protects the people from monsters. Finally, his companion is flown in the TARDIS to this world by a woman.

** Although they'd been flirting throughout the season, this is the episode where it becomes clear that Clara fancies the Doctor, in part because for the first time she actually says so in dialogue (and under the influence of a truth field, yet). WordOfSaintPaul (Jenna Coleman, speaking at a convention) is that Clara finally realizes she's in love with the Doctor during this episode (specifically just before he regenerates).