10 Doctor Who Moments That Broke The Fourth Wall

6. Doctor Who? (The Wedding Of River Song)

Doctor Who The Shakespeare Code witch
BBC Studios

Another moment of Moffat meta, the showrunner decided to build his second series in charge (and really, the entire second half of Matt Smith's run as the Eleventh Doctor) around an idea that winked directly at the audience.

Taking the very title of the show and turning it into a plot point, the question "Doctor Who?" became a very dangerous phrase within the Whoniverse itself, almost leading to full-scale war in Smith's swansong, The Time Of The Doctor.

In the previous series however, the question did more than just wink at the audience - it smashed down the fourth wall and slapped them in the face.

The closing seconds of finale episode The Wedding Of River Song feature the decapitated head of Dorium Maldovar repeatedly yelling "Doctor Who?!" at the Eleventh Doctor, who then stops and stares directly into the camera, with a signature cheeky glint in his eye.

While the question had been discussed in previous episodes, this was the first time audiences learned what it was. As a result, that hint of cockiness on Smith's face almost feels like Moffat going "didn't see that one coming, did ya?"

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Danny has been with WhatCulture for almost nine years, and is currently Doctor Who Editor and WhoCulture Channel Manager, overseeing all of WhatCulture's Whoniverse coverage. He has been writing and video editing for 10+ years, and first got a taste for content creation after making his own Doctor Who trailers and uploading them to YouTube (they're admittedly a bit rusty by today's standards). If you need someone to recite every Doctor Who episode in order or to tell you about the making of 1988's Remembrance of the Daleks, Danny is the person to ask.