10 Things You Never Knew About The Doctor Who Specials

4. Moffat Completely Disregarded The End Of Time

It was during the Time War that the Doctor went to extreme measures. He stole the Moment, using it as a counselor in this time of desperation, and he even summoned his future selves for assistance as he struggled with making an impossible choice. After many years of mourning, though, it was actually a loss that never was. The Doctor finally realises that Gallifrey falls no more. In The Day of the Doctor, NuWhovian fans are treated to their second glimpse of the majestic Time Lords. This once thought-to-be-extinct race is depicted as oppressed and inhibited; they are stoic with the wisdom and tranquility of a people that simply watches the universe age, expand, and exist, without interfering (well, except for one rebel Time Lord, that is!). The End of Time, however, recounted an entirely different condition of the Time Lords in which their sanity had been obliterated by the toils of war, and they desired to transgress into life-forms of a collective consciousness, drifting among the stars without physical form. It was their last resort, called the 'Ultimate Sanction' and any obstruction in their path, such as the human race, would be decimated in the process. As the Doctor so eloquently phrased it, the last days of the Time War were "hell". The 50th anniversary special, however, does not bring to mind images of Rassilon seething with anger and pure madness while wearing a maniacal grin. The Time Lords were surprisingly cooperative with the Doctor€™s insane proposals and calm and collected while the Daleks continued to ravage the planet. A change of heart(s), perhaps? Not bloody likely.