8 Doctor Who Fan Theories That Are Better Than Reality

4. John Hurt Is The First Doctor

It's an undisputed fact within the legend of Doctor Who that William Hartnell is and was the original incarnation of TV's favourite Time Lord, but what if there was one before him that nobody has ever known about? That was certainly the theory - or one of - that came to fruition when Sir John Hurt was introduced in the climactic final moments of the Series 7 finale, The Name of the Doctor. The show was purposely elusive about when and where he fitted into the grand scheme of things, of course, because otherwise what would've been the point of tuning in? Was he the next Doctor? Was he merely an impostor? Was he an older Eighth Doctor or his war torn predecessor, dishevelled and guilt ridden from the events of the almighty Time War? Well, as it turns out, he was actually the latter but it was certainly fun to speculate in the build up to the 50th anniversary special. And some of the theories were wonderfully outlandish indeed. Still, it was pretty daring of Steven Moffat to create a past Doctor that wasn't previously "canon", although apparently he wasn't brave enough to rewrite the show's history completely, as would've been the case if he'd made John Hurt the real First Doctor instead. Besides, something tell us that would've resulted in ann unprecedented uproar and there's already an ever growing mob calling for his dismissal as showrunner. As such, it's probably a good thing that he didn't interfere with its mythos too much. Perhaps the Grand Moff really doesn't have a death wish after all.