"We all change, when you think about it. We're all different people all through our lives. And that's okay, that's good, you've got to keep moving, so long as you remember all the people that you used to be. I will not forget one line of this. Not one day. I swear. I will always remember when the Doctor was me." The Doctor
So many Who fans were livid with David Tennant's final words as the Doctor; rumour has it, the man himself didn't really like the line much either. 'The Time of the Doctor' though brought a fitting flourish to the end of the Eleventh Doctor's reign, as he philosophised over the life he'd just had. Again, the "that's okay" is a poignant phrase for the Doctor to use in relation to his own death, but the idea that he's like us - that everyone is different at different points in their lives - is a touching one that Moffat exploits wonderfully. The reference to always remembering that people that you used to be is an apt one to make for the thirteenth incarnation in the fiftieth year of the show. But it's the final line that's so affecting. If the line read, "when I was the Doctor", it would suggest that Matt Smith was simply bringing his own quirks to the role and interpreting the character. It's so much more significant worded the other way around: "When the Doctor was me," implies all that history, mythology and hard work that everyone ever put into this character, was instilled in the performance of one man. It's a lovely sentiment, and it beats, "I don't want to go," that's for sure.
