2. The Tragic End Of The War Doctor
Considering the circumstances of his regeneration and how the later Doctors would regard him, I was expecting the War Doctor to be a callous and remorseless warrior who revelled in the bloodshed and destruction that the Time War wreaked. Between Moffat and Hurt, this temptation was wisely avoided and the character is thus much more believable as the Doctor, but hes not so believable as the monster that hes been advertised as. The War Doctor was ultimately responsible for so much good in saving Gallifrey, but would be remembered (even by himself) for so much evil. He is a tragic character, but there was no sense of this when he departed with a grin and an
in-joke. We know (only because were told) that only the Eleventh Doctor will remember anything that happened because timey-wimey, but we never see this memory loss take hold of the Doctor in a way that would reinforce both the continuity of the revived series and the real tragedy of the War Doctor. Imagine if, shortly after departing in his TARDIS, the War Doctor started to get light-headed and indicates that hes having trouble recalling the events of the last few hours. Suddenly, a grave look comes over his face and his final words are, I killed them all. Driven mad by the realisation of the atrocities he believes himself to have committed, he dies and regenerates screaming into his true Ninth incarnation. I know this is a bit of a dark note to end the 50th celebration on, but it wasnt really made clear on-screen (not helped by a lack of Eccleston) and there was the chance for a really memorable way to bridge the War Doctor into the 2005 series.