Doctor Who: 10 Things Nu-Who Fans Just Don’t Understand

9. "The Great Curator"

At the end of the 50th anniversary special episode The Day of the Doctor, fans were treated to one of the biggest shock guest appearances in Doctor Who history when Tom Baker returned to the show in a role billed as 'the Curator'. During the few minutes of conversation between Tom and the then-current Doctor Matt Smith, it was strongly implied that the Curator is a future incarnation of the Time Lord who resides in the National Gallery to keep a watchful eye over the elusive 'Gallifrey Falls No More' painting. Pretty simple, right? So why does this still seem to confuse many who only began watching when the revived series premiered? For many fans, the regeneration of the Doctor is a random process, as in he never knows what his successor will look like. However, the intuitive fans amongst us will remember that the Doctor has actually had a choice regarding what he would become next - twice, in fact. The most recent example of this was in the mini-episode The Night of the Doctor which gave fans not only the return of Paul McGann's Eighth Doctor, but his long awaited regeneration scene, too. During this scene in question, the Sisterhood of Karn gave him the option to drink an elixir that would allow him to become whatever he wanted. He chose to become a warrior, and thus John Hurt's War Doctor was born. Back in the Second Doctor's era, the Time Lords forced a regeneration upon him when his current face had become too well known on Earth. The Doctor, being as difficult as he can be, turned all of their proposed faces down and is ultimately given a random regeneration which transforms him into Jon Pertwee. Pretty random indeed. As far as the Curator is concerned, though, perhaps the Doctor really does find Gallifrey in the future and retires with the face of "an old favourite". Stranger things have happened in Doctor Who, after all.