4. It Coincided With The End Of Time
The final days of the Time War were already the subject of the 2009 Christmas special The End of Time, so going back to the Time War again for The Day of the Doctor presented some difficulties. Could Moffat successfully revisit that pivotal point in the Doctor's timeline without ret-conning what Russell T Davies established in The End of Time? Moffat managed to circumvent most of the potential pitfalls of that scenario by just having the War Council refer to the plans of the High Council, which, according to the head of the War Council, have already failed. Also, the inclusion of the Moment was another link to The End of Time, in which one of the Councilors remarked that the Doctor still possessed the Moment. This gave a proper timeframe for the events of The Day of the Doctor; the 50th anniversary was occurring either directly before or very shortly after the failed attempt to break Gallifrey free of the Time Lock in The End of Time. Timeline-wise, The End of Time and The Day of the Doctor happened very close together, even though they were filmed four years apart. This was a fun way to tie the Tenth Doctor's farewell episode to his appearance alongside the Eleventh and War Doctors in the 50th anniversary. Plus, this also provided interesting ground for speculation. If the Doctor ever managed to find Gallifrey, how would Rassilon react? Would he seek to destroy the Doctor for his actions in The End of Time or thank him for saving Gallifrey in The Day of the Doctor?
Paula Luther
Paula Luther hails from Pennsylvania and has been an avid Whovian since 2008. She enjoys writing (obviously), reading, dancing, video editing, and building websites. She has also self-published two books on Amazon, "Bart the Bard" and "Android Mae and Other Stories".
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