In 1999, an evening of Who-themed programming - aptly known as Doctor Who Night - took place on BBC Two with sketches, documentaries and rebroadcasts of episodes. Tom Baker, as an enigmatic figure with the appearance of an older Fourth Doctor, oversaw proceedings from within a chamber aboard the TARDIS and presented links between each item. The identity of this man is never explicitly revealed and at first he refers to the Doctor in the third person. But, over the course of the evening, he reminisces about meeting Cleopatra, mentions his dilemma from Genesis of the Daleks and finally, when introducing the TV movie, says he's "called Paul McGann in this one." Fourteen years later, the fandom let out a collective squee as a familiar voice called out to Matt Smith's Eleventh Doctor during the 50th Anniversary special. Tom Baker played an enigmatic figure - referred to as the Curator - with the appearance of an older Fourth Doctor. His conversation with the Doctor is deliberately oblique but the implication is that he is, was or could be the Doctor in some form. As such, the similarities between the Curator and Baker's role from the Doctor Who Night idents are too tantalising to overlook. Naturally, the brevity of this fan service cameo in The Day of the Doctor meant there was no time (or reason) to explicitly make a link between this character and the similar one he'd played for a series of obscure idents well over a decade ago. If Moffat even knew about this role, he probably didn't intend it to be connected or think that anyone else would remember the idents either. How wrong he was. So this is where personal canon really comes into its own. You may choose to believe that the two are the same character, that they're linked somehow or you can just ignore them altogether. Reconciling their appearances, while it may not matter to the show as a whole (and the worst kind of fans are those who believe their canon is the only correct one), it's certainly a lot of fun. As the Curator himself said, "Perhaps I was you. Perhaps you are me. Or perhaps it doesn't matter either way." What did you think of this lis? Are there any other spin off characters that have become canon that should've been included? Join the conversation in the comments section below.
