Doctor Who Series 11: 10 Big Questions After Episode 5

Among the many new concepts introduced in this story is The Book of Celebrants. It appears to be a who’s who of intergalactic heroes. The Doctor knows it well and is rather proud of the fact that she has her own entry. Never one to be immodest she is keen to correct Eve Cicero’s recollection that it contains a chapter on the Doctor. Such is the extent of the Doctor’s fame that she has an entire volume dedicated to her. At least, that’s what she says. The Doctor is also prone to exaggeration, but in an episode in which Graham extols the value of honesty, we are better off assuming this volume does indeed exist.

The Doctor’s reputation was a big part of Steven Moffat’s Doctor Who, especially during the Matt Smith years. At one point the Eleventh Doctor has to wipe all knowledge of him from history. Perhaps that particular volume of the Book of Celebrants was one of the things that had to go. At the time many fans were delighted by the move. Having people know about the Doctor in advance was limiting the storytelling potential. It was also felt that the Doctor had become too big for his boots. Whole armies would flee at the mention of his name. Steven Moffat went on record to say he had made the move to give the Doctor a clean state, a kind of narrative reboot so to speak.

There is mutual respect between the Doctor and Eve, but no sense that the latter is hero worshipping the Time Lord. The Thirteenth Doctor otherwise seems more humble than her predecessors and more willing to accept her failings and the importance of teamwork. It is then quite odd to learn about this book and the Doctor’s boasts about it don’t quite fit into the current direction of the character.