10 Times Doctor Who Knew EXACTLY What You Were Thinking

The amount of times Doctor Who writers have got the name of the show into a script is getting ridiculous at this point.

It's not hard to see why so many of the uninitiated think the character's actual name is Doctor Who, because that phrase gets wheeled out over and over and over again.

Every era of Who has had several jokes where someone will ask the Doctor what their name is. The Doctor will reply "the Doctor", only to be met with the response "Doctor who?" or "Doctor what?"

These moments are usually played up in some way - a prominent musical cue, a reaction shot - with the writers fully aware that the fans at home are probably grinning to themselves at the meta nature of the line.

The most unabashed, self-aware instance of this happens in The Bells of Saint John, when the Doctor meets Clara Oswald for the first time and she asks that fated question.

The Eleventh Doctor asks her to say it a few more times, and even does a little dance, before saying "I never realised how much I enjoy hearing that said out loud."

That, folks, is the sound of a writer who knows their audience.