I'd heard about the reveal at the end of the episode before watching it and I couldn't quite believe it. John Hurt as the Doctor! I've longed for someone like Hurt to play the doctor, it would be excellent for Who. I'm desperate for an elder statesman to play the time traveller, rather than someone prancing about with a sonic screwdriver.
I've liked most of the Doctors including the 11th. But not the stories. I'm clamouring after a good story and some decent science fiction. After all, the Doctor has the best spaceship (save for the Masters) in the universe, he can go anywhere in space time. And yet he can't seem to stay away from present day Earth. Yawn, this is just lazy.
None of the previous episodes from the last few seasons have stuck in my mind. In part I've lowered my bar of expectation (it's almost touching the floor), and I've resigned to watch the show as pure fluff. But considering it's a flagship program for the BBC, they really could do better than this. I think what addles me is that the BBC doesn't churn out any other sci-fi. Instead
we get endless reams of paedophilia, rape, murder and crime and punishment stories. Where are the progressive stories or expertly retold parables?
Red Dwarf had good sci-fi stories, and it was a cheap ass production. You can still produce a great episode with a limited set and budget.
As for this episode. I quite liked the idea of the Doctor's tomb and the impossible girl. Though nothing really happened for 44 minutes. It was merely a set-up for the anniversary episode. Then they spoil it by painting an actor's name on the screen mid-story. What on earth were the BBC thinking?
Let's hope the writers toss the 12th Doctor some better story lines.