Doctor Who classic moments: Not the Doctor you’re expecting – the greatest surprise ever?
By James Aggas
Doctor Who has given us many surprises over the years. But perhaps one of the biggest and best of them all is the long overdue return of Paul McGann in The Night of the Doctor.
Doctor Who‘s fiftieth anniversary year gave us many great surprises. There was The Name of the Doctor‘s amazing cliffhanger, where it was revealed who John Hurt was really playing in the fiftieth anniversary special. The Day of the Doctor gave us two perfect surprises with the first ever glimpse of Capaldi’s Doctor in the show itself, and the return of Tom Baker! So 2013 was a good year for amazing surprises.
Still, I don’t think anything can top the amazing surprise that The Night of the Doctor gave us:
"I’m a Doctor…but probably not the one you’re expecting!"
That summed up the reaction of every fan who watched that episode the day it was released. No one, and I mean no one was expecting Paul McGann to suddenly show up the way he did. Especially without warning, and with no announcement regarding his return to Doctor Who on television after seventeen years until after the minisode was released. Especially since this was the official description that the BBC had released for the minisode:
"The Bringer of Darkness, the Oncoming Storm, the Doctor, the Warrior – A Time Lord! The 50th Anniversary features Matt Smith, David Tennant and a mysterious incarnation played by John Hurt. Only one appears in the mini episode, The Night of the Doctor. But which?"
Despite being an incredibly short episode, The Night of the Doctor still gave us one of the biggest and best surprises with Paul McGann’s unexpected return.
(Image credit: Doctor Who/BBC.
Image obtained from: official Doctor Who website.)
Why no one expected it
More from Winter is Coming
- For All Mankind finally gives us information in Episode 405, “Goldilocks”
- Watch a stunning VFX breakdown of The Wheel of Time season 2
- Of course Steve Toussaint (Corlys Velaryon) thinks Eve Best (Rhaenys Targaryen) should rule Westeros
- Confirmed: The Last of Us season 2 will air in 2025
- Final season of Star Trek: Discovery will have “a lot of action, a lot of adventure, a lot of fun”
The brilliant thing about that description is that technically, they weren’t lying. John Hurt does appear in Night, but only at the very end. So many of us expected this to feature Smith, Tennant or Hurt.
Were any of us hoping that McGann would return? Yes, but to be honest, that had been true since the series came back. There had been so many rumors about him appearing at some point in Doctor Who again ever since 2005 at least. But by 2013, we had been so used to those rumors that we stopped believing that we would ever see his regeneration story.
So when Paul McGann brilliantly shows up with the best surprise line ever, it’s an absolutely perfect moment. Steven Moffat knew what he was doing by keeping this as a surprise for so long. It did come close to not being a surprise at all, however. The minisode was originally supposed to be released just a couple of days later, but they decided to release it early on November 14th 2013 when their major surprise was going to be leaked.
Thankfully, they were able to hide the surprise, and as a result, gave us one of the show’s greatest surprises. Not just of 2013, but, for many fans, at least, one of the best surprises in Doctor Who history.
Next. Should the Eighth Doctor’s regeneration have been a part of The Day of the Doctor?. dark
Do you agree on how effective the surprise was in The Night of the Doctor? What’s your favorite surprise moment in Doctor Who history? Let us know in the comments below.