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Benji

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Not strictly true, like Benji said there's been tongue in cheek moments. A computer calls him Doctor Who in The War Machines for example. And in German he was called Doktor von Wer, admittedly that's the Doctor of Who but still. I'm pretty sure he's also signed stuff with a question mark.

Edited by Vamp
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I have not been a fan near as long as you guys so I have to ask. Is anything Vamp saying at all accurate?

The "he gets referred to as Doctor Who in The War Machines" bit is accurate, yeah. But that doesn't mean that's his name; it's what a computer called him once. I remember on a DVD commentary or something, one of the producers tried to retcon it, saying that there was a comma in there "The Doctor, who is required".

The fact is, at the time of that episode, a lot of what is now Doctor Who lore and canon was still being thought up. In early credits, he was sometimes referred to as "Doctor Who", but never by characters in the series, and he's never once suggested that it's his name. I find it hilarious that Vamp can say "no, this is definitely true, guys" about something using "it was said once" as his defence, when you can find countless examples of it being made clear, in the series, that's it not true.

It's a major part of Doctor Who lore that nobody knows his real name. His real name is not Who, it's really that simple. Yes, he signed his name with a question mark, but that's not the same thing as signing it "Who", is it? The question mark was a recurring motif for a long time.

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I seem to remember in The End of Time (i think it was anyway..definitely a Master episode) that the Dr was explaining to his companion at the time that he is just The Doctor and the other Time Lords that escaped the Great Time War have similar names (eg The Master, The Teacher etc)

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There was definitely an exchange between the Doctor and the Master, where the Doctor said how typical it was that he would have chosen something like "The Master" for himself, to which the Master mocked him for choosing something as sanctimonious as "Doctor"; "someone who helps people".

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I have not been a fan near as long as you guys so I have to ask. Is anything Vamp saying at all accurate?

I find it hilarious that Vamp can say "no, this is definitely true, guys" about something using "it was said once" as his defence, when you can find countless examples of it being made clear, in the series, that's it not true.

I don't see how hard it is to grasp that I wasn't being serious. I said there's been tongue in cheek moments, made an obviously sarcastic comment like "I'm being deadly serious" about a show that it isn't remotely possible to be deadly serious about.

Yeah, I'm not actually being serious. The Doctor doesn't really have a name, in that no one ever has had any intention to reveal it and no one ever will. Doctor Who is the closest you'll ever get. To be honest serious discussions about his name would be as boring as having a serious plot about it. Why he has hid his name, if indeed he has, is the interesting bit. There's been a bit in other Doctor Who fictions (mainly the books) about it being impossible for human beings to pronounce his name, but obviously their relation to canon (and canon is an equally bollocks thing to talk about when it comes to Who really) is questionable.

In fact talking about canon and the name, I always struggle to get my head around the idea that the Master suggests the Doctor chose his name because of the meaning of the world (helping people) and then later River Song explains that Doctor has a different meaning and we get it from him. I know 'timey wimey' but that genuinely hurts my head to think about.

Actually as another edit, I also think it'd just be fantastic if he was called Who. It'd be great. If his hidden name wasn't hidden at all and what so many people respond with when he introduces himself and what so many people talking about the show call him. It'd be awesome. And if some of the people who we'd thought had asked "Doctor who?" had actually asked "Doctor Who?"

Edited by Vamp
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One theory about the Doctor's name that has been put forth is that its really long, but shortened like Romana's (Romanadvoratrelundar), and may start with `Who'.

If they do indeed reveal the Doctor's name in the season finale, please point me to a petition asking for Moffat to be fired. I'll gladly sign it if that happens.

I'd also like to point out that the sonic screwdriver was destroyed during the Fifth Doctor era and stayed destroyed until the Sixth, because they felt it was being overused and used as a crutch. But the new series has turned the damn thing into a handheld version of Batman's utility belt and given it more abilities than it ever had in the original series.

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I like the sonic screwdriver best when it's just used as a) a near-universal door opener, or b) a thing for fixing bits of uncooperative TARDIS tech. I've never really understood the scanning thing at all.

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Isn't it psychic now? So I guess the idea is it pretty much does anything you ask it to. Yeah, I don't like it. It's one of the things Moffat's era seems to have taken to the extreme, I don't know whether that's his idea or just how its fallen but the doctor's constantly waving it around now. The end of that Day of the Moon double parter might be one of the worst incidents where the director had clearly decided that it looked cool when waved around along with the laser gun sfx.

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The sonic screwdriver was introduced during the Second Doctor era, and was exactly that: a screwdriver. Though I believe either the Second or Third also used it as a welding torch on one occasion. The original prop was actually a non-descript, ordinary looking penlight.

It did do a few other things during the original series, but not until the Colin Baker era, I believe. And even then it wasn't a do-everything device that gets used it every frickin' episode.

Its obvious its used a lot in the new series for merchandising reasons. They not only have toy versions out, but even have a real screwdriver set with the screwdriver looking like 11's sonic screwdriver. No clue if they made one that looked like 9 and 10's...

P.S. And yes, the telepathic thing is new. Just another addition to making it a hand held deus ex machina.

Edited by GhostMachine
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The sonic screwdriver was introduced during the Second Doctor era, and was exactly that: a screwdriver. Though I believe either the Second or Third also used it as a welding torch on one occasion. The original prop was actually a non-descript, ordinary looking penlight.

It did do a few other things during the original series, but not until the Colin Baker era, I believe. And even then it wasn't a do-everything device that gets used it every frickin' episode.

Its obvious its used a lot in the new series for merchandising reasons. They not only have toy versions out, but even have a real screwdriver set with the screwdriver looking like 11's sonic screwdriver. No clue if they made one that looked like 9 and 10's...

P.S. And yes, the telepathic thing is new. Just another addition to making it a hand held deus ex machina.

Well it was used to remotely detonate mines in the 3rd Doctor Era, and was gotten rid of under the 5th Doctor as it was over used and didn't return until the 8th Doctor (it may have been used when McCoy was the Doctor though)

So most of what you said there simply isn't true. It was used when the Doctor needed to get out of a situation during the classic series, but it has become over used recently.

Edited by MGW
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