Not only is Matt Smith returning for the eighth series, that will take place after the November 23rd 50th Anniversary special and the Christmas Special, but the BBC confirmed that Steven Moffat will be back for the 8th series and “is already plotting a brand new run of adventures for the Doctor.”

This news will make many a Whovian quite relieved.

Synopsis: The Doctor finds himself the manipulated for once when someone abducts his friends from throughout time and space, luring him to the one place he can never go.

Oh my… I first want to say up until the new Doctor appeared I was telling all the naysayers out there, stop hating on Moffat, but then the end of the season finale happened and I was left utterly confused.

Let’s go to the beginning. So, we meet the Whispermen and they are connected to the Grand Intelligence and in order to get to the Doctor he goes after the Doctor’s friends and forced him to go to the one place he cannot go to and that is Trenzalore, which is where the Doctor is buried.

Once everyone is there, the GI tries to force the Doctor to reveal his name in order to open the Doctor’s tomb (which is the broken and enlarged version of the TARDIS). We do not learn this precious secret, but the tomb is opened with the help of River. Yes, River is back from the database that 10 placed her in, but in ghostly form that only Clara can see. Once in the tomb, they see that there is no body in it, but a time line tunnel that encases the past and present timelines of the Doctor. The GI steps into the tunnel to erase the Doctor and rewrite history. As that happens, the Doctor is writhing in pain and is slowly dying. At her wits end, Clara gets her moment of clarity and understands that the reason she is the impossible girl is that she has always been the one to save the Doctor and this is the moment that starts their epic relationship. So, she gives up her life and saves the universe, history and the Doctor.

There was bittersweet moment where the Doctor confronts the ghost of River, he has always heard her and seen her , but decided to not interact with her because it hurt too much. He said goodbye to River after a kiss that curled all of our toes because this is a side to the Doctor that we never see, the Doctor that has the capacity to love and be loved.

Now, when Clara steps in, we see her in various timelines and interacting with the other Doctors and it is a cute bit, but the Doctor cannot allow Clara to spend an eternity saving him, so he steps into his tunnel of timelines (which as he always states… causes a paradox) and finds her in a war-torn area.

And that is when all hell broke loose… we meet the Doctor and he is being portrayed by John Hurt. Now, this new Doctor is the Doctor that broke the promise that revolves around the name of the Doctor. Now, is this the Doctor that leads us to the end of the Doctor because he could be the Doctor that houses all the darkness of the Doctor? I am so weary of this Doctor.

So, how can we have these two Doctors and how does it play into the 50^th Anniversary as well as how will Clara mentally function with the knowledge that there are copies of her throughout time as the one person that gives guidance to the Doctor in his time of need.

Let me tell you, the migraine that ensued after this episode aired was a doozy and in all honesty… the next six months will be a killer. To wait that long for answers may be the undoing of many a Whovian.

Here is a bit of a behind the scenes look at the season finale:

QUESTION: Do you think the new Doctor that we met… is he Doctor #0, #9, #12 or the W….???

Synopsis:

“There is one place you must never go…”
“This is the Doctor’s greatest secret…” “And it is discovered!”

In “The Name of the Doctor,” Clara (JENNA-LOUISE COLEMAN, Emmerdale, Captain America: The First Avenger) is summoned to an impossible conference call, alerting her that the deadly Whisper Men are closing in on Vastra, Jenny and Strax.

Someone is kidnapping the Doctor (MATT SMITH)’s friends, leading him toward the one place in all of time and space that he should never go. It’s a deadly trap that threatens to unravel his past, present and future …

Synopsis: Hedgewick’s World of Wonders was once the greatest theme park in the galaxy, but it’s now the dilapidated home to a shabby showman, a chess-playing dwarf and a dysfunctional army platoon.

When the Doctor, Clara, Artie and Angie arrive, the last thing they expect is the re-emergence of one of the Doctor’s oldest foes. The Cybermen are back!

S7:Ep.11 – The Crimson Horror (05.04.2013)
There’s something very odd about Mrs Gillyflower’s Sweetville mill, with its perfectly clean streets and beautiful people. There’s something even stranger about the bodies washing up in the river, all bright red and waxy. When the Doctor and Clara go missing, it’s up to Vastra, Jenny and Strax to rescue them before they too fall victim to the Crimson Horror!

Executive produced by Steven Moffat and Caroline Skinner
Directed by Saul Metzstein
Written by Mark Gatiss
Produced by Marcus Wilson

S7:Ep.12 – Nightmare In Silver (05.11.2013)
Hedgewick’s World Of Wonders was once the greatest theme park in the galaxy, but it’s now the dilapidated home to a shabby showman, a chess-playing dwarf and a dysfunctional army platoon. When the Doctor, Clara, Artie and Angie arrive, the last thing they expect is the re-emergence of one of the Doctor’s oldest foes. The Cybermen are back!

Executive produced by Steven Moffat and Caroline Skinner
Directed by Stephen Woolfenden
Written by Neil Gaiman
Produced by Denise Paul

S7Ep. 13: The Name Of The Doctor (05.18.2013)
Clara is summoned to an impossible conference call, alerting her that the deadly Whisper Men are closing in on Vastra, Jenny and Strax. Someone is kidnapping the Doctor’s friends, leading him toward the one place in all of time and space that he should never go. It’s a deadly trap that threatens to unravel his past, present and future…

Executive produced by Steven Moffat and Caroline Skinner
Directed by Saul Metzstein
Written by Steven Moffat
Produced by Denise Paul

Synopsis: The TARDIS is on a countdown to disaster when it crashes, and the Doctor has 30 minutes to find Clara and stop an explosion that will destroy his ship.

My thoughts: The beauty of this episode was that we got to see some of the hidden gems in the Tardis. Yes, there is a pool, an observatory, a Beauty and the Beast-esque library and we see a little room where there are bits and bobs from the Doctor’s past adventures as well as a book that lists his name. We also learn how the Tardis is powered and how it can regenerate the things it needs. We also see how it can defend itself.

We learned all this at the expense of the Tardis. The Doctor once again tries to have Clara and the Tardis become friends, but when Clara attempts to fly the Tardis a salvage ship takes a hold of her and it gets wrecked with Clara trapped inside of her. So, the Doctor drags the crew of the salvage ship, in hopes of him handing over the Tardis, to assist him in saving Clara.

When all hope is lost, as always, the Doctor figures our (with the help of Clara, of course) how to save his beloved Tardis. But, there was something more that he finally understood… Clara is just a girl.

I want to give kudos to my niece for figuring out who those crispy critters were that were haunting Clara, the salvage crew and the Doctor. I’m not giving it up because you should watch this fun and at time harrowing episode.

My one question is.. why does the Tardis not like Clara?

Next time: In Victorian Yorkshire, the Doctor and Clara investigate a series of strange deaths where the corpses are left with glowing red skin.

Synopsis: The Doctor and Clara meet the meet the mysterious Major Alex Palmer and psychic Emma Grayling at Caliburn House, who are in the midst of conducting a dangerous investigation into a spooky spectre known as the Witch of the Well. It is not long before the Doctor becomes involved in the ghost hunt, but the apparition might not be the only one with secrets.

My thoughts: For a brief moment I felt we were going to see some connection between the Christmas special where we met Clara for the first time, because if you recall in the special there was a haunted house and the house had a water feature that housed a creature that was tormenting the family that resided in the house. So, when we saw the ghostly figure in Hide, I for some reason kept thinking of Clara. But, I was proven wrong. What we got was a sci-fi-horror-gothic-romance. Yes, romance.  No, it was not between Clara and the Doctor. Nope… it was between two of the ugliest creatures that have ever graced the small screen and who were split apart due to space and time.

While the doctor bungee-jumped into a parallel universe to retrieve the lovelorn creature to bring it back to its love and to also bring back the missing greatx10 granddaughter of the Major and the psychic (who were forgettable), we were left to wonder if these stories of love mirrored Clara and the Doctor… To tell you the truth, there are so many trust issues between these two characters that in all honesty… why would anyone think that there would be any type of romance between them.

What the episode did give us was a unique take on what goes bump in the night in that scary looking house on the hill that everyone is told to avoid.

Next time: The TARDIS is on a countdown to disaster when it crashes, and the Doctor has 30 minutes to find Clara and stop an explosion that will destroy his ship.

The BBC stated the following about the season finale episode:

The ‘poster’ for the series’ final adventure (above) was unveiled today and it also confirms that Alex Kingston is back, joining Matt Smith and Jenna-Louise Coleman for what promises to be a jaw-dropping end to a spectacular series.

But we’re not there, yet! We’ve still to unravel the mystery of Clara – the woman ‘twice killed’ and yet still by the Doctor’s side… What secrets does she hold? And in the weeks ahead we’ve a trip to a haunted house, a journey to the centre of the TARDIS and a nightmare clash with the mighty Cybermen. But after all those adventures we have The Name of the Doctor and stand by for something that you might always have believed to be impossible…

Lordy… I cannot wait.

~M.