Can someone explain...

[frayadjacent]

The Doctor Who prequel to someone who's only watched NuWho?  I gathered that he was about to regenerate into Nine, and internet confirms that this was, in fact, Eight.  But what was the significance of the other characters?  Who was that Sisterhood or whatever it was? 

Confused casual fan is confused.

Comments

[laurashapiro]

Okay, so, that was Eight and he is regenerating -- but not into the Nine we know. Into this Warrior-Doctor character, John Hurt. Which implies that Nine is really Ten, etc.; I don't know how they're going to wank that. (:

The Sisterhood of Karn were from a Four/Sarah Jane-era episode The Brain of Morbius. They were the keepers of the "sacred flame" and they had access to an immortality serum, basically. So they are giving the Doctor this serum to trigger this special regeneration.

Random minisode companion was random, as far as I know, but I may have missed a reference. The names Eight mentions in sequence are companions he's had in the Big Finish audio series and comics.

[frayadjacent]

OMG, I totally didn't even realize those were different actors! Eight and JohnHurt!Nine, I mean. I was thinking "why does he have the same face -- is he not finished regenerating?" Must learn to pay attention better. :D

he is regenerating -- but not into the Nine we know. Into this Warrior-Doctor character, John Hurt. Which implies that Nine is really Ten, etc.; I don't know how they're going to wank that. (:

Whoa, I remmeber reading some speculation about this after the S7 finale, but I didn't expect it to actually happen! Huh.

Thank you for explaining! (Clearly I need a Cameron icon to go with my Buffybot icon.)

[rahirah]

They used archival footage of young!John Hurt, I believe. So that implies John Hurt Doctor was around for a looooong time.

[frayadjacent]

Whoa. I wonder how long it takes a Time Lord to clearly age? Weird. I mean, as a casual fan I'm not too bothered, but I wonder what folks who are into Classic Who -- or who even prefer it to NuWho -- think about all this. (Cause I'm sure y'all think the same thing.) It definitely puts a lot of distance between Eight and Eccelston!Nine...

[rahirah]

Well, I've been watching since Three, back in the 70s, and I love it. But then, my attitude towards Who is "Don't like it? Then just wait two years, it'll be completely different." *g*

[frayadjacent]

Ha! Glad to know that's not just a NuWho thing.

[laurashapiro]

Yeah, we didn't get to see John Hurt except as a distorted reflection, so I'm not surprised you found it hard to read.

Glad I could help with this! I squeed so hard watching it. (:

[frayadjacent]

I'm glad it was sqee-inducing! I wondered if there were implications that I wasn't getting, but it seems that most Classic Who fans are delighted, which is awesome.

[rahirah]

Random companion was random, and just there to demonstrate what a bad rep the Time Lords had gotten, I think.

[frayadjacent]

Yeah, that's how it seemed to me.

[laurashapiro]

Also I think to motivate Eight to take the Sisterhood up on their offer -- and to select the warrior.

[frayadjacent]

right, yes, that makes sense.