The rumor, or speculation really, is that this is an incarnation between 8 and 9, making 9 the 10th, 10th the 11th, and 11th the 12th. That doesn’t make much sense, since this Doctor’s actions are supposed to be his greatest secret. The assumption a lot of people are making is that this is the version that was in the Time War and his actions were so terrible that the Doctor denies ever being him.
Except, we’ve already been told the terrible things that the Doctor did in the Time War. He (thought that he) wiped out all of the Daleks and locked all of the remaining Time Lords in that pocket dimension they briefly escaped from in the 10th Doctor’s final episode. It’s not much of a secret if the Daleks know about it (or at least they did until that stupid and illogical memory wipe from the beginning of this series). It’s not much of a secret if Wilf knows about it, and he was there when the Time Lords briefly returned, along with the Master.
The most logical solution would be that John Hurt’s Doctor is nothing more than a physical manifestation of the Doctor’s guilt and self-loathing over his actions in the Time War and maybe for the other things he’s done over the years. A bit like that character from the dream episode in series 5 or something somewhat like the Valeyard. Make it a temporary anomaly caused by the trip into his own timeline.
Alternately, just make him an aged 8th Doctor near the end of his time. That preserves the 1-10 status quo.
The only way I’ll accept John Hurt as the 9th Doctor is if Christopher Eccleston bursts out of his chest instead of regenerating.
Other than that it was an alright episode. It was nice to see Hartnell swiping the TARDIS and leaving Gallifrey for the first time. I liked how they went for the fakeout with John Hurt from behind looking a bit like Eccleston before the reveal. I didn’t even find River Song that annoying this time around. (I still hope every time she shows up that it’ll be the last, and this episode sure looks like that might be if for her. I hope so.) The CGI and green screen stuff with Clara and the old Doctors was a bit bad, but it was better than stuntmen running by dressed as old Doctors.
One last thought, doesn’t Clara picking the Doctor’s TARDIS contradict the episode where the TARDIS turns into a woman for a bit and tells the Doctor that she picked him?
