WARNING: If you have not seen the latest episode of Doctor Who ('The Name of the Doctor') and are planning on doing so, then please read NO further as this will reveal certain spoilers. If you have found this page from my Tumblr post, this is your last chance to turn back before you find out things about the episode and the future of the show. Don't care about finding out stuff or have seen the episode in question? Good, let's continue. Scroll down to find out.
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For this to be as clear as possible I will be using the actor's names of the Doctor to avoid confusion.
My theory is this:
When Doctor Who returned in 2005, Christopher Eccleston mentioned he was the last of the Timelords. The general accepted reason behind this was that The Time War occurred in between his eighth and ninth regenerations and the act of wiping out the Daleks also caused the destruction of every other Timelord and Gallifrey itself. It was also when he regenerated from Paul McGann to Eccleston.
HOWEVER, he picked the name 'The Doctor' so he could use his powers to save people. That was his promise, just as the Hippocratic Oath is a medical doctor's promise to prolong the life of every patient he treats, eight? And John Hurt is his 'broken promise'. Hurt said at the end of the episode that he 'did it in the name of peace', even if it wasn't 'in the name of the Doctor' as Smith protested.
My guess is that Paul McGann knew how to win the Time War, but his promise would prevent this from happening. So, he forced a regeneration into his darker side - represented by Hurt - which cared more about peace than saving lives, and THEN the Time War was won, the universe saved at the expense of Gallifrey. With that done, Hurt regenerated into Eccleston and vowed never to return to his darker side again.
I know this makes Smith the 12th Doctor and not the 11th, but that seems to be a minor error in the long run now.
I hope this make sense to you. Any queries or counterarguments, please feel free to comment below or inbox me on my Tumblr account. Thanks for reading.
