And don’t forget the 25th season and the Cartmel master plan that never got past two stories. The two 25 Anniversary stories both hinted that the Doctor was more than he seemed. It is possible that Doctor had some hint of his past at that point.

I really hate that this story line invovled the destruction of Gallifrey, but I like most of it. There are a lot of issues with the Ruth Doctor and fitting them in. She shouldn’t have a police box Tardis and she shouldn’t be going by The Doctor. That is at odds with the early seasons and the Tardis getting stuck only when it landed in I.M. Foreman’s scrapyard. But then, any Tardis landing in the UK might sense a blue Police Box would be a good disguise and his/her choice of name might have resurfaced. It might be one reason the Timelords were so scared of him running loose.

So other than the questionable things from the first episode of the season, I loved the finale as it tied back to other stories and expanded the lore and the mystery in one go. Sometimes the series has explained too many things and shaved off some of the mystery. This time they added a bunch and only made the mystery deeper and more intriguing.