I'm a little bit confused about the continuity here.

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So, The End of Time pretty clearly established that Gallifrey was time-locked, right? So why does the Doctor think that he destroyed the planet and killed all of them when he knows that they're still out there? Can someone do a concise explanation of what exactly happened with the Time War, given what we learned in this new special?

Doctor Submarine wrote:

I'm a little bit confused about the continuity here.

  Show

So, The End of Time pretty clearly established that Gallifrey was time-locked, right? So why does the Doctor think that he destroyed the planet and killed all of them when he knows that they're still out there? Can someone do a concise explanation of what exactly happened with the Time War, given what we learned in this new special?

  Show

It's a conceit of these multi Doctor stories that you can never really remember what happened, or even that it did happen. Otherwise, the future you would know everything and just solve the problem instantly. So, the Doctor remembers he was going to push the button, then... well, after he regenerated, into the "9th" Doctor, he saw the Time Lords and Daleks were all gone, and figured he must have done it.

Doctor Submarine wrote:

I'm a little bit confused about the continuity here.

Also,...

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How can all three have the same Screwdriver? When the 10th's was destroyed when the TARDIS crashed (The TARDIS then gave 11th a new one), and then 10th's was given to River to use in The Library. 

Invid wrote:

Doctor Submarine wrote:

I'm a little bit confused about the continuity here.

  Show

So, The End of Time pretty clearly established that Gallifrey was time-locked, right? So why does the Doctor think that he destroyed the planet and killed all of them when he knows that they're still out there? Can someone do a concise explanation of what exactly happened with the Time War, given what we learned in this new special?

  Show

It's a conceit of these multi Doctor stories that you can never really remember what happened, or even that it did happen. Otherwise, the future you would know everything and just solve the problem instantly. So, the Doctor remembers he was going to push the button, then... well, after he regenerated, into the "9th" Doctor, he saw the Time Lords and Daleks were all gone, and figured he must have done it.

Here's my interpretation (for what it's worth)

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I thought that Raleston (Timothy Dalton), in "End of Time" brought Gallifrey back right before the Doctor's "burn them all" end game. So, when 10 sent the Time Lords back to the Time War, it was to their doom to be burned. So, the idea that Gallifrey is still out there might be a last ditch effort on the part of the Time Lords to avoid their doom. Some how they might have broken out of the time lock (again) but removed themselves out of normal space time.

The Doctor wouldn't know since he expects Gallifrey to be gone.

Anyway, my thoughts.

There's a few rumours revolcing Matt Smith's pending exit now, that I find a bit intriguing.

It enlists the Doctor's lives in this order
1. Bill Hartnell
2. Pat Throughton
3. Jon Pertwee
4. Tom Baker
5. Peter Davison
6. Colin Baker
7. Sylvester McCoy
8. Paul McGann
9. John Hurt
10. Chris Eccleston
11. David Tennant
12. David Tennant
13. Matt Smith

So why is this intriguing, and why is Tennant listed twice?

Well, think about it. They've gone ahead and made Hurt's War Doctor count. Sure, he apparently isn't "The Doctor", but the "War Doctor", but this incarnation should still count as one life. Or regeneration. But then there's Tennant x2. This isn't the Meta-crisis Doctor, but rather the regeneration from "The Stolen Earth" that was induced by a Dalek. Tennant regenerated, but used his own DNA to make it seem like a healing effect instead.

Thus making Smith the 13th and final Doctor, unless he's somehow given some extra lives.

Now, if Tennant and Hurt don't count, then neither should Pertwee, as his Doctor is enforced onto Throughton by the time lords.

Well, a question that occurs to me is the same as you. Does Hurt count as a regeneration or a "cheat" due to the Sisters' science? Same thing with the Pertwee regeneration, since that was imposed upon by the Time Lords as part of his exile (I honestly don't know how this was treated in the show, since I am only passingly familiar with early Who). So, that takes away two technical regenerations, making Smith 11 (again).