Sure, he'd be more comfortable in the TARDIS. I just mean that Gallifrey might have the proper medical facilities to handle the process. The TARDIS is at best an ambulance, and I doubt the Doctor ever thought to put in a new Zero Room after Castrovalva.

Yeah, I don't think Romana is coming back anytime soon. But if she did, I don't think it would be overly confusing to newer fans if the Doctor introduced her to his companion as an old friend who was Lord President of the Time Lords for a while (something they have in common).

He still regenerated in a TARDIS, far from Gallifrey (not that there was another option). I look at it like the difference between giving birth in a hospital and giving birth in the back of a cab.

I always assumed that the Doctor's personality changes so dramatically because he never regenerates under optimal conditions. Time Lords are meant to die of extremely old age in their beds, then regenerate to start all over again. Very few fall off radio towers (or exercise bikes).

Agreed, Romana could still be out there (or could have died in the Time War) but if Missy/Romana had been referring to the end of Warrior's Gate it would erase a lot of good stories that while not canon haven't been completely ruled out by NewWho.

I've said this for years! But I think the Missing Adventures established that they were different Time Lords (though both classmates of the Doctor, along with the Rani, the Monk, and Drax).

This was an A for me. No one writes a two-parter like Moffat. Hopefully next week will deliver.

I think it was BBC initially that didn't want to reference the first 8 incarnations, because they hadn't decided if the Eccleston Doctor was a continuation or a fresh start.

I took it as "I can't change the past, but maybe right now Danny is somewhere we can actually save him from without breaking the laws of time."

Unless you accept the Virgin New Adventures as canon (like I do), in which case we know a WHOLE LOT about his family.

They, they do have a parliament now after years of being an empire.

Rule of three: you hint at something twice before you hit readers/viewers with the big reveal. It gives it more impact.

Agreed on the spotty quality of NewWho Master stories, but Moffat hasn't tackled the character yet so I'm hoping it's a question of Davies not quite getting the character. Plus, both Moffat and Capaldi point to the Pertwee/Delgado era as their favourite, so that bodes well for a good Master/Mistress.

Or he could just have Missy say "I escaped death again, like every other time!" and just move on.

But if the Big Finish stuff is canon (as Night of the Doctor implies), then all of the stories with Romana returning to Gallifrey and becoming Lord President happened and they've seen quite a lot of each other since The Warrior's Gate.

Meddling Monk was my first thought, although I couldn't remember how they left things in Dalek Masterplan, but I suspected it was too obscure of a character for Moffat to choose (plus, Big Finish did some great things with the Monk in the Eighth Doctor range that would be sad to see ignored).

To be fair, I think we all want to forget The End of Time with its blond, hoodie wearing Master who can shoot lightning bolts.

Susan would have been great for long time fans, but wouldn't have had much impact to the NewWho audience who have at least seen the Master in action. Personally, I'd have rather seen Susan as the form the Moment took in the 50th anniversary special.

To be fair, he refused to break the laws of time to rescue Adric. He was willing to try and find the afterlife to save Danny.

Harvest of Time is the best 'Past Doctor' novel I've ever read, it totally captures the feel of the era it's set in. As for the gender change, I figured it was canon after the mention of the Corsair in The Doctor's Wife. But we still don't know how the Master became Missy, and at least two of his incarnations (Anthony…