The episode, entitled "the name of the doctor", suggests the big secret to be revealed in the final episode is the doctors real name, the ultimate question for fans over the years. But don't expect it to be quite so obvious.
Why?
Show runner Steven Moffat has a history of playful misdirection and keeping fans guessing and, while learning the doctors name may well be part of the episode, it is unlikely to be its big reveal. After all could the show continue to be called Doctor Who were his name known, or is this another clever piece of misdirection leading fans to expect an answer that may never come?
The shows big reveal may in fact be centred around the doctors assistant Clara, with Coleman revealing that one of the final episodes big revelations is the reason why her characters birthday is November 23rd, the same day the very first Doctor Who episode was shown in 1963.
She's also told fans that they should keep an eye on Claras developing relationship with the TARDIS this series and that it's an unfolding mystery she only discovered the meaning of when reading the script for the final episode of which, she says, by the end of the series fans will know who Clara is, adding that the big reveal about Clara is "phenomenal" saying Clara "is not all that she seems".
This morning the BBC blog said of the final episode that fans should "stand by for something that you might always have believed to be impossible", something that further suggests that contrary to popular opinion the big secret really isn't his name.
The poster for the episode teasingly announces "his secret revealed", not "his name revealed" and, with the recent revelation that Claras mystery is tied in to the doctors, and to her relationship with the Tardis, it seems more and more likely that the doctors secret isn't his name but that his secret is in fact Clara.
Could Clara be a Timelord, maybe a future doctor? Unlikely given that the show has already shown at least one of her iterations has human parents, so just what could the secret be?
Perhaps the blog about her secret at IGN is closer to the truth and she will turn out to be the girl from the library where the series first introduced River Song, a character who happens to re-appear in this series final episode.
Eagle eyed, or perhaps that should be eared, viewers may have noticed the mention of the doctor having a granddaughter in the first episode of the new series, a nod back to the very first episode that aired on November 23rd. A throw away line added for the benefit of older fans, or the beginning of a trail for fans to follow in search of an answer?
One thing's for sure, the series finale will have plenty to keep fans of all ages on the edge of their seats.
