who appeared at the end of dr who
The Day of the Doctor The episode starred Matt Smith as the Eleventh Doctor and Jenna Coleman as his companion, Clara Oswald. Previous lead actors David Tennant and Billie Piper returned for the episode, Tennant reprising his role as the Tenth Doctor, while Piper portrayed a sentient doomsday weapon called the Moment, projected as an image based on her character Rose Tyler. She is invisible and inaudible to everyone but the War Doctor (John Hurt). Other appearances included a very brief glimpse of the then-upcoming Twelfth Doctor (Peter Capaldi), who would succeed Matt Smith in "The Time of the Doctor",[12] and a guest appearance by Fourth Doctor actor Tom Baker, in his late 70s. Rounding out the guest cast were Joanna Page as Queen Elizabeth I[13] and Jemma Redgrave as Kate Stewart, the daughter of 1970s central figure Brigadier Lethbridge-Stewart.[14] The special also featured the return of the Daleks[15] and the Zygons, shape-shifting aliens who had previously appeared only in Terror of the Zygons (1975).[16]
Twelfth Doctor Capaldi has previously appeared playing other roles in the Doctor Who franchise. He portrayed Lobus Caecilius in the 2008 episode "The Fires of Pompeii" and John Frobisher in Children of Earth, the 2009 serial of the Doctor Who spin-off Torchwood.[3][18] Moffat has stated that he plans on explaining over time why there are three characters in the Doctor Who universe with the same appearance; his predecessor Russell T Davies had once explained to him a theory for the first two, and upon Capaldi's casting assured Moffat that the explanation would still work.[19] This situation was alluded to in "Deep Breath", when a confused Doctor is reminded of Caecilius when he examines his face in a mirror.[20] In "The Girl Who Died", it is explained that the Doctor chose Caecilius' face to remind himself that he is the Doctor, and that he can always save people.[21] While not explained in the episode, Moffat later said that he also shares a face with John Frobisher as Frobisher is Caecilius's descendant, and represents the end of Caecilius's bloodline, referencing the Doctor's "eternal battle with doom and destiny."[22] Capaldi's casting marks the second time an actor has previously appeared in the series and then been cast as an incarnation of the Doctor, the first being Colin Baker.[23]