The real reason The Doctor is called Doctor Mysterio in the Christmas special
Do you know the behind-the-scenes story of the superhero-themed Doctor Who special?
After a YEAR off the box, Peter Capaldi’s Doctor was back in da house/TARDIS in Christmas episode The Return of Doctor Mysterio – and he’s answered one of the biggest Doctor Who conundrums of the past few months: who exactly is the eponymous Doctor Mysterio?
The answer was the simplest one: it’s the Twelfth Doctor himself, or to be more precise, it’s the name young Grant Gordon (who grows up to become superhero The Ghost) gives to an immediately delighted Doctor.
But of course there’s another reason why Capaldi's smile was so wide in that scene: ‘Doctor Mysterio’ is actually an in-joke between himself and writer Steve Moffat – oh, and the whole of Mexico...
Basically, Capaldi was extremely smitten during the show's 2014 world tour when he learned that in Mexico Doctor Who is known as Doctor Mysterio. And while the Christmas special doesn’t feature the Doctor wearing a sombrero, using his guitar skills in a mariachi band or pandering to any other Mexican stereotypes, there’s no denying Doctor Mysterio sounds like a name picked straight from a comic book.
In particular, it's a name very similar to the Mysterio, the bloke with a fishbowl for a head in the Spider-Man universe.
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Also, delve into the Marvel archives and you'll find plenty of issues bearing a title similar to The Return of Doctor Mysterio, such as this Fantastic Four classic.
So, when does Capaldi’s Doctor Mysterio next return? Well, we’ve got another four months to wait until series ten materialises onto the box. And if that seems like a long time, just count yourselves lucky we're not waiting another year. Stay strong!
