Why the War Doctor Was a Pointless Act of Creative Cowardice

It's been almost a year since the landmark 50th Anniversary episode of Doctor Who aired. Upon repeat viewings, the episode does still hold up, but there is one thing I now find irksome; the War Doctor really didn't need to be there. Either the 8th or 9th (preferably the former) would have functioned in that role without a massive retcon and the creation of a zero sum character. Let's look at Moffat's reasons for bringing in the 8.5th Doctor and see why they are invalid and just created more problems. 

Nine Said No
It's no secret that Christoper Eccleston was originally approached for the role first. After all, fans would have loved a special with 9, 10, and 11 working together, as each have their own fan bases. Moffat admitted to having some trepidation about having 9 in the special since his character was always meant to be a reflection of the post-Time War Doctor. 

"I was always nervous of that one, because it doesn’t fit with [2005's] Rose at all.[Eccleston] is a brand new Doctor in Rose, he’s absolutely, definitely new. It couldn’t have been is who pushed the button in the Time War, cos that’s a new man, very explicitly, in that episode." [source] 

Regardless, Moffat met with Eccleston, who ultimately passed on the appearance. This left Moffat in a position to use another Doctor who fought in the Time War. The obvious choice was 8, played by Paul McGann. After all, 8 had only done the one film and a few audio books. He also lacked a regeneration scene to close out his incarnation. So what happened? 

He's No Soldier
Though McGann expressed an interest in returning to Doctor Who, it was Moffat who denied him the opportunity to appear in the 50th. Moffat later explained that he could never picture any of the Doctors, including 8, fighting in a war; that he would be more likely to try to prevent a war than help in one. 

"I remember when David Tennant said, ‘I fought in the Time War’. I thought, ‘The Doctor in a war?’ I mean, the Doctor may be saving people at the fringes of a war, or stopping a war, but I could never imagine him being in one. But John Hurt’s Doctor is the one who was." [source]

I will concede Moffat's first point that the Doctor would never be a conventional soldier running around with a Gallifreyan M-16. The flaw in Moffat's thinking is that one has to be a soldier to fight a war. There are dozens of other jobs the Doctor could have done to help defend his planet against an aggressor. To use his namesake, he could have been a field medic trying to patch up wounded soldiers as Dalek shells are exploding around them. Or a scientist trying to develop new defenses and countermeasures. Or a special operative sent in on specific missions to thwart Dalek plans. Any one of these jobs would have suited the Doctor's personality and skills during a war. Such roles could also contribute to his decision to use the Moment. Furthermore, it was established that the Timelords could remotely control or sabotage his TARDIS. If they wanted him to stay, he wasn't going anywhere. And as his people grow more callous and unfeeling, as every life he saves is snuffed out again by time travel, how long can he watch before having to say, "No more." The fan base had already accepted the idea of Eight fighting in the war, so Moffat's perception of the Doctor in a war was an internal perception rather than external confusion. 

Movie Star
Moffat claimed that in order to sell the audience on a new Doctor, he needed a well know brand actor. Well, that's true, having a good performer made the pill easier to swallow, that didn't make it necessary. Doctor Who fans are already comparable in numbers to those of major movie franchises like James Bond and Star Trek. Having a major star did not significantly add to viewers just as having McGann in there would have driven any away. Most were there either because they were already watching the show, or were eager to see David Tennant return. In addition, McGann did have brand name recognition within the Whovian community. His web special featuring his regeneration was very well received even though it was short and ended with him drinking a massive plot contrivance. Despite the massive distribution plan of Day of the Doctor, McGann was just as viable to appear in it as Hurt was. 

Problems
So now that I've established that the problems with using 8 in the role were only created by Moffat's way of thinking, let's look at the problems of using the War Doctor. 

1. Throws off the Count: This is the most obvious one. To the chagrin of all wiki users, the addition of the War Doctor retroactively added another Doctor to the lineup, which made 9 into 10, 10 into 11, and so on. This creates confusion with new fans who wonder which number to use with certain Doctors. 
2. Doctor who?: Moffat tried to address the problem of the altered count by saying that the War Doctor didn't consider himself a "Doctor". Well that's all well and good, but what does refer to himself as? All the other characters in the special refer to him as The Doctor, and while he protests the name, he never offers an alternative. If he wasn't the Doctor, who was he? It is never established.
3. Not the Doctor, Never the Doctor: While McGann has a small fan base among Whovians, Hurt had none coming in (at least, not for him being the Doctor). He had never played the role before and likely never will again. We will never see any adventures for him or get attached to him in the role. This is a character whose only purpose is to die. We, as the audience, will never get to know him as the Doctor. Moffat effectively wasted an incarnation on a guest appearance. 
4. Time of the Doctor: By increasing the count, Moffat put a double burden on himself for the following special, the Time of the Doctor. With an extra Doctor in the mix, the maximum number of regenerations is used up. So in addition to having to wrap up all the story arcs of the Silence and Trenzalore, Moffat also had to explain how the Doctor gets an additional regeneration to turn into 12. He fell back on force feeding a contrivance into the Doctor's mouth. 

Conclusions

This isn't meant to be an attack on John Hurt. He gave a more than adequate performance. But his presence was a slap in the face to McGann and fans of classic Who. Having the torch of the franchise be passed from Classic to Modern was something that was sorely needed in the 50th, and the opportunity was missed (Tom Baker not withstanding). For some reason, Moffat put the 8th Doctor on a pedestal and refused to consider any changes that would bring him into the Time War story, and permanently leaving his incarnation to dwell in a very problematic back door pilot and a one-off webisode. Hardly a fitting legacy for the man who could have been the Eccleston of his day.

I leave you with the following thought: how wonderfully meta would it have been if McGann had been the one to say the following line:

 "Go and be the Doctor that I could never be."