Everyone else in the world has written at great length about
these three episodes, so I’m going to try and come at them from a slightly
different angle: This loose trilogy is all about Clara. Bear with me and I’ll
try and tell you why!
There’s this neat line about a third of the way into the
anniversary episode The Day of the Doctor:
“Same software, different face.” It’s a fantastic summation about the consistency
of theme within the show and it almost certainly reflects Moffat’s views (he
did write it after all!). The Doctor is fundamentally the same as you move
throughout the show- and you know what, so too is the show itself. The show’s
foundation of this brilliant, lonely person bobbing about through space has
remained unchanged in 50 years. The portrayal hasn’t really changed since
Patrick Troughton took on the role, with subsequent actors simply embellishing
the character with a few new or adapted flourishes- the odd hand gesture here,
a pair of sand-shoes there. The Doctor remains “never cruel or cowardly” and “never
gives up, never gives in.” It’s a wonderful declaration of the empowering truth
of the show. Like a cult, but nice.
The basic unit of Doctor Who is this spirit of kindness,
underneath all the timey wimey-ness and aesthetic changes, it shirks all
cynicism (well, it usually does anyway, the odd murdered villain
notwithstanding…). These final three episodes are all about this kindness, but
more precisely, they’re about somebody new experiencing this kindness and
learning about it over a handful of episodes. They’re all about Clara
discovering her own Doctor-ish bravery and re-stating the mission statement of
the show, to itself and to new and old viewers alike.
It’s become a new series tradition (sidenote: should we even be calling it the new series anymore? It has,
after all, run for longer than most American cable and network shows, and
almost all new IPs from the UK) for the just-introduced companion to have
their hero-moment at the end of their first series (or for Donna and Martha,
their only series). It’s usually a statement about how the companion has
overcome their fundamental damage in some way or they face some flaw in order
to save him: Rose nearly sacrifices herself to save the Doctor, Martha travels
a ruined world to spread a message of hope, Donna becomes the DoctorDonna, Amy
wills the Doctor back into existence, Amy murders a woman tied to a chair- all
heart-warming and character defining stuff! With Clara it’s a little harder to
identify the one moment that could be classed as the above hero moment. Sure,
in The Name of the Doctor she throws
herself into the Doctor’s time-stream to displace the Great Intelligence’s negative
influence, and that’s a great moment, but it feels diffuse and isn’t one
succinct statement about the character, like you get with the other companions.
Some people have called this out as being a failure in the writing, or how the
character is portrayed, but I disagree.
I think Moffat is trying something new and different with
this companion. I think he’s playing a much longer game with the character than
people expect. Clara is the fulcrum in these three episodes. Not only does she
drive the plot in ways that are usually reserved for the Doctor, but she also
gets further hero moments throughout the trilogy. She plays a vital role in The Day of the Doctor. As we watch the three
Doctors in the ugly moments before they decide to blow up Gallifrey, we
discover that she’s the one who convinced 10 and 11 to travel to the
time-locked Gallifrey because she just noticed something in the War Doctors
eyes telling her that he still hadn’t used the Moment to end the war. It’s her
tears and horror at the revelation that her Doctor, the eleventh, could now be
responsible for the death of billions of innocents that give the Doctor that
push to come up with a better solution to the war. She helps him remember
exactly who he is in that moment.
In The Time of the
Doctor it’s her pleading with the Time Lords that nets the Doctor another
set of regenerations to play around with. The Doctor comforts Clara (and
perhaps himself) with the words “I will always remember when the Doctor was me.”
Clara’s mounting terror when she sees the new guy is fantastic. In this moment,
the Doctor doesn’t even know how to fly the TARDIS, so how is he expected to
remember his relationship with Clara? Jenna Coleman plays these emotions really
well and I’m sure the re-establishment of their friendship will take some time.
I’m gonna guess that the Doctor might have a case of the classic post-regen
amnesia, with Clara being once again called upon to state just who exactly the
Doctor is supposed to be. We might even find throughout the season that he
breaks Clara’s rules, which might push her away, however temporarily.
Anyway, what I’m trying to say, in far fewer words is this:
Clara has been a slow-burner of a character. Loosely defined in her early
episodes, we’re only now learning more about her through the prism of how she
views the Doctor. These three episodes are a great show-piece for the new-ish
companion. That Moffat is able to juggle this character development along with
servicing The Paternoster Gang, multiple Doctors, Daleks and a regeneration
bodes well for this rejuvenated show.
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