Warning: contains spoilers for Doctor Who up to and including series 8.
I dont know about you, but I love big ideas.
These messages these big ideas, themes and theories theyre not a bad thing.
Id suggest they make entertainment so… entertaining.
The hallmark of a good TV show is that it makes you think.
Doctor Whois one of those shows.
A few of these have occasionally been obvious to spot.
Others have been less explicit.
But now its all over, and a few of these thoughts have begun to crystallise…
Doctor Whois 51 years old.
In fact, not only is copying inevitable for our favourite franchise, in many ways its positively expected.
Usually, when aWhoepisode parallels itself with an earlier story, this is either clearly signposted (e.g.
Dont get me wrong: weve seen this in Series 8.
Just nowhere near as much as in previous years.
Instead, there were quite a few episodes that felt strangely familiar without any real explanation.
A lone Dalek has been captured by humans and is chained up in a locked room.
The Doctor falls into this situation by accident but finds himself the victim of human aggression.
The Doctors companion challenges his prejudices towards the Daleks.
The captured Dalek, though at first subdued, breaks free to wreak havoc.
The captured Dalek eventually tells the Doctor that he would make a good Dalek.
The captured Dalek eventually chooses Dalek destruction.
The Doctors companion finds a human love interest.
Fords story was great.
In fact, I enjoyed it more than many others.
Dont those elements sound a bit… familiar?
Theyre all found in Robert Shearmans 2005Dalek.Does this make Fords episode bad?
Is it now un-enjoyable?
It may be fair to describe it as a tad derivative but its still a fun episode.
Whats so peculiar, however, is that Fords debt to Shearman is never owned on-screen.
The Doctor never quips (as inDeep Breath) about how it all feels strangely familiar.
Its just there, in the background.
Which forWhois a bit weird.
Thats not the only instance of this un-claimed debt appearing.
For example, Steven Thompson writer ofTime Heist seems to have a little thing for Series 7s Neil Cross.
Just like in CrossThe Rings Of Akhaten.
Just like in CrossHide.
Then theresThe Caretakerwhich is sort of like an invertedSchool Reunion.
Again: I loved this most recent series… Its a bit weird, though, isnt it?
Some havent enjoyed Clara this season.
Personally, Ive greatly enjoyed her character as well as Colemans performance.
(Lets face it: shell be back in December.)
Ill list a couple of these here.
First, Clara as Addict.
Many haveidentifiedthis already but its worth repeating.
We saw this theme emerge in MathiesonsMummy On The Orient Express.
InMummy, several weeks had passed, and they both decide to go for their one last hurrah.
In the episodes that follow we see Claras personality begin to change as her addiction takes hold.
Just before the credits roll, Clara demands a response from the Doctor:
Why cant you say it?
I was the Doctor, and I was good!
You were an exceptional Doctor, Clara he replies goodness hadnothingto do with it.
Claras addiction forces her character to change.
She repeatedly lied to those she loved.
She becomes desensitised to horrendous decisions.
She was even willing to kill the Master, until the Doctor intervened.
The problem is that the trajectory of addiction is not often pretty.
To put it crudely: addicts die.
In the light of this, itll certainly be interesting to see where Claras character goes next.
Second, Clara as Matriarch.
Then she meets Orson, and Clara is literally implied to be his Great Grandmother.
Later in the episode she encounters a young Doctor.
Upon returning to the TARDIS she demands that they leave and not investigate further.
When the Doctor protests this, Clara simply says: Do as youre told.
This line was then repeated in subsequent episodes, e.g.Death In Heaven.
Of course, this doesnt exhaust Clara as a character; there are undoubtedly other traits we could identify.
Nevertheless, its satisfying to see Clara being given these extra dimensions.
We first discovered the Twelfth Doctors disdain for all things military in Phil FordsInto The Dalek.
My initial unease was due to the fact that it felt a little out of character.
After all, he worked with UNIT.
He sincerely loved the Brigadier.
So it was indeed a trifle odd that he saw red when shown a uniform.
It might be tempting to address these as two separate themes strewn throughout the same 12 episodes.
However, the conclusion ofDeath In Heavendemonstrates that this would be a mistake.
I am not a good man!
And Im not a bad man I am not a hero, definitely not a president.
You know what I am?
Because Ive got them always them
Moffat has played an interesting game with the Twelfth Doctor.
By the end ofThe Eleventh Hourwe knew that Matt Smiths Doctor was indeed the Doctor.
This has nothing to do with Smiths superior acting chops.
(Youd be insane to suggest that Capaldi is lacking in that department.)
The whole point of this episode is that we dont really know who the Doctor is anymore.
More than this, theDoctordoesnt know who he really is!
From here the Doctor is on a journey to figure out who he actually is.
Is he a bad man who makes good decisions?
Or is he a good man struggling with bad temptations?
The Doctors epiphany is foreshadowed inFlatline I am the Doctor!
but now we see it come to fruition.
Finally the Doctor realises who he is.
In mypreviousDen of Geek article I noted thatWhohas, historically at least, been an ostensibly left-leaning franchise.
This is not exactly a controversial conclusion.
It was surprising, then, to see Series 8 seemingly swim against the current.
Im sure if one were to look through S8 one would identify a variety of interesting themes and topics.
Humanity as a whole (as well as the central characters) prospers because abortion is rejected.
Then theres the subject of gender.
Granted, Moffat haslongbeenaccusedof misogyny because of the way he is said to write female characters.
the Doctor and Danny).
She is forced to explain her life choices to them as well as her decisions.
Eventually, these two men assert their custodianship over Clara something she accepts as positively endearing.
As I saidhere,Doctor Whohas always had an agenda.
Granted, most voices have been left-leaning.
But occasionally they have been conservative too.
One doesnt have to agree with those voices to enjoy the episode.
Neither does the presence of these voices, with which you might disagree, necessarily render the episodes bad.
Rather, its simply and utterly fascinating to me that S8 has hosted these more conservative discussions.
Is it indicative of a lean to the right in certain contexts?
Or are these just the isolated voices of a couple of authors?
Im simply grateful thatWhois trying to engage with such important themes.
This has nothing to with the show growing up.
However, I would say its indicative of a burgeoning maturity.
(As cool as those might be.)
