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Moffat talking about the new companion + my thoughts on the Doctor being a story & mirrors
From here.
(Spoilers up to, and including, Dinosaurs on a Spaceship.)
“We are going to do the story properly of the Doctor having lost a friend and making a new one. We’re not taking that lightly. It’s not in one door out the other. It’s the story of how all that affects him, why he engages with somebody else and what’s going on with that – that’s all important.
What does Jenna bring to it? It’s surprising just how much the show changes with a new co-star. The Doctor is quite different with her, and the way you watch them is quite different. You watched the Eleventh Doctor and Amy arrive together. It’s like they grew up in the same sandpit, playing. They felt not quite like equals – the Doctor never feels like an equal to his companion – but you knew them equally well and they were equally important to each other. They formed around each other. And one of the interesting things about writing the Doctor is that he’s so responsive to the people around him. It’s almost like left on his own his personality would slowly disintegrate. He becomes what people want him to be, a little bit. So he’s Amy’s Raggedy Doctor.
With a different companion he becomes a slightly different man. He dresses differently. The mere fact that he’s so much taller than her suddenly reveals that Matt Smith is very tall, not, as people assume, about average height, because he was about the same height as Karen. He’s the senior man, not in the sense that he’s more important but he’s the one you know already, and he’s training up a new one, as it were. In these five episodes the Doctor is practically the adopted son of Amy and Rory. He’s gone from being the wonderful man from space – Space Gandalf, as he wants to be – to being that troublesome kid that they try and keep under control. They even talked about getting babysitters for him in one unfortunately cut scene. They love him, but they know he’s a big kid, they know they have to look out for him, check he eats and all that. Whereas with the new companion he’s back to being the mysterious spacefarer.
And this never goes away, this thrill – you want to see the reaction when you see it’s bigger on the inside, you want to see the count the hearts moment, you want the story to begin again. And that’s what it gives you. It gives you Doctor Who at its most iconic, because a new person is having to learn the rules – and you’ve seen that story how many times now? I don’t think you ever get tired of it.”
Now the thing that really struck me was:
'It’s almost like left on his own his personality would slowly disintegrate. He becomes what people want him to be, a little bit.'
Because it very much echoes what I wrote in one of my fics:
'When you become a story, you belong to others, and there is no simple truth.'
The Doctor is a mirror, is designed to be a mirror. Rose's Doctor was different to Martha's who was different to Donna's... We even had River remark upon this in-story.
Also I found it interesting to see Moffat talking about how Amy and Rory view the Doctor in light of 'Dinosaurs on a Spaceship', as the Doctor's demeanour was so vastly different when he was with his Companions (bright, daft) as when he was apart (very low-key, bordering on grim). He really is a mirror, reflecting what people see, which is why travelling alone is so bad for him - he can only reflect himself, and as his mirrors are often dark (hi there Dreamlord) it very easily turns bad.
Which means that yes, he is a story, and yes it's important what kind of story (hi AGMGTW). Which again ties into what kind of people he surrounds himself with, and what they see in him, because that is what he becomes.
And this makes River's statement that he is 'The best man she has ever known' not some kind of over-the-top declaration, but a very significant standard for him to hold himself to. (Especially as River is in many ways his dark mirror.) Plus, of course, being storyless - Solomon doesn't know who he is - frees him up in many ways. Solomon is not holding him to any standards at all...
And that's as far as my rambling goes for now.
(Spoilers up to, and including, Dinosaurs on a Spaceship.)
“We are going to do the story properly of the Doctor having lost a friend and making a new one. We’re not taking that lightly. It’s not in one door out the other. It’s the story of how all that affects him, why he engages with somebody else and what’s going on with that – that’s all important.
What does Jenna bring to it? It’s surprising just how much the show changes with a new co-star. The Doctor is quite different with her, and the way you watch them is quite different. You watched the Eleventh Doctor and Amy arrive together. It’s like they grew up in the same sandpit, playing. They felt not quite like equals – the Doctor never feels like an equal to his companion – but you knew them equally well and they were equally important to each other. They formed around each other. And one of the interesting things about writing the Doctor is that he’s so responsive to the people around him. It’s almost like left on his own his personality would slowly disintegrate. He becomes what people want him to be, a little bit. So he’s Amy’s Raggedy Doctor.
With a different companion he becomes a slightly different man. He dresses differently. The mere fact that he’s so much taller than her suddenly reveals that Matt Smith is very tall, not, as people assume, about average height, because he was about the same height as Karen. He’s the senior man, not in the sense that he’s more important but he’s the one you know already, and he’s training up a new one, as it were. In these five episodes the Doctor is practically the adopted son of Amy and Rory. He’s gone from being the wonderful man from space – Space Gandalf, as he wants to be – to being that troublesome kid that they try and keep under control. They even talked about getting babysitters for him in one unfortunately cut scene. They love him, but they know he’s a big kid, they know they have to look out for him, check he eats and all that. Whereas with the new companion he’s back to being the mysterious spacefarer.
And this never goes away, this thrill – you want to see the reaction when you see it’s bigger on the inside, you want to see the count the hearts moment, you want the story to begin again. And that’s what it gives you. It gives you Doctor Who at its most iconic, because a new person is having to learn the rules – and you’ve seen that story how many times now? I don’t think you ever get tired of it.”
Now the thing that really struck me was:
'It’s almost like left on his own his personality would slowly disintegrate. He becomes what people want him to be, a little bit.'
Because it very much echoes what I wrote in one of my fics:
'When you become a story, you belong to others, and there is no simple truth.'
The Doctor is a mirror, is designed to be a mirror. Rose's Doctor was different to Martha's who was different to Donna's... We even had River remark upon this in-story.
Also I found it interesting to see Moffat talking about how Amy and Rory view the Doctor in light of 'Dinosaurs on a Spaceship', as the Doctor's demeanour was so vastly different when he was with his Companions (bright, daft) as when he was apart (very low-key, bordering on grim). He really is a mirror, reflecting what people see, which is why travelling alone is so bad for him - he can only reflect himself, and as his mirrors are often dark (hi there Dreamlord) it very easily turns bad.
Which means that yes, he is a story, and yes it's important what kind of story (hi AGMGTW). Which again ties into what kind of people he surrounds himself with, and what they see in him, because that is what he becomes.
And this makes River's statement that he is 'The best man she has ever known' not some kind of over-the-top declaration, but a very significant standard for him to hold himself to. (Especially as River is in many ways his dark mirror.) Plus, of course, being storyless - Solomon doesn't know who he is - frees him up in many ways. Solomon is not holding him to any standards at all...
And that's as far as my rambling goes for now.