DW 8.04. Listen.

[elisi]

Before I start:


I come across this a lot. ‘What is [insert specific issue from any episode] teaching our children?’

Or worse: ‘Doctor Who is telling our children to [insert most problematic interpretation possible of any episode]!’

The thing is, children are not little sponge-like automatons. I doubt a single one went and threw themselves in front of a lorry after seeing Donna doing so. (Although the ‘dying and waking up somewhere else’ part of Donna’s story (and the Ponds, repeatedly *g*) reminds me of The Brothers Lionheart by Astrid Lindgren. Don’t think any children tried jumping out of windows either.) Nor is Doctor Who a public service instruction guide for modifying child behaviour. It’s a family show whose aim is to entertain.

Plus, children are all different. Just like adults they like different things. They take different things away. So - as I can’t speak for anyone else - this was MY 8 year old’s main reaction to ‘Listen’:

Once it was revealed/implied who the little boy in the barn was she nearly fell of the sofa in sheer excitement. (I wish I was exaggerating.) And then had to TELL US how she WORKED IT OUT - and how THAT WAS THE DOCTOR and IT’S THE SAME BARN and so on. It made it rather hard to catch Clara’s lovely monologue, to be honest.

She is unlikely to ‘turn her back’ on scary things btw. When she has a nightmare she comes RUNNING TO OUR BEDROOM and stands outside the door telling us all about it. Until we either let her in our bed or walk her back to her own and settle her there. (Incidentally, Clara’s line - 'Do you know why dreams are called dreams? Because they’re not real' works an absolute treat.) Children are quite capable of separating fact from fiction. She has watched ‘Blink’ and thought it thoroughly underwhelming - that was supposed to be scary? The only thing that has properly freaked her out so far is ‘Journey to the Centre of the TARDIS’ - she DID NOT like ‘the burning lava people’. Oh, and there was the *adorable* time when she wouldn’t go to bed because she thought there might be Silents on her ceiling. I got around that one by pointing out that they are about 7 foot tall, and if they were hanging from her ceiling she would be bumping into them.

There is nothing wrong with pointing out problematic issues. But as the mother of three very different daughters, I know that there is nothing as simple as ‘children’. Although if you want to generalise, then I want to say that kids are smart. Which brings me to the actual meta...


Listen

Listen is basically the Doctor getting himself all worked up in the middle of the night and making Clara come check the closet for monsters.
(x)

This sounds flip, yet it is uncannily accurate. Because this episode is not about a monster or a problem that needs solving or saving a world - no, this episode is about the Doctor. Specifically, the Doctor’s fears. Not the big obvious ones, but childhood fears. Those deep fears we never talk about. He dresses it up in fancy words, does research, makes a good case - and yet, it’s all about his childhood nightmare. He wants to be proved right, even as he is scaring himself silly. (That is what both the scene in Rupert’s bedroom, and the one at the end of the universe, is all about. He is… not exactly rational.)

Because here’s the thing. The Doctor always takes children seriously.

AMY: So is this how it works, Doctor? You never interfere in the affairs of other peoples or planets, unless there's children crying?
DOCTOR: Yes.

In S6, we even had a whole episode dedicated to nightmares. From ‘Night Terrors’:



DOCTOR: It means I've come a long way to get here, Alex. A very long way. George sent a message. A distress call, if you like. Whatever's inside that cupboard is so terrible, so powerful, that it amplified the fears of an ordinary little boy across all the barriers of time and space.
ALEX: Eh?
DOCTOR: Through crimson stars and silent stars and tumbling nebulas like oceans set on fire. Through empires of glass and civilizations of pure thought, and a whole, terrible, wonderful universe of impossibilities. You see these eyes? They're old eyes. And one thing I can tell you, Alex. Monsters are real.

And because of children’s nightmares, the Doctor intervenes and changes children’s lives. Here’s a handful of examples:











Those five, specifically, have their lives altered by the Doctor (and in Melody’s case, he is the monster she is scared of). Well most of the children he meets have their lives altered (just look at George), but in these we see the consequences when they’re adults.

But this episode turns the tables - why is the Doctor so attuned to children? We have been given hints in the past - and now, finally, have the answer we suspected (with thanks to Owls):

DOCTOR: It's never easy being the only child left out in the cold.
NANCY: I suppose you'd know."
DOCTOR: I do, actually.
The Empty Child

REINETTE: Oh, Doctor. So lonely. So very, very alone.
DOCTOR: What do you mean, alone? You've never been alone in your life. When did you start calling me Doctor?
REINETTE: Such a lonely little boy. Lonely then and lonelier now. How can you bear it?
The Girl in the Fireplace

DOCTOR: Hundreds of parents walking past who spot her and not one of them's asking her what's wrong, which means they already know, and it's something they don't talk about. Secrets. They're not helping her, so it's something they're afraid of. Shadows, whatever they're afraid of, it's nowhere to be seen, which means it's everywhere.
The Beast Below

MAN: Why does he have to sleep out here?
WOMAN: He doesn’t want the others to hear him crying.
MAN: Why does he have to cry all the time?
WOMAN: You know why.
Listen

Every adult was once a child. And because Doctor Who is a timey-wimey kinda show, it often crosses from one time period to another, shows what was (or what will be):

DOCTOR: We all change, when you think about it. We're all different people all through our lives. And that's okay, that's good, you've got to keep moving, so long as you remember all the people that you used to be.

And we have seen all the people the Doctor used to be - but always the adult. Have seen how he interferes in the lives of his companions (and anyone else he comes into contact with). He is the Time Lord, the one with the power, the one who lays down ideas, the one whom their lives get shaped by, or around. (And in the case of Amy and River, people complained about this rather a lot.)

‘Listen’ turns that on its head. ‘Listen’ places the Doctor where the Companion/that week’s main character usually sits. The same place where little Rupert Pink is. (Just so we can’t miss the parallels.) Two little boys who grow up to choose their own name, yet go down different paths. But linked by a small plastic soldier without a gun… (What this show does with imagery is downright breathtaking in its clever simplicity. What defines that figure? The fact that he’s a soldier, or that he doesn’t have a gun? One figure, two meanings. It’s all very Clara.)

My point being: The Doctor was a child. And what’s more, he was a child just like the others we have seen. Frightened and alone.



We suspected this - see the quotes above - but he very rarely talks about his childhood (see ‘The Sound of Drums’ for an unusual glimpse). So what shaped him?

One answer: Clara.

She was the monster under the bed, and the quiet, reassuring voice in the darkness. (One Clara, two meanings. Clara is always opposites, simultaneously.) And what does she say?

I’m gonna leave you something just so you’ll always remember: Fear makes companions of us all.

I have seen quite a few people having issues with this. Which is understandable - it’s not easy to grapple with. People united in fear is not exactly something to be desired, is it? (Just look at Midnight.) Why on earth was that the line chosen for her to repeat and put emphasis on?

(I could point out that obviously the point of the whole thing is that fear is something that will always be there, how you choose to respond to it is what matters. But I can go deeper, so I will.)

You see, this is where I am, well, grateful that I hurt my foot. Because thanks to being generally immobile, I’ve had time to watch early Doctor Who. So far ‘An Unearthly Child’ and ‘The Daleks’. And it is fascinating what you discover…

From ‘An Unearthly Child’ (Part 2: ‘The Cave of Skulls’): The Doctor, Susan, Barbara and Ian have been captured by cavemen, who have tied them up and stashed them away in the Cave of Skulls of the title. They are trying to cut Ian's bonds so they can get free. The Doctor tells Barbara to try to remember the way they came so they can find their way back to the TARDIS once they're out

BARBARA (a little surprised): You're trying to help me.
DOCTOR (slightly mumbling): Yes, fear makes companions of all of us, Miss Wright.
BARBARA: I never thought you were afraid.
DOCTOR: Fear is with all of us and always will be. Just like that other sensation. Your companion referred to it.
BARBARA: Hope.
DOCTOR: Yes that's right. Hope.

So in one way - if you have an issue with this, go back to 1963 and confront the writer, Anthony Coburn. Because this very, very first Doctor Who story is… unsettling. There are no moral absolutes, or simple answers - just primitive, fearful people with a whole bunch of different motivations and impulses. Morally it’s hugely complicated and you'd be hard pressed to argue whether or not the cavemen are better or worse off at the end. And the Doctor is not the hero. Indeed it is not until 'The Daleks' that he begins to find any kind of moral certainty (Twelve was spot-on in ‘Into the Dalek’ to define himself in reaction against the Daleks - that is exactly what happens). Heroes are made, not born, and it is Ian and Barbara who make the moral decisions initially - the Doctor is interested in science, discovery and self-preservation. (If the macguffin that he needed to get the TARDIS to work hadn’t been left in the Dalek city, he’d have quite happily left the Thals to their fate. Not his problem!)

With yet more thanks to Owls, here is a perfect quote that illustrates what I mean:

“There used to be an idea that the role of the companion was to potter along beside [the Doctor] and have things explained to [them]; but I don’t think that’s true at all, it’s never been true. I think it’s a very dynamic relationship. I think the Doctor is this strange, occasionally often very dangerous man, and he needs to be in a dialogue with someone as strong as he is, intellectually and spiritually… to make him the hero he can be. Without that person by his side, that very special person, he’s nowhere, he’s a threat. I think if you look at all the great Doctor Who companions from the old series, from the new series, that’s what they do. I think they make him better, and him better saves us all.”
Moffat

So yes, Clara shapes him (by mirroring back everything she has been given so far, as she always does), but this has always been the case. ('My friends have always been the best of me.')

They all shape him, every one of them, and he becomes their Doctor.

Although all of this almost misses the point. Because at the heart of this, it’s just an immensely beautiful scene. Let’s go back to ‘A Christmas Carol’, as that is the story where the Doctor deliberately re-writes someone’s life:

DOCTOR: Did you ever get to see a fish, back then, when you were a kid?
SARDICK: What does that matter to you?
DOCTOR: Look how it mattered to you.
SARDICK: I cried all night, and I learned life's most invaluable lesson.
DOCTOR: Ah. Which is?
SARDICK: Nobody comes.

But the Doctor comes - and Kazran’s life is not the same. In the same way, Moffat here re-writes the Doctor’s life, except he does so in such a clever way that it fits seamlessly. (‘I didn’t rewrite it - you just didn’t know it happened until I showed you!’)

So, just like in ‘A Christmas Carol’, Clara comes to help a little boy who feels abandoned and lonely. I think it’s very important that Clara is someone who works with children, whatever shape that takes (junior entertainment manager, governess, nanny, teacher). Her specific role is one of protector/nurturer, which we first see in The Snowmen (she is very devoted to her young charges) and is then firmly established in The Rings of Akhaten. In the beginning it is shown when she instinctively follows Merry Gejelh, calms her panic and encourages her to overcome her fears. Later on, when the Doctor has gone to defeat the sun and failed, we see two flashbacks in her memory:

ELLIE [memory]: And I will always come and find you. Every single time.
DOCTOR [memory]: We don't walk away.

So she sets off to save the Doctor. Armed with a leaf and a story.

(And we see that she is furious in ‘Listen’ when the Doctor sends her away before the door opens, because he wants to see the monsters, but won’t allow her to stay.)

But she is not a warrior-protector like River (or say, Ace). She is the one who will find him when he’s lost. Who will remind him of who he is. Who will guide him when the path is uncertain. Who will protect him and tell him off and generally make sure he’s OK and not doing foolish things.

She is the one who will come to check the closet for monsters (even if she’s busy and not in the mood)... And soothe a frightened child to sleep.



~ ♥ ~

(She also happens to be the monster under the bed, but the question 'Clara Who?' is a subject for another post.)

Comments

[enevarim]

So beautiful. Thank you.

I still don't like the bit at the end where Clara doesn't tell the adult Doctor where they are and orders him not to try to find out (and I don't know why I have more trouble with this than with “You have to do this, and you can't ask why.” / “My life in your hands, Amelia Pond”, but I do), but you make me accept the Doctor not being intrinsically the Doctor without the Companions and the Monsters. The show was there, but without your meta I was resisting it. You continue to justify the ways of the show in a way that makes what seems arbitrary inevitable once you have explained it. Thank you very much for sharing.

[elisi]

So beautiful. Thank you.
Thank the show. It's just... gorgeous.

I still don't like the bit at the end where Clara doesn't tell the adult Doctor where they are and orders him not to try to find out (and I don't know why I have more trouble with this than with “You have to do this, and you can't ask why.” / “My life in your hands, Amelia Pond”, but I do)
I think that's perfectly logical. You shouldn't know stuff like that. Much like Clara doesn't want to know how long she'll live - except the other way around. Something that formative, so old... It should be left well alone.

but you make me accept the Doctor not being intrinsically the Doctor without the Companions and the Monsters.
It is FASCINATING watching the old show. You can see the bones of what it will become, but it's not there yet. It develops and grows before your eyes.

The show was there, but without your meta I was resisting it. You continue to justify the ways of the show in a way that makes what seems arbitrary inevitable once you have explained it. Thank you very much for sharing.
That makes me ridiculously happy! Thank you! ♥

[the-redjay.livejournal.com]

I still don't like the bit at the end where Clara doesn't tell the adult Doctor where they are and orders him not to try to find out
This was my initial response, too.

[promethia_tenk]

but you make me accept the Doctor not being intrinsically the Doctor without the Companions and the Monsters.
You've made me realize that this episode does something very, very interesting: which is flip our usual structuring of how the major elements of Who relate to each other. It's always been 'the Doctor and the monsters.' These two things generally mirror each other and the companion is the one who experiences them in relation to each other and to herself. But now we have 'the companion and the monsters.' And these two things are mirrored to each other and are even one and the same, and the Doctor is basically the 'subject' who experiences these two mighty forces in his life.

And now, for the first time, it feels like these three elements are truly of equal power? There's a three-way triangle going on here.

In response to your comment below:

It is fascinating, but before this episode I would have expected the party line to be that only someone with a Time Head would be qualified/trusted to see and then decide the repercussions of either making such a fundamental change 2000 years in someone's past, or concealing it once it has been made.

You're right. In the past the only people who get to do the kinds of things that Clara has done are basically Time Lords, or their rough equivalents, or their equals in power. *Not* humans. *Not* companions. And a big part of me takes this as fundamental proof that Clara cannot be these things. Or, rather, cannot be only these things.

But another part of me wonders if Moffat isn't instead performing a major restructuring of Doctor Who and truly making the companion a figure that can be an equal to the Doctor in all ways. Making that triangle of Doctor/monsters/companion equally weighted on all sides. Clara is the sort of ur-companion: the companion who has been with him all along, the companion who knows his name, the companion who gave him life. Why is she able to do these things? If the answer, in the end, is that she truly was 'just Clara.' If the answer is that she could do these things because she is the companion and that is exactly how important the companion is to the Doctor's life, then 'the companion' is never going to be quite the same role again.

[kikimay]

As I wrote in another comment, I find the final monologue so perfect and I instantly loved it.

As a person who lives with anxiety and a part-time babysitter, I think it's really important to tell children that fear is a thing, that everyone is afraid and that you have to learn how to accept and manage it (Not becoming an angry mob, but understanding the fear in the other and holding his hand) This episode spoke to me and I really love that Clara (the teacher) told the Doctor such important lesson.

Great meta!

[elisi]

As I wrote in another comment, I find the final monologue so perfect and I instantly loved it.
Same here. <3

As a person who lives with anxiety and a part-time babysitter, I think it's really important to tell children that fear is a thing, that everyone is afraid and that you have to learn how to accept and manage it (Not becoming an angry mob, but understanding the fear in the other and holding his hand)
*nods a lot*

This episode spoke to me and I really love that Clara (the teacher) told the Doctor such important lesson.
It's just beautiful and wonderful in every way.

Great meta!
Thank you!!!

[promethia_tenk]

Beautiful <3

[elisi]

It really is, isn't it? <3

[ragnarok-08.livejournal.com]

Wow - you make a lot of good points here and those make a lot of sense.

[elisi]

Thank you! I am to please. :)

[lilachigh.livejournal.com]

I am one of those people who have big issues with Listen. All your points are beautifully made and researched but can I add just one thing.

The world was an entirely different place when Dr Who first began - I should know, I was there! No internet, no discussions by fans or essays on what dialogue might or might not have meant. No one explained the hidden meanings, and I strongly suspect that there weren't any deliberately written in. We now read them into the scripts with back knowledge and our own life experiences. There were no computer games or films with monsters, just a scary childrens' programme, in black and white. The Tardis was a very familiar item to us. There was one on many street corners. It wasn't just a blue box, it was where you called the Police for help if you were in trouble and someone came to your rescue.

That year we had experienced the worst winter for 20 years, the first Beatle album, Kim Philby, the Great Train Robbery and the first of the dreadful Moor Murders. And on the night before Dr.Who, Kennedy was shot. On the very night of the first Dr Who, the police in Lancashire began investigating the disappearance of another Moors Murder, John Kilbride.

Our world was changing in a fast and terrible way, but we had our hero - who wasn't human! The Dr is an alien, a time traveller and so is different to us and able to deal with problems we struggle with. Now I am being told that apart from having two hearts and a brilliant brain, he and me are quite alike.

So perhaps my generation were - and still are - looking for a hero.

And sadly I find Clara's little fear speech terrifying. Fear can certainly bring you together to fight for something you think is right - World War II - Apartheid, the Troubles in Ireland. But fear also started all those events. Fear as a constant companion is a horrible, horrible concept.

[elisi]

As it happens, I dealt with this in a previous post. I shall copy & paste the relevant part, and then expand on my point.

Doctor Who (the character, the story of the show, as opposed to the show itself) is England/Britain (post-Empire), trying to come to terms with where we're at now. This is not deliberate, I don’t think, but the story of Britain in the past 50 years is clearly reflected in the show. Gallifrey was known as the Shining World of the Seven Systems, and at the peak of its power, it was often said that "the sun never sets on the British Empire", because its span across the globe ensured that the sun was always shining on at least one of its numerous territories. But the glory days of Gallifrey were over by the time the Doctor ran away; the Time Lords a bunch of daft old geezers in silly hats arguing amongst themselves. Until the re-booted show when they (and their once great empire) was gone for good - and the Doctor was left alone, trying to work out who and what he was now.

Because the Doctor is every inch the ‘Scion of Empire’ - the Englishman abroad. (The Doctor: “Just walk about like you own the place. Works for me.”) Everyone else is ‘a foreigner’ to him. (It is technically impossible for an Englishman to be a foreigner. Just so you know.) But now he has lost all the underpinnings of his heritage & privilege.

ETA: Meant to include this, as it perfectly illustrates my point - all the privilege, as well as 'the white man's burden':



But - who is he now? How does he interact with the world? Well he falters, and he makes bad choices, and he (grudgingly) ‘dies’, fading from the world he used to rule. However - if necessary, he can still create magic: just look at the London 2012 Olympics & Paralympics. (The opening & closing ceremonies of which, incidentally, played upon allll the levels above.)

Now the fascinating thing is that Bond (the other great British icon, who - along with Sherlock - makes up the trifecta of homegrown heroes) has been going through exactly the same thing in Skyfall. Except Bond is less coded than Doctor Who, and could tackle the issue more directly, leading to M quoting this wonderful poem which sums it all up:

Though much is taken, much abides; and though
We are not now that strength which in old days
Moved earth and heaven; that which we are, we are;
One equal temper of heroic hearts,
Made weak by time and fate, but strong in will
To strive, to seek, to find, and not to yield.

Alfred, Lord Tennyson (1809-1892) 1833

[elisi]

Going with James Bond first (as that is a more blunt and direct example) then compare and contrast James Bond in Dr No and Skyfall.

The first is suave, competent, supremely confident.

The second is... not doing too well. He tries to hide, he drinks too much, he fails all the tests. The bad guy laughs in his face when he talks about Queen and country.

Bond and Doctor Who reflect the time when they're made. In the 60s things were still clear-cut, familiar, reassuring. The empire might have mostly crumbled, but the basic structure still held. Now? Well, now Scotland very almost up and left. As M says in her speech: The world is more opaque. And she is frightened.

Doctor Who reflects that too. And since the post I copied above was written before Day of the Doctor aired, I now know that Gallifrey isn't gone completely - yet it is not accessible. If we want to work out who we are now, we need to do it on our own. We have to find our way home, but it'll be difficult. And when we get there (if ever), it won't be what it was.

So yes, the Doctor is no longer on a pedestal. And fear is something that is always with us. Pretending otherwise is foolish. The Doctor can lie, but lies will only carry us so far:

DOCTOR: You know when grown-ups tell you everything's going to be fine and you think they're probably lying to make you feel better?
AMELIA: Yes.
DOCTOR: Everything's going to be fine.

Funnily enough, this ties in with my mini-rant at the start. Kids are smart and shouldn't be lied to. Yes, fear as a constant companion is a horrible concept. But it's also honest. The Doctor comes, and the Doctor helps, and - more importantly - the Doctor understands. (Oooooh. That's Christianity and the incarnation, right there. The Doctor understands because he is - in his own way - one of us. Would you rather a god that sits on a cloud, or one that walks with us?) <- If that's all too religious, blame the fact that I'm off to church in a minute. ;)

[a-phoenixdragon.livejournal.com]

Beautiful...and correct from beginning to end. something I've always found funny in the fight about every episode we see: sometimes, people miss the point. Go ask a seven year old (or several) and then you will find the spark, the hope...the fear defeated that makes companions of us all.

To me, that's what it means. We all know fear. We all have our own demons and darkness and shadows and skeletons haunting us. This is what unites us all. We all have these things, we all understand them...and we understand that bit in the middle that can be hard to see unless you are looking for it. Hope. THAT is what unites us. Look beyond the fear to what lies ahead. It is not a fallacy that there is safety in numbers...physically, within our minds (think that's why we create friends for ourselves...to have a hand to hold). To have someone stand with us, remind us, help us think and make us better - that is the point. So yes...fear brings us together. And united we can find that hope (and capture it and be BETTER PEOPLE TOGETHER) on the other side of the fear.

I did find it funny (and yet, not at all surprising), that Clara was the monster under the bed and the nanny to soothe a frightened and confused and lonely child. Makes sense, really...

*HUGS*

[elisi]

Beautiful...and correct from beginning to end. something I've always found funny in the fight about every episode we see: sometimes, people miss the point. Go ask a seven year old (or several) and then you will find the spark, the hope...the fear defeated that makes companions of us all.
It's not a bad impulse, but people just take it too far - especially if they are working from abstracts rather than real people and situations.

To me, that's what it means. We all know fear. We all have our own demons and darkness and shadows and skeletons haunting us. This is what unites us all. We all have these things, we all understand them...and we understand that bit in the middle that can be hard to see unless you are looking for it. Hope. THAT is what unites us. Look beyond the fear to what lies ahead
“I must not fear. Fear is the mind-killer. Fear is the little-death that brings total obliteration. I will face my fear. I will permit it to pass over me and through me. And when it has gone past I will turn the inner eye to see its path. Where the fear has gone there will be nothing. Only I will remain.” Oh wait, wrong story... ;) (Somehow that just sprung into my head. Couldn't help myself. SORRY.)

It is not a fallacy that there is safety in numbers...physically, within our minds (think that's why we create friends for ourselves...to have a hand to hold). To have someone stand with us, remind us, help us think and make us better - that is the point. So yes...fear brings us together. And united we can find that hope (and capture it and be BETTER PEOPLE TOGETHER) on the other side of the fear.
"Do you get scared on ghost trains? I get a bit scared. So it OK if I hold your hand?" (The Doctor to Amy in 'Good Night')

I did find it funny (and yet, not at all surprising), that Clara was the monster under the bed and the nanny to soothe a frightened and confused and lonely child. Makes sense, really...
She is Schrodinger's companion. Oh yes. :)

[kaffy_r]

She was the monster under the bed, and the quiet, reassuring voice in the darkness. (One Clara, two meanings. Clara is always opposites, simultaneously.)

You may have turned this episode around for me. I need to go back and read more of your metas, but I wanted you to know that yes, you really may have improved this episode for me. So have some of the wonderfully perceptive thoughts of people who have commented. Man, I've needed to drop by here for some time, and I'm glad I finally did.

[elisi]

To indulge in some outrageous self-pimp: Read my Clara meta.

This whole episode was so Clara it's ridiculous. ♥

(And I am SO PLEASED I might have turned it around for you. :) :) :) )

[green-maia.livejournal.com]

I've often been struck by how often Moffat has mentioned the Doctor's childhood in his episodes - going, as you point out, all the way back to "The Empty Child" - it's something I always notice and love. (There was also, a few years ago, the cradle the Doctor slept in as a baby - I think that might be the only time we've ever had a reference to the Doctor's babyhood - I loved that.)

[elisi]

Oooh his cradle! Yes. Can't believe I forgot that. Not that it was directly relevant, but as a direct physical link to his past - yes. He was a baby once. And I love the way the show grounds people, how no one is static. They were children once. Look at, for example, Dr Simeon from the Snowmen - everything tied back to when he was a little boy and his snowman spoke to him. You can't separate the child from the adult, and that's actually a very important lesson the show is trying to impart - how you treat a child will impact them for life.

[ever-neutral.livejournal.com]

Well said. An A+ tribute to an A+ episode.

She also happens to be the monster under the bed

ALKSJF;OIS!!

Clara being the Doctor's teacher is absolutely the best thing about the current season. And if they really go somewhere with monster!Clara I'll be over the moon.

[elisi]

Well said. An A+ tribute to an A+ episode.
♥ ♥ ♥

ALKSJF;OIS!!
Twice. When Rupert is scared that something's there, what does she say? (from memory):

CLARA: Do you know what's under your bed?
RUPERT (uncertain): No?
CLARA: Me! (and proceeds to crawl under it)

Clara being the Doctor's teacher is absolutely the best thing about the current season.
It really works. And makes me very happy.

And if they really go somewhere with monster!Clara I'll be over the moon.
She has been monster'd from the start. (Note icon.) If they don't go somewhere with it, I'll eat my cat. (This is why she'll get her own post.)

[kalypso-v.livejournal.com]

So grateful to you for picking up that "Fear makes companions of us all" is a line spoken by the First Doctor to Barbara at the very beginning - I would never have thought of that, though I did grasp that placing Clara at Coal Hill School (and setting her up with a fellow teacher) identifies her as the modern Barbara, with all the responsibility for challenging the Doctor which that role implies.

I think Clara's speech acknowledges Midnight, too - and that we're meant to remember that nightmare of an episode when we hear noises that may or may not be someone knocking on the outside of a stranded ship. "Fear doesn't have to make you cruel or cowardly; fear can make you kind." She admits that fear can make people cruel and cowardly, as it did with so many of the passengers on Midnight, but she explains to the not-yet-Doctor how he can use it as a positive force, something that gets you home, something that makes people companions rather than monsters.

And the Doctor's arrival insisting that he needed her for a thing reminded me irresistibly of a child demanding that she come out to play.

[elisi]

So grateful to you for picking up that "Fear makes companions of us all" is a line spoken by the First Doctor to Barbara at the very beginning - I would never have thought of that
It wouldn't have occurred to me either - like I said, it was fortuitous timing. And suddenly things just fell into place. :)

though I did grasp that placing Clara at Coal Hill School (and setting her up with a fellow teacher) identifies her as the modern Barbara, with all the responsibility for challenging the Doctor which that role implies.
And we might get Danny too, so we have an Ian also. (And Danny is already set up as a contrast and mirror. I really can't wait for them to meet!)

I think Clara's speech acknowledges Midnight, too - and that we're meant to remember that nightmare of an episode when we hear noises that may or may not be someone knocking on the outside of a stranded ship.
As did the scene before, with the actual knocking. And the Doctor being stupidly curious...

"Fear doesn't have to make you cruel or cowardly; fear can make you kind." She admits that fear can make people cruel and cowardly, as it did with so many of the passengers on Midnight, but she explains to the not-yet-Doctor how he can use it as a positive force, something that gets you home, something that makes people companions rather than monsters.
I saw it more directly as a link back to Day of the Doctor:
Clara: You told be the name you chose was a promise. What was the promise?
Ten: Never cruel or cowardly.
War Doctor: Never give up. Never give in.
And of course, implicit in that is the fact that people are often cruel or cowardly, and this is something he rejects.

And the Doctor's arrival insisting that he needed her for a thing reminded me irresistibly of a child demanding that she come out to play.
YES! That's what I was hinting at with 'She is the one who will come to check the closet for monsters (even if she’s busy and not in the mood)' - it's a sort of role-reversal, where the companion is the sensible adult and the Doctor is the child wanting to go have adventures. Made possible, I think, because Clara right from the start set boundaries. She has only ever travelled part time. The Doctor is her 'hobby', not her life.

[thisbluespirit]

♥

I'm trying to think of something more sensible to say than that this is very pretty, but in the meantime... your meta is very pretty!

[elisi]

Well that's a wonderful thing to say. Thank you! (The show is so beautiful that I try my best to somehow, in my own small way, to match it... ♥)

[frelling-tralk.livejournal.com]

Wonderful meta, thank you :)

[elisi]

Thank you for reading! ♥

[sea_thoughts]

Gallifrey isn't Time Locked, the Time War is. Gallifrey before and up to the Time War is fair game in my head so of course the TARDIS can land during the Doctor's childhood before it's all happened. And since Gallifrey is now in a different universe, it still exists.

Really loved Clara's role in this episode, simultaneously being the comforting voice and the hand beneath the bed. But of course she would be: the very first time we met her (if we're counting Oswin Oswald), she was both the saviour of the Doctor and his arch enemy all in one, at the same time.

[elisi]

Gallifrey isn't Time Locked, the Time War is.
No it isn't! Gallifrey vanished. The Daleks killed each other in the crossfire. (Of course that leaves the problem of the monsters spoken of in various places, but I think a lot of them were consequences of the war, so if the war disappeared, so did the monsters.) But according to Day of the Doctor, there never was a time lock. (Yes, it retcons parts of other stories, but hey - time can be re-written!)

Gallifrey before and up to the Time War is fair game in my head so of course the TARDIS can land during the Doctor's childhood before it's all happened. And since Gallifrey is now in a different universe, it still exists.
Anyway, yes. :)

Really loved Clara's role in this episode, simultaneously being the comforting voice and the hand beneath the bed. But of course she would be: the very first time we met her (if we're counting Oswin Oswald), she was both the saviour of the Doctor and his arch enemy all in one, at the same time.
That's it. Did you read my Clara meta? (Schrödinger’s Companion) It's all set up beautifully.

[purplefringe.livejournal.com]

Am not going to have another word-splosion in your comments this time (er…sorry about the last one!) BUT I just had to say that as every this is true and perfect, and this was my favourite:

She was the monster under the bed, and the quiet, reassuring voice in the darkness. (One Clara, two meanings. Clara is always opposites, simultaneously.)

Schrodinger's companion. Clara in-and-out-of-the-box. Clara who, at one point, some of us thought might *BE* the box (remember all the Clara-is-or-is-linked-to-the-TARDIS theories?). Clara whose biggest fear is being lost, so she instinctively works to make sure that others (including the whole population of Gallifrey!) are found and kept safe (I'm lost and I'm found and I'm hungry like the wolf) Clara who attracted the Doctor because she was a mystery, and she was dead, then went on to help him save people and de-mystify a terrifying hole in his own past.

I LOVE HER AND I LOVE HIM AND I LOVE STEVEN MOFFAT AND I LOVE YOUR BRAIN. That is all.

[elisi]

Am not going to have another word-splosion in your comments this time (er…sorry about the last one!)
NEVER apologise!

BUT I just had to say that as every this is true and perfect, and this was my favourite:
<3 <3 <3

Schrodinger's companion. Clara in-and-out-of-the-box. Clara who, at one point, some of us thought might *BE* the box (remember all the Clara-is-or-is-linked-to-the-TARDIS theories?).
You know, there is SOMETHING there. *pokes Clara*

Clara whose biggest fear is being lost, so she instinctively works to make sure that others (including the whole population of Gallifrey!) are found and kept safe
... Somehow I never connected those particular dots. Damn, that's brilliant. 'She is scared of being lost so she finds people and keeps them safe.' I'm going to staple that to my forehead!

(I'm lost and I'm found and I'm hungry like the wolf)
It's the wolf part that I'm intrigued by. She keeps getting monster'd. Why why why? (I have no answers. But like I said, there's something there.)

Clara who attracted the Doctor because she was a mystery, and she was dead, then went on to help him save people and de-mystify a terrifying hole in his own past.
Clara is All The Things. (And she needs her own post.)

I LOVE HER AND I LOVE HIM AND I LOVE STEVEN MOFFAT AND I LOVE YOUR BRAIN. That is all.
AND I LOVE YOU TOO! ♥

[radiolaires]

YES, all the connections! I nodded a lot during that one. To children being smart, to the Doctor taking children seriously (and all the connections to the previous children in his live), to Clara being always the one to find him and bring him home, to the Doctor being shaped by his companions (and in this episode quite literally durably imprinted by Clara which leads to something I will post). Everything.

Most striking is the parallel you draw with Christmas Carol, which is one of Moffat's finest work. Because this episode also deals with Kazran's fear of becoming his father. The Doctor is constantly afraid of becoming this dangerous being -natural Time Lord tendency-, and the companion shapes him away from it. Little, human rewrites that do not need a time-travelling machine.

Although in this case, something tells me Clara's arc will partly involve her "corrupting" the Doctor. Namely affecting him in a manner that could be dangerous in the future, for someone who is decidedly more alien than the last incarnation. This stems mainly from the fact that Clara is the reason he was afraid of the dark in the first place. But I start talking about trauma and that's another discussion.

Thank you for sharing this meaty, always delicious arranged meta!

[elisi]

YES, all the connections! I nodded a lot during that one.
:D

To children being smart, to the Doctor taking children seriously (and all the connections to the previous children in his live), to Clara being always the one to find him and bring him home, to the Doctor being shaped by his companions (and in this episode quite literally durably imprinted by Clara which leads to something I will post). Everything.
Looking forward to your post, and am happy that my things rang true. It's always reassuring. <3

Most striking is the parallel you draw with Christmas Carol, which is one of Moffat's finest work. Because this episode also deals with Kazran's fear of becoming his father.
Oh there's a ton of parallels (points to icon) - I really ought to write it all up at some point.

The Doctor is constantly afraid of becoming this dangerous being -natural Time Lord tendency-, and the companion shapes him away from it. Little, human rewrites that do not need a time-travelling machine.
Oh that's a beautiful way of putting it.

Although in this case, something tells me Clara's arc will partly involve her "corrupting" the Doctor. Namely affecting him in a manner that could be dangerous in the future, for someone who is decidedly more alien than the last incarnation. This stems mainly from the fact that Clara is the reason he was afraid of the dark in the first place.
Hmmmm. I don't think so. He was afraid already (just like Rupert), although presumably it because of the Schism. I see Clara more like Barbara. Everything is sort of a modern reboot, with Twelve as the new One, and now Clara as the new teacher who helps him find his way. (Need to watch more of One's adventures, and pay more attention to Barbara/Clara parallels - I had slotted her into the grandaugher box, but by now Barbara is a far better fit.)

Thank you for sharing this meaty, always delicious arranged meta!
Thank you for reading & sharing your thoughts!

[flowsoffire.livejournal.com]

Nor is Doctor Who a public service instruction guide for modifying child behaviour. It’s a family show whose aim is to entertain.
Yes, goodness. Thank you. Simple truths need to be said. (I was also somewhat confused by the issue arising in this episode because… the message was good? You mentioned Clara's line about dreams not being real, there's also Twelve's about how fear makes you strong. Embrace your fears, your anxieties, learn they're a part of you and learn to face them? That's sure bad…)

I DIED at the Cherub thinking there were Silents on her ceiling too. Goodness, that's too cute XD And your solution to the problem cracked me up as well. Sensible Parenting Gets It Right.

Anyway, on to the actual meta :) I love the way you explain the Doctor's state of mind and how it drives the whole episode—once you start on that idea, it all falls together much more smoothly. With all the parallels with all the other children with their very own nightmares, and all the meaningful lines that call back to the Doctor's very own experience. The episode turning the tables on him, with all the parallels with little Rupert—that's very clever indeed… (And the dual meanings ♥)

AND CLASSIC!WHO PARALLELS. ♥ I am enthusiastic about this. ♥ One is so unsettling at first, indeed, because he is not all about morals, nor close to humans at all—he seems to shift as time goes on, with Ian and Barbara. His defining himself against the Daleks… Oh yes.

 I think the Doctor is this strange, occasionally often very dangerous man, and he needs to be in a dialogue with someone as strong as he is, intellectually and spiritually… to make him the hero he can be. Without that person by his side, that very special person, he’s nowhere, he’s a threat.
Oh, this is so true—thanks for sharing that quote. From the Time Lord Victorious to "Don’t be alone, Doctor," and really throughout the history of the show… it’s always so, so true. He needs them to keep him grounded…

And so much love for Clara and children, pretty much ever ♥

[elisi]

Yes, goodness. Thank you. Simple truths need to be said. (I was also somewhat confused by the issue arising in this episode because… the message was good?
Clearly you did not blunder into the posts I did...

You mentioned Clara's line about dreams not being real, there's also Twelve's about how fear makes you strong. Embrace your fears, your anxieties, learn they're a part of you and learn to face them? That's sure bad…
Don't get me started. /o\

I DIED at the Cherub thinking there were Silents on her ceiling too. Goodness, that's too cute XD And your solution to the problem cracked me up as well. Sensible Parenting Gets It Right.
You learn to improvise. ;)

I love the way you explain the Doctor's state of mind and how it drives the whole episode—once you start on that idea, it all falls together much more smoothly. With all the parallels with all the other children with their very own nightmares, and all the meaningful lines that call back to the Doctor's very own experience. The episode turning the tables on him, with all the parallels with little Rupert—that's very clever indeed…
A lot of the time, that's all it takes - make sure you're watching from 'the place' as it were, and everything follows smoothly.

And the dual meanings ♥
Oh they're always there. :)

AND CLASSIC!WHO PARALLELS. ♥ I am enthusiastic about this. ♥
I REALLY wish I had time to watch more.

One is so unsettling at first, indeed, because he is not all about morals, nor close to humans at all—he seems to shift as time goes on, with Ian and Barbara. His defining himself against the Daleks… Oh yes.
It's all baby steps. And he's SO YOUNG. Bless him.

Oh, this is so true—thanks for sharing that quote. From the Time Lord Victorious to "Don’t be alone, Doctor," and really throughout the history of the show… it’s always so, so true. He needs them to keep him grounded…
We see this so very clearly in the early stories... Of course he's far more aware of his failings now, and has a much better developed sense of morals, but he loses perspective. I loved the quote because it said exactly what I was thinking, pretty much. :)

And so much love for Clara and children, pretty much ever ♥
Absolutely!