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.
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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.