On the significance of Clara's birthdate - meta and speculation
[Spoilers for up to and including The Snowmen (click to open)]
"Nothing is truly forgotten. And if it can be remembered, it can be brought back."
-The Doctor, The Pandorica Opens/ The Big Bang
"Remember me, for we shall meet again"
-Clara's tombstone, The Snowmen
"We are all stories, in the end."
-River Song, The Pandorica Opens/ The Big Bang
Clara Oswin Oswald's tombstone says that she was born November 23rd 1866 and died December 24th 1892.
She shares Doctor Who's birthdate, which first aired on November 23rd 1963, 50 years ago.
She also died at the age of 26. Doctor Who was cancelled in 1989 after 26 years. There was an aborted revival attempt in 1996 that lasted a single episode.
Clara has now died twice, two versions lasting for a single episode each. But a third, 21st century version will be the one that finally sticks and travels with the Doctor.
The 21st re-launch of Doctor Who was made by people who remembered the old series and did everything they could for it to be brought back.
To spell it out further, Clara is a representation of Doctor Who, and so when she dies she shows up again in a new era while still being essentially the same. When she dies, she urges us, talking straight to camera, to remember her and for the clever Doctor to keep running.
Also, in both incarnations of Oswin we've seen, her job was attending children, as a 'junior entertainment manager' and a governess. But that's not all she does. There's a duality to her. Either scaring us as a Dalek (part and parcel of Doctor Who from 1963), or attending to the adults as a barmaid. Both children and adults love her and the whole family mourned her loss.
In 'The Snowmen', the Doctor remarks that the Great Intelligence "rings a bell". Was he being ironic, or did he truly not completely remember them?
The Great Intelligence was an enemy in old Doctor Who episodes from the Troughton era that are missing from the archives. Maybe the Doctor's memory loss is a reference to the episodes being lost?
"Doctor Who?" is a question that's being reiterated a lot in the series lately. Part and parcel of the storyline where the Universe has forgotten the Doctor? Hinting towards a storyline where the Doctor is losing his memories? Could the latter be a symptom of the former, because in Moffat's stories there's an equivalence between being remembered and existing? Then there's story of how Silence Will Fall when The Question Is Asked on The Fields of Trenzalore and the mystery of the Doctor's name being brought into the series as well. Will we see how River learns his name?
Will this stuff play into the 50th anniversary special? Where is Clara's story going? What's the only situation in which the Doctor could ever tell someone his name? Hoping to spark some speculation and theories with this post.
x-posted to doctorwho
"Nothing is truly forgotten. And if it can be remembered, it can be brought back."
-The Doctor, The Pandorica Opens/ The Big Bang
"Remember me, for we shall meet again"
-Clara's tombstone, The Snowmen
"We are all stories, in the end."
-River Song, The Pandorica Opens/ The Big Bang
Clara Oswin Oswald's tombstone says that she was born November 23rd 1866 and died December 24th 1892.
She shares Doctor Who's birthdate, which first aired on November 23rd 1963, 50 years ago.
She also died at the age of 26. Doctor Who was cancelled in 1989 after 26 years. There was an aborted revival attempt in 1996 that lasted a single episode.
Clara has now died twice, two versions lasting for a single episode each. But a third, 21st century version will be the one that finally sticks and travels with the Doctor.
The 21st re-launch of Doctor Who was made by people who remembered the old series and did everything they could for it to be brought back.
To spell it out further, Clara is a representation of Doctor Who, and so when she dies she shows up again in a new era while still being essentially the same. When she dies, she urges us, talking straight to camera, to remember her and for the clever Doctor to keep running.
Also, in both incarnations of Oswin we've seen, her job was attending children, as a 'junior entertainment manager' and a governess. But that's not all she does. There's a duality to her. Either scaring us as a Dalek (part and parcel of Doctor Who from 1963), or attending to the adults as a barmaid. Both children and adults love her and the whole family mourned her loss.
In 'The Snowmen', the Doctor remarks that the Great Intelligence "rings a bell". Was he being ironic, or did he truly not completely remember them?
The Great Intelligence was an enemy in old Doctor Who episodes from the Troughton era that are missing from the archives. Maybe the Doctor's memory loss is a reference to the episodes being lost?
"Doctor Who?" is a question that's being reiterated a lot in the series lately. Part and parcel of the storyline where the Universe has forgotten the Doctor? Hinting towards a storyline where the Doctor is losing his memories? Could the latter be a symptom of the former, because in Moffat's stories there's an equivalence between being remembered and existing? Then there's story of how Silence Will Fall when The Question Is Asked on The Fields of Trenzalore and the mystery of the Doctor's name being brought into the series as well. Will we see how River learns his name?
Will this stuff play into the 50th anniversary special? Where is Clara's story going? What's the only situation in which the Doctor could ever tell someone his name? Hoping to spark some speculation and theories with this post.
x-posted to doctorwho