meta: Run, You Clever Boy.... - The Bells of Saint John
First of all, hurrah that the show is back and what a great ep! Secondly - well, nothing secondly, except here is meta! Featuring nursery rhymes and Celtic myth, the Question and the Quest, the mirrors and the web, forests and leaves. Oh, and Chairs.
First up, we have the title. The Bells of Saint John can be linked back to the traditional British nursery rhyme Oranges and Lemons which lists bells in and around London. We have heard part of this rhyme before in The God Complex:
Here comes a candle to light you to bed, here comes a chopper to chop off your head. Chop, chop chop!
In the nursery rhyme, for the bells of Saint Johns we have this:
Pokers and tongs say the bells of Saint Johns.
The chapel of Saint John, which the bells of the nursery rhyme refer to, is one of the oldest in London and is situated in the Tower of London in the White Tower. There’s a mythological link here: the Tower of London was believed to have been built on the White Hill which features in the Celtic myth of Bran the Blessed. In the myth, the God Bran’s head is buried there, under the very location where the White Tower now stands. Bran was seen as a protector of the British Isles and it was said that for as long as his head was buried there, Britain would be safe from invasion (though King Arthur later dug it up saying his own great strength would protect the country). Bran was also both warrior and healer, so he and the Doctor are drawing from the same archetype. Additionally, Bran possessed a magical cauldron with the power to confer rebirth, just like the Doctor has the power of rebirth. So, the place where the Bells of St John now ring is the location of a great mythic protector - just like our Doctor, playing the role of protector in our myth of Doctor Who.
Of course, there is also the link to the St John’s Ambulance sticker on the Tardis door.
St John’s Ambulance can trace its history back to the the Knights of St John’s Hospitaller. The Knights were originated among a group of people associated with a hospital in Jerusalem which was dedicated to St John, but it ultimately became a religious military order; thus they were both warriors and healers, just like the Doctor himself. janie_aire covers this element fantastically in her meta here.
Looking at Saint John himself, John the Baptist, here we have the Doctor paralleled to the idea of a holy man, retreating into a monastic life in order to contemplate a great mystery. There's been christian religious imagery woven through Who, and the Doctor has mostly played the Messianic role, particularly in the RTD era. However, here he is associated with the role of of a prophet who foretold the coming of the Messiah. Just as he is associated with this role (explicitly in the title as the Tardis' owner) so we find him literally living the role as he is meditating on the image and meaning of Clara.
He has withdrawn to this place of peace and solitude that he might divine her meaning. If he is truly made then this is his madness.
Now, I'm not drawing any conclusions (yet) but I've speculated on what Oswin could be in some of my previous meta for the first half of Series 7 (see my masterlist, if interested). Oswin/Clara, who I am reading as iterations of the same person, first appears (unexpectedly) in the Christmas special, so Christmas time is the time of her birth as a character. Christmas or the Winter Solstice is also the time of the birth of the self-resurrecting saviour who sacrifices themselves for a greater purpose (in both pagan and Christian mythologies.) What does Oswin do in Asylum? She sacrifices herself in order to save the others. We also see Oswin associated with the idea of Eggs ("eggs-eggs-eggsterminate") - which are a symbol of rebirth and specifically associated with the time of Easter. We see her reborn as Clara Oswin Oswald who, by dying, saves the world from the army of ice people. She is then reborn as Clara Oswald...you see the pattern here? That is to say the Doctor is no longer playing our Messianic Saviour of the World role, from what I can tell. Instead she is this greater mystery, and he her prophet.
Meta meta Clara
I love past Clara, future Oswin and contemporary Clara. The first time we met her, she broke the fourth wall with her final words to the Doctor, by looking directly into the camera. She seems to have power to comment on the narrative and the show in a meta fashion.
We have a lovely link back to the Ponds in the shape of the book that Artie is reading “Summer Falls” by Amelia Williams. ( On the book: there’s a River on the cover. (The name is also interesting, linking back to The Angels Take Manhattan; Rory and Amy fell from the top of Winter Quay, and here we have that reversed into Summer Falls. )
Clara tells Artie about the chapters: 11 is the best, you’ll cry your eyes out.
This is a very meta reference, a cheeky little statement by Moffat referencing the 11th Doctor being the best, and also possibly the number of times he has made us cry as fans. However, it also links back to the books of both this ep and the Angels ep. At the end of the first half of series 7 we have a book written by River where chapter 11 did indeed make us cry.
Clara is wearing a very interesting necklace. It is very similar to the UNIT insignia, though not identical as the centre of it is not circular - but there's a certain likeness. The symbol of the circle with wings is a very commonly used one, and has been adopted by various organisations and businesses. The disk represents the sun, and this symbol is found commonly in the ancient Near East, as well as in some records of ancient cultures from South America and Australia. It is a symbol of divinity, royalty and power, so to see Clara wearing it marks her as very important.
It’s earliest known use is in Ancient Egypt, where it represents Horus. Now, if the idea of Clara being a relative of the Doctor’s hadn’t been nixed by the fact that she’s snogged him and there are flirtations going on, I would have read this symbol as an indication they were related - Horus was the child of Osiris, the God who dies and is resurrected.
I’m expecting that we will see the issue of the Doctor’s name/identity possibly unwind in this series, or perhaps in the anniversary special - and in some ways the Question can be interpreted as something that almost endangers the narrative and the world of Who. It’s our name for the show, it’s a secret that has been kept for as long as the show has been running - what will breaching that wall mean? We’ve already seen Oswin with the power to break the fourth wall; on meeting the Doctor this time she asks him the Question, and we have another very meta exchange back and forth in front of a mirror. (Mirrors are really important and used extensively in Moffat era Who, by the way.)
Clara: Who are you?
Doctor: The Doctor. No? The Doctor?
He steps forwards to the mirror and they both look in it.
Clara: Doctor Who?
Doctor: No, just The Doctor.
He then turns and they both look into the mirror again.
Doctor: Actually, sorry. Could you just ask me that again?
Clara: Can I what?
Doctor: Could you just ask me that question again.
Clara: Doctor Who?
Doctor: Okay, just once more.
Clara: Doctor Who?
Doctor: Oooh…yeah. Ooooh. Do you know, I never realised how much I enjoyed hearing that said out loud. Thank you.
The thing with the Question that this exchange reinforces, is both the theme of identity and self knowledge, but also that in some ways Clara is a mirror of the Doctor. Like the Doctor she is someone who has had previous incarnations (according to his timeline). However - unlike the Doctor- she cannot remember any of her past/future incarnations. They are both on the same journey towards self-knowledge, they are just at different stages along it. This is what the best mythology is made of - and it's my contention that Who is myth. (See my meta on The Angels Take Manhattan if you want any expansion on the idea of why we can read Who as myth.)
The audience is asking both who is she?, and - a la the Big Question - who is he really? Clara and the Doctor are also asking these questions of each other. I expect their questions will, in the end, lead back to them asking who am i? To read a tale as myth often involves cutting to the core of a central human concern: the quest for self-knowledge and the mystic instruction to Know Thyself. The Quest for the answer to the Question. Clara, as yet, is not even aware that she needs to ask the Question: Who am I? The Doctor has self-knowledge, but keeps us and all those around him in the dark about it. He acts as the archetypal gatekeeper to hidden knowledge - yet he also hides from himself, refusing to bring out his past identity and remember who he really is. I think part knowing yourself is to accept yourself, by bringing the dark bits of yourself into the light of day; this is the Doctor’s next challenge, I would guess. So, he and Clara, reflecting back at each other, are both on the same journey, just at different place at the moment.
I expect one of the Doctor’s jobs is going to be holding up a mirror to Clara to help her remember, to know herself - in return will she be his mirror and be involved in Question being spoken? Certainly, in the Christmas special she mirrored back to him who he really wanted to be: the one who does help people out, who does save the Universe. She helped him remember; and that concept is core to her character, because this line runs thruogh all 3 iterations of Clara Oswin Oswald:
Run, you clever boy…and remember
Back on the topic of the way the character of Clara may threaten to break the fourth wall of Who, here is our hint of what might be going on with her: looking at the book an entire year of her life is missing, her 23rd year. As ibishtar pointed out in this really excellent post it is possible that Clara stands as a representation of the show itself. (do check out the post, and there are great ideas in the comments too!)
"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."
*
I'm assuming we've all noticed that Clara has missed an entire year of her own life:
Also, it's worth pointing out that when Clara enters the password for the wi-fi, the letters of Run You Clever Boy And Remember, the numbers following should be 123. However she accidentally types 124 paralleling the missing 23 in her book.
There's no doubt that this phrase is the one that links all versions of her together, so it's interesting that our attention is drawn to the wrong/missing number in this moment.
*
The Spoonheads, the GI and mirrors
Our hint that this might be the Great Intelligence at work comes early on in the ep; remember how the snowmen manifested around Clara the barmaid when she thought of them, how they reflected back her thoughts and her memory of them? Well, here, a similar thing happens.
Doctor: It must have taken an image from your subconscious, thrown it back at you.
The Spoonheads pluck an image out of the subconscious of the victim and mirror it back to them. This happens both physically and in terms of the dialogue that occurs between them and the victim, where they repeat the victim’s words (just as we saw at the very start of The Snowmen). They are nothing but mirrors, they reflect and then repeat. The idea of mirrors being doorways to other realms beyond our own physical realm is in play here, the act of mirroring with a Spoonhead takes the victim through their looking glass, mirror-like faces and into them. so that they themselves become the face of the Spoonhead. They become monstered.
The thing is, the Spoonheads cannot take away the fundamental identity of the victim - passing through the looking glass doesn’t take away who you are. There is a question that is asked at this stage, but it is not the ultimate Question of Who am I? but, instead, Where am I?
The people working for the GI are located inside The Shard. The building was designed to have a fully reflective face which would mirror back the changes in weather, and is basically like a giant World Tree (one of Moff's favourite symbols and ideas) with a mirrored face. The building, in real life, is also referred to as The Shard of Glass - so what we have here is something of a broken mirror.
*
The Forest and the Web
The Doctor asks Clara where she got the phone number for the Tardis, and Clara states that she got it from a woman in the shop:
It’s a helpline isn’t it? She said it’s the best helpline out there; in the Universe she said.
The Doctor doesn’t pursue this any further, but I wonder if this woman was River - who with future knowledge of Clara as companion, plays the role in bringing her to the Doctor. I’m fairly certain that we will see this accounted for later on in the series. Regardless, there’s certainly enough links in this story to The Forest of the Dead to draw this conclusion.
First off, we have human consciousnesses trapped in a half living half dead state, separated from their bodies and living a virtual existence, much like the thousands of souls “saved” in the Library episodes. Unfortunately, their elements of their physical existence haven’t been saved in the cloud; so their bodies die. The GI isn’t so kind as to create for them a virtual existence in the way that Cal did.
Miss Kizlet: We’re preserving living minds in permanent form in the data cloud. It’s like immortality. Only fatal.
Then there are the striking similarities between the Spoonheads and the Flesh librarians. Both have heads that turn around and then manifest the faces of those who are trapped in the virtual world.
In a lot of ways, the situation with Clara is a reverse mirror of both Amy’s and River’s situations. Amy waited for the Doctor, as a child and as an adult. Here the situation is turned on its head as the Doctor is the one who is made to wait for his companion, first he spends years trying to find her. When he does find her, she again makes him wait for her. We have a link here too with Clara’s diary which is a mirror of River’s: she has a diary as yet unfilled of the places she wants to go, places the Doctor is offering to take her. River has a diary with pages now filled of all the places she has been with him. With the leaf kept between the pages, there are further links to the Library episodes - the idea that forests lie between the pages of books. Speaking of which…
*
Trees and Leaves
So, I’ve written many many times in my previous meta about the symbol of the World Tree and its meaning as a cosmological symbol for explaining the structure of reality, and as representing the ideas of Above and Below. We have trees associated with Clara especially here (again, linking us back to the Library episodes.) First of all, in the prequel there is a single tree in leaf in the background, and this tree is the one that is behind the Doctor as he sits on the swings (no screencap, sorry, but you can see one in this meta). Presumably this might be where Clara got the leaf from that was inside her book. The first time that she met the Doctor in this current incarnation.
Clara: That wasn’t a leaf, that was page one.
We also have a tree in leaf outside the house where Clara lives, with leaves scattered all over the floor. As they manage to fly the plane over the houses, we get an image of these tree reversed. Reversal of the polarities of the World Tree is a common Moffat theme, employed in the finales for series 5 and 6.
The, there is also this same leaf in the poster for The Rings of Akhaten.
Where is this leading? I’m not really sure, but I’m hopeful we’ll see some further leaf/tree imagery in future episodes.
*
The Chair Agenda
Is a chair just a chair?
Credit to janie_aire who originated the idea that in Who we see the symbol of the Chair or Throne used repeatedly. It’s usually seen in the context of some sort of Ascension. Sometimes this can be a literal death and rebirth into another state. . There’s the chair/throne that River sits on in the Library (we’ll come back to the Library as it’s very relevant to this ep.) There’s the chair that falls down behind Rory in the church in The Hungry Earth - before he dies and is eaten by the crack in Cold Blood, only to be reborn again as a Roman. There’s the chair Rory sits on before dying in the dream world of Upper Leadworth in Amy’s Choice, except he hasn’t really died and is “reborn” again in the second dream world, then in reality.
There’s Rosanna’s throne and the conversion chair in The Vampires of Venice. One of them an Underworld chair down in the depths of the palace, which causes humans to transition from one state to another. The other is the throne on the palace ground floor, with a direct link to the Upperworld and to the symbolic World Tree of the episode. There’s the throne in The Doctor the Widow and the Wardrobe, that Madge sits in in order to allow thousands of tree spirits to enter her, in order for them to transition from one state to another.
Have I convinced you yet? We have the empty chair framed in front of Clara’s painting before the Doctor ascends up out of the monk's cell he is occupying. And there is the chair that Clara brings out to the Doctor and sits on reversed, while he sits on his normally (note also the leaves gathered around the base of the Tardis), and which they both stand empty shortly before an ascension up into the crashing plane.
ETA: janie_aire the originator of this idea has made a fantastic meta post which looks at this idea in detail, and should be read!!!
I'm sure there are a million other things I need to point out, but it's late and this meta has fried my brain. Thanks for reading. :)
First up, we have the title. The Bells of Saint John can be linked back to the traditional British nursery rhyme Oranges and Lemons which lists bells in and around London. We have heard part of this rhyme before in The God Complex:
Here comes a candle to light you to bed, here comes a chopper to chop off your head. Chop, chop chop!
In the nursery rhyme, for the bells of Saint Johns we have this:
Pokers and tongs say the bells of Saint Johns.
The chapel of Saint John, which the bells of the nursery rhyme refer to, is one of the oldest in London and is situated in the Tower of London in the White Tower. There’s a mythological link here: the Tower of London was believed to have been built on the White Hill which features in the Celtic myth of Bran the Blessed. In the myth, the God Bran’s head is buried there, under the very location where the White Tower now stands. Bran was seen as a protector of the British Isles and it was said that for as long as his head was buried there, Britain would be safe from invasion (though King Arthur later dug it up saying his own great strength would protect the country). Bran was also both warrior and healer, so he and the Doctor are drawing from the same archetype. Additionally, Bran possessed a magical cauldron with the power to confer rebirth, just like the Doctor has the power of rebirth. So, the place where the Bells of St John now ring is the location of a great mythic protector - just like our Doctor, playing the role of protector in our myth of Doctor Who.
Of course, there is also the link to the St John’s Ambulance sticker on the Tardis door.
St John’s Ambulance can trace its history back to the the Knights of St John’s Hospitaller. The Knights were originated among a group of people associated with a hospital in Jerusalem which was dedicated to St John, but it ultimately became a religious military order; thus they were both warriors and healers, just like the Doctor himself. janie_aire covers this element fantastically in her meta here.
Looking at Saint John himself, John the Baptist, here we have the Doctor paralleled to the idea of a holy man, retreating into a monastic life in order to contemplate a great mystery. There's been christian religious imagery woven through Who, and the Doctor has mostly played the Messianic role, particularly in the RTD era. However, here he is associated with the role of of a prophet who foretold the coming of the Messiah. Just as he is associated with this role (explicitly in the title as the Tardis' owner) so we find him literally living the role as he is meditating on the image and meaning of Clara.
He has withdrawn to this place of peace and solitude that he might divine her meaning. If he is truly made then this is his madness.
Now, I'm not drawing any conclusions (yet) but I've speculated on what Oswin could be in some of my previous meta for the first half of Series 7 (see my masterlist, if interested). Oswin/Clara, who I am reading as iterations of the same person, first appears (unexpectedly) in the Christmas special, so Christmas time is the time of her birth as a character. Christmas or the Winter Solstice is also the time of the birth of the self-resurrecting saviour who sacrifices themselves for a greater purpose (in both pagan and Christian mythologies.) What does Oswin do in Asylum? She sacrifices herself in order to save the others. We also see Oswin associated with the idea of Eggs ("eggs-eggs-eggsterminate") - which are a symbol of rebirth and specifically associated with the time of Easter. We see her reborn as Clara Oswin Oswald who, by dying, saves the world from the army of ice people. She is then reborn as Clara Oswald...you see the pattern here? That is to say the Doctor is no longer playing our Messianic Saviour of the World role, from what I can tell. Instead she is this greater mystery, and he her prophet.
Meta meta Clara
I love past Clara, future Oswin and contemporary Clara. The first time we met her, she broke the fourth wall with her final words to the Doctor, by looking directly into the camera. She seems to have power to comment on the narrative and the show in a meta fashion.
We have a lovely link back to the Ponds in the shape of the book that Artie is reading “Summer Falls” by Amelia Williams. ( On the book: there’s a River on the cover. (The name is also interesting, linking back to The Angels Take Manhattan; Rory and Amy fell from the top of Winter Quay, and here we have that reversed into Summer Falls. )
Clara tells Artie about the chapters: 11 is the best, you’ll cry your eyes out.
This is a very meta reference, a cheeky little statement by Moffat referencing the 11th Doctor being the best, and also possibly the number of times he has made us cry as fans. However, it also links back to the books of both this ep and the Angels ep. At the end of the first half of series 7 we have a book written by River where chapter 11 did indeed make us cry.
Clara is wearing a very interesting necklace. It is very similar to the UNIT insignia, though not identical as the centre of it is not circular - but there's a certain likeness. The symbol of the circle with wings is a very commonly used one, and has been adopted by various organisations and businesses. The disk represents the sun, and this symbol is found commonly in the ancient Near East, as well as in some records of ancient cultures from South America and Australia. It is a symbol of divinity, royalty and power, so to see Clara wearing it marks her as very important.
It’s earliest known use is in Ancient Egypt, where it represents Horus. Now, if the idea of Clara being a relative of the Doctor’s hadn’t been nixed by the fact that she’s snogged him and there are flirtations going on, I would have read this symbol as an indication they were related - Horus was the child of Osiris, the God who dies and is resurrected.
I’m expecting that we will see the issue of the Doctor’s name/identity possibly unwind in this series, or perhaps in the anniversary special - and in some ways the Question can be interpreted as something that almost endangers the narrative and the world of Who. It’s our name for the show, it’s a secret that has been kept for as long as the show has been running - what will breaching that wall mean? We’ve already seen Oswin with the power to break the fourth wall; on meeting the Doctor this time she asks him the Question, and we have another very meta exchange back and forth in front of a mirror. (Mirrors are really important and used extensively in Moffat era Who, by the way.)
Clara: Who are you?
Doctor: The Doctor. No? The Doctor?
He steps forwards to the mirror and they both look in it.
Clara: Doctor Who?
Doctor: No, just The Doctor.
He then turns and they both look into the mirror again.
Doctor: Actually, sorry. Could you just ask me that again?
Clara: Can I what?
Doctor: Could you just ask me that question again.
Clara: Doctor Who?
Doctor: Okay, just once more.
Clara: Doctor Who?
Doctor: Oooh…yeah. Ooooh. Do you know, I never realised how much I enjoyed hearing that said out loud. Thank you.
The thing with the Question that this exchange reinforces, is both the theme of identity and self knowledge, but also that in some ways Clara is a mirror of the Doctor. Like the Doctor she is someone who has had previous incarnations (according to his timeline). However - unlike the Doctor- she cannot remember any of her past/future incarnations. They are both on the same journey towards self-knowledge, they are just at different stages along it. This is what the best mythology is made of - and it's my contention that Who is myth. (See my meta on The Angels Take Manhattan if you want any expansion on the idea of why we can read Who as myth.)
The audience is asking both who is she?, and - a la the Big Question - who is he really? Clara and the Doctor are also asking these questions of each other. I expect their questions will, in the end, lead back to them asking who am i? To read a tale as myth often involves cutting to the core of a central human concern: the quest for self-knowledge and the mystic instruction to Know Thyself. The Quest for the answer to the Question. Clara, as yet, is not even aware that she needs to ask the Question: Who am I? The Doctor has self-knowledge, but keeps us and all those around him in the dark about it. He acts as the archetypal gatekeeper to hidden knowledge - yet he also hides from himself, refusing to bring out his past identity and remember who he really is. I think part knowing yourself is to accept yourself, by bringing the dark bits of yourself into the light of day; this is the Doctor’s next challenge, I would guess. So, he and Clara, reflecting back at each other, are both on the same journey, just at different place at the moment.
I expect one of the Doctor’s jobs is going to be holding up a mirror to Clara to help her remember, to know herself - in return will she be his mirror and be involved in Question being spoken? Certainly, in the Christmas special she mirrored back to him who he really wanted to be: the one who does help people out, who does save the Universe. She helped him remember; and that concept is core to her character, because this line runs thruogh all 3 iterations of Clara Oswin Oswald:
Run, you clever boy…and remember
Back on the topic of the way the character of Clara may threaten to break the fourth wall of Who, here is our hint of what might be going on with her: looking at the book an entire year of her life is missing, her 23rd year. As ibishtar pointed out in this really excellent post it is possible that Clara stands as a representation of the show itself. (do check out the post, and there are great ideas in the comments too!)
"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."
*
I'm assuming we've all noticed that Clara has missed an entire year of her own life:
Also, it's worth pointing out that when Clara enters the password for the wi-fi, the letters of Run You Clever Boy And Remember, the numbers following should be 123. However she accidentally types 124 paralleling the missing 23 in her book.
There's no doubt that this phrase is the one that links all versions of her together, so it's interesting that our attention is drawn to the wrong/missing number in this moment.
*
The Spoonheads, the GI and mirrors
Our hint that this might be the Great Intelligence at work comes early on in the ep; remember how the snowmen manifested around Clara the barmaid when she thought of them, how they reflected back her thoughts and her memory of them? Well, here, a similar thing happens.
Doctor: It must have taken an image from your subconscious, thrown it back at you.
The Spoonheads pluck an image out of the subconscious of the victim and mirror it back to them. This happens both physically and in terms of the dialogue that occurs between them and the victim, where they repeat the victim’s words (just as we saw at the very start of The Snowmen). They are nothing but mirrors, they reflect and then repeat. The idea of mirrors being doorways to other realms beyond our own physical realm is in play here, the act of mirroring with a Spoonhead takes the victim through their looking glass, mirror-like faces and into them. so that they themselves become the face of the Spoonhead. They become monstered.
The thing is, the Spoonheads cannot take away the fundamental identity of the victim - passing through the looking glass doesn’t take away who you are. There is a question that is asked at this stage, but it is not the ultimate Question of Who am I? but, instead, Where am I?
The people working for the GI are located inside The Shard. The building was designed to have a fully reflective face which would mirror back the changes in weather, and is basically like a giant World Tree (one of Moff's favourite symbols and ideas) with a mirrored face. The building, in real life, is also referred to as The Shard of Glass - so what we have here is something of a broken mirror.
*
The Forest and the Web
The Doctor asks Clara where she got the phone number for the Tardis, and Clara states that she got it from a woman in the shop:
It’s a helpline isn’t it? She said it’s the best helpline out there; in the Universe she said.
The Doctor doesn’t pursue this any further, but I wonder if this woman was River - who with future knowledge of Clara as companion, plays the role in bringing her to the Doctor. I’m fairly certain that we will see this accounted for later on in the series. Regardless, there’s certainly enough links in this story to The Forest of the Dead to draw this conclusion.
First off, we have human consciousnesses trapped in a half living half dead state, separated from their bodies and living a virtual existence, much like the thousands of souls “saved” in the Library episodes. Unfortunately, their elements of their physical existence haven’t been saved in the cloud; so their bodies die. The GI isn’t so kind as to create for them a virtual existence in the way that Cal did.
Miss Kizlet: We’re preserving living minds in permanent form in the data cloud. It’s like immortality. Only fatal.
Then there are the striking similarities between the Spoonheads and the Flesh librarians. Both have heads that turn around and then manifest the faces of those who are trapped in the virtual world.
In a lot of ways, the situation with Clara is a reverse mirror of both Amy’s and River’s situations. Amy waited for the Doctor, as a child and as an adult. Here the situation is turned on its head as the Doctor is the one who is made to wait for his companion, first he spends years trying to find her. When he does find her, she again makes him wait for her. We have a link here too with Clara’s diary which is a mirror of River’s: she has a diary as yet unfilled of the places she wants to go, places the Doctor is offering to take her. River has a diary with pages now filled of all the places she has been with him. With the leaf kept between the pages, there are further links to the Library episodes - the idea that forests lie between the pages of books. Speaking of which…
*
Trees and Leaves
So, I’ve written many many times in my previous meta about the symbol of the World Tree and its meaning as a cosmological symbol for explaining the structure of reality, and as representing the ideas of Above and Below. We have trees associated with Clara especially here (again, linking us back to the Library episodes.) First of all, in the prequel there is a single tree in leaf in the background, and this tree is the one that is behind the Doctor as he sits on the swings (no screencap, sorry, but you can see one in this meta). Presumably this might be where Clara got the leaf from that was inside her book. The first time that she met the Doctor in this current incarnation.
Clara: That wasn’t a leaf, that was page one.
We also have a tree in leaf outside the house where Clara lives, with leaves scattered all over the floor. As they manage to fly the plane over the houses, we get an image of these tree reversed. Reversal of the polarities of the World Tree is a common Moffat theme, employed in the finales for series 5 and 6.
The, there is also this same leaf in the poster for The Rings of Akhaten.
Where is this leading? I’m not really sure, but I’m hopeful we’ll see some further leaf/tree imagery in future episodes.
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The Chair Agenda
Is a chair just a chair?
Credit to janie_aire who originated the idea that in Who we see the symbol of the Chair or Throne used repeatedly. It’s usually seen in the context of some sort of Ascension. Sometimes this can be a literal death and rebirth into another state. . There’s the chair/throne that River sits on in the Library (we’ll come back to the Library as it’s very relevant to this ep.) There’s the chair that falls down behind Rory in the church in The Hungry Earth - before he dies and is eaten by the crack in Cold Blood, only to be reborn again as a Roman. There’s the chair Rory sits on before dying in the dream world of Upper Leadworth in Amy’s Choice, except he hasn’t really died and is “reborn” again in the second dream world, then in reality.
There’s Rosanna’s throne and the conversion chair in The Vampires of Venice. One of them an Underworld chair down in the depths of the palace, which causes humans to transition from one state to another. The other is the throne on the palace ground floor, with a direct link to the Upperworld and to the symbolic World Tree of the episode. There’s the throne in The Doctor the Widow and the Wardrobe, that Madge sits in in order to allow thousands of tree spirits to enter her, in order for them to transition from one state to another.
Have I convinced you yet? We have the empty chair framed in front of Clara’s painting before the Doctor ascends up out of the monk's cell he is occupying. And there is the chair that Clara brings out to the Doctor and sits on reversed, while he sits on his normally (note also the leaves gathered around the base of the Tardis), and which they both stand empty shortly before an ascension up into the crashing plane.
ETA: janie_aire the originator of this idea has made a fantastic meta post which looks at this idea in detail, and should be read!!!
I'm sure there are a million other things I need to point out, but it's late and this meta has fried my brain. Thanks for reading. :)