Doctor Who: Cold War Spoilers
Apr. 16th, 2013 12:05 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
rabid1stWell, well, well, well, well...and, also, hmmmmm?
I did like the armorless Ice Warrior. Very Jurassic Park Raptor meets Frog Prince. I felt the story was a little light on plot. But I enjoyed the very British Russians. And there were certainly references a plenty. Most telling for my faction of fans is "Hungry Like The Wolf" bringing such an immediate response for Clara. It worked like magic, didn't it? And, like the word Predator, in the Dalek episode that raised my hackles (yeah) and sparked my imagination. The Doctor is the Oncoming Storm...always has been. Rose is the Predator of the Daleks. My mind goes only one place when Doctor Who starts talking about Wolves...and that's to Rose Tyler. But then, how easy would it be to manipulate all of us, given that tendency? With the spoiler in play we are expecting that Clara is, perhaps, some relative of the Doctor. I find his affection toward her very fatherly, rather than romantic. Odd, that, because I feel Matt and Jenna have the best chemistry since David and Billie...but, I don't get the sparkage I was expecting.
So, we have some rather obvious hints here, but, it might interest the New Who people to know that there is ANOTHER Wolf in the Doctor Who pantheon. Not the Bad Wolf...and, in fact, perhaps the reason for the BAD part of Bad Wolf. And THAT Wolf could be behind Clara and the Great Intelligence. Show of hands for anyone who remembers Fenric? This particular Wolf is one of the Old Ones who existed before this universe came into being. Think Norse Mythology. The Great Intelligence, I believe, is also supposed to have existed in the universe before this one. He used Yeti Robots before he used Spoonheads. There were also black and white guardians, doing the good vs. evil job. Fenric is certainly capable of capturing the Doctor and creating a false companion. He has tried to capture the Doctor before by using Ace, the Seventh Doctor's companion, and manipulating destiny and time lines. Fenric is computer savvy. The Doctor has captured Fenric a couple of times...and I wonder if this time Fenric has captured him. Clara, then, would be a sort of chess piece which both the Doctor and Fenric are using.
Fenric was removed from space/time in our universe. Killed it seemed. But, resurrected for a big finish production. And, as I've mentioned a time or two, Moff has played fast and loose with the nature of our universe...with all of these crossed time lines, cracked walls, entities trying to get free and TARDIS explosions...he could have released/renewed Fenric.
At least, that is my Clara theory of the week. Oh, and was I the only one reminded of the First Doctor by that scientist fellow? Yeah! Okay.
Rae
who would, of course, love for her to be Rose's daughter...just for Billie kicking some Bad Wolf ass again. But I just don't think we will be that lucky. And anyway...Ten2/Rose sex is icky. Le Sigh!
I did like the armorless Ice Warrior. Very Jurassic Park Raptor meets Frog Prince. I felt the story was a little light on plot. But I enjoyed the very British Russians. And there were certainly references a plenty. Most telling for my faction of fans is "Hungry Like The Wolf" bringing such an immediate response for Clara. It worked like magic, didn't it? And, like the word Predator, in the Dalek episode that raised my hackles (yeah) and sparked my imagination. The Doctor is the Oncoming Storm...always has been. Rose is the Predator of the Daleks. My mind goes only one place when Doctor Who starts talking about Wolves...and that's to Rose Tyler. But then, how easy would it be to manipulate all of us, given that tendency? With the spoiler in play we are expecting that Clara is, perhaps, some relative of the Doctor. I find his affection toward her very fatherly, rather than romantic. Odd, that, because I feel Matt and Jenna have the best chemistry since David and Billie...but, I don't get the sparkage I was expecting.
So, we have some rather obvious hints here, but, it might interest the New Who people to know that there is ANOTHER Wolf in the Doctor Who pantheon. Not the Bad Wolf...and, in fact, perhaps the reason for the BAD part of Bad Wolf. And THAT Wolf could be behind Clara and the Great Intelligence. Show of hands for anyone who remembers Fenric? This particular Wolf is one of the Old Ones who existed before this universe came into being. Think Norse Mythology. The Great Intelligence, I believe, is also supposed to have existed in the universe before this one. He used Yeti Robots before he used Spoonheads. There were also black and white guardians, doing the good vs. evil job. Fenric is certainly capable of capturing the Doctor and creating a false companion. He has tried to capture the Doctor before by using Ace, the Seventh Doctor's companion, and manipulating destiny and time lines. Fenric is computer savvy. The Doctor has captured Fenric a couple of times...and I wonder if this time Fenric has captured him. Clara, then, would be a sort of chess piece which both the Doctor and Fenric are using.
Fenric was removed from space/time in our universe. Killed it seemed. But, resurrected for a big finish production. And, as I've mentioned a time or two, Moff has played fast and loose with the nature of our universe...with all of these crossed time lines, cracked walls, entities trying to get free and TARDIS explosions...he could have released/renewed Fenric.
At least, that is my Clara theory of the week. Oh, and was I the only one reminded of the First Doctor by that scientist fellow? Yeah! Okay.
Rae
who would, of course, love for her to be Rose's daughter...just for Billie kicking some Bad Wolf ass again. But I just don't think we will be that lucky. And anyway...Ten2/Rose sex is icky. Le Sigh!
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(no subject)
Date: 2013-04-16 05:56 am (UTC)?!?!??!?!?! Srly? David Warner finally comes onboard Doctor Who*, and all he gets by way of acknowledgement is " that scientist fellow " ?!?!?!
Where's the respect? The admiration? The humor? (His character is called "Boffin"! LOL!)
David Warner is a working actor, not a celebrity, and some of us love him all the more for his sheer longevity - and lack of self consciousness - in the industry. (Actually, 'industries', plural: TV & film; UK & USA!) He is a character actor who finds no part too small or too weird.
/semi-comic rant. ;-)
P.S. - * Oh, alright: I admit that he was also in Dreamland -- but as it was animated, we didn't get to see him!
P.P.S. - credits include roles in: Time After Time, Time Bandits (I'm sensing a theme here ... ), Perfect Parents, Remington Steele, Hart to Hart, Murder She Wrote, Faerie Tale Theatre, Twin Peaks, Babylon5, The Adventures of Brisco County Jr., ST:TNG, ST IV, ST V, The Omen, French Lieutenant's Woman, Tron, The Man with Two Brains, Titanic, Wallander ... etcetera, etcetera, etcetera! Have you truly never seen him?
P.P.P.S. - I really do like your speculations. Interesting Fenric hypothesis. But I didn't watch enough of McCoy's series to be familiar with the episode (though, oddly, I have heard of this title!).
P.P.P.P.S - Boffin tutors Clara to sing "Hungry Like the Wolf", she doesn't come up with it on her own.
BTW, whose jacket is Clara wearing when she wakes?
(no subject)
Date: 2013-04-16 06:12 am (UTC)As for him asking her about the song...that's still meaningful in he context of a manufactured reality. He would be part of that reality. And, he reminded me of Hartnell. Who...I did not mention by name, either. What interested me was that when Clara sang a bit of the song, the locks clicked over. Or...the Ice Warrior relented, if we are to assume he was still listening...then it is sort of a granddaughter reference again. Granddaughters are important in Who...so I clicked to that straight away.
I actually felt David Warner was a bit miscast, given how well known he is...he sticks out a bit. But, not so much that I remembered the name of his character. Sorry. I thought him very charming though.
I remembered thinking about Fenric when we first had Bad Wolf references. However, it could still be bits of the Doctor's memory returning. Because the Wolf has to represent being saved and remembered for him, too. So, it could still be the Great intelligence attempting to take corporeal form again...via the Doctor...or maybe the Flesh Doctor (which would work well with yeti robots).
(no subject)
Date: 2013-04-16 03:04 pm (UTC)Rae
who had no idea what a Boffin was until I looked it up this morning. Talk about highly symbolic person...he's an avatar down to his name.
(no subject)
Date: 2013-04-17 07:21 am (UTC)I do try to be self-aware, even if I'm oblivious to all the plot (potential) threads in fiction.
Glad you figured out the "Boffin" joke. More fun when it's shared!
(no subject)
Date: 2013-04-17 02:27 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2013-04-16 10:16 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2013-04-16 02:55 pm (UTC)I decided that the Doctor could love a doll though. Barbie is iconic. And recently turned 50. Well, in March 2009. I'm not sure if that means anything to those keeping track of show milestones. Was that when Moff became show-runner? Could be. David didn't leave until 2010 though.
Mostly, I just think kissing Barbie was Moff's general creepy nature bleeding through again. Clara hasn't been properly kissed, yet, has she? Again, leading me to think that we are to view his love for her as more fatherly, than flirtatious.
Given we are dealing with The Great Intelligence, I'm pretty sure all of this Wolf business could just be the Doctor's way of remembering himself. It would still be quite touching if that were true, though. And a huge bone to throw at the Doctor/Rose fans. I'm sure if it is true, then River will show up to save the day at the end, so Moff can have his companion trump the far superior ones.
But, the Wolf represents Rose to most of us. And I did have the feeling that David Warner's character might have represented the First Doctor, too. I believe that the Doctors could appear symbolically in episodes. Not Four, but his scarf. Not Leela but her leather trappings. So, we should watch for that. Certainly, Barbie could represent the early concept of the companion...but it is still insulting, because I thought very few of them were Barbie Dolls...even back in the day. Of course, here, we could be blaming Moff for accidental sexism...sometimes a doll is just an icon on her own.
(no subject)
Date: 2013-04-17 07:54 am (UTC)And what was with Eleven's face (& body language) when Clara hugged him? I had a dog who looked like that when I hugged her, and it's an unpleasant response to a spontaneous display of affection -- or in Clara's case, a expression of relief and thanks for not being dead. Again. Or maybe she is. She died in Bells of St John (2x). Did she die in the water in this ep? . Hmmm.
As for him, he has been kissing and stroking her (primarily above the neck, but not solely) all along. What's the dealio?
"Not Four, but his scarf"
Oooh! I think that I already saw Four's scarf hanging behind Clara in the Bells of St John, while Eleven's on the intercom after she just closed the door on him. Haven't read any mention of it online; but I watched the ep several times, and I'm confident that it's either an homage or a herring. (That ep was so chock-a-block full of references that I couldn't write them down fast enough!)
I'm good with David Warner as the first Doctor: that incarnation needed recasting anyway, and Warner has the chops to give the character
dimensionfacets. (Sorry about the near miss pun!)I'm also good with the Great Intelligence being the Doctor, because it amuses me to think that Richard E. Grant (who has already been the Doctor in audioplays and in TCoFD; as well portraying yet another incarnation of Sherlock Holmes, and also the Scarlet Pimpernel) might get some scenes with David Tennant (and reference Posh Nosh, too, perhaps?) &/or Paul McGann (With Nial & I).
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EDITED TO ADD: Check this out: "[Richard E. Grant] has two roles in common with both David Collings and David Warner. All three have played Bob Cratchit: Grant in A Christmas Carol (1999) (TV), Collings in Scrooge (1970), and Warner in A Christmas Carol (1984) (TV); as well as the Doctor from "Doctor Who" (1963): Grant in Comic Relief: Doctor Who - The Curse of Fatal Death (1999) (TV) and "Doctor Who: Scream of the Shalka" (2003), Collings in the Big Finish audio drama "Full Fathom Five," and Warner in the Big Finish audio dramas "Sympathy for the Devil" and "Masters of War." -from IMDB
You also may recall David Collings in a couple of DW episodes from back in the day; perhaps most memorably in Robots of Death.
(no subject)
Date: 2013-04-17 02:50 pm (UTC)Well, if I saw his picture, I might. You are putting me to shame with this recognition of actors, Stitchie. I don't recognize people I meet on the street everyday. The truth of the matter is, and I hate to admit this, but I'm not one who cares deeply about actors. I view them as cogs in the storytelling process. A means to an end on author intent.
David Warner has always seemed to me to be a very efficient cog. He blends in well. That, I think, is an actor's job. Occasionally, like with Billie Piper, an actor will draw attention to themselves for the right reasons...that is, they do a character better than it was originally written, better than an author intended. And they ADD to author intent for a story. Then, there are actors like Jack Nicholson, who draws attention to himself without adding to author intent. He's a star, yes. But, he's just in the way of the story.
To my way of thinking, David Warner did himself proud in this story, because, I thought, "I know that guy." But, I also quickly forgot that and thought only that he was "that scientist fellow" and finding out he was named Boffin, just adds to the wonder of Warner as an actor. Because he embodied the idea of an arcane scientist fellow to such an extent that he reminded me of the other old scientist fellow in Doctor Who...that is...the First Doctor.
If it is the case that Warner is supposed to be representing the First Doctor, well, he did a bang up job. And, also, we should look for the Second and Third Doctor...in upcoming episodes.
I shall go look for the scarf. Also, was that Nine's leather jacket that Clara is wearing when she wakes up? Someone asked me about it. I should go look at that, too.
As for the kissing and stroking of Clara. I don't think Matt is trying to flirt with her. I think he's treating her as his child or grandchild. This is especially evident when he takes her around the chest and pulls her out of that room. He does it in a very non-sexual way. I can't believe that Moff is breaking the mold on sexing up the Doctor, so this is meaningful. Clara is not a sexual object to him for some reason, despite the snogbox and when will you kiss me ideas planted in Bells.
The Great Intelligence does already exist in Doctor Who...from Doctor Two's time. And it is capable of reanimating the dead, so it could be using Clara. But, I still think that somehow, the Doctor has been taken out of time and is simply trying to remember who he really is. And in that context, he could be representing himself as the Great Intelligence, as well. I feel Clara is a memory device of some kind. Or, she's the TARDIS, also in memory form. I just don't feel she is, at this point, a real person. She might exist as a real person in some reality, though.