Clara Oswald - It's time

Every Dr Who fan goes through a period of "reluctant adjustment" when things change on the show.

This time it's different. At WizWorld Chicago this year, I saw hundreds of kids, mostly female, dressed in Who garb. When it was announced that Matt Smith had arrived, it created a screaming girl stampede. I felt like Simba in the Lion King. Has Dr Who changed to adapt to this new audience or has this new audience suddenly discovered the best show on TV?
I didn't like Clara at first because I loved Amy. I didn't like Capaldi at first because I loved Matt...reluctant adjustment. I think I would like Clara more is she wasn't taking over the show. I like the running themes in the various shows; crack in the wall, bad wolf, even the impossible girl. I loved the "AHA" moment when everything suddenly makes sense...oh, that's why Clara keeps coming back to life!!!
Now the show is about her, her job, her students, her love life, how she stands up to the Dr. and now how she saves the Dr.
Is she the new direction of the show or is she Westley Crusher?
She is pretty, a talented actress, and witty. Am I just a chauvinist? I have two teenage sons who I watch it with and they are ready to give up the show.

Can people here post whether you like her or hate her and why? I think Dr Who has become like a cake with too much frosting. I think it is time for Clara to get her own show and for Peter to step up as the Dr, not the co-host.

Indifferent to her but I watch the show for the Doctor, not the companion. She's leaving the show soon so they're building up to her goodbye. I agree that she seems to be taking over though, and that's not a good thing. Won't be sad to see her move on.

I liked Clara at first, I thought that the way they built her up with her appearing in two different episodes at two different times was pretty interesting. When they eventually brought her on as a companion I was pretty excited and enjoyed her run, up until now. This season I feel that she doesn't quite have the same vibe that she did with Matt Smith and that the chemistry is just not there, plus the heavy focus on her in every episode is not helping too much although there was a lot of Rose when she was the companion.

I'll be somewhat sad when she goes but because the way they overused/over did her I won't exactly miss her either.

Actually, I like her quite a bit more now than I did when she first appeared in the show and just seemed like Amy Mk. II only more "perfect."

I think much of what you're seeing in terms of the focus on her life is in response to criticisms of Moffat's writing of her as a Manic Pixie Dream Girl -- or in other words, a walking plot device, rather than a fleshed out character.

This season, I think we're seeing more of who Clara really is, and we're also seeing a building tension in terms of the pulls she has on her life with the Doctor and her life outside of the Doctor, and which one she'll choose (or have chosen for her, as the case may ultimately be). We know she's leaving the show soon, though, so we know the end is coming in terms of her story.

I think the point of much of this season is to show the real impact of traveling with the Doctor, and you really only get that if you show a companion as more than JUST the person who says "But Doctor, what does that mean?" or who screams and has the Doctor save her. We're seeing the cost -- or at least the potential cost -- for Clara. And that's in a way we really didnt' feel with Amy and Rory.

Early on in Matt Smith's run, Rory was a footnote. One of those background characters like Rose's mum and Mickey. But after, what, the first season with Smith and Gillan?, Rory became far more intertwined with the show, ultimately becoming Amy's husband and traveling companion. Except, ya know, he was still kind of a joke like Mickey was. But even so, what he represented was Amy being able to travel with the Doctor without really having any consequences to her life. There was rarely a sense of "You cannot have both of these things without it taking a serious toll on your 'real' life." We had a few flirtations with that, but then they'd just jet off with the Doctor again and have another rousing adventure. Even when they had their final episode with the weeping angels, Amy didn't really lose Rory; her choice to stay with the Doctor didn't have any kind of consequence from which she couldn't turn back. End result: no real "choices" forced on her.

I think we're seeing something different with Clara. I think they're purposely building up her character -- especially in terms of her relationship with Danny, and her job at the school -- so that we can see her forced to really make a choice and/or face the consequences of that choice (including not choosing). This will culminate with her final episode, and then we'll have Capaldi truly on virgin territory.

I agree that the Doctor has been...less...of a presence this season, so far. But in a way, I find that makes his presence all the more appreciated. I'm also looking forward to seeing the impact of Clara's departure -- however that occurs -- on this new Doctor. Something tells me he'll be quite different from anything we've seen since the show as rebooted.


If you ask me, the thing that really needs to go is the "tacked-on" story arcs, like Missy this season. I actually just roll my eyes at this stuff now, because I find Moffat to be generally unable to really deliver on his built-up plotlines at the end of the season. It always feels rushed, and I suspect it'll do that again.

I liked Clara in her original appearance in the Asylum of the Daleks and would've been happy for them to leave her there. As time went on, the more she showed up... the less I liked her. It was to the point where that last season with Matt actively angered me with it's crapness. After the overall great run Matt had, I hated for him to go out on such a lackluster season.

However, I have to say, this season, I'm starting to like Clara a bit more. She's starting to become an actual character rather than, as Solo pointed out, a walking, talking MacGuffin. I like her. I like Danny. Mostly, I like her WITH Danny.

I've actually had a harder time dealing with this new Doctor than with Clara this season.

It's not that Capaldi isn't doing a good job. He's brilliant. It's that in the early episodes of this season, the Doctor was written as unrelentingly mean and petty and that bothered me. A lot. However, these last few episodes, we've started to see that the Doctor DOES, in fact, care and has a deep well of compassion within him, but that he's not showing it very frequently.

If/when Clara goes, I don't think I'll mourn her loss, though I think she's becoming a FAR more interesting character this season, but I do hope they don't do another "everything hinges on the mystery surrounding this person" companion again. I don't mind season-long (or even multi-season long) story arcs, but Clara's was NOT handled well at all.

Yeah, I think they're still feeling out this Doctor. I think they purposely went "mean" with him to distinguish him from the more affable Smith variant. The good news is that, unlike the 6th Doctor (Colin Baker), they aren't making this one a one-note figure. He has kind moments. I think at the moment, though, what we're really seeing is an extended transition from one era to another. I think this is doubly the case, given that Clara is not going to stick around all season (or at least, I don't think she is). So, they're more focusing on the two characters as they relate to each other and are letting that relationship define them.

I think this gets back to the original post in this thread, though, in that the Doctor -- at the moment -- still isn't quite...established on his own yet. He's essentially unknown (other than the most surface-level characteristics) aside from his kind of ambiguous relationship with Clara. He's unfamiliar, and we've really only seen a limited slice of who he is. We haven't had an experience like this arguably since 2006 when the 10th Doctor "inherited" Rose. In essence, with Matt Smith, the series did kind of a stealth reboot a la what it did in 2005 with Eccleston.

My guess is that, once Clara's gone -- and in the process of her leaving, actually -- we'll get a much better sense of who this Doctor is (no pun intended).

Michael Bergeron said:

Indifferent to her but I watch the show for the Doctor, not the companion. She's leaving the show soon so they're building up to her goodbye. I agree that she seems to be taking over though, and that's not a good thing. Won't be sad to see her move on.

Click to expand...

Seems to be??? She has been the center of attention since Episode 1 this season. I have said it a hundred time, the show has turned into Clara and her side kick The Doctor. Then she has that meltdown because...*gasp* she had to make a tough choice then all of a sudden she just changes her mind?!?! No inner conflict or turmoil, just...meh I changed my mind on the whole thing.

They should have killed her off last season.

I love her. Always have.

But the one thing she hasn't done that every (even rory) other companion (in the revived series) has done is.......break your heart.

I think that's why people haven't taken to her in the same way we have with Donna, Martha, Amy, Rose, etc.....

John Nathan Turner is ruining the show! - Doctor Who fan comments circa 1980's.

Shadow345 said:

John Nathan Turner is ruining the show! - Doctor Who fan comments circa 1980's.

Click to expand...

Hahahahaha

Shadow345 said:

John Nathan Turner is ruining the show! - Doctor Who fan comments circa 1980's.

Click to expand...

They weren't exactly wrong. :lol

Sent from my SGH-I317M using Tapatalk 2

It just seems to be a new direction of the show which isn't bad, but I miss the old. I have been watching since Tom Baker.

I also wonder about her role as a school teacher, dating a school teacher, bringing kids on the Tardis like a field trip.
Is this a ploy to get kids watching and sell plush toys and action figures? Am I too cynical?

The early Dr's were associated with UNIT, a military organization defending the world. Change is good. I'll stick with it regardless.

Chris Hardwick was interviewed for one of the "specials" and he was talking about his reaction to Matt Smith at first...I wish I could find the clip, he says in a juvenile sulking voice, "Well, you're not my real Dad..." Of course, Matt went on to be an epic Dr Who.

joeranger said:

The early Dr's were associated with UNIT, a military organization defending the world. Change is good. I'll stick with it regardless.

Click to expand...

Mmmm... Not really. The series began with the companions being the Doctor's granddaughter, a student, and her two teachers. Even after UNIT was introduced it wasn't until Pertwee that there was a genuine association with the outfit and that association became awful distant by the time Tom Baker really hit his stride.

I like Clara. I just think all the attention she is getting this season is for whatever they are building up to at the end of the season. Especially when what's her name (bringing back The Rani?) is watching her on a tablet and says she chose well.

Ok. MB. I don't go that far back with the show. I'll have to get the DVD's

joeranger said:

Ok. MB. I don't go that far back with the show. I'll have to get the DVD's

Click to expand...

Never a bad thing! Although for those not really in to the series some of the earliest stuff can be a bit tough to get through. Hope you enjoy it, Patrick Troughton is my favourite Doctor.

Back to the original thread. What do you guys think the approval rating is on Clara? The BBC must do focus groups or watch social media.
Do people love her? Is there an outcry to get her off the show and that's why she left (supposedly) ?

I think what many fans find irritating about any companion in the new series is the formulaic way they use them. Since the start of the new series in 2005 the companions have at times overshadowed the Doctor and they can't simply be a companion anymore. They all have to have a supremely important role to play in some moment in time that we see hints of throughout the season (or are mercilessly beaten over the head with). It is sometimes hard just to judge whether you like a companion or not because they are intertwined, or held captive, by the writers and their need to follow in the footsteps of "Rose Tyler and the Important Role She Played". I long for the days of a simple companion who just tags along with the Doctor and then leaves in a thoroughly non-dramatic way.

That being said I like Clara even though her character has been very inconsistent at times and the whole impossible girl storyline just kind of dried up and died.

Mola Rob said:

I think what many fans find irritating about any companion in the new series is the formulaic way they use them. Since the start of the new series in 2005 the companions have at times overshadowed the Doctor and they can't simply be a companion anymore. They all have to have a supremely important role to play in some moment in time that we see hints of throughout the season (or are mercilessly beaten over the head with). It is sometimes hard just to judge whether you like a companion or not because they are intertwined, or held captive, by the writers and their need to follow in the footsteps of "Rose Tyler and the Important Role She Played". I long for the days of a simple companion who just tags along with the Doctor and then leaves in a thoroughly non-dramatic way.

That being said I like Clara even though her character has been very inconsistent at times and the whole impossible girl storyline just kind of dried up and died.

Click to expand...

I'd argue that both Martha and Donna were not-quite-so-all-important companions. It's really been Rose, Amy, and now Clara who were the most visibly Important with a capital "I".

The dynamics I've seen are as follows:

- The companion is always female. Side note: male companions -- with the exception of Captain Jack Harkness -- are almost always played for laughs, only occasionally getting moments where they redeem themselves by actually rising to a level one might call "merely competent."

- The companion is very often some kind of universal keystone or lynchpin or whathaveyou. Take them away, and the Doctor is suddenly doomed.

- The companion is in lurv with the Doctor. Sometimes the Doctor lurvs them, too.

- The companion's Critical Importance is revealed over the course of a season arc, or sometimes two season arcs.


As you stated, Rose is basically the template for modern companions. And I think, ultimately, that it's this aspect which is starting to wear thin on some viewers. Not sure how wide-spread it is, but I too am tired of the "Rose dynamic."

With Clara, I think they kind of hit the apex (or nadir, if you prefer) of this style, particularly in her Impossible Girl story arc. It was intriguing at first, then confusing, then just kind of annoying. The recent season has seemed to be sort of moving away from that, but with hints that there's still one more "Critical Importance" bit for Clara to play.

I think that, because they made her SO important previously, they can't just drop focus from her altogether. Tonally, that wouldn't make sense. While I agree that the Doctor's character is still kind of hazily defined in this new incarnation, I think what they're doing is gradually revealing that character (and finding the new Doctor's voice beyond just casual insults), and defining him in relation to Clara. Some of this is so that they can effectively transition her departure. Right now, I'm liking what they're doign with her and how they're handling that departure. When it happens, it won't just be as if she up and decided "Yeah, I'm done," one day, out of the blue. They're showing her work/home/romantic life to illustrate the impact that traveling with the Doctor is having on that, and to give her a reason to say "I'm done" or to give HIM a reason to say "You're done."

In a way, this helps subvert the Rose paradigm. When Rose went away with the Ninth Doctor in the very first episode of the newly relaunched series, the Doctor said to her what he says to everyone who travels with him: "I can drop you right back here, the instant after you left." And while he didn't do that with Rose (or, really, anyone else), what I think the point of this latest string of episodes with Clara is intended to illustrate something really important:

When it comes to traveling with the Doctor, the cost isn't the time you spend, but rather the life you spend.

Sure, he can plop you back 5 minutes before your date. But where will you be, in terms of your own personal journey when he does. Your life doesn't stop when the TARDIS dematerializes, and that means that the experiences you have take a toll on you. What they're doing with Clara, I think, is showing this from two (two and a half, I guess) perspectives. First, they're showing it from Clara's perspective. We've seen her decide that maybe she wanted to stop, and focus on her life with Danny and the school. Balancing both worlds was too much. What we just saw last episode was how the Doctor sees this. At first, he wanted her along as a companion. But I think with this last episode, he's seeing that this is taking a toll on her in more ways than just not having enough time for "P.E." (Danny). Clara may be changing in ways that the Doctor thinks are ultimately harmful for her. She lies more easily, and yeah, that's a life skill, but...she's also getting off on the thrill of "being" the Doctor...and that's maybe not something that should be thrilling.

Early in this season, we saw the Doctor grappling with how he's conducted himself in the course of his life. With the past few episodes, I think he's been able to kind of...ignore that while focusing his attention on Clara. But Clara just presented a kind of mirror to him in this last episode, and it sure seemed like he didn't quite like what he saw.

I think all of this is going to come together around Clara's departure. Maybe the Doctor will have to make a choice, maybe Clara will, or maybe they'll make one together, but her leaving the TARDIS in whatever form will cause a LOT more introspection for the Doctor, I think, and may force him to reevaluate how he functions and how he wants to live his life. Or at least this one.

wow Solo4114-are you in my head? you very eloquently put a lot of what I was thinking about Clara and her importance to the Dr into words for me! her last statement about being the dr and being good at it and the dr.'s response-epic and I agree that maybe he is realizing the change in her-the DR.ness of her, the effects .....I still like Clara-but like others am confused and disappointed regarding the "impossible girl theme" -left me confused and wanting more-if that was the point, then well done. slow clap....