2. Time Can Be Re-Written
The Doctor, The Widow, and The Wardrobe: This is where the theory goes for broke. So The Doctor is hardly even called The Doctor in this episode. If anything, hes more known as The Caretaker at this point. Now, grasping for straws, one could say that he doesnt feel that he deserves the title of Doctor anymore. Hes lost so many companions and done so many things hes guilty over that frankly he doesnt feel much like the Sainted Physician he once was. Not to mention, the climax of the episode find The Caretaker re-writing time and reuniting The Arwell family with their fatherwho was supposed to die during a rather perilous nighttime mission during World War II. In the end, The Doctor reunites with The Ponds for Christmas dinner, and starts crying happy tears. Is he doing this because hes happy to see them, or is he doing this because hes mourning their inevitable departure? Also, theres one motif that hasnt been discussed involving Series 7, and it originated in this episode. The Caretaker is seen as an angel whos fallen from the sky. Looking back on Series 7, we see... - The Ponds and The Doctor fall from the sky, via a transport corridor, in Asylum of the Daleks. (Also, Oswins ship, the Alaska, crash landed to the Asylums surface. - The Silurian ship falling towards Earth in Dinosaurs on a Spaceship. - Kahler Jex and his Cyborg fall near A Town Called Mercy, and the Cyborg is later referred to as Mercys guardian angel. - The cubes fall from the sky in The Power of Three. - Theres a shot of Amy and Rory falling in The Angels Take Manhattan. This can also be indicative of the flow of the story arc, especially when the traditional story model dictates that the Falling Action happens before the storys closure, or denouement. The Doctor is falling backwards through the story, from ending to beginning (or, in his perspective, beginning to ending). He cant change anything that happens, and as we see him get gradually more upbeat about things on our end, its actually the reverse. Hes more upset about them leaving in Dinosaurs On A Spaceship than he is in A Town Called Mercy and The Power of Three.