Doctor Who: 7 Key Themes That Defined The Matt Smith Era
6. Memory
Along with his proclivity for fairy tales and all things whimsical, Moffat also holds a fondness for more classic, universal themes than his predecessors. While former showrunners like Russell T. Davies were more keen on exploring themes of morality and ethical dilemma common in science fiction, Moffat and Smith seem to prefer broader, more conventional motifs to define the series' narrative. Make no mistake: Moffat's "Who" is more fantasy than sci-fi, right down to the fairy tale logic that holds the whole thing together. One of the classic staples of fantasy and parables is the power of memories and the way they shape who we are. Eleven's greatest recurring enemy is the Silence, a race of aliens that gain power from tampering with the memory of their victims and basically erasing themselves from history. The Silence (or Silents/Silentses/Silenti, however you want to say it) understand the importance of memory and the influence it holds over humanity. By holding power over humanity's memory, they are essentially castrating the entire human race and robbing us of our agency over our lives. (We apologize if that last sentence conjured up images of alien-managed castration factories.) The fact that the Silence are able use this power to slip in a kind of post-hypnotic suggestion and manipulate human history only illuminates the idea that our memories ultimately make us who we are and help dictate the course of our lives. "The Rings of Akhaten," despite being condemned by a large section of the fanbase as a disaster rivaled only by the Hindenburg crash, cleverly presents memories as a means of currency and, to an extent, actual oh-my-Jeebus power. If you needed any more proof that Moffat prefers fantasy over sci-fi, look no further than the scene where the Doctor literally kills a sun-god with the power of memory and a sentimental leaf. In "The Day of the Doctor," the Moment (which, if you're not a "Doctor Who" fan, is a galaxy-eating nuclear weapon that chooses to represent itself as a former British pop singer) describes the Eleventh Doctor as "the man who forgets," and yeah, the name totally fits him. The Doctor has always been a creature in motion, and the Eleventh Doctor is, in many ways, both the embodiment and the result of this tendency, largely preferring to ignore the ghosts of his past. But mere moments before his regeneration, the Eleventh Doctor finally comes to term with his past and the need to strike a balance between dwelling on the past and forgetting it. As he breathes his last, the man who forgets finally vows to remember.
"Times change and so must I... When you think about it, we're all different people all through our lives, and that's okay, that's good, you gotta keep moving, so long as you remember all people that you used to be. I will not forget one line of this. Not one day. I swear. I will always remember when the Doctor was me."
