8. The Queen Of Years
Here, were given a supporting character who really carries her own weight in the story, and more. Merry is a crucial part of this episode from a narrative perspective if we dont fall for her immediately, as Clara does, and empathize with her fear and struggles, then the episode falls flat. She is the face of all the millions of people on the seven worlds, and we need to care about her, because her plight drives the narrative of the episode forward. To me, she is reminiscent of Madame de Pompadour from the Moffat-scripted Series 2 episode, The Girl in the Fireplace - not in terms of her relationship to the Doctor, obviously, but simply in terms of her strength as a character. Not only do we as the audience care about her, we respect her. Once her fears are overcome, Merry becomes a powerful force for good in the episode, insisting on staying with Clara and helping the Doctor through the power of her song. In many ways, she shares elements of the Doctors character that have been emphasised over the last Series and a half: she is a girl with a millennia of lifetimes, of stories, inside her, and the Doctor bears a similar burden, as we see at the climax of the episode. Merry is far from a disposable plot device of a character, and I for one would be happy to see her cross paths with the Doctor once again.