Doctor Who: 8 Big Questions From Mummy On The Orient Express

3. Is The Doctor Finally Becoming A Hero?

If there is one personality trait that succinctly separates Capaldi's Doctor from his predecessors, it is his ruthlessness. He will defeat the bad guys. He will save the day. But he's not about to worry about some poor soul getting killed in the cross fire, certainly not if he can use that event to his advantage. He even puts his companion in danger just to get the information he needs, as shown with poor Clara back in series opener Deep Breath. It is not just Clara that has questioned how much this darker personality trait prevents him from being the hero he once was. It is the Doctor himself. Back in Robot Of Sherwood he surmised to Robin Hood that he was no hero. But something changed in this episode. He could have taken Clara and escaped, leaving all the passengers and crew on the Orient Express to die in the explosion. He didn't need them but they needed him and as Clara noted he chose compassion and saved them all. It certainly negated some of his earlier actions, studying the nature of the mummy's kill by letting the victims die. There is still a long way to go and he wont be quite so 'nice' as the Eleventh and certainly the Tenth Doctors. But maybe with Clara willing to stay with him, we will start to see that harder edge wear away as he becomes ever more a hero.
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A writer for Whatculture since May 2013, I also write for TheRichest.com and am the TV editor and writer for Thedigitalfix.com . I wrote two plays for the Greater Manchester Horror Fringe in 2013, the first an adaption of Simon Clark's 'Swallowing A Dirty Seed' and my own original sci-fi horror play 'Centurion', which had an 8/10* review from Starburst magazine! (http://www.starburstmagazine.com/reviews/eventsupcoming-genre-events/6960-event-review-centurion) I also wrote an episode for online comedy series Supermarket Matters in 2012. I aim to achieve my goal for writing for television (and get my novels published) but in the meantime I'll continue to write about those TV shows I love! Follow me on Twitter @BazGreenland and like my Facebook page https://www.facebook.com/BazGreenlandWriter