Doctor Who Series 10: 7 Big Questions After 'Thin Ice'
2. Wasn't That Punch Out Of Character?
It will no doubt be one of the biggest talking points from Thin
Ice, just like that slap by Clara in Into the Dalek, but was that rare display
of violence on the Doctor’s past really necessary? For the purposes of this
story it most certainly was. The Doctor in his role of teacher had chastised
Bill for getting angry, telling her that passion fights but reason wins, only
to lose it himself When exposed to Sutcliffe’s racism.
For most of this episode the Doctor has set himself up as detached, especially when he appears more concerned about the sonic screwdriver than the boy who had been pulled into the icy water. He claims that in the face of death he has to move on, in order to save the lives of others.
This is exactly what he couldn’t do at the end of the last series when he became his most undoctor-like in an ill-fated effort to bring back Clara from the dead. Given that Sarah Dollard also wrote Clara’s death in Face the Raven, the contrast here is surely intentional.
The Doctor has killed before, but not always for the right reasons. The shooting of the Time Lord General in Hell Bent is the most stark and recent example. That look is still there in his eye, but it is one he is determined to keep at bay.
The Doctor is torn between being the Fagin and the Mr Brownlow of this episode, playing out an inner conflict that has always been part of his complex nature.