5. Meaningless Death
One of the most chilling things about series 7b and indeed Doctor Who in general is its willingness to acknowledge that sometimes death and loss are absolutely meaningless. Right from the beginning, in The Bells of Saint John we are witness to several people, simply going about their daily lives, who suddenly drop dead as their consciousness is uploaded to a database. They are never redeemed in any way. Without bodies to return to, they simply fade out as the database is downloaded. Miss Kizlet does not die but has effectively lost almost her entire life as she was taken by the Great Intelligence as a small child. Her death may not be meaningless but her life up until this point has been. Nightmare in Silver gives us the Captain of the punishment patrol who is rather casually murdered by a cyberman. Her attempt to sacrifice herself (and everyone else) by blowing up the planet to stop them comes to nothing. Her desire to be a hero is ultimately her downfall and her death is barely remarked upon. A whole community of people die only to serve one womans megalomania in Crimson Horror. Ada does not die but suffers the great loss of her eyesight for the same reason. This is death as arbitrary whim a snap of the fingers, a snuff of the candle. The Doctor never dwells on it for too long and neither do the rest of us because otherwise how would we function? But that doesnt mean the possibility isnt always there.