4. The Ghost In The Machine
Just before the Doctor drops Clara off back home he tells her that she reminds him of someone he knew before - someone who died. Clara retorts that she does not want to compete with a ghost. But If the TARDIS exists across all time and space could she not be said to be housing many ghosts of other companions and alternate versions of the doctor? Earlier in the episode the Doctor reveals to Clara that he was a grandfather. The creature that serves the old god is also called grandfather. Might Susan, the Doctors granddaughter, be in the Doctors mind the first and ultimate companion? Perhaps all companions are competing with Susans ghost? Did Susan indeed die in the Time War? Or is the Doctor protecting her somehow? When the Doctor explains to Clara that we dont walk away but when were holding on to something precious we run could he be thinking of originally running away with Susan or the TARDIS or both? One wonders at the circumstances of the death of Claras mother. It is interesting to note that she was born on September 11, 1960. That is the premier date of the TV show Danger Man which the Doctors granddaughter Susan enjoyed watching according to the novella Time and Relative by Kim Newman. Intriguingly that story was about the Doctor and Susan losing their memories. When Clara tries to help Merry hide the TARDIS wont let her in. Clara declares that the TARDIS doesnt like her. How would Clara know this? The Doctor may be smitten but the TARDIS is exhibiting some reservations. Could Clara be an enticement, precisely engineered to lure the Doctor into some kind of trap?