S35E4: Listen [spoilers]

[Captain Seafort]

Starts in 25 minutes.

[Graham Kennedy]

That was excellent!

And it seems that a significant theme for this season is going to be variations on "The Doctor is afraid." Interesting.

[Nutso]

As I was watching at the midway point, I was in fear that I was watching a filler episode, about how Clara and Danny go on a date. But as we got closer to the end, I was pleasantly surprised that this was all insight into The Doctor. It was his nightmare. This was all The Doctor. That barn, I never figured Moffat would go back to a previous story. I wonder how The Doctor went from having a toy soldier as a safeguard against fear, to rejecting Journey Blue as a companion for being a soldier.

[Graham Kennedy]

Yes, I wonder if they are going to play up the soldier aspect too. What with Pink being a soldier, dwelling on soldiers in Into The Dalek, and now the use of the toy soldier. Might be another thing they are seeding for later importance.

[Griffin]

Fun fact: When the Doctor drops Clara off to re-do her date I’m standing mere meters away

[Nutso]

Eating in that restaurant?

[Griffin]

Nah, outside behind a fence. I'm not on screen or anything I was just in the area that day so I decided to pop down.

[RK_Striker_JK_5]

I loved it all the way up until the end. No words for Clara telling the Doctor how to be the Doctor like that. Could they make her any more 'spechul?!??!

[Nutso]

I loved it all the way up until the end. No words for Clara telling the Doctor how to be the Doctor like that. Could they make her any more 'spechul?!??!

That's what was going through my mind as I watched the scene. We have already seen that Clara saved the Doctor in The Name of The Doctor, and she was the one who lead the 1st Doctor to the Tardis. I hated that. I was starting to think that oh shit, she made him a Time Lord. This time however I stopped hating the scene of Clara saving the Lil Doctor when I realised that this isn't about Clara. This isn't about her being special. The whole episode is The Doctor. As Graham said above, there is some seeding going on in regards to soldiers. I appreciate the character development here. I think what Moffat is going for in this episode is that The Doctor is always afraid but that fear is what makes him become the hero we all know and love. He's faced down gods, and monsters and devils but instead of running away, he confronts what scares him, and would scare us all.