A lot has happened in Doctor Who since Steven Moffat took the reins. The Eleventh Doctor has been a busy man. He’s lived several hundred years. Gotten married. He’s had a couple of different T.A.R.D.I.S. iterations now. Gone to war. These sorts of things.
However, the underlying conflict that is happening is still not completely explained, and this is what I want to know more about. I suppose I should say SPOILER WARNING at this point because I want to talk about some really specific thing that closed out Series 5 and Series 6 of Doctor Who. Onward!
why did the t.a.r.d.i.s. explode?
Found on amazon.com. Yep, you can buy this lovely and hang it in your home.
We close Series 5 of Doctor Who hanging on this question. Why did the T.A.R.D.I.S. explode? Everything else follow logically from this question: sure, you get a crazy paradox land that is melting away, you get cracks in the universe, you get the Doctor not knowing about it until it is close to happening… okay. But the T.A.R.D.I.S. was sabotaged.
I mean, okay, we lead from there directly into the episodes introducing the Silence. Is the assumption we are supposed to make that there was a Silence on board who sabotaged the T.A.R.D.I.S.? If so, that is not made clear.
If, on the other hand, we still do not know who or how the T.A.R.D.I.S. was sabotaged, then I hope this is answered soon. Because it’s kind of a big deal.
this endless, bitter war
Found on http://tardis.wikia.com/wiki/The_Silence
Which is also a great resource to look at the topics I’m talking about here.
We can’t be done with the Silence, because their goal is incomplete. However, it may be a while to see their plans and schemes come back up. Why are both of these true? Because they believe the Doctor needs to die, and they believe that the Doctor is dead.
After the T.A.R.D.I.S. exploded at the end of series 5, and all of his greatest enemies allied against him, the Doctor has been working in Series 6 and 7 to remove himself from the front pages of history. He accomplished a major play by faking his own death at the end of Series 6. He also has now removed himself from the memory of the Daleks. The other Time Lords are locked in a time lock… yeah, bit by bit the Doctor is going to be gone from history.
Which should slow the Silence down. If they believe the Doctor is dead and gone, then they will believe that their goal of keeping him away from the Fields of Trenzalore, from the fall of the Eleventh, and the question being asked. The question after which, silence must fall.Doctor Who?Of course, by being removed from history – and still being alive – the Doctor is more likely to elicit this question, and to arrive at Trenzalore not knowing what is going to happen. So in many ways, the Silence may have lost. However, what is going to happen from that?Okay, so I’m getting lost in two seasons of continuity, let’s reorganize this:
- The T.A.R.D.I.S. exploded. How? Why? Whodunnit?
- The Silence believe the Doctor must die. What’s going on?
- The Silence claim to have been fighting a long and bitter war against the Doctor. Have we already seen this war play out? Or is much of it yet to come?
- Will we reach the Fields of Trenzalore and the Fall of the Eleventh? You better believe it! So what does it mean that Silence Will Fall?
I want to see these things come up this season. And there is some room for explanations on some of the fuzzy bits, because to explore these topics with a new companion, the Doctor will have to explain what is going on to her.
Of course, I don’t know that I’m ready for all of this to happen this season – not sure I’m ready for Matt Smith to be done as the Doctor! – but if we leave these things untouched it’s going to be frustrating, and so far, they’ve been largely left alone this season – so hopefully I get some answers soon!
And of course, doing something with these topics in the 50th Anniversary or a Doctor Who movie is not out of the question!
Comparative Geeks 
Hello,
I just saw you liked my article about conflicts and new technologies: http://frenchydiary.wordpress.com/2013/03/28/conflicts-and-new-technologies/
I was wondering if you would like to give me your view on the topic commenting on the post 🙂
I wrote this post as part of my Persuasive Communication course and I really need comment and thoughts about it.
Thank you very much for your time 🙂
Marion
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Excellent idea for a post. To be honest, though, I’m kind of scared that some of the loose threads you’ve pointed are going to remain that way, especially the stuff with the Silence even though your estimation is absolutely correct. Bells of Saint John established we are moving on to a new villain, and that looks like it’ll be a slow burn with the mystery of Clara in the foreground. I have a feeling that all of that stuff from the past other than the question right out in the open “Doctor…who?” may remain simply in the past. Then again, toward the end of the 11th Hour when young Amelia hears the noise of the Tardis and looks up and then we jump to the older Amy I never actually thought that scene was real. I thought it was a dream. Then in The Angels Take Manhattan we get one final gracenote for Amy in that she tells the Doctor to cross his own timeline and go and give that young girl a reason to keep on hoping, thus the young Amelia who heard the Tardis sound was completely real and I was wrong. In other word, Steven Moffatt is a far smarter person than I am.
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Steven Moffat knows how to play the long con. One person I didn’t mention here was also River Song… I don’t know if we’re expecting to see her again this season or not. What will Moffat do? Something wibbly-wobbly, timey-wimey, I’m sure.
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From what I understand, River Song will be back this season. The Doctor and Clara are rather flirty with one another. So, of course they’re going to have to bring River back to remind us that the Doctor is technically married.
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I have written up a response to these questions, now that the season is over! Check it out: https://comparativegeeks.wordpress.com/2013/05/21/post-review-series-seven-of-doctor-who/
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