I never did quite get it.
I only watched the last season once through so may have missed something but as far as I know Clara jumping into the Doctors time stream to save him is why she has shown up in various times and places,but when she was there did she remember why, and where did the Dalek Clara fit into it all.
This isn't a Moff bash I genuinely want to understand her before the new series so if someone could do a neat summary for me that'd be great

That's because it didn't make sense

Honestly, there are so many enormous plot holes in the 'impossible girl' storyline that it's not even worth bothering with.

Clara was split into many (hundreds perhaps) of slightly different people all of whom were born, lived and died. She ended up at points in his timeline to fix the parts that the Great Intelligence broke. For example, a Clara born on Gallifrey made sure the first Doctor took the correct TARDIS. Most of her interactions with him were fleeting - a shouted warning, a brief conversation - and hence he didn't remembered them. She herself had no idea who she or he was, just had the strongest inclination to help him. Oswin Oswald on the Dalek Asylum was the first time chronologically for him that they interacted. The Great Intelligence was destroyed by being torn apart in the Doctor's timestream. The same thing would have happened to Clara but the Doctor risked himself to go in and get her. She has some fleeting memories of all the other lives she's lived. Technically all those other Clara echoes are still out there somewhere so it's perfectly possible for her and the Doctor to come across one of them. Also future Doctors could potentially meet another Clara. She's scattered across his timeline from beginning to end.

Cheers for that,I think i missed the bit about her being split into different versions before.

I spent too long typing this and was beaten to it - but I'll leave it be


Clara Oswald is born, lives to meet The Doctor and eventually reaches Trenzalore in Name of The Doctor.

While there, the aged and damaged TARDIS led her to remember the events of Journey to the Centre of the TARDIS. During which, The Doctor had confronted her about her multiple lives of which she had no knowledge.

Remembering this, she realises that she has to jump in to The Doctor's timestream in order to save him. This projected multiple versions of the same woman, scattered through The Doctor's life. Each of these versions shared similar traits and all served to help The Doctor in some way. They were all born, lived their lives - and died. Such as Oswin Oswald (Dalek Clara) and Victorian Clara.

With his life saved, The Doctor crossed his own timeline and pulled the original Clara out.

Although I believe Moffat planned for Clara to remember some of her echoes' lives in some way - this was cut. So until it's proven otherwise, we can assume she doesn't entirely remember any of her other lives beyond what The Doctor has told her. Though one of the novels established that she had hazy flashes of them in dreams and such. But that's a novel.

Ah thanks that clears it up even more

It made perfect sense, you just weren't paying attention!

Impossible Girl is pretty much exactly the same as the Bad Wolf arc, just with a woman instead of words.

Why doesn't she appear in any of the classic era episodes?

Why didn't we see her in any of the classic era episodes. The answer's cos the Doctor didn't, either.

"But he never hears me..." (Clip of The Snowmen) "Almost never."

They clear this up before they've even run the titles. She's not going about kicking up a fuss - except in Victorian London, the Asylum, and on Gallifrey. She's quietly nudging events in the right direction.

Since were talking about it, I have a couple of questions about it all as well. I understand the general concept, but the following are a few things I don't understand about the situation. As with the Op, this is not my attempt to try and point out flaws or Moffat bash, they are just genuine questions I have.

1)if the doctor almost never hears her, then how does she affect anything on those occasions.

2)If all the echoes are living breathing real people, then why/how does he not hear her

3)how does that particular Clara in each situation know what to do/say to save the day

4)isn't it a bit convenient that the only two times he seems to hear her happen to both be during the eleventh doctors time.

1) unexplained
2) unexplained
3) unexplained
4) yes

1 - She seems to be mostly battling the Great Intelligence. This is something where they could've done a better job of showing us. The Great Intelligence just sort of looms behind the Doctor when he enters the Doctor's timestream, so when Clara follows she just sort of replaces him. She's not solving all his previous adventures so much as foiling the Great Intelligence's attempts to damage his previous adventures. You don't get that, though, not on screen.

Although I'm defending the logic, I don't think The Name of the Doctor is a particularly good story at all. I love Steven Moffat, but I think this was a real off day, and I can't understand why it's held in any kind of regard. Everyone stands about and narrates the plot, rather than actually showing it. It's wall-to-wall exposition and half the locations are a bit contrived and symbolic. If we had shots of The Great Intelligence pulling levers, pressing buttons, and generally causing chaos behind the scenes of all the Doctor's old adventures, you could have a whole litany of Claras defying those plans - but it's a criticism of the way the story's told, more than the story itself. I suspect it was budgetary as much as anything.

2 - Shrug!

3 - The Asylum and London show us she doesn't - she's just born to be in the right place, at the right time, and to learn the right skills.

4 - Not especially, the First Doctor saw her as well.

So did 3, as he did a double take in Bessies wing mirror. I know it was originally because he saw the time scoop in TFD but in this context, he was reacting to Clara calling him from the side of the road.

Guys, look, its all over now. Can we just pretend it never ever happened and just move on?

To expand - this is a really shit sketch, but a storyboard of what I'm suggesting about making it more visual...
http://i58.tinypic.com/t5k1z5.jpg

Something like that, where you've got the context of how the Great Intelligence is interacting with the Doctor's timeline, and then you've got a clear shot of Clara thwarting it. Don't need to know what the console does, don't need to know what Clara's lever does - just a bit clearer than having everyone stand about in the Doctor's wake.


Well noted - completely passed me by!

Thanks for the effort and detail in reply's to my questions guys. People raised some good points about some of what was meant to come across, but it seems to me that the clarity of the whole situation to us as viewers is fuzzy at best.

Just realised yet another issue with it, that being that going into the timeline was clearly stated to mean her death, but more than that, it killed the great intelligence because the original was absorbed/split up to be scattered across the timeline, so the fact that Clara got out of the timeline(somehow) means that the source material to make those copies wasn't there, as from what they showed the original Clara would have had to be absorbed into the timeline for them to exist.

I know we'll never really get the answers to so many unclear points and at this point I'm just trying to forget about the whole thing.


I have to agree Mullet. It was a nice idea, and I have to hand it to Moffat it was putting himself out there to 'go big' in that way, but there just seems like a lot of unclear aspects to the whole thing that moving forward I am just going to view Clara as 1 single one of a kind normal girl like every other companion, as to acknowledge the 'impossible girl' stuff would make me unable to feel attached to Clara in any way.

Also, despite others opinions, it is my personal opinion that moving forward we don't need to acknowledge it anyway as I'm not convinced it happened at all now after the events of time of the doctor. I'm aware that others feel differently but that is how I feel and I sincerely hope they don't mention it again

Do you think the other versions of Clara will end up meeting The Twelfth Doctor or a version of him?Also what is there to say that there aren't any decimal point Doctors?

To add - can't remember if it was on screen or elsewhere but it was stated she just has an inclination to help him. Like she knows it's what she's supposed to do.


I suspect others saw her too but they were only brief interactions.

As for her remembering stuff - it's mentioned in the 50th that she does but the memories are hazy. Several years seem to have passed between Name of the Doctor and the 50th so whatever fall out there might have been from her actions seem to have passed.

When playing with time based stories like that there's always a pinch of salt required - presumably Clara met future Doctor's too since that's his final grave but we don't see them because obviously we can't. (Trenzalore must end up that wreck some point in the future and in some ways it makes sense he'd chose to be buried tucked safely away where he spent the longest amount of time)

What novel? There's only been one featuring Clara hasn't there, and didn't that come out before the storyline was resolved?

Remembering stuff - they say she remembers former Doctors, but John Hurt among them, who she only met in the room with all the Doctors striding about. I figured she remembered the "Not in the name of the Doctor" room, rather than her projections' different lives - but I could be wrong!

So you're telling me, the Doctor "doesn't notice" Clara throughout his life. Even thought she was the one that told him which TARDIS to steal? You'd have thought something like that would have stuck in his mind.

This is the Doctor. He's good at noticing things. He noticed the words Bad Wolf appeared a handful of times yet doesn't realise/recognise Clara keeps popping up during his entire timestream?

Piss poor, half-arsed writing, another grand ****up by the Moff. Let's just place it in the box with John Hurt, the Weeping Angels being tinkered with, Multi-coloured Daleks and the ****ing wooden cybermen.

Yeah. Being daring enough to actually create a whole brand new Doctor thereby celebrating the wonderful fact that this show is able to constantly change and always surprise while also managing to pay due tribute to the history of the show is an awful thing. And then to cast one of this finest actors this country has ever produced to play that Doctor? I wonder how Moffat sleeps at night! If only he listened to people on the internet more he might one day be a respected television writer. Oh wait...

We are not in a position to know how Clara's echoes saved him throughout his life. A few words with his first incarnation and a fleeting glimpse from the third does not equate an unusual phrase being heard and seen several times during the life of one incarnation and his companion. How good do you hope your memory to be having lived 11 lives over 1000+ years?

Oswin struck a huge blow to the Daleks and saved The Doctor without him seeing her face. For all we know, 11 was the only Doctor to encounter more than one version - hence him taking notice.

She didn't necessarily have to interact with him directly in order to assist him. We weren't even shown how the Great Intelligence tried to kill him. For example, how did the G.I. cause The Doctor's death at the Asylum? Did he manipulate the Daleks to lure him there in the first place?

That's the gap that could have been filled in but more satisfyingly. But it also means we can't argue specifics. Unless you have seen more footage than the rest of us.

A person doesn't need to know anything about another person in order to have an effect on their lives. I wasn't setting out to change anyone's life when I met my wife, but that's most certainly what happened. If I wasn't there, who knows what might have happened, or who else might have have a negative effect on her future?

This is basically what it comes down to it. Clara wasn't splintered across all time - she was specifically splintered across the Doctor's personal timeline. It was guaranteed that she would affect his life, particularly at all the points the Great Intelligence entered too.

Each of those versions of her might have talked to the Doctor and he didn't pay any attention, she may have spoken to a companion, she may have saved his life without him even knowing she was there, or without her knowing the significance of her actions. Maybe she knocked him down with her car by accident. Maybe he tripped over her handbag once, and missed his opportunity. All we know is that her presence got in the way of his plans.

He's also really good at not noticing things, or dismissing things as unimportant, or coincidences. Or just plain forgetting.


Take out the Daleks and that's a pretty awesome box of stuff you've got there.