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Brian Minchin

I am hoping the "Minchin effect" will be more obvious in season 9. The show needs to be a bit warmer and I think that's what he can deliver. His comments above are very reassuring.

I loved series 8....but gald to see 9 is more about the adventures of Doc/clara

I'm really glad to read this

No more Clara and Danny shite and, fingers crossed, plenty of Doctor and Clara

So agree with that sentiment.

Im thinking/hoping that all this talk of bigger scale and going further into time and space means that Clara will actually commit to the traveling and not have to be dropped back home every episode, as I don't see how those statements can be true otherwise. Hopefully this is the case because even though there was more good than bad in series 8, all the Clara/danny stuff, and forever dropping off then having to persuade her to come again (as if somehow she was the one doing the doctor the favour) were my two main problems with it. I also think that if she were to travel properly in this way that I may come to like her more than I have so far.

Totally agree. I think it will turn a lot of people, who hate her, around as well

I just hope they don't create another boyfriend for Clara. For me, Danny's inclusion in series 8 just seemed like they were trying to copy the Amy/Rory dynamic. This time, however, it didn't work because Danny was nowhere near as likeable as Rory; he was too weird (I thought he was a alien).

I agree with you and I need a lie down cos of that

You thought he was an alien though? I just thought he was badly characterised all round really, and never really cared much for Sam Anderson's acting.

I had a theory last year that he was a alien of some sort whose race had previously encountered the Doctor and that's why they both hated each other so much.

The character was to usher Clara out...but she decided not to leave..

IMO he was pointless though

In series 8 Moffat tried to create controversy by sending the Doctor in search of the afterlife.

He needed to give the Doctor a reason to search for the afterlife. That reason was seeing his Impossible Girl ripped apart by grief. This means creating a character for Clara to love and lose., hence Danny Pink.

Don't forget that when Amy got her Rory back, he became a bona fide companion with his name in the opening credits and everything. Whereas, now that Danny Pink has served his function, he will be no more.

We all know that Clara really loves the Doctor anyway. She always looks at the Doctor far more affectionately than she ever looked at Danny.

A very bizarre turn of events. He'd never done such a thing before for anyone else!

They didn't need Danny to do that, though. What about her love for kids she's supposed to have? Surely the death of one of her students would be enough for Clara to grieve (I assume she'd feel guilty if one of her students was killed as a result of her double life)?

Which shows how much he cares about Clara.

Look at what Clara has done for him.

She stepped into his grave to save him from The Inquisitor and she stepped in without a moment's hesitation even though she knew she would die. She was willing to sacrifice her young life to save his old life.

And would the Time Lords have given the Doctor a new cycle of regenerations if Clara hadn't asked so nicely. I think not. So our current Doctor owes his very existence to Clara and he probably knows it (being a clever Time Lord and all that). She's practically his mother (Now there's a thought.)


No, it had to be a very close loved one. It wasn't just the grief. It was the guilt because she'd be lying to him about her travels with the Doctor.

Don't forget, Clara lost her mum when she was 18 (and the Doctor witnessed her mourning at her mum's grave.) Now she's lost someone else very close to her, but this time she has access to a alien with a time machine, so he's going to use his time machine to make everything right again!!!

Wasn't Clara described as a control freak? Not in control of her emotions or the situation when her mum dies, but thanks to the TARDIS, has the chance to be in control when Danny dies.

But children are shown to be very close to her.

^^^ This. But a much, much, much, MUCH nicer way than I would word it

I didn't know she'd returned after her stint in Trial

I'm still wondering why it never occurred to the Doctor, in his 600+ years guarding the planet/crack, to see if he could send a message through to the Time Lords.


Ha! I did reword my post twice before hitting 'submit'.

I assume it was because he'd accepted he was going to die and (unlike the Master) had no desire to find a way to live on.

Still, he's spending hundreds of years cooped up there - you'd think the curiosity might've gotten the better of him. I mean, his own people are now safe, behind a crack and sending a signal/message through... living with this thing for hundreds of years, you'd at least, at some point, think, "hmm, wonder if I could get a message back the other way."

It's 'cause of the stalemate.

TASHA: If you speak your name, the Time Lords will return.
DOCTOR: If they return, they will come in peace.
TASHA: It doesn't matter. They will be met with a war that will never end. The Time War will begin anew. You know that, Doctor.

The truth field Gallifrey had in place meant he would have to answer his name to their question and they would return. I'm presuming the Doctor didn't want to chance that by trying to speak with them, but Clara took that chance and risked it rather than let the Doctor die.

The truth of the matter is that in that regard The Time of the Doctor got WAY too big for its boots, and delivered hundreds of additional years for the Doctor's lifespan in a very unconvincing way. He was there for the best part of 600 years, that's about nearly a third of his entire life spent in that tiny little town. I like to believe that experience is what made Twelve a bit more distant and unsure of himself, but generally they didn't convey the passing of time for him very well at all. It was far too long to cover in just an hour.

On the subject of the Minchin comments it's exactly what I'd hoped to hear about Series 9. After a wobbly start in Series 7, and Danny holding back a far improved character in Series 8, it is now time with Series 9 to give Clara the time to shine and presumably bow out in style at the end. It sounds a bit more like there's a sense of adventure going on, which the show needed badly after Series 8's tendency to treat time and space as a mission or obligation to explore. It sounds a little more upbeat, I just hope that doesn't make the stories 'simple'... I liked some of the really dramatic scenes of Series 8 and think the euphoric conclusion to Last Christmas was the turning of a new leaf

CLARA get time to shine?? I want Capaldis Doctor to have time to shine!. Clara was a huge focus of series 8, I hope they give Capaldi more room to shine in series 9.,,much more.

The companion is always a huge focus. I'm curious to know what you think of the show's very first series, given how Ian and Barbara were pretty much the main characters.

I want more of Capaldi too, though that's not to say that Clara's journey couldn't have been handled better earlier on and would have been even more impactful in Series 8 had Danny Pink been a remotely good character.

I'm not suggesting even more focus needs to be on her, but as a companion she deserves a decent run of stories that serve her character well in conjunction with a well-served Doctor.