I thought I was the only one who thought like this. I remember watching the end scene of the Caretaker (I think it was.. the chat on the sofa?) and that just made me go 'Hmmm something not right there.'
I don't think for one minute that's what the writers planned or had in mind but it did make me think 'potential abusive relationship.' I wasn't even sure why but it did.

Nope, danny did not like or respect the doctor> he disliked him very much.

Correct. At the beginning. Neither liked each other. But Sara said "by the end".

Danny had a problem with authority figures (specifically the "officer class") because they'd let him down during his time in the Army. He saw the Doctor at first in the same way.

The Doctor had a problem with soldiers - to the extent he insulted, abused and picked on (unfairly) ordinary soldiers. Misdirected abuse in my view and a misstep by the writers. He should have been picking on the leaders and the officer class. It was wrong to have the Doctor pick on "grunts". He wouldn't be so unfair.

Another reason I didn't warm to 12 until Last Christmas.

But that had improved by the end and I think they came to have respect for each other's integrity.

I didn't think that for a minute. He cared for Clara and wanted to protect her, so he argued with her and tried to persuade her not to do something dangerous (i.e. travel with the Doctor, and yes, he probably saw the Doctor as a threat to his and Clara's relationship as well) and, above all, he wanted Clara to be honest with him.

Travelling with the Doctor is, at the very least, life changing and very often life threatening. So why would you not wish to argue with someone you cared for to try to stop them doing something dangerous?

"You wanna stick your hand in the fire? Sure, go for it." Not very caring is it?

"For god's sake don't stick your hand in fire!!" shows more caring.

Yep, that's a scene that didn't sit comfortably with me either. Ugh.

He never, at any point, told her what she could and couldn't do. He asked her to be honest with him (which is not an unreasonable request, especially given her history of lying to him), and to promise to tell him if the Doctor pushes her too far, so he can help.

He's a man shaped by his history, and no doubt his worldview is coloured by that - he's seen what happens when you follow orders without questioning, and knows the risks to Clara. But he never attempts to stop her, despite the number of times he provokes the Doctor into showing his true colours to her.

Well said, johnnysaucepn. You expressed it far better than I did.


I think that's the quote that people who follow the abuse/control freakerey line about Danny have focussed on. Focussed on too much in my opinion.

And then confirmation bias does the rest.

In fact, Danny's very argument is that it's the Doctor that's abusive and manipulative, pushing Clara to take risks that she shouldn't. Given the way the Doctor withholds information, abandons Clara without explanation and forces her to make decisions he doesn't want to, it's hard not to understand his point.

For me, it's also the way Jenna and Sam play that scene, in addition to the dialogue. But hey. Each to his own interpretation. Be dull if we all saw or assumed the same thing.

I thought these were Clara's paradox.