When The Doctor’s Cure Has Unforeseen Consequences

Guest contributor Sam Glover on occasions when all has not resolved quite as happily as it might seem…

To paraphrase Jane Austen, it is a truth universally acknowledged that a world is in want of good men. This was a theme throughout Series 8 which, according to the Twelfth Doctor, was resolved basically as “not good, not bad.” Despite this assertion, I think most would agree that, as the Teselecta argues back in “The Wedding of River Song”, the Doctor is a champion of law, order and justice. In other words, his actions are (mostly) selfless and with the intention of helping people. After all, his name was his promise:

“Never cruel or cowardly. Never give up. Never give in.”

However, in his resolutions, is all left well? Of course not. The man’s not perfect. But I’m not looking at the times when he has been unable to save everyone (the Oods in “The Satan Pit”/”The Doctor’s Wife”, the Sycorax in “The Christmas Invasion” or even deliberate actions like “Dinosaurs on a Spaceship”). I’m looking at when the day has indeed been saved, the Doctor has left and yet all is not quite resolved. Of course these issues may have been fixed “off screen”, but I thought we could have a look anyway. Be warned, there is rampant speculation to follow that may be completely wide of the mark. I just thought it’d be interesting to look at potential unforeseen consequences. For example…

“Blink” – 4 Weeping Angels will roam free (sooner or later)

The mighty “Blink” has received (and continues to receive) acclaim ever since its release. Nearly eight years later it was only stopped reaching the summit of a DWTV poll of best modern Doctor Who episodes by the 50th anniversary special. But, as I suspect a few of you will have spotted, things aren’t entirely well. Aside from the montage of statues at the end of the episode, (thanks Steven), we have the four angels “tricked” by the Doctor into looking at each other. There is just one, rather large problem. That light bulb over their heads? It’s going to go out, sooner or later. And those Angels aren’t going to wait around for a TARDIS anymore; they know it’s not coming. So they’re heading out into the world and zapping people back in time. They may even target one Sally Sparrow (*cough*followupepisodepleaseMrMoffat*cough*) when they escape. Whatever happens, don’t blink…

“Day of the Moon” –Many Silents are still alive

Now now, before you all go along the “raised an army” routine, take a moment to consider something. According to the Doctor, half a billion people are watching Neil Armstrong’s foot descend on to our moon. According to the United States Census Bureau there were over 3.5 billion people on earth in 1969. So, for every one person who watched the moon landing, there were six who had no idea (subconsciously) of the Silents’ existence or that they should be killed on sight. Some would’ve seen it later, but I’d wager my house that the majority would not have watched it. Imagine that for a second. You would expect that those who DIDN’T see it were likely in the developing world and the influence the Silents could have there (especially places like China where television was/is regulated) would be astronomical, especially if their (angry) brethren are joining them after fleeing from their new enemies…

“Kill the Moon” – Tides and the President of the USA

Be warned, there’s a rather longer entry here. There has already been a fantastic article regarding the science of “Kill The Moon” which I will try not to cross over, but one thing to highlight is the tidal effect of the moon’s change over the episode. I won’t pretend for a moment that I am any sort of scientific expert, but if I understand correctly the very basic gist is that the distance between moon and earth affects the tides. In KTM the moon not only grows but zooms off into outer space (fate unknown), and I can of course only speculate, but I think one can assume the Pacific Islands and coasts along the Atlantic can expect a battering.

Another speculation is on the result of Clara and Courtney disobeying an entire planet. Putting aside the possibility that all the lights were switched off by governments rather than individuals (how likely is it that swathes of the earth would all shut down at once?) earth’s resources would be able to identify Clara in a heartbeat. UNIT at the very least would know who she is (pictures of her exist in the Black Archive after all), and it is likely that Courtney would be identified at some point as well; I can’t tell if she was at all visible during Clara’s message but Clara’s link to Coal Hill school and a certain former pupil would not take long to establish.

This matters for several reasons, but one stands out in particular: Courtney (according to the Doctor) goes on to become President of the United States. Assuming he isn’t joking we are now faced with a situation with the “current” (in KTM terms) or former president (it isn’t made clear when she is in charge) risking the entire planet as a child. Given that it is unlikely that this was used as part of her election campaign (“vote for me, in the past I travelled in time and defied the future!”) the ramifications would be enormous. The American political system would face crises of trust both from home and abroad, and Courtney herself would be in very grave danger. And speaking of political issues…

“Last of the Time Lords” – There is now an enormous power vacuum and allies may soon be at war

There can be no question that reversing time (however much of a Deus Ex Machina you consider it, but that’s not the point) in this episode was, all in all, a positive thing. People were brought back to life. The Master was thwarted. The earth was no longer about to launch WMDs on unsuspecting planets. However, the first communication we hear upon time stopping is:

“This is UNIT central. What’s happened up there? We just saw the President assassinated!”

Ohhhh dear. After John F. Kennedy died there was an enormous outpouring of sympathy. World leaders from around the globe went on television, radio and print to offer condolences and support. But that was the result of an individual gunman (conspiracy theories aside) whereas here the assassination is clearly carried out as a result of the British Prime Minister’s direct instructions. And it was live on TV. And then the Prime Minister himself is shot. Suddenly we are faced with two global powers without their elected leaders, one responsible for the death of the other. World War 1 was (in part, not solely of course) instigated by the murder of an Archduke, an important figure of course but the President? That’s another level entirely. Diplomatic relations will decay very, very quickly, and the United Kingdom’s allies will take a large step back. As a country, the UK would be in real trouble, not to mention that…

“The End of Time” – Harold Saxon returns from the dead

I know, I know, Luke says that Mr Smith – Sarah Jane’s very smart computer – put a message out about Wi-Fi causing hallucinations. Sorry, but no way am I buying that. Was Mr Smith able to erase all footage from the entire world of people changing? Did Mr Smith’s story reach everyone? Would people even believe it, particularly those in charge like UNIT who would be rather able to check these things? It just takes too many leaps in logic for me. So now the ex-British Prime Minister, believed to be dead, has almost taken over the entire planet. Bearing in mind that the world can’t remember the last time it happened this would be rather a leap, and trust in the British – still probably languishing from the events only two years before – would be shot to pieces once more. The holding of Mrs Saxon’s trial in secret (see End of Time Part 1) will not have helped matters.

Conclusion

To be honest, there isn’t really a definitive conclusion to be made here. The Doctor isn’t perfect, and we don’t have knowledge of all that he does. For all we know, he DID manage to take care of these things. Or the above didn’t happen at all. Or I missed something obvious (why hello there, exceedingly polite comments section). Or I need to have more faith in diplomatic relations.

So, are there any other problems I missed? Did the Doctor’s influence in “Let’s Kill Hitler” lead directly to Hitler hating the British? Are the Silurians going to declare war after waking up following “Cold Blood”? Is Shakespeare going to face serious trouble from a jilted Queen Elizabeth?

Either way, I’m going for a cup of tea and a biscuit, and to buy shares in tidal defence companies.