Doctor Who ‘Faces The Raven’ And Fans Are Furious
Clara Oswald’s departure as the 12th doctor’s companion was forecast weeks ago. Actress Jenna Coleman announced that she was leaving the Doctor Who cast to focus on her role as Queen Victoria for an ITV mini-series about the royal woman. What was not known was how Steven Moffatt was going to wrap up Coleman’s run as the Doctor Who companion. On Saturday’s episode of Doctor Who, Whovians discovered the tragic end to Clara Oswald, and many are not happy about how her death played out.
Steve Moffatt tends to know exactly how to pull on the heart strings of Doctor Who viewers and Saturday’s episode was no different. This time though there are many fans questioning whether Moffatt went too far for what is supposed to be family television, according to Daily Mail. As the episode came to an end and Clara’s chonolock counted down to zero, the raven flew into her as she screamed, and the raven’s black smoke came out of her mouth and she fell to the cobblestone. The Doctor stood over his companion and cried after her death. Traumatic is an understatement, but Doctor Who tends to be traumatic when it comes to the end of companions or doctors.
Many parents are saying that the primetime slot was inappropriate for such dark subject matter. Moffatt has defended the episode saying that children don’t learn from loss from a Doctor Who episode. While the concerns of parents are valid, this is not the first time companions — or the doctor himself — have met a tragic end. In fact, Clara’s boyfriend, Danny, met his own end, and felt his own cremation, which was traumatic enough for the BBC to receive over 100 complaints about the Doctor Who episode.
Moffatt spoke out about the complaints and concerns people had about Clara’s death saying, “You have to be responsible about it – that doesn’t mean it isn’t shocking or troubling. But it is not like children learn about the realities of people dying from Doctor Who.” While Moffatt has a point, many fans are overly emotionally attached to the characters of Doctor Who.
Clara Oswald has been running around with the doctor since her first appearance on Doctor Who opposite Matt Smith’s doctor in 2012. The “Impossible Girl” kept finding her way back to the doctor until she became a permanent companion after Amy Pond’s departure by a Weeping Angel.
“Faces the Raven” wasn’t just traumatic for Doctor Who fans, but for Jenna Coleman herself according to Mirror. The actress said she was in tears while reading the script.
“It was a surprise when I read the script. It did not go in the direction I thought it was going to. But it’s really cool and different, and good, I think. And sad,” Coleman said. “I couldn’t stop crying after I filmed my final scenes – it was ridiculous to get emotional. I’d planned all these things I wanted to say but only got two words out.”
Even Peter Capaldi said he was “bubbling like a baby” after filming Saturday’s Doctor Who episode. Steven Moffatt has reassured fans that Clara would be back before the season ends on Christmas Day. This is not extremely surprising with the show’s history regarding Clara. Most Whovians know that this is not the first time Clara has died during her time on Doctor Who.
Doctor Who‘s ninth season will wrap up on Christmas day. The show has become so iconic, even in the United States, that the season finale will be shown in movie theaters across the country.
[Photo by Getty Images/Jason Meritt]
