@htpbdet – 100% agree with your precis of Season Six! But this season is different – if there has been an equivalent of Rivers bald “imprisoned for murdering the best man in the Universe” statement that semaphores the resolution, so far I’d say we’ve yet to agree we’ve spotted it, even if it is in plain sight.
This time round we’ve no real evidence yet he even makes it to Trenzalore (your spelling is right, my Ipads is … eccentric!) yet (though its heavily implied – which usually means the opposite :D), or that “the fall” is a prophecy* that has any truth to it (A lot of very powerful people worry about judgement day. Doesn’t mean its ever going to happen, even if they try their hardest to pave the way)
Another thing I’m pretty sure about is that although I think elements of classic who (such as Susan) might be incidentally referenced (like the Brig and his daughter, the London underground tin etc) as nice little fan-service callouts to reward the old guard, but I don’t think they will be central to any plot.
The central elements will now always be from the canon, events and characters established since 2005 imho. The mystery of Clara will be explicable (by which I mean not pulled out of a 50yr old hat) in plot points recognisable to someone who has no idea that Who existed before 2005, because they are the fans that matter, not us old farts with 20ft scarfs in the backs of our wardrobes. As the Moff says – its about looking forward, not back.
At first glance, SJS looks like an good refutation of that, but if you look at how that’s written, it’s not actually important that it’s SJS – any previous (even non canon) previous companion would have done. The plot point her character fulfilled was to show that the Doc moves on from companion to companion – no matter how close they were – and doesn’t look back (which Rose realised, slightly to her horror).
Even the Daleks are only referenced time-war onwards (nu who canon), never before that (except as incidental call-outs like “Exxillon”).
But non of that stop us dreaming up our own wish-fulfilment full blown tie-ins to classic who, and much fun it is too, both to cook up and to read! Please please please keep them coming!
I personally would have said Susan (or any classic ref) could still have been a contender if they had been dropping more hints over the last few eps to establish her in his history inside nu-who, so when finally reintroduced, it won’t feel like it came out of nowhere. But with a few eps to go, that’s looking increasingly unlikely, imho – one passing mention of her name in Rings isn’t enough. We’ll see though – still everything to play for!
* I can understand why both Moff and RTD drop in prophecies to generate some dramatic tension (hello Hamlet!), but in the context of a Time Travel show, aren’t they inherently silly? No sure if prophecy is true? Pop forward a few years, read the papers, pop back. Simples!
