[idiotsavon @replies]

Forgive me, thedoctorwhoforum, for I have lurked. It’s been 7-and-a-bit months since my last communication.
I’ve read quite a few references to lurkers here. My favourite was, I think, just before the 50th. Forgive me (again), I’ve forgotten who wrote it. But @author-of-said-post, you made me laugh. A lot. With a mouth full of tea.
The post in question painted a picture of forum members in the pub. In the real world. Having fun, chatting about all things Who …
…And outside, in the shadows, the Furtive Ones listening at the window.

It’s funny because it’s true. Us lurkers are quite sinister really.

I haven’t been stalking you every day since May or anything. I did an all-too-brief bit of joining in months ago, and I intended to make a regular thing of it. But I drifted away. Moved house, changed jobs, that sort of thing. It’s a reason, not an excuse. (Or perhaps it’s an excuse.)
I just want you to know that, when I offered my own bit of bonkers theorising, I felt very welcome and I felt that my contribution was appreciated and valued.

I came back to the forum in the run-up to November 23rd, read lots of wonderful bonkers theories and wild (and/or prescient) speculation,  and loved it. I also saw what good friends you have become, how much has happened and how much you have shared. You really have created a lovely and rather special place on the internet. I don’t see any reason why anyone should feel deterred from contributing if they want to.

For my part, I have a habit of busying myself with things I don’t particularly want to do, at the expense of things I might enjoy. (Contributing on here being something I know I would enjoy.) I’d like to resolve to join in a bit more in the new year.

I’ve thought of more that I could say, but I don’t want to make this overly long.

Just a big thank you from a silent (but definitely not sinister) lurker.
x

[idiotsavon @replies]

LOVED it!  Haven’t got anything clever to say myself, just really enjoyed watching. But looking forward to reading all the theories on here.  Still enjoying the “Thomas Thomas” gag.

[idiotsavon @replies]

My boyfriend made it home tonight for a surprise visit for a few hours (he works away). While it was lovely to share precious time together, part of me was annoyed that I had to miss Doctor Who.

Is that wrong?

Either way, he’s gone again so it’s just me, iplayer and a bottle of Cobra. Hope this episode is a cracker…

[idiotsavon @replies]

@htpbdet  Whoever came up with that idea is clearly a genius 🙂

As for anagrams…
“crimson eleven delight petrichor” can be rearranged to say “Doctor/River : Silence helping them” Is this just a coincidence? Is it possible that the Silence are not the enemies after all?

Other anagrams: George Maitland – a timelord, an egg.

Mrs George Maitland makes for more interesting possibilities including  riversong, timelords, dna, data, romana,… I can’t make anything coherent out of it all without letters left over though.

@blenkinsopthebrave  I agree that breaking the fourth wall is significant. I think it’s linked to the other self-referential stuff people have been mentioning, such as stories within stories and lines in the script specifically about stories and storytelling. Another bit of self-reference is the fact that a lot of important dates in Clara’s life match important dates in the life of the TV series. It could all just be a clever postmodern wink to the reader, but I think it’s more than that. Why go to such great effort to keep reminding your audience that “this is a fiction, none of it is real”?

This is all far too much fun. I only registered this morning and already I can feel my productivity decreasing by the hour!

[idiotsavon @replies]

Sorry. I was trying to delete my original post (which has a load of nonsense at the beginning) and replace it with a normal-looking comment. All I’ve ended up doing is posting twice. That’s not good form.

Anyway thank you for your welcome.

I know what you mean about her saying those words on the helpline. It’s a bit contrived, but I’m going to guess that originally RUCBAR was just a normal internet password, and “run you clever boy run” was just a random way to remember it. At some point later on, Clara will have to be uploaded to a ghost image, and she will come up with an emergency password that will activate a cloning program. She will choose the password RUCBAR that she already knows. Later versions of Clara (in Snowmen and AOTD) will say the password just before dying. As viewers of both episodes, we assumed that Clara was talking to the doctor (“You clever boy”) but she could have just been reciting a password.

I’m not sure about it, but it’s worth a punt.

 

[idiotsavon @replies]

I am new here. Hello. I’ve been really enjoying reading this forum and thought I’d join in.

So, here are some words/themes which seem to have acquired importance in Dr Who of late:

Ghost, hide, run, memory/salvage/remember, egg, red, RUCBAR123

All have a link to computers.

1.       GHOST: If you want to back up your hard drive centrally and reinstall it in several other places, you can do so by creating a ghost image and reinstall it using ghost software. We have already seen that a person’s soul can be uploaded, stored and downloaded in the same way as data (TBOSJ). I think that somewhere in the cosmos is an uploaded “ghost image” of Clara, which can be downloaded to various places and times.

2.       MEMORY/SALVAGE/REMEMBER/SAVE: All of these words point to data storage. Again, this “data” could take the form of people’s souls, and their stories (which the Doctor tells us are the same thing as souls in TROA).

I know very little about computing (without Google I am nothing). Hopefully, someone far cleverer than me will flesh out these suggestions and make sense of them. Either that or dismiss them as utter rubbish. Either way, here are some more…

3.       EGG: (Think “Blink”) Easter Eggs are hidden programmes in games, operating systems, etc. You need to know the right code or command words in order to activate an otherwise dormant and invisible programme.

4.       RUN: Indicates that the computer is to execute the command which follows.

5.       HIDE: You can “hide” a file or programme (or indeed an Easter egg). It can’t be seen by anyone who doesn’t know the “magic words” so to speak.

6.       RUCBAR 123: Clara says this every time she is about to die.

What if RUCBAR is the password that activates the hidden Easter egg that causes a new Clara to be downloaded somewhere else in the universe? In this way she can’t exactly die. Yet she can die many times over. Personally, I think that the current companion Clara is the original Clara, and that she will at some point have to be uploaded, and will choose a password which will trigger a new download of her centrally stored data, in case of emergencies. She will choose RUCBAR123 because it happened to be her internet password at home.

7.       RED: C00 (C zero zero) is computer code for a deep red colour.  COO = Clara Oswin Oswald.

Remember “Crimson, eleven, delight, petrichor”? Does anyone else think this sequence will acquire renewed significance soon?

Not necessarily related to (and probably contradicting) the above points… In the dark room in Hide, I wondered whether the Doctor saw more in the photos than he was letting on. The conversation (“What do you think she is?” “Not what I thought she’d be.” “What did you think she’d be?” “Fun”) seems to refer to Clara and I felt the Doctor may be concerned about  something Clara-related in the picture. Could it be that Clara does not come out in photographs?

[idiotsavon @replies]

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I’m new on here. Hello. Thought I might join in…
Here are some words/themes which seem to have acquired importance in Dr Who of late:
Ghost, hide, run, memory/salvage/remember, egg, red, RUCBAR123
All have a link to computers, I think.
1.       GHOST: If you want to back up your hard drive centrally and reinstall it in several other places, you can do so by creating a ghost image and reinstall it using ghost software. We have already seen that a person’s soul can be uploaded, stored and downloaded in the same way as data (TBOSJ). I think that somewhere in the cosmos is an uploaded “ghost image” of Clara, which can be downloaded to various places and times.
2.       MEMORY/SALVAGE/REMEMBER/SAVE: All of these words point to data storage. Again, this “data” could take the form of people’s souls, and their stories (which the Doctor tells us are the same thing as souls in TROA).
Pe    I know very little about computing (without Google I am nothing). I am hoping that someone far cleverer than me will flesh these ideas out and make sense of them. Either that or dismiss them as utter rubbish. Either way, here are some more…
3.       EGG: (Think “Blink”) Easter Eggs are hidden programmes in games, operating systems, etc. You need to know the right code or command words in order to activate an otherwise dormant and invisible programme.
4.       RUN: Indicates that the computer is to execute the command which follows.
5.       HIDE: You can “hide” a file or programme (or indeed an Easter egg). It can’t be seen or known by anyone who doesn’t know the “magic words” so to speak.
6.       RUCBAR 123: Clara says this every time she is about to die.
      So…  What if RUBCAR is the password that activates the hidden Easter egg that causes a new Clara to be downloaded somewhere else in the universe? In this way she can’t exactly die. Yet she can die many times over. Personally, I think that the current companion Clara is the original Clara, and that she will at some point be uploaded and required to choose a password which will trigger a new download of her centrally stored data in emergencies. She will choose RUCBAR123 because it happened to be her internet password at home.
7.       RED: C00 (C zero zero) is computer code for a deep red colour.  COO = Clara Oswin Oswald.
Remember “Crimson, eleven, delight, petrichor”? Does anyone else think this sequence will acquire renewed significance soon?
And finally, not related to (and probably contradicting) everything I have just said: In the dark room in Hide, is it possible the Doctor saw something he didn’t like in one of the developing photos? During the conversation (“What do you think she is?” “Not what I thought she’d be” “What did you think she’d be?” “Fun) I am certain the doctor is talking about Clara, and that what he is looking at in the photo is something Clara-related that concerns him. Could it be that Clara doesn’t come out in photographs for some reason?

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