Peter Capaldi was very clear at the beginning of his tenure as the Doctor on Doctor Who that he wasn’t interested in, in fact he was adamant about no romantic involvement between the Twelfth Doctor and his companion. Well, it seems like showrunner Steven Moffat has something different to say about it now.
In an interview from over a year ago, Capaldi had this to say about the possibility of romance on the TARDIS:
“It’s not what this Doctor’s concerned with. It’s quite a fun relationship, but no, I did call and say, ‘I want no Papa-Nicole moments’. I think there was a bit of tension with that at first, but I was absolutely adamant.”
Yet, at the recent BAFTA New York panel, Steven Moffat talked about the “sexual tensions” between the Doctor and Clara:
We’re in a very different place with the Doctor and Clara in the modern series, it’s been a while since I’ve seen the early stages of the Twelfth Doctor trying to pretend he doesn’t fancy Clara – ‘Oh you’re ugly! Disgusting!…Stop looking so good!’
In truth, in most cases with the Doctor he always loves them more than they love him. That’s his story. He’s always besotted with them even though he’s trying to pretend that he isn’t.
Uuuuuum, whut?
Now here’s the thing – there are different kinds of love, of which romantic love is only one. I actually agree with the second part of Moffat’s remarks. that the Doctor always does love his companions more than they love him. I think that he loves these silly little humans on this silly planet more than they love him, and he saves them time and time again because of that love. That love is bigger than “fancying” someone. It’s bigger than someone “looking so good.” And while I agree with Moffat on the fact that the Doctor loves Clara, I disagree with the nature of that love, and I find it cheap that he would demean both the Doctor and Clara by reducing it to mere sexual attraction.
No, I don’t think the Twelfth Doctor “fancies” Clara. I think he loves her. There’s a difference.
(via Blastr)
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