Parsing Out the Twelfth Doctor

Now that we’ve had our first full season of Twelve (even though the show sometimes seemed to do its best to be stingy with him,) I thought I’d take some time to explore our new Doctor.  As with most Doctors, you can catch glimpses of others within him, but in the end, the pieces and composites that come together make up something that’s only him. 

Since much has been made of Twelve’s less-than-cuddly personality, we’ll start there.  Some of his detachment is reminiscent of early One, but it manifests itself differently.  With One, it’s largely about remnants of Time Lord imperiousness; he considers himself above humans, and it’s only by getting to know people like Ian and Barbara that he starts to realize how wonderful they can be.  Not that Twelve never acts superior (pudding brains, anyone?); however, his coldness is often more utilitarian.  As he tries to make Clara see throughout the season, he can’t let himself regret lives endangered or lost because he’s so often the only one standing in the way of much greater loss, and he can’t afford to get distracted. 

I see how his bluntness could be considered Six-like.  Most of the time, he’s just brusque, unfiltered, and can’t-be-bothered, but sometimes his rudeness grates on me – as I’ve harped on before, his insults about Clara’s looks and ratcheted-up hatred for soldiers are downright distasteful (along with his irritating insistence that Danny must teach PE rather than math.)  I’m sure it’s no accident that the times he reminds me the most of Six are the times I like him least. 

As for his manipulative tendencies – the moments when he’s holding a lot more cards than he lets on to Clara and leaves her in the lurch without filling her in on the plan – I’m reminded of Seven.  Seven doesn’t have the market cornered on manipulative Doctors, of course (though the ADHD puppy routine distracts you from it, Eleven actually plays a lot of mind games,) but he’s the one that most comes to mind.  With Twelve, I’m not entirely sure why he does stuff like this.  In a way, it seems like he’s testing Clara – not her aptitude, but her faith in him.  If he appears to have abandoned her, will she believe the worst, or will she be like Leela in “The Invasion of Time” and trust it’s part of the plan?  The whole season focuses so much on the fractured relationship between Twelve and Clara that I could buy him trying to suss out what she thinks of him now.  If that’s the case, though, it’s an unfortunate cycle where she resents being kept out of the loop and views his machinations as proof that he’s a shiftier Doctor than his predecessor.

At his heart, I think he seems the most like Nine, albeit again in a different way.  They have the same lost quality masked by a façade that’s by turns angry and falsely cheerful.  Both have been shaken and don’t know what to make of themselves; Nine is still reeling from the end of the Time War, and Twelve, the first in a new and unanticipated regeneration cycle, spends most of the season trying to work out who he is now.  There’s a vulnerability there, but while Nine is often so raw about it, Twelve seems much more determined to hide it.  He speaks volumes with his insecure, almost rueful smiles, and it kills me that Clara only seems to see the bluster that hides the worries, fears, and needs.  To me, she takes his brusque, uncaring act at face value and doesn’t recognize how badly he needs support and reassurance.  When he makes remarks about how unspotless his hands are, I want to shout, “Okay, fine, so he doesn’t want you to hug him, but will someone please tell the Doctor he’s good man?!” at my TV.  Series 9, please?