On the significance of Clara's birthdate - meta and speculation

[ibishtar]

[Spoilers for up to and including The Snowmen (click to open)]
"Nothing is truly forgotten. And if it can be remembered, it can be brought back."
-The Doctor, The Pandorica Opens/ The Big Bang
"Remember me, for we shall meet again"
-Clara's tombstone, The Snowmen
"We are all stories, in the end."
-River Song, The Pandorica Opens/ The Big BangClara Oswin Oswald's tombstone says that she was born November 23rd 1866

Comments

[ibishtar]

Elementary <3 Thank you!

[d1loui]

i think it's pretty spot on! especially if we consider that the next time Clara comes on, it'd be the 21st century version. We have Oswin who represented Old Who; and the upcoming Clara who will most likely be a presentation of New Who. And here comes the good bit I think, we have the very dapper 1998 movie Doctor. Who in the beginning had entirely forgotten who he is. In Clara's case, I think the whole Oswin => Clara thing could be pointing to this scenario right there.

I'm probably just putting emphasis on what you've already said, but this is bloody brilliant!

[ibishtar]

Thank you! Hmm... now you've got me thinking about Clara indeed having forgotten who she is and where she came from. If all the Claras come from the same place, what they remember of their childhood should be key to figuring out what's going on. There are probably great blanks in her history. Then again, if Amy can exist without her parents existing, Clara probably could too. Another Crack victim?

[ibishtar]

You're not stupid! I wrote out the date when Doctor Who first aired for the new fans who might not know it. Glad you like my theory, thanks!

[mugma]

Wow, great theory! And it makes perfect sense:)

[ibishtar]

Thank you! Glad I managed to make sense to someone, haha!

[dqbunny]

I love the meta thoughts! I also think though that Clara was 26 because Jenna-Louise Coleman is 26, so it might also be a nod to her birth as well just as "Rory Arthur Williams" was a nod to Arthur Darvill and the ages on their gravestones were nods to the years that Karen Gillian (1987) and Arthur Darvill (1982) were born.

[ibishtar]

Yeah, it's one of those things that made me wonder whether it was intentional or just serendipitous.