(copyright to BBC1)
“LISTEN”
: “DOCTOR WHO “, SERIES 8, EPISODE 4. A CRITIQUE.
Confused and embattled, the Doctor takes time out to reflect
on his plight, like the epic hero Arjuna from the Mahabharata. In yogic pose on the Tardis above the earth he embarks on a different sort of journey, inside himself,the inner space of outer space, exploring fears of isolation and loneliness, the solace of company in his fear
of the dark unknown. There have been psychological episodes before, like “Edge
of Destruction” in series 1 and “Midnight” where the action is internal, set on
a small stage, using interior monologues, introverted explorations of
fragmentation where things seem to be falling apart. Traditionally, this self-
quest-ioning takes the hero from a man of action to a man of reflection which
deepens his character,(why do we talk out loud when alone/what is under the bed/ alone, why do we feel the presence of
another?). It’s a necessary part of the hero’s development, and of the epic
narrative.
This inward journey has dangers that require attentive
awareness. In this place there may be Beings that use Hiding as a “survival
skill” instead of attacking or defending, “hiding from view” in order to
protect themselves, like the monsters in Timelord Art. These beings would have to be very elusive or
vulnerable or special to use this mechanism to survive. “Listen” says the doctor. “Listen” says the
writing on the wall, as if from nowhere. “Listen”, says Clara to the boys who
sleep, a command that alerts them to their Unconscious.
But Listening is what Clara and Danny fail to do as they
first meet each other over dinner, dodging each other’s intrusions in
misunderstandings that miss the point, vulnerabilities in them hiding from
disclosure as they make assumptions based on preconceived notions or prejudice.
“People like you always get the wrong end of the stick”, says Danny before
Clara walks out. They fail to see what is hidden between the words because they
aren’t listening attentively with their hearts.
Its the same with the new Doctor and Clara who are estranged
in their relationship since his rejuvenation has all “gone wrong”. They do not
see each other clearly because they make assumptions that cloud their judgement,
about age and women. The doctor says Clara isn’t wearing make up when she is.
She says the handwriting on the wall is his, though he thinks he “couldn’t have
written it and forgotten”. In the “two possibilities” of viewpoint, Clara is
prosaically literal in her interpretation where as the doctor is mysteriously metaphysical,
musing about “a companion, a silent passenger, a shadow.” She sees the obvious
while he looks for something hidden, so he looks one way while she looks the
other, each with a partial viewpoint...which is obviously why she needs the three-way mirror to reveal maximum
visibility, since you cant see everything by just turning your head!(“Why three
mirrors instead of turning your head?”he says).Her “three in one” mirror reflects
the whole, from all angles, a universal mystery revealed in the the Upanishad as one of their “hidden meanings”.
To answer his question about the universal fears of something
under the bed at night, the Tardis images an archetypal “place of safety”, a
Childrens Home. They manage to “get in” because the “door is faulty” and the doctor distracts the
guard with ambiguity, confusing him with the mirage of his presence and the
disappearance of a coffee mug. These are
tricks of illusion to divert attention. So they advance beyond the defences to
find Danny as a vulnerable frightened child. When Clara goes under the bed to
dispel Danny’s fear, her action forces “the thing” out to be visible, now a
figure hiding under a blanket, rising out of shapelessness into a form. The
more they consciously look, the bigger it gets, out of all proportion....just
like our fear of the dark.
The doctor throws light on this experience by literally
turning on the light and deflecting attention, changing viewpoint so they are
not overwhelmed. “Where’s Wally?”,he jokes, “Fear is good, makes you alive,
fully conscious and alert, scared is a superpower. There is a danger in this
room and guess what, its you”. Its a comment that can be taken two ways,
depending on viewpoint, either referring to the “thing” as dangerous or Danny
as dangerous. Each is dangerous to the other, so Danny must learn to ignore the
thing that “must not be seen”, that hides to be safe. If Danny turns away, it
will turn away. They must acknowledge each other and then forget,ignore.
Again the Doctor concludes there are “two possibilities” to
the interpretation of this experience, that it is literally a boy playing a
prank, or metaphysically that this is “a thing that must never be seen”. One
view is outwardly concrete, the other is inwardly numinous.
Clara responds by reassuringly creating an army of plastic
toy soldiers to guard the boy Danny, led by a “soldier so brave he doesnt need
a gun, Dan the soldier man”, a man armed in his own right as a person. In later
life this sentiment will determine Dannys career as a soldier who focuses on
helping others by digging water wells instead of killing them. It will also
shape the Doctors character as a hero without guns, something he seems to
recognise in himself now as he listens.
This first stage of the journey inward is a lucid moment for
everyone involved. It awakens something in Clara who realises her mistaken
judgement over Danny the man, encouraging her to make amends. It enlightens
something in the boy Danny that enables him to develop as a man. It awakens
something in the doctor as he carefully observes Clara’s act of kindness and
empathy. These lucid moments appear to come out of nowhere, like manifestations
of the subconscious. They release something that is hidden, a disclosure.
And as if out of nowhere, the surreal intrusion of a
spaceman (or deep sea diver!) lures Clara away, deeper into the shocking
revelation that this figure is her descendent, Orson (but not Welles!). They
dont recognise each other physically, outwardly, but they do realise the
connection through the toy soldier symbol, the heirloom. Its inexplicable,
unfathomable, but just as real and powerful.
Here where the archetypes lurk they have reached their
destination, “the end of the road, end of everything, end of the universe”,
certainly the end of the known. “The Tardis isn’t supposed to come here but
some idiot turned the safetyguards off, theres nothing here, not a breath, all
clocks stopped, the end of Time”, says the Doctor, who has referred to himself
twice already as the “idiot”. Only a fool or madman would venture here. The
doctor is unlocking himself to find what lies hidden in order to understand, questioning
himself. “Listen” he says for the third time to the “three left in the
universe”; man, woman and child descendent.
This is a place of unveiled archetypes, surreal and
mysterious, hidden presences made briefly visible. There is now only one last
locked door, the one that says “dont open this door”, an instruction that has
always been there but only “visible in the nightlight” as a reminder or
warning. As if dreaming, the Tardis must “recharge itself overnight”, an
endurance too much for the fearful Orson who is taken to another “place of
safety”. For there is great danger in this place; “Its potentially catastrophic
to meet yourself” says the doctor, “Im afraid of my own shadow”, says
Orson, “you dont want to meet yourself,
its embarrassing” says Clara. If the vulnerable Self hides in order to survive,
its important to be in the right frame of Mind to encounter it.
The doctor and Clara are now ready and alert, facing the
locked door. Something is knocking three times on the door, eager to enter,( as
in the episode Midnight). Again there are “two possibilities” of
interpretation, the literal or metaphysical, exoteric or esoteric, “pressure
equalising or company”, an inevitable choice framed by the dualities of
conscious existence perceived by the Mind, which is why alone there is always the presence of another since one occurs with the other, endlessly. To open the door is to glimpse beyond
this framework.
Its the poetry of a recollected nursery rhyme that takes the
Doctor onwards now, the figurative language of imagery, words that hide their
meaning or have double meaning, ambiguous, magical:
“Whats that in the mirror, in the corner of your eye?
Whats that footstep following but never passing by?
Perhaps they're all just waiting,perhaps when were all dead,
Out theyll come a slithering from underneath your bed."
He must face this final stage alone where what is hidden can
be revealed. “I must know” he says, “I need to know if there are creatures who
live to hide and dont show themselves”. An open door is an open Mind in the
doctor’s conscious need to know, not threatening nor threatened. We dont know
what the doctor sees but we do see the expression on his face, the awareness of
an insight, like switching on a light. It knocks him off balance and
unconscious, “as if something hit him”. Orson brings him back physically but
not mentally so he stays unconscious.
Its Clara, unthreatening and unthreatened, who reaches the
doctor in this place, from within like an anima. She treads carefully where vulnerabilities
hide like tracking wild exotic creatures. Now she is the thing under the bed,
disarming him, comforting, dispelling fears, “its OK. Go back to sleep”, and he
is the distraught boy sobbing in his head, in isolation and fear. Her words
become his words as he absorbs them subconsciously, making them his own,
assimilating, as if she is something inside him. Her monologue comforts and
elucidates, is about a unified viewpoint, bringing everything together, literal
and metaphysical, restoring his balance.
“Listen. This is just a dream. Fear is OK, a superpower.
Fear doesnt have to make you cruel or cowardly, it can make you kind. You’ll
always be afraid, even if you hide it. Fear is a constant companion. It brings
us together. Fear makes companions of us all”.
The unarmed toy soldier she leaves both boys is an object
AND a symbol with outer and inner significance, a combination that empowers
them. This kind of knowledge lies hidden
in order that it survives because, as the mystics who were the first
psychologists warn, keep these things hidden lest they be abused by those not
ready or prepared to understand. When the boy doctor calls out “Who’s there?”
as the adult doctor says “I need to know”, it opens the door between states of
consciousness as the spaceship door opened. So the release is inside and
outside. The doctor faces aspects of himself in the dark that he has populated
with creatures from the product of his fears. What is outside is also inside, if
you know how to look and listen with the eyes of the heart.
However, its important not to linger or dwell on this
surreal shape shifting place with its ambient “mood lighting”. The doctor says, “Dont look,
turn your back, move on, get in the tardis”. Clara says “dont look, dont ask
questions, do as you’re told”. Its important to glimpse but not to get trapped.
Forgeting is the correlative of Remembering.
In this lucid moment there is unification on all
levels. Orson is restored to his own time. Clara and Danny are reunited in a
kiss. The doctor and Clara reconnect. The doctor is reintegrated with himSelf,
secure in his connection to the anima inside and Clara outside. There is a sense
of reconciliation, unity, Integration. Everything is Whole again....until the
next time they journey here.
These Beings beyond consciousness, who “hide in the corner
of your eye” are the manifestations of presences from the Psyche/Soul/Self ,as real
as any other. They hide to protect themselves, but break cover when the
conditions are right, a wonder to behold. The fear that isolates the Doctor can
be a kindness, a friend. As the foster parents want to bring all their boys
together in the farm on Gallifrey, so Clara wants to put the dreaming doctor
back together. Her words heal the rift of his divided Self.
The world of Archetypes is Real, if hidden. Its creations
make themselves known to the eyes of an open heart. This has always been
understood and told in stories like this one now.
Listen. Discern.
