Fridge / Doctor Who S34 E6 "The Caretaker"

Fridge Brilliance

• The Doctor is not being a Jerkass to Danny just to be a Jerkass; The Doctor is certainly suffering from long-standing PTSD. Even though the guilt of having destroyed Gallifrey is gone as he found out he didn't, we are still talking about a man who has participated in the better part of two millennia of war (circa 800 years of the Time War, and 900 years of the Siege of Trenzalore). In Real Life, multiple deployments of troops to hot combat zones such as Iraq and Afghanistan, or longer tours of duty such as those seen in World War II or Vietnam can cause considerable mental scars (and that's only a few years, rather than centuries). Given what the Doctor had to endure, or even what he had to do, he by all rights should have been reduced to a barely-functioning wreck. He's likely showing Danny a ton of restraint, when Danny is, without intending it or even knowing it, a walking, talking PTSD trigger.
  • Not only that, but Danny assumes that the Doctor is the kind of WW1 armchair officer who sits back and lets other people throw themselves into the fire. As someone who fought on the front lines of the Time War and has mourned countless friends fallen in battle, of course this would sting!
• Adrian talks to Clara about teaching The Tempest, which is a perfect thematic fit considering the subplot of that play revolves around an older magician trying to get his daughter to fall in love with a sailor by pretending to hate the sailor. The outside adversity causes the two to fall in love.
• Missy Answering to the Name of God makes a lot more sense after she is revealed to be the Master, considering the size of their ego.

---