Doctor Who: The Possible Complications of Meta-Crisis Doctor and Rose

It is easy to think that Rose Tyler got her happy ending when the Meta Crisis Doctor joined her in the parallel universe. But was this really as happy an ending as one would like to think?

Perhaps the greatest romance on Doctor Who was the love shared by Rose Tyler and the Tenth Doctor. They were inseparable, with one of the saddest moments in the new incarnation of the show being their parting, when Rose was sent into a parallel universe. The Tenth Doctor was particularly affected by her unexpected departure, as he essentially moped through the entire time he travelled with Martha Jones.

Eventually, Rose was able to get what seemed like a happy ending, when the Meta Crisis Doctor came into being. He was an almost exact duplicate of the Tenth Doctor, only he had just the one heart and would grow old and die along side Rose. Now, Rose finally had her Doctor for herself.

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At least, that is what it would have seemed to be. She would have the Doctor with her, all of the memories of their time together intact in his mind. Yet, for as much of a benefit as these circumstances were, he also had the memories of those other points in the Doctor’s timeline — of his previous incarnations and the travelling that he was able to do.

Could it be that these memories would just haunt the Meta Crisis Doctor? The Tenth Doctor had a dark and brooding side to him that would occasionally come to light. MCD being tortured by the memories of the Time Lord to whom he was connected through DNA, yet not quite being that person himself, could be enough to bring that side back.

Likewise, there are the questions of how this Doctor would handle being mortal. After hundreds of years of being able to regenerate, and knowing that he would be relatively fine should the worst happen, how would he now respond to actually aging? Would he be able to grasp the knowledge that his life would end in a few short decades, instead of the millennia to which he had been accustomed?

And what of Rose’s feelings? Would the knowledge that MCD is the Doctor, but… not quite… constantly haunt her love for him?

Next: Why the wait for Series Ten will be worth it

Rose being united with her Doctor seemed to be a feel good moment on Doctor Who. However, the dramatic changes that the Meta Crisis Doctor faced as he came to terms with his mortality — and Rose’s memories — could make for a far more difficult relationship than expected.