Confusing Storylines: The Immortal Technology
BBC, Lady Me from Doctor Who
Everyone knows the story of Ashildr/Lady Me, and how she became immortal because of Time Lord technology the Doctor gave her at the end of The Girl Who Died. While it was a nice gesture, we got to see the consequences of what happens when someone lives alone, forever, taking the slow path.
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In a way, it’s a reminder of The Girl in the Fireplace, where we place someone who is stuck on Earth, watching her life through minutes. In The Girl Who Lived, we saw the effects that living for centuries had on Lady Me, so much so she doesn’t give herself a name. She’s been so many people for so many years, she lost herself through her various losses. It’s a horribly sad story that started as a want to do something nice for the girl who saved the town.
But the entire time we’ve heard about the “curse of the Time Lords”, and how difficult it is to watch people live and die while the Doctor lives forever. We saw the same sadness in Lady Me, but the Doctor did give her another patch. To save someone else, so she wouldn’t be alone.
This all begs the question – why hasn’t the Doctor used this technology on any companion he wanted to stay?
Looking at it from a storytelling perspective, he couldn’t. It’s the same reason Donna couldn’t carry on being Doctor Donna. As much as we love Catherine Tate, eventually she had to leave. If the Doctor had taken a risk and given Rose the immortality chip, would we be awfully sick of Billie Piper after eleven seasons? Probably.
But from a perspective of a Time Lord, someone who always has to watch his friends leave him, why not stick an immortality chip on their forehead? In making up this technology, Steven Moffat and Jamie Mathieson opened a huge What if? scenario.
Even in the end, Me got her companion, ironically Clara, who’s stuck in a paradox bubble.