It’s hard to think about changing episodes in Doctor Who, since usually that would have major repercussions for other events down the line. I thought of several episodes that I might change, but didn’t know what I would change them to. So, I picked an episode that I think needs more resolution.

Listen

In this episode, the Doctor and Clara investigate monsters under the bed and confront childhood fears. Clara meets a young Danny Pink and also the mysterious Orson Pink.

It’s not that I think anything is wrong with the episode. It’s fine just the way it is, and it seems to be on many people’s lists of best episodes. The only thing I would change is to add some more explanation of Orson Pink.

Who is Orson Pink? The obvious suggestion in the episode is that he’s a descendant of Danny. However, Danny dies in “Dark Water” and later gives up his one chance to come back. Where does Orson come from, then?

The “official” answer from Moffat is that Orson comes from another branch of Danny’s family. I’ll be honest – that’s not a good enough answer for me. There is such a strong implication that Clara and Danny are his time-traveling ancestors. Why set that up if you’re not going to explain it? Moffat goes on to say that nothing is set in stone until it is part of the show. Since we never hear about Orson again, we still don’t have a real explanation.

I agree with Kat’s blog post a while back (Kat, was this on your old blog?) that all the references to babies throughout Season 8 were hints that Clara was pregnant. This makes a lot of sense to me. Jenna Coleman was originally going to leave earlier, and this would be a way to write her off the show. I could even deal with it being ambiguous and not explicitly stated. Then I would at least be able to believe it in my head. I just want an explanation about Orson Pink.

I picked “Listen” because this episode is where the questions are raised. Clarification in another episode would be okay too. However, I think we are unlikely to revisit this topic since Clara is gone now. I suppose I’ll just have to live with the uncertainty forever.

</overly dramatic rant>

What do you think about Orson? What episode would you change? Let us know in the comments!