Ace & Clara, A Ramble About Companions & Mysteries
In a lot of ways, Ace McShane and Clara Oswald play very similar roles in the narrative: they are mysteries for the Doctor to poke and prod and uncover.
But there is a distinct difference in how the shows go about them. Namely: Seven feels like he's constantly trying to uncover the mystery, or to prepare for its unveiling, whereas Eleven only seems to make a few passing attempts.
To better define my point, I will be comparing the episodes covering Ace and Clara's respective times on the show, leading up to their mysteries' answers,
Ace's mystery begins in the episode Dragonfire (Season 24, Serial 4). The first part of Ace's mystery is quickly established: the question of how a girl from 20th Century Earth is on this alien world.
After that, we see the Doctor do what I refer to as "Cleaning House". Remembrance of the Daleks (25, 1) has the Doctor move a Time Lord superweapon back to Gallifrey, as well as destroying the homeworld of the Daleks. This was, by his own admission, the entire point that they had come to this time period in the first place.
The Happiness Patrol (25, 2) is a brief side trip to fight some fascists.
Silver Nemesis (25, 3), sees the Doctor uncover the identity of his enemy (via seeing and interacting with the chessboard in Lady Peinforte's house in 1638. We also see him once again remove a Time Lord superweapon from the board (the validium / Nemesis).
The Greatest Show in the Galaxy (25, 4) sees the Doctor fight against some incredibly powerful entities (the Gods of Ragnarok).
Throughout this season, we see two things again and again: the Doctor removing something meaningful from the game board (the Hand of Omega, Nemesis, the Gods of Ragnarok), or just getting a look at Ace's character (her drive to do good in the face of oppression and evil, her fear of circuses, and so on).
Moving into Season 26, this same pattern repeats.
Battlefield (26, 1) has the Doctor following after a distress signal that was going "across the boundaries that divine one universe from another".
Ghost Light (26, 2) sees the Doctor performing an "initiative test", which appears to be to see if she can identify where they've landed. But more importantly, the Doctor takes her back to Gabriel Chase, a place that she told him she hates and fears. They also kill an Eternal, but I'm fairly sure that one wasn't actually on the Doctor's agenda.
And then comes the Curse of Fenric (26, 3), and the Doctor's got it all together. He knows who is pulling the strings after he saw the chessboard in Silver Nemesis, he understands Ace's character due to how much he's been testing her, he's removed allies and tools that Fenric may take advantage of. He has made himself ready.
Now, to compare to Clara.
We first get teased ab out Clara in Asylum of the Daleks (Series 6, Episode 1). There's not much here, beyond the fact that she exists and starts her "Run you clever boy, and remember" call that we'll be seeing again. The Doctor does not yet realise that there is a mystery.
The mystery truly starts in The Snowmen (Series 6, Christmas Special), where the Doctor meets another Clara. He only realises the mystery at the end, when she gives him her name, and he starts his hunt for her.
We then pick up the thread in The Bells of Saint John (6, 6), where the Doctor has... camped out in a random monastery and to paint portraits of Clara. As far as we know, he has made zero progress in discovering anything about her. When he finds her again, he doesn't learn anything meaningful about the mystery just yet, just that "a woman in a shop" gave her the Tardis' phone number (something that he seemingly never follows up on).
The Rings of Akhaten (6, 7) shows that the Doctor basically stalked Clara throughout her entire life in an effort to discover any irregularities about her.
Cold War (6, 8) is a complete accident on the Doctor's part.
Hide (6, 9) has the Doctor going to a powerful psychic in an attempt to further investigate Clara's "impossible-ness", although this doesn't produce any results.
Journey to the Centre of the Tardis (6, 10) technically didn't actually happen, but did show the Doctor point blank asking Clara about the mystery, and again getting no results.
The Crimson Horror (6, 11), has the Doctor interact with the Paternoster Gang, but this almost seems by accident.
Nightmare in Silver (6, 12) has the Doctor agreeing to take Clara and her young wards on a trip to a theme park, accidentally finding Cybermen along the way.
And then Name of the Doctor (6, 13), has the big reveal of Clara's mystery, and the Doctor... knew none of it.
When Seven gets to his "answer episode", it was with the feeling that he had already knew the answers, that he had set the board in preparation, that he was moving with complete knowledge and assurance of how things would play out.
When Eleven gets to his "answer episode", he feels like he's just as much in the dark as when he started. He's made no progress in his investigations, most of his episodes do not feel like they meaningfully play into his plans or preparations, and he's completely taken off guard by the entire affair.
And to be clear: Eleven is not Seven, I do not want them to be the same in all regards. But there is a clear narrative difference that I think is interesting.
The writers chose to make Seven proactive, successful in his investigations into the mystery, to be ready for the final fight.
The writers chose for Eleven to play more passively, to be unsuccessful in his few investigations into the mystery, and to be utterly unprepared for the final fight.
In summary: when you look back, it feels like the Doctor was constantly making moves concerning the mystery that was Ace, whereas he feels far more lax where Clara's mystery is concerned.
And I'm not sure if that is a problem for me, but it is an interesting thing to consider in my opinion.
