She Said, He Said: A Prequel (webcast)
She Said, He Said: A Prequel, and just simply She Said, He Said on the DVD release, was the prequel to the final episode of the seventh series of Doctor Who, The Name of the Doctor. Uniquely, and rather paradoxically for a prequel, this was set after the TV story to which it was a prequel. It was also fairly unusual as an essentially non-narrative piece of live-action DWU fiction, reifying characters' thoughts about each other rather than depicting any particular in-universe events.
Synopsis
Shot in a dreamlike style and set in a dusty old museum, She Said, He Said sees the Eleventh Doctor and Clara Oswald talking directly to the camera as they reflect on how little they really know about one another.
Plot
The prequel is divided into two parts: "Clara" and "the Doctor". Each part consists of a monologue delivered by its title character. As each speaks, the other stands watching, but immobile.
Clara and the Doctor each walk down memory lane, and discover just how much they don't know about each other. They then reveal that they found out each other's secrets, when they went to Trenzalore.
Cast
Crew
Worldbuilding
- A plastic head which resembles the face of the Doctor's ninth incarnation is on a table.
Story notes
- Although titled as a prequel, both Clara and the Doctor refer to events in the past tense, making this more correctly a sequel/coda to The Name of the Doctor.
- This story's title follows the scheme of the previous webcast, The Bells of Saint John: A Prequel.
- This story is unique in terms of style: consisting of two parts, each with a monologue from either Clara or the Eleventh Doctor. It also breaks the fourth wall, something uncommon in stories meant to be set in the DWU. The fact it is set amongst props from previous episodes also makes it difficult to rationalise in terms of continuity. Notwithstanding momentary wall breaks in the interim, the next time such an experiment is attempted is in Before the Flood which opens with the Twelfth Doctor delivering a monologue about the bootstrap paradox to the audience.
- The BBC credit She Said, He Said as "one of the show's longest prequels."[1] However, The Night of the Doctor, released later the same year, is longer.
- Clara discusses trying not to fall in love with the Doctor, continuing a theme previously addressed with Rose Tyler and Martha Jones, as well as Amy Pond, to a lesser degree.
Home Video
This mini-episode was released as part of The Complete Seventh Series on DVD and Blu Ray on September 24, 2013.
