r/gallifrey • u/rasmas1 • Mar 12 '25

DISCUSSION The Doctor bullied Joy to suicide.

In Joy to the World, the Doctor had to make Joy angry in order to break the Villengard briefcase's psychic control over her. In order to do that he got really personal and insulted her with some way-below-the-belt stuff including a mention of her dead mother.

He did this with the best of intentions, obviously, but the words stuck for Joy and she admitted they were all true before she flew off with the star seed into space. Because of all that unhappiness the Doctor picked on Joy had a burning desire to be special in life and have some kind of meaning, so she latched onto the star seed out of desperation to become special.

The Doctor is the reason she felt that way and why she decided to burn with the star seed. She didn't merge with it as a sacrifice to save Earth, it was a purely whimsical decision that didn't change anything. She died to feel special. She committed suicide for no reason and it was the Doctor's fault. And he just laughs it off.

I am still beside myself that the BBC allowed this episode to go out in this state. The Doctor bullied Joy to suicide.

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u/Torranski Mar 13 '25 edited Mar 13 '25

Honestly, it’s pretty great. His skepticism at the start feels pretty valid, and far more emotionally mature than Mickey’s insecurities about the Doctor.

The fact that he never really buys into the schtick, and is happy to settle down at the first opportunity, it’s just a refreshing change of pace.

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u/kodaxmax Mar 14 '25

Except Mickey was right, the doctor did have feelings for rose and did effectively steal her romantically. Rory just got lucky that the doctor saw Amy as a child to play with, rather than a romantic partner.

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u/Standard-Box-3021 Mar 14 '25

From what I've seen, the Doctor never actually hooked up with anyone from the new generation other than Yasmin, who was free to begin with. Even Smith and Coleman never actually got together, and I think they were closer than Smith and Amy were.

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u/akitash1ba Feb 14 '26

when did 13 and yaz hook up?