Well, this is sort of off-topic, but on the other hand, a lot of this has to do with the side the show takes on topics of LW interest.
Those were two different forms of “can’t change this thing”.
He didn’t just think he couldn’t change the destruction of Gallifrey because he was locked out of visiting. In the anniversary special, he was there, but first decided he couldn’t change history and had to let the destruction proceed as he had previously done it. He later got an epiphany and decided he could change history by just making it look like the planet was destroyed.
Likewise, in the Christmas special he couldn’t change his own death because he had already seen its effects and knew it was going to happen. He was there—he wasn’t locked out or unable to visit.
If he could get around that for his own death, it’s about time he start doing it for all the others.
Then again, this is the same character who, y’know, killed everyone in the Time War. And showed he was willing to do it again in the anniversary special, even if he found a Third Option before they actually did it.
It’s not the character so much as the story. The story clearly sends the message that it’s a bad idea to do such things and that there always is a third option.
Well, this is sort of off-topic, but on the other hand, a lot of this has to do with the side the show takes on topics of LW interest.
He didn’t just think he couldn’t change the destruction of Gallifrey because he was locked out of visiting. In the anniversary special, he was there, but first decided he couldn’t change history and had to let the destruction proceed as he had previously done it. He later got an epiphany and decided he could change history by just making it look like the planet was destroyed.
Likewise, in the Christmas special he couldn’t change his own death because he had already seen its effects and knew it was going to happen. He was there—he wasn’t locked out or unable to visit.
If he could get around that for his own death, it’s about time he start doing it for all the others.
I don’t believe that. For instance, look at the Doctor’s lecture to Cassandra (several years ago). Furthermore, the genre convention that immortality goes wrong is part and parcel of how much of the genre opposes immortality. Sci-fi loves to lecture the audience on how something is wrong in real life by showing those things going wrong for fantasy reasons (http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/SpaceWhaleAesop and http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/FantasticAesop).
It’s not the character so much as the story. The story clearly sends the message that it’s a bad idea to do such things and that there always is a third option.