The Dream Master is actually what I wished the Master was - an selfish Doctor motivated by petty self-interest and jealousy rather than some cartoonishly evil cosmic dominance plan.
So, the Rani.
Mind, I've only seen one Rani serial, and it sucked. But that's still pretty much the basis of her character.
Actually, damn near every evil Time Lord.
Not a bad thing to have the Doctor fill that role, necessarily, especially given that no OTHER evil Time Lords are likely to show up in the immediate future.
Incidentally, a bit of elaboration on The Forgotten, since I appear to be the only one who's read it: the Doctor loses his memory of his previous regenerations but finds himself in a museum full of their artifacts; as he slowly goes through them he recovers his memories (and tells a neat little eight-page story for each version of himself that involves the artifact and some sort of theme).
There's some sort of evil shadowy figure with a goatee manipulating him; obvious red herring is that it's the Master, but when he finally shows himself, he's actually the Doctor himself, WITH AN EVIL GOATEE! CLIFFHANGER ENDING! Except no, it's actually another bug, and the whole thing's happening in the Doctor's head. And he manifests his previous companions and, finally, all ten versions of himself in a big two-page spread that would have been more awesome if Pia Guerra hadn't had to leave halfway through the series and leave it to a less talented artist.
Anyway, again, I don't think the guy who wrote this ep is even aware of the comic, and it's most likely a big coincidence, but the "Whole thing is happening in his head and is a reflection of his subconscious" thing was used to pretty great effect there.
I suppose it would be better to say one is a WHAT IF THE DOCTOR DIED one-shot whereas the other is what is actually happening in the Doctor's head right now. One carries some kind of lasting implications for the future while the other is tidily resolved and disregarded by prying a beetle off her back.
Well, but I think both resolve around the dark side of the Doctor, too. In Turn Left, the Doctor's dark side leads to his own doom because nobody's there to pull him back from the brink. This one's different in that it's the Doctor himself who figures everything out at the last second (which seems to be #11's trademark, even moreso than the previous versions'), but I think it's safe to say Amy's selflessness affects his realization -- it's her name in the title, after all.
I think it's all part of the same "the Doctor needs his companions to help keep his darkness at bay" thing.
Except this time, they seem to be feeding his darkness, at well. Or at least his guilt for how he treats them is.
Also I'm still not convinced that the space rocks were actually the cause of it all. When he brought those out, my first thought was that he's lying to the two of them to cover up something he's ashamed of. It did seem mighty convenient of him to just wake up and find the cause of the problem immediately, whisking it out the door along with everything else that had happened. Could just be over thinking it, though.
Hm, I like that theory a whole lot better. But any way you slice it, it's a pretty great picture of the Doctor's doubt and self-loathing, and we're going to see that develop a good bit over the remainder of the season. Smith said in an interview that he thinks the Doctor is running to get away from the darkness and the blood on his hands; I think that's certainly been true of all three versions in the new series.
