Paper Abstract, Thesis and General Outline

ABSTRACT: “Never let him see you age. He doesn't like endings” is a warning just as fitting for Amy Pond as it is for Wendy Darling. Examining seasons five through seven (2010-2012) on Doctor Who reveals many adapted myths, legends and fairy tales threaded into the Neverland of Amy and the Doctor. Amy as Wendy then transforms from child to mother, both literally and figuratively, in season six, and the Doctor seeks refuge in immaturity. Amy’s dual legacy as friend and “mother” is further developed through her daughter. A thrice-changeling, River Song begins as a Tinker Bell archetype, but develops into Wendy’s daughter Jane.
The tone drastically shifts from childlike innocence to mature subject matter; the relationship between Amy and the Doctor develops from unrequited love to a deep mutual understanding, and finally the Doctor becomes dependent on their relationship, which Amy has outgrown.
The Amy/Doctor relationship coincided with the rising popularity of Doctor Who outside of the UK. We will argue that this relationship appealed to American audiences due in part to the rise of extended adolescence. The Eleventh Doctor’s connection to the Jungian puer aeternus and “Peter Pan syndrome” provides a cathartic experience through Amy’s escapist adventures.

THESIS: The Smith/Moffat/Gillan era of Doctor Who is a modern adaptation of the Peter Pan myth in many ways. These adaptive elements are the reason that the show’s popularity has spread outside of the UK and finally reached a similarly massive level of popularity in other countries as well--particularly the United States, because of the growing phenomenon of “extended adolescence” among the show’s targeted audience.

OUTLINE

• Moffat’s Usage of Fairytales, Myth and Archetypes and Literary Metaphor.
• A)  Moffat's Pre-Series 5 work e.g. The Girl In The Fireplace
• B)  Elements Moffat uses in series 5-7 e.g. Sleeping Beauty, The World Turtle, Minotaur, Pandora’s Box. 5 takes prominence.
• C)  Amy as embodiment of literary metaphor, her own author of her existence; twice, both in The Big Bang via the crack (not intentional) and intentional at the end, telling the Doctor to dictate what stories young amy will eventually (most likely) act out as make believe as she grows up.
• She is a literary circle like the very myths and stories she loved.
• ["we're all stories in the end", dual audienceship of childrens' stories--that's really driven home by Amy telling her own story in a way she's a child in control of how the adult tells the story, which is huge for a children's story/show she eliminates any parental control over her life]
• D or E) The ultimate adaptation of “Peter Pan” (very generalized, how we first came to realize this, how it has developed--season 7.1 conclusion was a real clincher for the theory.)
• E or D)  Puer Aeternus 
• [God Pan, Hermes--Barrie ALSO used these characters to develop Peter, so this will only be introduced here then delved more into later in section 2.]
• 2. 11th Doctor as Peter
• A) Tracking Peter Backwards: Intro to Puer aeternus, Pan, Hermes and Peter
• B) The Doctor as an already vaguely incarnation of the trope
• C) 11’s embodiment of the trope 
• - Peter Pan and Moffat’s intent, the Doctor and the implications for the character in his 50th    anniversary
• - Personality shift, marked duality. Coping mechanism?
• - God complex, the increased "god" and chaotic elements."Trickster God" of the Pandorica. The “fall” of that god, both unintentional and intentional as 11 wipes himself from people’s minds. “ The Fall of the Eleventh”.
• 3. River as Tinkerbell
• A) Tink is a fairy of electricity (light/shadow)--library 
• -nightlights (theme of light/dark in season 7.1, even in aesthetic choices) 
• B) jealousy/possession of Peter 
• C) Equal trickster personae and “equal” to the Doctor.
• D) Something about BELIEF in order to EXIST (Clapping)
• 4. Amy as Wendy and what that symbolizes
• A) Amy as Wendy.
• - Nightgowns
• - 11 and Amy's role reversal of dependency from 5-7. Their relationship.
• - Rory and why Amy "grows up" and chooses Rory, again, finally, rejecting the Doctor to be  with him. 
• B) River as Jane figure: daughter/mother 
• - When does this transformation take place? 
• - Child to adult in the course of one/two episodes
• C) Amy as the audience insert, figure wish fulfillment, the Wendy "with a second chance".
• 5. The appeal of the above narrative parallelisms on modern youth and younger adults and viewership in America
• A) The appeal of Amy and Eleven due to the Peter/Wendy relationship and its possible impact with increased viewership outside of UK
• B) Return to puer aeternus, peter pan syndrome and the cultural phenomenon of growing up or rather current youth's struggles in doing so. (extended adolescence)
• - That waiting is pivotal as it is what Amy, as the Wendy who is able to be taken away as an         adult, succeeds or obtains what in proxy, most viewers wish for too.

CONCLUSION: What all the above means in terms of Moffat's influence on/intent with the series, what he is turning the Doctor into for the 50th anniversary. Other writers on Doctor Who have made use of adaptations, but none so frequently or consistently as Moffat himself. The strongest adaptive thread which runs through all of Moffatt's work is that of the Peter Pan myth, one that has helped a wider audience connect strongly with the characters and storylines of the Moffat/Smith era.

"For the time being one is doing this or that, but whether it is a woman or a job, it is not yet what is really wanted, and there is always the fantasy that sometime in the future the real thing will come about.... The one thing dreaded throughout by such a type of man is to be bound to anything whatever."
Franz, Marie-Louise. The Problem of the Puer Aeternus. 3rd Edition, Inner City Books, Toronto, 2000. ISBN 0-919123-88-0