ABSTRACT
Closing Time becomes a light-dramatic figuration framing the Doctor’s reflections linked to mourning, separation, and loss. In Closing Time the Doctor provides a similar kind of help, a further shift in the household group, again framed in the overcoming of an alien threat. In Closing Time, Craig’s anxieties are linked, to being a father. Sophie’s leaving, as is clear, is to take some well-deserved rest from maternal caring. For Craig, the emotional developmental shift in Closing Time includes his realisation that he does indeed have “instincts” and the proper means to connect with Alfie. The events of Closing Time disturb his plans for Exedor, life and death. The monster element of the plot in Closing Time is relatively slight. Closing Time ends with children and nursery rhyming. In both The Lodger and Closing Time the homo-social playfulness is an expression linked to the work of developing connection and openness.
