11.24: The Girl Who Waited

In which we are cruel to be kind.

Broadcast: September 2011

Watched: January 2022

“I don’t care that you got old. I care that we didn’t grow old together.”

Actually there are a whole load of lines that sum up the story of this one and/or the entire Moffat era:

• “Are they happy?” “Oh Rory, trust you to think of that”. (Nice character note.)

• “All those boys chasing me but it was only ever Rory. Why was that?” (Very good question.)

• “This isn’t fair. You’re turning me into you” (a theme we’ll be seeing a lot more of.)

• “Amy Pond in the TARDIS, with Rory Williams.” (a sentence structure we’ll be seeing a lot more of.)

The episode... It’s very well done, beautifully scripted and realised and with a genuinely difficult moral dilemma in there (it’s not weird that older Amy wouldn’t want to die, but simultaneously not weird that Roy wouldn’t want to take her when he can save the younger version). Gillan is great at playing her older self, and at showing entirely different types and levels of rage towards Rory and the Doctor.

But it’s not a favourite because it’s so genuinely painful that I’m not sure I’ve rewatched it unless doing complete run throughs. The idea of lost time, which is a theme Moffat comes back to a lot (Fire Place, Library sort of, World Enough), is one I find incredibly haunting. As a result I don’t think about this one a lot. I’d entirely forgotten it was the Doctor-light one.

A thing I noticed this time: I think there’s a moment, in the temporal feedback bit, where you can see the Doctor realising that he can’t save both Amys (which means, frankly, that older Amy is entirely right to hate his guts). He doesn’t answer Rory’s question as to whether or not he knew. It’s the second story this season which ends with the Doctor betraying (a version of) Amy horribly while Rory just gawps.

Oh, and it’s the same ending as the Virgin New Adventure Blood Heat: this timeline is wrong, so we must switch it off. [There’s since been an episode of The Orville, of all things, which does the same, and that’s horrible, too.]

Other thoughts.

• It's a very boring title. I seem to remember rumours it was called “Green Anchor”, which is annoying, because Rory’s Choice is *right there*.

• This time it's Amy’s turn to wait. Again. Honestly, what is it with this era and waiting?

• It’s very now, what with the plague and the isolation.

• The medical robots firing needles are terrifying, and it’s not clear how knocking people out so they fall to the floor is meant to be a kindness. Making the robots *more* terrifying is the fact they are very obviously all actresses with male voices.

• “Disneyland Clom”.

• Robot Rory! Aww.

• If old Amy remembers talking to herself when she was young Amy, and young Amy persuades old Amy to blow up time for Rory, then why didn't old Amy manage to persuade even older Amy when she was young Amy? I’m not sure it actually makes sense.

• Still loving the Doctor’s new coat.