11.7: Amy’s Choice
In which we consider whether sitcom writers should write all Doctor Who.
Broadcast: May 2010
Watched: November 2021
“You know me I don’t just abandon people when they leave the TARDIS” – yeah, this one must be the dream. Also look at their massive house, like hell could they buy that.
Absolutely love this one. So many great lines (“Stars can freeze, sofas can read, it’s a big universe”). The threats are metaphors (stay in your small town and old age will get you, run off on adventures and you might find the universe a very cold place). It finally sells us on Amy and Rory as a couple (weirdly, it does take Rory from “just arrived” to “been here ages” and we just go with it). AND it’s about boomers* wiping out the young due to nothing but spite.
Another very long pre-credits sequence – this one’s like six minutes or something, but to be fair, it has to set up two different worlds and the plot.
Toby Jones is great, because Toby Jones is great. There’s a moment at 13.00 where you can sort of see the Doctor start to work out who he is (“I’ve always been able to see through you Doctor”). Also love that it murders the Williams era in a drive-by. (“I’m surprised you haven’t got a little purple space dog...”)
There’s also some absolutely lovely production decisions going on. The music in the scene where the Dream Lord is talking to Amy alone and finally spells out the choice she has to make. The oddly touching bit where she tucks sleeping Rory in under his poncho. The way the Doctor’s last conversation with the Dream Lord is done entirely via the rear view mirror. Also, I’d entirely forgotten, the Doctor rescues all the inhabitants of Dream Leadworth – the bit that’d normally be the denouement – in a camper van in a three scene subplot with no dialogue.
The magic suicide, especially by a pregnant woman, isn’t great, let’s be honest – I mean, it is fairly obvious it’s just going to be a dream, so they get away with it, and it is ameliorated slightly by the Doctor being willing to go with it out of love for his friend, but still, not great.
I found myself wondering how much of this Simon Nye actually wrote? It feels very Moffat-y. But maybe that’s just because sitcom writers are really good at writing Doctor Who.
Some other great things, in no particular order:
Future Rory’s hair.
“Not so much a nightmare, more a really good... mare.”
The Doctor seeming not to understand what pregnancy is, then going to catch the baby when Amy says she’s gone into labour.
“We all know there’s an elephant in the room.” “I have to be this size, I’m having a baby.”
The Doctor’s hilarious “trying not to fall asleep” run.
Rory beating up an old lady.
The way Rory dreams of being a doctor, or possibly a Doctor. Also, the way he looks scared when Amy says she’s chosen. ALSO the scene on the swings when Rory doesn’t get a swing.
“You die, stupid, that’s why it’s called reality.”
Karen Gillan’s entire performance in Rory’s death scene. The small voice on “Save him.” The bitterness in “Then what is the point of you.” She really manages to sell this previously unconvincing relationship.
I actually really like the way Rory’s dream death is followed by a real death in the next episode, the horror of a bad dream that comes true (like we didn’t get with Jackie in Doomsday). Shame about all his other deaths, but these ones work, I think.
Other random thoughts:
Is “a boat” actually recognised euphemism for fat?
It was snowing the day they filmed some of the Leadworth sequences, which is actually a nice parallel with the TARDIS scenes. The frozen TARDIS looks magical, by the way.
The old people, who the Doctor keeps saying are “really old”, are obviously not really old, they’re all like 70 not 95. I know there are production insurance reasons for this, but still.
Mrs Pogget kills an entire class of kids off screen – show us the children disintegrating like you do the postman, you cowards.
Oh god another joke about the Doctor banging Elizabeth I. At least this time it comes from a personification of his self-loathing.
Again, the monsters seem to be angry because someone nicked their planet – that last Tennant season has a long tail.
Rory calls Amy “chubs”. Ick.
There’s probably symbolism in the Dream Lord’s ever changing costumes but I haven’t gone looking for it.
There’s a bit where the Doctor blows a lightbulb to get rid of the old people. Lightbulbs can do anything in Moffat-Who, they’re like mercury or static to David Whitaker.