Total Number of Ratings: 2
The Doctor Who Review - S5, Ep07
Tuesday, June 1, 2010 12:11 AM
Doctor Who - S5, Ep07
"Amy's Choice" by Simon Nye
or
"Los Muchachos de Poncho"
It's been five years since we were last with Amy, Rory and the Doctor - and, my, how things have changed. Amy and Rory are happily married and living in Upper Leadworth (the classier end of town). On the eve of the birth of their first child, the Doctor makes a surprise visit to the happy couple. Or does he? After nodding off at the sound of birdsong the Doctor and his companions wake up in the TARDIS, all having shared the same 'dream'. Soon after though they fall asleep again and wake up in Upper Leadworth. Which world is the dream and which is reality? How will the Doctor defeat a foe that knows him better than he knows himself? These answers and more in the following paragraphs.
A life less wonderful
Normally, if a TV show uses the 'it was all a dream' plot it's either a rip-off of 'It's A Wonderful Life' or an excuse to save money by having a clips show. Here, though, we get a wonderfully dark and sinister episode of Doctor Who where the real villain is someone we'd never expect. I'll get to him in a minute, but I first want to give a shoutout to the writer. Simon Nye really knocked this one out of the park. He built the menace with every scene and kept me on the edge of my seat. Bravo, sir.
The Dream Lord
Pretty much every scene with the Dream Lord is fantastic. As soon as he arrives in the episode he gets into everyone's head and just pulls their psyche apart. Rory's fear that Amy will choose the Doctor over him is played against Amy's indecision about which life she wants. Even the Doctor isn't spared as the Dream Lord attacks the Doctor's eccentricities. These scenes are made even more sinister when you take into account my next point.
It was the Doctor all along!
So the Dream Lord is just the dark side of the Doctor. Much like the 'it was all a dream' trope these sorts of reveals are often cliched, but not this time. It was a genuine twist when we learned this and made the episode incredibly sinister. The Dream Lord is cruel, spiteful and malicious - everything the Doctor isn't - but he's still a part of the Doctor. It's a theme Doctor Who comes back to every now and then; that the Doctor is a man (or Time Lord of you prefer) abosutely full of rage and anger, who hides it all beneath his 'tawdry quirks'.
Moment of the episode
Every scene that the Dream Lord appears in is brilliant but the first is the best. He just flashes in and immediately cuts everyone to pieces. If they were't unnerved by what was going on before then they definitelty were after this.
'Amy's Choice' might just be my favourite episode of this season and it only got better each time I rewatched it. That such a cliched episode premise can be harnessed to create such darkness is really a testament to how good Doctor Who can be.
i went back over what the dream lord said after it was revealed that he was the doctor. lots of the stuff he said to amy was particularly powerful, and not just cruel to her, but showed how insecure the doctor is about his feelings towards her.
between this episode and the vamps in venice, i think we're going to see a doctor/companion relationship where the "not-so-requited" love is on the doctor's side. i can't wait to see where they go with this.
i mean, despite how much i want to love and cuddle eleven, they're making me ship companion/bf over companion/doctor. that should be impossible.
Well 11 is much less dreamy than 10. (I miss you, David!)
This episode was just so good. Contender for episode of the season.
i think 10 might be more my style, though. i have a weakness for the dorky. i also have a weakness for the guy who is in love with the other girl and being his shoulder to cry on in hopes that he'll realize i'm way more awesome than she will ever be and fall in love with me.
(i am ducky. i would also choose ducky.)
Respond
I loved this episode to pieces. Great stuff. I do wish they had expanded on the "Dream Lord wears an alternate version of 11's costume" a bit more and had him in subtle, toned down versions of the previous Docs. (He does have a 7-esque costume on at one point, though.) There are some really great moments packed into this episode. As well, I'm totally a Rory fan now.