Amy's Choice

"How can we all have the same dream?"

Writer: Simon Nye

Format: TV

Broadcast: 15 May 2010

Series: 5.07

Featuring: Eleventh Doctor, Amy, Rory

Synopsis

It's been five years since Amy and Rory last saw the Doctor but now he's back and a terrible danger lurks in the village. Or are they still on their travels and approaching death in the form of a cold burning star? A choice must be made. Which is reality and which is a dream?

Verdict 

Amy's Choice was an excellent episode to continue our rewatch of the modern era of Doctor Who! We’re getting deep into the business end of Series 5 now and things get very intriguing and mysterious with this little gem of a story. I think it’s one that almost goes slightly under the radar but it’s such a strong outing. Right from the off the trio of the Eleventh Doctor, Amy and Rory are in top form and there’s no doubt about it now. Rory is a fully fledged companion and that presents a fun and different little dynamic to the TARDIS. The Doctor is on hand with his usual quirkiness and awkwardness which is exactly what you want, but that was more obvious when it came to the TARDIS half of the episode. The idea of splitting a story between two dreams is excellent and I really like how the countryside version was some five years after Amy and Rory had departed the TARDIS full time. The Doctor’s reaction when he sees that Amy is pregnant is tremendous, especially with him having to confirm that was the case and she hadn’t just put on a lot of weight! That was magnificent. Rory’s ponytail was frankly ridiculous and with the glasses he looked considerably older than just five years! Proving his love to Amy by cutting it off later in the episode was a good moment and I loved that this cemented him as Amy’s choice (no pun intended). The emergence of the Dream Lord was terrific and it’s fun for the Doctor to work out who he was as the episode went on. With the attire and those little looks between the pair, it is a bit obvious in hindsight but at the time I remember actually being quite disappointed. But the line of only one person in the universe could hate the Doctor as much as the Dream Lord did was nicely done. I thought the movement between both dreams was good and the concept of a star burning cold is a bit silly, but the threat of the TARDIS freezing was not. The design looked strong covered in white! A pregnant Amy dealing with an elderly population was great but I do think things became normalised and not quite as exciting when their alien identity and intentions were revealed. I was just more interested in which dream was real. Except it turned out none of them were, and thankfully that was the case! Amy had to witness Rory die and that didn’t go down very well with her as you might expect. Seeing him just become a pile of dust was quite the image! The way the story ends does feel a little rushed and not exhilarating after the build of the Dream Lord, but he just disappears and the dreams within a dream on the psychic plane are done with. The highlight for me is Amy picking the frozen dream because that is her only chance of being reunited with Amy. Either way she was dead. That was powerful stuff and considering this is still her first series, Karen Gillan plays it so well. Overall, still a great episode!

Rating: 8/10