The Girl Who Waited

"Their kindness will kill you."

Writer: Tom MacRae

Format: TV

Broadcast: 10 September 2011

Series: 6.10

Featuring: Eleventh Doctor, Amy, Rory

Synopsis

The Doctor, Amy and Rory land on a paradise planet... in the middle of the one day plague. Amy is left behind and for her time is running at a different speed. Can the Doctor break through the walls of time to prevent her ageing before their very eyes?

Verdict

The Girl Who Waited was an excellent and emotionally draining episode to continue our way through the Series 6 rewatch as we embark on the modern era. It's getting close to crunch time this series which is very exciting, but boy this episode really does pull at the heartstrings. This is the first time I have watched this episode whilst being in a relationship and whilst Gemma and I aren't married like Rory and Amy are here, we're as good as! We've been together for seven years (tomorrow!), have a child and own a house together so we have that connection. So the idea of me seeing her aged thirty-five years and thinking I'd abandoned her is rather frightening! I've always thought that the Doctor's actions at the end of the episode were ruthless and pretty brutal in not allowing the older Amy to come with them in the TARDIS, but when Gemma asked me which version of her I'd pick I absolutely understood. The Doctor chose the younger Amy out of consideration for the causal nexus and the web of time, but Rory was focused on her purely because she's the version he knew. I said to Gemma I'd pick the younger version because that's the person I know, which I think is a very fair answer, but I could absolutely relate to Rory still showing his love for the older Amy. Amy was Amy and that's the woman he loved. I would have liked some sort of acknowledgement of Rory waiting for two thousand years during the events of The Big Bang, but that's not a big issue. It just seems an obvious comparison! The setting itself was very good and I loved the entire concept behind Two Streams Facility. It was somehow both horrifying and comforting. I couldn't imagine having a loved one on the other side of that glass to watch them die, but I did appreciate the retort from the Doctor that you'd actually watch them live. Time being sped up differently was good and fun to explore, and Amy being the one to get separated was terrific. The dynamic of the Doctor and Rory together is good fun but things really did get serious here. Amy was at the heart of the episode and it was stunning to see how much she had matured and developed when we caught up with the older version. The Handbots are a fun threat and I like how she acknowledged learning the trick of them shorting each other out on her first day. The Doctor being sensitive to the disease running rampant given his position as a time sensitive was strong and that allowed him solace in the TARDIS, before a very tough decision was made. The moment he locks eyes with the older version of Amy as she fights off threat after threat to get the younger Rory with the knocked out Amy in his arms to the safety of the TARDIS is incredible. We know the decision before it's shown, but it doesn't make the sudden impact of the TARDIS door closing any less shocking. I must also say that the makeup job on Karen Gillan is superb here. To go from the young woman she is to a battle hardened woman in her fifties is really impressive. Kudos to her for the dual performance as well. It's stellar stuff! Overall, a really emotional tale and a fantastic episode! 

Rating: 9/10