New Who Review #84

The Girl Who Waited

This story was very boring. Everyone likes it and I never have. It's a doctor lite story focusing on Rory and he has to choose between old Amy or young Amy. I've never really felt emotional for this one even though it's meant to be a sad story. Im not really a romantic person so for me to get emotionally invested in a romantic story just isn't going to happen. I thought the handbots were rubbish the design wasn't great. Apalapucia itself is very beautiful and calming I wish we got to explore more of the area's like the roller coaster or cinema. Overall a sad story that has good character development for Rory but I just don't like it. 5/10

This episode is *achingly* sad, good lord

That was very good, proper sci-fi. I wasn't sure what to make of it at first but it got better as it went on and the story was very interesting. It was a little sentimental at times, yeah but these less is more episodes beat the bombastic, over the top stuff we've had at times since the show came back any day.

What is there to say, how can I put into words how much I adore this episode. I suppose the best place to start talking about it for me is the ending. My word the ending. My thoughts on the ending are endless, in my opinion the eleventh Doctor does not have more callous a moment. Locking older Amy out of the TARDIS, only to put the lock in Rory’s hand, claiming he’s giving him the choice when really he is absolving himself of the guilt. The handbots closing in on Amy insisting on their killing her as a kindness, but it's not them who kill her but the Doctor all in the name of saving her. It's heartbreaking, and these moments alone make this episode my favourite of the eleventh Doctor’s era.

Of course, none of those final moments would work without the bedrock of Amy and Rory’s relationship in this episode in particular. The episode convincingly portrays that to Rory older Amy is still his wife, her suddenly being older has no bearing on his love for her, and on Amy’s side just how much she’s missed him, he’s her first priority, and she is his, but instead of making things simpler it just makes it more complicated.

In a lot of ways this episode feels like well trodden ground, there have been many episodes where Amy and Rory’s relationship has been a if not the focus, about how they are the most important thing for each other, but at no point does this episode feel tired, somehow it finds new and impactful things to say about them.

I could go on and on about this episode, but I’m not sure any of it would sound particularly coherent, just random gushing. Suffice to say an all time great.

One of my favourite 11th Doctor stories. It has a dramatic and gently complex sci-fi concept at the centre of it.

Old Amy is believably a different character and has to make a brave and difficult decision. Should she erase her life, so that the greatest injustice never happened to her and another version of her continues to live? It’s a story that could only be done justice in Doctor Who.

Sure we’ve had nangene like robots that kill with their cures several times in the show and we’ve certainly had characters waiting indefinite periods of time as an act of heroism several times too, but The Girl Who Waited puts a unique and beautiful spin on it.

Oh and finally! Flirting done right in Doctor Who! Not all the “eyes front soldier” which is very Moffat-esque. But older Amy trying it on with young Rory. It’s genuinely touching, real, hilarious and slightly sexy!