Farewell Ponds – You’ll be Missed

I can’t believe how fast these half series of Doctor Who are over. I’d truly rather get it all in one dose, but no one at the BBC asked me. And I’ve been too wrapped up getting my Ireland art uploaded on my account on Fine Art America to post any of my thoughts about it.

What finally moved me to sit down and compose some thoughts about the season so far was seeing this recent PS to the Angels Take Manhattan that was posted by the BBC:

It shows an un-filmed scene for the last episode. This scene relates how Rory’s Dad finds out that Amy and Rory are never coming back from their last adventure with the Doctor. It’s a very emotional scene and it drives me nuts that it wasn’t filmed.

The thing is before I even knew about this scene, I had commented to friends that there was a whole segment in Angels Take Manhattan that was, in my opinion, totally useless. When Amy and Rory take their big leap to stop the angels, to throw in a major time paradox, that should have been the end of their story in my eyes. When the Doctor and River find themselves in the cemetery, that should be when they find the graves of Amy and Rory. They would have discovered that Amy and Rory stopped the angels but were trapped in the past by their own actions. Instead we had a whole second act which to me cheapened their leap together. In the end, rather than a noble leap we have some strange twist of fate. Rory was zapped to the past by an Angel and Amy followed. When they leaped, they made the choice together, this time Amy is the only one who took a chance. It just doesn’t feel like a strong conclusion to me. And leaving it out, they could have filmed and used that lovely scene with Rory’s dad, Brian.

As for the rest of the season, I found it pleasant enough, but I do feel we spent too much time building up to the departure of the Ponds. Every episode felt centered on explaining why Amy and Rory traveled with him and that there was a division between their lives on Earth and their life with the Doctor. I think after a couple of seasons, we have seen the current incarnation of the Doctor and Amy and Rory evolve together enough. I didn’t need to be reminded, but that’s a minor enough nitpick. I doubt I would have even jotted down a note about it if I hadn’t sat down to comment on what was to me a major issue with the conclusion of their story.

I look forward to seeing what the future with Matt Smith’s Doctor brings. I loved the characters of Amy and Rory – definitely up there in the pantheon of Doctor Who companions, but it will also be interesting to see Matt build up a new rapport with an unknown character. Sigh, but we have to wait for ages for anything new! Hurry up Christmas special!