Doctor Who: Amy's Choice – series 31, episode seven

SPOILER ALERT: This weekly blog is for those who have been watching Doctor Who on BBC1. Don’t read ahead if you haven’t seen episode seven Dan Martin’s episode six blog “No no no, ice can burn, sofas can read, it’s a big universe, we have to decide which battle to lose.” Amy’s Choice is what’s known as “the cheap one”. Every year, either because they’ve spent all the budget or are saving it up to splurge on the finale, there’s an episode light on sets and FX, and big on ideas. The process can result in howlers like Boom Town, or tour de forces such as Turn Left. And this Simon Nye-penned curio is at least partially successful. Not everyone will like it, I’m sure, but for me the episode stands up as a cunning little character piece. So we find two worlds: one in the Tardis with the crew approaching death by freezing star, one five years further forward with Amy and Rory expecting their first child. The result is by no means perfect. Where most Doctor Who episodes feel like the 45-minute running time is overflowing with ideas and storylines, Amy’s Choice feels as if it could be over and done with in half an hour. Then there’s the dialogue – so sitcom stylised that this time it begins to grate. And while it can’t be easy to act falling-asleep-on-the-spot, much of the time those (many) sequences look silly. But here’s the thing to remember: if Doctor Who is silly anyway, these two realities both turn out to be dreams, and the magic-realist state of a dream can support even dafter images. Both an army of marauding pensioners, and Amy donning a poncho and telling her boys “if we’re going to die, let’s die looking like a Peruvian folk band” can be completely plausible. “I don’t know what you’re doing in here, but there’s only one person in the universe who hates me as much as you do” Where most episodes stand up to repeated viewing, rewatching this week’s instalment would be absolutely necessary. For the most part, it feels like a fun Shaun Of The Dead-style romp, all murderous pensioners and lashings of jolly innuendo. Then you get the sting in the tail and the more accurate reference is Fight Club – the revelation that the Dreamlord is actually the Doctor’s own self-loathing seems obvious once it’s revealed, but also creates the kind of “whoosh” moment that gives a story new gravitas. And the Dreamlord really is deliciously mean, calling him out on his every character flaw; his love of showing off, his clothes, the way he turns people into weapons (to quote Davros), the way he leaves people behind. It’s pretty heavy stuff and, at the mid-season point, gives us the first instance of the character opening up and beginning to unravel. Then there’s the merciless teasing of Rory … well, that says a lot for this increasingly tangled set of relationships. “If you can’t save him, then what is the point of you?” Amy’s Choice of course is between her two men, the feckless fiancé and the heroic adventurer. It takes Rory’s “death” in Leadworth to make her realise what she really wants. Earlier this week we were discussing how Amy hasn’t had much in the way of emotional storylines , but the climax here finally proves that Gillan is capable of more than one-liners and physical comedy – and brings something to your eye, too. The comedy’s still good though – pregnant-Amy’s waddle as she tries to run is a brilliant echo of The Eleventh Hour, when she couldn’t run properly because of her skirt. This kind of resolution, though, is the kind of thing that would normally happen at the end of a series as the character is waved off. Now we’re only halfway through and they’ve sorted out the love triangle. But surely there’s no way they’re going to just have a happy couple together in the Tardis, and in any case I’m not sure I want Rory there the whole time. So where are they going with this? And shouldn’t there have been a line where Amy expressed some kind of grief over the child she thought she was having? Fear factor It pays to think of watching this as a child. Not only has the series freaked them out over cracks in walls, monsters under the bed, the dark, statues and blinking, this introduces the notion that your dreams might actually be real. So now a generation of children are going to be scared of waking up. Horrendous! Timey trivia This was the final episode to be filmed and editing on it finished this week. That means that nobody who wrote previews got to see the finished episode. Next week! In the two-part story The Hungry Earth we get the annual return of a classic villain. This year, Earth’s original inhabitants, the Silurians. Season 2 Episode 1: The Robot Revolution Episode 2: Lux Episode 3: The Well Episode 4: Lucky Day Episode 5: The Story and the Engine Episode 6: The Interstellar Song Contest Episode 7: Wish World Episode 8: The Reality War Season 1 Episodes 1 & 2: Space Babies / The Devil's Chord Episode 3: Boom Episode 4: 73 Yards Episode 5: Dot and Bubble Episode 6: Rogue Episode 7: The Legend of Ruby Sunday Episode 8: Empire of Death Christmas special: Joy to the World 60th anniversary specials Special 1: The Star Beast Special 2: Wild Blue Yonder Special 3: The Giggle Christmas special: The Church on Ruby Road Flux / Series 13 Chapter one: The Halloween Apocalypse Chapter two: War of the Sontarans Chapter three: Once, Upon Time Chapter four: Village of the Angels Chapter five: Survivors of the Flux Chapter six: The Vanquishers New Year's Special: Eve of the Daleks Spring special: Legend of the Sea Devils BBC centenary special: The Power of the Doctor Series 12 Episode 1: Spyfall part one Episode 2: Spyfall part two Episode 3: Orphan 55 Episode 4: Nikola Tesla’s Night of Terror Episode 5: Fugitive of the Judoon Episode 6: Praxeus Episode 7: Can You Hear Me? Episode 8: The Haunting of Villa Diodati Episode 9: Ascension of the Cybermen Episode 10: The Timeless Children New Year's special: Revolution of the Daleks Series 11 Episode 1: The Woman Who Fell to Earth Episode 2: The Ghost Monument Episode 3: Rosa Episode 4: Arachnids in the UK Episode 5: The Tsuangra Condundrum Episode 6: Demons of the Punjab Episode 7: Kerblam! Episode 8: The Witchfinders Episode 9: It Takes You Away Episode 10: The Battle of Ranskoor Av Kolos New Year's special: Resolution Series 10 Episode 1: The Pilot Episode 2: Smile Episode 3: Thin Ice Episode 4: Knock Knock Episode 5: Oxygen Episode 6: Extremis Episode 7: The Pyramid at the End of the World Episode 8: The Lie of the Land Episode 9: Empress of Mars Episode 10: The Eaters of Light Episode 11: World Enough and Time Episode 12: The Doctor Falls 2017 Christmas special: Twice Upon A Time Series 9 Episode 1: The Magician's Apprentice Episode 2: The Witch's Familiar Episode 3: Under The Lake Episode 4: Before The Flood Episode 5: The Girl Who Died Episode 6: The Woman Who Lived Episode 7: The Zygon Invasion Episode 8: The Zygon Inversion Episode 9: Sleep No More Episode 10: Face The Raven Episode 11: Heaven Sent Episode 12: Hell Bent 2015 Christmas special: The Husbands of River Song 2016 Christmas special: The Return of Doctor Mysterio Series 8 Episode 1: Deep Breath Episode 2: Into The Dalek Episode 3: Robot of Sherwood Episode 4: Listen Episode 5: Time Heist Episode 6: The Caretaker Episode 7: Kill The Moon Episode 8: Mummy on the Orient Express Episode 9: Flatline Episode 10: In the Forest of the Night Episode 11: Dark Water Episode 12: Death In Heaven 2014 Christmas special: Last Christmas Series 7 Episode 1: Asylum of the Daleks Episode 2: Dinosaurs on a Spaceship Episode 3: A Town Called Mercy Episode 4: The Power of Three Episode 5: The Angels Take Manhatten 2012 Christmas special: The Snowmen Episode 6: The Bells of Saint John Episode 7: The Rings of Akhaten Episode 8: Cold War Episode 9: Hide Episode 10: Journey to the Centre of the Tardis Episode 11: The Crimson Horror Episode 12: Nightmare in Silver Episode 13: The Name of the Doctor 50th Anniversary special: The Day of the Doctor 2013 Christmas special: The Time of the Doctor Series 6 Episode 1: The Impossible Astronaut Episode 2: Day of the Moon Episode 3: The Curse of the Black Spot Episode 4: The Doctor's Wife Episode 5: The Rebel Flesh Episode 6: The Almost People Episode 7: A Good Man Goes To War Episode 8: Let's Kill Hitler Episode 9: Night Terrors Episode 10: The Girl Who Waited Episode 11: The God Complex Episode 12: Closing Time Episode 13: The Wedding of River Song 2011 Christmas special: The Doctor, The Widow and the Wardrobe Series 5 Episode 1: The Eleventh Hour Episode 2: The Beast Below Episode 3: Victory of the Daleks Episode 4: The Time of Angels Episode 5: Flesh and Stone Episode 6: The Vampires of Venice Episode 7: Amy's Choice Episode 8: The Hungry Earth Episode 9: Cold Blood Episode 10: Vincent and the Doctor Episode 11: The Lodger Episode 12: The Pandorica Opens Episode 13: The Big Bang 2010 Christmas special: A Christmas Carol