I quite enjoyed this episode when I first saw it, but I must admit on repeated viewings I’ve been slightly bored by the story itself.
That being said, it still had some very interesting angles in respect to the characters.

Obviously the ‘dark side’ of The Doctor is a biggie, there’s been lots of talk about whether or not this is the return of the Valeyard….or is it simply another manifestation of the darker parts of The Doctor’s psyche coming out?  We know he’s got a lot there to choose from!
I’m not really believing his explanation to Amy and Rory about the space pollen, I tend to think that was just something he said to settle their minds a bit, especially since he still saw the DreamLord in his own reflection right at the end there.
Either way, it’s certainly something I’d like to see explored further, perhaps next series.  It adds to The Doctor’s depth (which for me has been lacking so far with Eleven) so is a nice aspect to work with.

Rory.  Poor, kind, decent Rory.  It’s clear he’s really just travelling with them because Amy wants to keep going, and he’ll do anything to please her and stay with her.  And Amy just walks all over him, because she’s probably always done that with him and doesn’t even realise it.  She’d no doubt be quite insulted if someone pointed it out to her.  I think she does love him, in her way….but she doesn’t really LOVE him. She’s still looking for something else, for the realisation of the fantasies she’s had since she was 7 years old.
She wants to have her cake and eat it too.

Did you notice that even after she said to The Doctor (before crashing the van) “I love him and I’ve never told him”, she still didn’t tell him once they were back on the TARDIS and all okay.  She was relieved and happy to see Rory alive and well and I think she knows she doesn’t want to lose him…but it seemed as if once the danger was over, she still couldn’t say the words to him.
And as happy as Rory was to realise that she’d made the choice to die because he had died, I wouldn’t be surprised if he has a different reaction once he thinks on it a bit more.  After all, the last thing he said to her was to “look after our baby” - so what does she do?  Kill it and herself.  A completely selfish decision even in the context of what was happening (dream or reality), because she made it in the heat of the moment (having already decided The Doctor was pointless) for selfish reasons.  She didn’t decide that the village world had to be the dream world, she said that even if it was the real world, she didn’t want it. Fine, so let’s just kill ourself and our baby and oh, yes, The Doctor as well because we don’t want to deal with anything.
Although I found it sad and a bit distasteful, admittedly this does fit with the impulsive characterisation of Amy we’ve been seeing so far all series.  Adding that to all the yet-to-be revealed clues about her childhood and her overall importance in the universe, I’m hoping it’ll all fall into place by episode 13.
And I will say that although Karen Gillan’s whinging/know-it-all portrayal of Amy is starting to grate on me a bit at times, she did pull off the Rory-death-scene well.  I may not have liked what she did, but I believed it.

I also enjoyed when the DreamLord made Amy realise - even just a little bit - that she may not know as much about The Doctor and be as all-important to him as she thinks.  It wasn’t just the “then what’s his name?” thing, it was the unspoken reference to the fact that there’s been other companions before, something that Amy hasn’t really had to think about yet.
It was also telling (especially if the DreamLord was the other side of The Doctor) that the comment was made about ‘leaving his companions once they aren’t young anymore’ - as if that’s something The Doctor may have been thinking about lately, as if he’s feeling guilty.  That goes hand in hand with the comment he made to Amy and Rory in the village dreamworld about how he’d never leave them and always come back for a visit, and the ongoing references this series (and especially this episode) to how he’s 907 and “getting on”.  It sort of harkens back to some of the things that the Tenth Doctor was saying near the end of his life, I don’t know if it’s an intentional carry-over or not but it’s interesting.  Again, some more depth for this Doctor is very welcome.

As far as the rest of it goes - the old people parts struck me as a bit ‘Sarah Jane’ at times (although as someone pointed out to me the other night, we haven’t seen Luke whacking an elderly person with a plank….), and I did think the aliens were a bit wussy - but then they weren’t the point of the story.  This one was a character study through and through, and in that aspect I found it quite enlightening.

Posted by (JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)  on  06/07  at  01:02 AM

Hi, Demosthenes. Is that a reference to the “Ender’s Game” series? Anyway, the Valyard was a future incarnation of the Doctor that tried to steal his past selfs regenerations to prolong his own life. He was in the “Trial of a Time Lord” story with the 6th Doctor. I enjoyed this episode, not the story in itself, but how creative it was. The way it jumped between past and future, and the tone of the story itself. Orginally, I had thought the Dreamlord was actually the Master, but I guess it was wishful thinking. And I think I’ve solved the Doctor’s missing humanity bit: Either, the radiation that caused his last regeneration caused some sort of personality decline, or it’s just part of his new body. Has anyone else noticed that the Doctor and the TARDIS appear to be getting younger as they get older? So, the Doctor acting young and inexperianced could be part of his “younger” self. But those are just theroies. Also, does anyone think it’s a little odd that the old people were the monsters in the story? We lock them away in Nursing homes, and then they come and get revenge and turn us to dust. Just seemed a little ironic to me, but I’m not sure it’s an underlying theme.

Posted by (JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)  on  06/07  at  03:00 AM

I wonder if I was the only person watching who actually thought the Dream Lord was going to be the Master of the Land of Fiction or the Celestial Toymaker? (If anyone doesn’t know - those are classic villains from the 1960s.) Remember this is the series that brought the obscure Troughton-era monsters the Macra back in Gridlock, so anything was possible.

I quite liked the episode. Once again we’re seeing further development of Smith as the Doctor as he finds his own voice in the part. I also liked the Dream Lord because he was in some ways a throwback to classic one-off villains such as the Master of the Land of Fiction and the Toymaker, but with added depth.

This also has some of the best one-liners I’ve heard in a while - the Peruvian rock band joke was a hoot.

But my biggest laugh came when the Doctor blew up the TARDIS, everything faded to light, then ... PUPPIES! Lots and lots of puppies! That’s because Space cut to a promo for something. Granted, this was nowhere near as bad as that Graham Norton thing BBC viewers had to put up with, but still—I bet it confused a few people out there! Me, I had a good laugh out of it!

Posted by (JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)  on  06/07  at  07:38 PM

Oooh, L’d love to see some new Torchwood episodes. But I don’t get Starz, so thats troublesome. About the Dreamlord, ehh. I enjoyed his frank and dead-on observations about the Doctor, but I’m not crazy about him. He reminds me too much of Neil Gaiman’s Sandman, another “Lord of Dreams”. I think Time lord is enough for one Universe. But if later on in the future he makes a return, I wouldn’t mind.

Posted by (JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)  on  06/07  at  11:41 PM

That’s brillant, I love the “Ender’s game” series, turned high school around for me they did. That quote is the same reason I thought the Dream Lord was the Master, because who DOES hate the Doctor more than him? I agree that John Simms’ Master vs Matt Smith’s Doctor would be quite a match, but John Simms Master is brillant period. I think that the next time the Doctor meets the Master, just have it be a surpise. No encouter that explains everything and builds up to it, just have him show up to fight the Doctor (With a smart and evil plan of course). And explain everything later, if you like. I’m hoping right now that they have the 11th Doctor meet up with one of his past selves. Not original, but it’s something I miss from the older series. I would love for the 9th and 11th Doctors to meet, and I think it’s time for that. How long can you fly around space and time before you bump into one of your past selves, espically with a wonky time machine?

Posted by (JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)  on  06/08  at  04:43 PM

It’s hard to tell. He does see old friends from time to time, but usually when they call for his help or when he’s near them during a mission. Other than that, he doesn’t go out of his way to see them.

Posted by (JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)  on  06/08  at  06:18 PM

Hmm…if this was the Master, then maybe we could have the funny, clever Master of the old years back.

All in all, this is the first episode when I’ve not felt it extremely rushed.

Posted by BlueDalek  on  06/19  at  12:32 PM