Doctor Who Season 5 Episode 7 Reaction | Amy's Choice

not a town in the uk without a castle in walking distance, or a ornate church

Rekkai straight up turned into a weeping angel this episode

rule n°1 the doctor lies

The Master definitely knows the Doctors name, he knew the Doctor before he even chose to be called the Doctor

Dreamy Weamy

I actually quite like this one, the reveal that it's the doctor's thoughts about himself make it interesting on a rewatch as you listen out for them all. It also sets the rest of the series on a different track as it takes care of the doctor romance aspect. As to the castle ruins as others have said, yeah we have tons of those all over the UK haha - we have so much history as a kid you def take it for granted, we used to play in the roman ruins around my town all the time!

It gets better with a re-watch! 👍🏻

I used to live in Pevensey, next to a Roman Castle that was 1800 years old. Inside it was a Norman Castle that was around about 800 years old. I think it's sometimes difficult for Americans to appreciate the age of stuff in Europe. Basically my playground was 1300 years older than the US.

This is definitely an interesting episode, and I was surprised at first that neither of you particularly cared for it, as it is one of my favorites of this season. However, as you said in response to a discord comment, this episode ranks high for me thanks to hindsight.

In my initial watch of this season, I did not like Amy Pond. Karen Gillan is great, she does a fantastic job, but on my first watch, I could not get over Amy leaving with the Doctor the night before her wedding. This wasn't like Rose, skipping out on her mum after her job literally blew up - traveling time and space sure beats job searching in retail. Or Martha, needing a breather from a chaotic family dynamic - she's always looking after others, she deserved the chance to do something for herself. Donna turned down the opportunity on her first adventure, only to change her mind and search him out to get away and grow as a person through diverse, unique experiences. That is to say, all the companions had situations or people they wanted to escape from, to run away from their Earthbound problems for a little while. I can even get Amy getting cold feet and wanting a little extra time to sort her head out. But the way she tried to jump the Doctor, right after she told him she's engaged and about to get married, really made me dislike her character. That only increased after Rory joined them on their travels, because Rory is just so likeable. He's a bit silly, but I admire how he's able to find joy and contentment in simple things, in a simple life. So many people say "I need to attain this thing to be happy" only to do so and find they need more, something else, and are never satisfied, and that's not Rory. Marrying the woman he loves, building a life together, working a job he feels passionate about, those things are enough for him. Basically, meeting Rory made me like Amy even less for her betrayal of him.

I think when I first saw this episode, I didn't actually believe in Amy's choice. That it took him dying for her to say she chose him - it felt very much like wanting what you can't have. Amy chased after the Doctor when he wasn't there; now Rory was gone, so she realized she wanted him? I didn't buy it.

It took a lot of rewatches and a particular episode further down the line for my perspective on Amy to change. I do like Amy now, and so on subsequent watches, I really like this episode (especially the parts with the Dream Lord, how wonderfully cryptic he is).

Mr. Wagenth giving that "I know you heard the rumors" face

Some reactors are mid. Some are not to bright. Then we get reactors like you guys. You just dropping knowledge and facts and making profound statements. Love it. Keep up the great work. You are appreciated. ❤

I love this episode.

Rory will be more appreciated the more you see him. Stand up guy.

She loves the doctor deeply but is in love with Rory. I think that feeling that kind of love for someone you thought was imaginary but they were real and came back for you… she just didn’t know what to do with those feelings. I’ve had 1 male friend that I became very confused about my feelings for him after a year of being friends and working together… in a job where we traveled a lot… 🤔 I finally figured out that I do love him but the confusing feeling came from developing a deep admiration for him as a person. His values, work ethic, kindness with a toughness that came out as needed just everything about him… except his taste in music was terrible. He listened to industrial rock and cranked it up loud. I get migraines so he was kind enough to turn it down before I got in the car. To me love and admiration are very different but admiration can feel a lot like being in love. Point being, I think Amy was just confused like me… but with the equivalent of a rock star… making even more understandable.

This gets so mind blowingly good as we go. So many surprises ahead.
Hey! Just be glad your screen didn’t freeze with a dumb expression. This just looks like you’ve got good news you can’t wait to share. 👍🏼👍🏼

Yes there's many castle ruin lying around the UK. I live a reasonbly boring part of the England but I'm in between 3 villages that predate 1066.

Its a very 'okay' episode. Honestly quite forgettable but not outright terrible. The oddest choice, for me, was the portrayal of the Dream Lord. They have this whole 'evil incarnate' vibe with him but the way his personality seems doesn't line up with the challenge he sets. An outright evil character would seek to torture or play with the Doctor and the companions but he just sort of sets them a very basic puzzle and fucks off when they solve it. I get that it was effectively a hallucination and a part of the Doctor likely wouldn't be interested in actually harming the Doctor but he does just spend most of the episode standing around and taunting them.

I would've thought that they'd go for something a bit more evil than what effectively amounts to a Riddler puzzle written during a writer's strike.

There's also the fact that he's sort of set up to be this antagonistic part of the Doctor's subconscious that could be re-visited, later on, but you literally never see him again (This bit is sort of spoilers, if you consider explicitly stating the absence of a character to be a spoiler).

This is one of those episodes the first time I saw it I didn't love it, but later within the context of the rest of Amy and Rory's time it really grew on me.
I do really love the kind of twilight zone feeling of it and the questioning of what's real and what's not

Oh dang,
Rakkai's camera glitched?
I figured we were just listening to his thoughts

I guess I can skip the Deep Dive because I really enjoyed this episode.

Can I just say, at least when Rekkais camera went wrong, he was pulling the perfect expression for Dr Who 😂

Sorry Syntell, I have to challenge you. I've had dreams of cartoon alien lawyers from space who weren't here to kill us but only to sue us, as well as dancing disco psychedelic ABC Borg cubes in space. I wasn't even on drugs lol. Can you beat that?

After watching this episode again, after what I now know, something about a character makes so much more sense, but can't tell because of * spoilers *

Rekkai gets laggier every video

Really interesting analysis as always. I disagree with both of you on this one as I think it is really good, but maybe it does improve on a re-watch. Regardless, it's always fun to hear your thoughts. I particularly liked the comment about appreciating Christopher Eccleston more as you see the other portrayals and see the journey the Doctor is on. Great stuff.

I really like the psychological aspects of this episode and the glimpse of the dark chaos hiding within the Doctor. I also think it was important that they drew that line, eliminating the romantic possibility between Amy and the Doctor, thus freeing up the romance between Amy and Rory to truly developed from now on without such distractions.

Love a good Toby Jones villain. He plays them so well 😅

"WAG" = wives and girlfriends, specifically of the footballers WaG type. A British tabloid term. Callling the Doctor tacky and the type to spend an insane amount on a purple purse 😅 All show, no class type.

I never understood how this episode could score so well. It is one of my least favorite. On the list of never need to watch it again.

You all got me feeling some kind of way dissing long hair! Granted though, Rory's rat-tail wig was bad and my hair is just long all way around and down to my waist.
I'm kinda meh about this ep like Rekkai, but it wasn't enough to make my face freeze like that! Rekkai lookin like he's ready to take a bite of something for the last half of the broadcast.

I appreciate Rekkai's thoughts on the watch order, because amazingly despite the differences in showrunner and lead actor, they had a decent arc for the Doctor in the revival. The progression from war vet Nine to hair trigger Eleven, shows that as upbeat as Ten was, he just buried those demons but they're still alive. Seems like Eleven's at that point where the baggage is just bursting at the seams.

Toby Jones. One of the best actors around, and I'd love to see him return in some form in the future.

You could tell immediately by the Dream Lord's clothing.

Concept of this episode is amazing but amy’s love life is so tiresome i wish they chose more interesting two realities. And why in the beginning of the episode doctor is a literal idiot?

Toby Jones, brilliant actor, plays the Dreamlord absolutely perfectly. He's great in everything. Try watching The Detectorists if you want an excellent, easy-going, English comedy-drama about metal detecting.

I think this is one of the strongest episodes in this series, though it doesn't get talked about all that much.

While I'm sure there were other ways they could have done this. The result would always have been the same. They simply made it really obvious, even calling the episode "Amy's Choice" She had to get to the point where she was forced to make a choice between the Dr and Rory, and by killing Rory off in a dream world where it wouldn't be permanent was a good way of doing it. Like she said it was only be when he was taken from her without apparent hope of return did she realise how important he is and how much she genuinely loves him.

That's the thing although this is Called Dr Who the reality is it's just as much about the journey of the companion as it is the Dr. In the same way the Dr helps all the people in the individual or the group during that episode. So he's actually helping the Companions with their lives as well, just over the time of their companions journey instead of one or two episodes. This is actually a vital transforming part of Amy's journey. Equally Rory's journey who is also transformed. It's what happened with Rose, Martha and Donna. Even Mickey, Captain Jack etc.

Of all the references that the dream lord is the doctor my favorite is him in bathrobe saying anything can happen just like Jackie in episode 1. There was no reason to do that, but they did. Maybe it like a dream where random bits of yours life makes it in for no reason.

Rekkai a Ventriloquist master. He's the best poker player in the world. Artists love drawing him cause he ain't never moving 😂

The Dream Lord talks the best s**t of all the Who villains. He talks All For One (My Hero Academia) levels of trash.

Before I watch. I know yall about to roast Rory to death

I love the way the episode twists you about because maybe they're just flashing forwards and backwards some time connecty thing and that's jdut the future but then it's a dream one real one fake and we all know they're not gonna skip 5 years so that's the fake but then the docs like nah Both what a twiistt

Toby Jones is incredible as well as being Zola in the MCU, he's in my second favourite show of all time(first being Dr who), Detectorists. It's not well known but it's just a really nice, incredibly English, light hearted comedy about metal detecting in the countryside. It's a relaxing show and I binge watch it when I'm feeling down. It helps that some of the history they're looking for but never find is part of my special interest.(Viking and Saxon stuff)

Castles are littered over the nation. It's fun too see tourists excited by them because they're more normal too us so you forget that like obviously America doesn't have them. The different ages of things is so cool like my house is older than the declaration of independence. What's the joke 250miles is a long distance in Europe and 250 years is a long time in America

Yes all over the uk we have lots of castles especially in wales which is why they shoot HOTD there !! ❤

TOBY JONES wooohoo.