That Time Doctor Who Did Inception

[Music] dreams are a funny thing we all have them even if we don't consciously remember a dream happening it's an experience unlike any other like setting foot into a completely different universe with strange rules and laws of physics the dream landscape is the perfect foil for so many stories giving rise to iconic films like inception and so many other memorable narratives it's no surprise then that doctor who found itself exploring the dream world in 2010 with a series 5 episode amy's choice writer simon nye was influenced by his own dreams wanting to explore the idea of dreams feeling real since we do all have those moments where we wake up and wonder if a dream actually happened this setup also allowed nai to focus on amy's relationships with the doctor and rory since showrunner steven moffat wanted the episode to fit into the wider personal series arc due to the inventive setting and exploration of character dynamics amy's choice quickly found itself an acclaimed episode of doctor who but is actually overrated or at least not quite as amazing as a lot of fans like to claim well cut off your unfashionable ponytail and hide from old people because it's time to review amy's choice a weird new star 14 minutes left to live and only one man to save the day i just wanted a nice village and a family when you're a doctor you companion it's rare that you end up back in the same time and place you began you might start off on the planet died open 24-93 and end up setting down in ancient greece that's just how things tend to go companions have always come and gone often at random so when you introduced amy and rory settle down in leadwork five years after leaving the doctor it doesn't seem like a stretch of the imagination after all he had disappeared from their lives for two years after the events of the 11th hour so we know it's possible additionally like the doctor says well i wanted to see how you were you know me i don't just abandon people when they leave tardis even if he claims it was a mistake this reappearance fits in line with what we saw during the f block of end of time the doctor visiting all these people he knew just to check up on them so him doing the same to amy and rory doesn't feel weird or unnatural instead it's a really nice reunion just like old friends seeing each other after years apart and finally getting to catch up it builds a very quaint and homely feeling for the episode which is exactly what the dream world wants to do to this trail in order to trap them in a sinister game speaking of i absolutely adore the transition into the apparent real world it's very eerie when they work out they were all sharing the exact same dream think of how personal dreams can be how specific or detailed the surroundings or events are it's basically impossible for two people to have the exact same dream as each other let alone in three so the fact they can all corroborate the same details is a very chilling indication that there's something wrong it introduces the dream concept very well but what really sells it is them waking up again in lead work it would be fine enough just to have them in the tardis freaking out about the dream but to put them back in makes the audience and characters start questioning everything immediately before the titles even roll it sows the seas of doubt very early on and very effectively since it makes sure to establish that both are just as likely to be a dream as the other i even think their camera movement helps to sell the disorientation of such a reveal like sending your brain spinning around it's the perfect cold open for an episode like this putting all the pieces into place right from the very beginning you have your mystery setup from the get-go he introduced to both pivotal locations but more importantly it also keeps the audience confused and in the dark so we're on the same level as the characters two you can't spot a dream while you're having it it's then that we're introduced to the villain of the piece the so dreamlord played by toby jones i love how incredibly sinister he is he nails that eccentricity and scheming malice providing the perfect window into a darker doctor i especially love the touch of the dreamlord changing his outfit for each different place it's just a small detail but it goes a long way into selling you on how powerful yet frustratingly quirky this character is just like the doctor themselves the dream lord is simply fantastic always getting underneath a protagonist's skin so easily because he knows exactly what to say to press their buttons he always has some snarky remark or teasing hint to taunt the trail with so he annoys you as a viewer in the right way while still maintaining some level of charm there's also that great running mystery as to who he actually is for most of the story he implies he knows the doctor from somewhere which would obviously fuel speculation of him being the master the toy maker fenrik or another in the grand pantheon of godlike classical villains but the truth is so much better and more creative as revealed at the end sorry wasn't it obvious adrenal was me this turns the villain into the ultimate antagonist the kind of presence we've never seen before outsider maybe the valyard up until day of the doctor the new who incarnations hated themselves and carried a lot of guilt for the time war like the doctor implies in this episode he hates himself more than anyone else in the universe which really illustrates just how much darkness he carries the dreamlord is literally the personification of his dark side which makes him the perfect person for this specific incarnation to face off against unlike the 9th and 10th doctors the 11th doctor is less angsty and more whimsical a happier and youthful incarnation well in series 5 at least having an entire antagonist representing his darker emotions provides a sobering look at just how much he bottles things up and hides from himself it adds such a great new dimension to the main character making himself his own worst enemy not only does it make for a good reveal at the end but it also works well on re-watches because you start to notice the small details that give it away such as all the one-liners and mocking jokes your brain is completely see-through but then i've always been able to see through you doctor the dream lord is almost omnipresent he can always see what the characters are doing and manipulate their actions he's always listening and can send him to sleep with a wave of his hand so you truly understand the threat he represents he's not physically there which means the doctor has to work extra hard to get out of this situation i think a dream lord is the best type of villain for such an unconventional episode he's almost like the celestial toy maker presiding over the heroes and playing with them he's a cosmic threat unlike any other with ultimate control he doesn't have some grand plan of universe domination he essentially just wants to with the protagonist and pit them against one another it's representative of how to the doctor people can sometimes just be play things chess pieces to manipulate in a greater game since the doctor is a hero they suppress that world view and try not to use people that way all those stories like journey then show how much it slips through anyway because the dreamlord is their darker side we get to see it in all its sobering horror so it gives the doctor a lot to do in the story having to confront his own sense of identity for some reason people always ask for the dream lord to come back but i feel as though that misses the point of the character he's meant to be a one-off villain tailored for a narrative like this with this incarnation he isn't a physical entity since he is just a doctor so there's nowhere else you can really take the character to bring him back would devalue it because as it stands he's just perfect the way he is in this episode however a villainous presence i don't like nearly as much is the threat in the leadworth dream the dreamlord promised danger in each scenario with one being the cosmic anomaly of a seemingly impossible cold star and the other being a horde of evil alien pensioners what's this attack of the old people oh that's ridiculous it's very goofy and hard to take seriously even when the episode kills off an entire class of school children and tries to feel dramatic about it i suppose the goofiness of it all is what's supposed to show it's a surreal dream but it feels way too odd with the dramatic and serious tone of the actual narrative and i know this is doctor who silly stuff like evil grannies is kind of the point of it all like the telegraph review of the episode suggests it's the kind of story you would only find in doctor who i don't expect every single episode to be midnight or turn left it's still important to maintain the campaign levity defining the show but this episode takes itself very seriously which makes this a bit jarring to watch i suppose you could perceive these monsters as a personification of old age chasing amy down and looming over her she almost fears getting old as shown in this exchange we have to grow up eventually it says who her fear of life with rory is the boredom and normality of it all which can be communicated through old age itself attacking them but it's just hard to feel threatened by old people spreading disintegration missed out of eyeballs in their mouths and create a makeshift siege weapons to a sort of cottage the reason for this lighter presentation is because nai didn't want to make children scared of their grandparents which is understandable but it ultimately damages the threat of the monsters because the episode pulls its punches as a result but hey at least we get rory going full ecw on an old lady speaking of rory a major part of this episode is untangling and strengthening the relationship between him and amy now if you know me you'll know i absolutely hate amy and how she treats rory even from the very beginning she pretended he wasn't her boyfriend then she runs away on her wedding night and tries to cheat on him with her stepson so she's not exactly going to this episode with a great track record i like the realistic touch that rory is still rightfully annoyed our actions so far in vampires of venice he mainly targeted the doctor because he was the one who just appeared in their lives and ruined everything for him but on the other hand amy made the decisions she did like running away and trying to bonk the doctor so it would make sense for rory to direct his frustration and feeling of betrayal towards her after all she was mistreating him long before the doctor came along and made him feel inferior i appreciate there's a clear rift between the pair there's an element of trust issues along with forcing amy to choose between the doctor and rory it creates the kind of love triangle i would usually despise but i think the character dynamics of this episode make it work well since it actively focuses on the struggles and personal relationships of the protagonists the dreamlord wanting to drive a wish between them all oh dear doctor descent in the ranks an important thing to know is where the dreams actually come from they're not just plucked out of thin air they're personally tailored to the characters the cold star is the doctor's dream whilst leadworth is rory's but the thing they have in common is amy who wants both at the very same time rory is that loving and loyal husband she can settle down with but she still craves that adventurous and exciting life with the doctor right from the beginning she has tried to have both running away in this hardest but still wanting to make it back in time for the wedding but in a time machine it could be the night before our wedding for as long as we want this is actually a common theme throughout modern doctor who even extending to the spin-offs once you get a taste of life with a doctor it becomes like an addiction companions are always telling themselves they can stop whenever they choose but as we've seen with rose and donna they can't and it always comes back to bite them like those others amy wants to balance both sides of her life but it's impossible since she's in the middle she has to try and juggle boy's dreams which is a fascinating way to structure the dreamworld narrative it's her choice because the others have their minds made up already the doctor only has rory on board for amy's sake and rory is only agreed to travel because of amy that's why the dreamworld chose the two contrasting scenarios to single her out he's not really asking her which one is real but more so making her choose variety she would prefer to be real it's a wonderful character struggle on paper the problem is it hinges on you liking amy since i don't like her as a character i don't feel as much investment in the difficulty of her impossible dilemma the way she treats people specifically rory makes me not care what happens to her which therefore kind of makes half the episode fall apart for me at least even so there's a really strong scene between amy and the dream model she tries to work out who he is and what he wants although i don't really like the weird out of place sex joke anything could happen seriously what is it with this era and sex jokes they're everywhere nitpicks aside it's often necessary to have these face-off scenes between protagonists and villains but it's all too easy to fall into the trap of having the antagonist exposit the entire plan in a convenient speech this doesn't really happen here at least not in the disruptive and convenient way it often does instead he taunts her by hinting at his plan pushing her further into her corner because either way he wins no matter who she chooses the dream lord still comes out on top because of the perfect trap he's crafted it's also a moment that shows how crucial amy is to the whole puzzle it basically turns to you and says remember the title yeah we meant that literally it's a brilliantly written and actually confrontation which furthers the narrative in a smooth and character-oriented way the dreamlord can split them all up to make them weaker therefore giving him the opening to play on amy's insecurities it's also because of the scene that the choice isn't as easy as it would have been at the very beginning by this point within series 5 it would seem easy for her to just pick the doctor because why would she choose the dorky and lame rory a confrontational scene like this is important for making the choice a little less clear-cut because it shows amy that the doctor isn't perfect she's built up this idealized perception of him but because the dreamworld is the dark side of the doctor he knows how to make amy doubt her hero because he knows how insecure she is about being abandoned by the doctor it's a good scene leveling the playing field but that also leads to one of the main problems with the narrative amy choosing rory amy's choice simply feels too early on within the bigger picture of amy and ray's relationship it's easy to look back at this episode with the hindsight of their relationship becoming stronger but up until this point rory had only been part of two other episodes both of which characterized him as a dumb loser it honestly makes you wonder why amy would struggle to choose at all because it compares rory to the doctor without giving you much of a reason to root for the former she has been running from her relationship with rory and we've never been given an indication it's worth her returning at all i mean the pivotal point of this episode is literally rory cutting off his ponytail in some grand sentimental moment but it is just cutting off a ponytail this is what's supposed to make you root for him which seems ridiculous oh and then gets killed in a terrible special effects shot which is what drives amy to decide she can't live without him this death isn't nearly as shocking or weighty as the episode intends i won't deny it's a little bit emotional and amy makes a really good point about the doctor you know what it's the point of view but it falls short because of rory's characterization since we really only had vampires to venice showing there was a couple traveling in the tardis if we had even one more episode where rory was shown to be a bit more important to amy it would help bring everything a lot tighter together but as it stands this development feels way too quick and unnatural now obviously there wasn't actually room since hungry earth and cold blood come next and kill him off but i can't help but feel as though the resolution of amy's choice relies heavily on a relationship dynamic that wasn't even there yet i know there's that whole idea of not knowing how deeply you love someone until something bad happens to them but her sudden deep love seems to materialize out of nowhere which just feels jarring this is meant to be the episode that maneuvers her into embracing her love for him but this is a problem because their decision is built of a level of love we haven't been shown enough of i love rory and i never told him i mean sure cool but as an audience we could have done with understanding that beforehand to actually make the choice more compelling from the offset but then again i guess i just don't have the necessary iq to understand this intellectual episode also this impact of speed wouldn't kill them but that's none of my business yes the day is seemingly saved as amy decides that leadworth is a dream the dreamload concede and defeat and piecing out however much like inception in the same year you can never be so sure you're actually awake because it turns out the coaster is also a dream which is a fantastic final twist having a dream within a dream is often a cop-out but this is a masterful way to handle it especially since the doctor works out because the dreamlord is his darker self he was offering us a choice between two dreams it makes sense he'd realize this because you know he knows himself so i think the concept is handled well playing on the doctor's sense of self extremely effectively it's a suitable payoff of the story even if the whole it was all a dream ending is overplayed as all hell and one thing i really respect an eye for is compensating for both scenarios being a dream by having that twist it could be seen as devaluing amy's decision because neither choice really mattered in the end it dodges the dilemma of choosing between the doctor and rory by going a sudden third wave however even though a lot of writers would have unfortunately left it at that the epilogue of this episode does clear things up because amy took a leap of faith proving she chose rory after all i think it's a good way to wrap things up and pay off the character work although it just doesn't quite feel satisfying enough due to the lack of bonding moments going into the episode so it still comes across a bit too sudden for them to be all happy and deeply in love i do like amy's choice it's one of the best episodes in the wildly inconsistent series five it has an absolutely fascinating premise with the two dreams reflecting the two main aspects of amy's life since she met the doctor it's an interesting way to explore her identity and struggle for control but this also makes the ending a bit unsatisfying since rory hadn't been a part of the show long enough for the whole choice plot point to actually play out successfully karen gillin does a good job though adding some more depth to amy as much as i dislike the way the character herself is always written i think the dream road is an amazing aspect to the episode as well toby jones absolutely nailing the doctor-like aura in combination with the sinister and despicable presence needed to communicate the character being the doctor's dark side the zombie-like alien villagers are a lot more redundant and unimaginative though not coming off as enough of a dangerous threat to match the tone or the stakes of the episode all in all i think i would give amy's choice a b ranking on the series 5 tier list it does a lot of really great things with the characters and the settings but it just falls short with enough aspects here and there to lower the rating down from an a it was designed to be a budget episode with limited effects and the tardis as a main setting but the use of this hardest setting doesn't seem very creative since it's really only there for conversations and feels less interesting as a result the story is paced well though with the dream switching on and off smoothly enough to keep the episode tick along at the perfect speed but the tone leaves a lot to be desired since it's quite a jumbled mess the actual choice amy makes also doesn't work the way it was intended to since there's not a whole lot of dramatic tension there ultimately the episode is carried by the dreamlord since it would otherwise feel like quite a run-of-the-mill doctor episode it's snappy and witty enough to make for enjoyable viewing but it ends up leaving you with the impression it had a lot more to give and maybe pulled its punches a bit too much to achieve its true potential but hey that's just my opinion if you don't agree you can just pretend you're dreaming and i'd like to give a special thank you to all my gold level patrons alex marston basil disco phd calvin daniel shilato france horn ak line vortex george henner furzog nevin miller thank you so much for your support

Channel: Harbo Wholmes

Views: 51,756

Keywords: harbo wholmes, doctor who, harbo wholmes doctor who, doctor who season 5, doctor who 2010 series, dr who, doctor who series 5, doctor who matt smith, eleventh doctor, karen gillan, doctor who amy, amy pond, Doctor Who S05E06, steven moffat doctor who, amy's choice, doctor who dream, doctor who dream episode, doctor who rory, matt smith, dream lord, best doctor who villain, best doctor who episode, inception

Id: B4musKWoCek

Length: 19min 32sec (1172 seconds)

Published: Thu Nov 04 2021