Tuesday 25 September 2012

No Mr Pond, I Expect You To Die!


It's been two years since the world was first introduced to Amelia Pond. Two years in fact since the world was introduced to Matt Smith's incarnation of the Doctor. And what a couple of years it’s been! We've had some of the best story arcs the series has ever seen, as well as some of the best stand-alone episodes ('The Doctor's Wife' springs to mind, though a certain Neil Gaiman did write that one, so maybe that's cheating a little...)



But Doctor Who is known for keeping things fresh, and it seems it's time for the series to make one of it's major changes. The Ponds are starting to feel a little old, in more ways than one (we were told in the last episode that they've known The Doctor for ten years! Wibbly-wobbly, timey-wimey and all that...) But just what fate can we expect for our dashing heroes?

Series writer Moffat has already referred to their farewell as 'heartbreaking'. This has led to a huge amount of speculation that Amy and Rory are due to be killed-off. But that just seems too easy. Too simple for Moffat and co. Thinking back to previous companion's endings, many have been heartbreaking (Rose Tyler being trapped forever in another universe), yet only twice in the history of Doctor Who have major companions been killed off. The first is a young man called Adric from the fourth Doctor's reign. The second, in the loose sense of the term 'killed-off', would be River Song herself back during Tennant's tenure, before she even became a proper companion.

Which brings us to some theories. First of all, River Song is safe. She needs to survive in order to die several seasons ago (wibby-wobbly…). The Doctor is safe, Matt's in the second half of season 7. Yet we know that Amy and Rory will be done come the end of episode five.

There have been a few clues across the season. Several times The Doctor has had conversations with people, or expressed concerns about the Ponds’ safety (Rory’s Dad Brian asks him if anyone’s every died. The Doctor replies with ‘Not them Brian. Never them.’) It all seems very ominous, especially considering there’s been a big focus on Rory’s family, not Amy’s. Two other clues that hint towards something rather nasty happening are leaked pictures of what looks like a funeral scene, and oddly Rory’s nurses badge in Episode one. It was issued in 1992. That doesn’t make any sense…

In the trailer for the Pond’s final episode, ‘The Angels Take Manhattan’, the Doctor mentions The Angels throwing people back through time. Could Rory be thrown back through time, removing him from Amy’s reach forever? That would be pretty heartbreaking…

But there’s a positive spin that it would be nice to end on. Moffat is known for misleading us. The heartbreak might be simply The Doctor being left, once again, to travel alone. He loves the Ponds deeply, and it’s doubtful anyone could ever replace them (as Rose Tyler could never really be replaced for Tennant.) At the end of the episode ‘Day of the Moon’, the Pond’s daughter is seen regenerating in an alleyway in what could easily be New York. It always seemed to be an odd location at the time of watching. Could the last episode being set in New York be something more than just a coincidence? Could the Pond’s be reunited with their daughter? Could they have a happy ending? Is it too much to hope?

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