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Matt Smith
Amy's Choice
Eleventh Doctor Logo


Synopsis


Amy, The Doctor and Rory
Amy, The Doctor and Rory
 It’s been five long years since Amy travelled in the TARDIS with her mysterious Doctor - and when he shows up again, on the eve of the birth of her first child, danger is not far behind him.

 Amy is faced with a heartbreaking choice that will change her life forever.

Source: Radio Times


General Information

Season: Thirty One (New Series 5)
Production Code: 5-7
Story Number: 208 (New Series: 52)
Episode Number:763 (New Series: 67)
Number of Episodes: 1
Percentage of Episodes Held:100%
Production Dates: 2010 (Block 6)
Broadcast Date: 15 May 2010
Colour Status: HD Colour
Studio: BBC Wales (Upper Boat, Pontypridd)
Location: Skenfrith (near Llandaff, South East Wales).
Writer:Simon Nye
Director:Catherine Morshead
Producer:Tracie Simpson
Executive Producers:Beth Willis, Piers Wenger and Steven Moffat
Script Editor:Brian Minchin
Editor:Jamie Pearson
Production Executive:Julie Scott
Production Designer:Tristan Peatfield
Director of Photography:Erik Wilson
Casting Director:Andy Pryor CDG
Line Producer:Patrick Schweitzer
Costume Designer:Ray Holman
Make-Up Designer:Barbara Southcott
Cameramen:Jon Vidgen (Assistant), Tom Hartley (Assistant), Matthew Poynter (Operator) and Richard Stoddard (Operator)
Visual Effects:BBC Wales Graphics
Stunt Co-ordinator:Crispin Layfield
Stunt Performers:Belinda McGinley, Dani Biernat, Gordon Seed and Helen Steinway-Bailey
Incidental Music:Murray Gold
Special Sounds (SFX Editor):Paul Jefferies
Sound Recordist:Bryn Thomas
Sound Supervisor:Paul McFadden
Music Performed By:The BBC National Orchestra of Wales
Title Sequence:Frame Store
Title Music:Ron Grainer and the BBC Radiophonic Workshop. Arranged by Murray Gold
Number of Doctors: 1
The Doctor: Matt Smith (The Eleventh Doctor)
Number of Companions: 2The Companions: Karen Gillan (Amy Pond) and Arthur Darvill (Rory Williams) Additional Cast: Toby Jones (Dream Lord), Nick Hobbs (Mr Naindy), Joan Linder (Mrs Hamill), Audrey Ardington (Mrs Poggit)Setting: Upper Leadworth, Earth (2015), The TARDIS Villains:The Eknodine and The Valeyard

The Episodes

No. Episodes Broadcast
(UK)
Duration Viewers
(Millions)
In Archive
763Amy's Choice15 May 201044'08"BBC One: 7.1
BBC HD: 0.5
Total: 7.6
Yes

Total Duration 44 Minutes


Audience Appreciation

Average Viewers (Millions) 7.6 (BBC One: 7.1   BBC HD: 0.5)
Doctor Who Magazine Poll (2010)78.70%  (Position = 5 out of 10)
Doctor Who Magazine Poll (2014)71.97% Lower (Position = 105 out of 241)
Doctor Who Magazine Poll (2023) Position = 9 out of 39


Archives


 This story exists and is held in the BBC's Film and Videotape Library.



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Notes


This story is written by Simon Nye and is his first contribution to the show. His previous credits include Men Behaving Badly (1992 - 1998) and Hardware, both of which he created.

This is the first Doctor Who story to be directed by Catherine Morshead. Her previous credits include The Railway Children (2000).

This story was recorded in the final production block. The read-through took place on Wednesday 17th February 2010. Along with "The Lodger" these were the final two read-throughs for Season Thirty One (New Series 5).

Being one of the last stories in this season to be produced, Simon Nye was able to attend the read-throughs of earlier stories before finishing his script. It has been revealed that seeing Matt Smith and Karen Gillan working together helped him capture the dynamics between The Doctor and Amy Pond.

Much of the story - the majority of the Upper Leadworth 'dream' scenes - were filmed in Skenfrith, a small village near Llandaff in South East Wales. Llandaff was where the Leadworth scenes were shot for "The Eleventh Hour".

The pre-opening credit sequence is over 5 minutes and 48 seconds long - the longest that there has been to date. The previous pre-opening credit sequence that is over 5 minutes (at 5 minutes and 7 seconds) was the 2008 Tenth Doctor story "Turn Left".

Audrey Ardington (who plays Mrs Poggit) played the Abbess in The Sarah Jane Adventures story "The Eye of the Gorgon".

Toby Jones (who plays the Dream Lord) played the part of Dobby in the Harry Potter Films.

One of the stunt performers is Nick Hobbs, who has previously appeared in the show, notably as Aggedor in the Third Doctor stories "The Curse of Peladon", in 1972, and "The Monster of Peladon", in 1974.

This story’s main plot centres around The Doctor, Rory and Amy being trapped, by the Dream Lord, in an alternative world and Amy has to decide what is the real world.

The Doctor initially assumes that the TARDIS has jumped a time track. In the 1965 First Doctor story "The Space Museum" The Doctor speculated that the TARDIS somehow jumped a 'time track' when he arrives at a location where he's able to see a version of his future self.

Technically, the entire story takes place in the TARDIS and as the majority of this is story occurs as a dream it is not clear if the Eknodine (the aliens inside human hosts with only a green eyestalk visible in the human host’s mouth) or the Dream Lord are real or not. There is also no indication of how much time has passed since the previous story "The Vampires of Venice".

The first story to only take place in the TARDIS was the 1963 First Doctor story "The Edge of Destruction".

This isn't the first time The Doctor has come under attack in the TARDIS. The Doctor’s time machine was invaded by Sontarans in the 1978 Fourth Doctor story "The Invasion of Time" and the Cybermen boarded the TARDIS in the 1982 Fifth Doctor story "Earthshock". The Master attacked the Eighth Doctor in the TARDIS ("Doctor Who: The Movie") and more recently, The Doctor materialised his craft around a none-too-happy Dalek in the 2005 Ninth Doctor story "Bad Wolf/The Parting of the Ways".

At one point Amy is heard referencing Oklahoma! This is a musical written by Richard Rogers and Oscar Hammerstein II that began life as a stage show and was adapted for film in 1955. The movie stars Gordon MacRae and Shirley Jones as the lead characters, Curly and Laurey. It contains a dream sequence in which Laurey dreams of what marriage to Curly would be like. When Curley is killed in her dream it makes her realise (in reality) that he is the man for her. A very familiar scenario as in "Amy’s Choice".

The Doctor is seen trying to jump start the TARDIS by kicking it. He last did this in the 2006 Tenth Doctor story "Rise of the Cybermen/The Age of Steel".

The box under the TARDIS console that The Doctor opens has the words: ‘TARDIS. Time And Relative Dimension In Space. Build Site: Gallifrey Blackhole Shipyard. Type 40. Build date: 1963. Authorised for use by qualified Time Lords only by the Shadow Proclamation. Misuse or theft of any TARDIS will result in extreme penalties and permanent exile’ written on it.

The Doctor is also heard stating that he threw the TARDIS Manual at a Supernova because he ‘disagreed’ with it.

The Dream Lord is seen teleporting himself around much like The Valeyard did in the 1986 Sixth Doctor story "The Ultimate Foe" (the final instalment of The Trial of a Time Lord season).

The Dream Lord isn't the first character to mimic The Doctor's outfit. In the 1979 Fourth Doctor story "Destiny of the Daleks" Romana dressed in clothes identical to the Time Lord's. He called them ‘silly’ and she changed into an outfit similar to The Doctor's - long coat and scarf - but a different colour.

The Dream Lord is heard accusing The Doctor of abandoning his companions in favour of younger friends, echoing remarks by Sarah Jane Smith, in the 2006 story "School Reunion", about the Tenth Doctor and his relationship with Rose Tyler.

The Dream Lord, when alone with Amy in the TARDIS, echoes a conversation, in "Rose", that Jackie Tyler had with the Ninth Doctor about how ‘anything could happen’.

The Dream Lord is heard to refer to The Doctor's relationship with Elizabeth I (previously mentioned in the Tenth Doctor stories "The Shakespeare Code" and "The End of Time" as well as in "The Beast Below"). The Dream Lord also refers to The Doctor as being the ‘last of the Time Lords’ and ‘the oncoming storm’, two nicknames he has been given.

Look out for the sign outside the old peoples’ home which reads ‘SARN Residential Care Home’. Sarn was the setting for the 1984 Fifth Doctor story "Planet of Fire".

Following on immediately after this story, on BBC3, was the seventh chapter of the fifth series of Doctor Who Confidential. Titled "Arthurian Legend" which looked into the making of this story. It was presented by Alex Price.



First and Last

The Firsts:

 The first Doctor Who story to be written by Simon Nye.

 The first Doctor Who story to be directed by Catherine Morshead.


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Story Images

Show Text
Welcoming The Doctor
Welcoming The Doctor
Amy Pond
Amy Pond
The Dream Lord
The Dream Lord
Amy, The Doctor and Rory
Amy, The Doctor and Rory
 
Falling Asleep
Falling Asleep
The Dream Lord
The Dream Lord
The Residents of Upper Leadworth
The Residents of Upper Leadworth
Mrs Poggit
Mrs Poggit
 
Amy and The Doctor
Amy and The Doctor
The Eknodine Attack
The Eknodine Attack
Keeping Warm
Keeping Warm
A Frozen Amy
A Frozen Amy
 




Quote of the Story


 'Listen to me. Trust nothing. From now on, trust nothing you see, hear or feel.'

The Doctor



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Release Information

FormatTitleRelease Date (UK)Code NumberCover ArtRemarks
Video
DVD
Amy's Choice - The Hungry Earth - Cold Blood - Vincent and the DoctorAugust 2010BBCDVD 3215Photo-montage
Video
Blu-Ray
Amy's Choice - The Hungry Earth - Cold Blood - Vincent and the DoctorAugust 2010BBCBD 0084Photo-montage
Video
DVD
The Complete Fifth Series Box SetNovember 2010BBCDVD 3285Photo-montageDVD boxed set containing all 10 stories
Video
Blu-Ray
The Complete Fifth Series Box SetNovember 2010BBCBD 0115Photo-montageBlu-Ray boxed set containing all 10 stories
Video
DVD
The Complete Fifth Series Box Set (Limited Edition)November 2010BBCDVD 3344Photo-montageLimited Edition DVD boxed set containing all 10 stories
Video
Blu-Ray
The Complete Fifth Series Box Set (Limited Edition)November 2010BBCBD 0130Photo-montageLimited Edition Blu-Ray boxed set containing all 10 stories
Audio
CD
Original Television Soundtrack - Series 5November 2010Photo-montageMusic by Murray Gold
Audio
CD
The Essential CompanionNovember 2010Photo-montageDocumentary
Video
Blu-Ray
The Complete Series 1-7 Box Set (Limited Edition)December 2013BBCBD 0242Photo-montageLimited Edition Blu-Ray boxed set containing all Series 1-7 stories at full 1080p high definition
Video
DVD
The Complete Fifth Series (2014 Re-release)August 2014BBCDVD 3969Photo-montageBoxed set containing all 10 stories
Video
Blu-Ray
The Complete Fifth Series Box Set (Limited Edition Steelbook)February 2020BBCBD 0487Photo-montageLimited Edition Blu-Ray Steelbook boxed set containing 10 stories
Audio
LP
Original Television Soundtrack - Series 5July 2023Photo-montageMusic by Murray Gold


In Print

No Book Release
Doctor Who Magazine - PreviewIssue 421 (Released: May 2010)
Doctor Who Magazine - ReviewIssue 423 (Released: July 2010)
Doctor Who Magazine - Time TeamIssue 502 (Released: September 2016)
Doctor Who Magazine - ArticleIssue 549 (Released: April 2020)
Doctor Who DVD FilesVolume 77 (Released: December 2011)

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Photo Gallery


The Doctor and Companions

 
Matt Smith
The Eleventh Doctor

   

Karen Gillan
Amy Pond
 
Arthur Darvill
Rory Williams
   




On Release

DVD Cover
DVD Cover

BBC
VIDEO
Blu-Ray Cover
Blu-Ray Cover

BBC
VIDEO
Complete Series DVD Box Set
Complete Series DVD Box Set

BBC
VIDEO
Complete Series Blu-Ray Box Set
Complete Series Blu-Ray Box Set

BBC
VIDEO
   
Ltd Edition DVD Box Set
Ltd Edition DVD Box Set

BBC
VIDEO
Ltd Edition Blu-Ray Box Set
Ltd Edition Blu-Ray Box Set

BBC
VIDEO
Original Television Soundtrack Cover
Original Television Soundtrack Cover

BBC
AUDIO
The Essential Companion Cover
The Essential Companion Cover

BBC
AUDIO
   
Complete Series 1-7 Ltd Edition Blu-Ray Box Set
Complete Series 1-7 Ltd Edition Blu-Ray Box Set

BBC
VIDEO
Complete Series DVD Box Set<BR>(2014 Re-release)
Complete Series DVD Box Set
(2014 Re-release)

BBC
VIDEO
Complete Series Blu-Ray Limited Edition Steelbook Box Set
Complete Series Blu-Ray Limited Edition Steelbook Box Set

BBC
VIDEO
Original Television Soundtrack Vinyl Cover
Original Television Soundtrack Vinyl Cover

Silva Screen
AUDIO
   



Magazines

Doctor Who Magazine - Preview: Issue 421
Doctor Who Magazine - Preview: Issue 421

Marvel Comics
Doctor Who Magazine - Review: Issue 423
Doctor Who Magazine - Review: Issue 423

Marvel Comics
Doctor Who Magazine - Time Team: Issue 502
Doctor Who Magazine - Time Team: Issue 502

Marvel Comics
Doctor Who Magazine - Article: Issue 549
Doctor Who Magazine - Article: Issue 549

Marvel Comics
   
Doctor Who DVD Files: Volume 77
Doctor Who DVD Files: Volume 77

GE Fabbri


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