DVD Extras (box sets only) include:
The only real downside here is that temporal theory is so badly messed up, which in turn becomes the excuse for motivating bad choices by the protagonists. If you meet an old Amy, then go back to meet her younger self and "rescue" her from the events that shaped her older self, BOTH of them ALREADY COEXIST in branching universes. Neither will cease to exist in a puff of magic. They are now doubles of each other, as often seen on the show "Sliders" (which all Doctor Who fans should also watch), or as also seen in writer Tom MacRae's previous story "Rise of the Cybermen" (story no. 176), where we have two Mickeys coming face to face and living well together. In this case, we see Amy's two doubles at different times in their lives, but they are still doubles. Yes, it's Level 3 parallel (branching) universes to the rescue once more. But can they really still apply here, with such a weird set of artificial timestreams running? My answer is that it must apply, as long as decisions are possible. Remember, "Every single decision we make creates a parallel existence, a different dimension..." For every tiny decision Amy makes in that timestream, another version of her is spawned. This is all part of the decision-making function deeply embedded into humanoid activity anywhere in any universe on any timeline. Today's sci-fi writers are obviously still struggling with this, not realizing how it impacts EVERY time travel story and removes most of the paradoxes and conundrums that hang them up. In the case of this episode, we sadly have to listen to a lot of guff and misplaced emotion as the characters fight the perception of a non-existent paradox or make themselves sad over, essentially, nothing.
"Two Amys together. Can that work?"
But I'll cut them some slack, because even if they had got
the branching time bits right,
there are still a lot of fascinating questions in play. You'd now have
basically two Amy's with one husband to share between them. Awesome twist.
The "Space" and "Time" additional scenes
actually teased us with this concept (and without freaking out over it
I have to add), only now, one Amy is considerably
older and more bitter than the other. Perhaps this is slightly less
than the fantasy Rory was having earlier.
If he is forced to choose, of course, how would he not go with the younger
one who is closer to his own realm of experience? All kinds of ageist
themes are brought into play. In fact this is so rich, it seemed to
be the obvious way to maintain audience interest in their relationship,
with a very weird complication and escalation. I began to suspect that
older Valkyrie Amy would grow up to become Madame Kovarian, taking
her grudge against the Doctor to a new level. Well, the episode makes
it appear as if that doesn't happen.
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
The music really feels recycled from last year in this story,
although at one point the new guitar rendition of Amy and Rory's theme
is really sweet. Still, reusing music here is very appropriate,
since we're focused so much on the regulars, while perhaps not enough
is being done to define new elements like the planet and its people.
I think I really would have liked to expand this to a more populated two-parter with a more decent budget, and used the extra time to explore Rory's attempts to deal with having the older Amy in his life along with the younger one, while the Doctor gets a more external A-plot trying to save the planet and/or investigate some sinister plan behind the plague. We haven't had the fate of alien planets at stake nearly enough in New Millennium Doctor Who. |
|
Yes, as is, this story has a bit of a problem, but I like the setting,
the visuals, the relationship questions, and the butt-kicking Valkyrie
Amy. Matt Smith's disguised production absence also gets a passing grade.
In short, this remains one of the better episodes of the later
half of the season.
International Titles:
Deutsch: "Warten in der Ewigkeit"
Magyar: "A lány, aki várt"
Français: "La Fille qui attendait"
Русский: "Девочка, которая ждала"
Italiano: "La ragazza che ha aspettato"
Only the Germans varied the title here, going with "Waiting in Eternity".
This story has become available on DVD and Blu-ray.
Click on the Amazon symbol for the location nearest you for pricing and availability:
 |
 |
 |
| DVD NTSC Region 1
14-episode box set for the North American market: 
in the U.S.
in Canada
|
DVD PAL Region 2
14-episode box set for the U.K.: 
(Limited Edition)
|
DVD 6-episode volume |
Blu-Ray NTSC Region 1 14-episode box set for the North American market: 
in the U.S.
in Canada
|
Blu-Ray PAL Region 2 14-episode box set for the U.K.: 
(Limited Edition)
|
Note: The full season sets contain commentaries, behind-the-scenes featurettes, and other extras. The smaller volumes feature little more than the plain episodes.
Comments on this article are welcome. You may contact the author from this page:
LYRATEK.COM |
|
