Amy as a) fan b) writer c) Moffat himself
Strange thought of the week: Amy Pond…is Steven Moffat.
Well, in a very strange, loose sense. But Moffat started out as a Doctor Who fan in childhood, before becoming a writer, and then a Doctor Who writer, before graduating to showrunner. And Amy was a fan of the Doctor in childhood, and remained a fan all through adulthood, becoming companion to the Doctor and then mother in law to the Doctor…
Amy as fan
Like Moffat, Amy encountered the Doctor as a child and her fascination never went away. She met her Doctor in 1996, the year Doctor Who was last on air till the revived series…she met him again in 2008, when David Tennant’s era was in full swing…and she finally got to go with the Eleventh Doctor in 2010, which is the year we all met him as well.
I think there’s a case to be made for Amy representing Fandom, in Series Five at least. Look at us- we’re a community of fanworks, and Amy too channels her obsession into art. She makes drawings and dolls and TARDISes- I’ve always thought that if Amy was One Of Us, she’d be a fanartist and up there with the best of ’em.
Anyway, Amy is surrounded with people who disapprove of her obsession. Even Rory does a little at first, before coming around. And to be fair, Amy is a little obsessed, maybe somewhat more than is healthy. But gradually she balances out her TARDIS life and her Leadworth life- or her fandom life and her real life, if you will.
And Amy is the kind of fan who is inspired by the Doctor to become a better person. She uses what she’s learned to become a quick-thinking, kind, intelligent heroine.
And- I can’t put it any other way – she saves the Doctor with the sheer POWER OF FANNISHNESS! The bow ties and the suspenders and the TARDIS blue all serve to remind her of the Doctor. Ah, Amy. You are One Of Us…
Amy as writer
“I found you in words.” Amy to the Doctor.
Actually it was that quote that kicked me off on this line of thought. Amy is literally the author of the Whoniverse in that she rewrites the universe to bring the Doctor back- she wrote her parents back in, too! It works on a very meta-ry level- Amy, in some way, is the creator of the Eleventh Doctor. Just as Moffat is…
In fact, from the very start, it was what was in her head that was important- in the case of Prisoner Zero, too. Amy’s memories of her fannish childhood are what allows her to save the day, over and over again.
Amy gets Rory, too, who is Moffat’s hero- “everything I could never be”. In a bizzare way, Amy is like the self-insert and Rory is the Gary Stu.
Amy as showrunner
Now we’ve reached the point where Amy has created River Song. And so has Steven Moffat. Anyway…just as Steven Moffat is the most important person to Doctor Who out-universe, Amy is the most important person to the Doctor in-universe. She won’t be for much longer- that’s how the programme works- but for now she’s the one running the Doctor’s show. She’s his mother-in-law! She’s his best friend! She ‘will bring the Silence’! (I’m assuming we’ll see this soon.) So…yeah. The most important person.
I’ve pondered Rory being Moffat’s self-insert, but the more I think about it the more I think it’s really Amy.