When Melody Pond – the lady who once stole a red Corvette – came back to visit her parents, she saw her father’s brand new car parked outside the new house. Both her and Rory squealed about it for ages, had a proper long conversation – after which Rory went into the house, got the keys, and said “Mels, sweety- you can have it, it’s all yours.”
Often the ‘I think that’s probably enough hugging now’ scene is brought up as an example of Rory’s jealousy and possessiveness, but while Rory can sometimes be a little jealous and posessive, that’s not all he is. Not by a long shot!
Let’s explain! First of all, the Doctor is a huge presence in Rory’s life, but also Amy’s…and while they’re all friends, the Doctor is always going to be The Other Man. Amy did cheat on Rory with the Doctor, and then flirted with him at the wedding: there are very few people, male or female, who wouldn’t have pulled their spouse aside at that point and gone “Dude/ette, what the hell? You’re marrying me!” Yet Rory said nothing about that, didn’t say anything at all about Amy and the Doctor’s close relationship until Season Six rolled around. (Ironically, it was around here that Amy stopped flirting with the Doctor- probably because she realised during Day Of The Moon that Rory honestly didn’t know she preferred him. Timing…) Rory breaking up the hug isn’t that great a moment for him, but I think it’s understandable, very much so. This is a very emotional day for all of them, too- Rory’s probably thinking, when he sees the Doctor hugging his wife and stroking her hair, “That should be me.” Or perhaps “You’ve had your hug, you’ve held the baby, now go sort all these incredibly dangerous circumstances out and leave us alone for a bit.” Perhaps.
Now, on the Rebel Flesh Confidential, there’s this interview with Karen and Arthur about Rory’s platonic relationship with Jen the Ganger:
KAREN Because she’s always had Rory in the palm of her hand so to have this happen just opens up loads of new avenues. And it’s really weird for Amy as well because she’s obviously had a roaming eye in the past…so yeah, she’s kind of not really possessive like that because she wouldn’t expect Rory to be that possessive over her. So it was an interesting one to get…
ARTHUR I think Rory has to try not to be possessive, I think he has to try and keep it back…I think he actually wants to be going ‘Hey!’ all the time but he has to play it cool.
KAREN Because Amy wouldn’t dig that.
ARTHUR Yeah. Rory just wants to be cool.
So what I got from that is that while Rory does have a possessive streak, he tries to keep it under control. So far he’s not doing too badly: he never gets between Amy and the Doctor again, being perfectly fine to leave them alone for their last goodbye. The Doctor brings up the ‘permission to hug’ thing again in Let’s Kill Hitler, but Rory’s exasperated ‘granted’ makes me think he’s tired of the whole thing.
Also worth mentioning: while hugging Jennifer in The Rebel Flesh, Rory glances worriedly at Amy, as if asking her permission (which she gives…she sort of shakes her head very slightly, and then nods.) So we can at least say Rory holds himself to the same standards when it comes to hugging people who might fancy you.
Also also worth mentioning: Amy herself doesn’t seem to mind any of this at all: she’s smiling when walking back to Rory after hugging the Doctor. Maybe in the end it is just banter between them- banter with a slight edge, like so many friends have. Or heck, for all we know she could consider it fair play for all the kisses the Doctor interrupted. Who knows? But anyway…Rory’s actions in that scene are perfectly understandable, I reckon. Not great, slightly petty…but, just as you can forgive your friends moments of jealously or pettiness, I reckon I can forgive him…
(crossposted to Tumblr
Been reading the Doctor Who Magazine special, that covers A Christmas Carol – The Doctor’s Wife. There’s some interesting cut scenes- when Amy tells the Doctor she’s not pregnant, she says “My little problem, it went away.” They overdubbed it- it’s not mentioned why, but perhaps because it made it sound like Amy didn’t, in fact, want a child? Which considering what comes after, would have put…a new spin on things. I’m sure it would have provoked a lot of debate had it been left in, so here it is.
Also, from the end of Day Of The Moon, after Amy has reassured Rory that she loves him (this is somewhat paraphrased…)
RORY: And wasn’t there something you were going to say. Properly. You said you’d say it properly.
AMY: Oh yeah, course!. River! I love you.
RIVER: That’s nice, dear. Thank you.
RORY: Okay, you seem to be back to normal.
AMY grins…and then when RORY turns away, her face drops with worry.
Amy saying I love you to her daughter, not knowing she’s her daughter! And her face is worried, but why? Cos of the pregnancy? Cos she doesn’t know if she was talking about Rory or the Doctor? Hmmm. I don’t like that she’s still mocking Rory here: it’s not outrageous to want a proper I Love You once in a while. Anyway, discuss!
It still epicly annoys me that through most of the second half of Series Six Amy and Rory don’t mention their child. Why do a story involving a lost, stolen baby if you’re not going to deal with the fallout?
I love these books!
A bit I found interesting from the notes on A Christmas Carol- “There are 4000 passengers and crew on the ship, plus Amy and Rory. But 4003 are reported as facing death. Hmmm, you don’t suppose one
of them might have been, say, pregnant…”
Karen’s interview is interesting. She says that Amy’s leaving the TARDIS “is a interesting choice for Amy to make at this point…although it kind of isn’t her choice”. On Rory vs the Doctor, she says Amy loves Rory “in that way, and loves the Doctor in a totally different way”, and that the question of which of them is more important to her is harder, as Amy idolises the Doctor “more than anyone, even Rory”. She
says that she knows what’s happening next series and she’s very happy about it, and that when Amy does leave properly she wants her to leave for good, and she’d be fine if Amy was killed off, even. (eek)
Here’s a deleted scene between the Doctor and Rory in Day Of The Moon:
RORY: I don’t remember it all the time. It’s like there’s a door in my head. I can keep it shut.
THE DOCTOR: But he’s still in there- Rory the Roman?
RORY: I’m a nurse. I like being a nurse. Door stays shut.
THE DOCTOR: If I ever needed you to- maybe not today, but maybe sometime soon- could you open that door again?
RORY: No.
THE DOCTOR: If Amy needed you to?
RORY: If Amy did, of course.
Neil Gaiman originally wanted House to “ooze out protoplasmic tentacles that shoot up from the ground” but the budget wouldn’t have it. Also, according to his original opening for The Doctor’s Wife (as retold in comic form!) Rory is a Beatles fan.
The Corsair was killed in his ninth body- his fifth and seventh were female.
Rory is actually referred to as “Time’s New Roman”, which I thought was just a Tumblr meme.
Arthur thinks that Amy and Rory would still jump aboard the TARDIS when the Doctor returns, even after settling down. “Both he and Amy are just waiting for the Doctor to call.” And also: “In a way, the Doctor is messing up their lives, but there’s an addictive quality to it.”
Karen would jump right into the TARDIS if it came to her house, Arthur doesn’t know.
Alex told Arthur about River’s true identity before Steven Moffat could- he wrangled it out of her and was very pleased with himself.
The monster at the end of The Rebel Flesh (Jennymonster) was inspired by…………..Madonna. Yep.
There was a glorious and expensive-sounding ‘Doctor’s Happy Memories’ montage cut from The Rebel Flesh- it featured Susan, Sarah, Jo, Madam de Pompadour and Mickey, among others.
On whether there might one day be a spinoff of Madame Vastra and Jenny, Moffat says “There are plans. They’re over here in this safe marked TOP SECRET”. Holy cow! It might actually happen!
AND we learn how Vastra and Jenny met- Jenny was a match girl, and Vastra saved her from being dragged off by a gang. She “smelt more pleasant than any other ape I have encountered”, according to Vastra’s letters.
“You called the robot Rory. You didn’t call it the Doctor, or Biggles, our favourite cat, or Sexy Mr Jennings the hot, hot art teacher. You called it Rory. Because we always need a Rory by our side.” I don’t remember this line from The Girl Who Waited. But I like it!
Toby Whithouse says that the Doctor called Amy Williams because “he still can’t quite believe she’s grown up and isn’t a little girl anymore…he calls her Amy Williams, he finally uses her proper married name.” Lots of people didn’t like the Amy Williams thing, but heck, maybe Toby Whithouse wasn’t aware that Williams actually isn’t Amy’s married name. Meh. (Also, Rory is referred to as “Rory Pond” in
most of the book)
Could-have-been titles for Closing Time: Everything Must Go, The Last Adventure, Cybermen And A Baby.
Moffat has an ‘end game’ planned for Amy, Rory and River. And the fiftith anniversary is going to be MASSIVE.
