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While watching Dr. Who, Seasons 5 & 6...

Chilari

Staff
Moderator
I thought Rory did become more awesome in later episodes. He got some great crowning moments of awesome, particularly in A Good Man Goes to War or whatever that episode was called. Still, he never quite became Amy's equal; he was always presented as being in some manner inferior to her. She was always in charge, giving orders. The Doctor even refered to him as Rory Pond, rather than Rory Williams - and legally speaking, Amy took Rory's surname, not the other way round, as per British tradition upon marriage (which I was surprised at, I expected her to keep her surname as is becoming more popular these days), though she did call her daughter Melody Pond, not Melody Williams, which is perhaps telling 9or was that sort of accidental? Hard to keep track.) Still, it never seemed like an equal relationship. Amy made the decisions, Rory, even when he was being badass, followed along behind.

As for regenerations, in one episode of the Sarah Jane Adventures, which as far as I know was broadcast on CBBC rather than proper BBC, and probably not broadcast abroad at all, the character Clyde at one point asks the Doctor how many regenerations he gets, and he gives a figure in the 500s or something. Not the standard 12. I think some have speculated therefore that the 12 regenerations limit was imposed by the Timelord government or whatever it was, rather than an absolute one. It seems, furthermore, to be tied to the TARDIS; he needs to be in the TARDIS or near it when he regenerates, and the TARDIS has undergone some odd changes of its own so the 12 regnerations might not still apply anyway. Mind you, does Tennant's regeneration when he got shot by a Dalek at the end of Martha's run count, because he did regenerate he just stayed the same.

Basically, I think the BBC have enough loopholes in place to get around giving up on the series once the guy after the next one decides he's had enough. It's a big show, and an important one to the BBC's income generating capabilities because it gets broadcast wordwide. I think we've got a ways to go yet.
 

Steerpike

Felis amatus
Moderator
Oddly enough, although Steven Moffat seems to be a driving force behind it (and while I like Sherlock a great deal), I've found that most of the episodes where I've had trouble with aspects of the writing were written by him. Anyone else? :)
 

Eurthantian

Dreamer
Must not look...did not see last Saturday's ep yet...
*peeks*
That's alright, then.

My only complaint of Rory is that his time as the Lone Centurion didn't make him more badass. I wanted to see him put all those centuries to use by going all Highlander at some point.

I have a more subtle complaint about the metaphysics of the Rory/Centurion situation: Technically Centurion Rory is not Rory at all, that is he doesn't have the life and soul of Rory, though he has his memories and personality. Centurion Rory is Rory Mark II, and while his actions make sense, he's actually a Nestien (spelling?) consciousness who thinks he's Rory.

So when the world all goes back and the Doctor returns, its Rory Mark I again, and he shouldn't have any memory of his Centurion Days. For more about this sorta thing, I refer reader to the Swamp Thing/Alex dynamic, as well as how Holograms are handled in "Red Dwarf".

Forgive me. I re-watched literally every Who episode from the beginning as of about a year ago. While the writing before the reboot took some liberties with continuity, over all there was an attempt to explain new events in terms of the established story. This is called craftsmanship. These days the lack of thought smacks more and more of sloppiness.

Also, I have obviously thought about this sort of thing WAY too much during my own world building. :p

I recall reading somewhere that all Time Lords who fought in the Time War were given a fresh regeneration cycle. So, it's actually possible the Doctor still has several more to go.

Oh yeah, the retconing/hand-waving to save the franchise is going to be very interesting. Assuming Moffat leaves us a franchise to save...
 
Rory grew on me - I couldn't stand him for the longest time, and I was almost disappointed that he was going to be sticking around for series 6, but he definitely grew on me throughout last year. And, after all,

there has to be some kind of excuse for River to exist. Without having both Amy and Rory traveling with the Doctor, we wouldn't have such an interesting character meeting up with us in random points in time.
 

Nobby

Sage
Yes, but without Rory, there would be no Rory's Dad.

Grandad cool...with a trowel.

A folding trowel...
 
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