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Best Of The Specials - 02x03 - The Timey Wimey of Doctor Who

Posted: 01/25/23 18:08
by bunniefuu
People assume that time

is a strict progression
of cause to effect,

but actually,
from a nonlinear,

nonsubjective viewpoint,
it's more like a big ball

of wibbly wobbly,

timey wimey...stuff.

I think what makes timey wimey
so compelling is

that we really can't
understand it.

What's the date,
today?

What is it? Tell me
the exact date.

Time travel is sort of
the magic in "Doctor who."

Sorry.

How can he do that?
Is he magic?

It is complicated
and sort of puzzling

and frustrating,
at times.

, years,
I waited for you.

You did it
to me again!

Time travel changes
the rules of everything.

You could be dealing
with the consequences

of an action

that you have
not yet performed.

Come on,
that's brilliant.

Okay.

People can die
and people can come back

and you can change
your past

I did it.
I saved your life.

If you're
a bit of a nerd,

then you love that
because you can be like

"um, what happened then
and why did that do that?"

You're a time traveler. It hasn't
happened to you yet, none of it.

Some moments
are fixed.

Some moments in time
are not.

The Doctor understands
this stuff.

Just go along for the ride.
It'll be worth it.

The laws of time
are mine,

and they will
obey me!

[ "Doctor who"
theme plays ]

[ TARDIS engines ]

"Doctor who"
poses questions such as

and morally,
should one do that

and ethically,
should one do that?"

In a time-travel show and,
more particularly,

in a time-travel show
like "Doctor who,"

you can do something like
begin your season

by having
the main character

invite all his friends
to his funeral.

[ U.S. accent ]
Howdy.

Doctor!

Ha-ha!

"The Impossible
Astronaut" starts off

with Rory, Amy,
and River

getting these
blue envelopes

that they assume
are from the Doctor.

And then the Doctor
shows up and takes them

on a fun,
kind of crazy

picnic thing that
they're going on.

[Laughs]
Hey, nice hat.

I wear a stetson now.
Stetsons are cool.

[ g*nsh*t ]

[ Blows ]

Hello, sweetie.

As the viewer,
you're kind of like

"oh, this is cool.
It's like a fun party.

Oh, that's nice.
It's like a nice reunion."

And, then, they watch
the Doctor die.

And I don't mean
like Doctor death,

where he gets shot
and he gets to regenerate.

Like, he actually dies.

They all meet up somewhere
in the United States

and they watch
the Doctor get shot

by a small
astronaut figure.

[ Vacuum breaks ]

Well, then.

You know, you see
the Apollo uniform

and you think
"what on earth

is going on here?"

What's he doing?

[ Blast ]
Amy: Aah! Doctor!

Amy, stay back!

The Doctor said
stay back!

You have to
stay back!

No! No!

[ Gasping ]

Amy: Doctor!

I'm sorry.

And it's very sad

because
he gets shot once

and then starts
to regenerate

and then
gets shot again,

so he's dead then,
like for-real dead.

[ Blast ]

It was really heavy
when we realized that

the invitations that
the Doctor was sending out

was basically
to his own death.

It's like "hey,
come watch me die.

There will be
doughnuts."

I felt like they had written
themselves into a corner

and I can't imagine
any escape.

And then, of course,
the Doctor just shows up again.

[ Squeaking ]

River:
This is cold.

Even by your standards,
this is cold.

Or "hello,"
as people used to say.

Doctor?

I just popped out
to get my special straw.

It adds more fizz.

[ Crying ]
You're okay.

How can you be
okay?

Hey, of course
I'm okay.

I'm always okay.
I'm the king of okay.

Oh, that's
a rubbish title.

Forget that title.
"Rory the Roman"!

That's a good title.
Hello, Rory.

And Doctor
River Song.

Oh, you bad,
bad girl.

What trouble have you
got for me this time?

Okay.

I'm assuming
that's

for something
I haven't done yet.

Yes, it is.

Good. Looking
forward to that.

This story is probably one
of the most mindhurty

of them all, just because
then he just shows up,

right after the fact,
because he, himself,

invited himself to the
afterparty of his death.

So the Doctor who walks
out of the bathroom

is an earlier version
of himself,

much, much earlier,

and you have a thing
that's going to happen

when you're messing around
with traveling in time,

which is that everybody is
really, really, really

angry with you for something
that you haven't done yet.

Time travel -- perfect
for dramatic irony.

There's always someone
who doesn't

fully understand
what's going on

and there's always other
people who are like

looking at them, going
"so sad, that they've

already been dead
years," you know.

Well, the Doctor breaks
one of his own rules

and brings Rose back

to a day
that her father died

so that she can
watch that happen.

[ Laughs ]

Which is not the first
place I'd go.

Rose Tyler is human.

She's made, like all humans,
to nurture and save.

And she sees
her father again

and she has a chance
to save him.

And that's just
an impulse she has.

She's not thinking
things through.

So she pushes her dad
out of the way.

[ Tires squeal ]

Rose: I did it.

I saved
your life.

Blimey, did you see
the speed of it?

Did you get
his number?

I really did it.
Oh, my God, look at you.

You're alive. That car
was going to k*ll you!

Unfortunately, in "Doctor Who,"
nothing is going to

come out right when you go back
and change your own history

and Rose learns that
the really hard way.

So she saves him
from the car hitting him

and all hell
breaks loose.

It cracks or kind of

moment in time
where these demons,

these gargoyles,
can come to life.

I love that geeky fanboy
thing of time travel

and how much
one little thing

can change so much and
the butterfly effect.

Oh, my God.

What are they?
What are they?!

Inside!

Those creatures are
the embodiment

of government officials
that have to correct

the paperwork and it's
just, you know,

that's how nasty
and irritating

those things are.

Aah!

Help!

She didn't realize
what she'd done.

She couldn't begin to
realize what she'd done.

He shouldn't have took her,
though then, should he?

You know, the mad,
swaggering around

with your leather
jacket on.

[ Screeching ]

[ Screech ]

Only by Pete dying

can the Universe

get back on track.

You hear about him being,
you know,

this chancer
and a waste of space

and he gets
everything wrong

and never will amount
to anything,

but he's not afraid
to sacrifice himself

so that everything
will be right.

[ Tires squeal ]

Goodbye, love.
[Sniffle]

Adsit: It's kind of
a lovely thing,

that he sacrifices
his life

so that the Universe
and his daughter

can live.

And Rose gets to
say goodbye to him

in a proper way.

Go to him.
Quick.

The silver lining
of this is that

Rose gets
an opportunity to see

not just her father,
but to see a side

of her father
that she never knew,

which is kind of somebody
who's willing

to do the right thing.

And you never know,
he might turn up

in another dimension,
at some point,

so all is not lost.

Who takes out the Daleks?
Not the Doctor. Rose!

Everything
must come to dust.

She's a total badass
in this episode.

Follow that ship.

[ TARDIS engines,
theme plays ]

One of the things about
"Doctor Who" is people often say

"but it's a kids' show,"
but that's like saying

"Shakespeare -- those are just
little fairy stories,

aren't they?" I mean,
you know, these are epic,

brilliantly written,
brilliantly plotted

pieces of sophisticated
storytelling.

I think, if you're
a geeky "Doctor Who" fan,

a time-travel storyline
is the sort of thing

that you wait for

and "Bad Wolf"
was a great example

of just how geeky
you can get.

Throughout the first season,
we see all these messages.

This "Bad Wolf" meme keeps kind
of turning up in odd places

and there's a lot

of speculation about
what it's going to be.

Long: Everyone else
watching it was just like

"what is that?
Did you notice that?

Yeah, I noticed it again.
Did you notice it there?"

I thought it was just
kind of an inside joke

that the writers of
"Doctor Who" were putting on.

Like they just had a friend
that they called "Bad Wolf"

and they're like "hey, Bad Wolf,
we're putting your name

all over the
'Doctor Who' show"

and he's like "ah, you guys
are crazy. I'm Bad Wolf."

Of course,
the big reveal is

that it's been Rose all along
and that she's been

sending messages
to herself through time.

It could've said
"Teen Wolf."

I think it would have
the same effect.

She just realized
she was

in the right place
to do the right thing.

Over here.

It's over here
as well!

That's been there
for years!

It's just a phrase,
it's just words.

I thought it was
a warning.

Maybe it's
the opposite.

Maybe
it's a message!

The same words
written down now,

and , years
in the future.

It's a link between me
and the Doctor --

"Bad Wolf" here,
"Bad Wolf" there.

But if it's a message,
what's it saying?

It's telling me
I can get back!

The least I can do is
help him escape.

I was expecting it
to be a warning.

I was not expecting it
to be a sign.

I was not
expecting it to be

the way that Rose gets back
and saves the Doctor.

How were you supposed
to know, episode ,

or whenever it first
appeared, that

"Yeah, I know
what that means"?

No one does,
of course.

Anyone who says, like,
"yeah, I figured

it was Rose the whole time"
is arrogant and lying.

And you realize that rose
is the Bad Wolf

and she is genuinely
terrifying.

She inherits all of the energy
of the time vortex

and then is able to then
destroy the Daleks.

You've got to
stop this.

You've got to stop
this, now.

You've got
the entire vortex

running
through your head.

You're
going to burn!

I want you safe.

My Doctor.

Protected from
the false God.

Who takes out the Daleks?
Not the Doctor.

Rose! Who would've
thought that?

You are tiny.

I can see the whole
of time and space --

every single atom
of your existence,

and I divide them.

Everything must
come to dust.

All things.

Everything dies.

Good for Rose.

She's a total badass
in this episode.

I basically just wanted her
to be that way forever

and just be like
some sort of

a crazy Phoenix
kind of a character,

where she just
lights people up.

But, obviously,
you can't have that

in your universe
all the time.

One of the things that's
really smart about River is

that she gets
time travel.

This is why we love
River Song, right?

She burns a message

into an incredibly

ancient artifact.

He goes to a museum,
where he finds

this old, decrepit box
that's going to show him

where she is and when
he needs her to be there.

/...

x ...

...

/acorn.

Oh, and I could do with
an air corridor.

What was that?
What did she say?

Coordinates!
[ Ding! ]

Like I said
on the dance floor,

you might want to find
something to hang on to.

[ Countdown beeping ]

I love the fact that,
when she gets out

of the airlock,
she's so cool about it.

Because she knows that
she's timed it correctly

and that it's going to
be all right, you know?

So she's able to be
like "goodbye."

Fly out into space,
bang, caught,

exactly right moment.

That's a bit of
good timing.

Perfect timing,
I would call it.

Follow that ship.

It's cool that she knows
how to contact him

in space and time --
essentially, through his ego,

because he goes to museums
to check his work.

Rogers: As long as
River makes

a sufficiently interesting
message, she can assume that,

at some point in his travels,
he's going to come across it.

Where are we?

Planet one, the oldest
planet in the Universe,

and there's a cliff
of pure diamond,

and, according to legend,
on the cliff,

there's writing,
letters feet high,

a message from
the dawn of time,

and no one knows
what it says

because no one's
ever translated it.

'Til today.

What happens today?

Us. The TARDIS can
translate anything.

All we have to do is
open the doors

and read the very
first words

in recorded history.

I love that it's
"Hello sweetie".

I love that it's --
you know,

it might as well be
a drawing of a butt,

or something,
because it's just

so like "oh, of course
that's River Song."

Yeah, it's a cool
catchphrase.

If you're going to do it,
you might as well do it

with something flippant
and flirtatious.

You're not going to
do it with like

"you disappointed me
again!", you know.

You got to keep it light
in those sort of relationships.

Long-distance.

I would almost say that

the level of devotion
that River has

to setting these messages
for the Doctor

is slightly creepy,

with mostly romantic.

But still
slightly creepy.

The Doctor goes crazy,
screws up the timeline.

The laws of time
are mine,

and they will
obey me!

This is the worst
moment of his life.

Hold on!

[ TARDIS engines,
theme plays ]

I think the Doctor's
always been very careful

and very mindful
of his responsibility

and duty,
when it comes to things

like fixed points
in time

and things
that are timelocked,

things that you
can't mess with.

The temptation
must always be there,

to just step out
of that

and change things
and intervene.

The tenth Doctor
lands on Mars

and it looks basically how
we picture Mars looking like,

except, oh, crap,

there's a base on Mars
and he's actually

in the future and humans
have landed on Mars.

When the Doctor gets there,
he's excited

because this is the crux,
this is a thing,

it's a point in history
that he's a huge fan of

and then realizes
this is the day

that that base
gets destroyed.

What's the date,
today?

What is it? Tell me
the exact date.

November ,

.

Right.

Leave it to
the Doctor --

"I'm on the first
colony on Mars. Yay!

"Wait, what's the date?
Oh, boo."

I should go.

I really should go.

I'm sorry,
I'm -- I'm sorry,

with all
of my hearts,

but it's one of
those very rare times

when I've got
no choice.

It's been an honor.

Seriously,
a very great honor

to meet you all.

The Martian pioneers.

It's this
superimportant moment

in time,
in history,

that changed
the course of history.

The Doctor always has these
kinds of challenges,

where he has to make
a decision

whether to save a life or let
history play itself out

and it's tough and he ends up
making the wrong decision.

It can't be stopped.
Don't die with us.

No, because someone
told me, just recently,

they said
I was going to die,

they said, "he will
knock four times,"

and I think I know
what that means,

and it doesn't mean
right here, right now.

Because I don't hear
anyone knocking -- do you?

[ Knock ]

[ Knock ]

[ Knock ]

Three knocks is
all you're getting.

Aah!

I think he just gets
so frustrated

with not being able
to fix everything that

something snaps in him
and he just thinks

"I'm the last
Time Lord.

"There's no one to
tell me I'm wrong.

If I want to change
time, I will."

For the future,
for the human race.

Yes, because
there are laws,

there are laws
of time

and, once upon a time,
there were people

in charge of those laws,
but they died.

They all died.

Do you know
who that leaves? Me!

It's taken me all these
years to realize,

the laws of time
are mine,

and they will
obey me!

The Doctor goes crazy and he's
like "I'm going to save these.

I'm going to save adelaide"
and he brings her back to Earth,

screws up the timeline.

He ends up saving

as many people
as he can

off of this base,
gets them back on Earth,

and then has the most
terrifying conversation

we've ever seen
a Doctor have, to date.

You should've
left us there.

Adelaide, I've done this
sort of thing before.

In small ways, saved
some little people,

but never someone
as important as you.

Oh, I'm good.

"Little people"?

What, like Mia
and Yuri?

Who decides they're
so unimportant, you?

For a long time, now,
I thought

I was just a survivor,
but I'm not.

I'm the winner.

That's who I am.

The Time Lord
victorious.

And there's no one
to stop you?

No.

When he says "I can't save you,"
she says, "no, save me."

When he says
"of course I can do it,

because I am the Doctor,
I am the person who can do it,"

she realizes "actually,
no, you can't.

It's not right.
It's wrong."

And so the lesson to draw
from this, I think, is that

the Doctor always needs
someone to hold him back

and that's why he has to
have the companions with him,

that's why he needs
someone in the TARDIS.

It's not just because
he gets lonely on vacation.

When we talk about timey-wimey
things, there's two things.

There's timey-wimey things,

which is the past
affecting the future.

There's also timey-wimey
parallel-universe-type things

and they're good
for writers

because it means
you can do anything.

In "Army of Ghosts,"
they have a void ship

which came
into their world

between the area where
time and space exists

so, essentially, it shouldn't
be there, but it is.

Well, Doctor?

This is a void ship.

And what is that?

Well, it's impossible,
for starters.

I always thought it was
just a theory, but...

It's a vessel
designed to exist

outside
time and space...

Traveling
through the void.

And what's
"the void"?

The space
between dimensions.

There's all sorts
of realities around us,

different dimensions, billions
of parallel universes,

all stacked up
against each other.

The void is the space
in between,

containing
absolutely nothing.

Can you imagine that,
nothing?

No light, no dark, no up,
no down, no life, no time.

Without end.

My people called it
the void,

the eternals call it
the howling.

But some people
call it hell.

Nobody could open it.
Nobody knew what it was.

It was just hanging,
suspended in midair.

But what she didn't know
was that it was actually

a Dalek-invasion ship.

When the orb opens,

it's the Daleks
and they formed a bridge

so that the Cybermen
could come

from one reality
to ours.

If you thought a lot of
Daleks were bad,

a lot of Daleks and Cybermen?
Even cooler.

Exterminate!

Delete!

Exterminate!

Delete! Delete!

Exterminate!

Delete!

Basically, in order
to get rid

of the Cybermen
and the Daleks,

they open up the vortex
of the Universe

and everything that is negative
is being sucked back out of it,

but, unfortunately,
in the moment,

Rose is also getting
sucked as well.

[ Wailing ]

Rose, hold on!

Ohhh!

[Wailing]
Hold on!

[ Gasping ]

Ah!

Ahh!

Ro...se!

Aaah!

Ro...se!

Aaah!

Ro....se!

[ Gasping ]

And then, at the very end
of that -parter,

you see her character
being pulled

into a parallel
universe

and they will never
see each other again,

her and the Doctor.

Computer:
Systems closed.

[Sobbing]
Take me back!

Take me back!

When I saw that, I was like
"she has to come back.

There has to be a way
to come back"

and then, as you slowly
realize, like,

she's never going to
come back.

Well, you can see
on the Doctor's face,

this is the worst
moment of his life.

Hardwick: When you see him
lose it, then you know, like

[bleep] just got real.

As a "Doctor who" fan,

it's a hard job,
to be a hardcore fan,

because you're constantly
saying goodbye to people.

Every week, you're on the edge
of your seat, as though

somebody might die, something
terrible might happen.

This is a main character
and she's going away.

And that was like
kind of gnarly.

One can really feel
the pain

of two people
and maybe two actors

that knew it was
the last of the series

and it was very
painful to watch.

I mean,
it was as good as any

epic romance
you could ever see.

How long have
you been here?

, years,
I waited for you.

You did it
to me again!

We get it, it's all timey-wimey,
and stuff, but, like,

why do you need her
to go pack a bag?

[ TARDIS engines,
theme plays ]

I often think -- surely,
everyone has thought this --

if you knew
a time traveler,

you might get
left behind.

It's a terrifying
thought.

Put time travel
into the equation,

you could be
in such trouble.

The whole season with

the eleventh Doctor
and Amy Pond and Rory,

I mean, everything
has to do with waiting.

I think there's a lot
of waiting in "Doctor who"

because I'm a very
punctual man

and that means I've spent
a great deal of my life

waiting for other people.

Rory and Amy both
are good at waiting,

but Rory has done
a lot more than Amy

and it proves
his love for her.

In "The Doctor's Wife," Amy
and Rory really get screwed

by the timey-wimey stuff.

They're running
through the halls

of this evil TARDIS.

Amy and Rory are trapped
in these corridors

and they're walking
around and they keep

getting separated
from each other

and, on one side,
time travels

much faster than
the other side.

Amy?

Oh, my God.
[Shudder]

Rory?

You left me.

How could you do that?
How could you leave me?

How long have
you been here?

, years,
I waited for you.

You did it
to me again!

[Crying]
I didn't mean to.

I didn't mean to.
I'm sorry.

Agh!

Aah! Rory,
what are you doing?

They come for me
at night.

[Crying]
Every single night,

they come for me
and they hurt me.

Amy, they hurt me

over and over

and over and over
and over --

Rory.

[Sobbing] How
could you leave me?!

[ Gasp ]

[Bellowing] How could
you do that to me?!

Rory has been such
a sweet and loving guy,

up until this moment;
It's kind of scary,

to see the dark side
of Rory.

He's already waited
for her for , years

and, this time,
he's not taking it

in the way
that he did before.

Mirman: I think
the idea is that,

if you're expecting
to wait , years,

it's fine,
but if you're not,

then even four years
can be very annoying.

They separate again
and then he's dead bones

and then he shows up

and he's fine and it's
all in her head

and that's just scary.

Amy?

Aah!

It's messing
with our heads.

I'd say that Amy Pond
is more impatient,

she's less stoic
than Rory.

Amy gets left by herself
for years

in some weird hospital

that keeps trying
to k*ll her.

She's the for years,
thinking she's been abandoned

by the two men
she loves the most.

You didn't save me.

[ Shuddering ]

But...this is
the saving!

This is the
us saving you!

The Doctor just got
the timing a bit out!

[ Mouths "sorry." ]

I've been on my own here
a long, long time.

I've had decades to think
nice thoughts about him.

Got a bit harder
to stay charitable

once I entered
decade four.

Forty years?

Alone?

years. Thanks.

No. Right.
I mean --

you look great.

Really,
really.

Eyes front,
soldier.

She's no longer
the Amy we know.

She's this
survivalist

with a chip
on her shoulder.

I hate him more than
I've ever hated anyone,

in my life.

And you can hear
every word of this

through those
ridiculous glasses,

can't you,
raggedy man?

Uh...yes.

It's really interesting,
seeing the way that character

is distorted
by that experience.

She's kind of tragic.

And you still
respect her, though,

because she
has survived.

Amy had to sit
for years,

waiting for the Doctor
to return.

But she learned how
to swordfight,

so that's pretty sweet.

Can you tell me where you are
at the moment, Reinette?

In my bedroom.

And where's your bedroom?
Where do you live, Reinette?

Paris,
of course.

Paris, right.

The concept
of time travel

was explored
so beautifully

in "The Girl
in the Fireplace."

The Doctor was
on a spaceship

and he kept entering
into the world

of Madame
du Pompadour

in France

at various points
of her life.

Okay, that's all for now.
Thanks for your help.

Hope you enjoy the rest
of the fire. Night-night.

Goodnight,
monsieur.

There is a certain
ingenuity in this idea

of being able to peer in

to moments,

you know, through the fireplace,
through the mirror,

all those places
on the spaceship

that attach
to different times.

That's one of the things
time-travel stories give you.

The first time
he goes through,

he sees this young child
and then, a few seconds later,

it seems, he goes back in
and she's a young girl.

Then he goes back in
and she's a young woman

and she falls
in love with him.

And so, as is often the case
when the Doctor actually

makes a real connection
with somebody,

something happens
at the end of

"The Girl in the Fireplace"
episode that completely

and devastatingly
ruins it.

She spoke of you
many times.

Often wished

you'd visit again.

You know
how women are.

[ Rain falls ]

[ Whip cracks,
horse neighs ]

[ Carriage rolls ]

There she goes.

Leaving Versailles
for the last time.

Only
when she died.

Too young,

too young.

[ Thunder rumbles ]

It is a bummer, what happens
to Madame du Pompadour,

because the Doctor just goes
"Okay, I'll be right back!"

And then he goes
to the other time period

and then comes back
to get her

and then [sad trombone]
she's dead from tuberculosis.

Not a fun way to die.

Doctor, stop waiting
so long, okay?

We get it, it's all timey-wimey,
and stuff, but, like,

why do you need her
to go pack a bag?

Don't have her pack
a bag.

Just have her come
with you at that moment

because you know, as soon
as you turn your back,

, years are going to
go by in her timeline,

when it's going to be
, seconds in yours.

This is one
of those episodes

that you have to watch
, times

to make sure you're
catching all the points.

You need to get me out
of the Pandorica.

Oh, it's really
complicated!

Have we done
Easter Island yet?

Um...Yes! I've got
Easter Island.

[ TARDIS engines,
theme plays ]

What makes
"Doctor Who" different

to any other science-
fiction program is that

you can travel through time and
time is a very important aspect.

He's not just traveling
to one planet, to another.

You can go anywhere in time
and everything you do

has an effect on
the future or the past.

You know, one small event
can, obviously,

you know, ruin the whole
destiny of a planet

and k*ll and blow up
the whole Universe.

One of the things
in the "Big Bang episode"

that I really love is that it's
this episode that's exploring

this incredibly
complex timeline

and all these things
are happening

and it gets really
complicated.

It's Steven having fun
and it's Steven's imagination

just seeing how far
you can push an idea.

So in "The Big Bang,"
we get introduced

to this
vortex manipulator

and the eleventh Doctor
is jumping

in and out
of present time,

back to something like
, years ago.

Rory! Listen,
she's not dead.

He can go [snap]
like that and he's

with one person
and he can be having

a conversation with that
and he can go like that

and he's back
in another time,

having a conversation
with someone else.

"Oh, I forgot to say
something." [Snap]

And he's back,
somewhere else.

Oops, sorry.

How can he do that?
Is he magic?

[ Beeping ]

You need to get me
out of the Pandorica.

But you're not
in the Pandorica.

Yes, I am. Well, I'm not
now, but I was back then.

[ Electricity
crackles ]

Right,
let's go, then.

Wait!

Now I don't have
the sonic.

I just gave it to Rory
, years ago.

And, when
you're done,

leave my screwdriver
in her top pocket.

Right, then.

Off we go.
No, hang on, hang on.

How did you know

to come here?

Ah, my handwriting.

That classic
"Doctor Who" phrase --

time is the strangest thing,
and, once you start

meddling with it, the most
bizarre things start happening.

Well, you know,
vortex manipulators

will do this to you.

Do you do it because
you have to do it,

because you knew what
happened, or did you do it

because it needs to be done
so it can happen?

Is my nose bleeding?

A little bit?
Yeah, it's just -- ooh!

This is one of those episodes
that you have to watch

, times to make sure you're
catching all the points.

What happened in "The Big Bang"
was basically they had to

pretty much push the reset
button on the Universe.

The terribly difficult
thing to deal with is

that it's going to get
rebooted minus the Doctor.

And Amy has to remember him
to sort of bring him back.

I remember!

I brought
the others back!

I can bring you
home, too!

Raggedy man,
I remember you,

and you are [pounds table]
late for my wedding!

I found you.

I found you in words,
like you knew I would.

That's why you told me
the story,

the brand-new,
ancient, blue box.

Oh, clever,
very clever.

Rory: Amy,
what is it?

Something old,
something new,

something borrowed...

[ TARDIS engines ]

Something blue.

As soon as she starts
saying "something old,

something new,"
to have that moment

trigger in every viewer
at the same instant,

the idea like "oh,
the TARDIS is blue.

That's how this
is going to work,"

it's just really
masterful.

How did we forget
the Doctor?

I was plastic.

He was the stripper
at my stag -- long story.

[ Knocking urgently ]

Okay, Doctor, did I
surprise you this time?

Uh, yeah, completely
astonished.

Never
expected that.

She remembers

and then brings back
the TARDIS

and the Doctor
and it's beautiful

and everyone's happy --
best wedding, ever.

The scene where Amy remembers
him and brings him back

is so

full of joy
and he arrives

in a tux,
ready to party

and, ah,
it's just so good.

The Doctor and River's
romance is

both amazing
and awesome

and tragic,
at the same time.

If the Doctor was ever
going to have

a romance in his long life,
it was never going to be

a straightforward thing.

Adsit:
They're living lives

in opposite directions
of the timeline.

Oh, it's really
complicated!

Like, every time
they see each other,

he knows her less
and she knows him more.

Culshaw: Basically, take
a normal sort of love story

that you get
in a soap opera

and just go like that --

and just throw
all the pieces down

and kick them
all over the place.

Link it together with a nice
little bit of "Hello, sweetie"

and you sort of
got it there, kind of.

Right, then,
where are we?

Have we done
Easter Island yet?

Um...Yes! I've got
Easter Island.

They worshipped
you there.

Have you seen
the statues?

Jim the fish.

Oh!
Jim the fish!

How is he?

Still building
his dam.

Sorry, what
are you two doing?

They're both
time travelers,

so they never meet
in the right order.

They're syncing
their diaries.

It's cute. They sync up,
like an iPhone,

they sync up
their diaries.

They're like
"have you done this yet

or have you done
this yet?"

I like the idea that
they're on paper.

It's probably psychic,
magic paper, or whatever,

but somewhere, the Doctor
goes back to his bedroom

and takes out a quill pen,
or something, and, you know,

"Dear diary, today,
I fought the weeping angels."

I like that.

Sometimes you just want
things to be peaceful

for the Doctor.

Just for a time,
for it to be nice,

uneventful,
straightforward,

just have some of
the simple joys of life.

But, no. Even like
a River Song kiss,

it might be the first,
but, then again,

it might be the last, so what
are you going to do, then?

Have I forgotten
something?

Oh, shut up.

Right. Okay.

[ Lightning flashes ]

Interesting.

What's wrong?

You're acting like we've
never done that before.

We haven't.

We haven't?

Oh, look at the time.
Must be off.

But it was very nice.
It was --

it was good.
[Clap]

It was unexpected.

You know
what they say --

"there's a first time
for everything."

[ Lightning crashes ]

And a last time.

What a...brilliant
and tragic idea,

that the first kiss
for someone

would be the last kiss
for someone else.

It makes perfect sense, when
you think about it that way,

and only when you think
about it that way, because

it kind of puts everything
in perspective for us.

That's why people date in one
timeline in our world,

because of how upsetting
it would be,

to do it the other way.

Ray: When River kisses
the Doctor and he's like

"oh, that's the first time
for anything"

and she's like
"or the last,"

that's like every time
I kiss a girl.

It's always the first time for
me and the last time for her.

And it sort of
underscores

the problem
that the Doctor has,

which is that he is
destined to be alone.

And it kind of makes sense that
the great romance of his life

is one that
is so completely

out of sync with time
and history and, ultimately,

anything that would
lead to being happy

and, for instance,
growing old together.

It's all about cause
and effect, cause and effect.

You're a time traveler, it hasn't
happened to you yet, none of it.

It did make my brain hurt. I did
watch it two times in a row.

It's more like a big ball
of wibbly wobbly,

timey wimey...Stuff.

[ TARDIS engines,
theme plays ]

Generally, when you're writing
a story about time travel,

you try to avoid the paradox
and that's kind of

a time traveler's goal, is
to avoid creating paradox.

There's so much of the show,
in recent years,

that is only paradox,
it's the purpose

of an episode,
is to kind of show off

how the Doctor kind of surfs
the waves of paradox.

"Blink" is the episode
of "Doctor Who"

that you show people who've
never seen "Doctor Who,"

to explain
why you like it.

If it was a movie,
it would be one of the best

time-travel movies
ever made.

It's all about time and the
sort of movement of time

and the boundaries of time
and, of course,

introduced Carey Mulligan
to the world.

The main character, first of
all, is not the Doctor.

The main character is
a sort of companion,

even though she never
meets him until the end,

which is actually
the beginning.

Kathy: My dearest
Sally Sparrow,

if my grandson has done
as he promises he will,

then as you read
these words,

it has been mere minutes
since we last spoke --

for you.

For me, it has been
over sixty years.

Loses her friend,
who goes back in time

and sends a letter, sort of
"Back to the Future"-style,

and that kind of
sparks the plot.

I named her after you,
of course.

This is sick.

This is totally
sick.

Kathy?

[ Angrily ]
Kathy!

Kathy!

This was the story
that brought in

those
weeping angels,

the classic

"Doctor Who"
adversary.

The weeping angels are
angel statues

that we see everywhere,
on cathedrals,

and things like that,

and, when you don't
look at them,

they become scary
monster things that,

if they touch you, they rip you
out of your own timeline

and send you
somewhere else.

I mean, the thing about
the weeping angels,

why it's so clever, again,
is because "don't blink."

Now, I don't know if you've
tried not blinking.

You can't do it.
It's impossible.

And so you're having
to fight that.

What's sort of really good
is a lot of kids probably

watching it were trying not
to blink after they'd seen it.

There's this
tour de force scene

in the middle of this
episode, where the Doctor

has recorded himself

onto a DVD,

knowing how

Sally Sparrow
is going to respond

because she's having it
transcribed in the moment.

People assume that time

is a strict progression
of cause to effect,

but actually,
from a nonlinear,

nonsubjective viewpoint,
it's more like a big ball

of wibbly wobbly,

timey wimey...stuff.

Yeah, I've seen
this bit before.

You said that sentence
got away from you.

It...got away from me,
yeah.

Next thing you're
going to say is,

"well,
I can hear you."

Well, I can hear you.

This isn't
possible!

No, it's
brilliant!

Well, not hear you,
exactly,

but I know everything
you're going to say.

Always gives me
the shivers, that bit.

How can you know
what I'm going to say?

Look to your left.

What does he mean by
"look to your left"?

I've written tons about
that on the forums.

I think it's
a political statement.

He means you.

It's all about

cause and effect,
cause and effect,

and it's really
effect and cause

and there's no
beginning to a lot

of these causes
and that's paradox.

It did make
my brain hurt.

I did watch it
two times in a row,

just to really,
you know, get it,

just so I didn't feel
as dumb as I do right now.

The best moment
with Sally Sparrow

is right at the end,
when the Doctor appears

outside her store and she
runs out to say hi to him

and the Doctor
has no idea who she is.

My God, it's you.
It really is you.

Oh, you don't
remember me, do you?

Doctor, we haven't got
time for this.

Migration's started.

Look, sorry, I've got
a bit of a...complex life.

Things don't always happen
to me in quite the right order.

Gets a bit confusing at times,
especially at weddings.

I'm rubbish at weddings,
especially my own.

Oh, my God,
of course --

you're a time traveler.
It hasn't happened

to you yet, none of it,
it's still in your future.

What hasn't happened?

Doctor, please, minutes
to red hatching.

It was me.

Oh, for God's sake,
it was me all along.

You got it all
from me.

Got what?

Okay, listen --

one day, you're going to
get stuck in .

Make sure you've
got this with you.

You're going to
need it.

Doctor!

Yeah, listen, listen,
got to dash --

things happening.
Well, four things.

Well, four things
and a lizard.

Okay, no worries.
On you go.

See you around,
someday.

What was your name?

Sally Sparrow.

Good to meet you,
Sally Sparrow.

He's running off with Martha.
They're going to

sh**t arrows at something,
there's some other

episode happening and she
just glances into it

and realizes that this is one
of those rare moments

when somebody has something
up on the Doctor.

That episode
is sort of like

what makes shows
about time travel so fun.

That it all completely makes
sense, it all ties together.

You're sort of
watching it unfold

and it is explaining
itself as its happening.

I think there's
a real artistry

in people who can write
time travel well.

Follow that ship.

It's such a cool
mechanic

to do really
awesome things.

Can you tell me
where you are,

at the moment,
Reinette?

What the writers of
"Doctor Who" manage is

to broaden our perceptions,
broaden our beliefs,

broaden our horizons.

This isn't
possible.

No, it's
brilliant!

They get it brilliantly
correct every time.