A Pond Farewell
Ash Smith takes a look back at the Ponds, how they might leave and speculates on the new companion.
For the past two years the Ponds have entertained many of us with their jokes, heartfelt moments and the general craziness that only this couple could bring to Doctor Who. But as we all know by now, that is set to change with Karen Gillan and Arthur Darvill leaving the show during Series 7. The Ponds have just one more series to make us miss them even more.
We were first introduced to Amy as a young girl, praying to Santa to send help because she was scared of a crack in her wall. After this Amy has gone from Starship UK to rebooting the universe with the Pandorica. Of course there was THAT kiss, and it was after THAT kiss that we were properly introduced to…..Rory. I think it would be fair to say that Rory was somewhat sceptical of The Doctor after first stepping into the TARDIS, but over time, slowly but surely, he has become almost as important to The Doctor as Amy. And who could forget the lone centurion, the boy who waited.
Over the many adventures we have come to love them and feel their pain when they went through the tougher times. And of course then we found out that they were only the parents of a certain mischievous lady by the name of Melody Pond…Oh sorry, River Song.
But this leaves us with at least three important questions about the near future of the Ponds and the next direction of the show. Let us explore these possibilities….
How much of Series 7 will Amy and Rory actually be in?
This question was somewhat answered by the head honcho himself, a certain Steven Moffat, at the press screening for The Doctor, the Widow and the Wardrobe. He explained that “We’ll see a lot of Amy” in the next series. However, recently Karen Gillan commented
So what will happen to them?
Rory has died almost as many times as Kenny in South Park, so this would be the “easy way out” option as far as he is concerned. It’s even become a running joke with Moffat making fun of it in The Wedding of River Song. So would anyone take it seriously if he actually died for real now?
Could Amy be killed off then? Gillan has actually hinted at this a few times now: “When I leave properly, that’s it. I don’t want Amy to pop up again every so often, because for me it would take away from the big, emotional goodbye….In terms of how it’s remembered…once she’s gone, she’s gone. So death could be an option.”
But considering how much of an impact she has had on the last two series this seems a little unlikely, but you never know. Both could be killed off together, but again, this is an extremely harsh way for them to go.
So perhaps instead, the Doctor could be left with a difficult decision that would mean that he could no longer take Amy and Rory with him. Or they could become trapped somewhere the Doctor is unable to save them, similar to how Rose ended up. Although I would be surprised if Moffat went down this route.
Who will replace them?
It’s been confirmed that there will be a “New friend” for the Doctor, but nobody has been cast yet.
Miranda Hart was touted for the role last year, but due to her work on her own series, she was unable to take this on. Although she was reported to have been very interested in being in Doctor Who.
Since the announcement, the bookies have name-dropped Daisy Lowe, Jessica Brown-Findlay, Lily Cole, and Chelsee Healey. And then just recently, Sophia Myles was rumoured to be up for the role.
He’s not exactly new, but could James Corden’s recurring character Craig finally make it into the TARDIS and become a more frequent companion? Corden has said that he wants to return again. Craig does have a baby to take care of now, but you never know.
However, Moffat did hint we could be seeing a “he, she or an it,” so the new companion could go to anyone or anything…
And so the end is near
The Girl (and Boy) who waited will not have to wait much longer to find out how it all comes to an end for them. Of course we will have to wait quite a while to find out what happens. We know that Steven Moffat likes to keep his cards close to his chest, and we know he hates spoilers being leaked early, so he is going to try his hardest to keep everything under wraps. It’s going to be exciting, it’s going to be exhilarating, it’s going to be emotional (you just know it). There is plenty of time between now and the beginning of the end for Mr & Mrs Pond, so let the speculation continue.
