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 sh*t
and he gets to regenerate.
Like, he actually dies.
They all meet up somewhere
in the United States
and they watch
the Doctor get sh*t
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 sh*t once
and then starts
to regenerate
and then
gets sh*t 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 d*ed
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 d*ed.
They all d*ed.
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 d*ed.
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.
Best Of The Specials - 02x03 - The Timey Wimey of Doctor Who
Moderator: Kitty Midnight
The further adventures of the renegade Time Lord, Doctor Who and his companions, from cross-overs to Christmas Specials. 2016-12-25 - "The Return of Doctor Mysterio"
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