The Girl who waited is probably one of Rory’s stronger episodes and Arthur Darvill plays the unlikely hero perfectly. Following his performances in ‘The Rebel Flesh’, ‘The Almost People’ and ‘A Good Man Goes to War’ Rory has shed his status as ‘Companion’s Boyfriend’ and has become a bonafide companion in his own right. He is a strong willed compassionate and caring character who shares the Doctor’s enthusiasm for preserving life but with much less passion for adventure and a much less prominent lust for danger and excitement. Rory is everyone’s favourite reluctant adventurer.
Arthur’s portrayal of the grief that comes from knowing that you are failing to save the woman you love and the way he deals with being confronted with the very woman he is failing to save is beautifully performed with just the right balance of despair, hope and frustration. Rory confronts the Doctor’s decision to trick the older Amy in order to save the younger Amy in a way that only Rory can. He gets right to the point of it, expressing the emotions that every audience member falls seeing the unfairness of Amy’s predicament and of the decision that the Doctor and Rory are forced to make. Yet Rory understands why the Doctor had to do what he did which is what makes him stand out so much as a companion. He is prepared to tell the Doctor how he feels but he is also prepared to do whatever it takes to keep Amy safe. I can’t think of many romances more beautiful than that of The Last Centurion and The Girl Who Waited.
Karen Gillan also had a difficult role to play in this episode and rose to the challenge with as much if not more gumption than even Arthur. Young Amy is bubbly, excitable and a little sarcastic, a great match for the Doctor and a fun little character for the audience to watch; older Amy however, the Amy who has had to wait 36 years wondering if she will ever be saved, is a completely different kettle of fish. Karen Gillan is able to portray the weight of 36 years of heart ache beautifully. The prosthetics aren't amazing by a long shot but the way the actress holds herself and the change in her voice is so convincing that you feel experience rather than just age from her performance.
Interestingly in this episode the older Amy does not trust the Doctor at all, she does not believe he will save her, she does not believe that he will have the option to save both her and the younger Amy and she finds it very hard to forgive him for not getting to her in time. This is a very stark contrast when compared with young Amy and her pure adoration of the man in the blue box. This theme couples in quite well with the next episode ‘The God Complex’ when the Doctor once more has to convince Amy to shed her faith in him in a quest to save her life. A really neat little bit of foreshadowing which might not be immediately obvious but really adds to Amy’s character which at times can seem a little two dimensional.
The Doctor’s involvement in this episode is actually quite minimal as he is forced to stay in the Tardis because of a deadly virus which is very infectious amongst two hearted beings. Keeping the Doctor out of this episode for large chunks at a time actually serves as a way to develop our companions a little more but also allows a chance to see just how resourceful a human can be when left to their own devices.
A really good stand-alone episode which doesn't ever get old.
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