Flesh and Stone (TV story)

Flesh and Stone was the fifth episode of the fifth series of BBC Wales Doctor Who. It was the second of a two-part story that began with The Time of Angels. This story revealed more about the cracks. It is also the first story in the Steven Moffat Era where the Doctor and his enemy are running from the same thing -- the Time Field.

Synopsis
There's no way back, no way up and no way out. Trapped by an army of Weeping Angels and an ever-growing mysterious crack, the Doctor and his friends try to escape through the wreckage of a crashed space liner. Meanwhile, in the forest vault, Amy faces an even more deadly attack from the Angels.

Plot
The Doctor, Amy, River, Father Octavian and the Clerics have jumped at the Doctor's signal. Caught by an updraft of the Byzantium's gravity field, they land upside down on the ship's hull, looking up at the Weeping Angels restoring beneath them. They enter the ship, but the Angels pursue. The Doctor prepares to open the door to the secondary flight deck. He gravely announces he will have to drain the power in the corridor, including the lights. Octavian and his men line up to fire on the Angels while the Doctor tells Amy to turn the wheel on the door four times after he has cut the power. She responds with ten before correcting herself.

Once through, Octavian magnetises the door to keep the Angels out. Though they still turn the wheel, it buys the group time. The Doctor and River realise there must be an oxygen factory on board to supply the passengers with air. The Doctor activates a panel on the back wall, which opens to reveal a forest within the ship. Amy continues counting down, but denies doing so.

While the Doctor and River try to explain the counting to her, Angel Bob calls to find out their plans. The Doctor taunts him, but grows serious when Bob tells him there is something in Amy's eye. The Angels are making her count to scare her and will take her soon. Bob gloats over gaining power to master time and space. The Doctor informs him the Byzantium doesn't have that much power. A screeching noise is heard from outside. Bob explains the Angels are laughing because he hasn't noticed -- echoing Prisoner Zero's words to the Doctor in Leadworth. The Doctor wonders what he has missed and turns to see a huge crack in the wall of the ship. It is the exact shape of the one in Amy's bedroom wall. He orders the others to run while he looks at it. When he turns to follow, he is surrounded by the Angels. One catches him by his jacket.

They do not kill him immediately, confusing him. They face the crack, arms raised to it; he tells them that the light coming out of the crack is pure time energy. It is not power, but "the fire at the end of the universe." He wriggles out of his jacket and runs off into the forest, telling them, "Another thing, never let me talk".

Meanwhile, Amy has reached "two" in her countdown and lies down, cradling her head. River produces a medical scanner to check her while Octavian worries they are exposed. River retorts that Octavian's only job is to keep the Doctor safe. If he's dead, she won't forgive herself, but if he's alive, she won't forgive him. She realises he is standing right behind her. He rushes to Amy and deduces that because she looked into the eyes of an Angel, and the image of an Angel becomes an Angel, there is a living Angel in her brain's visual center. After internal debate, the Doctor orders Amy to close her eyes. If she opens them for more than a second, the Angel will escape and she will die. She is too weak to move and is left in the forest with the remaining Clerics while the Doctor, River and Octavian head to the primary flight deck.

The Angels stake out the clearing and begin tearing apart the treeborgs. The lights flicker. When they go out, the Angels are nowhere to be seen. Light projects across the forest from the secondary flight deck. Marco, the squad leader, sends Crispin and Phillip to investigate it. Amy insists on seeing its source, though she will have to open her eyes. When she sees it is the crack from her wall, she collapses and begs to know why it is following her. Marco orders Pedro to go to the light. Amy reminds him he sent the other two, but he insists there weren't any others. After some time, Marco decides to go and investigate, having forgotten Pedro as well. Amy pleads with him to stay. As a compromise, he leaves her a spare communicator and agrees to speak to her through it. As he reaches the crack, his voice vanishes in a crackle of static.

Octavian tells the Doctor that River is on leave from Stormcage Containment Facility in his custody; through this mission, she hopes to earn a pardon. While River tries to open the door to the primary flight deck, the Doctor considers the anomalies he has recently noticed: the duckless duck pond in Leadworth; Amy's inability to remember the Dalek invasion of Earth; and the CyberKing in Victorian London. He uses River's computer to work out that a temporal explosion will occur on 26 June 2010 and cause the cracks in time and space. River opens the door and steps inside while Octavian waits with the Doctor. The lights go out. When they return, Octavian is trapped in an Angel's stranglehold. Knowing the Doctor cannot save him, Octavian tells him River is in prison for murder and he shouldn't trust her. As the Doctor flees, Octavian's neck is snapped. River tries to get a teleporter working as the Doctor explains the cracks. When she challenges his ideas, he responds with growing rage and tells her the teleporter is useless.

Amy huddles alone in the forest, blind and with nothing but the communicator. The Doctor contacts her. She must make her way to the flight deck. The Angels can only kill her, but the crack can erase her from time. He sends software to the communicator to guide her. Terrified, she slowly makes her way across the forest, soon surrounded by the army of Weeping Angels fleeing from the crack. In their own terror, they do not realise her eyes are closed and their defence mechanisms kick in. When Amy trips over a root on the ground, alerting the Angels to her blindness, they close in to kill her, but River has gotten the teleport working and transports her to the flight deck.

The Angels drain all of the ship's energy, opening the flight deck doors in the process. Angel Bob demands the Doctor throw himself into the crack to save the Angels, Amy and River. River, as a time traveller, wants to throw herself in in place of the Doctor, but he laughs -- she is not even as complicated as one Angel and it would take all of them to equal him. He tells her to get a grip. She continues to protest, but the Doctor tells her to seriously get a grip. She calls him a genius and has Amy grab onto the console, warning her not to let go. The Doctor tells the Angels, "Night-night", and grabs the console alongside River. The ship's gravity fails and the ship flips over, sending the Angels plummeting into the crack while the Doctor watches in delight. The crack explodes in a burst of energy and closes.

Outside the temple, a second squad of Clerics cleans up the camp while Amy sits nearby, complaining of aches from climbing out of the Byzantium with her eyes shut. The Doctor tells her she did not have to do this, since the Angel in her mind never existed. Amy wonders why she remembers them and the Clerics if they were truly erased from time. The Doctor explains that because she is a time traveller now, she sees things differently.

The Doctor goes to River, who has been handcuffed and is prepared to teleport back to Stormcage, hoping to have done enough to earn a pardon. The Doctor admits Octavian told him of River's crime and demands to know whom she murdered. River confesses he was a good man, "the best man she ever knew." When the Doctor asks if he can trust her, River laughs and vanishes with the Clerics.

Back in the TARDIS, Amy tells the Doctor she wants to go home. He thinks she means for good, but she insists she has something to show him. He parks the TARDIS in Amy's bedroom five minutes after they first left. Amy shows him her wedding dress and engagement ring. She is getting married to Rory Williams in the morning. She tries to explain to the Doctor who she wants, but the Doctor hasn't a clue to what she is talking about. Seeing he is not going to get hints, Amy kisses him. It seems clear that she has fallen for The Doctor and wishes to have sexual intercourse with him. He rebuffs her advances and stops her attempts to undress him. She kisses him again, but he pushes her away, saying she is getting married in the morning, which makes him remember the date of the temporal explosion: 26 June 2010. Tomorrow is the date of Amy's wedding. He pushes her back into the TARDIS just as the clock turns past midnight to the next day.

Cast

 * The Doctor - Matt Smith
 * Amy Pond - Karen Gillan
 * River Song - Alex Kingston
 * Octavian - Iain Glen
 * Bob/Angel Bob - David Atkins
 * Marco - Darren Morfitt
 * Pedro - Mark Monero
 * Phillip - George Russo

The Doctor

 * Whilst trying to figure out the implications of the cracks in time, the Doctor wonders about the CyberKing, and if 21st century Earth's lack of knowledge of its presence is somehow related.
 * When mentioning how time can be rewritten the Doctor references Amy's lack of knowledge of the Daleks and planets in the sky. (DW: The Stolen Earth/Journey's End)
 * He mentions the duck pond that may not have been a duck pond from DW: The Eleventh Hour.
 * The Doctor states his age is nine hundred and seven, which suggests that a year has passed since the events of The End of Time.
 * River Song says she and the Doctor will meet again when the Pandorica opens. The Doctor claims that is just a fairy tale.

Timeline

 * Amy's age and her second encounter with the Doctor are established as taking place in 2008 (when she encountered Prisoner Zero), while her third encounter with the Doctor when she left with him took place on the night of 25 June 2010 when Amy is twenty-one.

Story notes

 * According to Steven Moffat on the 30 March 2010 edition of the BBC Radio 4 programme, Front Row, the title of this episode was supplied by his son, Joshua.
 * The title is a play on 'flesh and bone', a common idiom referring to a creature's anatomy, since most humans and animals are composed of flesh and a skeletal structure. The title also refers to the Weeping Angels' weakness of turning to stone whenever anyone looks at them, and possibly the fact that Amy thought her hand had turned to stone in the previous episode, The Time of Angels. This was a rumoured title for the episode Gridlock.
 * In the trailer at the end of The Time of Angels it shows a crack - continuing the theme throughout the series. The crack appears to be growing, and upon finding it, Amy Pond notes its similarity to the one on her bedroom wall from DW: The Eleventh Hour. The Doctor says of the crack, "That is extremely very not good."
 * A video clip on the official Doctor Who website shows that the Doctor gets the Weeping Angels to say "comfy chairs".
 * The Doctor says that time can be unwritten.
 * The time on the scanner that the Doctor holds says that Amy's time is her wedding day.
 * The Weeping Angels are seen moving for the first time. One Angel is seen moving a hand to grab the Doctor by his jacket, and later they turn their heads when they realise that Amy can't see them.
 * The date shown in the episode, 26/06/2010, was the final episode date of Series 5 in Britain. In America, it was not aired until later in the summer.
 * The method the Doctor uses to dispose of the Weeping Angels mirrors his method of vanquishing the Cybermen and Daleks in DW: Doomsday.
 * Amy continues the tradition of female companions kissing the Doctor. However, instead of falling in love with him, Amy had another idea.
 * This episode aired on the same day as the K9 episode Alien Avatar was first broadcast on Disney XD in Britain. It also aired on the same day that Sirens of Ceres was first broadcast on Network Ten in Australia.
 * Because the cracks never existed, the events of this story may have changed.

Ratings
6.9 million

Filming locations

 * The beach scenes on Alfava Metraxis were filmed at Southerndown beach, Vale of Glamorgan. This was also where scenes in Army of Ghosts/Doomsday and Journey's End were filmed.
 * Scenes in the forest vault of the Byzantium were filmed in Puzzlewood in the Forest of Dean.

Rumours

 * Amy and Rory will either marry each other or put it on hold at the end of the episode, and Rory will travel in the TARDIS at the end. This was proven false, but Rory joined Amy and the Doctor in the TARDIS in the next episode, and he and Amy got married in the series finale .

Production errors

 * When Amy lies down on the tree stump her hair is all over her face but on the wide shot her hair is behind her head.
 * While the Doctor is talking to River in the forest, he has both hands behind his back as if tucking in his shirt; however in the next shot he is still in mid-sentence and is suddenly holding his hands in front.
 * While the Doctor talks to River at the end of the episode the position of his right suspender strap switches places from angle to angle.
 * Just after the Doctor leaves with River and Octavian, his future self holds Amy's hand and talks to her. However, he does not wear his normal gold watch, which is replaced with a black one, and does not have the vortex manipulator on his right arm, which he should have had.
 * During the final scene in Amy's bedroom the Doctor looks at Amy's alarm clock. Despite the fact that the conversation was talking about Amy getting married "in the morning" the clock changes from 11:59 AM on 6/25 to 12:00 PM on 6/26, a mysterious 24-hour jump.
 * In the scene where Amy is following the sound of the Doctor's sonic screwdriver, there are points where the light on the screwdriver is off, yet the sound can still clearly be heard on both ends of the communicator.

Continuity

 * Events the Doctor thinks are erased from history by the cracks include DW: The Stolen Earth/Journey's End and The Next Doctor.
 * River says to the Doctor, "You, me, handcuffs... must it always end this way?", referencing her own death in DW: Forest of the Dead.
 * River Song mentioned the crash of the Byzantium to the Tenth Doctor in DW: Silence in the Library.
 * River Song refers to the events of the Pandorica opening, foreshadowing the series 5 finale. (DW: The Pandorica Opens)
 * There is a flashback to DW: The Eleventh Hour.
 * After the Doctor leaves with River and Octavian to find the primary flight deck, the Doctor quickly returns for a moment to speak with Amy and his behavior and appearance are completely different (jacket, rolled-up sleeves, different watch, etc). This turned out to be the Doctor from the future. (DW: The Big Bang)
 * The Doctor mentions the duck-pond with no ducks from DW: The Eleventh Hour.
 * This is the third time the Doctor has kissed a female companion on the forehead before he temporarily left them; the first was Zoe Heriot in DW: The War Games. He similarly kissed Jo Grant on the forehead in DW: Colony in Space.
 * Angel Bob says that the Doctor in the TARDIS hasn't noticed. Prisoner Zero says something similar to the Doctor in DW: The Eleventh Hour.
 * In DW: The Big Bang, the Doctor prevented the cracks from ever existing.

Timeline
For the present Doctor and Amy: For the future Doctor: For River Song:
 * This episode occurs after DW: The Time of Angels.
 * This story occurs before DW: The Vampires of Venice.
 * This episode occurs during DW: The Big Bang.
 * This episode occurs after DW: The Time of Angels.
 * This episode occurs before DW: The Wedding of River Song (final scene).

DVD/Blu-ray-exclusive scene
The 2010 DVD and Blu-ray release of the Complete Series 5 included an additional scene from Flesh and Stone. Contrary to many reviews and video-sharing site repostings of the scene, it is not a deleted scene, but rather a scene shot specifically for the DVD/BD release some time during the later stages of Series 5 production.

The scene reveals what happened after Amy's failed seduction attempt and the Doctor taking her away. Inside the TARDIS, Amy continues to try to convince the Doctor to sleep with her, leading him to explain his attitude towards his companions -- that they help him "see things" that he no longer is able to see because of his age and travel experience. Her physical desires replaced by curiosity, this leads Amy to quiz the Doctor about his past companions. She eventually tricks the Doctor into unlocking visual files of past TARDIS inhabitants, and she is treated to a slide show of various female companions ranging from Barbara Wright to Donna Noble, with particular emphasis on Leela. In order to distract Amy from the picture show, the Doctor suggests they pick up Rory from his stag party, which leads directly into The Vampires of Venice.

Other companions shown in the slide show include Polly Wright, Leela, Peri Brown, both Romanas, and Josephine Grant, as well as recent companions Rose Tyler and Martha Jones. Except for Sarah Jane Smith (also shown), all companions pre-dating Rose make their first on-screen appearance in the post-2005 era (Jo Grant's appearance in SJA: Death of the Doctor had not yet been broadcast at the time of the DVD/BD release).

The context of the scene supports the recurring implication that the TARDIS is sentient, given the way the Doctor reacts to the TARDIS when the slideshow begins.

Home video releases
BBC Video - Doctor Who Series Five - Volume Two was released on Monday 5 July 2010 (UK Only) on DVD and Blu-ray, featuring The Time of Angels, Flesh and Stone and The Vampires of Venice.