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 part of a two-part story that began with The Time of Angels.

Synopsis
There's no way back, no way up and no way out. Trapped among an army of Weeping Angels, The Doctor and his friends must try to escape through the wreckage of a crashed space liner. Meanwhile, in the forest vault Amy finds herself facing an even more deadly attack.

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

Once they are safely through, Octavian magnetizes the door to keep the Angels from following; though they are still able to turn the door wheel, it buys the group some time. The Doctor and River realize that, on a ship of this size, 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 giant forest set inside the ship. Amy continues counting, but denies doing so afterwards.

While the Doctor and River try to explain the counting to her, Angel Bob calls the Doctor to find out what they are planning. The Doctor initially taunts him, but gets serious when Bob informs him that there is something in Amy's eye; the Angels are making her count to scare her, but they will take her soon. Bob gloats about gaining enough power to maste time and space; the Doctor informs him that the Byzantium doesn't have that much power. Suddenly, a horrible screeching sound is heard from outside, with Bob explaining that the Angels are laughing at him because he hasn't noticed -- echoing Prisoner Zero's words to the Doctor in Leadworth. The Doctor wonders what he has missed and turns around to see a giant crack forming in the wall of the ship; it is the exact same shape as the one from Amy's bedroom wall. He orders the others to flee while he investigates it; when he turns to follow after a few minutes have passed, he finds himself surrounded by the Angels. He attempts to escape, but is caught by the collar of his jacket.

However, they do not kill him immediately. He spots a group of Angels facing the crack, their arms open and extended towards it; he tells them that the light coming out of the crack is pure time energy -- not power, but "the fire at the end of the universe." He wriggles out of his jacket and runs off into the forest.

Meanwhile, Amy has reached number two in her countdown and lies down, cradling her head. River produces a medical scanner to check her while Octavian complains that they are exposed to the enemy; River retorts that Octavian's only job is to keep the Doctor safe, and if he's dead back on the flight deck, she won't forgive herself, but if he's alive, she won't forgive him. Smiling, River realizes that the Doctor is standing right behind her; he rushes down 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 the vision center of her brain. After some internal debate, the Doctor orders Amy to close her eyes; if she opens them for more than a second, the Angel inside of her will escape and she will die. Because she is too weak to move, she is left in the forest with the remaining Clerics while the Doctor, River, and Octavian head to the primary flight deck.

The Angels, who have been staking out the clearing, depart as the Time Field begins to project itself across the forest. Cleric Marco, the group's unofficial leader, sends Clerics Crispin and Phillip to investigate the light. Amy begs to see its source, even though she will have to open her eyes; when she sees that it is the crack from her wall, she collapses and begs to know why it is following her. Marco orders Cleric Pedro to go to the light; Amy reminds him that he sent the other two, but he appears confused, insisting that there weren't any others. After some time, Marco himself decides to go and investigate, having forgotten Pedro as well. Amy begs him to stay; as a compromise, he leaves her with his communicator and agrees to speak to her through it. However, as he reaches the crack, his voice vanishes.

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

Amy sits alone in the forest, blind and possessing nothing but the communicator. The Doctor contacts her, apologizing for leaving her alone; he informs her that she must make her way to the flight deck, as the Angels can only kill her, but the crack can erase her from time. He sends software to the communicator which will guide her using the noises from his sonic screwdriver. Terrified, she slowly makes her way across the forest, but is soon surrounded by the army of Weeping Angels, who are all fleeing from the crack; because of their terror, they do not realize that she has her eyes closed, and their natural defense mechanisms kick in. However, Amy trips over a root on the ground, alerting the Angels to their blindness; they close in to kill her, but River manages to get the teleport work her and saves her by transporting 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 that 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 merely laughs -- she is not even as complicated as one Angel, and it would take all of them to equal him -- and tells her to get a grip. She continues to protest, but the Doctor tells her to seriously get a grip. Realizing what he means, she calls him a genius and forces Amy to take hold of 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 back into the crack while the Doctor watches and laughs. The crack explodes in a burst of energy, and then closes.

Outside the temple, a second squad of Clerics cleans up the team's makeshift camp while Amy sits nearby, complaining of aches from having to climb out of the Byzantium with her eyes closed; the Doctor tells her that she did not have to do this, since the image of the Angel in her mind never existed. Amy wonders why she remembers the Angels and the Clerics if they were truly erased from time, and 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 preparing to teleport back to Stormcage. The Doctor confesses that Octavian told him of River's crime prior to his death and demands to know who she murdered. River explains that he was a good man, "the best man she ever knew." When the Doctor asks if he can trust her, River responds in jest and disappears.

Back in the TARDIS, Amy tells the Doctor that she wants to go home; initially, he believes that she means for good, but she merely insists that she has something to show him. He parks the TARDIS in Amy's bedroom five minutes after they first left, and Amy shows the Doctor her wedding dress, revealing that she is getting married to Rory Williams the following morning. She tries to seduce the Dcotor, but he rejects her, abruptly remembering the date of the temporal explosion -- 26 June 2010, which happens to be tomorrow, the date of Amy's wedding -- and realize that the cracks have something to do with her. He pushes her back into the TARDIS just as the clock turns past midnight.

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 to himself about the CyberKing, and wonders 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
 * Eleventh 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 said that she and the Doctor will meet again when the Pandorica opens. The Doctor claims that it is just a fairytale.

Timeline

 * Amy's age is established and her second encounter with the Doctor 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 finds out 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 their hand to grab the Doctor by his jacket, and later they are seen turning their heads when they begin to 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, however, it was not aired until much 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 the female companions kissing the Doctor. However, instead of falling in love with him, Amy had another idea instead.
 * 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 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.

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?", unknowingly 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.
 * Amy asks the Doctor "Do you comfort a lot of people on the night before their wedding?" The Doctor previously interrupted Donna Noble's wedding in DW: The Runaway Bride.
 * After the Doctor leaves with River and Octavian to find the primary flight deck, the Doctor returns for a moment to speak with Amy and his behavior and appearance is completely different (Jacket, rolled-up sleeves, different watch, etc). This turned out to be the Doctor from the future, though there were some inconsistencies concerning his watch. (DW: The Big Bang)
 * The Doctor mentions the duck-pond with no ducks from DW: The Eleventh Hour.
 * This is the second 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, but that was upon meeting her (after she had been abducted).
 * 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. Although most cracks were closed, anything that Amy remembered (such as her travels) would still exist following the finale, meaning a few cracks still existed, but as seen, were solved individually (such as the one on Byzantium being closed due to swallowing the angels)

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

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 sometime 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 apparent 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. With the exception of Sarah Jane Smith (also shown), all companions pre-dating Rose are making 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 -- coupled with the fact the TARDIS does not show images of the Doctor's various male companions such as Ian Chesterton, Adric or Jack Harkness. The fact expanded universe companions, such as Izzy Sinclair and Destrii from the comic strip and Evelyn Smythe and Lucie Miller from the audio dramas, are not visible does not necessarily disqualify them from canon as the viewscreen is not visible all the time, and several TV series companions are not shown either.

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