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 Song, Bishop Octavian, and his clerics have all jumped on the Doctor's signal. They have been caught by the Byzantium's gravity field to land on the Byzantium's hull, upside down over the restoring Weeping Angels beneath them, draining the energy around them. They enter the ship, but the Angels pursue. The Doctor prepares to open the door to the secondary flight deck. Amy says ten instead of the number of times to turn the door wheel.

Octavian magnetises the door to prevent the Angels following, but the door wheel turns. There must be an oxygen factory onboard so passengers can breathe. The Doctor opens a door to reveal a forest. Amy says seven, then denies she has done so.

They try to explain this to her, but Angel Bob calls the Doctor to find out what they are planning. The Doctor taunt him and finds out there is an Angel in Amy's mind; soon it will take her. Bob gloats about gaining power to master time and space. The Doctor tells him the Byzantium doesn't have that much power. A horrible screeching sound is heard outside and Bob explains that the Angels are laughing at him because the Doctor hasn't noticed the source of that great power. The Doctor wonders what he missed and notices a large crack in the hull the exact same shape as the one in Amy's wall when she was seven. He orders the others to flee while he scans the crack. He turns to find the Angels have broken in have caught him by his jacket.

They do not kill him. Hhe finds some of them with arms open to absorb the energy coming out of the crack. The Doctor tells them the light coming from 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 into the forest.

Amy is down to two in her countdown ande lies down. River pulls out a medical scanner to check her while Octavian complains that they are exposed to the enemy. River tells him his job is to keep the Doctor safe; if he's dead, she won't forgive herself and if he's alive, she won't forgive him, "And Doctor, you're standing right behind me aren't you?" After debating with himself, the Doctor orders Amy to close her eyes. If she opens her eyes for more than a second, the Weeping Angel will escape and she will die. She is left with the clerics as the Weeping Angels advance. The Doctor, River and Octavian head off to find a way to stop them.

The Angels leave too, when a light comes from the vault. Two clerics go to investigate. When Amy briefly opens her eyes, she sees it's the crack from her wall. The remaining clerics forget the existence of the other two, and Pedro goes to investigate. Marco, the cleric left, forgets about the others' existence. He goes to investigate and leaves Amy with a communicator. As soon as he is within range of the "curtain of energy", his voice vanishes.

Octavian tells the Doctor that River is on leave from prison and in his custody to earn her pardon. While River works on opening the door to the primary flight deck, the Doctor puts together the anomalies he has recently noticed. River opens the door and enters while the Doctor uses a device to work out that a temporal explosion on 6/26/10 will cause the cracks. The lights go out. When they come back on, Octavian is held in a stranglehold by an Angel. Octavian tells him River killed a good man to earn her imprisonment before the Doctor flees. He hears the Angel snap Octavian's neck as he enters the main control deck,. River tries to get the teleporter working as the Doctor explains about the cracks. As she challenges the Doctor's ideas, he responds with growing rage.

Amy is alone and blind, with only a communicator. The Doctor radios her. She must come to the control room; the Angels can only kill her, but the crack can erase her from time. He sends software to the communicator to direct her to the control room with the sound of his sonic screwdriver. Terrified and with her eyes closed, she follows his signal until the Angels surround her. They too are terrified and their instincts freeze them to stone around her, but Amy falls and the Angels, realising she can't see, close in to kill her. Before they reach her, River teleports her to the control room.

The Angels drain all the energy from the doors to the secondary control room. They open, revealing the Angels with their screaming faces, except one: the lead Angel, Angel Bob, who demands the Doctor throw himself into the crack to save the Angels, Amy and River. River, as a time traveler, wants to throw herself in, but the Doctor laughs at the idea. She is not even as complicated as one Angel and it would take all them to equal him. He tells her to "Get a grip". River tells the Doctor she will not let him die. The Doctor tells her "Seriously. Get a grip".

River calls him a genius and has Amy grab onto the console. Angel Bob tells the Doctor to hurry and throw himself in for the Angels. With a smile, the Doctor wishes them 'night-night' and grabs onto the console himself. The gravity fails and as the Doctor and his companions watch from above, the Angels plunge through the trees and into the crack. The crack explodes in a glare of energy, then closes, as the complicated space-time event of the Weeping Angels ceases to have ever existed.

Outside, Amy aches from climbing out with her eyes closed. The Doctor tells her that she did not have to as Angel Bob's double in her mind no longer exists due to it falling into the Time Field. Amy wonders why she remembers them and the Clerics, who didn't even rememeber each other. The Doctor explains she is a time traveller now.

The Doctor goes to River, who has been handcuffed to be returned to Stormcage. River laughs. She may have done enough this time to earn her pardon. The Doctor tells her Octavian told him she murdered someone. River sadly says that he was a very good man, the best man she'd ever known. The Doctor asks if he can trust her, River laughs hysterically. "If you like. . . but where's the fun in that?" She vanishes in a whirlwind of dust with the remaining clerics.

Back in the TARDIS, Amy tells the Doctor she wants to go home. There is something she wants to show him. They land in Amy's bedroom five minutes after they first left. Amy is getting married to Rory. She was using him to run away, just as he has been running from River. She tries to seduce the Doctor. He remembers what the scan from the crack told him and takes her into the TARDIS just as Amy's alarm clock turns to 26th of June, 2010.

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.