text: amy 's choice ( doctor who ) " amy 's choice " is the seventh episode in the fifth series of british science fiction television series doctor who , first broadcast on bbc one on 15 may 2010 . it was written by sitcom writer simon nye and directed by catherine morshead . in the episode , lead characters the doctor , a time travelling alien played by matt smith , and his human travelling companions amy ( karen gillan ) and her fiancé rory ( arthur darvill ) , are in a trap set by the mysterious " dream lord " ( toby jones ) , wherein they repeatedly fall asleep and wake up in a different reality . in one , amy and rory are happily married but pursued by elderly people possessed by aliens , while in another they are on board the doctor 's time machine , the tardis , where they anticipate being frozen to death by a nearby astronomical phenomenon . they must decide which is the real reality and die in the dream , to wake up in reality and escape the trap . at the episode 's conclusion , the dream lord is ultimately revealed to be a manifestation of the doctor 's dark side and self - loathing . nye wrote the episode to explore and to test amy 's relationships with both the doctor and rory . showrunner steven moffat suggested that nye , a comedy writer by trade , build the episode around a split dream concept , and encouraged nye to create a " monster " for the episode , which influenced his writing of the retirement home dream . the dream scenes in amy and rory 's village was filmed in skenfrith , wales and used cgi and prosthetics . " amy 's choice " was seen by 7 . 55 million viewers on bbc one and bbc hd and received generally mixed reviews from critics . the most positive praised the episode 's surrealism and commended it as one of the year 's strongest scripts , but other reviewers felt the episode 's horror or monsters unsatisfying . plot synopsis the doctor , amy , and rory find themselves flickering between two realities , falling asleep at the sound of birdsong in one and waking in the other . in the first reality , amy and rory stopped travelling with the doctor five years previously , are happily married , and amy is heavily pregnant . they find themselves in their hometown of leadworth being chased by the eknodine , an alien race that have disguised themselves as the elderly of the town . the eknodine are able to turn anyone into dust by blowing a poisonous liquid on them . in the other reality , they are trapped in the powerless tardis drifting towards a freezing cold star which will kill them . during one of their experiences in the tardis - reality they are met by the " dream lord " , an apparition who tells them that he has created a dream reality in contrast to their actual reality . the three must determine which is the dream reality and kill themselves in it to return to the other reality . however , if they choose wrong they will be killed in both . the dream lord keeps amy awake in the tardis reality while the doctor and rory fall asleep and return to the leadworth reality . the dream lord questions amy as to whom she would choose between rory and the doctor . he states that she must choose between the worlds ; one leads to a peaceful married life with rory while the other leads to adventure and excitement with the doctor . amy returns to leadworth and rejoins rory in defending her house from the eknodine whilst the doctor is trying to rescue people from leadworth in a motor - caravan . as amy believes she is going into labour , rory is sprayed by the eknodine and turns to dust . amy decides that she is willing to risk her own life for the chance of seeing rory again and concludes the leadworth reality is false . amy and the doctor drive the motor - caravan into the house , leading to their assumed deaths . the three wake up again on the tardis where they are congratulated by the dream lord , who then reactivates the tardis . after the dream lord 's departure amy and rory are surprised by the doctor when he directs the tardis to self - destruct , apparently killing them all . the three wake up again on the tardis , no longer in any danger . the doctor realises both realities were false since the dream lord had no power over the real world and was a manifestation of his darker side . the three were influenced by psychic pollen that had fallen in the tardis time rotor and heated up , creating the dream lord and the false realities . rory comes to realise that amy killed herself in the leadworth reality out of love for him , and the two confess their love for each other . the doctor sees the dream lord smile at him through his reflection . continuity the dream lord describes the doctor sarcastically as " the storm " , a name coined by his archenemies the daleks , and first mentioned in the seventh doctor novel love and war and subsequently on - screen in " the parting of the ways " , where it was attributed to the daleks . he also says to the doctor , " you 're probably a vegetarian ! " in a butcher 's shop and calls him " veggie " , referring to the two doctors , in which the sixth doctor announced that he and peri would eat a vegetarian diet from then on . the dream lord also teases the doctor 's relationship with elizabeth i. this began in " the shakespeare code " where elizabeth i wished to behead the doctor and continued in the end of time , which alluded to the possibility the two were married . the marriage between the two was seen 3 years later in " the day of the doctor " . production writing " amy 's choice " was written by simon nye , who is known for writing the sitcom men behaving badly . nye attended read - throughs of previous episodes to capture the character and " voice " of the doctor and amy . nye admitted to restraining himself in the change from comedy to science fiction , but said it was " fun " and " hugely liberating " . showrunner steven moffat originally gave nye the premise of the episode for it to fit in the series arc , which was to challenge the doctor and amy 's relationship . nye states that rory 's " death " scene is essentially where amy realises her feelings for rory . nye wanted to prove that amy really loved rory , and he was " not just a cypher boyfriend or fiancé " . moffat suggested the idea of the dream split to nye , who was also influenced by his own dreams and sometimes wondering if they were real . nye believed that the dream world was consistent with other alternate universes within doctor who . moffat also instructed nye to come up with a monster , and nye chose the elderly people possessed by the eknodine , reflecting his own fear of old people as a child , but he made clear that he did not intend to make children scared of their grandparents . filming and effects " amy 's choice " was the last episode of the fifth series to be filmed , and the editing finished the week it aired . the read - through for the episode took place on 17 february 2010 in the upper boat studios along with the read - through for episode eleven , marking the final two read - throughs for the series . the dream sequences taking place in the fictional town of upper leadworth were filmed in skenfrith , wales . karen gillan had to wear a latex prosthetic stomach bump for the scenes which depicted amy as pregnant . she claimed it made her feel more mature and act ridiculously , and cited it as her favourite part of filming the series . arthur darvill wore a wig for the aged rory , which was trimmed to look " more masculine " and pulled back in a ponytail . the eknodine were cgi and the scenes were simply filmed with the actors opening their mouths . the scene in which rory hits eknodine - inhabited mrs hamil with a plank was filmed first of all with darvill missing actress joan linder , and then again with linder 's stunt double , whom he was allowed to hit . there was only one prop of the plank , and fortunately all the necessary shots were completed before darvill accidentally broke it . cast notes nick hobbs , who appeared as mr in this episode , previously played alongside jon pertwee 's third doctor in the stories the curse of peladon and the monster of peladon . hobbs has also previously appeared as a lorry driver in the claws of axos and operated the prop for the ark in space . broadcast and reception " amy 's choice " was first broadcast on bbc one in the united kingdom on saturday , 15 may 2010 from 6 : 25 p.m. to 7 : 10 p.m. in the united states it was shown on sister station bbc america on 5 june 2010 . in the uk , preliminary overnight ratings for the episode totalled 6 . 2 million viewers ; 5 . 9 million on bbc one and 0 . 3 million on bbc hd . based on these estimated figures , viewership was about the same as the previous week . when final ratings were calculated , it was shown bbc one held 7 . 063 million viewers , the sixth most viewed programme for the week , and 485 , 000 viewers on bbc hd , the highest viewed programme of the week for that channel . this gave " amy 's choice " final consolidated ratings of 7 . 55 million viewers . the episode was also given an appreciation index of 84 . " amy 's choice " was released in region 2 on dvd and blu - ray format with the following episodes " the hungry earth " and " cold blood " on 2 august 2010 . it was then re - released as part of the complete series five dvd on 8 november 2010 . critical reception " amy 's choice " received generally mixed reviews from critics . gavin fuller , writing for the daily telegraph , was positive about the episode , calling it " probably the strongest all - round script we 've had this year , chock full of good lines " . he added , " the concept of aliens inhabiting elderly people and turning them psychotic was wittily realised , particularly the bizarre sight of them laying siege to amy and rory 's cottage with household and gardening implements " . he concluded that it " was one of those stories that you would only find in doctor who , and shows once again that the series can provide genuine thought - provoking , interesting drama alongside its thrills and spills " . matt wales of ign rated the episode 8 . 5 out of 10 and described it as " surreal , fantastical , intriguing , witty , emotional and , at times , genuinely unsettling " . unlike martin , he said it was " impressive enough on pacing alone " and made a " brisk , refreshing 45 - minute episode " . however , he criticised the ending for being " glossed over so quickly " and found upper leadworth hard to believe . keith phipps , writing on the a.v. club , graded the episode a b and stated it was " a solid ... entry in what 's been a generally terrific season of doctor who " . he praised toby jones ' performance as the dream lord , saying that " in lesser hands , he might have come off as a copycat version of star trek 's q , but jones makes the part his own " . however , he thought its weakness was the pace and " the retirement home - dwelling bad guys , who ultimately seem like a geriatric , and not that frightening , variation on the same old shambling zombies . " daniel martin , reviewing the episode for the guardian , described it as " at least partially successful " . he praised karen gillan 's performance , saying that she " is capable of more than one - liners and physical comedy – and brings something to your eye , too " . however , he thought that the episode lacked ideas and storylines usually found in the show , and criticised the sitcom - style dialogue . patrick mulkern , writing for the radio times , was " distinctly underwhelmed " , comparing it to " one of the more disappointing episodes of the sarah jane adventures " . he " particularly disliked the demonising of elderly people " . upon rewatching , however , although " previous gripes " remained , he did appreciate some the " more subdued " background music from murray gold , the script 's " tight structure and several amusing lines " , and " the realisation that , for the first time , the doctor is travelling with a couple in love " . sfx magazine 's jordan farley gave the episode 3 and a half out of 5 stars , saying the direction " never quite [ struck ] the right balance between absurdist humour and sinister nightmare " and the camera was " a little flat " with a strange angle . he was displeased with the discovery that it had all been a hallucination and stated that rory 's death and other instances of horror " never shock in the way you might expect " . however , he praised smith for being " on blindingly good form " while portraying the doctor 's quirkier traits , considered that gillan and darvill were " fast becoming the most likeable companion couple in doctor who history " , and said jones was " a lot of fun to watch " despite not seeming to be completely the doctor 's dark side . reviews " amy 's choice " reviews at the doctor who ratings guide