This week, we talk about the Forgotten Storyline that is the Ponds ending. It was sad…but did it need to be?
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When the Ponds left in Angels Take Manhattan, it shocked fans to see yet another set of companions gone, especially in such spectacular fashion. Not only did the Doctor say goodbye to his friends, but at the hands of the Weeping Angels. Amy sacrificed herself to go back to 1939, despite not knowing if she would even end up in the same time period as Rory. It was the tale of love that the Ponds always taught us. In the end, despite all the fighting, the Ponds stuck together.
This made for an extremely heartbreaking exit for two companions that both the Doctor and the audience mourned.
Or did it?
Okay, to be honest, if there are any plot holes in Doctor Who, it’s the exit of the Ponds. Was it sad? Yes. Was it done extremely well so we never saw it coming? Absolutely! Is there a 100 ways that the Doctor could have seen them again? I think so! Yeah, yeah, there’s talk of a “fixed point” in time, but when did that ever stop the Doctor? Pompeii? Father’s Day? Come on. If we wanted the Ponds back, we could have gotten them back.
The Doctor says “We can never go back to New York in 1938 again.” That’s…incredibly specific. If somehow the Weeping Angels made Amy and Rory too timey-wimey for the Tardis to touch, then maybe that would make sense. But you’ve given one place in the entire world, and one year and you have a time machine.
This plothole has been pointed out by fans in memes, asking why they couldn’t ride a car to Jersey in 1939? Or go someplace else in 1938?
And they’re not wrong, the plot hole here is huge and it seems like it almost wasn’t thought out completely. The Doctor could have absolutely gone back for the Ponds and saved himself years of agony that we saw in the following Christmas special.
Maybe there’s more to it that we don’t know. For instance, maybe he can never return to New York, or maybe if he escapes the Weeping Angels, then they’ll always be following him from a distance.
The truth is, Moffat designed these creatures. We have no idea what they do, but the rules are pretty wide open for the creator. It’s a pretty big forgotten storyline that the Ponds left when in reality, all it would have taken is a transportation to another city in another year, and all would have been right again.
If not for a companion, at least for a couple of visits!
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