Five years after finally leaving the TARDIS Amy and Rory now married, live in the quiet little village of Leadworth. But everything is not what it would seem.
NOTES
The hostile aliens possessing the old folks are a race known as the Eknodine.
Technically, the entire episode took place in the TARDIS.
The box under the TARDIS console The Doctoropens has the words: “TARDIS. Time And Relative Dimension In Space. Build Site: Gallifrey Blackhole Shipyard. Type 40. Build date: 1963. Authorised for use by qualified Time Lords only by the Shadow Proclamation. Misuse or theft of any TARDIS will result in extreme penalties and permanent exile.” written on it. The is also written on a plaque on the console itself, as shown in the TARDIS touron the BBC website.
This is the first story of series 5 not to have any cracks or silence or foreshadowing of the finale. Except possibly the TARDIS exploding.
The sign outside the old peoples’ home reads”SARN Residential Care Home”. Planet Sarn was the setting for Planet of Fire and is also the name of a character in Time and the Rani.
This is the only episode of Series 5 that is not referred to in any way later in the series.
Several of the Dream Lord’s outfits reflect aspects of the Doctor’s personality: In the care home, he is dressed like a medic, reflecting the “healer” aspect. Outside the castle he is dressed like the “lord of the manor”, reflecting the fact that the Doctor is a Time Lord. In the butcher’s shop, he is dressed like a butcher (Davros referred to The Doctor having”butchered millions” in Journey’s End). The “lothario” outfit he appears in While talking to Amy reflects The Doctor’s sexual nature, which has been referred to many times in the new series. When riding in the van, he is wearing a race car driver’s outfit, reflecting the “challengerof limits” aspect.
This episode aired on the same day as the K9 episode, The Cambridge Spy.
