History Recap / DoctorWhoS31E7AmysChoice

* BatmanGambit: Considering his true nature is part of the Doctor's mentality and the Doctor wants Amy and Rory to stay together, the Dream Lord's true purpose was to get Amy and Rory to sort out their relationship.

-->'''Dream Lord:''' You ran away with a handsome hero; would you really give him up for a bumbling country doctor who thinks the only thing he needs to be interesting is a ''ponytail''?"

This episode was written by Simon Nye, who is mainly known for ''Series/MenBehavingBadly''. While there are some recognisable elements of his comedy, this episode was ''not'' what many expected from his pen.

In the TARDIS, the Doctor wakes from a horrible nightmare, having apparently fallen asleep under the console. It involved Amy and Rory being married in a dull village, with Amy being pregnant. Thing is, Amy and Rory appear to have had the exact same "really good... mare". There's something going wrong with the TARDIS console; it seems to be getting slightly cooler in the TARDIS, with their breath gradually misting up -- something that no one appears to have noticed. The Doctor dismisses it as a shared psychic incident in which they jumped a time-track. Except that there's suddenly the sound of birdsong in the TARDIS.

The trio wake up back on the TARDIS. The Doctor's a bit cross about all of this, which leads him to lash out at the TARDIS, which only ends badly for him and his foot. Unfortunately, he threw the TARDIS manual into a supernova the last time it disagreed with him, so no help there. Amy and Rory, meanwhile, are still struggling with the whole "awake[=/=]dream" problem they seem to be facing. Their surroundings feel perfectly real to them, but then, a dream ''always'' feels real when you're in the middle of it. The Doctor urges them to keep a watch on their surroundings and look out for anything that doesn't ring true, something a lot more easily said than done when you happen to be on a dimensionally transcendental time machine piloted by an alien in a bowtie. A big clue presents itself, however, when the TARDIS suddenly switches off. Dead. Then there's suddenly the birdsong...

Back in the village. It's revealed that Rory is the local doctor. Along with his pregnant young wife it's something he's always dreamed of, a fact that the Doctor takes notice of. Rory points out that it's Amy's dream too (something that Amy is a bit more hesitant in admitting), but the Doctor has moved on, taking interest in a nearby old people's home -- whose occupants seem to be taking an interest in the Doctor as well. People around here usually live well into their nineties, which intrigues the Doctor. The trio run off (well, Amy sort of shuffles) into the home. The residents inside seem perfectly normal and the Doctor gets to try on a lovely knitted jumper, but he's noticed something odd about them: they're ''incredibly'' old...

Amy figures out that the Dream Lord has a history with the Doctor -- but there's little time for that, as the pensioners in the Leadworth retirement home appear to have vanished. The Doctor is trying to figure out exactly how the realities are connected and why the old people strike him as so odd, but he angrily claims that his mind has been blunted by the dullness of his surroundings, and he's "slowing down" like Rory and Amy. One fake labour scare on Amy's part later, during which the Doctor uselessly flaps around like a panicked chicken, Amy tells him that he's completely unprepared to deal with the challenges of her new life and to knock it off entirely with the snide comments. Humbled, the Doctor concedes the point.

'''The Doctor:''' No, not that... Is nobody going to mention Rory's ''ponytail?''... You hold him down, I'll cut it off?

The Doctor has put together a wind-up contraption, allowing them to turn on the scanner and see what's outside. And what they see doesn't make them very happy. A frozen star "burning cold". Since such a thing should be impossible, this is a fairly big clue that they aren't in reality, but it's a big universe, and something that ''should'' be impossible isn't necessarily so. They've only got fourteen minutes until they crash into it, which isn't the problem it may seem since they'll have frozen to death long before then. Rory is pissed off, since this particular threat just seems tailor-made for the Doctor -- the race against time, one man required to save the day -- and all he wants is the quiet village. The Dream Lord sends them off again.

While they're arguing, [[WhenEldersAttack the pensioners attack -- quite literally]]. They do it with reinforcements and eyes in their mouths that spew lethal green gas. Eknodines, a proud race who were chased from their homeworld by "upstart neighbours" and have decided to pay it forward by doing the same to the humans by possessing their elderly. Their first onscreen victim is an unfortunate postman who wanders into the scene solely to get turned into dust by green gas.

Rory and an exhausted Amy make it back to their cottage, but possessed pensioners have made it there first. Rory takes some persuading, but eventually manages to take the fight to one of them with a lump of wood. Once inside, Amy laments that they left the Doctor behind. Having not seen him in years and struggling to reconnect, he's nevertheless taken the bullet for them. Rory is optimistic about the Doctor's chances -- perhaps incorrectly so, as he's fighting to remain conscious while chased by the elderly. The Doctor struggles his way into a local butcher's, all the while taunted by the Dream Lord, and manages to lock himself into the storeroom as the pensioners break into the shop. Sleep falls.

Back in the TARDIS, the Doctor insists that they have to decide here and now which is the real world and which is the dream. Rory is adamant that it's the world of the village, but the Doctor is equally adamant that the universe can contain a seemingly impossible ice-star. The Doctor challenges Rory that their disagreement may be more about competitiveness than certainty -- specifically, competing over Amy. Amy, meanwhile, finds some ponchos for them to wear. (If they have to go out looking like a Peruvian folk band, so be it.) The Doctor suggests that they divide up, noting that the logic of the dream-world has so far kept them transitioning together. Unfortunately, the Dream Lord agrees, and Rory and the Doctor fall asleep as Amy remains in the TARDIS.

... and wake up back on the TARDIS, moments away from plummeting into the cold star. Don't worry, they don't crash into it. The Dream Lord assures them, fair's fair -- and he takes control of the TARDIS, steering them away from the cold star and turning the ship's power back on. Accepting defeat gracefully, the Dream Lord leaves them to ponder on the results and implications of their dreams, and fades away. Rory is alive, and he and Amy celebrate their survival, but the Doctor isn't quite so ready to celebrate. In fact, he begins to overload the TARDIS engines, confident in the belief that this too is a dream -- because the Dream Lord operates through deception and misinformation, because the Dream Lord has no power in the real world, and because he knows who the Dream Lord ''really'' is. The TARDIS suddenly goes white.

They're all right, of course. Amy and Rory burst into the console room to find the Doctor musing over the true culprit of their recent exploits, a handful of psychic pollen specks which made their way into the time rotor and overheated, sending the trio into a dream state. As for the Dream Lord, he was the Doctor -- or rather, [[EnemyWithout a manifestation of the Doctor's darker and more malevolent impulses given form by the pollen]] so they could feed on them. In 907 years, he's built up a lot [[note]][[StoicWoobie Oh, Doctor]][[/note]], and cheerfully says that his friends were too decent to give the pollen a decent meal.

Considering the nature of the Dream Lord's taunts against the Doctor, Amy is given to wonder whether the Doctor truly believes those things about himself -- which the Doctor refuses to confirm, instead directing Amy to answer Rory's question about what happened when he was out of action. Amy reveals that she ended things in the village world not knowing whether it was the dream or not, because she couldn't bear to live without Rory and is finally ready to say that she loves him. Elated, Rory kisses her.

-->'''Dream Lord:''' Oh, is that who you think you are? The one he trusts? The only girl in the universe to whom the Doctor tells everything? So what's his name?

-->'''Amy:''' Then ''what'' is the ''point'' of you?

-->'''Amy:''' We just ran away. We just abandoned the Doctor. Don't ever call me "Chubs" again.

-->'''The Doctor:''' There's something that doesn't make sense. Let's go and poke it with a stick....

** Done to the Doctor by, basically, the Doctor himself. Everything from his fashion sense to his "collection" of Companions is used to get under his skin.

** Rory's death -- the whole scene is identical to the scene in ''Series/{{Torchwood}}'' series one when Rhys died ([[ResetButton well, kind of]]).
** The [[Recap/DoctorWhoS21E5PlanetOfFire Sarn]] Nursing Home.
** The mention of The TARDIS manual which was last seen in "[[Recap/DoctorWhoS22E2VengeanceOnVaros Vengeance on Varos]]".
** The Dream Lord calls the Doctor "[[Recap/DoctorWhoS27E13ThePartingOfTheWays the Oncoming]] [[Recap/DoctorWhoS28E4TheGirlInTheFireplace Storm]]".

** The Doctor builds a "[[Recap/DoctorWhoS9E5TheTimeMonster weird kitchen-y wind up device.]]"
** "I’m surprised you haven’t got a little purple space dog." K9 wasn't ''purple''...

* DescriptionCut: Rory tells Amy not to worry about the Doctor, saying "Hey, he’ll be fine. You know the Doctor -- he’s Mr. Cool." Cue the Doctor stumbling down the street like a drunk giraffe, trying not to fall asleep.

--->"Loves a redhead, our naughty Doctor."

-->'''Dream Lord:''' We've got lots of steak here this week. Get it? Lots at stake?... are these jokes wasted on you?

* OneCharacterMultipleLives: The Doctor, Rory and Amy are all living this trope. They keep going back and forth between two sets of lives -- one where they're all on the TARDIS and one where Amy and Rory are living on Earth and she's pregnant -- and have to decide which is the "real" timeline.

* RealityEnsues: When the Dream Lord trapped the Doctor, Amy and Rory in two different and dangerous worlds, claiming that one was a dream and the other was reality. (They were both dreams)
--->'''Dream Lord''': Now then, the prognosis is this. If you die in the dream, you wake up in reality. Healthy recovery in next to no time. Ask me what happens if you die in reality? \\
'''Rory''': What happens? \\
'''Dream Lord''': You die, stupid. That's why it's called reality.

** "If you had any more tawdry quirks you could open up a tawdry quirk shop..." The Dream Lord talks to the Doctor ''entirely'' in these, to the point that he sometimes he has to ''remember'' that he's got this SadisticChoice scheme to push along. Once you realise that he, "the one person in the universe" who hates him quite ''that'' much, is part of the Doctor, you ''really'' want to hug him.
** Inverted twice. First by the Doctor, when he explains that the psychic pollen chose his darkness because, effectively, Amy and Rory have none; "I choose my companions with great care". Second when Amy explains why she made her choice, stunning Rory.

* SayMyName: The first line of the episode. Amy screams "RORRRRRRY!" when she thinks she's going into labour, and the screams seems to resonate across the countryside before cutting to -- who else? -- Rory.

* BadassCreed: The Doctor sums up his ''raison d'être'' with two sentences.
-->'''The Doctor:''' There's something that doesn't make sense. Let's go and poke it with a stick.

* SelfParody: The dream adventure with the [[AttackOfTheKillerWhatever evil old people]] and general ClicheStorm is quite possibly a parody of the average ''Doctor Who'' episode; displaced aliens [[SpecialEffectsFailure that look suspiciously like bad CGI]]) hiding out on Earth and randomly deciding to take it out on the locals for whatever reason has been a running theme for a while. Likewise, the "cold star" could also be seen as a parody of the [[ArtisticLicensePhysics abuses of science]] often committed on the show.

* DreamWeaver: The Doctor/Dream Lord is responsible for both of the dream worlds and what happens in them. With a little help from the psychic pollen.

* NothingExcitingEverHappensHere: The Doctor and Rory both say this about Upper Leadworth.

* TakeThat: In-universe, when Amy gets tired of the Doctor calling her village life dull. She fakes going into labour and both Rory and the Doctor freak out. She tells him to stop calling it boring because thinking she was in labour turned him white as a sheet.

* TranquilFury: "Then what is the point of you?"

Amy figures out that the Dream Lord has a history with the Doctor -- but there's little time for that, as the pensioners in the Leadworth retirement home appear to have vanished. The Doctor is trying to figure out exactly how the realities are connected and why the old people strike him as so odd, but he angrily claims that his mind has been blunted by the dullness of his surroundings, and he's "slowing down" like Rory and Amy. One fake labour scare on Amy's part later, during which the Doctor uselessly flaps around like a panicked chicken, Amy tells him in no uncertain terms that he's completely unprepared for the actual challenges of her new life and that he's to knock it off entirely with the snide comments. The Doctor shamefacedly agrees.

Amy figures out that the Dream Lord has a history with the Doctor -- but there's little time for that, as the pensioners in the Leadworth retirement home appear to have vanished. The Doctor is trying to figure out exactly how the realities are connected and why the old people strike him as so odd, but he angrily claims that his mind has been blunted by the dullness of his surroundings, and he's "slowing down" like Rory and Amy.

** "If you had any more tawdry quirks you could open up a tawdry quirk shop..." He talks to the Doctor ''entirely'' in these, to the point that he sometimes he has to ''remember'' that he's got this SadisticChoice scheme to push along. Once you realise that he, "the one person in the universe" who hates him quite ''that'' much, is part of the Doctor, you ''really'' want to hug him.

* WhatTheHellHero: A rare case of the hero doing it to himself. The Dream Lord spends the entire episode telling the Doctor that he's a horrible person: he doesn't keep in touch with his Companions, he puts them in danger, he hides things, he never apologizes for anything, etc.

* RedshirtArmy: The schoolchildren and their teacher in the castle ruins, who are killed by Mrs. Poggit offscreen. The Doctor, Amy and Rory realise this moments before they see the elderly coming their way.

* RealityEnsues: When the Dream Lord trapped the Doctor, Amy and Rory in two different and dangerous worlds, claiming that one was a dream and the other was reality. [[spoiler: (They were both dreams)]]

The one where Rory died. [[DeathIsCheap And got better.]] [[HereWeGoAgain Then died again. And got better again.]]

It's been five years since Amy and Rory travelled with the Doctor. They're back living in ''Upper'' Leadworth. (A bit more upmarket than Leadworth, according to Rory.) Amy is heavily pregnant. Rory has grown a stupid ponytailed mullet. Life is good, if a little humdrum. Until the Doctor drops by for a visit. Firstly, he crushes their flower garden with the TARDIS. Secondly, he doesn't seem to catch on to the fact that Amy is pregnant, which is a little irritating for her, since he caught on quite quickly to the fact that she's increased in size. Thirdly, outside of the company of his friends he finds the village unbearably dull, and ponders what they do to stave off the "self harm". Rory points out that it's relaxing, and peaceful, as evidenced by the bird song. Which seems to have a dulling effect on the three, gradually sending them to sleep . . .

In the TARDIS, the Doctor wakes from a horrible nightmare, having apparently fallen asleep under the console. It involved Amy and Rory being married in a dull village, with Amy being pregnant. Thing is, Amy and Rory appear to have had the exact same "really good . . . mare". There's something going wrong with the TARDIS console; it seems to be getting slightly cooler in the TARDIS, with their breath gradually misting up -- something that no one appears to have noticed. The Doctor dismisses it as a shared psychic incident in which they jumped a time-track. Except that there's suddenly the sound of birdsong in the TARDIS.

"This is going to be a tricky one . . ."

The trio wake up back on the TARDIS. The Doctor's a bit cross about all of this, which leads him to lash out at the TARDIS, which only ends badly for him and his foot. Unfortunately, he threw the TARDIS manual into a supernova the last time it disagreed with him, so no help there. Amy and Rory, meanwhile, are still struggling with the whole "awake[=/=]dream" problem they seem to be facing. Their surroundings feel perfectly real to them, but then, a dream ''always'' feels real when you're in the middle of it. The Doctor urges them to keep a watch on their surroundings and look out for anything that doesn't ring true, something a lot more easily said than done when you happen to be on a dimensionally transcendental time machine piloted by an alien in a bowtie. A big clue presents itself, however, when the TARDIS suddenly switches off. Dead. Then there's suddenly the birdsong . . .

Back in the village. It's revealed that Rory is the local doctor. Along with his pregnant young wife it's something he's always dreamed of, a fact that the Doctor takes notice of. Rory points out that it's Amy's dream too (something that Amy is a bit more hesitant in admitting), but the Doctor has moved on, taking interest in a nearby old people's home -- whose occupants seem to be taking an interest in the Doctor as well. People around here usually live well into their nineties, which intrigues the Doctor. The trio run off (well, Amy sort of shuffles) into the home. The residents inside seem perfectly normal and the Doctor gets to try on a lovely knitted jumper, but he's noticed something odd about them: they're ''incredibly'' old . . .

The Doctor quickly figures out that he's incorporeal by chucking a ball at him, but the Dream Lord is hardly impressed. Being there and yet not there in a spooky fashion is in the job title. Amy is quick to figure out that the Dream Lord creates dreams and illusions, to which the Dream Lord counters that they haven't given "the gooseberry" a chance to have a turn guessing at him. Rory retorts that Amy is ''his'' girlfriend . . . but, as the Dream Lord notes, Amy is a little hesitant in confirming that.

However, the Dream Lord is much more interested in calling out the Doctor. He poses a challenge. Two worlds, an impossible time machine and a quaint little village that time has forgotten, and in each, a deadly challenge. Only one of them is real, the other is mere illusion. If they die in the dream, they wake up in the real world, and if they die in reality, they die. There's a reason they call it reality, Rory. Time for them to go back to sleep . . . Or are they waking up?

'''The Doctor:''' No, not that... Is nobody going to mention Rory's ''ponytail?'' . . . You hold him down, I'll cut it off?

Of course, as the Dream Lord posits, a crowd of threatening pensioners is absurd. Surely, this must be the dream, what does Amy think? The Doctor [[BerserkButton definitely does not appreciate the Dream Lord's taunts]], which only tickles the Dream Lord, particularly in comparison to Rory's comparatively feeble reaction. All of this has just served to confirm the Doctor's suspicions about who the Dream Lord ''really'' is, since there's only one person in the universe who hates the Doctor this much . . .

Back on the TARDIS, Amy must endure the Dream Lord's taunts about the Doctor. About how he always leaves her, and never apologises for it. Amy challenges him, asserting her faith in the Doctor and demanding to know who the Dream Lord is, but he counters with one simple question: has the Doctor told Amy his real name? He once again (while flirting disturbingly with Amy) asserts that she needs to make a choice between the Doctor, the dashing and charismatic but unreliable hero, and Rory, the dull but dependable boyfriend. It's a SadisticChoice . . . [[TitleDrop Amy's choice]].

Broken, Amy has decided that this world has to be the dream because even if it's not, she's not prepared to live in a world which doesn't have Rory in it. The pensioners have stopped attacking, perhaps sensing what Amy plans to do . . . or perhaps because it's just a dream. Less certain, the Doctor asks Amy if she's sure about what she wants to do. When she affirms she is, he hands her the keys to the van. As the Dream Lord watches, Amy and the Doctor smash into the side of the house . . .

. . . and wake up back on the TARDIS, moments away from plummeting into the cold star. Don't worry, they don't crash into it. The Dream Lord assures them, fair's fair -- and he takes control of the TARDIS, steering them away from the cold star and turning the ship's power back on. Accepting defeat gracefully, the Dream Lord leaves them to ponder on the results and implications of their dreams, and fades away. Rory is alive, and he and Amy celebrate their survival, but the Doctor isn't quite so ready to celebrate. In fact, he begins to overload the TARDIS engines, confident in the belief that this too is a dream -- because the Dream Lord operates through deception and misinformation, because the Dream Lord has no power in the real world, and because he knows who the Dream Lord ''really'' is. The TARDIS suddenly goes white.

The Doctor prepares to take his friends on adventures new . . . but not before catching a [[TheEndOrIsIt final glimpse of the Dream Lord in a reflection on the console]], taunting him once more.

** The mention of The TARDIS manual which was last seen in [[Recap/DoctorWhoS22E2VengeanceOnVaros "Vengeance on Varos"]].

** "[[Recap/DoctorWhoS22E4TheTwoDoctors You're probably a vegetarian.]]" (He stopped being one by [[Recap/DoctorWhoS27E11BoomTown "Boom Town"]].)

** "I’m surprised you haven’t got a little purple space dog." K9 wasn't ''purple'' . . .

** The Doctor offered Amy effectively the same choice early in [[Recap/DoctorWhoS31E2TheBeastBelow "The Beast Below"]]. Namely: This or Leadworth.

** It's so cold the Doctor can't feel his feet . . . "and other parts."

-->'''Dream Lord:''' We've got lots of steak here this week. Get it? Lots at stake? . . . are these jokes wasted on you?

* WhatCouldPossiblyGoWrong: Rory at one point insists that nothing bad could ever possibly happen in his idyllic life in Upper Leadworth . . . seconds before the Doctor discovers, via an aversion of InfantImmortality, that things ''have'' gone badly wrong in his idyllic life in Upper Leadworth.

The one with creepy birds.

It's been five years since Amy and Rory travelled with the Doctor. They're back living in ''Upper'' Leadworth. (A bit more upmarket than Leadworth, according to Rory.) Amy is heavily pregnant. Rory has grown a stupid ponytailed mullet. Life is good, if a little humdrum. Until the Doctor drops by for a visit. Firstly, he crushes their flower garden with the TARDIS. Secondly, he doesn't seem to catch on to the fact that Amy is pregnant, which is a little irritating for her, since he caught on quite quickly to the fact that she's increased in size. Thirdly, outside of the company of his friends he finds the village unbearably dull, and ponders what they do to stave off the "self harm". Rory points out that it's relaxing, and peaceful, as evidenced by the bird song. Which seems to have a dulling effect on the three, gradually sending them to sleep...

In the TARDIS, the Doctor wakes from a horrible nightmare, having apparently fallen asleep under the console. It involved Amy and Rory being married in a dull village, with Amy being pregnant. Thing is, Amy and Rory appear to have had the exact same "really good... mare". There's something going wrong with the TARDIS console; it seems to be getting slightly cooler in the TARDIS, with their breath gradually misting up -- something that no one appears to have noticed. The Doctor dismisses it as a shared psychic incident in which they jumped a time-track. Except that there's suddenly the sound of birdsong in the TARDIS.

"This is going to be a tricky one..."

The trio wake up back on the TARDIS. The Doctor's a bit cross about all of this, which leads him to lash out at the TARDIS, which only ends badly for him and his foot. Unfortunately, he threw the TARDIS manual into a supernova the last time it disagreed with him, so no help there. Amy and Rory, meanwhile, are still struggling with the whole "awake[=/=]dream" problem they seem to be facing. Their surroundings feel perfectly real to them, but then, a dream ''always'' feels real when you're in the middle of it. The Doctor urges them to keep a watch on their surroundings and look out for anything that doesn't ring true, something a lot more easily said than done when you happen to be on a dimensionally transcendental time machine piloted by an alien in a bowtie. A big clue presents itself, however, when the TARDIS suddenly switches off. Dead. Then there's suddenly the birdsong...

Back in the village. It's revealed that Rory is the local doctor. Along with his pregnant young wife it's something he's always dreamed of, a fact that the Doctor takes notice of. Rory points out that it's Amy's dream too (something that Amy is a bit more hesitant in admitting), but the Doctor has moved on, taking interest in a nearby old people's home -- whose occupants seem to be taking an interest in the Doctor as well. People around here usually live well into their nineties, which intrigues the Doctor. The trio run off (well, Amy sort of shuffles) into the home. The residents inside seem perfectly normal and the Doctor gets to try on a lovely knitted jumper, but he's noticed something odd about them: they're ''incredibly'' old...

The Doctor quickly figures out that he's incorporeal by chucking a ball at him, but the Dream Lord is hardly impressed. Being there and yet not there in a spooky fashion is in the job title. Amy is quick to figure out that the Dream Lord creates dreams and illusions, to which the Dream Lord counters that they haven't given "the gooseberry" a chance to have a turn guessing at him. Rory retorts that Amy is ''his'' girlfriend... but, as the Dream Lord notes, Amy is a little hesitant in confirming that.

However, the Dream Lord is much more interested in calling out the Doctor. He poses a challenge. Two worlds, an impossible time machine and a quaint little village that time has forgotten, and in each, a deadly challenge. Only one of them is real, the other is mere illusion. If they die in the dream, they wake up in the real world, and if they die in reality, they die. There's a reason they call it reality, Rory. Time for them to go back to sleep... Or are they waking up?

Amy figures out that the Dream Lord has a history with the Doctor -- but there's little time for that, as the pensioners in the Leadworth retirement home appear to have vanished. The Doctor is trying to figure out exactly how the realities are connected and why the old people strike him as so odd, but he angrily claims that his mind has been blunted by the dullness of his surroundings, and he's "slowing down" like Rory and Amy.

'''The Doctor:''' No, not that... Is nobody going to mention Rory's ''ponytail?''... You hold him down, I'll cut it off?

Of course, as the Dream Lord posits, a crowd of threatening pensioners is absurd. Surely, this must be the dream, what does Amy think? The Doctor [[BerserkButton definitely does not appreciate the Dream Lord's taunts]], which only tickles the Dream Lord, particularly in comparison to Rory's comparatively feeble reaction. All of this has just served to confirm the Doctor's suspicions about who the Dream Lord ''really'' is, since there's only one person in the universe who hates the Doctor this much...

While they're arguing, [[WhenEldersAttack the pensioners attack -- quite literally]]. They do it with reinforcements and eyes in their mouths that spew lethal green gas. Eknodines, a proud race who were chased from their homeworld by "upstart neighbours" and have decided to pay it forward by doing the same to the humans by possessing their elderly. Their first victim is an unfortunate postman who wanders into the scene solely to get turned into dust by green gas.

Back on the TARDIS, Amy must endure the Dream Lord's taunts about the Doctor. About how he always leaves her, and never apologises for it. Amy challenges him, asserting her faith in the Doctor and demanding to know who the Dream Lord is, but he counters with one simple question: has the Doctor told Amy his real name? He once again (while flirting disturbingly with Amy) asserts that she needs to make a choice between the Doctor, the dashing and charismatic but unreliable hero, and Rory, the dull but dependable boyfriend. It's a SadisticChoice... [[TitleDrop Amy's choice]].

Broken, Amy has decided that this world has to be the dream because even if it's not, she's not prepared to live in a world which doesn't have Rory in it. The pensioners have stopped attacking, perhaps sensing what Amy plans to do... or perhaps because it's just a dream. Less certain, the Doctor asks Amy if she's sure about what she wants to do. When she affirms she is, he hands her the keys to the van. As the Dream Lord watches, Amy and the Doctor smash into the side of the house...

...and wake up back on the TARDIS, moments away from plummeting into the cold star. Don't worry, they don't crash into it. The Dream Lord assures them, fair's fair -- and he takes control of the TARDIS, steering them away from the cold star and turning the ship's power back on. Accepting defeat gracefully, the Dream Lord leaves them to ponder on the results and implications of their dreams, and fades away. Rory is alive, and he and Amy celebrate their survival, but the Doctor isn't quite so ready to celebrate. In fact, he begins to overload the TARDIS engines, confident in the belief that this too is a dream -- because the Dream Lord operates through deception and misinformation, because the Dream Lord has no power in the real world, and because he knows who the Dream Lord ''really'' is. The TARDIS suddenly goes white.

The Doctor prepares to take his friends on adventures new... but not before catching a [[TheEndOrIsIt final glimpse of the Dream Lord in a reflection on the console]], taunting him once more.

** "I’m surprised you haven’t got a little purple space dog." K9 wasn't ''purple''...

'''Rory:''' Well, you do have a history of... (''Amy {{death glare}}s him'') ...being very lovely.

-->'''Rory:''' (''when about to crash into a star'') Can't we just call for help?\\
'''The Doctor:''' Yes, because the universe is really quite small and there's bound to be someone nearby. (''bonks Rory on the head with the telephone handset'')

** "[[Recap/DoctorWhoS32E7AGoodManGoesToWar You could be giving birth right now]]. [[Recap/DoctorWhoS32E6TheAlmostPeople This could be the dream]], I told you."

** Taking a closer look at the Dream Lord's outfit can clue you in as to who he is before TheReveal at the end, because his outfit resembles the Doctor's. Calling himself the Dream Lord (the Doctor is a Time Lord) performs the same purpose. He also has an X-ray film in the second Leadworth dream he appears in, and some of his lines resemble those of a doctor ("Take two and call me in the morning.")

** It's so cold the Doctor can't feel his feet... "and other parts."

--->''Loves a redhead, our naughty Doctor.''

* InfantImmortality: Averted as the school children are vaporized by the aliens. At least it would have been if the schoolkids weren't a dream.

-->'''Dream Lord:''' We've got lots of steak here this week. Get it? Lots at stake? ...are these jokes wasted on you?

** Amy has a moment of this towards Rory when Mrs Poggit shoots the green mist at him and he starts dissolving.

* SchrodingersButterfly: The "Dream Lord" traps the Doctor and his two companions in two deadly situations which they switch between by falling asleep every five minutes or so, claiming one of them to be real and one of them to be a dream, and that if you die in the dream you wake up in reality, while if you die in reality, "you die, stupid, that's why it's called reality". In the end, the Doctor, in a twist of genius, realises that the Dream Lord gave them a choice between two dreams, because he "conceded defeat" and revived the dead TARDIS, while the Dream Lord is supposed to have no power over reality. He subsequently blows up the TARDIS to kill them all, and they all get returned to reality, where they were brought into a collective hallucination by a few grammes of psychotropic dust, and the Dream Lord is just an inner demon within the Doctor.

-->'''Rory:''' (''grabbing the phone'') Can’t we call for help?\\

* SuspiciouslySimilarSubstitute: Some fans wonder if the Dream Lord is just a glorified figment of the Doctor's imagination, or an intended CallBack[=/=]CallForward of the Doctor's incarnation as the Valeyard, considering the Twelfth Doctor's first appearance is at Christmas 2013. Bit of FridgeBrilliance, as the Dream Lord might in fact ''be'' the true origin of the Valeyard. Since the Valeyard no doubt lied to the Sixth Doctor about being created when his thirteenth regeneration was experimenting with ways to break the twelve-regeneration limit. And the fact that the Dream Lord appears to survive the end of the episode.

* WhatCouldPossiblyGoWrong: Rory at one point insists that nothing bad could ever possibly happen in his idyllic life in Upper Leadworth... seconds before the Doctor discovers, via an aversion of InfantImmortality, that things ''have'' gone badly wrong in his idyllic life in Upper Leadworth.

It's been five years since Amy and Rory travelled with the Doctor. They're back living in ''Upper'' Leadworth. (A bit more upmarket than Leadworth, according to Rory.) Amy is heavily pregnant. Rory has grown a stupid ponytailed mullet. Life is good, if a little humdrum. Until the Doctor drops by for a visit. Firstly, he crushes their flower garden with the TARDIS. Secondly, he doesn't seem to catch on to the fact that Amy is pregnant, which is a little irritating for her, since he caught on quite quickly to the fact that she's increased in size. Thirdly, outside of the company of his friends he finds the village unbearably dull, and ponders what they do to stave off the "self harm". Rory points out that it's relaxing, and peaceful, as evidenced by the bird song. Which seems to have a dulling effect on the three, gradually sending them to sleep . . .

In the TARDIS, the Doctor wakes from a horrible nightmare, having apparently fallen asleep under the console. It involved Amy and Rory being married in a dull village, with Amy being pregnant. Thing is, Amy and Rory appear to have had the exact same "really good . . . mare". There's something going wrong with the TARDIS console; it seems to be getting slightly cooler in the TARDIS, with their breath gradually misting up -- something that no one appears to have noticed. The Doctor dismisses it as a shared psychic incident in which they jumped a time-track. Except that there's suddenly the sound of birdsong in the TARDIS.

"This is going to be a tricky one . . ."

The trio wake up back on the TARDIS. The Doctor's a bit cross about all of this, which leads him to lash out at the TARDIS, which only ends badly for him and his foot. Unfortunately, he threw the TARDIS manual into a supernova the last time it disagreed with him, so no help there. Amy and Rory, meanwhile, are still struggling with the whole "awake[=/=]dream" problem they seem to be facing. Their surroundings feel perfectly real to them, but then, a dream ''always'' feels real when you're in the middle of it. The Doctor urges them to keep a watch on their surroundings and look out for anything that doesn't ring true, something a lot more easily said than done when you happen to be on a dimensionally transcendental time machine piloted by an alien in a bowtie. A big clue presents itself, however, when the TARDIS suddenly switches off. Dead. Then there's suddenly the birdsong . . .

Back in the village. It's revealed that Rory is the local doctor. Along with his pregnant young wife it's something he's always dreamed of, a fact that the Doctor takes notice of. Rory points out that it's Amy's dream too (something that Amy is a bit more hesitant in admitting), but the Doctor has moved on, taking interest in a nearby old people's home -- whose occupants seem to be taking an interest in the Doctor as well. People around here usually live well into their nineties, which intrigues the Doctor. The trio run off (well, Amy sort of shuffles) into the home. The residents inside seem perfectly normal and the Doctor gets to try on a lovely knitted jumper, but he's noticed something odd about them: they're ''incredibly'' old . . .

The Doctor doesn't have a chance to elaborate on this [[CaptainObvious apparently amazingly obvious fact]] before the three once again hear birdsong, waking up back in the TARDIS . . . Or are they falling asleep? Either way, everything is off in the TARDIS, including the heating. And the scanner. They could be anywhere, and someone is overriding the Doctor's control of the TARDIS.

The Doctor quickly figures out that he's incorporeal by chucking a ball at him, but the Dream Lord is hardly impressed. Being there and yet not there in a spooky fashion is in the job title. Amy is quick to figure out that the Dream Lord creates dreams and illusions, to which the Dream Lord counters that they haven't given "the gooseberry" a chance to have a turn guessing at him. Rory retorts that Amy is ''his'' girlfriend . . . but, as the Dream Lord notes, Amy is a little hesitant in confirming that.

However, the Dream Lord is much more interested in calling out the Doctor. He poses a challenge. Two worlds, an impossible time machine and a quaint little village that time has forgotten, and in each, a deadly challenge. Only one of them is real, the other is mere illusion. If they die in the dream, they wake up in the real world, and if they die in reality, they die. There's a reason they call it reality, Rory. Time for them to go back to sleep . . . Or are they waking up?

'''The Doctor:''' No, not that . . . Is nobody going to mention Rory's ''ponytail?'' . . . You hold him down, I'll cut it off?

Of course, as the Dream Lord posits, a crowd of threatening pensioners is absurd. Surely, this must be the dream, what does Amy think? The Doctor [[BerserkButton definitely does not appreciate the Dream Lord's taunts]], which only tickles the Dream Lord, particularly in comparison to Rory's comparatively feeble reaction. All of this has just served to confirm the Doctor's suspicions about who the Dream Lord ''really'' is, since there's only one person in the universe who hates the Doctor this much . . .

Back on the TARDIS, Amy must endure the Dream Lord's taunts about the Doctor. About how he always leaves her, and never apologises for it. Amy challenges him, asserting her faith in the Doctor and demanding to know who the Dream Lord is, but he counters with one simple question: has the Doctor told Amy his real name? He once again (while flirting disturbingly with Amy) asserts that she needs to make a choice between the Doctor, the dashing and charismatic but unreliable hero, and Rory, the dull but dependable boyfriend. It's a SadisticChoice . . . [[TitleDrop Amy's choice]].

Broken, Amy has decided that this world has to be the dream because even if it's not, she's not prepared to live in a world which doesn't have Rory in it. The pensioners have stopped attacking, perhaps sensing what Amy plans to do . . . or perhaps because it's just a dream. Less certain, the Doctor asks Amy if she's sure about what she wants to do. When she affirms she is, he hands her the keys to the van. As the Dream Lord watches, Amy and the Doctor smash into the side of the house . . .

. . . And wake up back on the TARDIS, moments away from plummeting into the cold star. Don't worry, they don't crash into it. The Dream Lord assures them, fair's fair -- and he takes control of the TARDIS, steering them away from the cold star and turning the ship's power back on. Accepting defeat gracefully, the Dream Lord leaves them to ponder on the results and implications of their dreams, and fades away. Rory is alive, and he and Amy celebrate their survival, but the Doctor isn't quite so ready to celebrate. In fact, he begins to overload the TARDIS engines, confident in the belief that this too is a dream -- because the Dream Lord operates through deception and misinformation, because the Dream Lord has no power in the real world, and because he knows who the Dream Lord ''really'' is. The TARDIS suddenly goes white.

The Doctor prepares to take his friends on adventures new . . . but not before catching a [[TheEndOrIsIt final glimpse of the Dream Lord in a reflection on the console]], taunting him once more.

** "I’m surprised you haven’t got a little purple space dog." K9 wasn't ''purple'' . . .

'''Rory:''' Well, you do have a history of . . . (''Amy {{death glare}}s him'') . . . being very lovely.

-->'''Dream Lord:''' We've got lots of steak here this week. Get it? Lots at stake? . . . Are these jokes wasted on you?

** "If you had any more tawdry quirks you could open up a tawdry quirk shop . . ." He talks to the Doctor ''entirely'' in these, to the point that he sometimes he has to ''remember'' that he's got this SadisticChoice scheme to push along. Once you realise that he, "the one person in the universe" who hates him quite ''that'' much, is part of the Doctor, you ''really'' want to hug him.

* SubvertedRhymeEveryOccasion: The Dream Lord keeps pulling this. "Two worlds: Here, in the time machine, and there, in the village that time forgot. One is real, the other's . . . fake." The Doctor could have done without the limerick.

* TakeAThirdOption: Again, both realities are dreams. Not only that, but Amy's choice is the world where Rory is alive . . . which happens to be on the TARDIS, not in Leadworth. Her choice is to stay with Rory but also on the TARDIS, which, ultimately, is how it all pans out.

* WhatCouldPossiblyGoWrong: Rory at one point insists that nothing bad could ever possibly happen in his idyllic life in Upper Leadworth . . . seconds before the Doctor discovers, via an aversion of InfantImmortality, that things ''have'' gone badly wrong in his idyllic life in Upper Leadworth.

** It's so cold the Doctor can't feel his feet . . . "and other parts."

** The Doctor offered Amy effectively the same choice early in [[Recap/DoctorWhoS31E2TheBeastBelow "The Beast Below"]]. Namely, This or Leadworth.

It's been five years since Amy and Rory travelled with the Doctor. They're back living in ''Upper'' Leadworth. (A bit more upmarket than Leadworth, according to Rory.) Amy is heavily pregnant. Rory has grown a stupid ponytailed mullet. Life is good, if a little humdrum. Until the Doctor drops by for a visit. Firstly, he crushes their flower garden with the TARDIS. Secondly, he doesn't seem to catch on to the fact that Amy is pregnant, which is a little irritating for her, since he caught on quite quickly to the fact that she's increased in size. Thirdly, outside of the company of his friends he finds the village unbearably dull, and ponders what they do to stave off the "self harm". Rory points out that it's relaxing, and peaceful, as evidenced by the bird song. Which seems to have a dulling effect on the three, gradually sending them to sleep....

In the TARDIS, the Doctor wakes from a horrible nightmare, having apparently fallen asleep under the console. It involved Amy and Rory being married in a dull village, with Amy being pregnant. Thing is, Amy and Rory appear to have had the exact same "really good... mare". There's something going wrong with the TARDIS console; it seems to be getting slightly cooler in the TARDIS, with their breath gradually misting up -- something that no one appears to have noticed. The Doctor dismisses it as a shared psychic incident in which they jumped a time-track. Except that there's suddenly the sound of birdsong in the TARDIS.

"This is going to be a tricky one..."

The trio wake up back on the TARDIS. The Doctor's a bit cross about all of this, which leads him to lash out at the TARDIS, which only ends badly for him and his foot. Unfortunately, he threw the TARDIS manual into a supernova the last time it disagreed with him, so no help there. Amy and Rory, meanwhile, are still struggling with the whole "awake / dream" problem they seem to be facing. Their surroundings feel perfectly real to them, but then, a dream ''always'' feels real when you're in the middle of it. The Doctor urges them to keep a watch on their surroundings and look out for anything that doesn't ring true, something a lot more easily said than done when you happen to be on a dimensionally transcendental time machine piloted by an alien in a bowtie. A big clue presents itself, however, when the TARDIS suddenly switches off. Dead. Then there's suddenly the birdsong...

Back in the village. It's revealed that Rory is the local doctor. Along with his pregnant young wife it's something he's always dreamed of, a fact that the Doctor takes notice of. Rory points out that it's Amy's dream too (something that Amy is a bit more hesitant in admitting), but the Doctor has moved on, taking interest in a nearby old people's home -- whose occupants seem to be taking an interest in the Doctor as well. People around here usually live well into their nineties, which intrigues the Doctor. The trio run off (well, Amy sort of shuffles) into the home. The residents inside seem perfectly normal and the Doctor gets to try on a lovely knitted jumper, but he's noticed something odd about them: they're ''incredibly'' old...

The Doctor doesn't have a chance to elaborate on this [[CaptainObvious apparently amazingly obvious fact]] before the three once again hear birdsong, waking up back in the TARDIS....Or are they falling asleep? Either way, everything is off in the TARDIS, including the heating. And the scanner. They could be anywhere, and someone is overriding the Doctor's control of the TARDIS.

The Doctor quickly figures out that he's incorporeal by chucking a ball at him, but the Dream Lord is hardly impressed. Being there and yet not there in a spooky fashion is in the job title. Amy is quick to figure out that the Dream Lord creates dreams and illusions, to which the Dream Lord counters that they haven't given "the gooseberry" a chance to have a turn guessing at him. Rory retorts that Amy is ''his'' girlfriend... but, as the Dream Lord notes, Amy is a little hesitant in confirming that.

'''The Doctor:''' No, not that... Is nobody going to mention Rory's ''ponytail?''... You hold him down, I'll cut it off?

Of course, as the Dream Lord posits, a crowd of threatening pensioners is absurd. Surely, this must be the dream, what does Amy think? The Doctor [[BerserkButton definitely does not appreciate the Dream Lord's taunts]], which only tickles the Dream Lord, particularly in comparison to Rory's comparatively feeble reaction. All of this has just served to confirm the Doctor's suspicions about who the Dream Lord ''really'' is, since there's only one person in the universe who hates the Doctor this much....

Back on the TARDIS, Amy must endure the Dream Lord's taunts about the Doctor. About how he always leaves her, and never apologises for it. Amy challenges him, asserting her faith in the Doctor and demanding to know who the Dream Lord is, but he counters with one simple question: has the Doctor told Amy his real name? He once again (while flirting disturbingly with Amy) asserts that she needs to make a choice between the Doctor, the dashing and charismatic but unreliable hero, and Rory, the dull but dependable boyfriend. It's a SadisticChoice... [[TitleDrop Amy's choice]].

Having returned to the world of the village, Amy is in time to witness Rory make a symbol of his devotion to her... by sacrificing his ponytail. Unfortunately, it also appears that her labour has started. Having also had to endure the taunts of the Dream Lord, the Doctor arrives to perform a rescue, but before they can escape, Rory is surprised by one of the possessed pensioners and hit with a jet of gas. The Doctor and Amy can only watch as Rory, fatally wounded, crumbles to dust in Amy's arms. Despite Amy's pleas, there's nothing the Doctor can do. "Then what", Amy screams at him, "is the point of you?"

Broken, Amy has decided that this world has to be the dream because even if it's not, she's not prepared to live in a world which doesn't have Rory in it. The pensioners have stopped attacking, perhaps sensing what Amy plans to do... or perhaps because it's just a dream. Less certain, the Doctor asks Amy if she's sure about what she wants to do. When she affirms she is, he hands her the keys to the van. As the Dream Lord watches, Amy and the Doctor smash into the side of the house...

...And wake up back on the TARDIS, moments away from plummeting into the cold star. Don't worry, they don't crash into it. The Dream Lord assures them, fair's fair -- and he takes control of the TARDIS, steering them away from the cold star and turning the ship's power back on. Accepting defeat gracefully, the Dream Lord leaves them to ponder on the results and implications of their dreams, and fades away. Rory is alive, and he and Amy celebrate their survival, but the Doctor isn't quite so ready to celebrate. In fact, he begins to overload the TARDIS engines, confident in the belief that this too is a dream -- because the Dream Lord operates through deception and misinformation, because the Dream Lord has no power in the real world, and because he knows who the Dream Lord ''really'' is. The TARDIS suddenly goes white.

The Doctor prepares to take his friends on adventures new... but not before catching a [[TheEndOrIsIt final glimpse of the Dream Lord in a reflection on the console]], taunting him once more.

-->'''Amy''': But why didn't it feed on us, too?\\
'''The Doctor''': The darkness in you pair, it would have starved to death in an instant. I choose my friends with ''great care''. Otherwise I'm stuck here with my own company and you know how that works now.

** The whole scene is identical to the scene in ''Series/{{Torchwood}}'' series one when Rhys died ([[ResetButton well, kind of]])

** The mention of The TARDIS manual which was last seen in [[Recap/DoctorWhoS22E2VengeanceOnVaros Vengeance On Varos]].

** "[[Recap/DoctorWhoS22E4TheTwoDoctors You're probably a vegetarian.]]" (He stopped being one by [[Recap/DoctorWhoS27E11BoomTown "Boom Town"]])

** "I’m surprised you haven’t got a little purple space dog." K9 wasn't ''purple''...

'''Rory:''' Well, you do have a history of... (''Amy {{death glare}}s him'') ... being very lovely.

* DeathGlare: The Doctor gives the Dream Lord one as he tells him to leave Amy alone before the elderly advance on them. Later, as described above, Amy gives Rory one when he says she could be faking going into labour in the nursery.

* EroticDream: According to the Dream Lord, Amy's been having some about the Doctor that make him blush. Given that the Dream Lord ''is'' the Doctor, gets all kinds of interesting.
* EverybodyLives: The only characters in this episode who were ever alive to begin with are the Doctor, Amy and Rory, and they survive.
* EvilMeScaresMe: The Dream Lord is the manifestation of the Doctor's more malevolent tendencies; yes, that is very scary.
* EvilOldFolks: It's not their fault; they're possessed by evil eye alien parasite things that come out of their mouths. Being attacked by genuine evil old people is absurd!

** The Doctor offered Amy effectively the same choice early in "The Beast Below". Namely, This or Leadworth.
** "[[Recap/DoctorWhoS32E7AGoodManGoesToWar You could be giving birth right now]]. [[Recap/DoctorWhoS32E6TheAlmostPeople This could be the dream]], I told you.
** In the first TARDIS dream, as the Doctor gets up after Rory's "we were married" line, you see his breath. It's cold, because of the freezing star they're drifting towards, as revealed a few scenes later.

* GracefulLoser: The Dream Lord knows when he's beaten. He undoes the damage and withdrawals. It's actually an act to make the Doctor, Rory and Amy think they've won.
* GreatGazoo: The Dream Lord is almighty within the dream world, and he uses this power for taunts and {{shipping}}.

-->'''Dream Lord:''' We've got lots of steak here this week. Get it? Lots at stake?... Are these jokes wasted on you?
* LittleNo: Amy has two of these when Rory starts dissolving after being hit by the green mist.

* PleaseDontLeaveMe: Amy to the Doctor and Rory when they fall asleep in the freezing TARDIS, leaving her awake and alone with the Dream Lord.
** Amy has a moment of this towards Rory when Mrs Poggit shoots the green mist at him and he starts dissolving.

** "If you had any more tawdry quirks you could open up a tawdry quirk shop..." He talks to the Doctor ''entirely'' in these, to the point that he sometimes he has to ''remember'' that he's got this SadisticChoice scheme to push along. Once you realise that he, "the one person in the universe" who hates him quite ''that'' much, is part of the Doctor, you ''really'' want to hug him.

* RedshirtArmy: The schoolchildren and their teacher in the castle ruins, who are killed by Mrs Poggit offscreen. The Doctor, Amy and Rory realise this moments before they see the elderly coming their way.
* RightForTheWrongReasons: When the children in the castle courtyard disappear, Rory remarks offhandedly that playtime's probably over. It is, but that's because the children have been disintegrated by the Eknodines' green mist. "Playtime's definitely over" indeed.
* RunningGag: Amy keeps insisting that whichever reality they're in currently is the real one, despite insisting just as strongly whenever they switch to the other one. She eventually realizes this and stops it.
* SadisticChoice: Amy's choice to give up either her life in the TARDIS (Doctor) or one in Upper Leadworth (Rory).
* SayMyName: The first line of the episode. Amy screams "RORRRRRRY!" when she thinks she's going into labour, and the screams seems to resonate across the countryside before cutting to - who else? - Rory.

* SubvertedRhymeEveryOccasion: The Dream Lord keeps pulling this. "Two worlds: Here, in the time machine, and there, in the village that time forgot. One is real, the other's... fake." The Doctor could have done without the limerick.
* SuspiciouslySimilarSubstitute: Some fans wonder if the Dream Lord is just a glorified figment of the Doctor's imagination, or an intended CallBack / CallForward of the Doctor's incarnation as the Valeyard, considering the Twelfth Doctor's first appearance is at Christmas 2013. Bit of FridgeBrilliance, as the Dream Lord might in fact ''be'' the true origin of the Valeyard. Since the Valeyard no doubt lied to the Sixth Doctor about being created when his thirteenth regeneration was experimenting with ways to break the twelve-regeneration limit. And the fact that the Dream Lord appears to survive the end of the episode.
* TakeAThirdOption: Again, both realities are dreams. Not only that, but Amy's choice is the world where Rory is alive... which happens to be on the TARDIS, not in Leadworth. Her choice is to stay with Rory but also on the TARDIS, which, ultimately, is how it all pans out.

* WhatCouldPossiblyGoWrong: Rory at one point insists that nothing bad could ever possibly happen in his idyllic life in Upper Leadworth... seconds before the Doctor discovers, via an aversion of InfantImmortality, that things ''have'' gone badly wrong in his idyllic life in Upper Leadworth.

-->'''Dream Lord:''' We've got lots of steak here this week. Get it? Lots at stake?... This joke's wasted on you.

It's five years since Amy and Rory travelled with the Doctor. They're back living in ''Upper'' Leadworth. (A bit more upmarket than Leadworth, according to Rory.) Amy is heavily pregnant. Rory has grown a stupid ponytailed mullet. Life is good, if a little humdrum. Until the Doctor drops by for a visit. Firstly, he crushes their flower garden with the TARDIS. Secondly, he doesn't seem to catch on to the fact that Amy is pregnant, which is a little irritating for her, since he caught on quite quickly to the fact that she's increased in size. Thirdly, outside of the company of his friends he finds the village unbearably dull, and ponders what they do to stave off the "self harm". Rory points out that it's relaxing, and peaceful, as evidenced by the bird song. Which seems to have a dulling effect on the three, gradually sending them to sleep....

Amy, Rory and the Doctor wake up back on the village bench where they drifted off only moments before. As Rory and Amy realise they've had the same dream ''again'', the Doctor is inspecting his surroundings suspiciously, noting that his bow-tie and braces have changed, and warns the two not to trust anything around them. They may seem to be awake now, but then, they were also convinced that they were awake back on the TARDIS. They're dreaming, somewhere, but are they dreaming of the past or the future? Which one's the real world and which one's the dream?

The trio wake up back on the TARDIS. The Doctor's a bit cross about all of this, which leads him to lash out at the TARDIS, which only ends badly for him and his foot. Unfortunately, he threw the TARDIS manual into a supernova the last time it disagreed with him, so no help there. Amy and Rory, meanwhile, are still struggling with the whole "awake / dream" problem they seem to be facing. Their surroundings feel perfectly real to them, but then, a dream ''always'' feels real when you're in the middle of it. The Doctor urges them to keep a watch on their surroundings and look out for anything that doesn't ring true, something a lot more easily said than done when you happen to be on a dimensionally transcendental time machine piloted by an alien in a bow-tie. A big clue presents itself, however, when the TARDIS suddenly switches off. Dead. Then there's suddenly the birdsong...

That someone suddenly appears out of thin air, right behind them. A little man in a dark suit and a bow-tie. He's pretty scathing about how long it took the Doctor to figure it out, seeing as he'd heard such incredible things about the last of the Time Lords, whom he intends to challenge. As such, call him the Dream Lord.

However, the Dream Lord is much more interested in calling out the Doctor. He poses a challenge. Two worlds, an impossible time machine and a quaint little village that time has forgotten, and in each, a deadly challenge. Only one of them is real, the other is mere illusion. If they die in the dream, they wake up in the real world, and if they die in reality, they die. There's a reason they call it reality, Rory. Time for them to go back to sleep..... Or are they waking up?

While they're arguing, [[WhenEldersAttack the pensioners attack -- quite literally]]. They do it with reinforcements and eyes in their mouths that spew lethal green gas. Ednodines, a proud race who were chased from their home-world by "upstart neighbours" and have decided to pay it forward by doing the same to the humans by possessing their elderly. Their first victim is an unfortunate postman who wanders into the scene solely to get turned into dust by green gas.

'''The Doctor''': The darkness in you pair, it would have starved to death in an instant. I choose my friends with great care. Otherwise I'm stuck here with my own company and you know how that works now.

* BabiesEverAfter: The village is more or less Rory's dream for the future and Amy's very pregnant.

* BlackComedy: There's something morbidly hilarious about watching the [[TechnicalPacifist Doctor]] unhesitatingly shove an old lady off a roof.

** "[[Recap/DoctorWhoS31E1TheEleventhHour Bow-ties are cool.]]"

'''The Doctor:''' Yes, because the universe is really quite small and there's bound to be someone nearby.

* DescriptionCut: Rory tells Amy not to worry about the Doctor, saying "Hey, he’ll be fine. You know the Doctor. He’s Mr Cool." Cue the Doctor stumbling down the street like a drunk giraffe, trying not to fall asleep.

* DreamWeaver: The Doctor/Dream Lord is responsible for both of the dream worlds and what happens in them.

** Taking a closer look at the Dream Lord's outfit can clue you in as to who he is before TheReveal at the end, because his outfit resembles the Doctor's. Calling himself the Dream Lord (the Doctor is a Time Lord) performs the same purpose. He also has an X-ray film in the second Leadworth dream he appears in and some of his lines resemble those of a doctor ("Take two and call me in the morning.")

** It's so cold the Doctor can't feel his feet..."and other parts."

* GreatGazoo: The Dream Lord is almighty within the dream world and he uses this power for taunts and {{shipping}}.

* ImprovisedWeapon: Two. Rory whacks Mrs Hamill into a hedge with a block of wood. Later, when Mrs Poggit kills Rory with the green dust, the Doctor knocks her off the roof with a lamp.

** "If you had any more tawdry quirks you could open up a tawdry quirk shop..." He talks to The Doctor ''entirely'' in these, to the point that he sometimes he has to ''remember'' that he's got this SadisticChoice scheme to push along. Once you realise that he, "the one person in the universe" who hates him quite ''that'' much, is part of the Doctor, you ''really'' want to hug him.

** More casual fans might suspect the Dream Lord to be ''the'' Master, when the Doctor says "only one person in the universe hates me as much as you do".
** TheReveal that the Dream Lord was a [[EnemyWithout manifestation of all the Doctor's self-loathing]] would make some people think he's that the Valeyard.

* SpottingTheThread: The Doctor insists they all try to do this; he waves his hands in front of his face looking for scan-lines or motion blur. Rory and Amy point out it's kind of hard to spot what doesn't ring true when you're on a time machine that's bigger on the inside with a bow-tie-wearing alien. (Though the cold star is pretty darn impossible even by the standards of the show.)

* TakeAThirdOption: Again, both realities are dreams. Not only that, but Amy's choice is the world where Rory is alive... which happens to be on the TARDIS, not in Leadworth. Her choice is to stay with Rory but also stay on the TARDIS, which, ultimately, is how it all pans out.

* UncannyVillage: Rory and Amy live in a beautiful, quiet English village, with people that live unnaturally long and it's spookily empty.
* WhatCouldPossiblyGoWrong: Rory at one point insists that nothing bad could ever possibly happen in his idyllic life in Upper Leadworth... seconds before the Doctor discovers that via an aversion of InfantImmortality things have gone badly wrong in his idyllic life in Upper Leadworth.

* WouldHitAGirl: Twice. First time, Rory whacks one of the elderly alien-ladies that's about to kill him. Second time, The Doctor, [[BewareTheNiceOnes of all people]] whacks an old woman ''with a lamp'' when she comes through the window and kills Rory, making her fall off the roof of Rory and Amy's house. Although, in a way they really didn't, since all of that was a dream.
* XanatosGambit: Both realities are dreams. So whichever they choose, the Dream Lord still wins. Too bad for him The Doctor figured this out.