The BBC is very concerned that we are all very concerned about what happened to Amy and Rory, and if Rory’s father, Brian, ever learned of their fate. From the official Doctor Who site:
Rory’s dad, Brian Williams, only appeared in two episodes but swiftly established himself as a favourite amongst Doctor Who’s audience. After Amy and Rory’s heart-breaking departure in The Angels Take Manhattan we received many emails asking what happened next to Brian. Did he ever find out what took his son and daughter-in-law? If so, how? And would Brian – and viewers – ever learn more about Amy and Rory’s life after the Doctor?
A special scene was written by Chris Chibnall that revealed some of the answers but sadly, the sequence was never shot. However, we’re happy to announce that we’ll be bringing you the scene tomorrow. Using animated storyboards and a voice-over specially recorded by Arthur Darvill, we’ll discover more about Brian and the Ponds, post-Angels.
It begins with Brian alone, doing what he once told the Doctor must be done – watering the plants. But his life is about to change forever…
And here is that scene. It’s an animatic, with a voiceover by Arthur Darvill:
Nice… but basically the opening scene of “Blink” all over again.
Hat-tips to Shirley, Dan, Paula, Henry, RogerBW, and Lanna. Sorry if I missed anyone else.
(If you stumble across a cool Doctor Who thing, feel free to email me with a link.)
Pass the tissues.
Poor Brian, both his Grandchildren are older than his child.
It seems like cheating, in a way – I’m old-fashioned enough to think that the show is the show, and once it’s been broadcast you don’t get to change it.
But on the other hand, I think Moffat’s approach as show-runner has been all about emotional manipulation… so why would he have dropped the ball by leaving out the resolution that’s surely a substantial part of why the character was introduced in the first place?
It seems that they’re more concerned about sticking to the required timeslots now. Back in the RTD-era, I think they went over the timeslot for the final episodes of series sometimes.
They had more money then.
Who do you think the “they” is who makes that decision?
I don’t know if it’s the BBC telling Moffat he must stay within the timeslot or if it’s just Moffat and Caroline Skinner not wanting to go over. So, I’m not sure who “they” are.
“Nice… but basically the opening scene of “Blink” all over again.”
Probably why it wasn’t in the show.
That had more emotion in it than any scene in Angels Take Manhattan. Amazing how that works.
You could say it was a callback to the beginning of Blink. But yeah, that’s probably why it didn’t get shot.
The thing I find odd about this scene is that leaving it out leaves the character’s arc completely unresolved – so why did the team bother to bring him in in the first place?
ALL the feels