How old is Amy Pond?

[Rocketman]

Seeing a poster talk about her red jumper as "not showing off her curves" and "making her look like a pre-pubescent boy", it occurred to me that this effect might well be intentional. Doctor Who is supposed to be children's tv, after all, and if twenty-three year-old Carole Ann Ford could play a teen, a twenty-two year-old Karen Gillan certainly can as well.

It would make sense to pair a young doctor with a young companion as well. A fourteen-to-sixteen year-old Amy Pond would be much easier for Doctor Who's target audience to relate to, while simultaneously ruling out romantic tension between her and the Doctor (which, come to think of it, wouldn't be very viable anyway, sandwiched inbetween Rose and River Song).

The more I think about it, the more sense it makes to me, but can anyone more connected to the rumor mill confirm/dismiss this idea?

 

[Awesome Possum]

I remember reading somewhere she is supposed to be 18.

 

[Bob The Skutter]

If she's supposed to be a teen, surely that will make the dads feel weird about the eye candy?

 

[The Mirrorball Man]

Doctor Who is supposed to be children's tv, after all

Doctor Who is an all-ages series. It hasn't been children's TV since the 1970's.

 

[Rocketman]

If she's supposed to be a teen, surely that will make the dads feel weird about the eye candy?

I don't know. Casting twenty-somethings as teens isn't exactly uncommon on tv. And from what we've seen of Amy, the "eye candy" is suitably toned down.

 

[biotech]

At least until they get to the planet whose entire civilization is based on baywatch.

 

[Bob The Skutter]

If she's supposed to be a teen, surely that will make the dads feel weird about the eye candy?

I don't know. Casting twenty-somethings as teens isn't exactly uncommon on tv. And from what we've seen of Amy, the "eye candy" is suitably toned down.

But that's the point in the companion isn't it? Something for the dads.

 

[Starkers]

Rose was only supposed to be 19 in S1 wasn't she? Even though Billie was older, I don't think many dads complained

 

[Bob The Skutter]

Rose was only supposed to be 19 in S1 wasn't she? Even though Billie was older, I don't think many dads complained

Yeah, I meant if she was supposed to be 15/16 not 18/19

 

[Chaos Descending]

If she's supposed to be a teen, surely that will make the dads feel weird about the eye candy?

Fortunately, I'm not a Dad, so no guilt there at all.

 

[Winterwind]

I must be getting old. My preference is for adult companions. I can't empathise with, or relate to, teenage companions in any way.

 

[Rocketman]

I must be getting old. My preference is for adult companions. I can't empathise with, or relate to, teenage companions in any way.

I'm mostly tired of early twenty-first century adult companions, and eager to latch on to anything that might be a departure from that.

The last three companions have all been fairly mature, responsible adults, able to hold their own, not easily scared. The few times they've come in conflict with the Doctor were due to differences in perspective and ethics more than anything else. The one exception I can think of is "Father's day", in which Rose acts out of a very emotional need to see her father.

Imagine instead a character more genuinely terrified of things like Daleks and Sea Devils One who is more impulsive and irresponsible. One who occasionally buckles under pressure. Add in a Doctor who is apparently willing to expose such an individual to the terrors of the cosmos, and I think you have a very interesting dynamic indeed.

 

[Sci]

It would make sense to pair a young doctor with a young companion as well. A fourteen-to-sixteen year-old Amy Pond would be much easier for Doctor Who's target audience to relate to, while simultaneously ruling out romantic tension between her and the Doctor (which, come to think of it, wouldn't be very viable anyway, sandwiched inbetween Rose and River Song).

Well, first off, Amy isn't "sandwiched in-between" Rose and River. Between Rose and Amy, there's Jack, Donna, Martha, Astrid, Jackson, Lady Christina, Adelaide, and, apparently,

Spoiler: Finale Tennant Stories

Wilfred

. So it's hardly as though we're going straight from Rose to Amy and then River.

Also, bear in mind that this is Steven Moffat we're talking about. Most of his work on Doctor Who has been, in essence, about the Doctor's sex life. "The Empty Child"/"The Doctor Dances" was all about whether or not the Doctor "danced." "The Girl in the Cafe" was about the Doctor falling for an amazing woman and then losing her. "Silence in the Library"/"Forest of the Dead" was about the Doctor meeting, apparently, someone he came to love so much that he told her his name.

Moffat's work is often about the Doctor's love life, and I wouldn't be the least bit surprised to see a Doctor/Amy relationship, or a Doctor/Amy/River triangle.

 

[biotech]

I'd settle for some Amy/River action.

Hmmm, "River","Dance", subtle.

 

[Admiral Buzzkill]

Doctor Who is supposed to be children's tv, after all...

oldWho, maybe. That certainly doesn't describe any nuWho I've seen. It's goofy and unserious and certainly over-the-top in many ways but the writing is very much pitched to an older sensibility than children. There's a pretty strong subcurrent of sexuality running through it as well.

 

[Rocketman]

Also, bear in mind that this is Steven Moffat we're talking about. Most of his work on Doctor Who has been, in essence, about the Doctor's sex life. "The Empty Child"/"The Doctor Dances" was all about whether or not the Doctor "danced." "The Girl in the Cafe" was about the Doctor falling for an amazing woman and then losing her. "Silence in the Library"/"Forest of the Dead" was about the Doctor meeting, apparently, someone he came to love so much that he told her his name.

Moffat's work is often about the Doctor's love life, and I wouldn't be the least bit surprised to see a Doctor/Amy relationship, or a Doctor/Amy/River triangle.

I think we have very few data points to work with to extrapolate that kind of 'style' for Moffat, and even then, you're ignoring 'Blink', which certainly didn't touch upon the subject of the Doctor's sex life (am I alone in feeling that the Larry/Sally romance in the end felt a bit tacked on?)

By the same logic, Moffat's episodes more often than not seem to feature and speak to children. Apart from his penchant for making his episodes scary in a way that's obviously aimed at younger viewers, Jamie's love for his mother is a cornerstone of TEC/TDD, his role in The Girl in the Fireplace is parental as much as romantic (he first meets Mme de Pompadour when he chases the monsters away from under her bed) SitL/FotD again features a library computer with the personality of a child.

Moffat has also gone out of his way to avoid 'real' deaths in his episodes so far, with only The Girl in the Fireplace having genuine casualties caused by the clockwork robots.

How many other episodes of the new series feature children as characters? Off the top of my head, I can only think of "School Reunion", "The Idiot's Lantern" and "Fear Her".

 

[FordSVT]

Imagine instead a character more genuinely terrified of things like Daleks and Sea Devils One who is more impulsive and irresponsible. One who occasionally buckles under pressure. Add in a Doctor who is apparently willing to expose such an individual to the terrors of the cosmos, and I think you have a very interesting dynamic indeed.

That doesn't sound far off from many of his past companions.... but they change. You can only be a terrified bat running around screaming all the time for so long, anyone would become a bit insensitive to a lot of it after a while. "Oh look! Another creepy alien!". And I can't see the Doctor putting up with someone who was that genuinely afraid of the universe for very long, nor can I see him deliberately trying to scare the shit out of someone as a past-time. While he's never been afraid to show his companions the "dark side" of the universe from time to time, I think it would be out of character for him take on someone he didn't think could handle it. In which case we're back to the "originally terrified but now capable companion" model.

 

[wamdue]

Seeing a poster talk about her red jumper as "not showing off her curves" and "making her look like a pre-pubescent boy",

what?

I dont know about the rest of you but I was once a pre-pubescent boy, and I looked nothing like Karen.

 

[Rocketman]

That doesn't sound far off from many of his past companions.... but they change. You can only be a terrified bat running around screaming all the time for so long, anyone would become a bit insensitive to a lot of it after a while. "Oh look! Another creepy alien!". And I can't see the Doctor putting up with someone who was that genuinely afraid of the universe for very long, nor can I see him deliberately trying to scare the shit out of someone as a past-time. While he's never been afraid to show his companions the "dark side" of the universe from time to time, I think it would be out of character for him take on someone he didn't think could handle it. In which case we're back to the "originally terrified but now capable companion" model.

True, but that could easily coincide with her character maturing over time. Assuming a two-year stint as a companion, an insecure fifteen year-old Amy Pond could be returned to Earth as a much more seasoned and responsible seventeen year-old at the end of season six.

I'm not trying to suggest a return to the desexualised Who of yesteryear, nor am I trying to rain on the parade of those eagerly anticipating Karen Gillan eyecandy (the actress is twenty-two, remember?). With Steven Moffat at the helm, I'm sure we'll get our share of highly entertaining adult romance. But I don't think it necessarily has to feature a relationship between Amy Pond and the Doctor, and I do think it would be a good idea to have a companion that appeals to the core and future audience of the programme.

 

[captcalhoun]

"The Girl in the Cafe"

i missed that episode...