Doctor Who: 20 Things You Didn't Know About The Angels Take Manhattan
A behind-the-scenes deep dive into the final days of the Ponds. Tissues at the ready!
When the Tenth Doctor regenerated into the Eleventh, he crashed the TARDIS into the back garden of a house in Leadworth. It was here that he would meet Amelia "Amy" Pond for the first time, beginning a relationship that would define his stay in Matt Smith's body.
Then, on 29 September 2012 – over two years after their journey began – it all came to a heartbreaking end.
The Angels Take Manhattan served as the mid-series finale of the show's seventh series, with Amy and her husband Rory saying goodbye to the Doctor after a thrilling adventure involving River Song, '30s New York, and those pesky moving statues, and a final moment that had Whovians everywhere holding back the tears.
As with all monumental Doctor Who episodes, there's bucketloads of trivia to go along with The Angels Take Manhattan, from original story plans to filming issues to tear-jerking epilogues. This story has it all, and you're about to learn every single detail.
So, put down your copies of Melody Malone – much like Amy and Rory off the roof of Winter Quay, it's time to jump in.
20. The Ponds Wanted A Permanent Goodbye
Aside from that Statue of Liberty reveal, The Angels Take Manhattan is most famous for being the last regular appearance of Amy and Rory Pond.
The Eleventh Doctor's first friends were snatched from the jaws of safety by a rogue Angel and cast backwards in time forevermore, writing them out of the show in a tragic and permanent fashion – which is exactly what the actors wanted.
Karen Gillan and Arthur Darvill requested that Amy and Rory be removed for good, as they didn't want their demise to be undercut by recurring cameos like certain other companions (*cough* Rose *cough*).
Gillan did go back on her word when she appeared briefly at the end of Matt Smith's final episode, but that cameo was both incredibly short and entirely fitting, considering Amy's connection to the Raggedy Man.
Darvill, meanwhile, hasn't been seen in an episode of Doctor Who since departing.