Portrayed by: Arthur Darvill
Doctor(s): Eleventh Doctor
Tenure: 19 stories (23 episodes), from “Vampires in Venice” (May, 2010) to “The Angels Take Manhattan” (Sept, 2012)
Background: Rory is a nurse from Leadworth who has grown up hearing stories of the Doctor from his friend Amy. Assuming him to be an imaginary figure, he is thrown for a bit of a loop when he meets the Doctor in “The Eleventh Hour”.
Family/Friends: Rory has a kind and rather stuck in his ways father, Brian, and is first friends with, then dating, then married to Amy Pond. The two are the first married couple to travel in the TARDIS and they eventually have a daughter, though that gets a bit complicated (spoilers).
Personality: Rory is sweet and loyal with a strong moral center and fierce determination. He is rather insecure in his relationship with Amy, considering her out of his league, and he’s not as close with the Doctor as she is, constantly seeing the danger that comes with him. The two eventually become friends and develop a profound respect for each other, bringing out the best in one another. Rory is patient and devoted, watching over Amy and the Pandorica for thousands of years, and though he initially is less-than-physically-imposing, he becomes quite the dashing action hero by the end of his tenure. He’s also rather sarcastic and dryly witty and try as he might, he is certainly not cool.
Special Skills: Medical training, patience, loyalty
Best Story: “The Girl Who Waited” is a beautiful spotlight episode for both Rory and Amy and it’s great to meet his dad in “Dinosaurs on a Spaceship” and see them interact
Worst Story: “The Curse of the Black Spot” and “Night Terrors” are highly disposable and sacrifice the larger character journey of both Amy and Rory and “Let’s Kill Hitler”, despite some nice moments, is a huge mess.
Highlights of tenure: Dying and getting better. A lot. Also, standing guard over the Pandorica and not being cool in “A Good Man Goes to War”
Lowlights of tenure: Rory’s repeated refrain that he loves Amy more than she loves him gets incredibly old, as does his constant dying (until the show makes a few self-aware jokes about it)
Memorable quotes:
– [re: the Doctor] “Did he just bring them back? Did he just save the world from aliens, and then bring all the aliens back again?” “The Eleventh Hour”
The Doctor: “How can you be here?”
Rory: “I don’t know. It’s kind of fuzzy. … Well, I died and turned into a Roman. It’s very distracting.” “The Pandorica Opens”
– “Right. Putting Hitler in the cupboard. Cupboard. Hitler. Hitler. Cupboard. Come on.” “Let’s Kill Hitler”
Other notes: Amy and Rory are only the third couple to travel in the TARDIS, and the first who are explicitly together (rather than implicitly) when they join. The others are Ian and Barbara, teachers at the same school and friends who it’s implied develop a relationship and end up married, and Ben and Polly, who have the feel of a dating couple but only met for the second time the same day they meet the Doctor.