Howling:5 things to look out for: Deception

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I was reading the talk page of Vampires of Venice and noticed this had been added by an unregistered contributor:

I believe Amy Pond is not who she says or thinks she is- based off of her changeable personality, the 'Pond with no Ducks', the fact she acclimatised so well to time travel compared to every other companion, and how in times of danger she seems more concerned with getting one over on the Doctor. Add to that the fact that she aimed that kick very well in this episode- like she may have some hidden knowledge about how the aliens work, because everyone knows Vampires wouldnt be affected by a kick and generally it would make things a ton worse for her... Finally, deception has been a key theme so far- allow me to explain:

Prisoner Zero could shapechange The space whale 'appeared' to be a starship The Daleks acted like allies to provoke the Doctor The Angels appeared to be ordinary statues, even to the Doctor 'What could be so bad that they want us to think they're vampires?'

I think they have a good point. Has anyone else noticed this? Also, the same person mentioned a rufugee theme aswell which makes alot of sense. Lu-igi board

But it's a good call. You could add the following: Amy not admitting to Mrs Angelo she's a kissogram (but that's understandable!) River Pond, the deception of the Doctor not knowing who and what she really is. Use of the psychic paper Bracewell not being human 86.26.137.154 07:09, May 10, 2010 (UTC)

maybe the theme is unknown information/secrets as opposed to deception? Lu-igi board

The Dream Lord openly calls out the fact that Amy's Choice is all about deception and delusions. On top of using both of those words and related ones repeatedly, one of the most significant bits of the episode is (paraphrasing), "Is that what you think you are? The only girl in the universe the Doctor trusts? The one he keeps no secrets from? Then tell me, what's his name?" --Falcotron 09:48, May 18, 2010 (UTC)

How about disguises? -The Eleventh Hour: Prisoner Zero disguises itself as various people. -The Beast Below: Liz Ten wears a mask to disguise herself allowing her to move around undetected. -Victory of the Daleks: the Daleks "disguise" themselves as Ironsides, Bracewell is an android "disguised" as a human. -Time of Angels/Flesh and Stone: the Angels are possibly disguised as ordinary statues using a perception filter. -Vampires of Venice: the Saturnynians use perception filters to disguise themselves as vampires. -Amy's Choice: tricky one, I suppose you could say that the dark side of the Doctor's personality "disguises" itself as the Dream Lord, or that the Eknodine disguise themselves as the old people in the village. -The Hungry Earth: the Silurian Alaya wears a mask, and I suppose you could say that there is a spoken disguise as well, as Alaya first claims that she is the last of her species, and then that they're only a small tribe when actually they make up a whole civilization.

The only one that doesn't really sit properly in my mind is Victory of the Daleks, which fits in more with deception than with disguise, but I think the others work. 159.92.57.11 09:53, May 23, 2010 (UTC)

I am increasingly becoming convinced that our Amy is, or will become, a Tardis. 1. The "am alien pod" anagram of her younger name, as identified by someone else (here or elsewhere, not sure), started me off; 2. The Dream Lord query: "Is that what you think you are? The only girl in the universe the Doctor trusts? The one he keeps no secrets from?" On more than one occasion, classic as well as new series, the Doctor has referred to his Type 40 as "girl", or "her". No one human female companion could claim to be the "only girl in the universe that the Doctor trusts", and the Dream Lord was not asking this off Rose or River. 3. There have definitely been elements of other Doctor Who media stories being re-worked to be presented in new series canon, and the tale of the Eighth Doctor companion, Compassion (elsewhere on this Wiki) who "evolves into a living Tardis", while the Doctor's own "TARDIS having been apparently destroyed in a dimensional rift." 4 (SPOILER?). I was looking forward to seeing the non-fatal Silurian vivisection of Amy, to see what he would find, but that got deferred - how did she pickpocket him? Magnetic fingers? Torchwood Five 87.80.103.44 20:52, May 29, 2010 (UTC)

Just a random thought from an anonymous person here, but try imagining the season, hell, the entire series if you removed deception or disguise. I don't think it's there as some sort of hidden message or meaning; it's the plot device in almost every episode (since 2005) that helps drive the series.

to the unsigned person above...but the perception filter is suddenly used by so many aliens like a new iPhone in this series...even the Weeping Angels have perception filter...There're literally only a few episodes that don't have them...It's like Apple survived to the end of time and launched the iFilter....Prisoner Zero bought it....Angels bought it...Saturnyians (or however you spell them) bought it...Time ship in the Lodger has it...203.168.176.42 06:37, June 25, 2010 (UTC)

Yeah, the perception filter thing has gotten very suspcious. It was only ever used once before, and that was in The Sound of Drums, and never heard from again. Along came series 5, and:

The Eleventh Hour = perception filter The Time of Angels/Flesh and Stone = perception filter The Vapires of Venice = perception filter The Lodger = perception filter

I am pretty sure there was more perception filter, too. Delton Menace 06:58, June 25, 2010 (UTC)

If the perception filter is just Moffat's favourite device then I demand Moffat to kill himself for ruining the franchise...This is the weakest point in the whole series...with the doctor not being immune to it, making the technology so common is like saying that everything you see can be fake...and his Weeping Angels' image of mystical mysterious aliens are certainly well ruined if they did place the perception filter themselves through technological means...not that he hasn't destroyed every single thing he established in Blink...203.168.176.42 07:23, June 25, 2010 (UTC)

Perception filters do seem like quick and dirty ways around some plot points. You guys may be right, there have been a good many of them this season. But I don't think the weeping angels use them. What I will say, if what I hear of the final is true, and Moffat has been playing a lot more with time travel than we think we have seen, both deception...or perhaps obfuscation is a better word, and perception filters are a necessity, or at least a huge theme. PS. I should think we will continue to see more perception filters, because they allow for a lot of leyway for timetravel plot, retcon, and budgetary reasons (ie Saturnians looking like humans most of the time = less cgi = less money) Ender.wiggin 07:52, June 25, 2010 (UTC)

Just been reading the above, re. perception filters, and I wondered - if the Doctor keeps falling for these things, why wasn't, in Sound of Drums, the Master similarly prone? In fact, he seemed quite put out that anybody thought it would work! Torchwood Five 188.28.159.127 13:34, June 25, 2010 (UTC)

Well, the Master needs his unique advantages. If the only difference between them was 'the Doctor is good, the Master is evil' it would be a cartoon show. The Master perpetually cheats death and is a much more experienced liar than even the Doctor, so seeing through lies is more his forte. The Doctor is a more experienced scientist and can work out things that the Master gets stuck on, that's his forte. Also control vs compassion, propelled by intention vs living by happy accidents, having a newer Tardis vs having the favor of the Guardians, etc.

Back to the thread, I'm on the fence. Deception, obfuscation and so forth are essential plot devices when your main protagonist is a demigod. Otherwise the only tension they could use to make even a 20 minute episode would be, "oh drat, I can't steer the Tardis right, we have to walk to the doomsday device instead of materializing right around it." However, the "There's something [I'm missing/you're forgetting/etc]" still seems like a possible 5 Things candidate to me. Agonaga 16:20, June 25, 2010 (UTC)