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{{Infobox Individual
{{Infobox Individual
|individual name  = Dream Lord
|image          = Dream Lord.jpg
|alias           = [[Eleventh Doctor|The Doctor]]
|alias           = [[The Doctor]]
|image            = [[File:TOBY JONES DREAMLORD.png|250px]]
|species         = Psychic pollen
|race            =
|only            = Amy's Choice (TV story)
|home planet      =
|actor           = Toby Jones
|home era         =  
|clip            = The Dreamlord taunts - Doctor Who - BBC
|appearances      = [[DW]]: ''[[Amy's Choice]]''
|clip2          = {{uc:Doctor Who clip}} 2 2
|actor           = [[Toby Jones]]
}}
}}
{{Doctors}}
'''The Dream Lord''' was a psychic manifestation of the [[Dark Design|darker parts]] of [[the Doctor]]'s character, given life by [[psychic pollen]] that was stuck in the [[time rotor]] of [[The Doctor's TARDIS|the TARDIS]]. Due to his nature of being created from a mind, the Dream Lord had the ability to control the [[dream]]s of others as he wished, even allowing the Doctor, Amy and Rory to share the same dream. However, he had, as the [[Eleventh Doctor]] put it, "no power over the real world."


'''The Dream Lord''' is a manifestation of the dark side of [[Eleventh Doctor|the Doctor]], who has control over dreams. He was "awoken" by specks of psychic pollen from the candle meadows of Karass Don Slava that had got stuck in the [[The Doctor's TARDIS|TARDIS]], and woke as it was warmed up. The Dream Lord drew his personality from the 'dark' dimensions of the Doctor's subconscious or innermost thoughts and insecurities about the course of his life and treatment of others, including self-loathing, guilt, arrogance, selfishness and even lust.
== Biography ==
All [[Gallifreyan]]s possessed a dark side of the mind ([[PROSE]]: ''[[A History of the Universe (short story)|A History of the Universe]]'', ''[[The Infinity Doctors (novel)|The Infinity Doctors]]'') called the [[Dark Design]]. ([[PROSE]]: ''[[Falls the Shadow (novel)|Falls the Shadow]]'') The darkness was a true form of [[evil]], locked inside the [[DNA]] of Time Lords. ([[PROSE]]: ''[[The Infinity Doctors (novel)|The Infinity Doctors]]'') The [[Seventh Doctor]] knew there were possible "cold futures" in which his own way of thinking and feeling would become alien to his present self due to the Dark Design, ([[PROSE]]: ''[[Falls the Shadow (novel)|Falls the Shadow]]'') such as the future from which [[the Valeyard]] came. ([[PROSE]]: ''[[A History of the Universe (short story)|A History of the Universe]]'', [[TV]]: ''[[The Ultimate Foe (TV story)|The Ultimate Foe]]'')


He trapped the Doctor, [[Amy Pond]] and [[Rory Williams]] between two worlds, telling them that one was dream and one was real and that they would have to choose between them. He seemed to have a little sense of humour. While in the dream world, he would appear to the group and the Doctor individually, taunting him on his insecurities and defects. He trapped the Doctor and his friends with a big group of old people, who were in fact aliens called the Ecnodeen. However, the Doctor eventually realised that neither world was real, and managed to return them all to the waking world. After removing the pollen, the Doctor saw the Dream Lord's face in his reflection in the TARDIS console, smiling slyly at him. ([[DW]]: ''[[Amy's Choice]]'')
The Dream Lord was "awoken" by specks of [[psychic pollen]] from the Candle Meadows of [[Karass Don Slava]] that had become stuck in the [[time rotor]] of [[the Doctor's TARDIS]] [[TARDIS console|console]]. This pollen induced a collective dream state for the [[Eleventh Doctor]] and his [[companion]]s, [[Amy Pond]] and [[Rory Williams]] when warmed. The Dream Lord trapped the Doctor, Amy, and Rory between two worlds, one in a seemingly idyllic Upper [[Leadworth]], five years in Amy and Rory's personal futures, and the other in a TARDIS hurtling toward a "[[cold star]]". He told them one of these worlds was a dream and the other was real. In each world, the three were to face "a deadly danger", and dying in the dream world would allow them to wake up in reality. In actuality, the Dream Lord had created both worlds; all the while they remained asleep in the Doctor's TARDIS.


==Notes==
The Dream Lord appeared to the Doctor and his companions in both worlds, taunting the Doctor on his insecurities and defects, and pressuring Amy to assess her own priorities and "dreams" for the future – whether she wanted a life of adventure with the Doctor, or to be settled safely with Rory and a family. He seemed to relish baiting the Doctor and his companions with remarks about their relationships. The Doctor recognised who the Dream Lord was because, in his own words, only one person in the Universe could hate him that much.
*The Dream Lord shares some similarities with a few prominent villains seen throughout the classic series, including the [[Valeyard]] (like the Dream Lord, a manifestation of the Doctor's own dark side), the [[Celestial Toymaker]], the [[Black Guardian]] (who claimed to be "evil to the Doctor's good"), and [[the Master]] (in as much as he is the Doctor's nemesis and yet defeats himself surreptitiously helping the Doctor and his companions).
*Whether or not he had been truly defeated at the end of his debut is open for interpretation, as he was seen smirking at the Doctor at the end in the latter's reflection. Being a representation of the Doctor's inner darkness, he may never be truly defeated, but only hiding in him. This notion is supported by the Dream Lord's magnanimous decision to "withdraw" after the [[Leadworth]] dream ended.


==See also==
After they all died in the Upper Leadworth world, they were freed from the "cold star" by the Dream Lord as "reward" for apparently solving his puzzle. The Doctor then realised that neither world was real, and returned them all to the waking world by destroying the TARDIS and seemingly killing himself, Amy, and Rory.
*[[The Valeyard]]
 
{{Time Lords}}
Whether or not the Dream Lord was truly defeated was open to interpretation. After he had found and removed the psychic pollen, the Doctor saw the Dream Lord's face in his reflection in the TARDIS' console, smiling slyly at him. Being a representation of the Doctor's inner darkness, the Dream Lord may never be truly defeated, but only hiding within him. ([[TV]]: ''[[Amy's Choice (TV story)|Amy's Choice]]'')
{{Series 5 aliens}}
 
[[Category:Eleventh Doctor enemies]]
== Personality ==
[[Category:Humanoid species]]
The Dream Lord drew his personality and observations from the [[Dark Design|"dark" aspects]] of the Doctor's subconscious. This included his innermost thoughts and doubts about the course of his life and perhaps cavalier treatment of others, including self-loathing, guilt, arrogance, selfishness and even lust. The Dream Lord had a bleak, cynical sense of humour, turning other people's remarks against them effortlessly and callously. He proclaimed the advancing army of Eknodines as "attack of the old people", and mimicked the Doctor when he jumped to Amy's defence. He was scornful of how the Doctor mostly chose younger people as his companions, as "the old man prefers the company of the young", and thus the Dream Lord did not consider the Doctor's companions as actual friends.
[[Category:Stub]]
 
[[Category:Incarnations of the Doctor]]
The Doctor said to the Dream Lord, not long after they met, that he knew who the Dream Lord really was because only one person hated the Doctor as much as the Dream Lord did. An additional layer to the Dream Lord's identity emerged when the Doctor described the psychic pollen which created the Dream Lord as a "mind parasite". He also enjoyed making fun of Rory and his lack of common sense, something the Doctor was more subtle about. ([[TV]]: ''[[Amy's Choice (TV story)|Amy's Choice]]'')
[[Category:Mysterious beings]]
 
== Appearance ==
Physically, the Dream Lord appeared as a short, older man. When he faced the Eleventh Doctor and his companions, the Dream Lord's appearance was generally a parody of the Doctor himself, (being a psychic manifestation of him) consisting of a tweed jacket, striped shirt and bow-tie strikingly similar to the Doctor's. He frequently changed his clothes to make fun of whatever situation the trio was in.
 
The Dream Lord appeared to have [[Ginger (trait)|ginger]] hair, ([[TV]]: ''[[Amy's Choice (TV story)|Amy's Choice]]'') something the Doctor desired to have. ([[TV]]: ''[[The Christmas Invasion (TV story)|The Christmas Invasion]]'', ''[[The End of Time (TV story)|The End of Time]]'')
 
== Behind the scenes ==
* The Dream Lord had some pronounced similarities to another prominent villain, [[the Valeyard]], who was also a manifestation of [[Dark Design|the Doctor's dark side]] taken from a point in the [[Sixth Doctor]]'s future. ([[TV]]: ''[[The Ultimate Foe (TV story)|The Ultimate Foe]]'')
** He also shared a great similarity with the [[Nightmare Man]], a villain from the ''Doctor Who'' spin-off ''[[The Sarah Jane Adventures]]'' as they both existed in people's dreams and had absolute control over those dreams' content.
[[Category:Partial Time Lords]]
[[Category:Eleventh Doctor]]
[[Category:Personifications of concepts]]
[[Category:Dreams and dreaming]]
[[Category:Individual dream parasites]]
 
[[es:Señor del sueño]]
[[fr:Seigneur des Rêves]]
[[ru:Повелитель снов]]
[[Category:Dream content]]

Latest revision as of 20:05, 25 January 2024

The Dream Lord was a psychic manifestation of the darker parts of the Doctor's character, given life by psychic pollen that was stuck in the time rotor of the TARDIS. Due to his nature of being created from a mind, the Dream Lord had the ability to control the dreams of others as he wished, even allowing the Doctor, Amy and Rory to share the same dream. However, he had, as the Eleventh Doctor put it, "no power over the real world."

Biography[[edit] | [edit source]]

All Gallifreyans possessed a dark side of the mind (PROSE: A History of the Universe, The Infinity Doctors) called the Dark Design. (PROSE: Falls the Shadow) The darkness was a true form of evil, locked inside the DNA of Time Lords. (PROSE: The Infinity Doctors) The Seventh Doctor knew there were possible "cold futures" in which his own way of thinking and feeling would become alien to his present self due to the Dark Design, (PROSE: Falls the Shadow) such as the future from which the Valeyard came. (PROSE: A History of the Universe, TV: The Ultimate Foe)

The Dream Lord was "awoken" by specks of psychic pollen from the Candle Meadows of Karass Don Slava that had become stuck in the time rotor of the Doctor's TARDIS console. This pollen induced a collective dream state for the Eleventh Doctor and his companions, Amy Pond and Rory Williams when warmed. The Dream Lord trapped the Doctor, Amy, and Rory between two worlds, one in a seemingly idyllic Upper Leadworth, five years in Amy and Rory's personal futures, and the other in a TARDIS hurtling toward a "cold star". He told them one of these worlds was a dream and the other was real. In each world, the three were to face "a deadly danger", and dying in the dream world would allow them to wake up in reality. In actuality, the Dream Lord had created both worlds; all the while they remained asleep in the Doctor's TARDIS.

The Dream Lord appeared to the Doctor and his companions in both worlds, taunting the Doctor on his insecurities and defects, and pressuring Amy to assess her own priorities and "dreams" for the future – whether she wanted a life of adventure with the Doctor, or to be settled safely with Rory and a family. He seemed to relish baiting the Doctor and his companions with remarks about their relationships. The Doctor recognised who the Dream Lord was because, in his own words, only one person in the Universe could hate him that much.

After they all died in the Upper Leadworth world, they were freed from the "cold star" by the Dream Lord as "reward" for apparently solving his puzzle. The Doctor then realised that neither world was real, and returned them all to the waking world by destroying the TARDIS and seemingly killing himself, Amy, and Rory.

Whether or not the Dream Lord was truly defeated was open to interpretation. After he had found and removed the psychic pollen, the Doctor saw the Dream Lord's face in his reflection in the TARDIS' console, smiling slyly at him. Being a representation of the Doctor's inner darkness, the Dream Lord may never be truly defeated, but only hiding within him. (TV: Amy's Choice)

Personality[[edit] | [edit source]]

The Dream Lord drew his personality and observations from the "dark" aspects of the Doctor's subconscious. This included his innermost thoughts and doubts about the course of his life and perhaps cavalier treatment of others, including self-loathing, guilt, arrogance, selfishness and even lust. The Dream Lord had a bleak, cynical sense of humour, turning other people's remarks against them effortlessly and callously. He proclaimed the advancing army of Eknodines as "attack of the old people", and mimicked the Doctor when he jumped to Amy's defence. He was scornful of how the Doctor mostly chose younger people as his companions, as "the old man prefers the company of the young", and thus the Dream Lord did not consider the Doctor's companions as actual friends.

The Doctor said to the Dream Lord, not long after they met, that he knew who the Dream Lord really was because only one person hated the Doctor as much as the Dream Lord did. An additional layer to the Dream Lord's identity emerged when the Doctor described the psychic pollen which created the Dream Lord as a "mind parasite". He also enjoyed making fun of Rory and his lack of common sense, something the Doctor was more subtle about. (TV: Amy's Choice)

Appearance[[edit] | [edit source]]

Physically, the Dream Lord appeared as a short, older man. When he faced the Eleventh Doctor and his companions, the Dream Lord's appearance was generally a parody of the Doctor himself, (being a psychic manifestation of him) consisting of a tweed jacket, striped shirt and bow-tie strikingly similar to the Doctor's. He frequently changed his clothes to make fun of whatever situation the trio was in.

The Dream Lord appeared to have ginger hair, (TV: Amy's Choice) something the Doctor desired to have. (TV: The Christmas Invasion, The End of Time)

Behind the scenes[[edit] | [edit source]]