Leadworth duck pond
One of the many "delightful views" of the Gloucestershire village known as Leadworth included a 19th-century duck pond. (PROSE: Around Leadworth [+]Loading...{"page":"16-17","name":"\"around\"","1":"Around Leadworth (short story)"}) Due to the cracks rewriting time, (TV: Flesh and Stone [+]Loading...["Flesh and Stone (TV story)"]) the duck pond lacked ducks, which several individuals acknowledged. (TV: The Eleventh Hour [+]Loading...["The Eleventh Hour (TV story)"], PROSE: Prisoner Zero [+]Loading...{"page":"82","1":"Prisoner Zero (short story)"}) At least as reported by one newspaper, the duck pond also housed a temporal rift that lead to Carnaby Street in 1973. (PROSE: Duck Pond Mystery Solved [+]Loading...["Duck Pond Mystery Solved (short story)"])
Geography[[edit] | [edit source]]
The duck pond was located in lower Leadworth, situated between The Green, Leadworth Green Road and Station Road. To its immediate north were Broderick Books, Leadworth Hospice Shop and The Wig and Cravat. To its east was The Leadworth Green, a telephone box, The Rectory, and a war memorial. To its south was the Leadworth Parish Church, a car park, Leadworth Community Centre, (PROSE: Around Leadworth [+]Loading...{"page":"16-17","name":"\"around\"","1":"Around Leadworth (short story)"}) an unnamed building and the ruins of Leadworth House. (PROSE: "Leadworth" [+]Part of The Visual Dictionary: Updated and Expanded, Loading...{"name":"\"visual\"","page":"38-39","namedpart":"Leadworth","1":"The Visual Dictionary: Updated and Expanded (reference book)"}) To its west was the Celtic Cross and Jeff Angelo's house. (PROSE: Around Leadworth [+]Loading...{"page":"16-17","name":"\"around\"","1":"Around Leadworth (short story)"}, "Leadworth" [+]Part of The Visual Dictionary: Updated and Expanded, Loading...{"name":"\"visual\"","page":"38-39","namedpart":"Leadworth","1":"The Visual Dictionary: Updated and Expanded (reference book)"}) The pond was one of many "traditional aspects of rural village life." (PROSE: Doctor Who: The Encyclopedia [+]Loading...{"page":"195","ed":"2011 reprint","1":"Doctor Who: The Encyclopedia (reference book)"})
History[[edit] | [edit source]]
While Leadworth itself existed as early as the 13th-century, the duck pond itself was not built until the 19th. (PROSE: Around Leadworth [+]Loading...{"page":"16-17","name":"\"around\"","1":"Around Leadworth (short story)"})
Evidently, there existed a version of history that was subsequently rewritten by the cracks in time; in this version of history, the pond indeed had resident ducks. Despite this version of history being rewritten, (TV: Flesh and Stone [+]Loading...["Flesh and Stone (TV story)"]) it was still known as a duck pond afterwards. (TV: The Eleventh Hour [+]Loading...["The Eleventh Hour (TV story)"])
During the twelve-year gap between Prisoner Zero's arrival in Amelia Pond's house and the return of the Eleventh Doctor, Prisoner Zero used his ability to impersonate Leadworth residents to follow Amelia. He also liked doing this as it got "[him] out of the house", particularly enjoying sitting next to the duck pond and wondering about the lack of ducks and if it would ever be "significant." (PROSE: Prisoner Zero [+]Loading...{"page":"82","1":"Prisoner Zero (short story)"})
In 2008, after leaving Jeff's home, the Doctor and Amy Pond went into another part of Leadworth. The Doctor asked Amy about the pond and why it lacked ducks — she took it for granted it was a duck pond and never questioned the contradiction. (TV: The Eleventh Hour [+]Loading...["The Eleventh Hour (TV story)"]) Later, during his travels with Amy, he deduced on Alfava Metraxis in the 51st century, upon encountering a crack, that the cracks had been responsible for rewriting the ducks and the Daleks's role in time. (TV: Flesh and Stone [+]Loading...["Flesh and Stone (TV story)"])
Following the Big Bang Two, (TV: The Big Bang [+]Loading...["The Big Bang (TV story)"]) it was reported by The Timey Wimey that the duck pond had been a "serene spot" for decades which Leadworth locals visited to enjoy the company of the ducks and to feed them, to enjoy the tranquility of nature, and to "escape the hustle and bustle of modern life". The ducks had evidently returned. However, the waters of the duck pond housed a temporal rift after a chemical compound was introduced into it. (PROSE: Duck Pond Mystery Solved [+]Loading...["Duck Pond Mystery Solved (short story)"])
Undated events[[edit] | [edit source]]
Some time in the early 21st century saw the publication of Around Gloucestershire, a travel guide. Said book contained a profile on Leadworth, informing its readers that there were many benches in the village for one to rest their legs, which had "delightful views" such as the scenic duck pond. An accompanying map of Leadworth also gave the pond's position in relation to other Leadworth landmarks. (PROSE: Around Leadworth [+]Loading...{"page":"16-17","name":"\"around\"","1":"Around Leadworth (short story)"})
Duck Pond Anomaly[[edit] | [edit source]]
- Main article: Duck Pond Anomaly
At some point, after a local group of teenagers discovered a journal belonging to Dr. Evelyn Hartley that contained cryptic allusions to a temporal rift, a group of locals performed extensive tests and discovered the rift, which had been caused by a a "previously unknown" chemical. Volunteers ventured into the portal and discovered that it lead, one-way, to Carnaby Street in 1973. The government began monitoring the situation, local authorities considered placing safety measures, and scientists and historians began studying the chemical.
All this was reported on in issue 30139_APPLE_C of The Timey Wimey. (PROSE: Duck Pond Mystery Solved [+]Loading...["Duck Pond Mystery Solved (short story)"])
Legacy[[edit] | [edit source]]
In one alternate version of the 110s, after Rory Williams suddenly found himself in the role of Caesar, he commissioned a "temple to the goddess Amalia" in order to have somewhere to get away from the demands of his post. This was a private sanctuary with a fountain, whose still waters reminded him of Leadworth's duck-free duck pond.
He tried to convince his servants to bring him some ducks, but they had not heard of them. Instead, they began sending him a chicken each day, to be sacrificed to his goddess. He asked for some grain, and tried to make them comfortable. (AUDIO: I, Rorius [+]Loading...["I, Rorius (audio story)"])
In 1783 Italy, when Rory revealed his true identity to Johann Bloom, he explained that he came from Leadworth, which he described as "a lovely English village with a post office and a duck pond." (PROSE: Dead of Winter [+]Loading...{"page":"98","1":"Dead of Winter (novel)"})
Behind the scenes[[edit] | [edit source]]
- In response to a fan's question, as to whether the Leadworth ducks were saved after Big Bang Two, showrunner Steven Moffat revealed that, from the very beginning of production, he had intended to make clear that the ducks had been "sucked through" the crack in time, alongside Amy Pond's parents. He had even intended, up to the last minute, for the last shot of The Big Bang [+]Loading...["The Big Bang (TV story)"], after the Doctor's TARDIS dematerialises, to reveal that the ducks had been returned[1], but these plans were upended due to unforgiving Welsh weather conditions[2], so the scene had to be relocated to Amy's back garden.[1]
- Indeed, according to the map in Around Leadworth [+]Loading...["Around Leadworth (short story)"], the duck pond was directly outside the Leadworth Community Centre where Amy Pond and Rory Williams' wedding occurred.
- Unlike other details of the Leadworth Green, the duck pond was not authentic to the filming location in Llandaff, having been created in the corner of a car park.[3]
References[[edit] | [edit source]]
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 Moffat, Steven (15 December 2011). DWM 442 - Production Notes p. 6. Panini Magazines.
- ↑ Jonnston, Dais (5 April 2022). 12 years later, Doctor Who writer finally solves the show's biggest mystery. Inverse. Archived from the original on 5 April 2022. Retrieved on 27 November 2024.
- ↑ Llandaff village, Cardiff. BBC Wales Arts (2013). Archived from the original on 4 January 2013. Retrieved on 27 November 2024.
