5

Karen Gillan's cousin, Caitlin Blackwood (not a relation of mine, I should point out), appears as the young Amelia Pond in several 11th Doctor episodes beginning with the first: The Eleventh Hour (broadcast in April 2010). She appears again in Let's Kill Hitler (broadcast in August 2011). Her last recognisable appearance was at the end of The Angels Take Manhattan (broadcast in September 2012), although that might be footage from The Eleventh Hour.

The character of the young Amelia appears briefly at the end of The Time of the Doctor (broadcast in December 2013). We see a girl wearing Amelia's clothes from The Eleventh Hour and the Doctor clearly identifies her as Amelia:

DOCTOR: But times change, and so must I.

(The Doctor sees a young Amy Pond run up the stairs, laughing.)

DOCTOR: Amelia?

CLARA: Who's Amelia?

DOCTOR: The first face this face saw. We all change, when you think about it. We're all different people all through our lives. And that's okay, that's good, you've got to keep moving, so long as you remember all the people that you used to be. I will not forget one line of this. Not one day. I swear. I will always remember when the Doctor was me.

But we never see her face. The only reason I can think of for that is that it was a different actress. Does anyone know if it was Caitlin or not?

Amelia Pond is not included in the on screen credits (although Amy is). The IMDB cast list lists Amelia Pond as being played by Caitlin Blackwood (uncredited) but gives no authority for the assertion.

Improve this question
3
  • 1
    It strikes me that it would be impossible for the same actress to have been seen. She'd be nearly four years older.
    – Valorum
    Oct 6 '16 at 19:31
  • 2
    To quote the wiki "Because Caitlin Blackwood, who had played young Amelia Pond in previous episodes, had aged into a teenager by the time of the episode's filming and the Doctor's hallucination was of the young Amelia as she had appeared in The Eleventh Hour, young Amelia was played by an unknown child actress. To disguise the fact that it was a different actress, young Amelia's face is obscured by drawings as she runs around." - tardis.wikia.com/wiki/The_Time_of_the_Doctor_(TV_story)
    – Valorum
    Oct 6 '16 at 19:31
  • @Valorum Fair enough (and correct, as I see from your answer). Of course she was less than two years older than she was when she appeared as an image of the young Amelia in Let's Kill Hitler, but those are the years when young women are growing quickly.
    – Blackwood
    Oct 6 '16 at 20:05
7

Karen Gillan confirmed in a Q&A session that the actress who portrayed young Amelia, Caitlin Blackwood, was simply too old tall to play her again.

They evidently brought in another actress to play the part.

On the replacement of young Amelia, originally played by her cousin Caitlin Blackwood, she said: “Caitlin was too tall now, so they brought in a girl with really long hair and I just remember feeling so protective over the role that I was like, ‘No. The hair is wrong guys!”

GILLAN ON SAYING GOODNIGHT TO HER RAGGEDY MAN

According to ShannonSullivan, the actress who played Young Amelia was Jessica Davies

In the past, the young Amelia had been played by Gillan's cousin, Caitlin Blackwood. However, Blackwood now looked much older than when she had first appeared in The Eleventh Hour, and so it was Jessica Davies who was glimpsed running through the console room.

New Series Episode 109: The Time Of The Doctor

Improve this answer
4
  • I do find it interesting that Blackwood lists the episode on her online resume
    – Jason Baker
    Oct 6 '16 at 19:38
  • 1
    @JasonBaker - Probably an oversight by whoever manages her website for her.
    – Valorum
    Oct 6 '16 at 19:39
  • 3
    I suppose I should point out that Caitlin Blackwood is no relation of mine :)
    – Blackwood
    Oct 6 '16 at 20:06
  • By the way, I did some Google Image searching for age-accurate photos of Blackwood, that might help add to this answer, but could only find older and more recent images.
    – Lightness Races in Orbit
    Dec 27 '16 at 20:36

Your Answer

By clicking “Post Your Answer”, you agree to our terms of service, privacy policy and cookie policy

Not the answer you're looking for? Browse other questions tagged or ask your own question.