Dream Lord 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 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 . " Biography . 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 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 . 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 for 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 . 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 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 . 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 " )