 " The Girl Who Waited " is designed as an episode in which the actor playing the Doctor is not required for much of the shooting — these have become known as " Doctor Lite " episodes . Established with the second series episode " Love & Monsters " because of the production schedule , it has become a tradition that continued with episodes such as " Blink " . MacRae enjoyed exploring Amy and Rory 's characters and their past , as the Doctor was " always to a certain extent mythic " which limited what could be explored with his character . In one draft of the script , the scene near the end in which Rory and the two Amys race to the TARDIS did not include Rory in person ; he was watching the scene from the lens . It also included a sequence that featured a Handbot 's hand being cut and continuing to walk by itself . With " The Girl Who Waited " being a lower @-@ budget episode , MacRae wrote for the <unk> Centre to be entirely white , and described the sets as " big white boxes " . He was pleased with the way it turned out , feeling that the all @-@ white added a " really interesting visual sense to it " . 
