The Big Bang (TV story)


 * For the event known as the Big Bang, see Event One.

The Big Bang was the thirteenth episode of Series 5, and concluded the story that began in The Pandorica Opens.

Synopsis
The Doctor is trapped in the Pandorica, the TARDIS has been destroyed, and silence has fallen. The only hope for all reality is a little girl who still believes in stars.

Plot
In 1996, a young Amelia Pond has drawn a picture of the night sky, with the Moon and several stars. A psychiatrist explains to Amelia's aunt that there are no stars - the night sky is void of all light aside from the Moon. As they discuss, a pamphlet advertising the National Museum comes through the letterbox, with a ring drawn around a cubic exhibit, and a note telling Amelia to be there. She goes along to the Gallery with her Aunt Sharon, where in the gallery with the exhibit there are statues of strange machines on display. Amelia gets to the cube - the Pandorica - and finds another note. However, just before she finds it, her drink is snatched from her. The note says "Stick around, Pond". After the museum closes - and an unsuccessful attempt by Aunt Sharon to find her - Amelia returns to the Pandorica. She puts her hand on it, when the mechanics on the faces of the cube light up bright green. The Pandorica opens - to reveal a grown Amy Pond. In 102 A.D. the Auton Rory has Amy Pond lying in his arms, dead. He comforts himself by telling her stories, when the Doctor appears using a Vortex Manipulator. He explains that he needs Rory to help him to bring Amy back. He gives him his sonic screwdriver to open the Pandorica, and asks him to put it in Amy's top pocket when he's done, before disappearing. Rory goes to the Pandorica and re-opens it. The Doctor inside the Pandorica is curious, and realises that it is the same screwdriver but from later in its timeline. He then has Amy put in the Pandorica, since it is a prison so secure not even death can be allowed as it is a means of escape. However, to heal Amy, an exterior DNA supply is needed, and one can only be supplied in 2000 years time. The Doctor picks up River's Vortex Manipulator from near the Pandorica and prepares for a quick jump to the future, inviting Rory to come with him. However, Rory decides to stay and protect the Pandorica, which he does, with the Doctor's warning to avoid heat, radio waves and trouble as even though he is plastic, Rory is not invincible.

In the Gallery, the older Amy watches a video exhibit on the Centurion - a man dressed in Roman clothes who followed the Pandorica wherever it went, protecting it. His last appearance was in 1941 when he was dragging it away from the crash site of an incendiary bomb. Meanwhile, the light from the Pandorica, a universal restorative field, has re-activated a Stone Dalek in the exhibition, even though it was only an echo in time - the end of the universe had caused everything to be erased, leaving stone forms around the Pandorica in 102. A museum guard arrives, holding a torch, which the Dalek orders dropped. The Doctor explains it is not a weapon, and the Dalek can scan it. He appears unarmed, but then he raises his hand, which flips open, revealing a gun. He shoots the Dalek, temporarily deactivating it. The guard is actually the plastic Rory.

The Doctor appears, having used the Vortex Manipulator to return to 1996. He leads the troupe away from the Dalek and then, with Rory's guidance, restores the timeline, helping the Rory from 102. Amelia asks for a drink, so the Doctor once again uses the Manipulator to get the one she had had earlier. Then, another Doctor appears. He has been shot with an energy weapon. He whispers something into the living Doctor's ear, before dying. The Doctor seems to only have twelve minutes to live, and Amelia has disappeared since the universe is still collapsing and things are disappearing from existence, with the Doctor, Amy, and Rory being temporarily immune since they are anomalies in time, the "eye of the storm". The Dalek starts reactivating, and the trio flee to the roof, where the Doctor finds that, with the loss of the Sun along with every other star in the universe, the object keeping the Earth warm is actually the exploding TARDIS, which, due to the machine's nature, is simultaneously exploding at every moment in history. He uses a satellite dish to pick up River Song's last utterance from the TARDIS, which is replayed over and over. The emergency program locked the console room into a time loop, to protect the inhabitant. The Doctor uses the Vortex Manipulator to rescue River, but a new problem arrives - the stone Dalek has regenerated enough power to use its hover system.

The quartet run back into the building, but the Dalek follows them and shoots the Doctor. Since the weapon did not have full power, the shot isn't fatal, and he uses the manipulator to travel twelve minutes into the past, where he only pretends to die in front of Amy, Rory, and his own past self. In the present, Amy and Rory return to the stairs where they had left the 'body', while River occupies the stone Dalek by making it beg for mercy before shooting it in the eye, which given its shield matrix's weakened state, kills it.

The body is not there. The three go back to the Pandorica, where the Doctor is strapped in, with the Vortex Manipulator wired in to the prison's systems. He plans to pilot the Pandorica into the TARDIS explosion, which should reset the universe, since the Light of the Pandorica's restoration powers can be released at every point in history. However, the only way to make sure it will work will be for the Doctor to seal himself on the other side of the cracks: everything in the universe will be restored except the Doctor, who will never have existed at all. He says goodbye to Amy, encouraging her to remember her parents, who he reveals weren't killed when Amy was young, but erased from history by the crack in time in her wall. He then pilots the cube into the maelstrom, resetting the universe successfully, and ending up, much to his surprise, in the TARDIS, circa a week ago, when he and Amy went to "Space Florida", complete with a previous version of himself and Amy. He calls for Amy, but while she seems to hear him, she cannot see him. His life then rewinds to Amy putting up the sign in a window about The Lodger lodging - Amy still cannot see him, and this time there is a crack in the road. He then goes to the events that took place on-board the Byzantium, where he tells Amy to remember what he told her when she was seven. He then rewinds to 1996, where seven-year-old Amelia is waiting for the TARDIS to reappear in her back garden. The Doctor takes her to bed, and tells her about himself while she sleeps. He tells her about how he stole (or rather, "borrowed") the TARDIS, and describes it romantically as "Ancient and new, and the bluest blue ever." He sees the crack in the wall, saying that it can't properly close until he steps through. He expresses his dislike toward his current rewinding through his life, and says he'll probably skip the rest. As the crack in Amelia's wall closes, the Doctor walks into the light and disappears.

In 2010, Amy wakes up to her mother bringing in breakfast which her father made for her. That strikes her as odd in some way she can't quite understand. She feels and acts as though she's not seen her parents before, but cannot explain why. She realises today is the day of her wedding to Rory, but feels as if there is something in her head, something important, that she should remember but can't. She phones Rory to see if he is in the same state, which he isn't. At the reception, she starts to remember. She sees River Song walking down the road outside the windows after delivering her wedding gift: a blue book, River's diary - but the pages are all blank. This troubles Amy greatly. She sees a wedding guest straightening his bow tie, another with suspenders, and she begins to cry from sadness, even though she should be happy. Rory attempts to explain away the book with "the thing they say you should have at weddings". This train of thought leads Amy to a realization, as she finally realises why the book is so familiar; the cover design - eight square panels - is the same as that on the TARDIS exterior. As her father starts his speech, she tells him to shut up, and announces that her imaginary friend from her youth, the "raggedy Doctor" was real. She is greeted by awkward silence, with Amy's mum muttering "Not this again..." under her breath. She screams out at the Doctor, laughing at how he hid his memories in words, how the TARDIS fits the old expression for the perfect wedding gifts: "Something old, something new, something borrowed, something blue..." As she cries out for the Doctor, a strange wind picks up and an alien noise fills the room. The TARDIS materialises, fully real, old and new, borrowed and blue, in the middle of the floor.

As Rory begins to remember, Amy opens the door, asking if she finally surprised the Doctor. He comes out wearing tails and a top hat; "Yes. Completely astonished." At the reception, the Doctor dances manically, until the slow-dancing song where he stands aside. Finally, he lands the TARDIS outside Amy's house to part ways with River, asking her if she's married, who says "yes", and deliberately leaves it vague as to whether she's saying yes, she is married, or yes, she is married to the Doctor. After she evades giving a direct answer, the Doctor asks River who she is, and River gave him a warning: "You will find out soon, and that's when everything changes." She then uses the vortex manipulator to teleport away, leaving the Doctor to his own thoughts. Amy and Rory come to the TARDIS, encouraging the Doctor to "take the night off". However, the Doctor is still concerned as to why the TARDIS exploded - something led it to that date and deliberately destroyed it. He is also still unaware of the meaning of the 'silence'. As he ponders, he receives a phone call - an Egyptian goddess seems to have escaped onto the Orient Express - in outer space, somewhat concerning the royal who is on the other end of the line. As the Doctor finishes the call, Amy says her final goodbye, but not to the Doctor, nor to Rory. She waves to her house, waves her previous life goodbye, and closes the door. The Doctor smiles and fires up the engines, sending the TARDIS spinning through the Time Vortex.

Cast

 * The Doctor - Matt Smith
 * Amy Pond - Karen Gillan
 * Rory Williams / Auton Rory - Arthur Darvill
 * River Song - Alex Kingston
 * Young Amelia Pond - Caitlin Blackwood
 * Sharon - Susan Vidler
 * Tabetha Pond - Karen Westwood
 * Augustus Pond- Halcro Johnston
 * Christine - Frances Ashman
 * Dalek Operator - Barnaby Edwards
 * Dalek - Nicholas Briggs (Voice)

Production crew
to be added

Individuals

 * River Song mentioned she once went out with a Nestene duplicate who had swappable heads.

Objects

 * The Doctor wears a Fez during the episode. He believes "fezzes are cool", similar to his belief that "bowties are cool". It is later destroyed by River and Amy who didn't agree with the Doctor wearing it.

Story notes

 * This episode was incorrectly entitled Cyber War and Enemies of a Time Lord.
 * Both the date of the in-universe 'unidentified explosion' and the real-world date of broadcast is 26/06/2010.
 * The Pandorica and a Stone Dalek appeared in the museum that Amelia visited.
 * The line 'Something old, something new, something borrowed, something blue' spoken by Amy, is also said (the exact same words) are also spoken by Dr. Ruth Winters on the episode of BBC's Casualty broadcast a few hours after Doctor Who. Both were spoken on or just before a wedding (on in Amy's case, before in Ruth's case).
 * Rory and Amy get married in this story, and continue their travels in the TARDIS. This marks the first occasion a married couple have been companions.
 * This is the first time a new series finale does not feature a change of cast: both the Doctor and this season's companions stay on at the end.
 * Amy is also the first new series companion since Rose to travel with the Doctor through a whole season, and to continue doing so after the finale.
 * This is the first revived series finale which features a 'happy ending'.
 * The museum included a number of anomalies as a result of the altered timeline, including penguins in the Nile, Egyptians in the Himalayas, and dinosaurs in ice.
 * This is the first finale of the revived series since DW: The Parting of the Ways not to feature Freema Agyeman. It is also the first since DW: Last of the Time Lords not to feature Billie Piper.
 * Prominent and inflammatory scientist Richard Dawkins is mentioned as being involved in a "Star Cult" which believes stars are real. While this is probably a reference to Dawkins' own unusual beliefs in real life, it should be noted that he is a self-professed fan of Doctor Who, and is married to former star, Lalla Ward, to whom he was introduced by his friend and former writer of the series, the late Douglas Adams, who was similarly referenced in The Pandorica Opens.
 * The Music playing that the Doctor briefly dances to is Crazy Little Thing Called Love by the British Rock band Queen.
 * This is the first finale of the revived series not to feature David Tennant.
 * It is also the first finale of the revived series since Doomsday not to include John Barrowman
 * When the Doctor locks Amy in the Pandorica, he says that she's only "mostly dead," possibly a small nod to The Princess Bride.

Ratings

 * 6.7 million.

Rumours

 * A sinister voice declaring "silence will fall" in the previous episode The Pandorica Opens, led some fans to speculate that Omega or another rogue Time Lord would appear in this episode. While this wasn't the case and the ultimate identity of the sinister voice is unknown, Lead Writer Steven Moffat has suggested the mystery antagonist will play a key role in Matt Smith's second season as the Doctor.
 * The Internet Movie Database incorrectly stated that Doctor Who veteran actor Philip Madoc would guest star.

Filming locations
to be added

Production errors

 * In the museum, when the trio see the "future" Doctor die, Amy walks up the stairs. It cuts to the Doctor, then back to Amy, when she walks up the stairs again. It was too quick for her to go back down the stairs.
 * In the museum, the Doctor is talking but a shot of him turning around shows that his lips are not moving.
 * The watch the Doctor wears when returning to the scene from Flesh and Stone has a black wrist-strap, not gold as his present self wears. The vortex manipulator also vanishes from that scene, but appears later, along with the watch.

Continuity

 * The Blinovitch Limitation Effect occurs in a very small way when the Doctor taps the sonic screwdriver iterations together. It does not occur, however, when Amy and her past/alternate universe selves touch, or when the two iterations of the Eleventh Doctor physically touch. The Doctor has previously been shown to have physical contact with himself without invoking the effect. However, the Brigadier touched himself in Mawdryn Undead, which resulted in an large burst of energy. Here, the entirety of space-time is collapsing, which appears to have reduced any energy output from the effect.
 * The Doctor tells young Amy while asleep that he stole/borrowed the TARDIS.
 * Amy and Rory's bodies were rebooted along with the universe, but their minds are almost two-thousand years-old. However, Rory is the only one who actually experienced anything during the years with the Pandorica, as Amy was technically dead. When Amy brings the Doctor back into existence she also reawakens Rory's memories of his time spent as an Auton. Arguably this may make the Williams older than the Doctor claims to be, however only in terms of his memory as his body has been reset to it's normal age (and technically, due to Big Bang 2, the events he remembers of his Auton self's life never happened). It is clear he at least vaguely recalls his time as an Auton, as when the TARDIS materialises, he says "I was plastic...", but it is unclear if he has any memories more specific than that.
 * Rory also mentions: "He was the stripper at my stag..." (DW: The Vampires of Venice)
 * The Doctor travels back through his time stream, visiting the events of DW: The Eleventh Hour, Flesh and Stone and The Lodger. Also seen are the events of Vincent and the Doctor, Cold Blood, The Hungry Earth, Vampires of Venice, Victory of the Daleks and The Beast Below. It is implied that he would have continued travelling backwards through his entire life, with all of his former incarnations, but that he decided to stop the rewind early by walking into a crack in time.
 * The Doctor states that fezes are cool, much in the same way he has said bow ties are cool throughout the series. This may also be a reference to the fact Matt Smith wanted the costume to develop, even saying he would like a hat. (DW: The Eleventh Hour, Amy's Choice, Vincent and the Doctor)
 * The Doctor sends a message to River Song saying "Geronimo", which is a saying often repeated by the Eleventh Doctor. (DW: The End of Time et al)
 * This is the third time in the new series, fourth including SJA: The Wedding of Sarah Jane Smith, that the Doctor got involved in a companion's wedding. (DW: The Runaway Bride, The End of Time)
 * The Fourth Doctor also interrupted the forced wedding of Romana (DW: The Androids of Tara).
 * This is the second time in the Doctor Who revival that the Doctor danced on screen. (DW: The Doctor Dances) The Doctor (although possessed by Cassandra) danced a bit as she got used to his body having two hearts. (DW: New Earth)
 * This is the second time in the new series that the Doctor has been shot by a Dalek, (DW: The Stolen Earth) though this time the Doctor managed to avoid having to regenerate.
 * The Doctor briefly sees the Saturnynians, Weeping Angels, Silurians, Daleks, the Star Whale, Craig Owens, Vincent Van Gogh, Dr. Black, some Smilers and a Supreme Dalek during his re-wind.
 * Tabetha mentions taking Amy to psychiatrists about her 'imaginary friend'.
 * This is the third time a Dalek has been put on display in a Museum. An empty Dalek battlesuit was on display in the Space Museum (DW: The Space Museum) and one Dalek was kept in The Cage in van Statten's underground Musuem (DW: Dalek)
 * Early in the episode, Amy's aunt states that she does not trust Richard Dawkins (who appeared as himself in DW:The Stolen Earth) due to his support for the existence of stars.

Home video releases
BBC Video - Doctor Who Series Five - Volume Four will feature Vincent and the Doctor, The Lodger, The Pandorica Opens and The Big Bang. It will be released on Monday 6th September 2010 (UK Only) on DVD and Blu-ray.