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 of Doctor Who, 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 called Christine explains to Amelia's aunt that there are no stars - the night sky is void of all light aside from the Moon. As they speak, 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 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's close - and an unsuccessful attempt by Aunt Sharon to find her - Amelia returns to the Pandorica. She puts her hand on it, and the mechanisms 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 is comforting 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 Rory 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 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. The Doctor warns Rory to avoid heat, radio waves and trouble as even though he is plastic, he 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. Until touched by the light, the Dalek had been only an echo in time, as the end of the universe had caused everything to be erased, leaving stone forms around the Pandorica in 102. The Doctor appears, having used the vortex manipulator to return to 1996. 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. The guard appears unarmed, but when he raises his hand, it flips open to reveal a gun. He shoots the Dalek, temporarily deactivating it. The guard is actually the plastic Rory. The Doctor leads the troupe away from the Dalek and then, with Rory's guidance, restores the timeline, helping the Rory in 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 earlier Doctor's ear, before closing his eyes. The Doctor says the his future self is dead. The Doctor seems to only have twelve minutes to live. Young Amelia has now disappeared. 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 at the "eye of the storm". The Dalek starts reactivating, and the trio flee to the roof.

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 has locked the console room into a time loop to protect the occupant. The Doctor uses the vortex manipulator to rescue River and bring her back with him to the roof, 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. He activates the vortex manipulator as he begins to fall. As River occupies the stone Dalek by making it beg for mercy, Amy and Rory return to the stairs where they had left the body.

The body is not there. Since the Dalek weapon did not have full power, the shooting of the Doctor had not been fatal. He had only pretended to die in front of Amy, Rory, and his own past self, as a distraction. River joins Amy and Rory, reporting that the Dalek died. The three go back to the Pandorica, where the Doctor is strapped in with the vortex manipulator wired into 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, whom 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 before, when he and Amy went to "Space Florida", complete with an earlier 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 next 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 rewinds to 1996, where seven-year-old Amelia is waiting for the TARDIS to reappear in her back garden. The Doctor carries 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, and says that it can't properly close until he steps through. He expresses his dislike toward his current rewinding through his life, and, through a few nearly silent tears, 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 has 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 and asks him a series of questions to see if he is in the same state, to which he answers "Yep," in the process confirming that he is just saying that.

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 the realization why the book is so familiar; the cover design - eight square panels - is the same as 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, telling him he is late for the wedding, 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, wondering how he forgot, 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 maniacally, until the slow-dancing song, at which he stands aside. He returns to the TARDIS, which is now in Amy's garden. River Song appears and asks the Doctor if he danced, commenting that he "always dances at weddings." After retorting with "you tell me" the Doctor returns River's diary and vortex manipulator to her (mentioning that as the Universe has returned to normal the writing in the diary is back, but he didn't peek - something she thanks him for) and asks her if she is married, to which River replies "are you asking?" The Doctor says "yes" and then, realising he has unwittingly proposed to her, asks her to clarify her answer - specifically, was she affirming that she was married or accepting a proposal from him? After River teases him with further "yes"s the Doctor asks her who she really is, to which she replies "you're going to find out very soon now, and I'm sorry but that's when everything changes," before leaving via vortex manipulator.

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 farewell to her house and her previous life, closing the TARDIS 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)

Cultural references from the real world

 * Prominent scientist Richard Dawkins is mentioned as being involved in a "Star Cult" which believes stars are real. Dawkins 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. This was the second consecutive series finale to reference Dawkins. In the first he appears in cameo.
 * The music playing to which the Doctor briefly dances is "Crazy Little Thing Called Love" by the British rock band Queen.

The Doctor

 * The Doctor tells young Amy while asleep that he stole/borrowed the TARDIS.
 * 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.

Individuals

 * River Song mentioned she once went out with a Nestene duplicate who had swappable heads.
 * Rory states he remembers being an Auton.
 * Tabetha mentions taking Amy to psychiatrists about her 'imaginary friend'.

Objects

 * The Doctor wears a fez during the episode. He believes "fezzes are cool". He seems to think this about a lot of unusual articles of clothing, part of his slight cheekiness.
 * The fez may have also been a small nod to DW: Silver Nemesis, wherein the Seventh Doctor briefly wore a fez while going through the storage room at Windsor Castle

Theories and concepts

 * The Blinovitch Limitation Effect occurs in a very small way when the Doctor taps the sonic screwdriver iterations together.

Story notes

 * This is the first episode in the entire history of Doctor Who where the current Doctor has interacted with a version of himself in the same incarnation. The Third Doctor did briefly speak with a future version of himself in the same incarnation in DW: Day of the Daleks, but did not have physical contact with his counterpart. Similarly, the Ninth Doctor saw an earlier version of himself in the same incarnation in DW: Father's Day, but did not speak nor interact with himself at all.
 * 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 was 26/06/2010.
 * This is the second of only three times in the revived series this has occurred, the others being DW: The Impossible Astronaut on April 23, 2011 and DW: The End of Time on December 25, 2009.
 * The Pandorica and a Stone Dalek appeared in the museum that Amelia visited.
 * 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 BBC Wales finale does not feature the departure of a main character. However, it does result in a change of cast, in that Rory, who had previously been a recurring character who had ostensibly died, becomes a full-time companion in the final scene.
 * Amy is the first new series companion since Rose to travel with the Doctor through a whole season, and to continue doing so after the finale.
 * 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 BBC Wales series that didn't feature David Tennant; the first since The Parting of the Ways not to feature Freema Agyeman; and the first with no reference to the Torchwood Institute whatsoever. It is also one of only two finales not to include John Barrowman.
 * According to the DVD commentary, director Toby Haynes continued to use playback while recording this episode, just as he had for The Pandorica Opens. In particular, it was used with Caitlin Blackwood's solo scenes in the museum.
 * River's main costume in this story was deliberately designed to evoke both Princess Leia and Han Solo, so that she looked like, according to Toby Haynes, a "female Han Solo". (DCOM: The Big Bang)
 * According to Toby Haynes, this episode had no bigger budget, "and maybe even a little less", than other episodes in the series. (DCOM: The Big Bang)
 * According to Russell T. Davies, closing the cracks in time resulted also in the closing of the Cardiff Rift.

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, Steven Moffat has suggested the mystery antagonist will play a key role in the next series.
 * The Internet Movie Database incorrectly stated that Doctor Who veteran actor Philip Madoc would guest star. He did not appear.

Filming locations

 * Miskin Manor - Cardiff

Production errors

 * In the museum, when the trio see the "future" Doctor die, Amy walks up the stairs. The camera 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.
 * Also, when the Amy that has just came out of the Pandorica compares height to younger Amy and guesses the date, you can see a shadow back away from the side of the camera when it pans out.
 * In the museum, the Doctor is talking but a shot of him turning around shows that his lips are not moving
 * The museum scenes are set in 1996, but when the Doctor and crew make it to the roof, you see the Gherkin in the skyline - a building that was built in the twenty-first century.
 * When the stone Dalek rises above the museum to exterminate the Doctor, Amy, Rory and River Song just after they have destroyed the fez, the Dalek is the Supreme Dalek, not the stone Dalek. This is corrected when the camera zooms into the Dalek which is then seen to be the stone Dalek.
 * While traveling backwards, the Doctor is seen wearing the vortex manipulator in the TARDIS on the way to Space Florida. In the next scene, while telling Amy to remember, it is absent. It returns in the following scene when he picks up the younger Amy.

Continuity

 * Rory also mentions the Doctor as: "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 fezzes 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", a catchphrase often repeated by the Eleventh Doctor. (DW: The End of Time et al)
 * The Doctor previously has been involved in the weddings of companions Sarah Jane Smith (SJA: The Wedding of Sarah Jane Smith) and Donna Noble. (DW: The Runaway Bride, The End of Time)
 * This is the second time that the Doctor has been seen to (willingly) dance. (DW: The Doctor Dances)
 * This is the third time that the Doctor has been shot by a Dalek. (DW: Planet of the Daleks, DW: The Stolen Earth).
 * This is the third time a Dalek has been put on display in a museum. An empty Dalek casing was on display in the Space Museum (DW: The Space Museum) and one Dalek was kept in The Cage in van Statten's underground museum (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.
 * The Doctor last wore a Fez in his eighth Incarnation. (DWM: Doctor Who and the Nightmare Game)
 * The Doctor says "Gotcha" to Amy, a phrase which was uttered by both aboard the Starship UK. (DW: The Beast Below)

Timeline
For the Doctor, Amy and Rory For River Song
 * This story occurs after: DW: The Pandorica Opens
 * This story occurs before: WC: Snowfall
 * This story occurs after: DW: The Pandorica Opens
 * This story occurs before: DW: The Time of Angels

Home video releases
BBC Video - "Doctor Who Series Five - Volume Four" features Vincent and the Doctor, The Lodger, The Pandorica Opens and The Big Bang. It was released on 6th September 2010 (UK Only) on DVD and Blu-ray see picture below. It was released on a full series box set on 8th November 2010 but as two sets. One is a limited edition steelbook and the other one is a Lenticular Sleeve.