The Pandorica Opens (TV story)

The Pandorica Opens was the twelfth episode of series 5 of Doctor Who. It was the first part of a two part series finale. Its narrative concluded in the following episode.

At the time of its release, it was unique amongst BBC Wales series finales for a number of reasons. It was the first series-ender with significant principal photography outside Wales. It was also the first to have been the Doctor Who debut of its director and cinematographer. It was the first finale to have used major guest actors — aside from companions — who had featured in previous single episodes of the series. Finally, it featured the largest number of individual alien species seen in a single episode of Doctor Who since the programme began in 1963.

Synopsis
A Van Gogh painting ferried across thousands of years offering a terrifying prophecy, a message on the oldest cliff-face in the universe and a love that lasts a thousand years. In 102 AD England, Romans receive a surprise visit from Cleopatra. Nearby, Stonehenge conceals the Pandorica, a prison-box of legend. As it slowly unlocks from the inside, terrible forces gather in the heaven. The fates are drawing close around the TARDIS. The Pandorica, which contains the most dangerous threat in the Universe, is opening. Only one thing is certain: "The Pandorica will open... silence will fall".

Plot
France 1890: Vincent Van Gogh lies in bed, screaming. His doctor, Gachet, and caretaker, Madame Vernet, are at his side. Vernet notes the painting displayed on a nearby easel is worse than his usual work.

Cabinet War Rooms 1941: Professor Edwin Bracewell carries a rolled-up canvas to Winston Churchill's office. Bracewell shows it to the Prime Minister and confirms it is a Van Gogh original. It is also a message of some sort and Churchill can see who it is for. The Prime Minister picks up his phone to make a call.

Stormcage Containment Facility 5145: A prison guard answers the phone ringing outside River Song's cell. He says there is no "Doctor" in the facility. River demands to speak to the caller. She informs Churchill the TARDIS rerouted his phone call to the Doctor, and demands to know his message. She returns the phone to the guard, asking if this is his first day. When he says it is, she apologises and kisses him. Her hallucinogenic lipstick makes him delirious and enables her escape.

The Royal Collection 5145: River walks among the paintings in the gallery. She finds the one she is looking for, but trips an alarm on her way out and is held at gunpoint by Liz 10. River reminds her of her meeting with the Doctor and informs her she must pass on the message; to assure her of the gravity of the situation, River shows her the painting. The Queen is horrified.

The Maldovarium 5145: River speaks to Dorium Maldovar. He knows she is looking for cheap time travel and offers her a vortex manipulator, taken from the wrist of a Time Agent. The device is not cheap. River offers him a Callisto Pulse, a device which can deactivate micro-explosives from up to twenty feet away. Dorium wonders why he'd need it. River informs him she has slipped micro-explosives into the wine he has taken a drink from.

The TARDIS is travelling through the time vortex. The Doctor has decided to visit the Universe's oldest cliff-face, made of pure diamond. He will use the TARDIS's translation matrix to decipher an inscription that has never been translated. When Amy and he step out to see the translation, the message reads, "Hello, sweetie," with a set of temporal coordinates carved underneath. The coordinates lead them to Roman Britain in the 2nd century, where Amy comments that Roman history was her favourite topic at school. They are greeted by a Roman centurion with a lipstick smear across his mouth. He takes them to meet "Cleopatra." It is River in disguise. She shows the Doctor the painting, titled "The Pandorica Opens", showing an exploding TARDIS. As he has already retrieved a TARDIS fragment from within a Time Field in a Silurian city, this new discovery worries him greatly. He also remembers River alluded to the Pandorica opening during their last meeting on the Byzantium.

Convinced the two events are linked, he decides to go looking for the Pandorica. He asks for Roman maps of the area; if someone were to bury such a device, they would want to remember where they left it. The Doctor, Amy and River ride to Stonehenge to find the Pandorica. They trace the Pandorica underground. They descend, not noticing a Cyber-head, which begins to reactivate. They discover the Pandorica. The Doctor explains it was designed to hold the most dangerous creature in the galaxy. Amy notes the legend's similarity to Pandora's box, her favourite childhood story. Scanning the Pandorica and the surrounding area, River finds the Pandorica's security failsafes are activating and the box is opening. Six pillars around the box are transmitting a signal across all space and time, bringing at least ten thousand ships into Earth's orbit -- every one belonging to the Doctor's enemies.

The Doctor sends River back to camp to appeal to the Roman commander for help. However, he has realised that she is not actually Cleopatra and refuses. River fires her disintegrater pistol to demonstrate her power. Before the commander can grasp the implications, a centurion arrives to volunteer.

Back at Stonehenge, the Doctor continues to monitor the Pandorica. Amy asks about the engagement ring she found in his jacket pocket. He encourages her to remember the night she flew away with him, confessing he was lying when he told her there wasn't a reason he was taking her. He draws her attention to her house. It's too big and her life doesn't make any sense. Before she can respond, a dismembered Cyber-arm shoots at them. The Doctor tries to deactivate it, but is knocked out. The Cyber-head has worked its way down the steps and attacks Amy, shooting her with a sleeper dart. The head opens; it is a type-2 upgrade, with the parts grafted directly onto the body. It ejects the skull of its previous occupant and attempts to assimilate Amy. She shakes the head off, but the Cyber-body appears and attaches it to itself before advancing on her. She takes cover in a side chamber, where the Cyberman is killed by the arriving centurion, who is actually Rory. She faints.

The Doctor wakes. After finding Amy is all right, he inspects the side chamber, which contains Cyberman weaponry. He notices Rory, but barely reacts to his reappearance, addressing him as though he'd never left. It is not until he leaves the room that he realises what has occurred and returns. They have an awkward conversation. Rory acknowledges that he died outside the Silurian city, but can't account for how he ended up in the 2nd century. The two are alerted to the descending alien fleet and the Doctor leads the way outside, standing on a rock and addressing his enemies over a communicator. He informs them that he has the Pandorica and it's opening. They have plenty of weapons to defeat him, but he has nothing to lose. He reminds them of all the times he has defeated them in the past, and encourages them to consider who wants to go first. The fleet flees.

Rory and the Doctor return to the Pandorica, where they try to make sense of what has happened. Amy wakes, but fails to recognise Rory, devastating him. The Doctor acknowledges he can't explain Rory's appearance, supposing it to be something like a "miracle," which he hasn't seen in all his years of travelling. He gives Rory the engagement ring and encourages him to go after Amy.

River tries to return the TARDIS to the Doctor, but is thrown through the vortex and materialises outside Amy's house on 26 June 2010 -- the date of the temporal explosion that caused the cracks in time and space. As she leaves the TARDIS to explore, a crack splits the scanner screen and a voice is heard crying "Silence will fall!" Noting the landing patterns on the ground, indicative of alien craft, River enters the house and realises it belongs to Amy. In Amy's room, she finds a book on Roman Britain and a copy of The Legend of Pandora's Box; what disturbs her is that all of the pictures in the books resemble things and people where the Doctor is. She contacts him to warn him. He urges her to return. Instead, she is thrown uncontrollably around the time vortex. Upon learning the date, the Doctor orders her to shut off the engines. When this doesn't work, he tells her to land and leave the TARDIS. Though she is able to land, the doors are locked.

The Romans begin falling asleep in a standing position. Even Rory, talking to Amy, begins to shut down, but resists. When the Romans wake, they advance on the Doctor, revealing themselves as Autons under the control of the Nestene Consciousness. They capture the Doctor and drag him to the Pandorica, where he is greeted by an Alliance of his greatest enemies, including the Daleks, the Cybermen, the Judoon, the Silurians and the Sontarans. They inform the Doctor that evidence reveals he will be responsible for the end of the universe. They will imprison him in the Pandorica to prevent this. To lure him to this spot, they built the perfect trap, using Amy's memories as building blocks. Above, the Auton Rory continues to fight the temptation to join the others, but shoots Amy just as she remembers who he is. She dies in his arms as the Pandorica opens.

The Doctor is set inside the prison. He protests his imprisonment, informing the Alliance the true threat to the universe is the TARDIS, not him. The Daleks tell him he is the only person who can fly the TARDIS, not knowing of River. The Cybermen order the Pandorica closed despite the Doctor's desperate pleas.

Somewhere in time, River manages to unlock the TARDIS doors by creating a controlled explosion. However, a stone wall blocks her departure. Apologising to the Doctor, she turns to see the TARDIS console explode.

Thousands of echoing explosions erupt across the sky, ripping the universe apart.

Earth is left in the middle of a spreading black void as silence falls.

Cast

 * The Doctor - Matt Smith
 * Amy Pond - Karen Gillan
 * River Song - Alex Kingston
 * Auton Rory - Arthur Darvill
 * Bracewell - Bill Paterson
 * Winston Churchill - Ian McNeice
 * Liz 10 - Sophie Okonedo
 * Vincent van Gogh - Tony Curran
 * Dr. Gachet - Howard Lee
 * Madame Vernet - Chrissie Cotterill
 * Guard - Joe Jacobs
 * Dorium - Simon Fisher Becker
 * Claudio - Marcus O'Donovan
 * Commander - Clive Wood
 * Marcellus - David Fynn
 * Dalek Operator - Barnaby Edwards
 * Cyber-Leader - Ruari Mears
 * Commander Stark - Christopher Ryan
 * Judoon - Paul Kasey
 * Daleks/Cybermen (voice) - Nicholas Briggs

Individuals

 * Vincent van Gogh has nightmares/visions about the destruction of the Doctor's TARDIS.
 * Winston Churchill attempts to contact the Doctor after Edwin Bracewell shows him Van Gogh's painting.
 * River Song steals The Pandorica Opens from Elizabeth X's Royal Collection.

Locations

 * The Pandorica is located under Stonehenge on Earth. The Doctor calls it "Underhenge".
 * River Song is in prison in Stormcage Containment Facility in 5145.
 * The Doctor's TARDIS takes River to Amy Pond's house.

Planets

 * Planet One is the oldest planet in the universe. It has "Hello Sweetie" written into one of its cliff faces.

Species

 * The Alliance consists of:
 * Atraxi
 * Blowfish
 * Chelonians
 * Cybermen
 * Daleks
 * Draconians
 * Drahvins
 * Hoix
 * Judoon
 * Nestene Consciousness
 * Roboforms
 * Silurians
 * Slitheen family
 * Sontarans
 * Commander Stark
 * Sycorax
 * Terileptils
 * Uvodni
 * Weevils
 * Zygons

TARDIS

 * The Doctor's TARDIS can re-route calls to the vortex.

Technology

 * The individual who sells River a vortex manipulator says he got it off the wrist of a "handsome Time Agent".

Books

 * Amy has a book called The Legend of Pandora's Box.

Story notes

 * Amy Pond appeared to die in this episode but will be resurrected by the Pandorica in the following episode, The Big Bang.
 * Almost every major enemy since the beginning of the new Doctor Who series (as well as a few from the classic series) are mentioned though not all appeared. The list of enemies include the Daleks, the Cybus Cybermen, the Slitheen, the Sontarans, the Judoon, the Hoix, the Weevils, the Uvodni, the Sycorax, the Silurians, the Autons, the Roboform, the Nestene, the Chelonians, the Drahvins, the Atraxi, the Zygons, the Terileptils and the Draconians. They formed an alliance, but some of them were unseen. The Slitheen were also mentioned but not seen. River also mentions the Haemogoths, who briefly appeared in NSA: The Forgotten Army.
 * This is the first episode to feature an in-narrative use of the time vortex seen in the series 5 title sequence.
 * The Weevils, Blowfish and Uvodni are the first aliens originally from a spin-off series to appear in the main show.
 * The Chelonians from the novels get their first mention in a TV episode.
 * When River starts mentioning the aliens that are approaching the Doctor, the Cyber-Leader and the Supreme Dalek are heard talking about their plan for the Doctor.
 * The writing on the cliffs reads "HELLO SWEETIE ΘΣ Φ ΓΥΔϟ". ΘΣ
 * At least one reviewer thought this message on the cliff of Planet One was not unlike a scene in in Douglas Adams' book, So Long And Thanks For All The Fish, which featured the last message of God to his creation lit in flames on a cliff face.
 * This episode deliberately evoked the feel of the Indiana Jones franchise. River's scene at the Maldovarium is a gag drawn directly from the teaser sequence of Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom. The use of flambeaux in the cavernous "under Henge" was directly inspired by the teaser to Raiders of the Lost Ark. Finally director Toby Haynes played back a cue from Raiders while filming the sequence of the Doctor, River and Amy entering the "under Henge" to give the sequence appropriate tempo. (CON: "Alien Abduction")
 * The disembodied Cyberman head tells Amy, "You will be assimilated." Though modern viewers might think this a line borrowed from the Borg, a Star Trek cybernetic species similar to Cybermen, in fact the line is in The Tenth Planet.
 * Amy Pond describes her deep interest in Roman culture. Karen Gillan's original appearance on Doctor Who was that of a soothsayer from Pompeii in The Fires of Pompeii.
 * The story is set at Stonehenge and the episode broadcast just a few days before the real Summer Solstice.
 * When River begins having problems flying the TARDIS, the Doctor tells her she's not flying it right, to which she promptly replies, "I'm flying it PERFECTLY. You taught me!". In their previous meeting (from the Doctor's POV), River mocked the Doctor for not being able to properly fly the TARDIS, always leaving the brakes on when it lands. She also implied that the Doctor might not have been the one who had taught her. It would be revealed in Let's Kill Hitler that it was the TARDIS herself who taught River.
 * This story marks at least the fourth time in televised Doctor Who that the fate of every universe is at stake. (DW: Logopolis, Journey's End, The End of Time)
 * Amy doesn't know who the Cybermen are, despite meeting them in Blood of the Cybermen.
 * 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)
 * Similar to DW: Rise of the Cybermen and DW: The Stolen Earth, this episode is the first part of a two-part story, and features no "Next Time" trailer at the end.

Ratings
7.57 million (according to TV magazine)

Rumours

 * Many fans believed Omega would return. He does not appear in the episode as far as we know.
 * The Doctor himself is inside the Pandorica. At the climax of the episode, the Doctor is placed inside the Pandorica.
 * The Slitheen were among the villains mentioned by River approaching the Doctor. This was proven true; River says Slitheen whilst reading out the list.
 * It was rumoured that either the Timoreen, the Ha'rik, or the Skarkish would appear – primarily because these were all listed as "new aliens" to appear in Series 5 which had not already appeared. This was proven false.
 * According to the Radio Times, the Vincent van Gogh painting will be in Churchill's war bunker. This was proven true.
 * It was believed that the enemies would form an alliance; this was supported by the screen-shots depicting many of the Doctor's enemies together but not fighting. This was proven true.
 * Many fans believed Rory would reappear. This was proven partially true. He was an Auton duplicate.
 * It was believed the episode will take place on Gallifrey in the Death Zone. This was proven false.

Filming locations

 * Stonehenge, England
 * Margam Park, Wales

Production errors

 * The 1890 scene is set after Van Gogh famously cut his left ear in 1888, but the actor's unharmed left ear is briefly visible.
 * The Cyber-Leader's mouth glows blue when it isn't speaking, twice.
 * The Supreme Dalek's lights were flashing when it isn't speaking.
 * When the damaged Cyberman enters the room where the Pandorica is, the "missing" arm can be seen in a shadow.
 * When River says the words, "And it's got something to do with your TARDIS exploding", as the Doctor bends down to examine the painting, a brief view of River's face shows that her lips aren't moving.
 * When the Doctor, Amy and River enter Stonehenge, the Doctor's fringe is on the right of his face. During the close-up of him, it's on the left.
 * When Amy is pushing against the Pandorica and discussing the Cyberman's arm, the Pandorica bends inwards slightly.

Continuity

 * Roman soldiers previously appeared on screen in DW: The War Games.
 * This is the second time the Doctor has appeared on horseback. The last time coincidentally was also in a Steven Moffat episode. DW: The Girl in the Fireplace.
 * Vincent van Gogh was last seen in DW: Vincent and the Doctor.
 * Liz Ten previously was last seen in DW: The Beast Below.
 * Winston Churchill, Bracewell and the Daleks were last seen in DW: Victory of the Daleks.
 * River Song was last seen in DW: The Time of Angels/Flesh and Stone.
 * Rory and the Silurians were last seen in DW: The Hungry Earth/Cold Blood.
 * The Judoon, Sycorax, and Sontarans were last seen in DW: The End of Time.
 * Autons and the Hoix were last seen in DW: Love & Monsters.
 * Roboform were last seen in DW: The Runaway Bride.
 * Cybermen were last seen in DW: The Next Doctor.
 * River Song wrote "Hello Sweetie" previously on a Home Box in DW: The Time of Angels, from the Doctor's perspective.
 * The Uvodni, Blowfish and Weevils were amongst the creatures at the end of the episode, but they were seen very briefly among the other aliens.
 * This epsiode marks the third time the Daleks and Cybermen have featured in the same story in the TV series. The first was DW: The Five Doctors and the second DW: Army of Ghosts/Doomsday. It is however only the second time the Cybus Cybermen have featured alongside the Daleks on television. They would also do so in SP: Doctor Who: The Monsters Are Coming!, VG: Return to Earth and VG: The Mazes of Time.
 * The Cybermen present have become a space-faring race. Cybus Cybermen were also seen as space travellers in VG: Return to Earth. Judging by dialogue in the game however, such as the Cyber-Leader stating how the Cybermen will survive and how their technology there is incompatible with time travel, it seems likely that their knowledge, experience and technology have improved since then, as they are able to travel back in time to Stonehenge with the rest of the Alliance and do not appear to be a scattered race.
 * The Doctor says to Rory "Hello again", just as he did when he re-encountered Jack Harkness in DW: Utopia.
 * While communicating to the alien fleet, the Doctor shouts "I -- AM -- TALKING!!!", similar to the Ninth Doctor and the Tenth Doctor addressing the Nestene Consciousness in DW: Rose and Eddie Connolly in DW: The Idiot's Lantern respectively. 
 * The idea that an event will happen on a specific day in time (in this case 26/06/10) is similar to DW: Silver Nemesis and DW: Doctor Who.
 * Sentient Autons last appeared in BFA: Brave New Town.
 * The explosion of all the stars in the universe bears a resemblance to the night's sky as viewed by Vincent van Gogh (and, by extension, the painting "Starry, Starry Night") at the end of DW: Vincent and the Doctor.
 * When Amy questions River about her mentioning the Pandorica at the end of DW Flesh and Stone, River replies, "Maybe I did ... but I haven't yet ... but I will have." This is similar to a scene in in DW: The Five Doctors when Sarah Jane Smith tells the Third Doctor she has already witnessed him regenerate, to which he replies "Maybe I did ... but I haven't yet."
 * One of the ships in the alliance fleet, although it was never identified as a Cyber-ship, resemble the Cyber-ships from DW: The Invasion.
 * The Doctor tells Amy about fruit flies which live for twenty minutes and don't mate for life. Forgetting the point to that fact, he tells her he'll get back to it later. He does so in The Big Bang when he lists a number of things you can do in twelve minutes, after finding out he has twelve minutes before he "dies". (DW: The Big Bang)
 * This is the second time that an Auton has tried to get close to the Doctor through his companion's boyfriend (in this case, Rory). The other time was Rose Tyler's boyfriend Mickey in DW: Rose.
 * Needing to buy some time, the Doctor goads the thousands of ships hovering over Stone Henge into fleeing back into orbit. Shortly after the Tenth Doctor met River Song, she told him that she had seen "whole armies turn and run away" from "her" Doctor (DW: ''Forest of the Dead).

Timeline
For the Eleventh Doctor and Amy
 * This story occurs after: DWAN: Red Christmas.
 * This story occurs before: DW: The Big Bang.

For Rory Williams
 * This story occurs after: DW: Cold Blood.
 * This story occurs before: DW: The Big Bang.

For River Song
 * This story occurs after: DW: Day of the Moon.
 * This story occurs before: DW: The Big Bang.

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 Monday 6 September 2010 (UK Only) on DVD and Blu-ray.