The Vampires of Venice (TV story)

The Vampires of Venice was the sixth episode of the fifth series of BBC Wales Doctor Who. It was narratively tied to the final scene of Flesh and Stone, greatly furthered the Doctor-Rory-Amy romantic triangle subplot, and ended with Rory apparently joining the Doctor in his travels.

Synopsis
Dessicated corpses, terror in the canal and a visit to the sinister House of Calvierri – the Doctor takes Amy and Rory for a romantic mini-break, as the TARDIS touches down once again.

But 16th-century Venice is not as it should be. The city has been sealed to protect it from the Plague, although Rosanna Calvierri may have other plans...

Plot
In Venice, 1580, a boat-builder named Guido brings his daughter Isabella before Rosanna Calvierri and her son Franceso, asking her to accept Isabella into her school. She accepts, and the father is immediately escorted out by her steward. As Francesco sees if Isabella is to his liking, he reveals a mouthful of fangs as she screams. In 2010, the Doctor crashes Rory's stag party (substituting himself for a stripper, Lucy) and informs him Amy tried to kiss him.

In the TARDIS, the Doctor informs Rory and Amy that he will be taking them on a romantic retreat: Venice. As they try to enter the city, they are stopped and informed that a qurantine has been imposed due to the warnings of Signora Calvierri on the presence of Plague outside Venice. Once inside the city, they witness Guido attempting to get to Isabella as they leave the Calvierri school. She does not recognize her father, and he is attacked by another student, who has fangs. The Doctor meets Guido, who informs him why he is trying to get his daughter back.

Rosanna Calvierri is interrupted while 'hydrating', and informs an impatient Francesco that they will follow the plan. He however attacks a flower girl in the streets and drinks some of her blood. Amy follows him while Rory sees the girl. Guido feigns another attempt at regaining Isabella while the Doctor enters the school through a side gate. Once inside, he discovers the girls at the school have fangs and no reflection, but is chased away by them before discovering more.

After meeting up with Amy and Rory, they discuss with Guido how to infiltrate the Calvierri school. Amy proposes that Rory act as her brother to get her in to open a trap door beneath the building. Amy is accepted in, and meets Isablla. She informs her that at night they take her to a room and strap her down as if for an operation, and that the sun burns her skin. The Doctor, Rory and Guido make their way to the trap door through an underground tunnel on Guido's gondola. Amy manages to unlock the trap door, but is discovered and taken to the room Isabella described. Rosanna tries to get her to tell her the truth, as the psychic paper did not work on her, and bites her neck with her fangs. The Doctor and Rory anter through the trap door and find a body which has had all the fluid removed. Rory berates the Doctor for making others want to impress him, and they are surrounded by the school's girls. Rosanna reveals to Amy that they drink girls till they are dry, then replacing their blood with their own. They either die or transform, ready for ten thousand husbands. The Doctor and Rory find Amy, who manages to see Rosanna's real form as she kicks her, and Isabella helps them escape. She is however recaptured, and later killed as a traitor, devoured by Rosanna's sons.

Rosanna later finds the Doctor on her throne. As they discuss things, it is revealed that Calvierri is a Saturnynian and is using a perception filter to appear human. They have no reflection as the brain cannot perceive a reflection different than its original, and the visibility of their fangs is due to a self-preservation loophole in the filter. Rosanna reveals her planet was lost due to the appearance of the cracks, and asks the Doctor to help her establish a new colony. He refuses as he learns of Isabella's death as a traitor, and that Rosanna did not even know Isabella's name. In Guido's house, the Doctor deduces that Calvierri intends to sink Venice and repopulate it with the girls she has transformed and her children. The house is attacked by the school's girls, and almost everyone manages to escape. Guido stays behind and lights the gunpowder store he had in his house, killing himself and all the girls.

Rosanna activates a device creating a storm over Venice, causing widespread panic. The Doctor tells Amy to get to the TARDIS, but they are followed by Francesco. The Doctor finds the device, and informs Rosanna of the death of the girls. Francesco finds Amy and Rory, and is killed when she directs sunlight at him using her mirror. They both decide to help the Doctor, while he climbs up the Calvierri mansion's tower and manages to deactivate the device. Rosanna goes to the pool her sons are kept, her perception filter keeping up her human appearance. She tells the Doctor to remember them and live with the death of their race on his conscience, then throws herself to her sons to be devoured.

As they are leaving Venice, Amy and the Doctor invite Rory to travel with them. Just as they are about to enter the TARDIS, a strange silence suddenly falls across Venice, echoing Rosanna's words.

Cast

 * The Doctor - Matt Smith
 * Amy Pond - Karen Gillan
 * Rory Williams - Arthur Darvill
 * Rosanna Calvierri - Helen McCrory
 * Francesco - Alex Price
 * Isabella - Alisha Bailey
 * Steward - Simon Gregor
 * Guido - Lucian Msamati
 * Inspector - Michael Percival
 * Vampire - Gabriela Montarez
 * Vampire - Elizabeth Croft
 * Vampire - Gabriella Wylde
 * Vampire - Sonila Vieshta
 * Vampire - Hannah Steele

The Doctor

 * The Doctor's library card, which he shows to the Vampires, has a picture of his first incarnation on it. The Doctor's name is given on it as "Dr. J. Smith" (showing that he came up with it long before Jamie did in The Wheel in Space), and the address is 76 Totter's Lane in Shoreditch, London.
 * Amy describes her time with the Doctor as involving "lots of running".
 * The Doctor gives Amy a boiled sweet.

Individuals

 * The Doctor compares the Vampires to Harry Houdini.
 * When Rory asks why the Psychic paper says he is Amy's eunuch, she says "I'll explain later," a possible reference to the Moffat-penned Red Nose Day special The Curse of Fatal Death.

Races and species

 * The relationship between Calvierri and her son and their plan to convert people to become their species is similar to that of the Family of Blood who shared a close bond and took over individuals to go unnoticed.
 * When Calvierri commits suicide, she asks the Doctor if he can carry another dead race on his conscience, and to remember her, much like Davros did when he died.

Technology

 * Rosanna Calvierri uses a Perception filter. The perception filter is shown to have a self preservation loophole, making the teeth visible when the brain detects a threat.
 * The Doctor's dimensionally transcendental pockets are possibly larger than previously suspected since he was shown pulling a rather large UV light stick out of his coat pocket.

Story notes

 * As were earlier episodes Partners in Crime and The Fires of Pompeii, this episode is 5 minutes longer than the usual format, making it a 50-minute long episode.
 * A 90-second clip from this episode was aired during Matt Smith's appearance on Friday Night with Jonathan Ross on 26 March 2010.
 * The Vampires are not real vampires, but are of alien origin. They are fish-like alien creatures using Perception Filters to hide themselves from other people.
 * There was some initial confusion over the title of this story. Some media sources (as well as Matt Smith in a TV interview ) used the title Vampires in Venice.
 * In the Series 5 preview, one of the vampires leap for Rory, without any change. In the actual episode, he changes to his alien form. Differences like this have happened many times from trailer to episode.
 * The name of the species, Saturnynians, isn't spoken in the episode, though the planet Saturnyne is mentioned three times.
 * The Saturnynians are hiding from the Cracks and the Silence.
 * The Doctor mentions meeting Casanova. David Tennant had previously played Casanova in a television series written by Russell T Davies. Helen McCrory played Casanova's mother in a 2005 film.
 * This is the first Doctor Who episode that, instead of having the last scene cut to the closing titles, has the closing titles 'merge' with the scene. In this case, the camera zooms into the TARDIS keyhole, and, through it, the Time Vortex is visible.
 * This episode is notable for being filmed in Croatia, and is therefore the first episode of a Doctor Who universe show to be filmed in a formerly Communist country.
 * The Vampires of Venice has similarities to School Reunion, also written by Toby Whithouse:
 * Pre-titles sequence involves scene of a young girl being attacked by an alien, followed by a scene in which the Doctor appears during a mundane activity and says something rather ordinary.
 * The companion's boyfriend joins in for the adventure and becomes part of the TARDIS crew for the following episodes.
 * Both episodes feature scenes where two of the main characters discuss the Doctor's effect on relationships.
 * The alien species in both episodes have the ability to transform into humans.
 * The leader of the alien race in both episodes proposes an alliance with the Doctor.
 * A minor character disposes of most of the aliens by causing an explosion.
 * The alien's plan is thwarted by a simple flick of a switch.
 * This episode aired on the same day as the K9 episode, The Last Oak Tree was first broadcast on Disney XD in Britain. It also aired on the same day that Fear Itself was first broadcast on Network Ten in Australia.

Ratings
6.2 million

Filming locations

 * Croatia was used as the primary location for the setting of this episode. It is the third episode of the revived series after DW: The Fires of Pompeii and Planet of the Dead to include major filming outside the UK.
 * Some filming took place in Caephilly Castle.
 * Scenes featuring The Doctor, Amy and Rory were filmed at Llancaiach Fawr.

Continuity

 * The Doctor tells Rory that Amy kissed him. (DW: Flesh and Stone)
 * Instead of his Psychic paper, the Doctor shows his library card, which includes a photo of his first incarnation.
 * The First Doctor's library card shows the address 76 TOTTERS LANE, first seen in DW: An Unearthly Child
 * The library card lists his name as "Dr. J. Smith," standing for "Dr. John Smith," a frequent alias of the Doctor's throughout the entire series.
 * The Fourth Doctor previously encountered vampires of a different kind in DW: State of Decay
 * The Seventh Doctor encountered a kind of vampire known as "Haemovores", which also happened to reside in water, in DW: The Curse of Fenric.
 * The Tenth Doctor encountered a blood-drinking alien called a Plasmavore in DW: Smith and Jones.
 * The Eighth Doctor had previously visited 23rd Century Venice in BFA: The Stones of Venice.
 * The Doctor mentions how a life of time travel can make it difficult to readjust to a normal existence. Sarah Jane Smith told him much the same thing in DW: School Reunion.
 * The Doctor erased the cracks from existence in DW: The Big Bang, which would most likely have caused the events of this story to have never happened.

Home video releases
BBC Video - Doctor Who Series Five - Volume Two will feature The Time of Angels, Flesh and Stone and The Vampires of Venice. It will be released on Monday 5th July 2010 (UK Only) on DVD and Blu-ray.