The Pandorica Opens (TV story)

The Pandorica Opens was the twelfth episode of series 5 of Doctor Who. It was the first 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 as 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 ever.

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 hides a legendary prison-box. As it slowly unlocks from the inside, terrible forces gather in the heavens. The fates are closing 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 screams. Doctor Gachet and Madame Vernet are at his bedside. 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. 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.

Stormcage Containment Facility 5145: A guard answers the phone outside River Song's cell and says there is no "Doctor" in the prison. River demands to take the call. She tells Churchill the TARDIS rerouted his phone call to the Doctor and demands his message. She returns the phone to the guard and asks 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 insists 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 seeking 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, 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 just drunk.

The TARDIS in the time vortex: the Doctor has decided to visit the Universe's oldest cliff-face, made of pure diamond. He will use the TARDIS' translation matrix to crack an inscription that has never been translated. When Amy and he step out to see it, the message reads, "Hello, sweetie," with a set of temporal coordinates carved beneath. The coordinates lead them to Roman Britain in the 2nd century, where Amy notes that Roman history was her favourite topic at school. They are greeted by a Roman soldier with a lipstick smear across his mouth. He takes them to meet "Cleopatra." It is River in disguise. She shows them "The Pandorica Opens", a painting of an exploding TARDIS. As the Doctor has already retrieved a TARDIS fragment from a Time Field in a Silurian city, this new find worries him greatly. He also recalls River allusion to the Pandorica opening in their last meeting on the Byzantium. Convinced the two events are linked, he asks for maps of the area. If someone were to bury such a device, they would want to remember where they had left it. The Doctor, Amy and River ride to Stonehenge to find the Pandorica. They trace it underground and 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 name's similarity to Pandora's box, her favourite childhood story. The Doctor notes the link between the Pandorica and the Romans... both of them have been claimed by Amy to be her favourites, however while he doesn't believe in coincidence the Doctor doesn't have time to think about it. Scanning the Pandorica and the surrounding area, River finds its security failsafes turning on and the box 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 belongs 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 monitors 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. He admits 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 ejects the skull of its last occupant and tries 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 Rory. She faints.

The Doctor wakes. He finds Amy is all right and inspects the side chamber, It holds Cyberman weaponry. He notices Rory, but barely reacts to his reappearance. It is not until he leaves the room that he realises what has happened and returns for an awkward conversation. Rory knows he died near the Silurian city, but can't account for how he ended up in the 2nd century. They are alerted to the descending alien fleet and the Doctor leads the way outside. He stands on a rock and addresses his enemies over a communicator. He informs them that he has the Pandorica and it's opening. They have plenty of weapons, 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 and try to make sense of what has happened. Amy wakes, but fails to recognise Rory, devastating him. The Doctor admits he can't explain Rory's appearance, supposing it to be something like a miracle, which he hasn't seen in all his years. He gives Rory the engagement ring and encourages him to go after Amy.

River tries to return the TARDIS to the Doctor. It is thrown through the vortex and materialises outside Amy's house on 26 June 2010 -- the date of the 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 cries "Silence will fall!" River notes landing patterns of alien crafts and enters the house. She 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. There is also a photograph of Rory and Amy, where Rory is dressed as a centurion. All of the books' pictures resemble things and people where the Doctor is. She contacts him to warn him. He urges her to return. Instead, she is thrown uncontrollably about 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 as the engines will shut down automatically when there is no-one inside. Though she manages to land, the doors are locked.

The Romans begin falling asleep on their feet. Even Rory, talking to Amy, has to resist shutting down. The Romans wake and advance on the Doctor. They are Autons controlled by the Nestene Consciousness. They seize the Doctor and drag him to the Pandorica, where he is met by an Alliance of his enemies, including Daleks, Cybermen, Judoon, Silurians and Sontarans. The Doctor is aghast that all of these races have managed to form an alliance and asks how that is possible. They explain that it is an alliance against him... as he will cause the end of the universe. They know that the TARDIS will be at the centre of the explosion that ends the universe and (as they wrongly believe) he is the only one who can fly the TARDIS, they will imprison him in the Pandorica to stop the explosion. 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 shouts his innocence, that the threat to the universe is the TARDIS, not him as the alliance doesn't know about River and that he can stop the explosion. The Cybermen order the Pandorica closed over his desperate pleas.

Somewhere in time, River blows open the TARDIS doors. A stone wall blocks her departure. Apologising to her love, she turns to face the exploding TARDIS console just before it is destroyed.

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

Earth is left in the middle of a spreading, black void.

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/Autons
 * 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

 * Dorium Maldovar 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 PROSE: 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 fifth time in televised Doctor Who that the fate of every universe is at stake. (TV: The Invasion of Time, Logopolis, Journey's End, The End of Time)
 * Amy doesn't know who the Cybermen are, despite meeting them in GAME: 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 TV: Rise of the Cybermen and TV: The Stolen Earth, this episode is the first part of a two-part story, and features no "Next Time" trailer at the end.
 * The painting that Vincent Van Gogh dedicated to Amy, "The Sunflowers," can be located in the opening scene on an easel behind Van Gogh's sofa. The painting would later be shown at the Van Gogh exhibit at the Musée d'Orsay in Paris (TV: Vincent and the Doctor).

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.
 * After the Pandorica is sealed, containing the Doctor, a light from inside is clearly visibly through a crack between the two moving walls.

Continuity

 * Roman soldiers previously appeared on screen in TV: 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. (TV: The Girl in the Fireplace)
 * Vincent van Gogh was last seen in TV: Vincent and the Doctor.
 * Liz Ten was last seen in TV: The Beast Below.
 * Winston Churchill, Bracewell and the Daleks were last seen in TV: Victory of the Daleks.
 * River Song was last seen in TV: The Time of Angels/Flesh and Stone.
 * Rory and the Silurians were last seen in TV: The Hungry Earth/Cold Blood.
 * The Judoon, Sycorax, and Sontarans were last seen in TV: The End of Time.
 * Autons and the Hoix were last seen in TV: Love & Monsters.
 * Roboform were last seen in TV: The Runaway Bride.
 * Cybermen were last seen in TV: The Next Doctor.
 * River Song wrote, "Hello Sweetie", previously on a home box in TV: 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 TV: The Five Doctors and the second TV: 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 GAME: Return to Earth and GAME: The Mazes of Time.
 * The Cybermen present have become a space-faring race. Cybus Cybermen were also seen as space travellers in GAME: 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 TV: 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 TV: Rose and Eddie Connolly in TV: 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 TV: Silver Nemesis and TV: Doctor Who.
 * Sentient Autons last appeared in AUDIO: Brave New Town.
 * The explosion of all the stars in the universe bears a resemblance to the night sky as viewed by Vincent van Gogh (and, by extension, the painting "Starry, Starry Night") at the end of TV: Vincent and the Doctor.
 * When Amy questions River about her mentioning the Pandorica at the end of TV 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 TV: 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 TV: 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". (TV: 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 TV: Rose.
 * Needing to buy some time, the Doctor goads the thousands of ships hovering over Stonehenge 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. (TV: ''Forest of the Dead)

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.