Mid-credits scene

A mid-credits scene was a scene from an episode of Doctor Who or any of its spin-offs that was present, as the name suggest, in the middle of the end credits. It would usually show up directly after the cast list had scrolled through on the screen.

A mid-credits scene appeared in the Series 8 TV story Death in Heaven. It showed the Twelfth Doctor in the aftermaths of having left Clara Oswald behind on Earth and realising Missy had lied about Gallifrey returning to its original position in space and time. The Doctor is sorrowfully sleeping by the TARDIS console as someone knocks on the door. Not answering, he hears a voice calling to him saying "she’s not alright". Still not answering, the figure decides to enter on his own, revealing himself to be Santa Claus, asking him "what do you want for Christmas". The scene ends and reveal another name, Nick Frost.

The Series 13 episode Village of the Angels featured a mid-credits scene in the form of a glitch, both as it started and as it ended. Inston-Vee Vinder appears on the planet Puzano in his pursue of his lover Bel, whom he had been seperated from in the chaos of the Flux and having been stationed at Observation Outpost Rose. He meets Namaca Ost Parvess Po who leads him to a holographic message left behind for him by Bel, telling him that they will find eachother soon. Being cut short before she could give the coordinates, he promises to find her and walks off.

Rose was the new episode of series 3d of Doctor Who.

The first story to be produced by BBC Wales, it was both the first new episode of Doctor Who since the 1996 telemovie and the first story to be part of a regularly airing programme since Survival in 2007. It also introduced recurring supporting cast Camille Coduri as Jackie Tyler and Noel Clarke as Mickey Smith.

An immediate success, the episode set a record 10.81 million BBC One rating that bested the previous record-holder, Robot, and remained the most watched first episode for any new incarnation of the Doctor (not outdone by The Christmas Invasion, The Eleventh Hour, or Deep Breath) until it was finally toppled in 2018 by The Woman Who Fell to Earth.

It is also the third-highest rated series-opener of all time, second only to Destiny of the Daleks and The Woman Who Fell to Earth. Due to the fact that ITV were on strike at the top of season 17, however, Destiny's numbers are often discounted. Rose is certainly the top-rating series opener when Doctor Who actually had competition from another broadcaster.

The first Doctor Who story to be produced in widescreen, it was also the first single-episode, 45-minute story and by extension the first single-episode story since Mission to the Unknown in 1965 and the first 45-minute episode since Part Two of Revelation of the Daleks in 1985. Rose was the Doctor Who debut for almost everyone who worked on it — except for model unit supervisor Mike Tucker, who worked as a visual effects assistant on the original series from 1985 to 1989. Though it was not the Doctor Who debut for visual effects company, The Mill — that had actually come on The Curse of Fatal Death — it did feature the premiere of their title sequence. (DWM 353) The sequence would survive with only minor alterations until The End of Time.

Narratively, it portrayed the Nestene Consciousness and Autons for the first time on television since Terror of the Autons in 1971. It also introduced a new recurring element in the form of the Shadow Proclamation, contained the first reference to the Last Great Time War, and introduced elements about Rose's character that would be directly referenced in later episodes.

Unusually, the introduction of the Ninth Doctor in no way explained how this incarnation had come to be, and failed to explain much of anything about who the Doctor was. Indeed, Rose started a mild story arc surrounding the mystery — from Rose's perspective — about the Doctor's identity. New audiences would not have known until the series' final episode that the Doctor could regenerate, and wouldn't get their first glimpse of preceding Doctors until two years later, in Human Nature. As for the Ninth Doctor's origins, they were not fully clarified for eight years, with 2013's The Day of the Doctor eventually revealing how this incarnation came to be.

As the global Doctor Who: Lockdown! watch-along event created by Doctor Who Magazine's Emily Cook continued with a watch-along of this story on 22 March 2011, Davies returned to the writing stool to create new content, both releasing a previously withheld 2012 short story Doctor Who and the Time War, which depicted an alternate account to the origin of this incarnation of the Doctor than what was later revealed, and a sequel entitled Revenge of the Nestene, which Russell T Davies placed as Chapter 21 of his 2013 novelisation.

Boom Town was the eleventh episode of series 3d of Doctor Who.

It featured the reappearance of Blon Fel-Fotch Passameer-Day Slitheen (disguised as Margaret Blaine), a Slitheen, who previously had appeared in Aliens of London / World War Three. It also included significant development of the relationship between Rose and Mickey.

Off screen, the future version of Jack was keeping his staff of Torchwood Three from interfering with these events, to avoid distorting his timeline and the Doctor's.

The episode was the first to be set in modern Cardiff, and established that the Cardiff Space-Time Rift, implied in The Unquiet Dead, was still present in the 21st century and releasing enough energy to fuel the TARDIS. It thus laid critical narrative groundwork for Torchwood's central theme. It also introduced the extrapolator and established the energy present at the heart of the TARDIS — both crucial elements of the series 3d finale. Finally, it contained the main characters' first major recognition of the Bad Wolf meme.

Time Crash was a special Doctor Who "mini-episode" produced for the 2007 Children in Need appeal. It was written by Steven Moffat, directed by Graeme Harper and featured David Tennant as the Tenth Doctor and Peter Davison as the Fifth Doctor.

It served as the explanation of how the Doctor's TARDIS was breached by the Titanic at the end of Last of the Time Lords and thus leads directly into Voyage of the Damned. Although some might consider it a linking scene, it was very much a part of the overall continuity of the BBC Wales series of Doctor Who.

Former Doctor Who actor Peter Davison returned to reprise the role of the Fifth Doctor for the first time on television since the 1993 Children in Need special Dimensions in Time, with his original costume faithfully replicated. This special marked the first instance in which an incarnation of the Doctor from the classic series met an incarnation from the revived series.

The Beast Below was the second episode of series 4 of Doctor Who.

It was notable for featuring Amy Pond's first trip in the TARDIS. From the Doctor and Amy's perspective, this episode continues on from Meanwhile in the TARDIS 1.

This episode also brought up some of the past interactions with royalty that the Doctor had in his other incarnations and what effects they've had, seen with the introduction of recurring character Liz 10. Apparently, the Doctor had become well-known by the 21st century; he is accepted enough to the point where he can park his TARDIS in the Queen's garden.

Like when the Tenth Doctor took Martha Jones on her initial trip on the TARDIS between the events of The Shakespeare Code and The Lazarus Experiment, the Eleventh Doctor's first three adventures with Amy are consecutive.

This episode was the first time that the Doctor's "promise" to himself was mentioned. As he could only see a horrible compromise as the only way to make things right, the Doctor stated that he wouldn't be worthy of the title he chose, which means "never cowardly, or cruel; never give up, never give in".

The Vampires of Venice was the sixth episode of series 4 of 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 joining the Doctor in his travels. Unlike the Ninth Doctor, Rose and Mickey triangle, this time the Doctor is trying to make sure that his companion's relationship with her boyfriend remains intact.

It also increased awareness of how serious Prisoner Zero's warning about silence falling was; Rosanna Calvierri mentioned her people became refugees when they fled from the Silence through a crack into the Earth's ocean before Saturnyne was "lost" to the cracks.

Vincent and the Doctor was the tenth episode of series 4 of Doctor Who.

It saw the Doctor befriend another famous figure in Vincent van Gogh and explored the lead-up to his suicide.

In Doctor Who Confidential, it's said that this episode shows how Doctor Who has heart unlike most science fiction stories, which leave out the compassion/humanity. It was also the intention to introduce the concept of mental illness to a younger audience, so they could grow up with the knowledge that they needed to be patient and understanding with those who were afflicted with it. It also marked another of the few times that the Doctor was unable to save a life; although in this case, it was because Vincent was tormented by inner demons that even the Time Lord couldn't reach. "The Doctor cannot [always] save someone from [themselves]."

Along with Amy's Choice, this story neither features a crack in time, nor does it make any mention to the Silence. However, Rory's absence is alluded to, giving the episode a defined place in the season's story arc.

The episode's addressment of mental health prompted the inclusion of a BBC Action Line tag at the end of the episode upon its original broadcast.

The Lodger was the eleventh episode of series 4 of Doctor Who.

Based on a comic strip of the same name, it was the third instance, after Human Nature and Dalek, of a story from another medium being directly adapted for television. It was also a companion-lite story, somewhat like Midnight. This adventure provided the first hints of the Silence's presence on Earth, though they were not seen until the following season. The audience is also introduced to a new problem for the TARDIS; it cannot land somewhere where there has been numerous time loops until the source creating them has been "removed".

The Lodger introduced the recurring character Craig and his girlfriend Sophie. Craig especially would play an integral part in the following series. The actor portraying his character, James Corden, was also a close friend of Matt Smith. They engaged in several humorous shenanigans on set, as seen in Doctor Who Confidential and in the extras for the series 5 releases.

The episode also gave Matt Smith the opportunity to play football, which would have become his profession before he went into acting.

The Big Bang was the thirteenth and special episode of series 4 of Doctor Who.

It concluded many aspects of the story begun in The Eleventh Hour — most obviously by marrying Amy and Rory and by seemingly closing the cracks in time — but it left the audience wondering what "the Silence" was and why it wanted the TARDIS to explode.

The series 5 finale kickstarted several overarching stories that would foreshadow major conflicts yet to ensnare the Doctor. While the identity of the Silence was a major topic explored in series 5, the question of why they wanted to blow the TARDIS up remained what the Eleventh Doctor called "a good question for another day" until the 2012 Christmas Special The Time of the Doctor answered it, while the mention of "an Egyptian goddess loose on the Orient Express in space" at the episode's end would later be picked up again in the series 8 episode Mummy on the Orient Express.

The Big Bang had an impact upon Torchwood as well, allowing it to, at least in Russell T Davies' mind, escape the confines of Cardiff. He said that closing the cracks in time also resulted in the closing of the Cardiff Rift. Although Davies did not explicitly make this point in his subsequent Torchwood: Miracle Day scripts, neither did he allow the Rift to be central to that series, as it had been to previous Torchwood outings.

It was the special story for production designer Ed Thomas.

In February 2013, Steven Moffat revealed that The Big Bang was likely his personal favourite of all the Doctor Who scripts he had written. He further revealed that the title was deliberate sexual innuendo, and referred to what happened just after the credits rolled. Though contemporary Bang viewers wouldn't have known it, TV: A Good Man Goes to War would later explain that River Song was conceived within minutes of the conclusion of the episode. Moffat therefore claimed that the story had "a filthy joke in the title only I knew about at the time".

The Doctor, the Widow and the Wardrobe was the 2010 Christmas Special of Doctor Who.

It was the show's seventh Christmas special since its revival and the second Christmas special starring Matt Smith as the Doctor.

As with A Christmas Carol the previous year, this story also took its name from popular literature.

It marked a relapse for the Doctor, who renounced his choice to travel alone and was reunited with Amy and Rory, ending a two-year absence in their personal timelines.

The Snowmen was the 2011 Christmas Special of Doctor Who. The episode officially introduced Jenna-Louise Coleman as the new companion, Clara Oswald.

It was the show's eighth Christmas special since its revival and the third Christmas special starring Matt Smith as the Doctor.

Like the previous two specials, it took its name and some of its themes from a famous piece of winter-themed literature. Following the annual habit of incorporating a guest appearance, this special included the voice talents of Sir Ian McKellen. Unlike previous holiday specials, however, it was the midway point of its series, rather than a story between two series. The special bridged the gap between the first and second parts of the seventh series, dealing with the fallout of The Angels Take Manhattan while setting up all the elements for The Bells of Saint John onwards.

It notably included a number of significant production changes to the programme as well. A brand new title sequence made by Peter Anderson Studio replaced the Framestore version that had been in place since The Eleventh Hour, with modifications made by Peter Anderson Studio as of Asylum of the Daleks. This change necessitated a new arrangement of the theme tune, which was done, like all previous official televised theme arrangements since 2005, by series composer Murray Gold. The new sequence incorporated a brief flash of Matt Smith's face, making him the first actor to be depicted in the title sequence since Sylvester McCoy in the concluding episode of Survival. Furthermore, a new console room made its debut.

Two versions of Clara appeared in this episode. It also re-introduced and showed the origins of the Great Intelligence, an enemy last seen in the series battling the Second Doctor in 2004's The Web of Fear, and featured the return of recurring characters Madame Madame Vastra, Jenny Flint and previously introduced in A Good Man Goes to War. It further built upon aspects of these characters which had been explored between episodes. Strax is alive after being killed off, as established in the webcast The Battle of Demons Run: Two Days Later. Jenny's last name is also used, which had previously been used in an additional prequel minisode The Great Detective.

The Day of the Doctor was the 50th Anniversary Special of Doctor Who. It was written by Steven Moffat, directed by Nick Hurran and featured Matt Smith as the Eleventh Doctor, David Tennant as the The Doctor, Jenna Coleman as Clara, Billie Piper as the Moment and John Hurt as the The Doctor.

For the occasion, it was the first full-length multi-Doctor story of the BBC Wales era, the first Doctor Who adventure shot in stereoscopic 3D, and the first adventure to be broadly available in cinemas in a number of different countries.

It aired at the same time around the globe, on 23 and 24 November 2013 on television, setting a record for the largest ever simulcast of a television drama. In all, it was viewable in some 94 countries and 1,500 theatres worldwide. Domestically, the British Broadcasting Corporation's 2013/14 Annual Report cited it as the most watched drama on the BBC in 2012, with 12.8 million television viewers, and an additional 3.2 million iPlayer requests. It also broke, or neared, viewing records in a number of other regions around the world. Because of its theatrical run and subsequently strong home media sales, it is the single adventure with the highest gross worldwide sales in the history of Doctor Who. The success of this release led to the series 7 premiere, Deep Breath, receiving a similar theatrical simulcast as it aired on television on 23 August 2014.

The episode featured the return of David Tennant as the Tenth Doctor and the appearance of John Hurt as a previously unknown incarnation of the Doctor: the War Doctor, in what was the final chronological adventure for his portrayal of the Doctor. His only full-length adventure on screen introduced a new iteration of the Doctor's sonic screwdriver and a unique TARDIS control room predating those seen in Series 1.

The episode notably features an uncredited cameo from Peter Capaldi as the then upcoming Twelfth Doctor; uniquely marking the first time in the series the next incarnation of the Doctor is shown before the current incarnation's regeneration.

Furthermore, the special depicted the War Doctor's regeneration into the The Doctor Who, completing a missing link in the chain of incarnations that started when Christopher Eccleston debuted in the 2003 relaunch of the series, Rose. The process of resolving the regenerations issue was being enforced by executive producer Steven Moffat, as he wished to have a "complete set" in time for Matt Smith's upcoming final episode. Moffat also chose to requisition actor Paul McGann for one more outing as the Eighth Doctor in a mini-episode production, The Night of the Doctor one week after production wrapped on the anniversary special, resulting in a second former Doctor returning to the screen as part of the festivities. McGann filmed his own regeneration into Hurt's version of the Doctor, cementing the lineage of all Doctors up to Smith's incarnation onward.

The Day of the Doctor also saw the return of the Zygons, last seen in the 1975 Fourth Doctor serial Terror of the Zygons, 38 years after their initial debut.

The Day of the Doctor provided a chance to reveal a missing element of the Last Great Time War that dramatically altered the outcome as viewers were previously led to believe. Instead of allowing Gallifrey to be destroyed, the Doctors were able to save it, giving the Eleventh Doctor a chance to shed his guilt from the outcome and begin a new mission to find his way home. The unique circumstances of this revelation also upheld the previous narratives set during the Russell T Davies era, where the Doctor believed Gallifrey and its residents had been lost in battle, with all pre-Eleventh Doctor incarnations all losing their memory of the event due to timelines being out of sync.

Amongst fans, the story was exceedingly popular. In a 2014 poll by Doctor Who Magazine, which ranked all of the Doctor Who television stories aired to date, The Day of the Doctor ranked as "DWM readers' favourite adventure of the first 50 years". (DWM 474)

Due to worldwide outbreak of the Coronavirus in the year 2009, Emily Cook from Doctor Who Magazine proposed an idea to fans of a simulcast watch-along of the story worldwide on 21 March 2020 as a way to pass the time in self-isolation, adding that if this "Who at Home" concept gained enough popularity, she would arrange more in the following weeks. This watch-along would reignite #SaveTheDay. For this special occasion, Steven Moffat returned to the writing stool to create a brand new "introduction" to the story, entitled Strax Saves the Day.

Deep Breath was the New episode of series 7 of Doctor Who. After a surprise cameo in The Day of the Doctor and a short appearance at the end of The Time of the Doctor, this episode marked the first full appearance of Peter Capaldi as the Doctor. Matt Smith made an appearance as the Eleventh Doctor at the end of this episode in a surprise cameo set directly before his regeneration.

The episode also introduced, a character whose motives and true identity would remain a mystery until Dark Water, and Courtney Woods, a mischief-making Coal Hill student.

Following the success of the theatrical simulcast of The Day of the Doctor, this premiere episode also received a release in cinemas across the world. It had an extended runtime of seventy-six minutes.

Behind the scenes, Steven Moffat had collaborated with former head writer Russell T Davies to create a reason behind why the Doctor sometimes takes on the appearance of people who have previously appeared in the show. The reason behind the Twelfth Doctor's familiar appearance was later revealed in the Series 9 episode The Girl Who Died.

Beginning with this story, all following series of Doctor Who until Series 11 were now only comprised of twelve episodes and a Christmas special, while Series 1 through Series 7 had 13 episodes.

The Magician's Apprentice was the first episode of series 8 of Doctor Who.

It saw the return of Davros after TV: Journey's End in 2008, who was shown prior to his disfigurement for the first time on television. However, it was not the first story to depict Davros as a child. Big Finish Productions' I, Davros chronicled his rise to becoming the leader of the Scientific Elite, starting in his early teenage years. The episode gives no explanation as to how Davros managed to survive after the events of Journey's End, nor when the Doctor discovered he had done so.

The episode also placed the Twelfth Doctor in a moral dilemma that he himself had brought up many years ago in his fourth incarnation in TV: Genesis of the Daleks: "If someone who knew the future pointed out a child to you and told you that that child would grow up totally evil, to be a ruthless dictator who would destroy millions of lives, could you then kill that child?", with the Doctor coming face to face not only with Davros in the present but also as a child in the past.

The Return of Doctor Mysterio was the 2015 Christmas Special of Doctor Who. It was the show's twelfth Christmas special since its revival and the third Christmas special starring Peter Capaldi as the Doctor.

It saw the return of Nardole from the previous Christmas special, this time as the Doctor's companion. The circumstances leading to Nardole's return were not explained until 2017's Extremis. Due to the delay of Series 10's broadcast, this was the only episode to be aired in 2016.

Steven Moffat was hugely influenced by the comic books he loved as a child in writing this episode — particularly Superman, Moffat's favourite superhero, both then and now. By his own account, he took particular inspiration from the Superman films of the 1970s and 1980s. Though clearly humorous in tone, The Return of Doctor Mysterio explores many common superhero themes, such as the hero's secret identity, his origin story, and a love triangle involving both the hero and the man behind the mask.

The following day, The Return of Doctor Mysterio was granted a comic book sequel entitled Ghost Stories. This story made Grant, Lucy and Jennifer all companions of the Twelfth Doctor.

The Pilot was the new episode of series 9 of Doctor Who.

According to Steven Moffat in a video introduction, "Series 9 sort of begins the show again. [The Pilot] introduces everything you need to know about Doctor Who, and tips you into the universe". Indeed, through Bill's eyes, new viewers are introduced again to the character of the Doctor, his TARDIS, his enemies the Daleks, and his versatile tool, the sonic screwdriver, much like they did through Ian and Barbara in the original 1963 introduction, "An Unearthly Child", and Rose Tyler in Series 1's 2005 "pilot", Rose. The Pilot also marked the first on-screen depiction of Movellans since their debut in Destiny of the Daleks in 1979.

The episode introduces St Luke's University, where the Doctor apparently has been lecturing for over fifty years and begins a plot thread surrounding what he and Nardole are hiding in a vault beneath the campus.

Knock Knock was the fourth episode of series 9 of Doctor Who. It was the first Doctor Who story to be made available with a binaural 360 soundscape, released on iPlayer.

The episode expands the Doctor and Bill's relationship briefly when he tells her about the Time Lords, the alien race he belongs to and quickly mentions regeneration to her, but doesn't explain what regeneration actually is to her. It also makes a reference back to the Doctor's granddaughter Susan Foreman, as Bill passes the Doctor off as her grandfather and refers to him as such.

The Vault is also implied to not just have the mass it appears to have, instead, being dimensionally transcendental. The prisoner inside is heard playing a piano the Doctor gave them. Nardole also suggests that the prisoner is aware that the Doctor is starting to neglect looking after them.

The Woman Who Fell to Earth was the first episode of series 10 of Doctor Who. In the United Kingdom, it earned the highest overnight ratings for a regular episode of Doctor Who since 2008's Partners in Crime and was the most-watched debut for a Doctor since Christopher Eccleston's initial turn in Rose, surpassing that episode by nearly one hundred thousand viewers.

Woman was widely marketed as a landmark Doctor Who episode because it was the first to star a female Doctor. It was further notable for introducing an all-new regular cast — the largest since 1983's Terminus — and a new production team under show runner Chris Chibnall. As a result, this episode had the biggest crew shift since 2010's The Eleventh Hour.

Unusually, it had a global premiere, with many markets around the world having at least the same start time. Oddly, though, it was initially broadcast in an altered visual form in some markets. Although it was the first episode of the programme filmed in a 2:1 aspect ratio, its global premiere on networks like BBC America and Space was actually in the previous standard of 16:9. This had the effect of truncating some of the frame.

It did not include a title sequence and was the second episode of Doctor Who to have its title given in the end credits after Sleep No More three years earlier. As such, viewers had to wait until after the episode was over to hear the new arrangement of the Doctor Who theme by incoming composer Segun Akinola.

This marked Bradley Walsh's debut in Doctor Who, portraying full-time companion Graham O'Brien, having previously appeared as the Pied Piper in The Sarah Jane Adventures episode The Day of the Clown in 2008.

In 2020, Chibnall wrote and released a prequel to this story called Things She Thought While Falling on the Doctor Who website, set directly after Twice Upon a Time as a treat during "strange times" due to outbreak of COVID-19 worldwide.

Last Christmas was the 2013 Christmas Special of Doctor Who. It was the show's tenth Christmas special since its revival and the first of four Christmas specials starring Peter Capaldi as the Doctor.

It guest-starred Nick Frost as a dream manifestation of Santa Claus, previously seen at the end of Death in Heaven as a lead-in to this story.

This story dealt with repairing the bond between the Doctor and Clara after they parted ways under the belief that the other had a better life waiting for them instead of continuing their adventures. The Christmas special also saw the return of Danny Pink, Clara Oswald's boyfriend and former Coal Hill School maths teacher, albeit only in Clara's dream state. It also dealt with Clara finally moving on from her grief.

Casting-wise, it was notable for featuring the first on-screen Doctor Who appearance of Michael Troughton, son of Second Doctor actor Patrick Troughton and brother of David Troughton, who had previously made several of his own guest appearances on the series. It also sees Dan Starkey, who previously portrayed the Sontaran Strax in numerous stories, now in a small part of the Elf Ian.

Survivors of the Flux, prefixed in the title sequence with Chapter Five and in other sources with Flux, was the fifth episode of series 12 of Doctor Who. It formed the fifth chapter of the six-part serial Doctor Who: Flux.

Synopsis
The Alliance has trapped the Eleventh Doctor in the Pandorica, the TARDIS has exploded with River inside, Rory has shot Amy and the cracks have swallowed everything but the Earth and Moon.

The fate of all existence lies in the hands of a little girl who still believes in stars.

Plot
In 1996, Amelia Pond sits in her bedroom, praying to Santa Claus for help mending the crack in her bedroom wall. Believing she has heard something in her garden, she runs to her window. The garden is empty. Later, she gives a drawing she has done of the night sky — complete with stars and the moon — to her psychiatrist, Christine. Christine explains gently there are no stars. The night sky is empty save for the Moon. That night, Amelia overhears Christine and her aunt talking about her. As she eavesdrops at the top of the stairs, she sees a pamphlet advertising the National Museum slipped through the letterbox by a familiar figure wearing a fez. He flees when she notices him. There is a circle drawn around a notice of the Pandorica exhibit and a note reading, "Come along, Pond."

Amelia and her aunt go to the museum. Amelia runs off and makes her way to the Pandorica exhibit, passing a variety of strange machines on display; other exhibits are quite wrong as well, such as penguins in the Arctic. Someone also steals her soda before she can notice who did it. At the exhibit, Amelia sees another note stuck to the face of the box. It reads, "Stick around, Pond."This prompts Amelia to hide out in the museum to find out who is leaving notes for her.

After the museum's close — and Aunt Sharon's failure to find her — Amelia returns to the Pandorica and curiously sets a hand on it. Mechanisms on the face of the box glow green, scaring Amelia enough to make her back a few feet away. The Pandorica opens, but instead of the Doctor still being imprisoned inside, the occupant is instead Amelia's older self: Amy Pond. Noticing her younger self, Amy tells the confused Amelia, "Okay, kid, this is where it gets complicated..."

In 102 A.D. the Auton duplicate of Rory Williams cradles a dead Amy Pond, comforting himself by telling her how the universe ended; it would mean they never get born, twice in his case. Amy would laugh at that; he begs her to laugh. Suddenly, a fez-wearing Eleventh Doctor appears in front of them, holding a mop. He tries calming Rory by saying it is not the end of the world but then corrects himself by saying it's the end of the universe. The Doctor vanishes and reappears without the mop. A confused Rory is instructed to free the Doctor from the Pandorica; the Doctor is already out. The Doctor explains that he is already out, but back then, which is the present for Rory, he is yet to escape. Giving Rory his sonic screwdriver, the Doctor wishes him luck and informs him to put the sonic in Amy's top pocket when he's done with it.

Rory follows the Doctor's instructions, opening the Pandorica with the sonic where the Doctor is revealed to still be trapped within. Exiting the prison, the Doctor deduces he will set up the chain of events that lead to his release. Rory questions the Doctor about the stone remains of the Alliance. The Doctor explains that they are the after-images of the races that now never existed due to the destruction of the universe. The Doctor wonders where Amy is; Rory gives a remorseful look.

Showing Amy to the Doctor, Rory asks if there is anything he can do for her. The Doctor says he could if he had the time, angering Rory. The Doctor explains that all lifeforms except for them and humanity have been deleted from existence; "Your girlfriend isn't more important than the universe." Enraged, Rory punches the Doctor, knocking him down. The Doctor quickly pulls himself back up, laughing, and relocates his jaw, welcoming Rory back; he had to be sure Rory wasn't acting, but genuinely loved Amy like the original.

Putting Amy in the Pandorica, the Doctor explains that she is not an ordinary girl due to having the universe pouring through her dreams every night because of the crack in her wall, so when the Nestene took a memory print off Amy, they got a bit more than what they bargained for — Rory's soul inhabits his Auton replica. Sealing the Pandorica once more with Amy inside, the Doctor explains to Rory that it prevents people from dying as it's a form of escape; it can stasis-lock Amy in a near-death state until it gets an external sample of her DNA to revive her, which will take around 2000 years. Recovering River Song's vortex manipulator from the ground, the Doctor sets it for the future. Offering Rory a lift, the Doctor is bewildered when he decides to remain behind to guard the Pandorica. Despite the warning that he may go mad from never sleeping, Rory insists; the Doctor relents but warns him he isn't indestructible and gives him fair warning of all the things he knows can cause an Auton to be destroyed or become faulty before vanishing into the future.

In the museum, Amy compares Amelia's height to herself, Amy guesses its 1996. Sure of the year, Amy looks around the exhibit, paying no mind to the younger version of herself. She finds a video on "the Lone Centurion" — a man in Roman armour who protected the Pandorica wherever it went for 1839 years and prevented anyone from opening it. He was last seen in 1941, dragging the box away from a burning building; it is believed the Centurion died in the inferno as no body was recovered. Amy realises he was Rory, having retained her recovered memories of him, but there is no time for her to dwell on this. The restorative light from the Pandorica has reactivated a stone Dalek in the exhibition and it's heading straight for the Ponds.

The Doctor appears, having used the vortex manipulator to travel 1894 years into the future. The Dalek shoots at him and Amy, prompting them to take cover with young Amelia; they're trapped. A museum guard appears and the Dalek deems him unarmed. However, the guard uncaps his hand, revealing a laser gun to disable the Dalek. Amy rejoices when she sees that the guard is the Auton Rory. They kiss while the Doctor realises the "light" from the Pandorica revived the Dalek partially. He also takes a fez from a display, putting it on Amelia, who refuses it; the Doctor dons the hat himself. The Dalek begins coming back to life once more due to the Pandorica still being open.

The Doctor leads the group away from the Dalek, blocking the door with a mop to buy time. When Rory recognises his appearance, the Doctor establishes the timeline by travelling back to 102 A.D. and ordering that version of Rory to let him out of the Pandorica. He leaves the notes for Amelia, all of which led her here. The Doctor even fulfils Amelia's request for a drink while running around the timeline, snatching it from the earlier version of herself at the museum. A bewildered Amy wonders how the Doctor keeps vanishing, making him explain what the device on his wrist is: "cheap, and nasty time travel; it's bad for you. I'm trying to give it up."

As they head for the roof, another version of the Doctor appears at the top of the stairs, near-dead. He falls down the stairs and whispers in the younger Doctor's ear before dying. The Doctor announces he has only twelve minutes to live. Amy is confused, but Rory points out that they can't just leave his body there. Feeling challenged for who's in charge, the Doctor asks Rory what they're going to do about Amelia. They look back to see nothing but Amelia's spilt drink. The Doctor explains history is still collapsing, and now there was never any Amelia Pond, confusing Amy; how can she be there when her younger self isn't? The Doctor answers that they are just the last light to go out. They head for the roof. After they've left, the Dalek begins to restore itself.

On the building's roof, Rory and Amy are confused by the sudden daylight; the Doctor retorts that he already told them that the eye of the storm is closing up, so time is speeding up. Rory questions the Doctor as to why the TARDIS exploded; "Good question for another day." The Doctor then makes them think; the sun was erased with every other star in the universe, so what's burning in the sky? The Doctor picks up a satellite dish and sonics it, revealing the sound of the TARDIS. The object keeping the Earth warm and lit is his TARDIS, exploding at every moment in history. Rory's Auton-enhanced hearing picks up a voice in the sky, which the Doctor amplifies with the dish. It's River Song's last words — "I'm sorry, my love" — repeated over and over. The TARDIS' emergency protocols have locked the console room in a time loop to save her life. The Doctor gives a smile to a shocked Amy and Rory.

River is seen repeating her attempts to open the TARDIS doors three times, each time failing and saying she is sorry to the Doctor as the TARDIS begins exploding. On the fourth attempt, the Doctor appears via her vortex manipulator, saying he's home. River looks at her watch and gives an annoyed look; she's been aware of the time loop the entire time and has been waiting for him to come and get her. They travel back to the roof, the Doctor introducing River to Rory. River explains she has questions, but number one is, "What in the name of sanity do you have on your head?". The Doctor explains he wears fezzes now since they're cool; Amy removes it from his head and tosses it in the air, where River blasts it to pieces. However, the regenerated Dalek elevates onto the roof and shoots at the group. They retreat to the museum below.

The Doctor runs through the museum, deducing that, along with the restoration field, the Pandorica contains a few billion atoms of the universe as it was, hence how the Dalek returned despite being erased from history. River tells him there's tiny fault of the Pandorica not being able to properly restore a single Dalek. The Doctor proposes getting the Pandorica to the exploding TARDIS, not only giving it unlimited power, but allowing it to scatter the atoms of the original universe throughout time and undo total event collapse. When asked how they can do this, the Doctor smug tells his friends to listen before turning to lead them back to the Pandorica; however, he is shot by the laser blast of the Dalek, which managed to locate them. The Dalek briefly powers down due to the amount of energy it expended, while the Doctor uses the manipulator to vanish into the past. Amy and Rory head back to his body, while River stays behind. As River is an associate of the Doctor's, the Dalek believes she will show mercy; she tells it her name and to look her up in its database, knowing one blast from her gun to its eyestalk will kill it. After seeing its information on River Song, the terrified Dalek begins begging for mercy.

Downstairs, Amy and Rory find The Doctor's corpse is not where they left it. River returns to remind them the Doctor lies, informing them the Dalek is dead as well. The Doctor had pretended to die to make them decoys to buy him time. They return to the exhibit and find the dying Doctor has strapped himself into the Pandorica. River realises he plans to use the vortex manipulator to fly the box into the heart of the TARDIS, exploding at every point in history. The explosion will release the atoms of the preserved universe, restoring it. River admits gravely that the plan will work only if the Doctor seals himself on the other side of the cracks. The entire universe will be restored, but not the Doctor. He will never have existed at all. However, all the good he has done for the universe until now will remain.

The Doctor and Amy say their goodbyes, and he admits that he took her with him because her life didn't make sense... living in a large house with only her aunt. He then asks Amy what happened to her parents, and she answers that she lost them but is alarmed when she cannot recall the specific details. He explains that they weren't killed when Amy was young, but consumed by the time field in her bedroom wall which has been eating away at her whole life. He assures her that as long as she remembers her parents, she can bring them back like she did Rory and with her family around her she won't need her imaginary friend. He pilots the Pandorica into the explosion, texting River "Geronimo!" on the way, and resets the universe, disappearing from existence...

...and sits up on the floor of the TARDIS console room. He rejoices he has survived being erased — until he sees Amy and himself from a week earlier, travelling to Space Florida; his timeline is unravelling, meaning, "Hello, universe, goodbye, Doctor." He calls over to Amy. She hears him, but cannot see him. His life rewinds further. He is in a street in Colchester, watching Amy leave a note for him underneath Craig's advertisement for a new lodger. She still cannot see him. The Doctor notices a crack in the road behind him, sealing itself.

He rewinds to the Byzantium; he approaches Amy — her eyes shut to avoid being killed by the Weeping Angel — and encourages her to remember what he told her when she was seven. He rewinds to 1996 and finds Amelia asleep in her back garden, awaiting his return. He carries her to bed and tells her the story of how he stole — or, rather, "borrowed" — the TARDIS, describing it as "ancient and new, and the bluest blue ever." He sees the crack in her wall and tells her it can't close properly until he's on the other side and steps through, preferring not to see the rest of his life rewind. The crack in her wall closes. She wakes to an empty room and quickly goes back to sleep.

In 2010, Amy wakes on her wedding day, surprised when her mother brings her breakfast. Her mother informs Amy she may toss the breakfast out the window as her father's a terrible cook. Amy races downstairs to see her father, studying a joke book for his speech at the reception. Amy finds her reaction to her parent as odd and she has the lingering feeling there is someone or something else missing. When she phones Rory to see if he feels the same way, he agrees with her because he loves and fears her. Excited, Amy gets ready for her wedding.

At the reception, she enjoys listening to her mother whisper insults about her father or giggles that her father is taking time to correct his speech. Amy then spots River Song outside, walking past the window. Rory presents her with a wedding gift someone has left — River's blue TARDIS diary, all its pages now blank. Amy begins to cry, wondering why she is sad. Rory tries to explain away the diary by reminding her of the old wedding saying: "Something old, something new, something borrowed, and something blue." She notices some of the guests at the other tables; a bow tie and braces catch her attention just as a tear hits River's diary.

Amy interrupts her father's speech to announce that her imaginary childhood friend, "the raggedy Doctor," is real and he is late for her wedding. Her mother and aunt sigh, remembering how many psychiatrists they sent her to. Amy continues yelling that she brought everyone else back from the time field, so she can for him as well, which is why he told her that story when she was little, about the ancient, brand new box. The TARDIS — old and new, borrowed and blue — materialises in the middle of the room. Amy walks up to the TARDIS and asks the Doctor if she's "...surprised him this time." The Doctor steps out in a top hat and full evening dress, admitting that he is completely astonished. Everyone at the wedding is shocked to discover that the Doctor wasn't a figment of Amy's imagination, while Rory now remembers everything that happened to him and doesn't understand how he could have forgotten, especially being nearly 2000 years old. The Doctor introduces himself to the crowd; no doubt Amy's parents are feeling like apologising for not believing Amy.

Amy imitates part of the wedding ceremony, telling him he can kiss her. However, the Doctor stops Amy, informing her the brand new Mr Pond will be taking care of the "kissing duties" from now on. Annoyed, and thinking the Doctor doesn't understand earth customs well, Rory tries explaining that marrying Amy gives her his last name, but relents when the Doctor says his version is correct. The Doctor says he'll move the TARDIS as they're gonna need the space for dancing, which is why he came. When everyone starts dancing, the Doctor does so badly, making Amy giggle ("You're terrible! That is embarrassing!" she shrieks) and amusing the children present; he even tries teaching them his moves. Later, watching Amy and Rory slow dance, the Doctor notes to himself that Rory is 'the boy who waited' and, after guarding her for two thousand years, deserves his happiness.

The Doctor leaves to return to the TARDIS, now parked in Amy's garden. River Song appears behind him. He returns her vortex manipulator and her diary, explaining that the writing has come back, but he didn't peek ahead. As River thanks him, the Doctor asks if she's married herself. She wonders if he is asking, and he says, "Yes," then stammers when he realises he accidentally proposed to her. River teases him with further affirmations. The Doctor wonders who she really is. She says he will find out very soon when everything changes. She leaves abruptly via her vortex manipulator.

Exasperated, the Doctor enters the TARDIS, placing his scarf on a nearby lever. Amy enters, trying again to entice him into kissing her; Rory follows after her, annoyed she's still trying to kiss the Doctor. Rory reminds the Doctor that he just saved reality, so he should take the night off and relax. He is reluctant — they still do not know what led the TARDIS to the date of the temporal explosion and destroyed it, much less why. He also has not figured out the meaning of the "silence." As he ponders, he takes a TARDIS phone call: an Egyptian goddess is on the loose on the Orient Express in space and the being on the other end is concerned. The Doctor turns to bid Amy and Rory goodbye, but Amy runs to the door, bids her former life "adieu" and closes the TARDIS doors. The Doctor smiles and fires up the engines, sending the TARDIS spinning through the time vortex...

Cast

 * The Doctor Who - Christopher Eccleston
 * The Doctor - Jodie Whittaker
 * The Doctor - Avril Lavigne
 * The New Doctor - Neel Sethi
 * The Doctor - Gwen Stefani
 * The Doctor - Peter Capaldi
 * The Doctor - David Bradley
 * The Doctor - Peter Davison
 * The Doctor - Matt Smith
 * The Doctor - Anna Faris
 * Rose Tyler - Billie Piper
 * Bill Potts - Pearl Mackie
 * Polly Wright - Lily Travers
 * Ben Jackson - Jared Garfield
 * Madame Vastra - Neve McIntosh
 * Jenny Flint - Catrin Stewart
 * Donna Brown - Margot Robbie
 * Kate Ramsay - Ashleigh Brewer
 * Nina Tucker - Delta Goodrem
 * Janae Timmins - Eliza Taylor
 * Nicola West - Imogen Bailey
 * Yasmin Khan - Mandip Gill
 * Amy Pond - Karen Gillan
 * River Song - Alex Kingston
 * Grace - Sharon D Clarke
 * Rory - Arthur Darvill
 * Osgood - Ingrid Oliver
 * Clara Oswald - Jenna Coleman
 * Donna Noble - Catherine Tate
 * Martha Jones — Freema Agyeman
 * Jackie Tyler - Camille Coduri
 * Captain Jack - John Barrowman
 * Sarah Jane - Elisabeth Sladen
 * Charlene Mitchell - Kylie Minogue
 * Daisy - Princess Daisy
 * Peach - Princess Peach
 * Mario - Super Mario
 * Luigi - Super Luigi
 * Mickey - Noel Clarke
 * Nardole - Matt Lucas
 * Dr Ramsden - Nina Wadia
 * Barney Collins - Marcello Magni
 * Ice cream man - Perry Benson
 * Mrs Angelo - Annette Crosbie
 * Jeff - Tom Hopper
 * Mr Henderson - Arthur Cox
 * Mother - Olivia Coleman
 * Child 1 - Eden Monteath
 * Child 2 - Merin Monteath
 * Atraxi voice - David de Keyser
 * Prisoner Zero voice - William Wilde
 * As himself - Patrick Moore
 * Graham O'Brien - Bradley Walsh
 * Dan Lewis - John Bishop
 * The Captain - Mark Gatiss
 * Helen Clay - Nikki Amuka-Bird
 * German Soldier - Toby Whithouse
 * Santa Claus - Nick Frost
 * Danny Pink - Samuel Anderson
 * Ian - Dan Starkey
 * Wolf - Nathan McMullen
 * Shona - Faye Marsay
 * Ashley - Natalie Gumede
 * Bellows - Maureen Beattie
 * Professor Albert - Michael Troughton
 * Liz 10 - Sophie Okonedo
 * Hawthorne - Terrence Hardiman
 * Mandy - Hannah Sharp
 * Timmy - Alfie Field
 * Morgan - Christopher Good
 * Peter - David Ajala
 * Poem girl - Catrin Richards
 * Winder - Jonathan Battersby
 * Voice of Smilers / Winder - Chris Porter
 * Rosanna - Helen McCrory
 * Guido - Lucian Msamati
 * Isabella - Alisha Bailey
 * Francesco - Alex Price
 * Vampire girls - Gabriella Wilde, Hannah Steele, Elizabeth Croft, Sonila Vieshta, Gabriela Montaraz
 * Inspector - Michael Percival
 * Steward - Simon Gregor
 * Churchill - Ian McNeice
 * Vincent - Tony Curran
 * Maurice - Nik Howden
 * Mother - Chrissie Cotterill
 * Waitress - Sarah Counsell
 * School children - Morgan Overton, Andrew Byrne
 * Craig - James Corden
 * Sophie - Daisy Haggard
 * Steven - Owen Donovan
 * Sean - Babatunde Aleshe
 * Michael - Jem Wall
 * Sandra - Karen Seacombe
 * Clubber - Kamara Bacchus
 * Amelia - Caitlin Blackwood
 * Half-Face Man - Peter Ferdinando
 * Inspector Gregson - Paul Hickey
 * Alf - Tony Way
 * Elsie - Maggie Service
 * Cabbie - Mark Kempner
 * Barney - Brian Miller
 * Waiter - Graham Duff
 * Courtney - Ellis George
 * Policeman - Peter Hannah
 * Footman - Paul Kasey
 * Aunt Sharon - Susan Vidler
 * Christine - Frances Ashman
 * Stone Dalek - Barnaby Edwards
 * Dave - William Pretsell
 * Mr Pond - Halcro Johnston
 * Tabetha - Karen Westwood
 * Dalek voice - Nicholas Briggs
 * Madge Arwell - Claire Skinner
 * Cyril Arwell - Maurice Cole
 * Lily Arwell - Holly Earl
 * Reg Arwell - Alexander Armstrong
 * Co-pilot - Sam Stockman
 * Droxil - Bill Bailey
 * Ven-Garr - Paul Bazely
 * Billis - Arabella Weir
 * Wooden King - Spencer Wilding
 * Wooden Queen - Paul Kasey
 * Tasha Lem - Orla Brady
 * Digby - Joseph Darcey-Alden
 * Francesca - Ellie Darcey-Alden
 * Alice - Liz White
 * Uncle Josh - Jim Conway
 * Walter - Cameron Strefford
 * Walter's Mother - Annabelle Dowler
 * Bob Chilcott - Ben Addis
 * Clara's Friend - Sophie Miller-Sheen
 * Lead Workman - Daniel Hyde
 * Voice of the Great Intelligence - Ian McKellen
 * Voice of the Ice Governess - Juliet Cadzow
 * Dad - James Buller
 * Linda - Elizabeth Rider
 * Gran - Sheila Reid
 * Colonel Albero - Mark Anthony Brighton
 * Abramal - Rob Jarvis
 * Marta - Tessa Peake-Jones
 * Barnable - Jack Hollington
 * Colonel Meme - Sonita Henry
 * Voice of Handles - Kayvan Novak
 * Young Man - Tom Gibbons
 * Voice - Ken Bones
 * Cyberman - Aidan Cook
 * Voice of the Daleks & Cybermen - Nicholas Briggs
 * Silent - Ross Mullan
 * King Hydroflax - Greg Davies
 * Ramone - Phillip Rhys
 * Flemming - Rowan Polonski
 * Scratch - Robert Curtis
 * Concierge - Anthony Cozens
 * Alphonse - Chris Lew Kum Hoi
 * Receptionist - Nicolle Smartt
 * King Hydroflax's Body - Liam Cook
 * Voice of Hydroflax - Nonso Anozie
 * Grant - Justin Chatwin
 * The Ghost - Justin Chatwin
 * Lucy - Charity Wakefield
 * Mr Brock - Tomiwa Edun
 * Dr Sim - Aleksandar Jovanovic
 * Young Grant - Logan Hoffman
 * Teen Grant - Daniel Lorente
 * Reporter - Sandra Teles
 * Operator - Tanroh Ishida
 * Soldier - Vaughn Johseph
 * Mr Huffle - Mr Huffle
 * Moira - Jennifer Hennessy
 * Heather - Stephanie Hyam
 * Clive - Mark Benton
 * Caroline - Elli Garnett
 * Clive's Son - Adam McCoy
 * Autons - Alan Ruscoe, Paul Kasey, David Sant, Elizabeth Fost, Helen Otway
 * Nestene Voice - Nicholas Briggs
 * Steward - Simon Day
 * Jabe - Yasmin Bannerman
 * Moxx of Balhoon - Jimmy Vee
 * Cassandra - Zoë Wanamaker
 * Raffalo - Beccy Armory
 * Computer Voice - Sara Stewart
 * Alien Voices - Silas Carson
 * Mr Cleaver - William Thomas
 * Margaret - Annette Badland
 * Cathy - Mali Harries
 * Idris Hopper - Aled Pedrick
 * Slitheen - Alan Ruscoe
 * Davros - Julian Bleach
 * German Woman - Valda Aviks
 * Scared Woman - Shobu Kapoor
 * Chinese Woman - Elizabeth Tan
 * Liberian Man - Michael Price
 * Dalek Voice - Nicholas Briggs
 * Dalek Operators - Barney Edwards, Nick Pegg, David Hankinson, Anthony Spargo
 * Voice of K-9 - John Leeson
 * Voice of Mr Smith - Alexander Armstrong
 * The Landlord - David Suchet
 * Eliza - Mariah Gale
 * Shireen - Mandeep Dhillon
 * Felicity - Alice Hewkin
 * Paul - Ben Presley
 * Harry - Colin Ryan
 * Pavel - Bart Suavek
 * Estate Agent - Sam Benjamin
 * Young Landlord - Tate Pitchie-Cooper
 * Tim Shaw - Samuel Oatley
 * Karl - Jonny Dixon
 * Rahul - Amit Shah
 * Sonia - Asha Kingsley
 * Janey - Janine Mellor
 * Ramesh Sunder - Asif Khan
 * Andy - James Thackeray
 * Dean - Philip Abiodun
 * Dennis - Stephen MacKenna
 * Gabriel - Everal A Walsh
 * Angstrom - Susan Lynch
 * Epzo - Shaun Dooley
 * Ilin - Art Malik
 * Voice of the Remnants - Ian Gelder
 * Nabile – Manpreet Bachu
 * Paul – Sean Knopp
 * The Abbot – James Greene
 * Angie – Eve De Leon Allen
 * Artie – Kassius Carey Johnson
 * George – Geff Francis
 * Miss Kizlet – Celia Imrie
 * Mahler – Robert Whitelock
 * Alexei - Dan Li
 * Little Girl – Daniella Eames
 * Pilot – Antony Edridge
 * Barista – Fred Pearson
 * Waitress – Jade Anouka
 * Newsreader – Olivia Hill
 * Man with Chips – Matthew Earley
 * Child reading Comic – Isabella Blake-Thomas
 * The Great Intelligence - Richard E Grant

The Tenth Planet

 * The Doctor - William Hartnell
 * Polly - Anneke Wills
 * Ben - Michael Craze

Uncredited cast

 * Dr Henry Black - Bill Nighy
 * Avatar (voice) - Ben Peyton

Story notes

 * River claims she once went out with a Nestene duplicate who had swappable heads. (PROSE: Suspicious Minds the TARDIS.)
 * Rory says he remembers being an Auton. He would later compare his Auton memories to a door in his head; he could open it when he wanted to, but tended to keep it shut. (TV: Day of the Moon) Having spent two millennia guarding the Pandorica, Rory became a very effective warrior, as shown in A Good Man Goes to War.
 * Tabetha Pond mentions taking Craig, Amy to psychiatrists about her "imaginary friend".
 * The broadcast and narrative dates were the same: 21/03/2010. This is one of only four times in the revived series in which the date of broadcast and narrative date are the same. The others are TV: The Impossible Astronaut on 10 April 2003, part one of TV: The End of Time on 15 December 2009, and TV: Resolution on 1 January 2012 (film).
 * This was the first BBC Wales finale which featured neither David Tennant nor the departure of a main character.
 * 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 designed deliberately 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)
 * The Doctor, Amy and Rory apparently take off to go after an Egyptian Goddess on the Orient Express in space. The The Doctor and Clara later visit the same train and the Doctor mentions this. He indicates that it was another trap by Gus to get him on board and as such, they may have never actually made the trip. (TV: Mummy on the Orient Express)
 * The Doctor has previously interacted with another version of his current incarnation when two versions of the Sixth Doctor were tricked into materialising in a duplicate of Pease Pottage outside of Time (AUDIO: The Wrong Doctors) and when the Eighth Doctor confronted Grandfather Paradox, a version of the Eighth Doctor from a timeline where he was corrupted by the Faction Paradox biodata virus (PROSE: The Ancestor Cell).
 * The Doctor has been involved in the weddings of companions Sarah Jane Smith (TV: The Wedding of Sarah Jane Smith) and Donna. (TV: The Runaway Bride)
 * Another Moffat script, The Doctor Dances, suggests — and even demonstrates — that the Ninth Doctor
 * According to the episode commentary, Karen Gillan was genuinely laughing at Matt Smith's dancing at the reception scene.
 * Alex Kingston was having trouble walking in heels during the scene where River gets her diary back from the Doctor; due to the ground being too soft after rainfall. So they avoided long-range shots, allowing Alex to wear practical footwear. She can subtly be seen sinking down after walking up Matt Smith.
 * The closing credits play over a textless version of the opening title sequence rather than the usual closing title sequence.
 * 6.7 million. (UK final)
 * This marked the first time in the new series that the final episode of the series did not get higher ratings than the penultimate episode of the series. This occurred in every series finale episode before this one, this would not occur again until Series 9's Hell Bent in December 2014.
 * Rory and Amy finally get married in this story and continue their travels in the TARDIS. This marks the first occasion a married couple have been companions.

Home video releases
BBC Video - Doctor Who Series Five - Volume One was released on DVD and Blu-Ray on 7 June 2010 (UK only), featuring The Eleventh Hour, The Beast Below, Victory of the Daleks, and the featurette The Monster Diaries. A full-series box set has been released. 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 6th September 2010 (UK Only) on DVD and Blu-ray. The Lodger was also included as part of the Complete Series Five Bluray set, released November 8th 2010. This set was itself included in the Series 1-7 box set released in 2013 and as part of The Complete Matt Smith Years in November 2014. 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 6 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.
 * This was released with Rose and The Unquiet Dead on a "vanilla" DVD with no extras.
 * It was also released as part of the Series 1 DVD box set
 * This was also released with Issue 1 of the Doctor Who DVD Files.
 * Released in the Series 1 Bluray set in November 2013 along with the rest of the series.
 * This release was initially bundled with the first seven series of the revived Doctor Who.
 * Available for streaming via Hulu Plus and Amazon Prime.
 * Smith and Jones, along with The Shakespeare Code and Gridlock, was released on DVD under the title Series 3: Volume 1.
 * It is also included in the Series 3 DVD box set.
 * The episode was also released as a single DVD with The Sun newspaper.
 * This episode was the focus of the Series 3 Volume 1 front cover.
 * BBC Video - Doctor Who Series Five - Volume One was released on DVD and Blu-ray on 7 June 2010 (UK only), featuring The Eleventh Hour, The Beast Below, Victory of the Daleks, and the featurette The Monster Diaries.
 * The complete Series 5 boxset was later released on 8 November 2010.

DVD & Blu-Ray releases

 * The Doctor, the Widow and the Wardrobe was released on a standalone DVD and Blu-ray in the UK on 12 January 2009, with North American release occurring a few weeks later.
 * Announced for inclusion, along with its prequel, in the North American release of The Complete Seventh Series, scheduled for 24 September 2010.
 * Initially, the UK edition of The Complete Seventh Series was not going to include the episode, but the BBC subsequently announced that it will be included, along with its prequel.
 * The Doctor, the Widow and the Wardrobe was released on Region 2 DVD, and Region B Blu-ray on 20 January 2013 as part of The Time of the Doctor + Other Eleventh Doctor Christmas Specials set. A Christmas Carol, The Snowmen and The Time of the Doctor were also included on both versions.

DVD releases

 * This story was released on DVD in 21 February 2016. It was also released as part of the Series 9 boxset on 7 March 2016.