The Pandorica Opens (TV story)

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You may be looking for the painting of the same name.

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

At the time of its release, it was unique amongst BBC Wales series finales for a number of reasons. It was the first series-ender that had significant principal photography outside of 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 — that had featured in previous single episodes of the series. Finally, it featured the largest number of individual alien species seen in a single episode of Doctor Who since the programme began in 1963.

Synopsis

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

Plot

France, 1890
Vincent van Gogh lies in bed, screaming. His doctor, Gachet and Madame Vernet are at his side. The woman comments on one of his paintings, saying it's worse than the usual ones.

Cabinet War Rooms, 1941
Professor Edwin Bracewell carries a rolled-up sheet under his arm. With Winston Churchill looking, Bracewell confirms the canvas as a Van Gogh original, and Churchill is advised to get a message to the Doctor about it. Churchill makes a phone call.

Stormcage Containment Facility, 5145

A phone call is received. A young prison guard on his first day, answers, and says that there is no Doctor at the facility. River Song is in the cell, and demands that she talk to the person on the end. She is informed by Churchill of Van Gogh's painting and its message, until the guard takes the phone away. River realises he is new, and kisses him, using the hallucinogen in her lipstick to make him delirious, and she escapes.

River Song in the Maldovarium Bar

The Royal Collection, 5145

River Song walks among the paintings in the Royal Collection gallery and finds the one she is looking for. However, on her way out she trips an alarm, and is arrested by the Queen - Liz 10. River tells her this is for the Doctor, and Liz recognises the name. Song shows her the picture - it is an impression of an exploding TARDIS.

The Maldovarium, 5145
River talks to Dorium Maldovar at a bar. He knows she is looking for time travel and offers her a vortex manipulator from the severed hand of a dead Time Agent. Tthe device is not cheap, so River offers in return for the device a Callisto Pulse for deactivating micro-explosives from up to 20ft - micro-explosives like those she has planted in Dorium's wine.

The TARDIS
The Doctor and Amy are in the TARDIS, and the Doctor has decided to go to the oldest cliff faces in history, made of pure diamond, to decipher the inscription that up until now have not been translated. When the TARDIS lands, the writing says "HELLO SWEETIE" and a set of temporal coordinates underneath.

The TARDIS lands in Roman Britain in the 2nd century AD, to be greeted by a guard. Amy comments on how the Romans, given that they were her favourite history topic at school, are not what she expected languagewise. The guard takes them to "Cleopatra" - who turns out to be River Song in disguise. River shows the Doctor the painting. Gven that he had retrieved a fragment of the TARDIS from a Time Field in the Silurian city in 2020, worries him. River's earlier warning to the Doctor, from her future self, that the Pandorica would open, also concerns him, and the Doctor decides to look for it.

Van Gogh's Painting

He checks a Roman maps; if someone had built such a device, they would want to remember where they left it.

The trio ride to Stonehenge to look for the Pandorica. The Doctor uses his sonic screwdriver to search, and River uses a 52nd century. device The Pandorica is tracked underground, and they find the opening by night. Nobody has noticed the Cyber-head on the ground, which begins to reactivate.

The Doctor finds the Pandorica, much more than just a legend, a large cube-shaped object with mechanics on the sides. There are many levels of security to this machine, and they are being de-activated one by one from the inside out.

File:Pandorica.png
The Pandorica

The Doctor speculates on what it could have been designed to contain, and Amy notes how similar it is to Pandora's box, her favourite childhood book. River detects a signal coming from the area - six pillars lining the entrance are transmitting outwards, and she detects at least ten thousand ships in orbit - she cannot detect any more since signals overlap and confuse her scanner - potentially there could be a million objects above the sky, among them a Dalek saucer, a Cyber Ship, a Sontaran flagship, a Slitheen vessel, a Judoon rocket and an Atraxi, all presumably after whatever the Pandorica contains.

The Doctor decides to call on the Romans to help, and River goes back to use her influence as "Cleopatra" to convince them. However, the legion commander has arrived with news that Cleopatra is in Egypt - and dead. River attempts to talk the commander into helping, eventually resorting to using her disintegrator pistol to demonstrate her power. Before the commander can react, a volunteer arrives.

Back at Stonehenge, a Cyber arm on the floor of the chamber has reactivated, sending energy bolts from its gun around the room. The Doctor tries to pick it up, but the electronic grip function on the arm incapacitates him. By now, the head has also worked its way down using tentacle-like wires from the neck section and a sleeper dart from one of the pipes hits Amy. The head opens - it is a type-2 upgrade, with the parts grafted directly onto the body. The skull of the previous occupant is ejected, and the body attempts to assimilate Amy. Amy manages to shake off the head, which the body of the Cyberman - missing an arm - puts on. Amy takes cover in a side room, but before the Cyberman can get to her, it is killed by the volunteer Roman, who is actually Rory.

The Doctor wakes and notices Rory, hardly reacting, and begins his speculations again. However, after a few minutes, he notices and they go through an awkward conversation. The Doctor decides to address the fleet of ships in orbit, while River goes to fetch the TARDIS for some technology. The Doctor gives a speech on how he had defeated most of those aliens at some point, and the fleet falls back, giving them about half an hour to think things through.

The Pandorica closes, with the Doctor helpless to escape
File:Explosions 2.png
Explosions all across the universe

Once River is in the TARDIS, she attempts to go back to Stonehenge, but instead is thrown to 26th June 2010 - the date of the explosion that caused the cracks, as the Doctor previously discovered. She leaves the TARDIS just before an ominous warning is broadcast on the speakers - "Silence will fall", and then the screen at the centre console cracks. There are scorch marks on the ground, and River enters the house nearby, which has been broken into. Some of the things she finds, lets her deduce this is Amy Pond's house. She finds a book on Roman Britain and Pandora's Box - things are exactly the same as they were where the Doctor is; even the soldiers look identical. She attempts to return, but is instead thrown uncontrollably around the Time Vortex. She phones the Doctor for help. He tells her to shut off the engines once he learns the date she is at - 26th June 2010. She can't deactivate the engines, so he tells her to shut them off automatically by landing and leaving the TARDIS. She lands, but the doors are locked.

The Romans begin falling asleep, but remain standing. Even Rory, who is talking to Amy and is not being recognised, begins to fail, but he resists. The Romans suddenly look up, and their hands fall away to reveal guns - they are in fact Autons, under the control of the Nestene Consciousness. The Doctor is escorted to the Pandorica, where he is greeted by the Dalek Supreme, Eternal and a single Drone, who have teleported in. They state that the Doctor is responsible for the end of the universe. The Cybermen arrive and their Cyber Leader states that all evidence correlates - the Doctor is to blame. Other species - Silurians, Sontarans, Judoon and Sycorax included - arrive and the Doctor realises they have formed an alliance to save the universe from him. The alliance had built a perfect trap, using Amy's memories as building blocks. They believe the TARDIS exploding will cause the end of the universe.

File:DW512-2046.jpg
Amy dies in Rory's arms

The Auton Rory is still fighting, but inadvertently shoots Amy while trying to resist the Consciousness' control. She dies in his arms.

The Pandorica finally opens. Inside is a holding cell, designed for a humanoid. The Daleks say that it is for the Doctor. The Doctor tries to protest, saying it is the TARDIS that is the threat, not him, but the Daleks state that he is the only person who can fly it - since they are unaware of River's presence - and have him strapped into the holding cell. With the Doctor held firmly in place, the Cyber Leader orders the Pandorica to be closed but before it does, the Daleks say he will be prevented, he yells "Total event collapse! Every sun will supernova, at every moment in history! THE WHOLE UNIVERSE will never have existed, PLEASE LISTEN TO ME!" River manages to open the TARDIS door, but in front of her is a wall of stone. She says that she is sorry, and the TARDIS console explodes. There are thousands of explosions across the sky, and Earth is left in the middle of a void. Silence falls...

Cast

Crew

General production staff

Script department

Camera and lighting department

Art department

Costume department

Make-up and prosthetics

Movement

Casting

General post-production staff

Special and visual effects

Sound



Not every person who worked on this adventure was credited. The absence of a credit for a position doesn't necessarily mean the job wasn't required. The information above is based solely on observations of the actual end credits of the episodes as broadcast, and does not relay information from IMDB or other sources.
          

This story had no direct Visual Effects credit. Instead, it had a wider credits for visual effects crew than normal.


References

Individuals

Locations

Planets

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

Species

TARDIS

Technology

Books

Story notes

  • Amy Pond appeared to die in this episode but was resurrected by the Pandorica in the following episode The Big Bang.
  • Almost every major enemy since the beginning of the new Doctor Who series (as well as a few from the classic series) are mentioned though not all appeared. The list of enemies include the Daleks, the Cybus Cybermen, the Slitheen, the Sontarans, the Judoon, the Hoix, the Weevils, the Uvodni, the Sycorax, the Silurians, the Autons, the Roboform, the Nestene, the Chelonians, the Drahvins, the Atraxi, the Zygons, the Terileptils, and the Draconians. They formed an alliance, but some of them were unseen. The Slitheen were also mentioned but not seen. River also mentions the Haemogoths, who briefly appeared in NSA: The Forgotten Army.
  • This is the first episode to feature an in-narrative use of the time vortex seen in the series 5 title sequence.
  • The Weevils, Blowfish and Uvodni are the first aliens originally from a spin-off series to appear in the main show.
  • The Chelonians from the novels get their first mention in a TV episode.
  • When River starts mentioning the aliens that are approaching the Doctor you can hear the Cyber-Leader and the Supreme Dalek 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" in order 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, namely, always leaving the brakes on when it lands. She also implied that the Doctor might not have been the one who had taught her. It would be revealed in Let's Kill Hitler that it was the TARDIS herself who taught River.
  • This story marks at least the fourth time in televised Doctor Who that the fate of every universe is at stake. (DW: Logopolis, Journey's End, The End of Time)
  • Amy doesn't know who the Cybermen are, despite meeting them in Blood of the Cybermen.
  • River's main costume in this story was deliberately designed to evoke both Princess Leia and Han Solo, so that she looked like, according to Toby Haynes, a "female Han Solo". (DCOM: The Big Bang)
  • According to Toby Haynes, this episode had no bigger budget, "and maybe even a little less", than other episodes in the series. (DCOM: The Big Bang)
  • Similar to DW: Rise of the Cybermen and DW: The Stolen Earth, this episode is the first part of a two-part story, and features no "Next Time" trailer at the end.

Ratings

7.57 million (according to TV magazine)

Rumours

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

If you'd like to talk about narrative problems with this story — like plot holes and things that seem to contradict other stories — please go to this episode's discontinuity discussion.
  • 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 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 Cyberarm, the Pandorica bends inwards slightly.

Continuity

Timeline

For the Doctor and Amy

For Rory Williams

For River Song

Home video releases

Series-5-volume-4-dvd-cover.jpg

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.[1]

See also

to be added

External links

to be added

Footnotes

  1. DWM 421, Page 18