The Vampires of Venice (TV story): Difference between revisions

[[Venice]], [[1580]]. [[Guido (The Vampires of Venice)|Guido]] presents his teenage daughter [[Isabella (The Vampires of Venice)|Isabella]] to [[Rosanna Calvierri]] and her son, [[Francesco]]; they consider her admittance to Rosanna's [[school]]. Rosanna claims sympathy for Guido's concern for family and agrees to enrol Isabella. However, she then quickly has her steward hustle Guido out of the room, telling him they shouldn't wait. Guido puts up a bit of fight but is still taken away. Circling Isabella with Francesco, Rosanna asks him if she is to his liking. Francesco says Isabella is, flattering her. Her happiness is short-lived though, as the man bares a mouthful of fangs. Isabella screams...

[[2010|430 years later]] in a [[Leadworth]] [[pub]], [[Rory Williams]] [[Telephone|phones]] [[Amy Pond]] from his stag party. He leaves a message on her answering machine, telling her how much he loves her and that, if they weren't getting [[married]] the next day, he'd propose. One of his guests directs his attention to a [[cake]] being wheeled in, making Rory quickly end his call in embarrassment. Everyone chants for the stripper to come out of the cake. To their shock, though, it's the [[Eleventh Doctor]] who pops out instead. The Doctor, relieved to be at the right party after having gotten it wrong twice, tells Rory that they need to talk about Amy; she [[Flesh and Stone (TV story)|tried to kiss him]].

In [[the TARDIS]], the Doctor explains that travelling with him blinds his [[companion]]s to the important things in their lives back home. Returning to their ordinary lives after sharing adventures with him will drastically change things; the Doctor collected Rory to make sure this doesn't happen to Amy. As a wedding gift, he is going to take them anywhere in [[time]] that they wish to visit. The Doctor prepares to give Rory the "[[Dimensional transcendence|bigger on the inside]]" speech, but is shocked that Rory calmly explains ahead of time that the inside is another [[dimension]]. Annoyed, he tells Rory that he always looks forward to explaining it. As neither Amy or Rory can think of a place in time they want to visit, the Doctor decides to take them somewhere romantic, pulling a lever.

The TARDIS materialises on the dock outside of Venice. The Doctor goes on to explain how Venice was founded by refugees running from [[Attila the Hun]], and lists some of the many people who liked the city. Remembering [[Casanova]], the Doctor quickly checks his watch; luckily, Casanova is not born for another 140 years. The Doctor does not want to run into him because he owes Casanova a chicken due to losing a bet.

When they try to enter to city, they are stopped at the gate and asked to present their papers; Venice has been quarantined at the suggestion of the city's patron, Rosanna Calvierri, to protect the citizens from the [[Black Death|plague]]. The Doctor is immediately suspicious; the plague died out years ago. They present the [[psychic paper]], and are admitted to the city, where they see Guido interrupt a procession of Calvierri school girls, demanding to know where Isabella is. He locates her in the procession, but she does not seem to recognise him and he is immediately warded off by another girl, who bares fangs at him. Amy asks the Doctor what he thinks of the situation, only to find that he's already gone.

The Doctor catches up to Guido, asking why he wants to get Isabella out of Rosanna's school. Guido explains that something evil happens to the girls in the school; Isabella didn't recognise him, and the girl who pushed him away had a face like an animal. Intrigued, the Doctor walks with Guido back towards the school, telling him it's time he had a talk with Rosanna.

In the school's courtyard, Rosanna is "hydrating" by drinking several chalices of [[water]]. Francesco enters, informing his mother of Guido's actions; he then speculates that they have "converted" more than enough girls to be introduced to his brothers. Rosanna disagrees, prompting Francesco to ask permission to take the ones they have already converted into the night to take more girls for conversion. Rosanna tells him that they should let the parents beg them to take their daughters to make it all the more ironic. Francesco leaves, annoyed.

[[File:Vampires in the dungeon.jpg|thumb|The Vampire girls scare the Doctor off.|alt=]]

The Doctor takes Amy and Rory to meet Guido, and they begin to strategise infiltrating the school. Guido suggests blowing their way in with [[firearm|gunpowder]], which he has stacked in barrels, but the Doctor discards the idea. Amy proposes dressing in Isabella's clothing and having the Doctor pose as her [[fiancé]]; she will be admitted to the school, and, once inside, will open a trap door that leads down to the river, allowing them inside. However, Rory objects as he doesn't want others to think ''the Doctor'' is her fiancé. Amy counters that they've already seen the Doctor, but they haven't seen Rory, and offers to go with him as his brother. Rory again objects as they are dealing with vampires, to which the Doctor replies that they "hope" they are vampire. Amy catches onto the Doctor's train of thought: if they're not really vampires, what could be so bad that they don't mind being mistaken for them?

At Amy's suggestion, Rory acts as her brother and uses the psychic paper to fake having references from the [[King]] of [[Sweden]]. After being admitted, Amy meets Isabella inside. Isabella tells her of the school: she is taken regularly in the middle of the night and strapped to some sort of chair, and a process then occurs that Isabella can never remember. All she knows is that the [[sun]] now burns her skin. Amy promises to help her escape. That night, she sneaks down to the courtyard and unlocks the trap door, but is caught by the steward.

Meanwhile, the Doctor and Rory successfully infiltrate the school through the secret passage. Rory persistently questions the Doctor's relationship with Amy, to which the Doctor either makes jokes or answers honestly. They break into the courtyard, but Amy is nowhere to be found. While looking around, the Doctor uncovers a body drained of all of its fluids in a nearby trunk. This prompts Rory to furiously yell at the Doctor for casually placing Amy in harm's way; there is something about the Doctor which makes his companions want to put themselves at risk to impress him. They are soon discovered and chased through the school by the girls; the Doctor produces a [[Ultraviolet|UV]] wand to keep them at bay.

Meanwhile, Amy is forced into the dungeon cell that Isabella described earlier. Francesco and Rosanna circle her. Rosanna tries to force her to reveal her true identity, as well as how she managed to obtain the psychic paper she and Rory used to bluff their way into the school, being immune to its effects. When Amy resists, Rosanna orders the process begun, drinking some of Amy's [[blood]]. As Amy barely hangs on to consciousness, Rosanna explains she and Francesco drink the girls dry and replace their blood with that of their own [[species]]. The girls either die or transform; if they transform, ten thousand husbands wait for them in the river. Amy apologises as she's already engaged and kicks Rosanna's hip, accidentally dislodging a [[perception filter]]. Rosanna's true alien form is revealed.

The process is interrupted by the commotion caused by the Doctor and Rory. Rosanna and Francesco rush off to investigate, leaving Amy to be found and freed by Isabella. The two women join the Doctor and Rory and make their way through the dungeons, closely pursued by Francesco and the girls. They escape the school, but Isabella's sensitivity to light allows her to be recaptured by Francesco. When the Doctor rushes back to rescue her, he is knocked unconscious by a massive electrical shock that courses through the door.

Later that day, Rosanna, Francesco, the converted girls and the staff take Isabella to a plank to be pushed into the water. [[Carlo (The Vampires of Venice)|Carlo]], Rosanna's head steward, reads a rite to Isabella, explaining her death is because of her betrayal of the Calvierris. Being pushed into the water, Isabella says she can swim like virtually all Venetians but soon realises she is not alone in the water — Rosanna's other sons are also there, beneath the surface. They pull her under as Rosanna dismisses everyone but Francesco. She tries to reach into the water, but Francesco warns her that his brothers do not know it is her in human form; she promises her other sons "not long now".

Rosanna returns from the "ceremony" to find the Doctor waiting for her on her throne. He tells her that he has [[deduce]]d she is from [[Saturnyne]] and is using a perception filter to appear [[human]]. She in turn deduces that the Doctor is not of [[Earth]], and is shocked to learn he is from [[Gallifrey]], commenting that he should be in a museum. They question each other, Rosanna revealing her [[planet]] was consumed by the [[Time Field|cracks in time]]; she and her children had to flee from [[the Silence]]. Running brought them to Earth. Rosanna asks for the Doctor's help in rebuilding her race, but he only wants to know what happened to Isabella. Rosanna does not know who "Isabella" is until the Doctor tells her she was the girl who helped them escape the school; Rosanna remarks that all traitors must be [[kill]]ed. As the Doctor is removed by the steward, he furiously shouts that he will stop her, if only because she didn't know Isabella's name.

[[File:Saturnyn widescreen.jpg|thumb|Rosanna's [[perception filter]] goes haywire.]]

Rosanna heads to the courtyard, where she calls her staff together. She announces that "the storm" is coming. She attempts walking down the stairs but her perception filter begins going on the fritz, scaring her attendant back. Francesco wonders what's wrong; Rosanna deduces that the device was damaged by Amy's kick. She smacks the perception filter until her human disguise comes back into place and tells Francesco to gather the girls as there's a job for them.

Back at Guido's house, the Doctor heals Amy's bite wound and begins going over the facts. He comes to the conclusion that Rosanna is going to sink Venice and repopulate it with her transformed girls, as there is no way [[Saturnynian]]<nowiki/>s can stay on land indefinitely. Rory reminds the Doctor that blokes are needed for that, prompting Amy to tell them that Rosanna mentioned "10,000 husbands waiting in the river". The Doctor concludes that only Rosanna's sons survived the trip and that they are waiting in the canal until their mum can make some compatible mates for them, grimacing at the idea.

Hearing a bang from upstairs, the Doctor comments that the neighbours are awfully noisy but Guido tells him that there are no people upstairs. The Doctor is unsurprised by this and pulls out his UV wand for defence. Suddenly, Rosanna's girls appear in the window, to which a disbelieving Rory points out is on the second floor. They smash the window and try climbing in. The Doctor points his [[sonic screwdriver|sonic at]] them, cancelling perception filters; the girls are now fully Saturnynian, with no trace of their humanity or individuality left — they are primal but loyal to Rosanna.

The Doctor, Amy, Rory, and Guido run down the stairs to the exit, with the Doctor holding back the girls with his UV wand. However, the moment the time travellers get outside, Guido demands the UV wand. He locks them out and heads back upstairs to the gunpowder. He ignites it, blowing up his home, taking himself and the girls with it. Realising the danger that lies ahead, the Doctor orders Amy back to the TARDIS for her own safety. Rory thanks him before following her.

In the school, Rosanna opens a control hub set in her throne and uses it to create a deadly storm over Venice. Widespread panic ensues, as Rosanna watches in delight. The Doctor returns to the school and finds the generator but cannot stop it; a [[deadlock seal]], again. Rosanna is surprised by how much the Doctor is trying to save a single city, which is a small price to pay for saving her race. He informs Rosanna of the death of her girls and begs for her help in ending the catastrophe. Devastated that her plan has failed, Rosanna leaves, telling the Doctor to save the city himself.

[[File:Saturnyne.jpg|thumb|left|Francesco trying to kill Rory.]]Outside the school, Amy and Rory catch sight of Francesco leaving the building. Francesco sees them, prompting Amy and Rory to flee. He jumps in the canal to go after them, and, to their shock, manages to get in front of them. Francesco focuses on Amy, bitter that a potential mate for his brothers escaped. Rory draws Francesco towards him by insulting Rosanna, and the pair fight. After a short scuffle, Francesco transforms into his true form and overpowers Rory. Pinned down by the monster, Rory waits for the end, but Amy comes to his rescue in the nick of time, using her compact [[mirror]] to amplify the sunlight and direct it at Francesco, who is instantly vapourised. Amy kisses Rory and then tells him that they're going to go help the Doctor. "Okay," he weakly mutters, still dazed from the kiss.

Amy and Rory return to help the Doctor, sneaking into the school while the steward empties the house of its treasures. The Doctor sets them to destroying the control hub in the throne in any way they can. He then climbs to the bell tower, realising that the tolling bell is powering the generator at the top of the spire. He stops the bell and continues climbing, finally deactivating the generator; the weather immediately returns to normal.

Rosanna goes to the river, distraught. She attempts to deactivate her perception filter, but it malfunctions and she retains her human form. The Doctor rushes up, pleading for her to stop. She orders the Doctor to remember her species, knowing he will have to live with the death of her race on his conscience. Before he can reach her, she throws herself into the river, where she is devoured by her sons who don't recognise her.

Later, the trio return to the TARDIS, with the Doctor gleefully remarking that their next trip will be to the Leadworth Registry Office, where he wonders if he can give Amy away at the wedding; however, when Amy continues to express some reluctance, Rory sadly asks the Doctor to drop him off where they found him. Amy instead invites Rory to join them, to which the Doctor agrees. As they are about to leave in the TARDIS, a strange silence falls across the city. As he looks out at the empty street, the Doctor remembers Rosanna's words about "the Silence and the end of all things".