'The Pandorica Opens' (Story Code 5.12) by Steven Moffat

“There was a goblin, or a trickster, or a warrior. A nameless, terrible thing soaked in the blood of a billion galaxies. The most feared being in all the cosmos. And nothing could stop it or hold it or reason with it. One day it would just drop down out of the sky and tear your world apart.” – The Doctor

“How did it end up in there?” – Amy

“You know fairy tales. A good wizard tricked it.” – The Doctor

France, 1890: Vincent Van Gough paints a new picture: a terrifying nightmare that sends him over the edge into madness…

The Cabinet War Rooms, 1941: Professor Bracewell shows Prime Minister Winston Churchill a painting discovered hidden in an attic in France, which clearly shows a message for the Doctor…

The Stormcage Containment Facility, 5145: the occupant of Cell 426 receives a phone call from Winston Churchill, rerouted across time by the TARDIS. Hearing the P.M.’s words, Doctor River Song immediately escapes from prison and races to the Royal Collection, where she steals the painting by Van Gough; caught by the museum’s owner, Liz Ten, River manages to elicit the queen’s help, explaining that the Doctor is in trouble. River then heads to the ‘Maldovarium’ bar, where she obtains a time agent’s vortex manipulator from a dodgy dealer called Dorium – River is now one step closer to completing her mission…

Elsewhere, aboard the TARDIS, the Doctor decides to take Amy to the oldest planet in the universe to see the message from the dawn of time that is apparently carved in a diamond cliff-face. When the two time-travellers step outside the ship they instantly recognise the content of the message: a set of coordinates, and the words ‘Hello Sweetie’… Following the trail, the Doctor and Amy arrive in Roman-occupied Britain in the year 102 A.D., where they are escorted by a centurion to a nearby camp to meet Queen Cleopatra: none other than River, dressed to kill and making the place her own. River shows the Doctor Vincent’s painting, entitled ‘The Pandorica Opens’, which depicts the TARDIS shattering in a terrible explosion… Despite the Doctor’s protests that the Pandorica is a only fairy tale, River is insistent: the legend is real, and contains the most feared being in the universe. Following the directions Vincent has painted onto the TARDIS’ door sign, the Doctor, Amy and River race on horseback to Stonehenge, where they locate a passageway hidden under one of the great stones. Using River’s scanning equipment, the trio uncover a flight of stone steps leading into the depths beneath the stone circle; but as they descend, they fail to notice the severed head of a Cyberman lying nearby – and that it is far from dead… Making their way along a dusty passageway, the Doctor, Amy and River find a massive wooden door; opening it, they find themselves inside the Underhenge: a huge, cobweb-strewn chamber carved into the rock, in its centre a huge, stone cube: the Pandorica. The arrival of the trio triggers the box, which begins to unlock itself from the inside. At the same time, River informs the Doctor and Amy that she has detected the transmission of a signal, relayed across space and time by Stonehenge: thousands of alien ships are now converging around the Earth, ships that belong to Daleks, Cybermen, Sontarans, Slitheen, Chelonians, Nestenes, Drahvins, Sycorax, Zygons, Atraxi, Draconians, and more... Rushing outside, River implores the Doctor to run, but the Time Lord stubbornly refuses, and instead instructs her to get help from the Roman legion nearby. River complies, and after arriving at the camp, she uses her gun to ‘convince’ the Roman General and his men to help the Doctor. Back inside the Pandorica chamber, Amy questions the Doctor about the engagement ring she found in his jacket, but the Time Lord remains deliberately vague; the Doctor starts to ask Amy about the inconsistencies in her life in Leadworth, but he is interrupted by an energy blast fired from nearby – they are being shot at by a Cyberman’s severed arm. The Doctor attempts to deactivate the limb, but is electrocuted into unconsciousness; meanwhile, Amy comes under attack from the Cyberman’s severed head, which tries to grab her face with steel tendrils extruded from its neck, and then strikes her with a drugged dart. As Amy begins to succumb to the drug, the remainder of the Cyberman’s body appears on the scene and reforms itself; as the damaged Cyberman closes in on her, Amy is saved by the timely arrival of a sword-wielding Roman commander – who looks just like Rory! However, before she can thank her rescuer, Amy finally slips into unconsciousness. The Doctor comes to and is astonished to discover that Rory has returned as a Roman, when he should be dead and erased from history by the crack in the universe; when the Doctor tries to learn why, Rory can offer no explanation... At that moment, the Pandorica enters its final phase, and hoards of alien spaceships appear in the sky over Stonehenge. While the assembled Roman soldiers look up in awe, the Doctor climbs onto one of the stones and broadcasts a message to the alien fleet: he has the Pandorica, and the only way they will get it is through him; to the Doctor’ immense satisfaction, all the alien warships retreat to a safe distance… Elsewhere, River reaches the TARDIS and sets the controls for the next stage of her mission; but as the ship dematerialises and enters the time-space vortex, it is hit by massive turbulence… Back in the Underhenge, Amy comes to and meets the Roman who saved her – but to Rory’s dismay, she has no recollection of him. When Amy heads back outside, the Doctor gives Rory the engagement ring and encourages him to go after his fiancé; as Rory talks to Amy, the girl is surprised to find she is now crying with happiness… The TARDIS finally stabilises, having landed in Amy’s back garden on 26th June 2010 – the date of the explosion that triggered the cracks in the universe. As River goes outside to investigate, she fails to see the TARDIS scanner crack in a familiar shape, and hear a sinister voice announce that “silence will fall”. River finds scorch marks on the grass and the front door broken in – someone has been there before her. Making her way inside the house, River enters Amy’s bedroom and finds two books on the girl’s bedside table: a child’s book on Roman Britain and ‘The Legend of Pandora’s Box’, Amy’s self-confessed favourite story; not only that, but River also finds a photograph of Amy and Rory in fancy dress: Amy in her kissogram policewoman outfit, and Rory as a Roman centurion. Filled with mounting dread, River races back to the TARDIS and contacts the Doctor to tell him about the books, and the fact that all the Roman soldiers they have met are depicted in their pages; the Doctor deduces that something has used Amy’s memories to set a trap – the Romans are fake, but believe themselves to be real. Then the TARDIS console explodes, as something takes control of the ship – the same something that gives River an ominous warning of the oncoming silence. Inside the Underhenge, a shrill noise sudden emanates from the Pandorica, which causes the Roman soldiers to stop in their tracks, their faces glazing over; the same signal also affects Rory, who warns Amy to run as he doubles up in agony. The Pandorica finally starts to open, a searing white light blazing out from within; the Doctor is distracted, and fails to notice as the Romans’ hands break open to reveal energy guns concealed within: the soldiers are Autons! Taken captive by the plastic Auton soldiers, the Doctor can only look on helplessly as the Dalek Supreme materialises in front of him, flanked by two more Daleks, a soldier and an eternal; the Daleks are then joined by more of the Doctor’s enemies: Cybermen, Judoon and a squad of Sontarans... Back in the stone circle, Rory loses the battle for his humanity – the Auton gun emerges from his hand, and he involuntarily shoots Amy point-blank. The Pandorica fully opens… to reveal nothing but a wicked-looking chair covered in restraints. Filled with an awful realisation, the Doctor is dragged by his Auton captors towards the box that is to be his new prison; unable to break free, the Time Lord is forced to listen to how his enemies have forged an alliance specifically to trap him: knowing that all of reality is threatened by the cracks in the universe, the Doctor’s enemies believed him to be responsible for destroying the universe – and so they devised a scenario taken from Amy’s memories as the perfect trap for him. The Doctor tries to protest, citing that the cracks were caused by the destruction of the TARDIS, and he is not the one currently inside the ship, but his entreaties fall on deaf ears – his enemies lock him into the chair and then seal the Pandorica for ever. Back in the TARDIS, River is relieved when the ship finally rematerialises; however, when she tries to leave, River is horrified to find herself facing nothing but a stone wall outside – and then the TARDIS explodes. In Stonehenge, Rory cradles Amy’s dead body in his arms. And all around the Earth, the stars go nova, the universe begins to die – and silence falls…

Matt Smith (The Doctor), Karen Gillan (Amy Pond), Alex Kingston (Doctor River Song), Arthur Darvill (Rory Williams), Tony Curran (Vincent Van Gough), Bill Paterson (Professor Edwin Bracewell), Ian McNeice (Winston Churchill), Sophie Okonedo (Liz Ten), Marcus O'Donovan (Claudio), Clive Wood (Commander), Christopher Ryan (Commander Stark), Ruari Mears (Cyber Leader), Paul Kasey (Judoon), Howard Lee (Doctor Gachet), Barnaby Edwards (Dalek), Simon Fisher Becker (Dorium), Joe Jacobs (Guard), Chrissie Cotterill (Madame Vernet), David Ryan (Marcellus), Nicholas Brigss (Dalek Voice)

Directed by Toby Haynes
Produced by Peter Bennett
Executive Producers Steven Moffat, Piers Wenger and Beth Willis
A BBC Wales production

TX (BBC 1 & BBC HD):
19th June 2010 @ 6.40 pm

Notes:
*Featuring the Eleventh Doctor, Amy, Rory and River

Part one of a two part story

*This episode is fifty minutes long

*This episode did not feature a 'Next Time' trailer

*To preserve the mystery of the story, the BBC only released limited cast details prior to transmission, with the 'Radio Times' noting just Matt Smith, Karen Gillan and Alex Kingston in its listing