'The Vampires of Venice' (Story Code 5.06) by Toby Whithouse

“Something happens in there. Something magical, something evil. My own daughter didn’t recognise me. And the girl who pushed me away… her face – like an animal…” – Guido

In Venice in the year 1580, a boat builder named Guido visits the House of Calvierri to ask its patron, Senora Rosanna, to take his daughter Isabella into her school for girls; to his joy the Senora agrees – but once Guido has left, Isabella finds herself under the scrutiny of Rosanna’s son, Francesco, who has some rather terrifying fangs… In the present, Amy’s fiancé, Rory Williams, is busy partying at his stag do at the local pub when he discovers that his celebratory giant cake doesn’t contain a stripper at all; it actually contains the Doctor. It seems that the Time Lord is concerned that Amy and Rory have grown apart – mainly due to the fact that Amy recently attempted to snog him – and has decided to reunite the couple by taking them on a romantic date to Venice, in 1580; however, instead of a city full of life, the time-travelling trio find the place quarantined against the plague, and under the protection of Senora Rosanna Calvierri. It isn’t long before the Doctor, Amy and Rory see the senora herself, as she takes her parasol-carrying schoolgirls for a promenade, and their suspicions are soon aroused when they witness one of the beautiful young ladies attack Guido when he tries to speak to his daughter. As the Doctor wastes no time in offering the boat builder his help, Amy and Rory come to the rescue of a young flower girl, whose neck has been bitten by the sinister Francesco; but when Amy gives chase, the handsome aristocrats vanishes beneath the waters of the nearest canal… Leaving Guido to distract the guards outside the House of Calvierri, the Doctor slips into the school to investigate; he soon comes across the beautiful girls living there – girls that have no reflection, and who have some seriously scary fangs! Only just escaping with his life, the Doctor is reunited with Amy - who is excited at the prospect of fighting vampires - and Rory - who isn’t. Back at Guido’s house, Amy is all for posing as a candidate for the Calvierri school, while the boat builder is all for blowing up the place with the gunpowder he has ‘appropriated’ from his employer. Suspecting the Calvierris to be more than just vampires, the Doctor reluctantly agrees to Amy’s plan, and it isn’t long before Senora Rosanna receives a visit from Rory and his ‘sister’, Amy. Having been successful in her admission, Amy is then led to the bedroom she is to share with the other beautiful-but-creepy girls; here she meets Isabella, who babbles in fear about being strapped to a chair in the middle of the night, waking each morning with no recollection of events, other than now being afraid of sunlight… Later that night, Guido takes the Doctor and Rory by gondola to the tunnels underneath the House of Calvierri; meanwhile, Amy sneaks downstairs to unlock the grate leading to the passages below, only to be captured by a steward and brought before Rosanna, Francesco and the girls. Strapped to a chair, Amy is surprised when Rosanna bites her neck and begins drinking her blood, but when the senora then promises to use her own blood to transform Amy like the other girls, the feisty girl fights back: kicking a device on the senora’s hip, she causes the senora’s form to flicker and change – before turning into a hideous creature, part-fish, part-lobster! Elsewhere, the Doctor and Rory gain access to the school via the open grate; looking around, they soon discover a desiccated corpse, its body drained not only of blood, but of all water too. Before they can investigate further, the Doctor and Rory find themselves surrounded by Rosanna, Francesco and the vampire girls; however, as their assailants close in for the kill, Amy arrives on the scene, having been freed by Isabella. Taking advantage of the distraction, the Doctor rushes Amy, Rory and Isabella into the tunnels, with Rosanna and the others in hot pursuit; as a desperate race ensues, the quartet manage to reach Guido and his gondola – but Isabella is unable to step into the dawn light and she is pulled back inside by the vampires, and when the Doctor goes to help, he is electrocuted into unconsciousness... Some time later, Rosanna punishes Isabella for her insolence by making her walk off a plank into a canal, condemning her to a grisly death from an unseen horror lurking in the waters. Returning indoors, Rosanna is surprised to find the Doctor sitting in her throne. By trading information, the Time Lord learns that Rosanna is a refugee from the planet Saturnyne: fleeing from ‘The Silence’ within the cracks that destroyed their world, Rosanna and her son came to Earth, which they now plan to transform into their new home world. Turning down Rosanna’s offer of a partnership, the Doctor vows to stop the aliens’ plan and then storms out. With her perception filter continuing to malfunction, Rosanna summons Francesco and the girl and prepares for a fight… Returning to Guido’s house, the Doctor checks Amy is alright before settling down to determine the aliens’ scheme: Rosanna and Francesco plan to sink Venice and repopulate it with their own kind, by mating the girls they have changed into fish-monsters with the ten-thousand alien children they have released into the city’s waters. The Doctor’s ruminations are interrupted by the arrival of said girls, as they break through the second floor windows to gain access inside. After using his sonic screwdriver to reveal their attackers’ true forms as fully-converted fish-monsters, the Doctor urges everyone outside; but as the Time Lord, Amy and Rory make their escape, Guido elects to remain behind, sacrificing himself to destroy the aliens by blowing them up with his stock of gunpowder. Meanwhile, at the House of Calvierri, Rosanna uses a control device to send a wave of energy from the building’s bell tower up into the sky, causing huge storm clouds to swiftly form over the city. As heavy rain begins to pour down, the Doctor despatches Amy and Rory to the safety of the TARDIS while he heads back to stop the aliens. However, as they make their way through the storm-lashed streets, Amy and Rory are intercepted by Francesco; a one-sided swordfight ensues, but just as Francesco is about to slaughter the hapless Rory, Amy uses her mirror to reflect sunlight onto the alien’s true form, causing him to explode in a shower of ash. The Doctor confronts Rosanna and implores her to stop the destruction of Venice, but on learning of the death of her girls, the senora chooses to leave the city to its fate. As Venice shakes under a violent earthquake, the Doctor is joined by Amy and Rory; leaving his friends to destroy the weather machine concealed in Rosanna’s throne, the Doctor heads upstairs to deal with the power generator in the bell tower; with heavy rain lashing down upon him, the Doctor climbs onto the tower’s roof and up to its spire, where he manages to find the off-switch for the alien generator: the storm immediately abates, and the sun shines once more. Her plan defeated, Rosanna ignores the Doctor’s efforts to reason with her, choosing instead to throw herself into the waters of Venice, to be devoured by the alien fish beneath. Some time later, the Doctor prepares to take Amy and Rory back to Leadworth registry office; however, Amy isn’t ready to get married just yet, and she persuades Rory to join her and the Doctor in their travels. But as the trio enter the TARDIS, the Doctor notices that an unearthly silence has suddenly descended outside…

Matt Smith (The Doctor), Karen Gillan (Amy Pond), Arthur Darvill (Rory Williams), Helen McCrory (Rosanna Calvierri), Lucian Msamati (Guido), Alisha Bailey (Isabella), Alex Price (Francesco Calvierri), Gabriella Wilde (Vampire Girl), Hannah Steele (Vampire Girl), Elizabeth Croft (Vampire Girl), Sonila Vieshta (Vampire Girl), Gabriela Montaraz (Vampire Girl), Michael Percival (Inspector), Simon Gregor (Steward [Ricardo])

Directed by Jonny Campbell
Produced by Tracie Simpson and Patrick Schweitzer
Executive Producers Steven Moffat, Piers Wenger and Beth Willis
A BBC Wales production

TX (BBC 1 & BBC HD):
8th May 2010 @ 6.00 pm

Notes:
*Featuring the Eleventh Doctor, Amy amd Rory

*Working title: 'Vampires in Venice'