Series 5, Episode 12 - "The Pandorica Opens"

Sleepy

I am feeling so smug right now: I wasn't far off at all!

Who the hell's gonna save the doctor now?

Amy seems to be dead.
Rory's an automaton so is actually dead...
and if the exploding stars are supposed to represent the tardis blowing up, River's just bought it too...

Be glad I'm not Steven Moffat cos the only way out I can think of is for Jenny to re-appear in the tardis that Captain Jack has been growing on his desk in Torchwood...

Busi_Girl08

That was, in my humble yet very confident opinion, THE best New Who episode.

The ending, both

The Doctor screaming as he is being locked in the Pandorica

and

Rory screaming with a lifeless Amy in his arms

was so chilling.

My only complaint was that

the credits should have rolled in complete silence.

Next Saturday cannot come fast enough!! :eek:

pixelburp

I'm guessing btw we're going to get almost zero promotional material for next week - after refusing to screen a "Next Time" trailer, it would be a shame if promotional clips or images from the next episode appeared.

It's easy to forget that before the internet came along it was entirely possible to know next-to-nothing about an upcoming show / movie. After tonight, I remember what that felt like. Am genuinely excited

Busi_Girl08

pixelburp wrote: »

It's easy to forget that before the internet came along it was entirely possible to know next-to-nothing about an upcoming show / movie. After tonight, I remember what that felt like. Am genuinely excited

I knew nothing about

Rory being an Auton or all the Big Bads uniting to put the Doctor in the Pandorica

.

It made it all the better when watching it, and I got to be genuinely surprised.

See Ye

DaPoolRulz wrote: »

I was thinking that as well. If they were ever going to finish Dr Who for good, that would have been the way to do it

Me too.

Ponster just said wouldn't it be great if the next episode started with someone at Torchwood noticing a disturbance in the rift ! The rift of course being one of the cracks ....

BlitzKrieg

hmmm.

Ok so we know

everything with the pandorica and the romans and links with amy pond was an extensive trap for the doctor to stop him causing the cracks. But he doesnt cause it because he was not driving the tardis, river song is... So is she the villian? Most likely no, because there is still one unseen entity playing things from the sidelines, who's hijacking the tardis, unless it is the villians just trying to seperate everyone, in which case they are still the cause and not the doctor because their attempt to keep the tardis away from the doctor cuases the explosion. there's that voice that sounds sort of like Davros saying 'Silence is coming' inside the tardis all the time, is that the villians trying to stop the silence or the final unseen element to the finale pushing events to their climax? Time for bets on it being an oldie or someone new? The whole tardis malfunctioning thing, if you were to link it to events in the series is very similar to its weirdness in the prior episode with their being another tardis like device near by.

on the reveal

when they started going on about trapped goblin/trickster/warrior, i thought Doctor straight away and assumed it was either the tardis or the doctor in there (be quite funny if the 8th doctor stepped out) so the reveal of it being empty for him wasnt a huge shock for me as I was thinking the right way for the whole episode.

8mv

That episode was excellent. My kids missed it and I couldn't even begin to explain to them what it was about. Had to be seen. Repeated on bbc three tomorrow.

nicowa

Is it possible that we can stop writing stuff about the latest episode in spoiler tags. Cos that shouldn't be spoilers. One would think people have watched the episode if they're here. At least after the episode has screened! Cos I'm pretty sure there's actual spoilers on one of two of them! And how can I differentiate between them?

Other than that, brilliante episode. Apart from the whole, I really want Rory back, I was hoping it wouldn't be him... for pretty much the same reason as everyone else.

Really can't wait til next episode. And for once I'm not going to be guessing...

Penn

Anyone else thinking when the Pandorica was opening and the camera kept cutting to River trying to open the Tardis doors that River and the Tardis somehow ended up in the Pandorica? Glad I was wrong though. Loved the way things went. Outstanding episode

pixelburp

BlitzKrieg wrote: »

[...]because there is still one unseen entity playing things from the sidelines, who's hijacking the tardis, unless it is the villians just trying to seperate everyone, in which case they are still the cause and not the doctor because their attempt to keep the tardis away from the doctor cuases the explosion. there's that voice that sounds sort of like Davros saying 'Silence is coming' inside the tardis all the time, is that the villians trying to stop the silence or the final unseen element to the finale pushing events to their climax? Time for bets on it being an oldie or someone new? The whole tardis malfunctioning thing, if you were to link it to events in the series is very similar to its weirdness in the prior episode with their being another tardis like device near by [...]

Sorry, don't think there's a need for spoiler tags as it's a thread devoted to an aired episode, surely?

Yes, this is the one definitive mystery from the first episode - who was that disembodied voice talking about "Silence is Coming" and how could he / she/ it control the TARDIS? Ok we're linking the two points into one assumption here but it seems logical. My guess is that it's either
- The Master (not likely, he has outstayed his welcome)
- Davros (perhaps, he was shortchanged in his brief appearance, so it'd be nice for him to come back)
- The Dreamlord

It's possible that Toby Jones' character was more than just a shared hallucination. If they're linking up previous stories and characters than the one obvious one that hasn't been was the dreamlord. He came from a TARDIS malfunction, so it links with the TARDIS being hijacked, and he's a manifestation of the "evil" within the Doctor so it links up with the idea of the Doctor being the enemy.

Edit: In fact, doesn't the Dalek say something like "only the Doctor can pilot the TARDIS"? That to me screams out the suggestion that it's the Dreamlord, or something like him

Pittens

Oh yeah, right. The DreamLord. Could be.

And didn't River Song say she learned from the "best" in a previous episode ( her future) and that the Doctor was incapacitated that day. Well he is now.

The Doctor seems to think that River can pilot the Tardis, but she may not have learned yet.

Also Starring LeVar Burton

pixelburp wrote: »

Sorry, don't think there's a need for spoiler tags as it's a thread devoted to an aired episode, surely?

Yes, this is the one definitive mystery from the first episode - who was that disembodied voice talking about "Silence is Coming" and how could he / she/ it control the TARDIS? Ok we're linking the two points into one assumption here but it seems logical. My guess is that it's either
- The Master (not likely, he has outstayed his welcome)
- Davros (perhaps, he was shortchanged in his brief appearance, so it'd be nice for him to come back)
- The Dreamlord

It's possible that Toby Jones' character was more than just a shared hallucination. If they're linking up previous stories and characters than the one obvious one that hasn't been was the dreamlord. He came from a TARDIS malfunction, so it links with the TARDIS being hijacked, and he's a manifestation of the "evil" within the Doctor so it links up with the idea of the Doctor being the enemy.

Edit: In fact, doesn't the Dalek say something like "only the Doctor can pilot the TARDIS"? That to me screams out the suggestion that it's the Dreamlord, or something like him

Interesting theory - I like it...

Sir Digby Chicken Caesar

jesus, am I the only one who didn't like this?

I had to force myself every five minutes not to turn it off


few good bits in it, I also thought the tardis would be in the pandoricum so the empty chair was a nice touch. thought the 'this is your life' of the doctors enemies was incredibly naff


has river song ever called the doctor 'my love' before? pretty strong clue to their once and future marriage?

Killer_banana

Brilliant episode. Seemed to be too many plots going on at the same time first but then they all tied together at the end and it worked perfectly. I know this season is way darker than previous ones but Jesus the end was chilling. Matt Smith's screaming and getting locked away. I know a lot of people saw it coming but I sure as hell didn't, like River I assumed the good wizard was the Doctor (well actually my first thought was Gandalf but that's probably 'cause I'm re-reading the Hobbit).

I was thinking it could be the Dreamlord speaking also, ties in with the Doctor being the bad guy and with the references to previous episodes. Could also be the reintroduction of

the Valeyard. He was meant to be created around the twelfth incarnation wasn't he? Eleven's close enough. Then again my theories are usually ridiculously far off.

As for Amy, Karen is contracted for three years but that's simply 'cause BBC have been wary of people leaving after Chris Eccleston left after one season. They could still kill her off if they wanted. The official site has a best moments video posted as well but it could be red herring, who knows. I hope she's back next season, she's my favourite companion of the new series.

I like what they did with Rory's return. I love him as a character but I'd be seriously pissed if it really was that easy. The scene with Amy was heartbreaking.

All this stuff about her life not making sense kinda does make it feel like she's going to turn out not to be real or something now...

And yes, this is the first time River's said 'My love.'

Torchwood or someone we haven't seen yet must be involved next week. I can't see how else the Doctor would get out of this. I think this is the must ****ed he's ever been (well in the newer episodes anyway).

doctorwhogirl

To be honest when I was considering who was behind the voice etc... all I could think of was the Valeyard or the Dreamlord.

Really don't think it will be the Master.
And as for Davros, the whole "Silence will fall" is too akin to the season 4 finale.

I can't believe it's only Sunday... 6 more days to go

shinzon

Quite simply that is how you do Doctor who, it was brilliant from beginning to end just loved it

To lock the Doctor away so his enemies could save the universe was just a stroke of genius by moffat, im hoping the pay off is even better then the setup roll on next saturday

Shin

norrie rugger

Achilles wrote: »

See? This is what happens when sci fi lets the woman drive... first the Enterprise D (damn you Deana) and now River Song and the tardis....

Bloody woman drivers!

Was Deana not driving in Nemesis also, when it crashes into the Simitar?


Oh and the obligatory


WTF!!?!?!?!?!?

Motley Crue

After last night's episode I'm really going to be watching it next week. That's all I can say really. I'd like to think the Doctor can save the day, but maybe that's not the point, maybe something else will happen and that's the beauty of Moffat's dark writing.

norrie rugger

BlitzKrieg wrote: »

hmmm.

Ok so we know

everything with the pandorica and the romans and links with amy pond was an extensive trap for the doctor to stop him causing the cracks. But he doesnt cause it because he was not driving the tardis, river song is... So is she the villian? Most likely no, because there is still one unseen entity playing things from the sidelines, who's hijacking the tardis, unless it is the villians just trying to seperate everyone, in which case they are still the cause and not the doctor because their attempt to keep the tardis away from the doctor cuases the explosion. there's that voice that sounds sort of like Davros saying 'Silence is coming' inside the tardis all the time, is that the villians trying to stop the silence or the final unseen element to the finale pushing events to their climax? Time for bets on it being an oldie or someone new? The whole tardis malfunctioning thing, if you were to link it to events in the series is very similar to its weirdness in the prior episode with their being another tardis like device near by.

on the reveal

when they started going on about trapped goblin/trickster/warrior, i thought Doctor straight away and assumed it was either the tardis or the doctor in there (be quite funny if the 8th doctor stepped out) so the reveal of it being empty for him wasnt a huge shock for me as I was thinking the right way for the whole episode.

Remeber last week also, someone was trying to BUILD a tardis. What if they decided on trying to steal the last one, instead

Doctor DooM

This is how I want my new who.

I don't think I can say any more than that.

At very least, the Doctor finally achieving universal peace of a sort by being a big enough threat to all his enemies?

Come on, thats fantasti...er... brillia... er, I mean humans, they came up with this plotline, aren't they grea... er...

THIS ROCKED!

mach1982

Has any one else been scouring the TV mags in the Sunday papers for as River would say “Spoilers”.

It seems that ever hing revolves around young Amy an she’ll save the day

I also been thinking about what the Doctor said about Amy’s house , so may empty rooms , then remember that the Space/time ship in the Lodger had a perception filter and added another story to a house , maybe Amy’s house is a Spaceship/timeship or another Tardis . That would explain why the Tardis crashed landed there it felt an other was there . Amy could be another Timelord who wipe their memory like the Doctor and the Master did.


I’m probably wrong

Chuchoter

I don't think I know enough DW to understand what happened in this episode. Why did the tardis land in front of a wall/ what was flying it? Is there no more tardis now?Who's valeyard/dreamlord? Is Amy dead now? It was really good but I'm so confused...:P

Daemos

crayolastereo wrote: »

Why did the tardis land in front of a wall/ what was flying it?

We don't know

crayolastereo wrote: »

Is there no more tardis now?

Apparently

crayolastereo wrote: »

Who's valeyard/dreamlord?

Info on the Valeyard here

The Dreamlord appeared earlier this series, he put all the characters in dream worlds to try to trick them, and described himself as everything bad about the Doctor, meaning he could actually be the Valeyard

crayolastereo wrote: »

Is Amy dead now?

Apparently

Hope that helps

Ginny

One thing that bothered me, the Dr.'s enemies claimed "only the Dr. can fly the Tardis", He tried to tell them River was flying it, but would they not know that River could fly the Tardis if they did use Amys memories from River flying it in the Angles Episode?

Plus didn't River tell the Dr. before that he didn't teach her but then said last night that he actually had?

Busi_Girl08

Ginny wrote: »

Plus didn't River tell the Dr. before that he didn't teach her but then said last night that he actually had?

So we can assume that someone else is going to teach her next week (or whenever), seeing as the Doctor doesn't know about the breaks and the "khuuuuh hooooooh..." noise :pac:

But who will this other person be, who is supposedly "the best"?

Actually, maybe this time round, the Doctor tells her what she had told him previously about the stabilisers, so when she says "the best", she means that he had taught her, but she had told him what he had taught her after he had taught them to her, so it was actually...herself that taught...herself?

Oooh, it's too hot today.

Doctor DooM

Furthermore, DoctorDonna can fly the tardis.

So, assumably, could metacrisis/ badplotline Doctor.

So could the Master, although I presume he is being presumed dead.

pixelburp

I'm putting my money on the Dreamlord tbh - that story left a few questions open & tbh given the nature of the finale's plot, it's too obvious an opportunity to miss.

Pittens

I just hope that the episode airs before the universe ends next Saturday.

Daemos

pixelburp wrote: »

I'm putting my money on the Dreamlord tbh - that story left a few questions open & tbh given the nature of the finale's plot, it's too obvious an opportunity to miss.

See that's actually why I don't think it will be him. I mean maybe I'm giving Moffat too much credit here, but I think that the Dreamlord is such an obvious choice for Moffat that it can't be him

Manach

Pittens wrote: »

[...] before the universe ends next Saturday.

You know, that you be an excellent introductory chat up line to use - but no doubt it might come across as sounding slightly weird, so for me no change there