"Doctor Who" Finale Review: Part 1 (The Pandorica Opens)
Saturday, June 26, 2010
Oh My God! What an amazing series for the new Doctor. He seriously has had a great first series. Loved him from the very beginning. The whole series was absolutely magical. So many twists and turns from start to finish. I seriously am looking forward for what's in stall for us in the Christmas Special and especially Series 6 next year. Anyway, back to reviewing this epic ending to a fantastic new series.
So, "The Pandorica Opens" begins with Van Gogh lying in his bed in France in 1890, screaming in fear at a painting that he painted of an exploding TARDIS. Then it jumps 1941 where we find Bracewell showing Winston Churchill the painting. Bracewell advises Churchill to send a message to The Doctor. Churchill picks up the phone to make a call. 
A phone in Stormcage Containment Facility in 5145 rings. A guard picks it up and says that there was no Doctor there. At that point River Song demands to speak to the person on the other side of the call. River realises he is new, and kisses him, using a hallucinogen in her lipstick to make him delirious, and she escapes. Then we head over to The Royal Collection where River Song walks among the paintings in the Royal Collection gallery and finds the one she is looking for. She trips one of the alarms. Liz 10 then appears with a gun aimed at her. River tells her that this is for The Doctor, and Liz recognizes the name. River shows her the painting of the exploding TARDIS. River then heads to The Maldovarium where she talks to a salesman at a bar, asking for a vortex manipulator from a Time Agent in return for a device for deactivating micro- explosives similar to those she had planted in the salesman's drink.
A phone in Stormcage Containment Facility in 5145 rings. A guard picks it up and says that there was no Doctor there. At that point River Song demands to speak to the person on the other side of the call. River realises he is new, and kisses him, using a hallucinogen in her lipstick to make him delirious, and she escapes. Then we head over to The Royal Collection where River Song walks among the paintings in the Royal Collection gallery and finds the one she is looking for. She trips one of the alarms. Liz 10 then appears with a gun aimed at her. River tells her that this is for The Doctor, and Liz recognizes the name. River shows her the painting of the exploding TARDIS. River then heads to The Maldovarium where she talks to a salesman at a bar, asking for a vortex manipulator from a Time Agent in return for a device for deactivating micro- explosives similar to those she had planted in the salesman's drink. Meanwhile, The Doctor and Amy are in the TARDIS discussing where to go to next. The Doctor decides to take her to one of the oldest cliff faces in history so that he could through her off it. Not really. It's a joke. Anyway, they went to the cliff face that's made of pure diamond to decipher the writings on the face that up until now have not been translated. When the TARDIS lands, the writing simply says "HELLO SWEETIE" and a set of temporal co-ordinates are written underneath. 
The Doctor and Amy then head back into the TARDIS and end up landing in Roman Britain in 2nd Century AD. The guards that greet them when landing, takes them to see Cleopatra, who turns out to River Song in disguise. Song shows The Doctor the painting of the exploding TARDIS. River's previous warning that the Pandorica would open also concerns him, and the Doctor decides to look for it. He looks at the Roman maps, since if someone had built such a device, they would want to remember where they left it. The three of them leave the Roman camp and travel by horse to Stonehenge to see if they can find the Pandorica. The Doctor uses his sonic screwdriver and it picks up some activity below Stonehenge. They find an enterence to below. There they find Pandorica. The Doctor then relises that the Pandorica is not a fairytale or a myth after all. IT'S REAL! Amy says that the real box is so similar to the one in the story book of the same name. The one she read as a child.
The alliance believe that The Doctors TARDIS exploding will cause the end of the universe. The Auton Rory is still fighting, but he ends up shooting Amy. That was a really imotional scene. She then dies in his arms. AWWWWW! The Pandorica finally opens and inside is a holding cell, designed for a humanoid. A prison for The Doctor. To keep him from damaging the universe, even though he's the one who protects it from the villains. So, the Daleks say that it is for the Doctor. The Doctor tries to protest, saying that 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. Watching Matt Smith fighting for his life and begging them not to lock him up was again, so imotional and such a powerfull scene. It was like watching David Tennent fighting for his life when he was The Doctor. With the Doctor held firmly in place, the Pandorica closes. 
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.
The Doctor and Amy then head back into the TARDIS and end up landing in Roman Britain in 2nd Century AD. The guards that greet them when landing, takes them to see Cleopatra, who turns out to River Song in disguise. Song shows The Doctor the painting of the exploding TARDIS. River's previous warning that the Pandorica would open also concerns him, and the Doctor decides to look for it. He looks at the Roman maps, since if someone had built such a device, they would want to remember where they left it. The three of them leave the Roman camp and travel by horse to Stonehenge to see if they can find the Pandorica. The Doctor uses his sonic screwdriver and it picks up some activity below Stonehenge. They find an enterence to below. There they find Pandorica. The Doctor then relises that the Pandorica is not a fairytale or a myth after all. IT'S REAL! Amy says that the real box is so similar to the one in the story book of the same name. The one she read as a child.River detects a signal coming from the six pillars surrouding the Pandorica and the entrance to the room that it's in. She detects that there is at least ten thousand ships in orbit. She can't tell exactly how many there is as the scanners are corupted. There really be millions of starships in the skies above them. Among the starships are Dalek saucers, Cyber Ships, Sontaran flagships, Slitheen Vessels, Judoon Rockets and an Atraxi Ship, all presumably after whatever the Pandorica contains. The Doctor decides to call on the Romans to help. River goes back to use her influence as "Cleopatra" to talk them into helping. However, the legion commander has arrived with news that Cleopatra is in Egypt. It turns out that she's infact dead. River attempts to talk the commander into helping, eventually resorting to using her disintegrator pistol to demonstrate her power. However, before the commander can react, a volunteer arrives. The volunteer is infact.........Rory. 
Back at Stonehenge, a Cyber arm on the floor of the chamber has reactivated, sending bolts of energy from it's gun around the room. The Doctor and Amy run for cover behind the Pandorica. The Doctor says to Amy that he has a plan. So his plan turns out to be him running out from behind cover and shout, "Look at me, I'm a target!". Classic "Doctor Who" moment. Hillarious! He manages to get close to the arm. He tries to pick it up, but the electronic grip function on the arm incapacitates the Doctor. That electric shock thing that the Cybermen do to hurt people. By now, the head has also worked it's way down using tentacle-like wires from the neck section and a sleeper dart from one of the pipes hits Amy. The head opens. The Cyberman 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. After getting attacked by the Cyberman, who is missing it's head and arm, Amy takes cover in a side room, but before the Cyberman can get to her, it is killed by the Roman Rory. But Amy doesn't recongise him. 
The Doctor wakes up and notices Rory, hardly reacting, and begins his speculations again. However, after a few minutes, he notices and they go through an awkward phase. This was very funny. 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. 
When River gets into the TARDIS, she attempts to go back to Stonehenge, but instead is thrown to 26th June 2010, the date that appeared on the base code of the universe and as such when it would end. She leaves the TARDIS just before a warning is broadcast on the speakers. The speakers were saying, "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. By some of the things she finds, she notices that the house is Amy's house. River goes up into Amy's room and find a book on Roman Britain and Pandora's Box. These are the exact things that is happening right now, where The Doctor is. 
She tries to return to inform The Doctor of her findings, but is instead thrown uncontrollably around the Time Vortex. She phones the Doctor to get help, who tells her to shut off the engines once he learns the date she is at, "26th June 2010". The base code of the universe the Doctor had seen the last time he met River was 26062010. 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.
Back at Stonehenge, a Cyber arm on the floor of the chamber has reactivated, sending bolts of energy from it's gun around the room. The Doctor and Amy run for cover behind the Pandorica. The Doctor says to Amy that he has a plan. So his plan turns out to be him running out from behind cover and shout, "Look at me, I'm a target!". Classic "Doctor Who" moment. Hillarious! He manages to get close to the arm. He tries to pick it up, but the electronic grip function on the arm incapacitates the Doctor. That electric shock thing that the Cybermen do to hurt people. By now, the head has also worked it's way down using tentacle-like wires from the neck section and a sleeper dart from one of the pipes hits Amy. The head opens. The Cyberman 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. After getting attacked by the Cyberman, who is missing it's head and arm, Amy takes cover in a side room, but before the Cyberman can get to her, it is killed by the Roman Rory. But Amy doesn't recongise him. The Doctor wakes up and notices Rory, hardly reacting, and begins his speculations again. However, after a few minutes, he notices and they go through an awkward phase. This was very funny. 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. When River gets into the TARDIS, she attempts to go back to Stonehenge, but instead is thrown to 26th June 2010, the date that appeared on the base code of the universe and as such when it would end. She leaves the TARDIS just before a warning is broadcast on the speakers. The speakers were saying, "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. By some of the things she finds, she notices that the house is Amy's house. River goes up into Amy's room and find a book on Roman Britain and Pandora's Box. These are the exact things that is happening right now, where The Doctor is. She tries to return to inform The Doctor of her findings, but is instead thrown uncontrollably around the Time Vortex. She phones the Doctor to get help, who tells her to shut off the engines once he learns the date she is at, "26th June 2010". The base code of the universe the Doctor had seen the last time he met River was 26062010. 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 to fall asleep, but they remain standing. Even Rory, who is talking to Amy and is not being recognized, begins to fail, but he resists. The Romans suddenly look up, and their hands fall away to reveal guns, they are in fact Autons who are under the control of the Nestene Consciousness. The Doctor is escorted, by the Romans, to the Pandorica, where he is confronted by the Dalek Supreme, Eternal and a single Drone, who have all teleported in from their ships above and they state that The Doctor is responsible for the end of the universe. He's suppost to be responsible for the "Crack In The Wall" that have been appearing through out this series. According to the Daleks, The Doctor's TARDIS caused them. 
The Cybermen arrive and their Cyber-Leader states that all evidence correlates, The Doctor is to blame. Silurians, Sontarans, Judoon and Sycorax arrive and The Doctor realizes that 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. Very clever idea.
The Cybermen arrive and their Cyber-Leader states that all evidence correlates, The Doctor is to blame. Silurians, Sontarans, Judoon and Sycorax arrive and The Doctor realizes that 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. Very clever idea. The alliance believe that The Doctors TARDIS exploding will cause the end of the universe. The Auton Rory is still fighting, but he ends up shooting Amy. That was a really imotional scene. She then dies in his arms. AWWWWW! The Pandorica finally opens and inside is a holding cell, designed for a humanoid. A prison for The Doctor. To keep him from damaging the universe, even though he's the one who protects it from the villains. So, the Daleks say that it is for the Doctor. The Doctor tries to protest, saying that 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. Watching Matt Smith fighting for his life and begging them not to lock him up was again, so imotional and such a powerfull scene. It was like watching David Tennent fighting for his life when he was The Doctor. With the Doctor held firmly in place, the Pandorica closes. 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. 
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