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"The Pandorica Opens" is the twelfth episode in the fifth series of British science fiction television series Doctor Who, first broadcast on 19 June 2010 on BBC One. It is the first in a two-part finale which was continued the next week with "The Big Bang". The episode was written by head writer and executive producer Steven Moffat and directed by Toby Haynes.

In the episode, the mysterious character River Song (Alex Kingston) summons alien time traveller the Doctor (Matt Smith) and his companion Amy Pond (Karen Gillan) to Roman Britain in 102 A.D., where underneath Stonehenge lies a fabled prison called the Pandorica that legend tells holds the most fearsome being in the whole universe. However, it is discovered that the Doctor has been put in a trap by an alliance of his greatest enemies to save the universe from cracks in time that were caused by the Doctor's space-time vessel the TARDIS. Amy's fiancé Rory (Arthur Darvill), who had previously been erased from existence from one of the cracks in the universe, makes a return, though he is revealed to be an Auton duplicate outfitted with his consciousness.

Moffat wanted the episode to be "big" and "mad". Filming was done at the real Stonehenge and at a replica in early February 2009. The "Underhenge" set was the largest built on Upper Boat Studios and Haynes helped get the actors into the mood by playing music from the Indiana Jones franchise. The alliance of enemies was the first time such an assembly had been seen in the show, and the production team made sure they used the most iconic monsters that they had in good condition. "The Pandorica Opens" was seen by 7.57 million viewers in the UK and received an Appreciation Index of 88, the highest of the series at the time. The episode was well-received by critics and the two-part story won the 2011 Hugo Award for Best Dramatic Presentation (Short Form).

The Doctor and Amy Pond, following a message from River Song, arrive in Roman Britain on Earth in 102 AD, where they find River posing as Cleopatra. River shows the Doctor a Vincent van Gogh painting titled The Pandorica Opens, which depicts the TARDIS exploding. River had recovered the painting in the 52nd century and travelled to the time-space coordinates on the painting using a time agent's vortex manipulator. The Doctor realises the "Pandorica", a fabled prison for the universe's deadliest being, must be stored in a memorable location near the coordinates: Stonehenge.

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