page_title: The Big Bang (Doctor Who)
section_title: Plot
hierarchical_section_title: The Big Bang (Doctor Who) / Plot
caption_attribution_description: Click here to view my Doctor Who collection Click here to view my Doctor Who locations collection Doctor Who Experience
context_page_description: "The Big Bang" is the thirteenth and final episode of the fifth series of British science fiction television programme Doctor Who, first broadcast on 26 June 2010 on BBC One. It is the second part of the two-part series finale; the first part, "The Pandorica Opens", aired on 19 June. The episode was written by head writer and executive producer Steven Moffat and directed by Toby Haynes.
  Following the end of the previous episode, alien time traveller the Doctor is trapped in a prison from which escape is impossible, the space-time vessel the TARDIS has blown up with the time-travelling archaeologist River Song inside, and the Doctor's companion Amy Pond has been shot and killed by an Auton replica of her fiancé Rory Williams. As the universe is collapsing, the Doctor uses time travel to solve these problems and ultimately reboot the universe.
  The episode sees the climax of Amy's character arc and the story arc of the series regarding the cracks in the universe, though Moffat chose to leave a few things unexplained. Taking place mainly in a museum, most scenes in the episode were shot at Brangwyn Hall in February 2010.
context_section_description: The explosion of the TARDIS has caused the universe to have never existed, except for the Earth, its moon, and a sun-like object. In Roman Britain, an Auton version of Rory mourns Amy after he shot and killed her. The Eleventh Doctor appears to Rory, handing him his sonic screwdriver. Rory frees the younger Doctor trapped in the Pandorica with the screwdriver. The Doctor then places Amy's body inside the Pandorica, which will restore her once given an imprint of her living DNA. The Doctor uses River Song's vortex manipulator to jump ahead nearly two millennia; Rory, in his ageless Auton body, decides to stay with Amy and guard her.
  In 1996, seven-year-old Amelia Pond finds instructions from the Doctor which leads her to touch the Pandorica in a museum. This allows Amy to be revitalised and freed. They are soon joined by the Doctor and Rory, now a museum guard, and get chased by a Dalek restored by the light of the Pandorica. The Doctor uses the vortex manipulator to go back and give Rory his screwdriver. As the universe continues to collapse, Amelia disappears. The Doctor discovers that the "sun" is the still-exploding TARDIS; River, trapped inside the TARDIS, is being kept alive in a time loop. The Doctor saves River.
  The Doctor creates a diversion for the Dalek, allowing him to rig the Pandorica to fly into the TARDIS explosion, using what exists of the original universe inside the Pandorica to create a second Big Bang. Before this, the Doctor instructs Amy to focus on her family and Rory to restore them in the new universe. The Doctor begins witnessing events in his life in reverse as the cracks in the universe close. The Doctor has to stay outside this new universe for that to happen. After a final goodbye to Amelia on the night they met, he enters the cracks and disappears.
  Amy wakes in her home in 2010 to discover that her parents and Rory have been brought back into existence. Amy and Rory celebrate their wedding day. At the reception, River leaves her diary for Amy which prompts Amy to recall the Doctor. She interrupts her father's speech, imploring the Doctor to come to the wedding. The TARDIS and the Doctor appear in the reception. Aboard the TARDIS, the Doctor explains to Amy and Rory that unanswered questions remain about the TARDIS explosion.
caption: A Stone Dalek, on display at a Doctor Who exhibition
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