The Big Bang ( TV story ) The Big Bang was the " Doctor Who " series 5 finale . It concluded many aspects of the story begun in " The Eleventh Hour " — most obviously by marrying Amy and Rory and by seemingly closing the cracks in time — but it left the audience wondering what " the Silence " was and why it wanted the TARDIS to explode . The series 5 finale was a kickstarter for several overarching stories that would foreshadow major conflicts yet to ensnare the Doctor . While the identity of the Silence was a major topic explored in series 6 , the question of why they wanted to blow the TARDIS up remained what the Eleventh Doctor called " a good question for another day " until the 2013 Christmas Special " The Time of the Doctor " answered it , while the mention of " an Egyptian goddess loose on the Orient Express in space " at the episode ' s end would later be picked up again in the series 8 episode " Mummy on the Orient Express " . " The Big Bang " had an impact upon " Torchwood " as well , allowing it to , at least in Russell T Davies ' mind , escape the confines of Cardiff . He said that closing the cracks in time also resulted in the closing of the Cardiff Rift . Although Davies did not explicitly make this point in his subsequent " " scripts , neither did he allow the Rift to be central to that series , as it had been to previous " Torchwood " outings . It was the final story for production designer Ed Thomas . In February 2013 , Steven Moffat revealed that " The Big Bang " was likely his personal favourite of all the " Doctor Who " scripts he had written . He further revealed that the title was deliberate sexual innuendo , and referred to what happened just " after " the credits rolled . Though contemporary " Bang " viewers wouldn ' t have known it , TV : " A Good Man Goes to War " would later explain that River Song was conceived within minutes of the conclusion of the episode . Moffat therefore claimed that the story had " a filthy joke in the title only I knew about at the time " . Synopsis . The Alliance has trapped the Eleventh Doctor in the Pandorica , the TARDIS has exploded with River inside , Rory has shot Amy and the cracks have swallowed everything but the Earth and Moon . The fate of all existence lies in the hands of a little girl who still believes in stars . Plot . In 1996 , Amelia Pond sits in her bedroom , praying to Santa Claus for help mending the crack in her bedroom wall . Believing she has heard something in her garden , she runs to her window . The garden is empty . Later , she gives a drawing she has done of the night sky — complete with stars and the moon — to her psychiatrist , Christine . Christine explains gently there are no stars . The night sky is empty save for the Moon . That night , Amelia overhears Christine and her aunt talking about her . As she eavesdrops at the top of the stairs , she sees a pamphlet advertising the National Museum slipped through the letterbox by a familiar figure wearing a fez . He flees when she notices him . There is a circle drawn around a notice of the Pandorica exhibit and a note reading , " Come along , Pond . " Amelia and her aunt go to the museum . Amelia runs off and makes her way to the Pandorica exhibit , passing a variety of strange machines on display ; other exhibits are quite wrong as well , such as penguins in the Arctic . Someone also steals her soda before she can notice who did it . At the exhibit , Amelia sees another note stuck to the face of the box . It reads , " Stick around , Pond . " This prompts Amelia to hide out in the museum to find out who is leaving notes for her . After the museum ' s close — and Aunt Sharon ' s failure to find her — Amelia returns to the Pandorica and curiously sets a hand on it . Mechanisms on the face of the box glow green , scaring Amelia enough to make her back a few feet away . The Pandorica opens , but instead of the Doctor still being imprisoned inside , the occupant is instead Amelia ' s older self : Amy Pond . Noticing her younger self , Amy tells the confused Amelia , " Okay , kid , this is where it gets complicated . . . " In 102 A . D . the Auton duplicate of Rory Williams cradles a dead Amy Pond , comforting himself by telling her how the universe ended ; it would mean they never get born , twice in his case . Amy would laugh at that ; he begs her to laugh . Suddenly , a fez - wearing Eleventh Doctor appears in front of them , holding a mop . He tries calming Rory by saying it ' s not the end of the world , but then corrects himself by saying it ' s the end of the universe . The Doctor vanishes and reappears without the mop . A confused Rory is instructed to free the Doctor from the Pandorica ; the Doctor is already out . The Doctor explains that he " is " already out , but back then , which is the present for Rory , he is yet to escape . Giving Rory his sonic screwdriver , the Doctor wishes him luck and informs him to put the sonic in Amy ' s top pocket when he ' s done with it . Rory follows the Doctor ' s instructions , opening the Pandorica with the sonic . A confused Doctor quickly deduce s he ' ll set up the chain of events that lead to his release . Rory questions the Doctor about the stone remains of the Alliance ; they are the after - images of the races that now never existed due to the destruction of the universe . He then wonders where Amy is ; Rory gives a remorseful look . Showing Amy to the Doctor , Rory asks if there is anything he can do for her . The Doctor says he " can " if he had the time , angering Rory , as he continues to explain that all lifeforms except for them and humanity have been deleted from existence ; " Your girlfriend isn ' t more important than the universe . " Losing his cool , Rory gives a good blow to the Doctor ' s jaw , knocking him down . " " She is to me ! ! ! " Rory screams . The Doctor quickly pulls himself back up , laughing , and relocates his jaw , welcoming Rory back ; he had to be sure . Putting Amy in the Pandorica , the Doctor explains that she is not an ordinary girl due to having the universe pouring through her dreams every night thanks to the crack in her wall , so when the Nestene took a memory print off Amy , they got a bit more than what they bargained for — Rory ' s soul inhabits his Auton replica . Sealing the Pandorica once more with Amy inside , the Doctor explains to Rory that it prevents people from dying as it ' s a form of escape ; it can stasis - lock Amy in a near - death state until it gets an external sample of her DNA , which will take around 1900 years . Recovering River ' s vortex manipulator , the Doctor sets it for the future . Offering Rory a lift to the future , the Doctor is bewildered when he decides to remain behind to guard the Pandorica . Despite the warning that he ' ll go mad from never sleeping ( due to his awareness of being fake now ) , Rory insists ; the Doctor relents , but warns him he isn ' t indestructible and gives him fair warning of all the things he knows can cause an Auton to be destroyed or become faulty before vanishing into the future . In the museum , Amy explores the Pandorica exhibit , paying no mind to the younger version of herself . She finds a video on " the Lone Centurion " — a man in Roman armour who protected the Pandorica wherever it went for 1839 years . He was last seen in 1941 , dragging the box away from an incendiary bomb ; it is believed the Centurian died in the inferno . Amy realises he was Rory , retaining her recovered memories of him , but there is no time for her to dwell on this . The restorative light from the Pandorica has reactivated a stone Dalek in the exhibition and it ' s heading straight for the Ponds . The Doctor appears , having used the vortex manipulator to travel 1894 years into the future . The Dalek shoots at him and Amy , prompting them to take cover with young Amelia ; they ' re trapped . A museum guard appears and the Dalek deems him unarmed . However , the guard declares , " Wanna bet ? " and uncaps his hand , revealing a laser gun to disable the Dalek . Amy rejoices when she sees that the guard is the Auton Rory . They kiss while the Doctor realises the " light " from the Pandorica restored the Dalek partially . He also takes a fez from a display , putting it on Amelia , who refuses it ; the Doctor dons the hat himself . The Dalek begins coming back to life once more due to the Pandorica still being open . The Doctor leads the group away from the Dalek , blocking the door with a mop to buy time . When Rory recognises his appearance , he fixes the timeline by travelling back to 102 A . D . and ordering that version of Rory to let him out of the Pandorica . He leaves the notes for Amelia , all of which led her here . Humorously , the Doctor even fulfills Amelia ' s request for a drink while running around the timeline , snatching it from the earlier version of herself at the museum . A confused Amy wonders how the Doctor keeps vanishing , making him explain what the device on his wrist is : " cheap , and nasty time travel ; it ' s bad for you . I ' m trying to give it up . " As they head for the roof , another version of the Doctor appears at the top of the stairs , badly injured . He falls down the stairs and whispers in the Doctor ' s ear before dying . The Doctor announces he has only twelve minutes to live . Amy is confused , but Rory points out that they can ' t just leave his body there . Feeling challenged for who ' s in charge , the Doctor asks Rory what they ' re going to do about Amelia . They look back to see nothing but Amelia ' s spilt drink . The Doctor explains history is still collapsing , and now there was never any Amelia Pond , confusing Amy ; how can she be there when her younger self isn ' t ? The answer being that they are all anomalies in the timeline , so they have greater immunity than those who are normal . They head for the roof . On the building ' s roof , Rory and Amy are confused by the sudden daylight ; the Doctor retorts that he already told them that the eye of the storm is closing up , so time is speeding up . Rory questions the Doctor as to why the TARDIS exploded ; " Good question for another day . " The Doctor then makes them think ; the sun was erased with every other star in the universe , so what ' s burning in the sky ? The object keeping the Earth warm and light is his TARDIS , exploding at every moment in history . Rory ' s Auton - enhanced hearing picks up a voice in the sky , which the Doctor amplifies with a satellite dish . It is River Song , whose last words — " I ' m sorry , my love " — are repeated over and over . The TARDIS ' emergency protocols have locked the console room in a time loop to save her life . The Doctor uses the vortex manipulator to rescue her and bring her to the roof . River is cautious about Rory , but the Doctor calms her down . River explains that she has questions , but number one is , " What in the name of sanity do you have on your head ? " . The Doctor explains he wears fezzes now since they ' re cool ; Amy removes it from his head and tosses it in the air , where River blasts it to pieces . The group is shot at by the regenerated Dalek . They retreat to the museum below . The Doctor runs through the museum , deducing that , along with the restoration field , the Pandorica contains a few billion atoms of the universe as it was . This was how the Dalek returned despite being erased from history . The Doctor formulates a plan involving these atoms , the restoration field and the exploding TARDIS . Just as he is about to reveal it , he is shot by the Dalek , who has followed them ; the Dalek lacked enough energy to make the blast quick and painless . The Doctor uses the vortex manipulator to disappear . Amy and Rory know where he is and go to him while River stays behind . As River is an associate of the Doctor ' s the Dalek believes she will show mercy ; she tells it her name and to look her up in its database , knowing one blast from her gun to its eyestalk will kill it . The Dalek then begins begging for mercy , shaking in fear . Downstairs , Amy and Rory are confused . The Doctor ' s corpse is not where they left it . River returns to remind them the Doctor lies , informing them the Dalek is dead as well . The Doctor had pretended to die to make them decoys to buy him time . They return to the exhibit and find the very weak Doctor has strapped himself into the Pandorica . He will use the vortex manipulator to fly the box into the heart of the TARDIS , exploding at every point in history . The explosion will release the atoms of the preserved universe , restoring it . River admits gravely that the plan will work only if the Doctor seals himself on the other side of the cracks . The entire universe will be restored , but not the Doctor . He will never have existed at all . However , all the good he has done for the universe until now will remain . The Doctor and Amy say their goodbyes , and he admits that he took her with him because her life didn ' t make sense . . . living in a large house with only her aunt . He then asks Amy what happened to her parents , and she answers that she lost them but is alarmed when she cannot recall the specific details . He explains that they weren ' t killed when Amy was young , but consumed by the time field in her bedroom wall which has been eating away at her whole life . He assures her that as long as she remembers her parents , she can bring them back like she did Rory and with her family around her she won ' t need her imaginary friend . He pilots the Pandorica into the explosion ( texting River " Geronimo ! " on the way ) , and resets the universe , disappearing from existence . . . . . . and sits up on the floor of the TARDIS console room . He rejoices he has survived being erased — until he sees Amy and himself from a week earlier , travelling to Space Florida ; his timeline is unravelling , meaning , " Hello , universe , goodbye , Doctor . " He calls to Amy . She hears him , but cannot see him . His life rewinds further . He is in a street in Colchester , watching Amy leave a note for him underneath Craig ' s advertisement for a new lodger . She still cannot see him . The Doctor notices a crack in the road behind him , sealing itself . He rewinds to the " Byzantium " ; he approaches Amy — her eyes shut to avoid being killed by the Weeping Angel — and encourages her to remember what he told her when she was seven . He rewinds to 1996 and finds Amelia asleep in her back garden , awaiting his return . He carries her to bed and tells her the story of how he stole — or , rather , " borrowed " — the TARDIS , describing it romantically as " ancient and new , and the bluest blue ever . " He sees the crack in her wall and tells her it can ' t close properly until he ' s on the other side and steps through , preferring not to see the rest of his life rewind . The crack in her wall closes . She wakes to an empty room and quickly goes back to sleep . In 2010 , Amy wakes on her wedding day , surprised when her mother brings her breakfast . Her mother informs Amy she may toss the breakfast out the window as her father ' s a terrible cook . Amy races downstairs to see her short father , studying a joke book for his speech at the reception . Amy finds her reaction to her parent as odd and she has the lingering feeling there is someone or something else missing . When she phones Rory to see if he feels the same way , he agrees with her because he loves and fears her . Amy excitedly gets ready for her wedding . At the reception , she enjoys listening to her mother whisper insults about her father or giggles that her father is taking time to correct his speech . Amy then spots River Song outside , walking past the window . Rory presents her with a wedding gift someone has left — River ' s blue TARDIS diary , all its pages blank . Amy begins to cry , wondering why she is so sad . Rory tries to explain away the diary by reminding her of the old wedding saying : " Something old , something new , something borrowed , and something blue . " She notices some of the guests at the other tables ; a bow tie and braces catch her attention just as a tear hits River ' s diary . Amy interrupts her father ' s speech to announce that her imaginary childhood friend , " the raggedy Doctor , " is real and he is late for her wedding . Her mother and aunt sigh , remembering how many psychiatrists they sent her to . Amy continues yelling that she brought everyone else back from the time field , so she can for him as well , which is why he told her that story when she was little , about the ancient , brand new box . Abruptly , the TARDIS — old and new , borrowed and blue — materialises in the middle of the room . Amy walks up to the TARDIS and asks the Doctor if she ' s " . . . surprised him this time . " The Doctor steps out in top hat and full evening dress , admitting that he is completely astonished . Everyone at the wedding is shocked to discover that the Doctor wasn ' t a figment of Amy ' s imagination , while Rory suddenly remembers everything that happened to him and doesn ' t understand how he could possibly have forgotten , especially being nearly 2000 years old . The Doctor introduces himself to the crowd ; no doubt Amy ' s parents are feeling like apologising for not believing Amy . Amy imitates part of the wedding ceremony , telling him he can kiss her . However , the Doctor stops Amy , informing her the brand new Mr Pond will be taking care of the " kissing duties " from now on . Annoyed , and thinking the Doctor doesn ' t understand earth customs well , Rory tries explaining that marrying Amy gives her his last name , but relents when the Doctor says his version is correct . The Doctor says he ' ll move the TARDIS as they ' re gonna need the space for dancing , which is why he came . When everyone starts dancing , the Doctor does so badly , making Amy giggle ( " You ' re terrible ! That is embarrassing ! " she shrieks ) and amusing the children present ; he even tries teaching them his moves . Later , watching Amy and Rory slow dance , the Doctor notes to himself that Rory is ' the boy who waited ' and , after guarding her for two thousand years , truly deserves his happiness . The Doctor leaves to return to the TARDIS , now parked in Amy ' s garden . River Song appears behind him . He returns her vortex manipulator and her diary , explaining that the writing has come back , but he didn ' t peek ahead . As River thanks him , the Doctor asks if she ' s married herself . She wonders if he is asking , and he says , " Yes , " then stammers when he realises he has just unwittingly proposed to her . River teases him with further affirmations . The Doctor wonders who she really is . She says he will find out very soon , when everything changes . She leaves abruptly via vortex manipulator . Amy and Rory , still in their wedding finery , enter the TARDIS and encourage the Doctor to take the night off . He is reluctant — they still do not know what led the TARDIS to the date of the temporal explosion and destroyed it , much less why . He also has not figured out the meaning of the " silence . " As he ponders , he takes a TARDIS phone call : an Egyptian goddess is on the loose on the Orient Express in space and the royal on the other end is concerned . The Doctor turns to bid Amy and Rory goodbye , but Amy runs to the door , bids her former life " " adieu " " and closes the TARDIS doors . The Doctor smiles and fires up the engines , sending the TARDIS spinning through the time vortex . . . Home video releases . BBC Video - " Doctor Who Series Five - Volume Four " features " Vincent and the Doctor " , " The Lodger " , " The Pandorica Opens " and " The Big Bang " . It was released on 6 September 2010 ( UK Only ) on DVD and Blu - ray see picture below . It was released on a full series box set on 8th November 2010 but as two sets . One is a limited edition steelbook and the other one is a Lenticular Sleeve .