Original artwork, not a still
The Pandorica will open. Silence will fall.
— Doctor Who • 2005
Behind the line
What it means
Our interpretation.
It is a prophecy delivered as a taunt: a doomed monster telling the hero that the real trouble has not started. Moffat plants a two-part riddle in the first ten minutes of a new Doctor's run, and the mystery runs through the whole series and the next. Fans quote it as the most patient seed in the show's history, and as shorthand for an ominous warning that gets answered much later.
Context reviewed
In context
Spoilers for Doctor WhoShow the scene
In "The Eleventh Hour" (Doctor Who, first aired 3 April 2010, written by Steven Moffat), Matt Smith's Doctor tracks down the shape-shifting escapee Prisoner Zero in the final stand-off. Zero refuses to give itself up and says it did not make the crack; such cracks exist in the skin of the universe, and the Doctor does not know where they come from. It warns him that the Pandorica will open and silence will fall. Zero repeats the second half as the Atraxi's searchlight takes it away. The phrase becomes the spine of the 2010 and 2011 series, with the Silence as the enemy.
Sources (3)
- Tardis Data Core, The Eleventh Hour (TV story)Infobox and plot summaryReference checked
- Tardis Data Core, Prisoner ZeroBiographyReference checked
- Tardis Data Core, The SilenceReferencesReference checked
Context reviewed
