Doctor Who Preview

Our cryptic, spoiler-free tease of "The Pandorica Opens", the first half of this year's finale...

1. Steven Moffat’s on top form with a brilliantly crafted episode – the perfect start to a two-parter.
2. The Doctor and Amy visit the oldest planet in the universe, where the first words in history have a familiar ring to them.
3. The stakes are every bit as high as in an RTD season finale.
4. Characters from earlier in the series make surprise appearances before the opening titles – and we’re not just talking about the series recap.
5. There’s something funny going on at Stonehenge.
6. If you thought “The Lodger” looked like a money-saving episode, you soon realise where all that spare cash went.
7. There’s a scene in a bar rather reminiscent of the Star Wars cantina.
8. There’s an armada of alien spacecraft.
9. The Doctor gets to deliver one of his “Get out of here!” speeches.
10. There’s a brilliant scare involving a human skull.
11. You could market an entire range of action figures on the back of this episode alone.
12. Amy’s engagement ring is crucial.
13. It’ll make you want to go back and watch the whole series again.
14. Someone other than the Doctor pilots the TARDIS.
15. The Doctor and Amy face a foe reminiscent of fembots.
16. There’s a fantastic nod to The Thing.
17. The Pandorica does indeed open.
18. It also closes.
19. The episode ends in a cliffhanger so devilish that it seems utterly inescapable. It’s going to be a very, very long week.
20. 26 June 2010 is a very important date indeed – and not just because it’s the day of the series finale.