Rory’s stag party gets rudely interrupted, the Doctor takes everyone on a Venetian field trip, and some alien fish ladies try to turn humanity into their seafood buffet.
Short Synopsis
The Doctor crashes Rory’s bachelor party and drags him (plus Amy, because things are already awkward) to 16th-century Venice. There, they discover “vampires” running an exclusive girls’ school. Spoiler: they’re actually Saturnyne aliens disguising themselves with perception filters. The Doctor defeats them with sunlight, ships Amy and Rory together, and probably swears off bachelor parties forever.
Extended Storyline
We start with the Doctor doing what he does best: ruining social events. He leaps out of a cake at Rory’s stag night. The crowd expected a leggy blonde; instead, they get a gangly man in tweed yelling “Rory the Roman!” and demanding everyone stop drinking. Smooth.
Rory is, understandably, not thrilled. The Doctor not only upstages his bachelor party, he also drags him into the TARDIS mid-apology tour with Amy. And this is where Eleven proves he has all the subtlety of a wrecking ball: he tries to smooth things over by suggesting “a romantic trip” for Amy and Rory. Naturally, he picks Venice, 1580. Because nothing says “relationship therapy” like plagues, canals, and questionable sanitation.
Once there, they find that Venice has closed its gates because of a mysterious threat — which, of course, means the Doctor immediately barges inside. They discover the Calvierri school for girls, run by the sinister Rosanna Calvierri and her creepy brood. The students are pale, wear long dresses, avoid sunlight, and have no reflections. Classic vampire aesthetics. Except, plot twist: they’re not vampires, they’re giant alien fish-women from Saturnyne, using perception filters to appear human.
Rosanna’s backstory is tragic-ish. Her home planet was destroyed by the cracks in time, so she’s decided to colonize Earth by converting Venetian women into Saturnyne fish brides. Because nothing says “new beginning” like kidnapping teenagers and dunking them in alien DNA baths.
The Doctor, Rory, and Amy infiltrate the school. Cue disguises, mistaken identities, and the Doctor getting smacked around by Rosanna’s vampire spawn. Amy shows off her bold streak by going undercover herself, while Rory demonstrates his “long-suffering fiancé” energy by immediately questioning why Amy is so reckless around the Doctor. It’s the first proper showcase of Rory’s character: brave, insecure, and hilariously exasperated.
There are some genuinely great comedic beats here. Rory notices that Amy mirrors the Doctor’s reckless gestures — running into danger, waving her arms about — and points out that she’s basically fangirling in live-action. The Doctor, meanwhile, tries (and fails) to deny he enjoys the chaos.
The climax builds to Rosanna unleashing her plan: flooding Venice so her children can thrive. The Doctor, in full Eleventh-Doctor-heroics mode, disables her machine and forces her hand. Her sons, realizing they’re doomed, are destroyed in the water. Rosanna, despondent, takes her own life by throwing herself into the canal — and yes, the fish people eat her. Dark ending for what’s otherwise a fairly romp-y adventure.
Meanwhile, Amy and Rory patch things up — sort of. Rory makes it clear he doesn’t want to be the third wheel in Amy’s crush on the Doctor. The Doctor, realizing he’s massively mismanaged this “field trip,” awkwardly agrees to play counselor. The whole love triangle setup is now in full swing, complete with Amy trying to be adventurous, Rory trying to survive, and the Doctor trying to pretend he didn’t cause half the problem.