And here's the Wedding of River Song!

This is officially the last of the quick uploads before my life gets busier again and they slow down a little (hopefully there will still be one roughly every week though). Next up is a Clara episode with - The Snowmen.

Enjoy!


The majority of people woke up slowly and in small groups. Taking their time to enjoy the calm morning, having quiet untense conversations about random things, and sipping cups of tea (in true British fashion) as they watched more and more of the group poor into the kitchen.

There was a small minority of the group, namely the Doctor (and the Master, not that he'd ever admit it), that hadn't slept much, not that they ever did. Stuck thinking about all that they'd seen and unnerved by the thought of what might be next, though the joy of being surrounded by friends and family usually outweighed the crushing disappointment and self-hatred of knowing what had happened to them all because of her. The few nights they'd spent here had gone by fairly peacefully, as there was no actual danger bar the past shown in the videos, yet for some reason last night she hadn't been able to enjoy the peace, and she wasn't quite sure why, which only made everything worse.

Still, she stuck to her silent promise from last night, and tried to focus on the positives, deciding not to reveal her turbulent thoughts and restless night and instead focus on those around her. She was the last one to enter the kitchen in the morning (even the Master was hiding away in the darkest corner), she received several waves and smiles as people noticed her entrance. River immediately saddled up to her and shoved a mug of warm tea into her hand with a soft smile, likely noticing her slightly shaky hands but not saying a word.

For around an hour the group enjoyed each other's presence, each sharing stories from their time before, with and after the Doctor, although they all stayed on the cheerful side with their stories, never dipping into more tense or dangerous ones. That would be left to the videos to show for now.

Eventually though, everyone seemed to decide it was time to make their way back to the movie room and see what the Tardis had in store for them next. It didn't take much time for everyone to settle back in the places they'd claimed over the last few 'days' (or whatever was going for days in the timeless place here). As soon as they were all settled the next title revealed itself.

"The Wedding of River Song?" Amy raised an eyebrow at her daughter whose own eyes had widened at the title. It seemed like she was going to play a central role in this video.

"Which one?" The Doctor snorted teasingly, grinning widely at her wife.

Rory just sighed at the three of them. Despite their cheer, all four were trying to think about what the video was actually going to feature – the Doctor's grin wavered slightly as a thought occurred to her, she had a feeling she knew what this video was going to be about. If she was right, this would be … interesting.

"Guess we'll have to wait and see." River shrugged, raising a questioning eyebrow at her wife as she noticed her more subdued mood. The Doctor shook her head minutely, she'd have to watch.

London, 5:02pm on 22nd April, 2011

The Doctor winced at the data and time, realising she was absolutely right in her theory.

"That's oddly … specific." Bill commented.

It's a strange London with steam trains on aerial tracks and cars carried by balloons

"Erm, are we sure that's London 2011?" Ryan asked confused.

"I'm pretty sure that's not how London looked in 2011." Amy added, getting more confused as the video went on. The date was very specific, London was messed up and it all apparently had something to do with River getting married – oh, she had a sudden idea about what it could be but the memories were blurry.

The Doctor sighed, "No that's what it looks like when you break time." Everyone's heads whipped around to face her, staring in silent shock.

"That's … one way to break it to us." Rose declared. "Really doesn't suggest this video is going to go well." The Doctor's grimace reassured no one. Rory, Amy and River all shared a concerned look.

A newsman declares it anther beautiful day with reports of sunspot activity and solar flares causing interruptions with radio signals. We see pterodactyls fly over children playing in Hyde park who sot them and run into the trees, past a sign declaring the pterodactyls vermin and to not feed them

"Are pterodactyls like seagulls in this broken time version of reality?" Yaz asked conflicted between confused and entertained. Non one answered her, all sharing a similar train of thought.

A Roman centurion in a chariot waits at a traffic light and a headline declares the War of Roses enters its second year. A TV in a shop window is a breakfast program interviewing Dickens about his latest Christmas special – involving ghosts, and then back to the news where the anchor decrease Holy Roman Emperor Winston Churchill returns to Buckingham Senate today on his personal mammoth

"This is just weird." Clara shook her head, things just got more and more broken. "It seems like something out of a book or movie."

In Churchill's office, he is having his blood checked by a male Silurian nurse (Malohkeh)

"Is that a Silurian?" Martha asked surprised, "Like Madame Vastra?"

The Doctor nodded, "With time as broken as this, a lot of things that are seemingly impossible and possible, including Silurians being on semi-friendly terms with humans.

"How did time break in the first place?" Donna asked the question they'd all been thinking.

The Doctor hesitated for a moment, glancing at River, before answering, "Just watch, it's a very long story."

Malohkeh says he hopes it wasn't too many late nights in Gaul, and Churchill admits to just one as he had an argument with Cleopatra who is a dreadful woman but excellent dancer

"Winston Churchill in 2011, talking about meeting Cleopatra while getting attended by a Silurian nurse." Mickey shook his head, "Now I really do think I've seen everything."

Malohkeh can tell from the blood pressure. Churchill asks what the time is – two minutes past five, and Churchill says it is always two minutes past five and why is that

"Because an idiot broke time." The Master snorted degradingly, with a pointed look at the Doctor which was promptly ignored.

Malohkeh says it is because that is the time, Churchill continues saying it is the same with the date, always the twenty second of April asking if it bothers him? Malohkeh is unbothered saying the time and date has always been the same so why should it start bothering him now?

"Everything about this is crazy." Rory shook his head, occasionally shooting concerned looks at River. Between the title of the video and the way the Doctor kept glancing at her suggested she was heavily involved which was concerning for several reasons. He also couldn't help but think about the timeline, where were they compared to River? Was this before they knew she was their daughter or after? He narrowed his eyes at the screen, before realising what this likely was going to be about, "Oh."

His defeated tone drew some side looks and curious glances (as he clearly had an idea what this could be about), but no one asked any questions.

Churchill demands to see the Soothsayer asking where he is, in the tower, Malohkeh reports, where Churchill threw him last time. Churchill demands him and a bedraggled figure in a toga and shackles is brought in, Malohkeh is ordered to leave.

Churchill tells him the old saying tick tock goes the clock before pointing out the clocks don't though and something has happened to time which is what the soothsayer always says – all of history happening all at once, but what does it actually mean. Churchill wants to know what happened in simple terms so he can understand. The soothsayer which is the Doctor declares a woman happened

"Of course, the soothsayer's you." Jack shook his head with a fond grin that didn't match the worry in his eyes.

"Cryptic answers and in the middle of trouble." Martha added, "I mean who else would it be."

Earlier, in a disabled spaceship. The Doctor says to imagine you were dying, you were afraid and long way from home and in terrible pain but just when you think it can't get worse, you look up an see the face of the devil itself, saying hello Dalek

"Oh Daleks, because this mess can't get much more confusing or worse." Graham sighed.

The Dalek declares an emergency as its weapons system is disabled. The Doctor opens the top of the Dalek, shushing it as he needs some information from its data core, everything the Daleks know about the silence

River, Amy, Rory, and the Doctor all flinched as one when they heard that name. The first three were starting to have some suspicions about why they couldn't remember anything about this.

"I'm going to go out on a limb here and say you all know something about this Silence?" Bill asked, having noticed (alongside literally everyone else in the room) the way the group had flinched at the name. They'd heard the name Silence briefly before in other videos but still didn't really know what it meant or who they were.

"You could say that." Rory grimaced.

"Are they friendly?" Ryan cut in, voice hopeful but clearly expecting a negative answer.

"Not even remotely." Amy snorted with a dark look on her face.

"Of course, they're not." Ryan sighed.

"Wait, the Silence? Like those creepy memory-deleting things from Trenzalore?" Clara asked, eyes widening in realisation.

The four nodded with matching grimaces. Things just kept getting better and better.

At the docks of Calisto B, a cloaked figure walks through destruction to the figure in the Stetson who then steps into a seedy space bar

"You and your hats." River shook her head fondly. The Doctor grinned back unrepentant.

The Doctor demands to see Gideon Vandaleur, the Barman asks why he'd be there. The Doctor just drops the Dalek eyestalk on the counter. Shortly after, the Doctor is at a table, reading Knitting for Girls when the cloaked figure sits down with him

A few people snorted, amused at the sight of the Doctor's reading choice. The Doctor was a weird person, and easy to underestimate when you saw them like this, but that wasn't a mistake people often made twice.

The Doctor offers his apologies to Father Gideon Vandaleur, the former envoy of the Silence, he pretends to be confused and the Doctor clarifies Gideon Vandaleur has been dead for six months. The Doctor sonics the figure which is wearing an eyepatch and it goes rigid, he asks to speak to the captain and the small figure in the eye nods and runs

"Is that the Teselecta?" Amy's eyes widened, glancing between the Doctor and the screen. The Doctor nodded with a small smile. She definitely had a strong feeling about the contents of this video.

"The small people in the killer robot shape-shifting thing from Berlin?" Rose asked, earning nods from those that had been in Berlin.

Jack whistled, "It seems a lot of things are coming together." He shot a pointed look at the Doctor who avoided any eye contact.

The Doctor greets the Teselecta, saying it's been a long time since Berlin. Carter asks what he's done to their system and the Doctor says they'll be fine if they behave and asks about the Silence as they have been investigating them. He wants to know one thing – their weakest link

"What are you up to?" River asked the Doctor quietly; she had several pieces of the puzzle and yet they still didn't seem to make a clear picture.

"Just watch." The Doctor mumbled back.

In a space bar, a game of chess is in progress and a Queen sizzles with voltage, the Doctor's opponent is an alien in an eyepatch

"That is a dangerous game of chess." Clara declared, eying the Queen wearily.

The Doctor says the crowd is getting restless and know the Queen is his opponent's only legal move but he's moved twelve times already so there are four million volts in it and he'll never make it to Bishop Four alive. The opponent, Gantok, declares himself a dead man unless the Doctor concedes, the Doctor argues he's winning

"You've got him exactly where you want him." Nardole realised, recognising the Doctor he'd spent so long with in this younger one. The Doctor nodded.

Gantok wants to know his price and when the Doctor asks for information, he admits he works for the Silence and they will kill him. The Doctor says they're going to kill him too soon and he was just going to lie down and take it but he figured he wants to know why he has to die before it happens

"Is this about Lake Silencio?" Amy whipped around to face the Doctor, finally making the missing connection and wanting confirmation.

The Doctor sighed, but nodded. Amy, Rory and River all shared knowing looks, they all knew what this video was going to be about for certain now and it was going to be interesting. They couldn't help but be intrigued to see the Doctor's perspective of it, especially as their memories of it were a bit blurry.

"Lake Silencio? You've mentioned it a few times." Martha's eyes narrowed at the group, wanting answers.

The four exchanged another set of looks. The Doctor visibly considered answering for a moment before turning to meet Martha's gaze. "Like I said, it's a very long story. We'll likely watch it at some point, but all you need to know is I was supposed to die at Lake Silencio, it was a fixed point, but I got around it eventually. This is how I got around it."

No one seemed satisfied with that as an answer, but they knew they weren't going to get any more out of the Doctor now. Those that knew anything about fixed points exchanged concerned looks, things were getting worse with every moment, but the broken time made a bit more sense to some of them.

Gantok declares Dorium Maldovar is the only one who can help him, the Doctor says Dorium is dead as the monks beheaded him as Demon's Run. Gantok knows and says if the Doctor concedes, he'll take him to Dorium

"How can taking him to a dead man help?" Donna exclaimed, annoyed at how confusing everything was getting.

"You'd be surprised." The Doctor answered cryptically.

At the charnel house there are lots of skulls and Gantok declares it the Seventh Transept where the Headless Monks keep their leftovers, warning him to watch his steps as there are traps. The Doctor mutters he hates rats

"What's eating them then?" Rose asked quietly.

Gantok says there are no rats, it's the skulls that eat them – all the skulls on the shelves turn to look at the visitors

"That is terrifying." Bill muttered, wide-eyes staring at the screen. She wasn't the only one nervously watching the screen.

Gantok reminds him the headless monks behead people alive. The Doctor asks why some are in boxes and Gantok shares it is because some are rich, and Dorium was always rich

"Ah rich privilege still exists when decapitated by weird alien monks, good to know." Yaz snorted.

The Doctor opens Dorium's box and the blue head sneezes. The Doctor thanks Gantok and the other declares it saves him the trouble of burying him as no one beats him at chess

The room immediately tensed, realising the trap the Doctor had just walked into.

Gantok draws his weapon and moves forward, triggering a trap where he falls into a pit of ravenous skulls. The Doctor shouts to him but he gets eaten and the skulls turn their attention upwards before the Doctor sonics the pit closed. Dorium open his eyes

The group watched wide-eyed in horror as Gantok met his fate. Even if he had been about to shoot the Doctor, they weren't sure he deserved that.

"That's one holiday destination I'm going to strike off my bucket list." Jack mumbled.

Dorium realises it is the Doctor saying the Monks turned on him and asks how serious his injuries are

"He doesn't know?" Rory asked, "How doesn't he know?" The Doctor just grinned and waved to the screen.

The Doctor tries to work out how to tell him before Dorium laughs about his expression

Rory just sighed.

Back in Churchill's office, the man himself declares the story absurd and he doesn't know why he's listening to the Doctor

"You're telling him this as a story?" Clara asked the Doctor who nodded with a smile.

DOCTOR: Because, in another reality, you and I are friends. And you sense that. Just as you sense there is something wrong with time.

"You're friends with Winston Churchill? No, wait. Of course, you are." Martha shook her head.

The Doctor grinned, sharing a glance with Amy who was also grinning widely, both thinking back to their visit with Winston and the mess with the Daleks.

Churchill reminds him he mentioned a woman, and the Doctor says he is getting to her. Churchill wants to know what she is like, assuming she is attractive, the Doctor declares her hell in high heels

"You know me so well Sweetie." River purred at her wife, who flushed a bit in response.

Churchill wants to know more and we go back to the Charnel house. Dorium declares it isn't so bad as the box is right way up and he had a media-chip put in his head years ago plus the Wi-Fi down there is great so keeps himself entertained

"Love his priorities." Bill chuckled.

The Doctor wants to know about the Silence and Dorium explains they are a religious order of great power and discretion and they call themselves the sentinels of history. The doctor declares they want him dead an Dorium corrects him that they don't want him to stay alive

"Oh yeah, because that's so much better." Yaz muttered, glancing at the Doctor.

The Doctor jokes that is okay then and he was starting to worry. Dorium declares the Doctor has a long and dangerous past but his future is all the more terrifying, and the Silence want to avert it

"Trenzalore and Gallifrey right? They wanted to stop you saying your name and bringing Gallifrey back." Clara remembered, a scowl forming on her face as she remembered that mess and grief.

"Yes, we're watching things a bit backwards -."

"Oh, so just like normal then." Rose grinned, interrupting the Doctor.

The Doctor rolled her eyes but carried on what she was saying, "This is before I knew any details about the Silence, other than they stole River because they wanted her as a weapon against me. That they wanted me dead because of something they thought I would do. I wanted information on why everyone wanted me dead – more so than usual anyway." She clarified at the end as she saw several people about to open their mouths to make a comment.

The Doctor mentions he could have told him this the last time they saw each other, and Dorium argues it was a busy day and he got beheaded

"Solid argument." Nardole nodded in agreement and understanding while the Doctor rolled her eyes at him.

The Doctor asks what is so dangerous about his future, and Dorium explains a question will be asked on the fields of Trenzalore and the fall of the Eleventh and the question should bever be answered. The Doctor remembers silence will fall when the question is asked, Dorium corrects the translation to silence must fall and the Silence are determined the Doctor won't reach Trenzalore to stop the question being answered

"They failed there, but what they feared didn't come about anyway. Yet, Melody was still stolen from us." Amy glared at the screen; she'd never forget what the Silence had taken from her. Her expression softened very so slightly when she noticed the Doctor's guilt-laden expression.

The Doctor doesn't understand why that involves him and Dorium tells him about the first question, the oldest question in the universe, hidden in plain sight, asking if the Doctor wants to know it, and is he really very sure? Finally, he says he will tell him but on the Doctor's head be it

"Ominous." Mickey muttered. He was just glad that they already knew what the question was, if not it would have been another mystery to add to a long list that only seemed to grow, yet never shrink.

We flash forward to Dorium's head (still in the box) now in the Tardis shouting that it isn't his fault and demanding to be put back as he's fallen on his nose. He's bored asking about Wi-Fi. He then says the Doctor has to die, and he sees that right? He knows the question now so he sees he has to die

"I'm sorry, people are asking about his name so the logical answer is for him to just accept being killed? Dorium is crazier than I thought." Jack declared angrily.

"Jack." The Doctor attempted to calm him but he ignored her.

"Don't 'Jack' me Doctor. We all know I'm right. In what universe does any of that make sense?" Jack asked, defensively.

"It doesn't, but they were scared Jack. People do stupid things when they're scared." The Doctor tried to defend them, but her own mind couldn't help but drift to her terrible time on Midnight, that was a horrifying example of what fear could do to people.

"That doesn't excuse them." Jack shot back, most of his fire gone, eyes locked on the Doctor.

"No, no it doesn't." She sighed in agreement. There was nothing else either of them could say.

In the senate room, Churchill asks what the question was and why it meant his death. The Doctor proposes the idea there is a man with a very dangerous secret that must not be told, how would you destroy the secret from the world forever? Churchill admits he'd destroy the man if he had to

"Ruthless." Rose muttered.

"He was a leader during war, he had to be at times." The Doctor shrugged.

The Doctor says and then silence would fall, and he'd never realised it meant his silence, his death before. He asks why they are in the senate room and why they left his office. Churchill says they went for a stroll, right? The Doctor says he thinks he's been running and then asks why Churchill has his revolver

"You're missing memories." Amy realised, tensing up.

"You're under attack." Rory added, understanding what Amy had realised. Both thinking back to their own time on the run in 1969.

Churchill declares the Doctor dangerous company, to which he agrees after seeing a single tally mark on his arm. Churchill asks him to resume his story

"I don't think this is the time to finish the story, seeing as you're clearly getting attacked!" Donna protested, sending a disapproving look at the Doctor.

Back in the Tardis, Dorium begs the Doctor to open the hatch as he has a headache and its like there is a terrible weight on his – he realises he is upside down

"Bit petty." River raised an eyebrow at her wife.

"Like you can talk."

The Doctor asks why Lake Silencio and Utah? Dorium says it is a still point in time which makes it easier to create a fixed point which his death is so he can't run away from it

"You underestimate the Doctor's ability to run." Clara snorted. That earned a few chuckles from the rest of the group.

The Doctor says he's been running all his life so why should he stop now, Dorium tells him he knows what is at stake and why his life must end, the Doctor says not today

"The more you tell the Doctor something, the less they will want t do it." The Master drawled from his corner, almost fondly if you could read between the annoyance.

Dorium asks what the point in delaying is, and the Doctor picks up the phone as he says he's been doing a bit of a farewell tour, seeing people and doing things. He rants about how there is always more, and it never stops as he has a time machine, Liz the first is still waiting to elope with him, he could help Rose with her homework, go see all of Jack's stag parties in one night. Dorium says time catches up with everyone but the Doctor argue sit has never laid a glove on him, he says hello into the phone

"You weren't coping well, were you Doctor?" Martha asked quietly. The room silent and trying their best not to put more pressure on the Doctor, they all knew from experience that if they all put pressure on the Doctor, she'd either close up completely or answer but leave everyone unhappy, it was a lose-lose situation.

"That obvious?" The Doctor put on a false smile, and fake cheer. She wasn't fooling anyone. Her fake expression dropped straight into a blank look upon seeing everyone watching. "Can you just leave it for now? This video is going to be bad enough as it is." Thankfully no one spoke up, allowing the video to continue. They all mentally added this to the long list of things to eventually talk to the Doctor about (it was becoming a very long list) but their worry over this video's contents was outweighing their desire for answers about the Doctor's past wellbeing 9the simple answer was she wasn't okay and hadn't been in a long time).

It's a nursing home, a nurse apologises to the Doctor as they didn't know how to contact him before saying Brigadier Lethbridge Stewart passed away

The room was silent, all looking down in respect for the late Brigadier. Most had never met him, but they'd all heard about him from the Doctor (some much more than most), but they all knew how much the Doctor had cared for him. It felt like the Doctor was getting hit when they were already down.

He passed a few months ago, and it was very peaceful. She says he talked about the Doctor a lot if that is any comfort and made them pour an extra brandy in case he visited. Dorium asks the Doctor what's wrong and he says nothing is as he puts the phone down and brings out the Tardis blue envelopes from his pocket saying it is time

Amy, Rory and River all shared a knowing look upon seeing the familiar envelopes, getting a better idea of when this was for the Doctor, they'd all wondered privately what had made the Doctor decide enough was enough, and now they were finding out. The Brigadier's death seemed to have taken the wind out of the Doctor's sails, been a hit of reality that knocked them over and made them give up, or at least decide to go with whatever plan they had (and they were all hoping the Doctor actually had a plan at this point and wasn't just giving up – it was hard to work out based on the behaviour of the Doctor in the video, and what they knew about that regeneration).

Back in the space bar, Vandaleur says surely he could deliver the messages himself but the Doctor refuses as it would involve crossing his own time stream so better not

"When has that stopped you in the past?" Donna sent the Doctor a pointed look.

"I try not to, unless I really have too." The Doctor shrugged; she couldn't exactly deny it. "There's a reason I said it is best not to."

"Personal experience." Martha shook her head fondly; they shouldn't have expected anything else with the Doctor.

Carter says according to their files, this is the Doctor's end so they will deliver his messages and he can depend on them. The Doctor thanks them

"Their files are wrong." Graham pointed out, although it came out a bit more like a question. He knew the Doctor didn't die then, not even that regeneration, but you could never be too certain with the Doctor.

"Most are. She likes to regularly delete herself from all records." River rolled her eyes at her wife, who just shrugged smugly.

Vandaleur continues saying that whatever he thinks of the Teselecta they are champions of law and order like him, so is there really nothing else they can do?

River and the Doctor shared knowing looks. The rest perked up, the start of an idea niggling at the back of their minds. Maybe they had some knowledge of how the Doctor was going to wriggle their way out of this mess.

Back in the senate room Churchill asks why he would do that as we get a glimpse of a postman delivering the invitations to Rory and Amy, River also gets hers. Churchill finds this the hardest to believe, asking why he'd invite his friends to his death. The Doctor admits he had to die but he didn't have to do so alone

"Doctor …" Amy muttered quietly. She'd been so angry and focussed on her grief (rightfully) after seeing the Doctor die, felt so hurt for him to invite them only to go and die in front of them and then a younger version of him appearing and the whole mess that followed, that she hadn't really thought about why. Why had the Doctor wanted them there? Besides the mess in 1969, and in the end, he just hadn't wanted to be alone. Don't get her wrong, she was still pissed but it had been a long time ago now, and she could understand a bit more now, she could sympathise more. Her lonely raggedy Doctor. The Doctor just shook her head in a silent plea in response to her speaking up.

Another glimpse of Amy greeting the Doctor in America. The Doctor says however dark things got whenever he turned around Amy and Rory would be there – the girl who waited and the last Centurion

"Always Doctor." Rory spoke up in place of Amy (who was still watching the Doctor with old grief). The Doctor smiled thankful, and hoped that the pair would know how much she appreciated that.

DOCTOR: If it's time to go, remember what you're leaving. Remember the best. My friends have always been the best of me.

The group all watched silently, they knew the Doctor wasn't going to actually die (or they sincerely hoped) but she sounded sincere in the moments they witnessed only in times of true strife or near death. The advice he was giving Winston was haunted and honest, something learned from being alive so long. They couldn't help but feel honoured if not more and more concerned.

Churchill asks if he told them that was going to happen, the Doctor says it would help if he didn't keep asking questions

"Everybody always asks questions." The Doctor sighed exasperated, but it was fond.

"Hypocrite." River smirked, looking pointedly at the Doctor.

The Doctor says quietly that they don't have much time as he spots three tally marks on his arm

"We never do." Rose shook her head with a sigh.

Anther glimpse of River shooting his stetson off his head

"What do you have against my hats?" The Doctor asked River, thinking of all the hats she'd killed (and it was many).

"Everything, sweetie."

Churchill asks if he invited the woman he spoke of, and the Doctor said yes, River Song came twice

"As did you." Rory reminded the Doctor who just waved him off.

More glimpses of the lakeside as they have a picnic and Rosy asks when they are going to 1969

"1969? What's that got to do with anything?" Mickey asked, confused.

"At the moment, nothing. Back then, potential answers and a mystery. Like I said, it's a long story but I'm sure it will be shown at some point." The Doctor explained.

The Doctor tells Churchill everything was in place the only thing left was for him to die

"Just a small thing then." Bill muttered, mind drifting to her own Doctor's death without her wanting it to.

More glimpses as River spots the Impossible Astronaut and the past-Doctor wants them to stay back and not interfere. Poor Rory is confused about an Apollo astronaut being in the lake

"I'm guessing that's half the reason you ended up in 1969." Martha remarked, raising an eyebrow at the sight of the astronaut coming out of the lake.

The Doctor walks up to the astronaut who is adult River (not little Melody)

"This is when you killed the Doctor." Clara realised, remembering that reveal from what felt like so long ago. Several of the vague comments they'd heard over their time in the room were starting to make some more sense (although they would still like the full context).

"Yes." River answered, eyes never leaving the screen, expression unreadable. The Doctor frowned, taking River's hand in her own and squeezing in an attempt to ground her wife, and pull her away from whatever memory she was currently reliving. The small thankful smile that River sent her way told her that her plan had at least partially succeeded.

The Doctor declares they're here at last and poor River says she can't stop it as the suit is in control, the Doctor reassures her she isn't supposed to be in control and this has to happen

"Doctor." Jack muttered, edging closer on the sofa. Hating being able to do nothing but watch as the Doctor accepted his death. It may have been a long time ago now, but he hated feeling so useless and having to watch one of his oldest friends in this situation. He'd also become quite close to River, and while he may not know everything she'd gone through, he could see how much this was hurting her too.

River tells him to run but the Doctor just says he ran and it brought him here. River is trying to fight it but it is too strong and the Doctor reassures her as this is where he dies and it is a fixed point, it always happens and she won't even remember it, he tells her to look over at young River

"You really don't make anything easy." River muttered; eyes locked onto the screen. She knew this had happened, she remembered seeing it from the other side, but she couldn't remember this part. Which was something she was half grateful for and half despised.

River asks how she can be there and the Doctor explains it is her from the future serving time for a murder she can't remember – his. River asks why he would make her watch and he tells her so she knows it is inevitable and she is forgiven, always. River begs him to run saying time can be rewritten as the Doctor says he can't and to not dare, saying goodbye to River

River watched; expression schooled carefully. She was hating having to sit by and watch this, having to relive it. Her memory of the day from this perspective was practically non-existent, and most of the time she was very glad for that. It was hard to read the Doctor, and this video hadn't really revealed whether the Doctor had originally had a plan to escape or if it had been more of a last-minute thing, based on their interaction with the Teselecta it seemed more like the latter.

The Doctor winks and shuts his eyes before the astronaut suit zaps him several times but he doesn't die this time. The Doctor asks what she's done and River declares she thinks she's drained her weapons system. The Doctor argues it is a fixed point in time

"You sound so shocked." Yaz commented.

"She shouldn't have done that." The Doctor replied stubbornly. It was the whole reason London looked so weird in this video, the whole world. She'd broken everything and also ruined his plan, which was why she was more than a little annoyed and based on the look River was giving her, her wife knew that.

River says fixed points can be rewritten and the Doctor argues it can't, asking who told her that, of course they can't. Everything dissolves into white

"And that is how time broke." Rory sighed. It made a lot of sense knowing the whole story now, and was absolutely something River (and the Doctor if the reverse was true) would do. However, it was hard to watch this all again after they'd spent so much of their time having to deal with the consequences.

In the senate room Churchill asks what happened, and the Doctor tells him nothing did

"I'm pretty sure that's not true." Clara argued. "I think everything happened."

"Everything happened at once and nothing happened at all." The Doctor countered.

"Now you're just being purposely argumentative." Clara raised both her eyebrows at the Doctor who smiled cryptically.

The Doctor continues saying nothing happened, and it kept happening or everything happened at once and won't stop as time is dying, and it will be five oh two in the afternoon for all eternity

"And that's bad?" Ryan asked.

"That's very bad." The Doctor clarified.

Churchill spots gun smoke and he declares he seems to have fired his gun, the Doctor also has a spear

"You've run out of time." Martha declared. The whole room tensed, remembering the sight of the Silence from Trenzalore, and not wanting to see them again (but when did they ever get what they wanted?).

The Doctor says they seem to be defending themselves, and Churchill doesn't understand. The Doctor explains the beings that lead the Silence are remarkable and memory-proof so the moment you look away you forget they were ever there. He now has four marks on his arm. The Doctor says to not panic as in small numbers they're not difficult to manage

"You've jinxed yourself." Bill shook her head disapprovingly.

His other arm is covered in marks as the Silence are hanging from the ceiling in a big cluster. A grenade rolls in and the Doctor knocks Churchill down, as the grenade goes boom and soldiers enter

"That's horrifying. What are they, bats?" Graham said.

The rest of the group was more focused on the arrival of the soldiers. "Are they soldiers back-up or more enemies?" Mickey asked, hoping the answer was the former, but knowing their luck it was likely the latter.

A soldier warns his team to keep the silence in sight and their eye drives active. Churchill demands they identify themselves and Amy introduces herself

"And here I am." Amy gestured to the screen as she appeared. She's been waiting for her turn to appear but also dreaded it, knowing what was going to happen from the pieces she'd put together over the years. The rest of the room had all turned to face her, in search of answers. Upon seeing her gaze locked on the screen, they quickly realised they weren't going to get any answers from her, and they all turned to the Doctor instead.

The Doctor smiled slightly at her confusion, "Just watch, it should explain."

The Doctor says she's on their side. Amy is wearing an eyepatch and the Doctor asks why she is wearing that, panicking. Amy shoots him

"Amy!" Several people shouted out in shock and surprise; the Scot herself just laughed at their reaction. She'd reached up towards her eye to feel for an eyepatch that wasn't there but the room's reaction had distracted her from the start of her thoughts spiralling.

The Doctor laughed at their shock, although she did shoot a small glare at Amy who just grinned. Her reaction earned lots of annoyed looks from the group which made her smile as she answered. "Don't worry, it's not like that. Just watch." Her words led to the group all turning back to the screen, desperate for more answers.

In a train carriage the Doctor wakes on a couch as we hear a train whistle

"Broken Time Amy knocked you out." Bill realised, face wide in an 'Oh!' expression.

Amy looked at her bewildered, mouthing to herself 'Broken Time Amy', she looked like she wanted to question it before visibly shutting her mouth and deciding it was better to just … not.

A newsman apologises on the behalf of the government for solar flare and spot activity intefering extensively with radios

"That's the second time the sun spots have been mentioned." Martha narrowed her eyes suspiciously. Things like that were rarely repeated unless they were significant for some reason.

Am apologises for the stun gun but she wanted to avoid a long conversation and he better get up as they will be in Cairo shortly. The Doctor begs her to listen and says it sound impossible but she knows him as in another reality they were friends and travelled together. He says as she grew up with a time rift in the wall of her bedroom if she tries real hard, she can remember things that have never happened, an if she tries really really hard – he gestures to a model Tardis

"She remembers you then." Rose. "How's that possible, if time is broken?"

"The crack in her wall from when she was a child, it left her a bit more exposed to things than the majority of people. It meant she could remember more, events like this had less of a sway over her mind." The Doctor tried to explain, glancing at Amy. That very trait had been very useful for things like this and the mess with the Pandorica (times seemed to break a lot back then … which was concerning).

He realises she already remembers as he spots familiar sketches on the walls of Daleks, vampires, pirates etc. Amy declares he looks rubbish

"Amy." Rory sighed exasperated with his wife.

"You can't tell me he doesn't." Amy argued, defending her broken time self (as named by Bill).

The Doctor counters she looks wonderful, and Amy offers a tweed jacket to him which the Doctor takes with a Geronimo

Amy, Rory, River, and Clara all grinned at the familiar saying from their old Doctor. It made them feel oddly reminiscent and wistful for their time traveling with Chinny.

A little later, now shaved and dressed he asks Amy how he looks; she says cool but when he asks really she says no

"Phew, I thought the alternative version of myself had actually gone insane." Amy grinned teasingly at the Doctor.

"Oi! You trying to say something, Pond!" The Doctor complained.

"Oh, I would never Raggedy Man."

"She absolutely would." Both River and Rory said in sync, a rare moment of them showing their father-daughter bond.

The Doctor declares it a cool office and asks why she has an office, and says he isn't sure about the eye patch. Amy argues it isn't an eye patch as time went wrong and some people noticed so there is a whole team working on it as he'll see

"You have to wonder, with all our experiences of time travel and with the Doctor, are we included in those people that noticed." Martha spoke up contemplatively. She'd hope after all her time with the Doctor, UNIT, and independent that she'd notice something was wrong.

"There's a strong possibility. You've all been exposed to much more than most humans. There's a good chance that you'd notice things others wouldn't and knowing you all, you'd want to do something about it. Maybe some of you have met each other in alternative realities like this, and you wouldn't even know it. "The Doctor shrugged; face scrunched up deep in thought. Martha raised a very good point, one that she'd have to think about more later.

The Doctor rambles about her office on a train and asks if he can have an office as he's never had an office, or train, or both

"You're like a toddler, so easily distracted. Honestly, Spaceman!" Donna shook her head, fondly exasperated.

Amy snorted, "You should have seen him when those cube things arrived, he stayed with us for a while and acted like a kid high on sugar."

"I hope we see that." Donna shared a grin with Amy that made the Doctor shiver, that was a terrifying friendship blooming. The pair of red-heads could be very destructive if left alone together. Thankfully, Rory seemed equally concerned, at least she would have a partner in stopping the trouble the two started.

Amy declares she missed him as she hugs him. The Doctor asks where Rory is (or the Roman, technically)

"That's a good point. Where am I in all this chaos?" Rory asked the Doctor.

"Where you always are, Rory the Roman." The Doctor answered with a purposely cryptic grin and a gleam in her eyes. Rory just sighed, feeling like he should have expected an answer like that.

Amy clarifies he means Rory her husband, getting a drawing out from her desk saying she has no idea as she can't find him but she loves him very much, right?

"That looks nothing like me!" Rory complained, sending Amy a hurt expression. Amy just chuckled, unable to take it too seriously (and knowing Rory wasn't really offended).

Amy explains she has to keep writing and drawing to help her keep remembering. The Doctor says it isn't her fault as time has gone wrong, asking if she remembers why. Amy mentions the lakeside and him dying then not dying as she remembers it twice in different ways

"I only remember one, but I know which version I prefer." Amy muttered to herself.

The Doctor agrees, saying two different versions of the same event both happening in the same instant as time splits open. Amy asks why it matters and can't it stay like that. The Doctor explains time isn't frozen but disintegrating and it will spread until all of reality will just fall apart

"Yeah, let's not leave it like that. I like time un-disintegrated." Yaz announced, looking a bit more panicked at that revelation. The Doctor's earlier declaration of it being 'bad' was a strong understatement.

A soldier enters – it's the Roman. Rory says they're about to arrive and eye drives need to be activated as soon as they disembark, Amy thanks Captain Williams

"Seriously! I'm right there!" Rory sighed dramatically, ignoring the group as they all started to laugh at his misfortune.

The Doctor says hello which Rory returns, and Amy declares him the best of the best and she can't live without him. The Doctor compares the sketch to Rory and laughs at the poor likeness as Rory leaves

The rest of the group laughed alongside the Doctor on screen, even Rory couldn't deny the humour of the situation.

Amy asks what is wrong and the Doctor reassures her she'll find Rory as she always does and she just needs to really look. Amy argues she is looking

"Clearly not well enough." Rory muttered good-naturedly. Amy nudged him teasingly in the side.

Amy asks why he is older if time isn't really passing, and the Doctor explains time is still passing for him as every explosion has an epicentre and he's it, he's what is wrong. Amy asks what is wrong with him and the Doctor declares he is still alive

Several people grumbled at that declaration from the Doctor, Jack the most audibly. But no one actually argued, knowing that it wasn't the time and the Doctor wouldn't listen. Still, they didn't like the blasé way that the Doctor declared it.

The train crosses a viaduct into a pyramid with stars and stripes on the side and the title Area 52. Rory tells the Doctor he has to put the eye patch on and he asks why. Amy says it isn't an eye patch

Everyone turned to face the in-room Rory. "I don't know, it looks like an eye patch to me." Bill muttered.

Rory threw his hands up in the air in frustration, "That's not me! How would I know?"

"Just saying." Bill put her hands up in surrender.

Rory clarifies it is an eye drive and communicates with the memory centres in the brain, acts as external storage. Amy adds it is the only thing that works on the Silence as no living mind can remember them

"Back up memory file. Of course. Why not. What are our lives." Clara sighed, shaking her head.

We see Silence held in individual tanks filled with liquid

"That is creepy, and doesn't seem like it is going to end well." Rose declared with a frown.

Rory explains they have captured a hundred of them, all held in the pyramid. The Doctor says he has encountered them before and always wondered what they looked like

The group al grimaced at the sight of all the Silence in tanks. Thanks to the Tardis they could remember what they looked like, but they weren't sure that was a great thing or not, they weren't exactly friendly-looking.

Amy tells him to put the eye drive on and he'll retain the information as long as he is wearing it. The Doctor recalls the Silence have human servants that all wear them

"Great observations, Doctor." Clara rolled her eyes at the Doctor.

The Doctor puts the eye drive on as Rory leads him through, the Silence notice them as they walk past. Rory comments on it and the Doctor says they would notice him

"Everyone always does." Jack winked at the Doctor who attempted to ignore him, although everyone could see the way her lips twitched up into a smile.

Amy asks why the humans aren't killing the Silence on sight any more

"I'm sorry? We were doing what?" Mickey blinked, turning to Amy, Rory, River and the Doctor for answers alongside the rest of the group.

The four all exchanged a glance before River spoke up for the group with a smirk. "Spoilers." Her answer earned frustrated groans from the rest of the group, as the four snickered to themselves, very happy someone else was suffering because of that reply for once.

The Doctor clarifies it was another reality, asking what the tanks are for

"Oh yes, very casual. Alternative realities. Very normal." Nardole muttered to himself.

Rory says they can draw electricity from anything and it is how they attack but the liquid insulates them but he doesn't like how they're looking at the Doctor, the Doctor doesn't either

"I don't think anyone does." Martha declared, eyeing the screen wearily. "They have a plan." The Doctor's grimace was not reassuring.

Rory says he will check it out but he's sure it is nothing. He orders soldiers to check all the tank seals and the floors above

"At least you're being proactive with the oncoming danger." Rose mused.

Amy thanks him and then leads the Doctor away. The Doctor declares Captain Williams a good guy and asks his first name, Amy answers Captain and continues to lead him

The group all laughed at that, more from the disbelief of Amy not knowing Rory was right in front of her rather than the bad joke.

The Doctor asks for a moment as he needs to check something, he goes back to Rory. Amy speaks into a hidden microscope on her lapel saying they're in and he's on his way

"Who is Broken Time Amy talking to?" Yaz asked curious.

"We're really sticking with that name, aren't we?" Amy muttered to herself.

The Doctor says the loyal soldier, waiting to be noticed, it is a pattern and why is it. Rory doesn't understand and the Doctor tells him to ask his boss out as she likes him and said so

"Is this really the time to be meddling sweetie?" River raised an eyebrow at her wife.

"There's always time for meddling." The Doctor countered, grinning widely. "Besides, you can't talk Melody Pond."

Rory asks what she said and the Doctor backtracks saying she kind of indicated generally. Rory pushes and the Doctor makes something up about wanting to go out with him for texting and scones. Rory says he hasn't done this before has he, and the Doctor admits he hasn't

"He sees right through you instantly." Bill grinned.

"Who wouldn't?" Donna snorted in agreement.

Rory says he'll see him in a moment, and Amy hurries the Doctor on as it is time to meet some old friends

"What kind of old friends?" Martha asked wearily. That kind of comment could go in several different ways, and the group was very hopeful that it was actual friends. And seeing as it was Amy making the comment, it was more likely (even though it was technically Broken time Amy and not the Amy in the room with them, but semantics).

Rory calls for all personnel's attention telling them to check all assigned containment units. A lady in a white coat (Kent) watching a screen declares someone right as the Doctor's presence extended the loop by about four chronons (the clock flickers from 05:02:57 to 58, 59). The Doctor says his honey, he's home and River asks what kind of time he calls this

"Of course, it's River." Rory shook his head, but everyone could see his smile at seeing his daughter on screen (and safe for the moment). It made sense considering the title featured River and her appearance in the video so far had been limited.

Kovarian is tied to a chair and declares it the end of time, the death of time and end of them all asking why he couldn't just die

"Oh, and Kovarian." Amy gritted out, anger alighting in her eyes at the sight of the woman who stole her daughter, a tinge of guilt was on her face for those that knew how to read her.

The Doctor plays along with River saying he did his best and showed up. He says you can't get the psychopaths these days and he loves what she's done with the pyramids, asking how she got it. River admits to using hallucinogenic lipstick on President Kennedy and Cleopatra was a pushover, the Doctor agrees and River adds Cleopatra mentioned him, then there is some flirting.

"You two are unbelievable." Rory shook his head at his daughter and daughter-in-law. The rest of the group seemed equally fondly exasperated, but they were all smiling at the interaction between River and the Doctor.

"Ooh, can I join in?" Jack asked, winking at the pair.

The Doctor flushed a bit redder while River just winked back, "Sorry handsome, this one is all mine."

Kovarian asks if she has to watch the flirting

"If we have to watch it, you have too as well." Amy muttered, rolling her eyes at her best friend and daughter. She loved them both but she really didn't need to see them flirting constantly.

River addresses her saying it was a basic mistake, take a child, raise them into a perfect psychopath and then introduce her to the Doctor – who else was she going to fall in love with. The Doctor says it isn't funny asking her to tell him she understands that reality is fatally compromised. River proposes dinner but the Doctor declares they don't have time, nobody does and as long as he is alive, time is dying because of River. River says it is because she refuses to kill the man she loves

"Well, this just became more tense." Ryan muttered to himself. Things had been fairly calm until now (bar the attacking Silence and broken time, but those were just small things), but it had taken a turn for the worst.

The Doctor says that's sweet of her, saying for her to come here as he moves towards her. Amy shouts for soldiers to grab him as River declares she isn't a fool and knows what happens if they touch

"What happens if you touch?" Rose asked, eyes flickering between the Doctor, River and the screen.

The Doctor glanced at River who was frowning at the screen, before turning to answer Rose's question. "I'm the epicentre but River is the cause. If we touch, time goes back to normal and everything is fixed."

"And they know that which is why they're trying to stop you both touching." Martha clarified.

"Yes, they thought they had an alternative." The Doctor glanced at Amy, Rory and River in the room, "But there is no other way." No one looked happy about that, all hoping there was a way to fix everything without the Doctor dying, and there clearly was as the Doctor was still alive and hadn't even needed to regenerate despite what she claimed.

The Doctor grabs River's arm as she shouts for him to get off her, begging him to let go. A woman shouts that time is moving – we reach 5:03. The Doctor apologises but says it is the only way

"Don't you dare!" River turned to the Doctor, furious for her alternative self who was only trying to save the Doctor (and herself). Furious about the Doctor's attempts to die on them without any regard for anyone else.

"River!" The Doctor argued back, the rest of the group looking away trying to give them some privacy (despite there not being any available in a room like this).

"Don't 'River' me! You can't just do that!" River bristled, only getting more and more angry.

The Doctor on the other side just seemed to wilt, which made River pause slightly her anger dimming. "Can we please not for now? At least wait until you've watched the entire video."

River narrowed her eyes at her wife, anger dimmed but still bubbling beneath her skin. "For now." She agreed, it might be smart to have the full picture before she argued with the Doctor, and argue she would.

They flash back to the lakeside before the soldiers pull him off and River orders him cuffed. The Doctor is determined it is the only way as they are opposite poles and if they touch the differential shorts out and time begins again. River argues she'll be at the lakeside killing him, and the Doctor agrees adding time won't fall apart and reality will continue, and there isn't another way. River declares she didn't say there was, sweetie

There was a heavy silence in the room at that declaration from River. They had all seen that River wasn't exactly morally pure, more leaning on the moral grey side of things at best (not that the Doctor was morally perfect either, hell, most of them had had their moments while travelling with the Doctor) and they knew that River loved the Doctor (and vice versa). But it was still something to hear her so steadfast and willing to let time be broken so she could save the Doctor.

Most people in the room would like to say they would make the morally right decision to fix time but if it was them in River's position, trying to save someone they loved desperately they weren't quite sure that resolve would hold up. It wouldn't be the first time in their travels with the Doctor that the only options were bad or worse, with people getting hurt no matter what they chose. It never made it less painful.

In the storage area a Silence puts it hand on the glass of the tank and it starts to crack. Rory notices the liquid dripping through to a lower level

"That's not good." Graham muttered.

"Great observation skills grandad." Ryan replied earning snickers from Yaz and an exasperated sigh from Graham.

River mentions there are several theories about the pair of them, the Doctor calls it idle gossip and River argue sit is archaeology which the Doctor declares is the same thing. River asks if she is the woman who marries him or murders him?

"Why can't you be both?" The Doctor smiled softly at River.

River's eyes were sad despite her reply and tone. "Makes things more interesting."

The Doctor declares he doesn't want to marry her

"I do. I did. I promise River." The Doctor leaned in closer to her wife, eager to fix the mistake her past-self had just made. It hadn't been a case of not wanting to marry River, it was more her fear of the whole situation and losing River in the end (because she lost everyone in the end, that was a fact of her life).

"I know sweetie, I know." Their time on Darillium had ensured that. Neither of them was the younger more insecure versions of themselves in that regard at least. There was plenty of other things they were insecure about at least.

River declares she doesn't want to murder her. Amy feels a drop on her head and the Doctor says this isn't fun at all, and Amy asks what it is. The Doctor asks how many Silence do they have trapped in the pyramid above them. Kovarian answers saying none as they aren't trapped and never have been, they've just been waiting, waiting for the Doctor

"Even tied to a chair, she's a smug pain." Amy glared at the screen. Everyone in the room had tensed upon hearing Kovarian.

"And you've walked straight into a trap." Clara grimaced.

"We always do." The Doctor shrugged, "Makes life more interesting."

"It makes life more dangerous, Martian." Donna argued.

Rory shouts that the Silence are all out, he bars the door as soldiers get slaughtered. Rory declares no one gets in as they have them outnumbered but Kovarian mentions they're wearing eye droves based on hers, oops. The Doctor asks what she means just as electricity surges through Kent's eye drive and she screams

"Take them off, take them off." Rose muttered, eyes wide as the room watched in horror as Doctor Kent screamed and the electricity surged through the eye patches.

The Doctor shouts to help her but the soldiers are being affected too and Amy finds she is already dead. The Doctor's eye drive starts to zap him too and he orders them to remove them

"But then you won't be able to remember the Silence!" Mickey worried.

Martha frowned, "It's better than being killed by the eye patches."

"That is true. No good choices, as usual." Mickey sighed.

Amy takes the Doctor's eye drive off him but then her own powers up. Kovarian declares the Silence wouldn't allow an advantage without taking one of their own, and the effects vary from person to person with either debilitating agony or death but it will take them all one by one

"Isn't she wearing one?" Bill asked wearily. No one spoke up, all just eager to see how everything unfolded.

Kovarian's eye drive starts to zap and she asks what it is doing, saying it is her and they need her, shouting for it to stop

"Guess they decided they don't need you." Amy was a bit more vindicative than she would have liked. Several of the peoples closest to her edged further away.

The Doctor tells River they could stop this all now as Kovarian shouts for them to get it off. The Doctor asks Amy to tell River but Amy says they have been working on something and want to show him. The Doctor declares there is no point and they can't do anything as his time is up, Amy shouts they are doing it for him

"Just go with her!" Clara and several others shouted at the screen, all wanting the Doctor to just listen to Amy, Rory and River for once, and accept that maybe they didn't have to die. The Doctor just smiled sadly at them all.

The Doctor declares people are dying for him and he won't thank her for that. River begs to just let them show him, and Amy asks Rory how much time do they have – a couple minutes

"That's hopeful." Mickey sighed.

River declares enough and they're going to the receptor room at the top of the pyramid. Rory says he will wait behind and buy as much time as he can. Amy tells him he has to take the eye drive off but Rory argues he can't as he might forget what is coming. Amy worries it could activate at any second and Rory admits it already has but he is useless if he can't remember, and she needs to go. Amy does reluctantly, thanking him

"Rory …" Amy turned to her husband unsure what to say, she already knew this had happened and what came next but her husband's dedication to her still stunned her on occasions.

Rory smiled sadly at her, unrepentant and knowing he'd made the same decision any day, and knowing Amy knew that too. Neither were quite sure what to say, just very glad that this broken time had been fixed with all of them staying alive. The rest of the group watched, eyes growing wider in horror as Rory's fate seemed imminent.

Amy leaves with one last look behind her to see Rory fighting the pain to keep his gun steady as three Silence break through the door. The Silence declares him Rory Williams the man who dies again and again, and he will die one last time knowing she won't come back for him. Amy proves them wrong by letting loose a machine gun at them

Amy grinned widely as she returned to save Rory on screen, "Clearly you don't know anything." She grabbed Rory's hand and squeezed, she wasn't abandoning Rory no matter the timeline, not if she had anything to say about it.

Amy helps him up and takes his eye drive off. Kovarian begs Amy for help as he eye drive is hanging off. Amy declares she took her baby from her and hurt her, and she's grown up and fine but Amy will never see her baby again. Kovarian argues she will save her as her precious Doctor would and she wouldn't want to disappoint him. Amy agrees the Doctor is precious to her but he's also not there. She puts Kovarian's eye patch back in place declaring River didn't get it all from Kovarian, sweetie. Amy takes Rory's arm and they leave as Kovarian starts screaming

The group all watched in silent shock at Amy's ruthlessness, although knowing what they knew they couldn't entirely blame her for making that choice. Still, it was scary to see the normally peaceful (well, the more friendly kind of angry/murder-y) red-headed Scot do that. No one knew what to say, all making the smart decision to stay silent.

The other parents in the group had a grim look on their face but couldn't find it in themselves to blame Amy for her actions, they didn't doubt they'd do something similar or worse in her situation. That was a parent's love for their child.

Amy's eyes had closed as she watched herself on screen kill Kovarian despite her pleads for mercy. She knew it was coming but it was still not great to see. The worst thing was she wasn't sure if she regretted it; as she said Kovarian had taken so much from her, things she could never get back. Still, it wasn't pleasant to watch. Rory squeezed her hand tightly but didn't say anything, just silently supporting her. She'd spent so long debating with herself about how she felt about this, and discussed it with Rory several times not every really reaching a confident conclusion.

Amy risked a glance at the Doctor who only smiled sadly, not giving her grief for the decisions made by the alternative time version of herself. The Doctor didn't exactly approve but couldn't and wouldn't criticise Amy. For a start it wasn't actually her, plus Kovarian had caused her so much grief and saving her would have likely caused more problems. And the Doctor had done much much worse, things everyone in the room had witnessed. She couldn't approve of her choice but she wouldn't condone it, or couldn't. They'd all made hard decisions, and sometimes there was no good decision.

Amy tells Rory they should get a drink some time, Rory agrees, and Amy adds get married which Rory is fine with

"Some things don't change." River muttered, still in a bit of shock over Amy's ruthlessness, well her ruthlessness for her. She'd not witnessed it the first time but Amy had told her about it, her parent's love for her was something that she'd struggled with for a long time and seeing things like this, where they fought for her, helped (the dilemma of her as River verses their lost baby Melody had cost her many days of worry). She often forgot that her parents weren't as defenceless or kind as she sometimes thought they were. They'd travelled with the Doctor a long time, and been through a lot. As Amy had said, she'd gotten some things from her parents.

They reach the receptor room, open to the sky where the cap of the pyramid should be. The Doctor realises they have a timey-wimey distress beacon asking who built it

"Timey-wimey distress beacon?" Clara raised an eyebrow in disbelief at the Doctor's description. The Doctor just shrugged; it was about as accurate as she could be.

River did, as the child of the Tardis she understood the physics. The Doctor says that is all they have, a distress beacon

"I'm presuming there is very limited resources with the whole broken time thing." River gave her wife a pointed look.

The Doctor held up her hands in surrender, "Not doubting you, Sweetie." Everyone saw her smirk.

River explains she has been sending out a distress call to outside their bubble of time where the universe is still turning, she sent the message everywhere, past and future. The message is the Doctor is dying, please help. The Doctor shouts it is ridiculous and would mean nothing to anyone, he says it is insane, stupid and she embarrasses him

"Doctor!" Amy whipped around to face the Doctor who had crouched in on herself. Her motherly instinct had been lit upon seeing River's small flinch at his comment. The Doctor went to open her mouth, but Amy beat her too it, "Don't start with me! Here we are trying to save you and you're being stubborn and ungrateful! Maybe River made a mistake, but she did it to protect you! Because she loves you! Just because you think you're right doesn't mean you can't at least listen! Don't do that to River or us. The only embarrassing one here is you!"

The Doctor met her gaze unflinching for once, "A lot of terrible acts have been done because of love."

"And plenty of beautiful ones too." Rory countered; eyes stern.

"It's alright Amy." River tried to placate the clearly still angry Amy.

"No, it's not River." Amy shook her head, but her curiosity was outweighing her anger for now and fighting the Doctor when she was like this was like fighting a brick – utterly useless and painful for everyone involved.

AMY: We barricaded the door. We've got a few minutes. Just tell him. Just tell him, River.
RIVER: Those reports of the sun spots and the solar flares. They're wrong. There aren't any. It's not the sun, it's you. The sky is full of a million, million voices saying yes, of course we'll help. You've touched so many lives, saved so many people. Did you think when your time came, you'd really have to do more than just ask? You've decided that the universe is better off without you, but the universe doesn't agree.

"It doesn't matter what the universe thinks, everything was breaking. Time had to be fixed and there was only one way to do that. You just needed to trust me." The Doctor said solemnly, not meeting anyone's gaze (and they were all on her).

"Sometimes you make it very hard to trust you." River said, equally serious. Her own eyes locked on the screen. Out of the corner of her eyes she could see the Doctor's minute flinch but she had no disagreements.

The Doctor says no one can help him as a fixed point has been altered and time is disintegrating. River declares she can't let him die and the Doctor argues he has to. River shouts at him to shut up as she can't let him die without knowing he is loves by so many and by no one more than her.

The Doctor held her breath, taking in River's words in a way she hadn't back then. Back then, adrenaline had been rushing through her veins and they had limited time, but now she knew so much more about River and she'd gone through many adventures with her. The words had a new weight to them that felt suffocating with all of the tense feelings buzzing in the air.

"I meant it then and I mean it now." River whispered; the pair's eyes never left the screen. Both ignored how the Doctor's breathing stuttered before resuming slightly abnormally. River didn't need to remember her time in that broken reality to know how much she meant those words. It didn't matter how much they thought or how angry they were with each other, that didn't change the fact that they loved each other, it just meant sometimes they wanted to strangle each other.

In the back of her mind River couldn't help but wonder if part of the Doctor's such stubborn resolved around the fixed point was because of what happened on Mars and with Adelaide. If his last, terrible, encounter with a fixed point had made him so determined to not make the same mistakes only to lead him to stubbornly make new ones. She pushed the thought sharply aside to focus on the rest of the video, taking a deep breath to try and calm the raging storm in her heart.

The Doctor tells River they both know what it means as they are ground zero of an explosion that will engulf reality and billions upon billions will suffer and die. River argues she will suffer if she has to kill him, the Doctor asks if she'd suffer more than every living thing in the universe, to which she says yes. The doctor asks River why she has to be likes this, telling Amy and Rory he hopes they're both proud of their daughter

"We are." Amy announced loudly and proudly, arms crossed with a pointed look at the Doctor whose eyes had not left the screen. Without nay words, the Doctor's hand snaked out and took River's in her own again, both needing the comfort for what was about to come.

Rory mutters he's not sure he completely understands

"I never do." Rory sighed, shaking his head. This mess seemed almost as confusing as the first time he found out River was his daughter. He was kind of glad he couldn't remember it.

Amy explains they got married, had a kid and the kid is River. Rory just says okay

"Love how you just accept that straight away, mate." Mickey raised an eyebrow at Rory with a grin.

Rory shrugged, "Things are weird. That's one thing I've learned is a constant where the Doctor is involved; things are weird and you just need to go along with it. Makes everything so much simpler."

"Good point." Martha smiled with a short laugh.

The Doctor asks Amy to uncuff him and asks for a strip of cloth abut a foot long then says never mind as he takes off his bow tie

"What on Earth are you up to now?" Clara asked the Doctor bewildered by his sudden change of tune. "Are you not forgetting the whole under attack, limited time thing?"

"It is important." The Doctor answered, expression schooled but glancing over at River, eyes leaving the screen for the first time in a while.

He tells River to take one end of it and wrap it around her hand then hold it out to him. River asks what she is doing and the Doctor says as she's told. He adds as they are in an active combat zone he'll do the quick version. He tells Rory to say 'I consent and gladly give'

The Master sat up from where he'd been slouching, getting bored in his corner. "You're not -?" He muttered, too shocked to put much of his normal attitude into his tone.

"Yes, I am." The Doctor replied, looking just a tad smug of surprising the Master. He grumbled, slouching back in his seat with a glare, looking ever the angry cat.

Rory asks to what but when the Doctor asks again with a please he does as he was told. The Doctor then asks Amy to say the same as the mother of the bride, which she does

"You're getting married!" Bill realised happily. They all knew they were married and they'd had suspicions based on the title, but knowing River's long list of spouses and with all the chaos going on they'd almost forgotten about the title. It didn't explain how they were all going to get out of this alive though.

Yaz nodded, eyes-widening. "The title makes more sense now."

"More than some." Ryan mumbled. Some of the adventures they'd watched had weird titles, most of them made sense in the end but not all. This one at least was semi-straight forward which was about as much as they could ask for when the Doctor was involved.

The Doctor tells River he is going to whisper something in her ear and she has to remover it very carefully and tell no one what he said. He whispers something very short

The Master narrowed his eyes, lips pulled back in almost a snarl before he stopped. "You didn't tell her your name." It was a statement but everyone could hear the question in his voice.

"No." The Doctor answered cryptically, very smug to be aware of what was going on and leaving the Master confused.

"Your name?" Rose asked, curious. That was the reason for the whole mess in the first place after all.

The Doctor smiled softly at her, scanning the room to see everyone watching her. "In a traditional Gallifreyan wedding, of which I just did the very short informal version, you tell your spouse your true name. One of the only times you ever speak it, or tell it to someone."

"But you didn't tell River." Martha tried to clarify.

"No, I had another plan." The Doctor answered, then she glanced at River before continuing. "And it wouldn't be fair as she wouldn't remember it."

The Doctor declares he told her his name and there they go; River Song is officially the woman who married him. He has a request for his new wife, the world is saying because of him and he can't bear it another day, begging her to help him as there isn't another way. River says in that case he may kiss the bride

Clara narrowed her eyes at River and the Doctor on screen, putting together the clues before turning to the Doctor. "You didn't tell her your name?" It was knowingly said, seeking confirmation.

The Doctor blinked, feeling a bit weary under Clara's questioning gaze and unsure where this was going as she'd already answered that. "No."

"You told her your plan." Clara said, tone confident. She knew this Doctor, despite not spending as much time with this one as Eyebrows.

"In a way." The Doctor answered cryptically. Clara narrowed her eyes further but left her alone for the moment in favour of watching what would happen.

The Doctor promises to make it a good one. They kiss and the clocks start to fast forward as the scenes at the lakeside flash across the screen, this time with the Doctor dying. London goes back to normal (poor pterodactyls)

The group all let out a breath, thankful to see time actually working again. Although they were still on edge to find out what the Doctor's plan to survive was, especially as they'd technically just watch him die at Lake Silencio. One problem at a time though.

We hear a children's rhyme – tick tock goes the clock, he gave all he could give and now prison waits for River

"Very creepy children." Clara muttered.

"Most children's rhymes are terrifying if you actually look at the them." Bill replied, "Eyebrows made me do a 5000-word essay on them, very unnerving."

In a garden, Amy is sitting at a patio table looking up at the night sky, there is a flash of light nearby and Amy declares she heard there was a freak meteor shower nearby so she got a bottle ready

"You know me so well." River smiled thankfully at her mother.

"Of course, you know you're welcome anytime River, no matter what." Amy smiled at her daughter. This part she did remember (vaguely, it was a while ago after all) and it would be interesting to see how it all connected, and more importantly how the Doctor had managed to survive.

River thanks her, and Amy asks where they are in their time lines. River shares they just climbed out the Byzantium with a young Amy who had no idea who she was. She asks where Amy is in return

"The Byzantium?" Ryan asked.

"Weeping Angels." Amy answered with a grimace. Those that knew them all shivered, while the rest were left very confused but not wanting to question it based on those reactions, they'd only seen glimpses or heard mentions of angels until this point and they liked it better that way.

Amy declares the Doctor is dead

"That's a decent chunk of time." The Doctor attempted to joke (for the Ponds had spent a while travelling with the younger version of the Doctor before this).

The joke clearly fell flat and her smile was wiped of her face by the set of three matching annoyed looks from the Pond family.

River asks how she is doing, to which Amy says how do you think but when River pushes Amy admits she killed Kovarian in cold blood. River reassures her it was an aborted time line in a world that never was, and Amy argues she can remember it and it happened so she did it, and what does that make her now. She wants to talk to the Doctor but can't

"It doesn't change who you are. You're still Amelia Pond, the Girl Who Waited. You're still you. Sometimes there are no good decisions, and sometimes you make decisions based on emotion that you regret later. There's nothing you can do about it now, and you don't need me to tell you that." The Doctor sad softly, eyes sincere in a silent apology for being gone so long. Amy nodded quietly, taking in the Doctor's words, it wouldn't help when she needed him back then but it eased that small whisper in the back of her mind that had been brought up by the video.

River asks if it would make a difference talking to him, Amy says he's dead so she can't

"No, he isn't, he just didn't tell us." Amy crossed her arms glaring at the Doctor.

The Doctor held her hands up in surrender, "I thought we'd already gotten over this!" She distinctly remembered getting hit by a water gun and dragged in for a Christmas dinner and long conversation after all.

Amy shrugged, smirk taking the place of the glare. "We did, it's just fun to watch you squirm." The Doctor would absolutely deny pouting as the rest of the room laughed.

River says of course he isn't, and Amy admits not for River maybe as she sees younger versions of him. River agrees but says that isn't what she means and when Amy asks, she says she'll tell her something she probably shouldn't. The Doctor's last secret, asking if she wants to know what the Doctor whispered in her ear

"Yes, we all do. Desperately." Yaz declared, starting to run out of patience for this mystery. They seemed to keep dancing around it and they all just wanted to know how the Doctor had survived.

Amy says he whispered his name, River says he didn't. Amy argues it was as he said it was and River tells her to remember rule one

"The Doctor lies." Amy, Rory and River answered in monotone sync before snickering to themselves as the Doctor smiled, shaking her head in fond exasperation at the Pond family.

River admits she also lies, has to because of spoilers, like how she pretended to not know Amy was her mother. Amy asks what the Doctor whispered and River says he always has a plan, and is one step ahead of everyone

"Or that's what he wants everyone to think." Jack snorted, giving the Doctor a pointed look earning a smug grin and shrug back.

Amy pushes River about what the Doctor said. Soon after, Rory gets home to see Amy and River hugging and dancing round the garden

"Just tell us! Please." Rory moaned. They were all getting fed up of everyone dancing around it. Amy, Rory, River and the Doctor all shared a knowing look but no one answered them.

Rory asks what and Amy declares he isn't dead. Rory asks if River is sure, which she is as she is his wife. Amy makes the realisation she's the Doctor's mother-in-law

"You just realised that?" Martha grinned.

Amy nodded, "Bit weird to go from thinking of someone as your friend to them marrying your daughter and being your son or daughter-in law. Before this point, we either didn't know who River was or forgotten about them being married." She tried to explain, earning grins and nods of understanding.

River tells Rory she thinks Amy might need another drink; I think Rory also does

"I think we all needed one." Rory grinned.

Back at the Charnel house, Dorium's box is returned to its pedestal by a cloaked figure

"Why are we back to Dorium?" Rose asked confused at the sudden change of scene.

"You'll see." The Doctor shrugged.

Dorium demands to know who is carrying him saying he has rights and wants his doors open. The figure opens his door and turns to leave. Dorium declares it is him and he can sense it, he wants to know how he did it, how he could have escaped

"That's you, right?" Bill asked, pretty sure but wanting confirmation.

The Doctor smiled fondly at her, "Yes that's me, trying to keep being alive semi-secret for a while."

"Must have been hard, you're not very good at staying on the down low, Doc." Jack grinned teasingly, he received a glare for the nickname but the Doctor didn't argue.

Back at the space bar, Carter asks if there is nothing else they can do. The Doctor leaves then pops back with a big grin, declaring actually having thought about it

"You used the Teselecta to survive." Clara declared, doe eyes crinkling in confusion. "But how?"

Martha's eyes widened. "It can shape-shift. You got them to shift into you and take your place." She snapped her fingers in realisation, her explanation causing everyone else to match her wide-eyed expression.

The Doctor grinned proudly, nodding in confirmation, they were always a smart bunch, sometimes too smart for their own good.

Now at the receptor room – the Doctor whispers in River's ear, saying to look in her eye. A tiny Doctor waves at River from the eyeball of the Teselecta

"You idiot." Donna shook her head fondly. The group was all grinning, glad the Doctor was alive and to finally know how he had managed to survive.

In the charnel house, the Doctor removes the cloak and tells Dorium he used the Teselecta. Time said he had to be on the beach so he dressed appropriately. Dorium asks if he is really going to do this, let everyone think he is dead. The Doctor declares it is the only way, he got too big, too noisy so it is time to step back in the shadow and let people forget about him

"Which is why you constantly delete yourself from everything." Rose nodded along, things making more sense now with all these interconnecting videos and explanations. They were finally getting more of the picture.

"Which makes it very difficult for some to keep up with you." Mickey complained, thinking back to his time in UNIT.

The Doctor smirked, "Exactly."

Dorium asks bout River spending all her days in prison and the Doctor agrees but says the nights are between her and him

"I really don't want to hear about what the two of you got into alone." Amy muttered, but everyone could see her smile. It was nice to watch a video with a fairly happy ending comparatively and as much as she complained about the pair's flirting, she was glad they were happy together.

Dorium declares there are so many secrets, and he'll help keep them of course

"I'm not so confident about that." Ryan narrowed his eyes at the head on the screen.

Yaz snorted, "Well it's not like he can tell many people there."

Ryan nodding his agreement at that, "That's true."

The Doctor points out Dorium is not going anywhere, and Dorium calls him a fool as it is all still waiting for him – Trenzalore, eleventh's fall, and the question. The Doctor says goodbye as Dorium shouts after him about the question that must never be answered, the one he has been running from his whole life – Doctor who?

"Very dramatic ending." Bill muttered as the video faded to black.

Everyone looked around at each other, all unsure whether they actually wanted to say or ask anything about that mess. Like all the videos before, it had certainly been an emotional rollercoaster, but the majority of questions posed in the video had actually been answered for once, a real rarity with these videos.

The Doctor glanced around the room, hoping to speak up before River, Amy or Jack could drag her away from an emotionally charged conversation. "All ready? I guess we move onto the next one then."

"Once more into the breach." Clara muttered as the screen faded to white and the next title started to appear, everyone watching to see what video was going to play next.