Vampires in Venice

The Vampires of Venice was the sixth episode of Series 5. It was narratively tied to the final scene of Flesh and Stone, greatly furthered the Doctor-Rory-Amy romantic triangle subplot, and ended with Rory apparently joining the Doctor in his travels.

Synopsis
Dessicated corpses, terror in the canal and a visit to the sinister House of Calvierri – the Doctor takes Amy and Rory for a romantic mini-break, as the TARDIS touches down once again.

But 16th-century Venice is not as it should be. The city has been sealed to protect it from the Plague, although Rosanna Calvierri may have other plans...

Plot
In Venice, 1580, a boat-builder brings his daughter Isabella before Rosanna Calvierri and her son Franceso, asking her to accept Isabella into her school. She accepts, and the father is immediately escorted out by her steward. As Francesco sees if Isabella is to his liking, he reveals a mouthful of fangs as she screams. In 2010, the Doctor crashes Rory's stag party (substituting himself for a stripper, Lucy by coming out of a cake) and informs him Amy tried to kiss him.

In the TARDIS, the Doctor informs Rory and Amy that he will be taking them on a romantic retreat: Venice. As they try to enter the city, they are stopped and informed that a qurantine has been imposed due to the warnings of Signora Calvierri on the presence of Plague outside Venice. Once inside the city, they witness Guido attempting to get to Isabella as they leave the Calvierri school. She does not recognize her father, and he is attacked by another student, who has fangs. The Doctor meets Guido, who informs him why he is trying to get his daughter back.

Rosanna Calvierri is interrupted while 'hydrating', and informs an impatient Francesco that they will follow the plan. He however attacks a flower girl in the streets and drinks some of her blood. Amy follows him while Rory sees the girl. Guido feigns another attempt at regaining Isabella while the Doctor enters the school through a side gate. Once inside, he discovers the girls at the school have fangs and no reflection, but is chased away by them before discovering more.

After meeting up with Amy and Rory, they discuss with Guido how to infiltrate the Calvierri school. Amy proposes that Rory act as her brother to get her in to open a trap door beneath the building. Amy is accepted in, and meets Isablla. She informs her that at night they take her to a room and strap her down as if for an operation, and that the sun burns her skin. The Doctor, Rory and Guido make their way to the trap door through an underground tunnel on Guido's gondola. Amy manages to unlock the trap door, but is discovered and taken to the room Isabella decribed. Rosanna tries to get her to tell her the truth, as the psychic paper did not work on her, and bites her neck with her fangs. The Doctor and Rory anter through the trap door and find a body which has had all the fluid removed. Rory berates the Doctor for making others want to impress him, and they are surrounded by the school's girls. Rosanna reveals to Amy that they drink girls till they are dry, then replacing their blood with their own. They either die or transform, ready for ten thousand husbands. The Doctor and Rory find Amy, who manages to see Rosanna's real form as she kicks her, and Isabella helps them escape. She is however recaptured, and later killed as a traitor, devoured by Rosanna's sons.

Rosanna later finds the Doctor on her throne. As they discuss things, it is revealed that Calvierri is a Saturnynian and is using a perception filter to appear human. They have no reflection as the brain cannot perceive a relection different than its original, and the fangs are due to a self-preservation loophole in the filter. Rosanna reveals her planet was lost due to the appearance of the cracks, and asks the Doctor to help her establish a new colony. He refuses as he learns of Isabella's death as a traitor, and that Rosanna did not even know Isabella's name.

In Guido's house, the Doctor deduces that Calvierri intends to sink Venice and repopulate it with the girls she has transformed and her children. The house is attacked by the school's girls, and almost everyone manages to escape. Guido stays behind and lights the gunpowder stre he had in his house, killing himself and all the girls.

Rosanna activates a device creating a storm over Venice, causing widespread panic. The Doctor tells Amy to get to the TARDIS, but they are followed by Francesco. The Doctor finds the device, and informs Rosanna of the death of the girls. Francesco finds Amy and Rory, and is killed when she directs sunlight at him using her mirror. They both decide to help the Doctor, while he climbs up the Calvierri mansion's tower and manages to deactivate the device. Rosanna goes to the pool her sons are kept, her perception filter keeping up her human appearance. She tells the Doctor to remember them and live with the death of their race on his conscience, then throws herself to her sons to be devoured.

As they are leaving Venice, Amy and the Doctor invite Rory to travel with them. Just as they are about to enter the TARDIS, a strange silence suddenly falls across Venice, echoing Rosanna's words.