Flesh and Stone Fact File

The read-through for Flesh and Stone took place in Cardiff on Wednesday, 15 July 2009, approximately ten minutes after the read-through for The Time of Angels had been completed.

River Song mentions the Pandorica to the Doctor but he rejects the concept as being a 'fairy tale'. The Pandorica has already been referenced in this series - by Prisoner Zero in The Eleventh Hour. 'The universe is cracked,' the Doctor was told. 'The Pandorica will open. Silence will fall.'

The idea of a 'crack in time' was suggested to Steven Moffat by a crack in the wall over his son's bed. Steven described the crack as looking like a smile and he was careful not to bring it to his son's attention!

Amy Pond isn't the first of the Doctor's companions who's had to face danger without being able to see. In The Brain of Morbius, Sarah Jane Smith thought she had permanently lost her sight after being attacked by a vicious old crone known as Maren. In The Horror of Fang Rock another of the Fourth Doctor's companions, Leela, thought she had been blinded after witnessing a dramatic flash of light. Fortunately, in both instances, the lack of vision proved brief.

The scene where the Doctor, River and Amy are horizontal in mid-air as gravity kicks in on the Byzantium was achieved on set using wires and powerful wind machines. Alex Kingston later said it was one of her favourite parts of the shoot.

The last two-parter which had both episodes lasting approximately 45 minutes was Silence in the Library/Forest of the Dead - the story that introduced River Song back in June 2008.

At the end of Flesh and Stone we see Amy's bedroom again. In Doctor Who Confidential Karen Gillan revealed that the blue theme running throughout the room and indeed, Amy's house, was the idea of director Adam Smith. The colour links in with the blue of the TARDIS and by extension Amy's feelings for the Doctor.

The date which so concerns the Doctor at the close of the episode is 26.06.2010. 26 June 2010 is exactly thirteen weeks after The Eleventh Hour was first broadcast...

Much of The Time of Angels and Flesh and Stone was filmed in Puzzlewood, near Coleford in Gloucester...

Puzzlewood is part of the Forest of Dean which is said to have inspired JRR Tolkien's vision of Middle-earth in his The Lord of the Rings saga. Other dramas to have been shot there include the BBC's Merlin.

Puzzlewood covers about 14 acres and the majority of filming took place in the centre of the woodland. Deep gullies and dramatic rock formations known as scowles make it a visually arresting area but smoke machines and special lighting heightened the impact of the location even further.

The Doctor Who team filmed in the Forest of Dean for nine nights during July, 2009. It's not the first time the crew have visited the area. The nearby Clearwell Caves were used in episodes such as The Christmas Invasion, The Satan Pit and The Fires of Pompeii.