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| A Saturnynian |
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 Name: The Saturnynians
Format:
Television Show
Time of Origin: Encountered The Doctor
in Venice in 1580; precise planet and time of origin were unspecified.
Appearances: "The Vampires of Venice"
Doctors: Eleventh Doctor
Companions: Amy Pond and Rory
Williams
History: A particularly interesting thing to note
about the Saturnynians is that they are a unique example of an enemy
that began their attack by pretending to be something else, initially ‘posing’ as
vampires before The Doctor deduced the truth.
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| Rosanna Calvierri |
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Originating
from an unnamed world, the Saturnynians’ planet was destroyed
when cracks in time and space - later revealed to be ‘pre-effects’of
a temporal explosion triggered when the TARDIS exploded on Earth
on 26 June 2010 - opened around the planet, unleashing various catastrophes
onto their world until a Saturnynian female and her offspring were
able to escape through one crack to Earth, arriving in Venice some
time before 1580.
With only her male offspring having survived the
trip through the crack, their mother used a perception filter to
disguise herself as a human as she created a new identity as Lady
Rosanna Calvierri, establishing a school in Venice - the partly-water-based
city chosen due to its marine nature providing them with an ideal
habitat - and creating a reputation for the school as a plague-free
haven. As a result, the school was an attractive proposition for
fathers to send their daughters to during this turbulent time, the
families unaware that the girls were being transformed by the Calvierris,
their blood being extracted and replaced with that of the Saturnyians.
The
blood extraction added to the Saturnynians’ apparently unintentional
resemblance to vampires, as they also failed to show up in mirrors and
their true teeth could be exposed when they attacked their prey. This
was explained to be a side-effect of the perception filters some of them
used to disguise themselves (Although the majority of their population
remained hidden underwater inside the school); since the brain couldn’t
process what the filter reflected in mirrors, the Saturnynians appeared
to have no reflection, and their sharp teeth were exposed when they attacked
others as the brain’s fear in the face of danger caused the human
mind to break through the filter and see something that would inspire
terror. Another interesting twist was that their evolution to exist underwater
had rendered them vulnerable to sunlight, with The Doctor holding them
back with an ultraviolet lamp and Amy destroying one by focusing sunlight
on one of them with a pocket mirror.
While their attempt to transform humans into their females
would take time, the Calvierris had already made a significant impact
on the population when the Eleventh Doctor, Amy and Rory arrived
in Venice, The Doctor hoping to help repair the damage his presence
may have done to Amy and Rory’s relationship by taking them
both on holiday. While The Doctor befriended a ship-builder called
Guido who had recently sent his daughter Isabella to the Calvierri
school - The Doctor subsequently infiltrating the school and seeing
the girls’ lack of reflection for himself, Amy and Rory witnessed
Rosanna’s ‘son’ Francesco feeding in the streets,
prompting them to try and infiltrate the school themselves.
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| The Vampires of Venice |
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Although Amy was subjected to the first ‘treatment’ to
turn her into a Saturnynian, The Doctor and Rory were able to rescue
her with Isabella’s help, only for Isabella to be caught and
consumed by Rosanna’s sons when her transformation was revealed
to have advanced enough to leave her vulnerable to sunlight. Confronting
Rosanna in her chambers, The Doctor revealed his true identity to
her to fill in the missing pieces of her current plan, but rejected
her offer to help her establish a new colony on Earth, noting with
disgust that she didn’t even know Isabella’s name. Although
The Doctor realised that she intended to sink Venice, he was forced
to retreat when the girls attacked Guido’s house, Guido sacrificing
himself to save his new friends by igniting the gunpowder in his
basement and destroying the girls.
Although Rosanna activated a weather-control device that triggered
a vast storm above Venice, The Doctor was able to deactivate it while
Amy and Rory confronted Francesco, the last surviving ‘mobile’ Saturnynian,
Amy destroying him with her pocket mirror after The Doctor turned
off Rosanna’s device. With her perception filter broken and
faced with the prospect of being trapped and alone in human form,
Rosanna committed suicide by allowing her sons to consume her, leaving
The Doctor feeling guilty at causing the death of a species even
if he had tried to give her a chance to find another way. |
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| Season 31 (Series 5) - Volume 2 |
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| Francesco Calvierri |
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| The Calvierri Girls |
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| Season 31 (Series 5) Box Set |
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