In the episode, the alien time traveller the Doctor (Matt Smith) and his companions Amy Pond (Karen Gillan) and Rory Williams (Arthur Darvill) land on board a pirate ship in the 17th century.
The producers wished to develop a pirate-themed episode for the sixth series and allow the protagonists to "kick back and have some fun" on the adventure.
On 30 April 2011, immediately following the broadcast of "Day of the Moon", the BBC released a "prequel" to "The Curse of the Black Spot".
[5][6][7] In the 17th century,[2] a pirate ship is stranded in the ocean, terrorised by a Siren-like creature who marks people with black spots on their palms after they are injured and appears to disintegrate them with her touch after putting them in a trance.
Rory receives a cut during a tussle with the pirates, and finds a black spot on his hand, but is prevented from succumbing to the song of the Siren by Amy and the Eleventh Doctor.
Surmising the Siren is using water as a portal, the Doctor instructs the crew to seek refuge in the ship's dry magazine.
The Siren turns out to be the ship's virtual doctor, caring for the injured humans; the black spots are tissue samples she uses as references to understand how to help them.
[8][9] In January 2011, it was announced that Downton Abbey actor Hugh Bonneville would make a guest appearance as a "pirate captain" in an episode of the sixth series of Doctor Who.
[10] Lead actors Matt Smith and Karen Gillan felt that working with Bonneville was "great fun.
"[4] Bonneville previously played Sir Sidney Herbert and Tzar Nicholas I of Russia in the Seventh Doctor audio drama The Angel of Scutari.
The cast members who were asked to lie on the beds were instructed to stay still and not breathe heavily to limit movement.
[20] Martin later rated it the worst episode of the first twelve of the series (the finale, which had not aired at the time, was not included in the list).
[21] IGN's Matt Risley gave it an overall "good" score of 7 out of 10, admitting that there were "some great lines" and the "Space Pirate" twist was "a refreshingly sci-fi spin on the well-worn genre plot", but he criticised the Siren for lacking qualities to become "a credible and terrifying Who villain".
Fuller felt that Cole did "a decent enough job," claiming that the Siren was the "best-realised thing" about the episode, "only slightly ahead of Karen Gillan looking very fetching in a pirate outfit.
"[23] Simon Brew of Den of Geek started by comparing the episode to Lost's "massive, intriguing" cliffhangers, "and then sauntered off to other less interesting stuff," mainly criticising that the little girl's regeneration in "Day of the Moon" was left unresolved.
"[1] However, Setchfield was critical of the story, claiming "pirates and Who should be as combustive a mix as gunpowder and a trusty flintlock, but ultimately this grog-time yarn falls short of its promise.
"[1] Morgan Jeffery of Digital Spy wrote "following on from that game-changing two-part premiere, this week's Doctor Who provides us with a real change of pace, with a moody and atmospheric pre-titles sequence setting the scene for a far more traditional adventure.