| Season Start: | 25 December 2008 | | Season End: | 01 January 2010 | | Season Length: | 54 Weeks | | Actual Weeks: | 5 Weeks | | Writers: | Gareth Roberts, Phil Ford and Russell T Davies | | Directors: | Andy Goddard, Euros Lyn, Graeme Harper and James Strong | | Producers: | Nikki Wilson, Susie Liggat and Tracie Simpson | | Executive Producers: | Julie Gardner and Russell T Davies | | Associate Producers: | Catrin Lewis Defis and Debbi Slater | | Script Editors: | Gary Russell and Lindsey Alford | | Visual Effects: | The Mill | | Special Effects: | Any Effects | | Title Music: | Ron Grainer and the BBC Radiophonic Workshop. Arranged by Murray Gold |
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Incarnation of the Doctor: |
The Tenth Doctor (Regenerates)
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Other Incarnations of the Doctor: |
The Eleventh Doctor (Newly Regenerated) |
| Number of
Companions: |
None |
| Number of
Acquaintances: |
3
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| The
Acquaintances: |
Wilfred Mott (Departs), Lady Christina de Souza (Joins and Departs) and Adelaide Brooke (Joins and Dies)
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| Number of
Stories: |
4
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| Number of
Incomplete/Missing Stories: |
0
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| Number of
Episodes: |
5
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| Number of
Incomplete/Missing Episodes: |
0
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| Percentages: |
| Full Stories Held | 100% | | Episodes Held | 100% |
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| Doctor Who Magazine Poll (2014) | |
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 'You be careful, because your song is ending, sir. It is returning, it is returning through the dark. And then Doctor... oh, but then... he will knock four times.'
Carmen
(Planet of the Dead) |
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| Two Doctors? |
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With only five episodes, over four stories, that made up the stories for 2009, this special season turned out to be just as good as a full season of stories. It certainly was a case of quality rather than quantity.
And this is reflected in the fact that this season became the first since Season Nineteen (in 1989) for there to be at least four episodes that break the 10 million barrier, and the first since Season Seventeen (in 1979) for there to be at least three episodes, and two stories, to be as high as 12 million.
The season started with the "The Next Doctor" in which we had, compared to the other stories, a light-hearted adventure where The Doctor thinks he has met a future incarnation of himself. The highlight of this story was when it is revealed that the Cybermen have taken over Victorian London. With the ruthless Miss Hartigan, the introduction of Cybershades and the CyberKing - a giant Cyberman-shaped robot ship "The Next Doctor" turned out to be a classic Christmas Special – and the first to be set in the past.
Of course David Morrissey’s ‘Next Doctor’ turned out not to be the case but at the time, with the recent announcement that David Tennant would be leaving the show during 2009, the media and fans could not be blamed for assuming that David Morrissey could actually be the Eleventh Doctor. However, soon after "The Next Doctor" was broadcast it was announced that Matt Smith would be taking over the lead role – so ending months of speculation.
In the second story, "Planet of the Dead", the Doctor Who production team filmed in Dubai for three days. They even transported a 1980 double-decker Bristol VR bus to the United Arab Emirates for filming. And so we had a story where we had the sight of a red London bus stuck in the sands on an alien planet. This story is mostly remembered for the extraordinary character Lady Christina de Souza – played by Michelle Ryan. But at the end of this story, despite having a wonderful partnership, The Doctor and Lady Christina end up going their separate ways. This may be seen as an opportunity missed but at least they parted in a way which makes it possible for her to return maybe one day.
"Planet of the Dead" also became a milestone production as it was the first Doctor Who story to be made and broadcast in High Definition and so it became the first to be released on Blue-Ray as well as DVD.
Whereas "Planet of the Dead" had been described as ‘a great big adventure’, "The Waters of Mars" is much more frightening. Even though this story was set on Mars it did not include the Ice Warriors (except for a brief mention). But the concept of having water as a deadly foe was a brilliant idea. It prompted the chilling line for Base Commander Adelaide Brooke: ‘Don't drink the water... don't even touch it, not one drop’.
Both "Planet of the Dead" and "The Waters of Mars" were very much designed to build up to the season’s finale. With the tone of the stories progressively getting darker. With both stories it is not until the end that more is revealed about where The Doctor’s destiny is heading towards. In "Planet of the Dead" the psychic Carmen gives him a prophecy ‘You be careful, because your song is ending, sir. It is returning, it is returning through the dark. And then... oh, but then... he will knock four times’ while in "The Waters of Mars" Ood Sigma appears to remind The Doctor that his song is about to end…
And so during Christmas 2009 the two-part story "The End of Time" brought us the return of The Master, The Time Lords and encounters with the Tenth Doctor’s previous companions (including Rose Tyler and Donna Noble). But it was the interaction between The Doctor and Donna’s grandfather, Wilfred Mott (played by Bernard Cribbins), that really made this story.
But it was once The Master and the Time Lords (whose President was played by James Bond actor Timothy Dalton) were defeated that The Doctor was left with having to finally accept the prophecy that psychic Carmen gave at the end of "Planet of the Dead". After the sounds The Master has been experiencing the four knocks The Doctor hears come from a very unexpected source. But The Doctor’s response – to sacrifice himself to save the life of another – comes as no surprise.
While the real world had just said goodbye to the Noughties, and welcomed in a new decade, the Tenth Doctor regenerated into the Eleventh Doctor. And so it was goodbye to David Tennant and hello to Matt Smith.
As announced at the end of 2008 with the completion of "The End of Time" the main driving force behind Doctor Who returning to our screens in 2005 passed over the responsibility of the show to Steven Moffat. And so with a new head writer, a new Doctor and a new companion it was another end of an era for the show.
Despite the sadness of seeing the end of David Tennant’s portrayal as the Tenth Doctor it may have been the end of something good but hopefully it will also be the beginning of something even better…
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| Lady Christina de Souza |
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The discovery in "The Next Doctor" of a hot-air balloon Jackson Lake had developed as his own TARDIS and his explanation that it stands for 'Tethered Aerial Release Developed In Style'. His ‘TARDIS’ even featured a bell in its basket. Could this be his version of the Cloister Bell – albeit a much smaller version - that announces danger in the real TARDIS?
Lady Christina’s cat-burglar skills in "Planet of the Dead" are put to good use when she helps The Doctor to retrieve a crystal which powers the Tritovore’s spaceship. Even so without The Doctor's timely intervention Lady Christina would not have reached the bottom of the shaft in one piece. The highlight of sequence though is the brilliant conversation between Lady Christina and The Doctor which showed real signs of a good Doctor/Companion relationship - even to the point where a little bit more of The Doctor's past is revealed.
The Doctor’s reaction at the end of "The Waters of Mars" when he realises that there is a price to pay for his interference. This finally dawns on him when Ood Sigma appears and reminds The Doctor that his song is about to end as yet again the sound of the TARDIS’s Cloister Bell can be heard…
The Master’s return and the first major appearance of the Time Lords in "The End of Time". But it is the scenes at the very end of this story that must be seen - where The Doctor regenerates and the Eleventh Doctor speaks his first words as the damaged TARDIS hurtles back to Earth.
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| Attacking the CyberKing |
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For a season containing only four stories – all considered as being specials - it is hard to pick out a high point and a low point as all four stories are worthy of watching – all for different reasons.
In "The Next Doctor" we have the welcome return of the Cybermen. But more than this there is the introduction of Cybershades and the CyberKing - a giant Cyberman-shaped robot ship towering above Victorian London. But it is the interaction between David Tennant’s Tenth Doctor and David Morrissey’s ‘Next Doctor’ that makes this story a joy to watch – one of the best Christmas Special.
The second story, "Planet of the Dead", has the combination of the familiar sight of a red London bus stuck in the sands on an alien planet. Unable to travel back through the wormhole and with a swarm of alien creatures heading there way it is up to The Doctor, assisted by the extraordinary Lady Christina de Souza - an adrenaline junkie whose cat-burglar skills come in very handy – to get everyone safely back to Earth. But just when you thought that The Doctor could continue on his way the psychic Carmen gives him a prophecy that his time is nearing its end – a revelation that unsettles even The Doctor…
In the next story, "The Waters of Mars", you can’t miss the fact that The Doctor knows the fate of all the members of Bowie Base One but his dilemma is not doing anything that will change established history. The Doctor, on realising where he is and the importance of the period of time he has arrived in, does try to leave. But when the first death occurs he has to get involved. As things go from bad to worse Base Commander Adelaide Brooke eventually deduces that The Doctor knows more than he lets on and so forces him to reveal what he knows – so triggering a chain of events that eventually leads him to realise that there is a price to pay for his interference. One that results in the appearance of Ood Sigma who reminds The Doctor that his song is about to end…
And so it did at the end of the two-part 2009 Christmas special "The End of Time". But before The Doctor met his end we had a truly brilliant story involving the return of The Master, who ended up turning virtually all of humanity into his ‘Master Race’, and The Time Lords – whose return is something even The Doctor is terrified of. But it is the outcome of when the four knocks, that preceded his regeneration, originated from that has to be watched. Before the inevitable The Doctor has just enough time to uses his TARDIS to visit key moments in certain points in time for his past companions. He helps Martha and Mickey to defeat a Sontaran. He prevents Luke Smith, Sarah Jane Smith’s adopted son, from being run over by a speeding car. He helps Captain Jack Harkness to find companionship. He has a book signed by the great granddaughter of Joan Redfern. He arrives at Donna Noble’s wedding and hands over to Wilfred a lottery ticket as a wedding gift for Donna. He even arrives at the Powell Estate and gets to meet Rose Tyler – but at a point in her time before she joined him the TARDIS.
The low point of the whole season becomes a matter of personal opinion. As the Tenth Doctor, with his last words being ‘I don't want to go’, regenerates into the Eleventh Doctor it is goodbye to David Tennant and hello to Matt Smith – simultaneously making this a high and a low point of this season.
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The Firsts:
The first story, of the revised series, that The Doctor is without a companion. (The Next Doctor)
The first Doctor Who story to be made in High Definition. (Planet of the Dead)
The introduction of companion Lady Christina de Souza played by Michelle Ryan. (Planet of the Dead)
The first major appearance of The Time Lords in the revived television series and the first for 23 years - since the 1986 Sixth Doctor story "The Trial of a Time Lord". (The End of Time)
Matt Smith's first appearance as the Eleventh Doctor. (The End of Time)
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The Lasts (Subject to Future Stories):
David Tennant's last appearance as the Tenth Doctor. (The End of Time)
Bernard Cribbins' last regular story as Wilfred Mott. (The End of Time)
Russell T Davies' last involvement in the show during his first stint as Executive Producer. (The End of Time)
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| Doctor Who Magazine - Countdown to 50 | Issue 462 - (Released: August 2013) |
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The Doctor and Acquaintances | | The Tenth Doctor |
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|  | | The Eleventh Doctor |
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 | | Wilfred Mott |
|  | | Lady Christina de Souza |
|  | | Adelaide Brooke |
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On Release | | Complete Series DVD Box Set |
VIDEO |
|  | | Complete Series Blu-Ray Box Set |
VIDEO |
|  | | Original Television Soundtrack Cover |
AUDIO |
|  | | Complete Series 1-7 Ltd Edition Blu-Ray Box Set |
VIDEO |
| | | | |  | Complete Specials DVD Box Set
(2014 Re-release) |
VIDEO |
|  | | Complete David Tennant Years DVD Box Set |
VIDEO |
|  | | Complete Series Blu-Ray Limited Edition Steelbook Box Set |
VIDEO |
|  | | Series 1 - 4 & Specials Blu-Ray Collection Cover |
VIDEO |
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Magazines| |  | | Doctor Who Magazine - Countdown to 50: Issue 462 |
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