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David Tennant
The Next Doctor
Tenth Doctor Logo


Synopsis


Who Are You?
Who Are You?
 Christmas Eve, 1851, and Cybermen stalk the snow of Victorian London.

 When The Doctor arrives and starts to investigate a spate of mysterious deaths, he is surprised to meet another Doctor and soon, the two must combine forces to defeat the ruthless Miss Hartigan.

 But are two Doctors enough to stop the rise of the CyberKing?

Source: BBC DVD


General Information

Season: Thirty (New Series 4) Specials
Production Code: 4-14
Story Number: 200 (New Series: 44)
Episode Number:752 (New Series: 56)
Number of Episodes: 1
Percentage of Episodes Held:100%
Production Dates: April 2008
Broadcast Date: 25 December 2008
Colour Status: Colour
Studio: BBC Wales (Upper Boat, Pontypridd)
Location: Gloucester (including Gloucester Cathedral) and St. Woolos Cemetery (Newport).
Writer:Russell T Davies
Director:Andy Goddard
Producer:Susie Liggat
Executive Producers:Julie Gardner and Russell T Davies
Associate Producer:Catrin Lewis Defis
Script Editor:Lindsey Alford
Editor:Richard Cox
Production Executive:Julie Scott
Production Designer:Edward Thomas
Director of Photography:Ernie Vincze BSC
Casting Director:Andy Pryor CDG
Costume Designer:Louise Page
Make-Up Designer:Barbara Southcott
Cameramen:Joe Russell (Operator) and Roger Pearce (Operator)
Visual Effects:The Mill
Special Effects:Any Effects
Prosthetics:Millennium FX
Stunt Co-ordinators:Lee Sheward and Tom Lucy
Incidental Music:Murray Gold
Special Sounds (SFX Editor):Paul Jefferies
Sound Recordist:Julian Howarth
Sound Supervisor:Paul McFadden
Music Performed By:The BBC National Orchestra of Wales
Title Music:Ron Grainer and the BBC Radiophonic Workshop. Arranged by Murray Gold
Cybermen Originally Created By: Kit Pedler and Gerry Davis
Number of Doctors: 1
The Doctor: David Tennant (The Tenth Doctor)
Number of Companions: None Guest Cast: David Morrissey (Jackson Lake), Dervla Kirwan (Miss Hartigan) Additional Cast: Velile Tshabalala (Rosita), Ruari Mears (Cybershade), Paul Kasey (Cyberleader), Edmund Kente (Mr Scoones), Michael Bertenshaw (Mr Cole), Jason Morell (Vicar), Neil McDermott (Jed), Ashley Horne (Lad), Tom Langford (Frederic), Jordan Southwell (Urchin), Matthew Allick (Docker), Nicholas Briggs (Cyber Voices)Setting: London (1851) Villain: Cybermen

The Episodes

No. Episodes Broadcast
(UK)
Duration Viewers
(Millions)
In Archive
752The Next Doctor25 December 200860'28"13.1Yes

Total Duration 1 Hour


Audience Appreciation

Average Viewers (Millions) 13.1
Doctor Who Magazine Poll (2009)69.56%  (Position = 107 out of 200)
Doctor Who Magazine Poll (2010)69.90% Higher (Position = 3 out of 10)
Doctor Who Magazine Poll (2014)67.94% Lower (Position = 149 out of 241)
Doctor Who Magazine Poll (2023) Position = 27 out of 36


Archives


 This story exists and is held in the BBC's Film and Videotape Library.



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Notes


This is the fourth Christmas special of the revived show. During its airing it had a viewing audience of 13.1 million viewers making it the second most watched programme of Christmas Day in 2008.

David Morrissey plays the titular Next Doctor – a man who believes himself to be a Time Lord - and Velile Tshabalala plays his companion Rosita. Executive Producer, Russell T Davies, on talking about both ‘Doctors’ working together, has described Rosita as ‘probably cleverer than the two of them put together’. It has been revealed that Russell T Davies chose the name Rosita for the Next Doctor's companion, because it contained elements of 'Rose' and 'Martha' – two of the real Doctor’s companions.

David Tennant and David Morrissey have previously worked together on the acclaimed BBC drama Blackpool. Interestingly at one point in this drama, David Tennant's character can be seen walking past the Doctor Who Exhibition in the town!

Dervla Kirwan plays Mercy Hartigan, who Russell T Davies has described, in this story's podcast commentary, as ‘dark a villain as you will ever have’.

The ten incarnations of The Doctor, to date, appear in this story through an infostamp projection. Apart from Peter Davison's newly filmed appearance as the Fifth Doctor in the special mini-story "Time Crash", "The Next Doctor" marks the first time footage of The Doctor prior to his Ninth incarnation, and any footage made prior to 2005, has been used within a story since Doctor Who was revived in 2005. The footage of the First Doctor (William Hartnell) is taken from "The Time Meddler"; the Second Doctor (Patrick Troughton) from "The Ice Warriors"; the Third Doctor (Jon Pertwee) from "Terror of the Autons"; the Fourth Doctor (Tom Baker) from "City of Death"; the Fifth Doctor from "Arc of Infinity"; the Sixth Doctor (Colin Baker) from The Trial of a Time Lord story "The Mysterious Planet"; the Seventh Doctor (Sylvester McCoy) from "Time and The Rani"; the Eighth Doctor (Paul McGann) from the 1996 television movie "Doctor Who: The Movie"; the Ninth Doctor from "Bad Wolf/The Parting of the Ways"; and the Tenth Doctor from "Human Nature/The Family of Blood". Further footage of the Tenth Doctor appears from other stories including "Blink", "Tooth and Claw", "The Runaway Bride", "Voyage of the Damned" and "The Lazarus Experiment". Previously the ten Doctors were all illustrated in A Journal of Impossible Things, a book featured in "Human Nature/The Family of Blood", however only a few of these illustrations were actually shown on screen. Audio clips of Roger Delgado and Anthony Ainley, as The Master, were used in "Utopia".

This special sees the return of the Cybermen, (of the design of the parallel universe's Cybus Industries Cybermen), following their previous appearance in the two-part finale of Season Twenty Eight (New Series 2) 2006 story "Army of Ghosts/Doomsday".

This is the only Christmas Special so far in the show to be set in the past and Russell T Davies revealed to the Radio Times: ‘The Doctor finds himself staring at that inevitable day when his tenth incarnation must die…’.

Miss Hartigan is heard to use the expression 'Excellent', previously associated with the 1980's Cybermen.

This is the first Christmas Special for which a new song has not been written.

When trying to trigger Jackson's memories, The Doctor is heard to refer to 'not blinking', 'weeping angels' and 'Sally Sparrow', all of which featured in "Blink". The Doctor also refers obliquely to past companions, noting to Jackson Lake that they either leave him, meet someone else or forget about him. A red herring as to Jackson Lake's identity refers to a Time Lord's consciousness being contained in a pocket watch, in reference to the events of "Human Nature/The Family of Blood" and "Utopia"; however, the watch does contain the answer to Jackson Lake's identity when opened.

The Doctor mentions the events of "Army of Ghosts/Doomsday". Although the Doctor Who spin-off series, Torchwood, furthered that story in the episode "Cyberwoman". These Cybermen have survived the apparent destruction of the Void, using Dalek technology developed in the Void to pass through dimensions. It is also implied by The Doctor that the events of Season Thirty that allowed the Cybermen to escape the Void, as it also allowed Rose Tyler to return to her own universe.

The Cyberleader is seen to sport a brain-revealing helmet, similar to the converted John Lumic/Cybercontroller from "Rise of the Cybermen/The Age of Steel". The helmet's face has been painted black, however, possibly a design nod to Kroton The Cyberman, who appeared in comics strips in Doctor Who Weekly and Doctor Who Monthly.

Interestingly Jackson Lake's ‘TARDIS’ features 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?

Most of the location filming was carried out in the streets of Gloucester. This proved so popular that crowds of over 1,000 people gathered on some evenings hampering the shooting schedule. The main setting of Torchwood, their Torchwood Hub was also redesigned and used as the workshop for the children.

This story was filmed during production of Season Thirty (New Series 4), the first time a Christmas special has been rolled into production of the preceding season. This allowed the second story of the Season Thirty (New Series 4) finale, "The Stolen Earth/Journey's End" to include a trailer for this story.

The pre-credits sequence of the special were broadcast as a special preview during the 2008 Children in Need appeal in November 2008.

Unlike previous seasons the ending of this story does not include a trailer for the next story it does though contain, just before the end credits a caption stating that 'Doctor Who will return in PLANET OF THE DEAD'.

The end credits also include for the first time a ‘Cymru Wales’ logo.

Following on immediately after this story, on BBC3, was an untitled episode of Doctor Who Confidential presented by Anthony Head. This programme was released in full in The Complete Specials Box Set in January 2010.

Also shown, after this story on BBC3, was a short 10 minutes programme called "Christmas Moments". Presented by Anthony Head it contained excerpts and behind the scenes footage from previous Christmas, and Christmas related, editions of Confidential – including "The Unquiet Dead", "The Christmas Invasion", "The Runaway Bride", "Voyage of the Damned" and "The Next Doctor".



First and Last

The Firsts:

 The first story of Season Thirty (New Series 4 Specials).

 The first story, of the revised series, that The Doctor is without a companion.

 The first appearance of a CyberKing - a giant Cyberman-shaped robot ship.

 The first appearance of a Cybershade.

 The first Christmas Special to be set in the past.

 The first story, of the revised series, that includes footage of The Doctor prior to his Ninth incarnation, and any footage made prior to 2005.

 The first Christmas Special for which a new song has not been written.

 The first time a Christmas special has been recorded as part of the production schedule for the preceding series.

 The first time the pre-credits sequence have been broadcast as a special preview.

 The first time the ending of a story does not include a trailer for the next story.

 The first Doctor Who story to include the ‘Cymru Wales’ logo in the end credits.

 Catrin Lewis Defis' first involvement in the show as Associate Producer.

 The first Doctor Who story to be directed by Andy Goddard.


The Lasts (Subject to Future Stories):

 Susie Liggat's last involvement in the show as Producer.

 Catrin Lewis Defis' last involvement in the show as Associate Producer.


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Story Images

Show Text
Who Are You?
Who Are You?
Jackson Lake and Rosita
Jackson Lake and Rosita
A Cybershade
A Cybershade
Two Doctors
Two Doctors
 
Cybershades
Cybershades
Miss Hartigan
Miss Hartigan
The Cyberleader
The Cyberleader
Miss Hartigan and the Cybermen
Miss Hartigan and the Cybermen
 
Miss Hartigan in the CyberKing
Miss Hartigan in the CyberKing
The CyberKing Over London
The CyberKing Over London
The TARDIS
The TARDIS
Attacking the CyberKing
Attacking the CyberKing
 




Quote of the Story


 'I'm the Doctor! The one, the only, and the best! Rosita, hand me the sonic screwdriver!'

The "Next" Doctor



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Release Information

FormatTitleRelease Date (UK)Code NumberCover ArtRemarks
Video
DVD
The Next DoctorJanuary 2009BBCDVD 2903Photo-montageIncludes a 59 minute edited version of the Doctor Who BBC Prom hosted by Freema Agyeman (incuding the seven minute mini-episode "Music of the Spheres")
Video
DVD
The Complete Specials Box SetJanuary 2010BBCDVD 3104Photo-montageDVD boxed set containing all 4 stories
Video
Blu-Ray
The Complete Specials Box SetJanuary 2010BBCBD 0053Photo-montageBlu-Ray boxed set containing all 4 stories
Audio
CD
Original Television Soundtrack - Series 4 SpecialsOctober 2010Photo-montageMusic by Murray Gold
Video
Blu-Ray
The Complete Series 1-7 Box Set (Limited Edition)December 2013BBCBD 0242Photo-montageLimited Edition Blu-Ray boxed set containing all Series 1-7 stories at full 1080p high definition
Video
DVD
The Complete Specials (2014 Re-release)August 2014BBCDVD 3972Photo-montageBoxed set containing all 4 stories
Video
DVD
The Complete David Tennant Years Box SetNovember 2014BBCDVD 4000Photo-montageBoxed set containing all 37 stories on 26 Discs
Video
DVD
The Christmas Specials Box Set (Limited Edition)October 2015BBCDVD 4059Photo-montageBoxed set containing 10 Christmas stories
Video
Blu-Ray
The Christmas Specials Box Set (Limited Edition)October 2015BBCBD 0314Photo-montageBlu-Ray boxed set containing 10 Christmas stories
Video
Blu-Ray
The Complete Fourth Series (Specials) Box Set (Limited Edition Steelbook)September 2019BBCBD 0470Photo-montageLimited Edition Blu-Ray Steelbook boxed set containing 4 stories
Video
Blu-Ray
Series 1 - 4 & Specials Blu-Ray CollectionNovember 2023BBCBD 0582Photo-montageBoxed set containing all Ninth and Tenth Doctor stories upscaled to high definition


In Print

No Book Release
Doctor Who Magazine - PreviewIssue 403 (Released: January 2009)
Doctor Who Magazine - ReviewIssue 405 (Released: March 2009)
Doctor Who Magazine - The Fact of FictionIssue 455 (Released: January 2013)
Doctor Who Magazine - Time TeamIssue 481 (Released: January 2015)
Doctor Who DVD FilesVolume 28 (Released: January 2010)

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Photo Gallery


The Doctor

 
David Tennant
The Tenth Doctor

   





On Release

DVD Cover
DVD Cover

BBC
VIDEO
Complete Specials DVD Box Set
Complete Specials DVD Box Set

BBC
VIDEO
Complete Specials Blu-Ray Box Set
Complete Specials Blu-Ray Box Set

BBC
VIDEO
Original Television Soundtrack Cover
Original Television Soundtrack Cover

BBC
AUDIO
   
Complete Series 1-7 Ltd Edition Blu-Ray Box Set
Complete Series 1-7 Ltd Edition Blu-Ray Box Set

BBC
VIDEO
Complete Specials DVD Box Set<BR>(2014 Re-release)
Complete Specials DVD Box Set
(2014 Re-release)

BBC
VIDEO
Complete David Tennant Years DVD Box Set
Complete David Tennant Years DVD Box Set

BBC
VIDEO
DVD Christmas Stories Box Set
DVD Christmas Stories Box Set

BBC
VIDEO
   
Blu-Ray Christmas Stories Box Set
Blu-Ray Christmas Stories Box Set

BBC
VIDEO
Complete Series Blu-Ray Limited Edition Steelbook Box Set
Complete Series Blu-Ray Limited Edition Steelbook Box Set

BBC
VIDEO
Series 1 - 4 & Specials Blu-Ray Collection Cover
Series 1 - 4 & Specials Blu-Ray Collection Cover

BBC
VIDEO



Magazines

Doctor Who Magazine - Preview: Issue 403
Doctor Who Magazine - Preview: Issue 403

Marvel Comics
Doctor Who Magazine - Review: Issue 405
Doctor Who Magazine - Review: Issue 405

Marvel Comics
Doctor Who Magazine - The Fact of Fiction: Issue 455
Doctor Who Magazine - The Fact of Fiction: Issue 455

Marvel Comics
Doctor Who Magazine - Time Team: Issue 481
Doctor Who Magazine - Time Team: Issue 481

Marvel Comics
   
Doctor Who DVD Files: Volume 28
Doctor Who DVD Files: Volume 28

GE Fabbri


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