The Doctor, Rose and Jack find themselves competing in lethal futuristic versions of modern reality and quiz shows. They have somehow been brought aboard the Game Station, which the Doctor realises is what Satellite 5 became following his intervention a century earlier. Now it transmits dozens of programmes to keep humanity docile, under the direction of the mysterious Bad Wolf Corporation. But the true power behind the Game Station is the revitalised Dalek Empire. When Rose is captured by the Daleks, the Doctor must risk everything to save his friend, and the Earth itself.

Russell T Davies was first approached about a Doctor Who revival around the end of 1998. Although it would take almost five years for the discussions to bear fruit, in the interim Davies continued to have occasional conversations with various BBC representatives about his ideas for the programme. One of the first storylines he suggested was a far-future adventure in which modern reality television was taken to absurd and deadly extremes. In particular, he cited the popular quiz show Weakest Link, which had launched in August 2000 and made an international star of its forbidding presenter, Anne Robinson. Davies proposed that the Doctor could encounter a lethal version of Weakest Link, hosted by the robotic Anne Droid.

When Davies finally became Doctor Who's executive producer in 2003, he decided to revive the futuristic narrative as Season Twenty-Seven's penultimate episode. In his pitch document of December 8th, “Gameshow World!” -- also referred to as “Game Show World” -- took place on a space station run by a mentally-enhanced teenager named Edward. As a cost-saving measure, the Game Station would reuse the Satellite 5 sets from episode seven, The Long Game, although the story's events would be set five hundred years later.

Part of the reason Jack had been added to the TARDIS crew was to provide a character well-versed in military tactics

But the attention-grabbing gimmick of “Gameshow World!” was not the episode's sole purpose. Far from being a standalone adventure, it would serve as the first installment of the season's two-part finale, with the masters of the Game Station revealed to be the Daleks. Having spotlighted the menace of a lone Dalek in episode six, Robert Shearman's Dalek, Davies now intended to dazzle audiences with the spectacle of a massive Dalek army in the concluding episode, The Parting Of The Ways. Indeed, part of the reason Captain Jack Harkness had been added to the TARDIS crew in the latter stages of the season was to provide Davies with a character well-versed in military tactics who could believably coordinate a defence against a full-scale Dalek assault.

For five weeks in mid-2004, however, these plans were threatened by the BBC's inability to reach a deal for the use of the Daleks with the estate of their creator, Terry Nation. With time growing short, Davies considered replacing the Daleks in the finale with either the Cybermen or his own invention, the Spheres. During July, Shearman revised Dalek to incorporate a Sphere, only for the impasse to be resolved in early August. The Daleks were restored to both Shearman's script and Davies' finale, while the Spheres would eventually appear as the Toclafane of 2007's The Sound Of Drums / Last Of The Time Lords.

One plot thread absent from Davies' pitch document was the running theme of the phrase “bad wolf” which dogged the Doctor and Rose throughout the season. It had started as a bit of colour which Davies added to his script for episode four, Aliens Of London, with a young boy spray-painting the words on the side of the TARDIS. Davies then began to insert them into other stories: in dialogue from the Moxx of Balhoon in The End Of The World, during Gwyneth's conversation with Rose in The Unquiet Dead, as the identification for Henry Van Statten's helicopter in Dalek, as a TV channel in The Long Game, scrawled on a poster in Father's Day, in German as the name of the bomb in The Empty Child / The Doctor Dances, and finally in Welsh as the designation of the nuclear power station in Boom Town. The phrase had also crept up in various tie-in media, such as the original Ninth Doctor novels from BBC Books and in additional content on the BBC's Doctor Who website. Davies was initially uncertain as to whether the “bad wolf” element would continue into a potential 2006 season -- or even be abandoned altogether -- but he finally decided that the arc should come to fruition in the year's final adventure, and tie into Rose Tyler's climactic decision to absorb the powers of the time vortex.

The “bad wolf” thread was not the only addition which Davies' evolving storyline had to reflect. His relationship with his lead actor, Christopher Eccleston, had deteriorated following the season's chaotic first production block. Late in 2004, Eccleston informed Davies and executive producer Julie Gardner that he would not be returning to Doctor Who after Season Twenty-Seven. As such, The Parting Of The Ways would now have to culminate in the Doctor's regeneration.

Russell T Davies began to consider the development of a spin-off series which would focus on Jack

One of the consequences of Eccleston's decision was that Captain Jack would have to be written out of the show. With a new Doctor taking over in the event that Doctor Who continued to its twenty-eighth season, Davies knew that he would want to focus on redefining the Time Lord's relationship with Rose Tyler, and he didn't want Jack's far-future perspective to render the regeneration a more mundane event. Instead, Davies began to consider the development of a spin-off series which would focus on Jack and be set in Doctor Who's production home of Cardiff. He began to refer to the proposed programme as Torchwood, an anagram of Doctor Who which was being used to disguise videotapes when they were couriered from Cardiff to London. John Barrowman was made aware of the plans, and he was also told that Jack would likely return to Doctor Who for multiple episodes during its hypothetical 2007 season.

Davies began writing “Gameshow World!” / The Parting Of The Ways in November. At this stage, the period of time which had elapsed since The Long Game was shortened to one century. To begin seeding the Torchwood concept, Davies inserted it as a quiz answer provided by the Anne Droid. Always unhappy with the Edward character, Davies first replaced him with an elderly man. He then took inspiration from the clairvoyants in the 2002 science-fiction film Minority Report to instead develop the pale, androgynous Controller. At one point, it was thought that the Controller would have no limbs, but this was deemed too macabre. The Controller initially survived into The Parting Of The Ways to provide the Doctor with someone to whom he could talk, until Davies decided that it would be more effective if he were to converse with the Emperor Dalek instead. Davies also wanted to reunite Jackie Tyler with modern-day versions of her friends Bev, Sarah and Suzie, who had been seen as young women in episode eight, Father's Day. With the help of Jackie's boyfriend, Rodrigo, they would link their vehicles together to open the TARDIS console. This sequence was later replaced with the more straightforward introduction of the tow truck which Jackie borrowed from the now-unseen Rodrigo.

For the Doctor's regeneration, Davies was determined to establish a more dynamic and affirmative staging than had previously been employed. To this point, the Doctor had always regenerated in a vulnerable, prone position; now he would be standing and exploding with energy, turning into a virtual fountain of light. Davies and Gardner had promised Eccleston that his departure from Doctor Who would be kept secret, both for fear of undermining the programme's relaunch and to provide viewers with a shocking surprise at the end of the season. As such, Davies wrote a fake section of script in which the Doctor did not regenerate; instead, a TARDIS read-out informed him that Rose was dying as a result of the “time damage” she had sustained.

Endemol UK was extremely cooperative, even designing a futuristic version of the Big Brother logo

One of Davies' fears about “Gameshow World!” was that the rights to spoof popular programmes might be difficult to acquire, forcing him to substitute more generic scenarios. Although Weakest Link and fashion series What Not To Wear were both BBC properties, reality staple Big Brother was not, being owned instead by Endemol UK and broadcast on Channel 4. Negotiations with Endemol spanned eleven months beginning as early as December 2003 but, in the end, the company proved extremely cooperative, even designing a futuristic version of the show's logo for use in Doctor Who. Davies was also delighted when each of the three programmes' presenters -- Anne Robinson of Weakest Link, Davina McCall of Big Brother, and Trinny Woodall and Susannah Constantine of What Not To Wear -- agreed to lend their vocal talents to “Gameshow World!”. Davies had assumed that soundalikes would have to be employed in their stead.

The two-part finale formed the last production block for Season Twenty-Seven. Having recently completed work on Dalek and Father's Day, Joe Ahearne agreed to return to the director's chair. He would subsequently commit to directing episode eleven, Boom Town, as well, and would move on to “Gameshow World!” and The Parting Of The Ways immediately afterwards. Ahearne's budget accommodated the construction of two new Dalek casings to join the version built for Dalek. Whereas the first of the revamped Daleks had been created in-house by the BBC Visual Effects Department, the new casings were contracted out to the firm Specialist Models.

Filming began on February 16th and 17th, 2005, when a house on Severn Square in Cardiff was the venue for the scenes in the Big Brother house. A week followed at Doctor Who's studio home of Unit Q2 in Newport. On the 18th, Ahearne recorded material in the TARDIS, plus the Doctor awakening in the Big Brother house. He then concentrated on Floor 500 sequences for several days, starting on February 19th and continuing from the 21st to the 24th.

For Weakest Link, some thought was given to using the quiz show's actual set at Pinewood Studios in Iver Heath, Buckinghamshire. However, the travel time and limited availability prompted the decision to construct a new set at the Newport City Live Arena. Filming there took place on February 25th and 28th. The remainder of the week was then spent back at Unit Q2. March 1st to 3rd focussed on various levels of the Game Station. Other sets in use included Archive Six on the first day, when Ahearne also captured some pick-up shots; the security area on the middle day; and both the lift and the observation deck on the last day. More action in the TARDIS was on the agenda for the 4th, including the fake ending. Eccleston's part of the regeneration was then taped in secret, with a minimal crew.

Eccleston's last day on Doctor Who was March 5th, when scenes aboard the Dalek spaceship were taped at Enfys Television Studios in Cardiff. Ahearne completed work there on the 7th, when Billie Piper was the only regular castmember required. Unit Q2 was again the venue on March 8th and 9th; with time growing short, two units were working on the episodes simultaneously. The 8th was spent on observation deck and Floor 0 sequences, alongside various inserts. The 9th concentrated on the TARDIS set, plus the Daleks' progress through the floors of the Game Station. On March 10th, material in the Powell Estate was recorded at Loudoun Square in Cardiff; this included the chip shop, which was really the Paddle Steamer Cafe. Work at Loudoun Square continued on the 11th, which was Piper's final recording day for the season.

The last of the three parody segments, the What Not To Wear send-up, was taped at Unit Q2 on March 12th, while the second unit captured Dalek action in various parts of the Game Station. Principal photography on Season Twenty-Seven then came to an end at Unit Q2 on March 14th, with Ahearne's main concern being material involving Jack aboard the Game Station; this wrapped up Barrowman's tenure on Doctor Who for the time being. Some footage of the Emperor Dalek was also completed on this final day, for which the animatronic Kaled mutant introduced in Dalek was reused with the understanding that the liquid in which it floated would ultimately destroy the mechanism. Nicholas Briggs modelled his Emperor Dalek voice after the work of Peter Hawkins, who had provided the dialogue for the original Emperor in 1967's The Evil Of The Daleks.

Model filming for the two episodes was conducted at the BBC Model Unit Stage in Acton, London on March 22nd and 23rd. Working to one-fifth scale, supervisor Mike Tucker and his team constructed a six-foot-tall version of the thirty-foot Emperor Dalek. Meanwhile, Season Twenty-Seven had debuted on television, and the news of Eccleston's departure soon leaked. On April 16th, David Tennant was announced as the Tenth Doctor. Five days later, on the 21st, he recorded his part of the regeneration scene at Unit Q2.

A special documentary led into The Parting Of The Ways on June 18th

By the time the season's penultimate episode aired on June 11th, it had been appropriately retitled Bad Wolf. Equally appropriately, it was preceded by an installment of Weakest Link, replacing Strictly Dance Fever which had concluded its run the week before. Given the enormous success of Season Twenty-Seven, it was decided that a special documentary would lead into The Parting Of The Ways. Weakest Link was consequently brought forward to air earlier in the evening on June 18th, with Doctor Who: The Ultimate Guide taking its place in the schedule. In the weeks to come, however, Weakest Link would become the new regular occupant of the timeslot vacated by Doctor Who.

Although viewers had been denied the shock of the Doctor's regeneration, the month of June still held a surprise for Doctor Who fans. At a June 15th screening of The Parting Of The Ways at the British Academy of Film and Television Arts, Davies and Jane Tranter, the BBC's Controller of Drama Commissioning, revealed that Doctor Who had been renewed not just for a second season and a 2005 Christmas special -- as had been confirmed at the end of March -- but also a third season and a 2006 Christmas special. Tranter had delivered the news to Davies just that morning.

So it was that, as viewers bade farewell to Eccleston and caught their first glimpse of Tennant's Doctor, the book was closed on a remarkable thirteen-week run. For two decades, Doctor Who had languished in increasing obscurity, viewed by the general public -- and by many within the BBC -- as either a quaint relic of a bygone era or as a cheaply-made embarrassment. In just three months, the potent alchemy of Davies, Eccleston and Piper had captured the hearts and minds of the audience, claimed the upper echelons of the ratings tables, reinvigorated Saturday night family viewing, and redefined the boundaries of what British television could accomplish. Doctor Who was back, and its future had perhaps never looked so rosy.

• Dalek 63·88, edited by Jon Green and Gavin Rymill.
• Doctor Who Magazine Special Edition #11, 31st August 2005, “Fact File: Bad Wolf/The Parting Of The Ways” by Andrew Pixley, Panini Publishing Ltd.
• Doctor Who: The Complete History #50, 2018, “Story 166: Bad Wolf / The Parting Of The Ways”, edited by John Ainsworth, Hachette Partworks Ltd.
• Doctor Who: The Inside Story by Gary Russell (2006), BBC Books.