| Specials (2005): A New And Glorious
Morn |
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|
Children In Need Special (2005) by
Russell T Davies, directed by Euros Lyn
Rose confronts the stranger who claims to be the Doctor. But even as the
man tries to convince her of his true identity, something appears to have
gone badly wrong with the incredible change he's just experienced.
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The Christmas Invasion by Russell T
Davies, directed by James Hawes
On Christmas Eve, the TARDIS returns to the Powell Estate, where the
newly-regenerated Doctor collapses. Jackie and Mickey help Rose care for
the ailing Time Lord, who attracts unwanted attention in the form of
menacing robotic Santas and a lethal Christmas tree. Meanwhile, a
British space probe is captured by the warlike Sycorax as it makes its
final approach to Mars, prompting a defiant response from Prime Minister
Harriet Jones and UNIT. But when the Sycorax take control of one-third
of the Earth's population, Harriet realises that only the Doctor can
save them... if he's ever able to emerge from his comatose state.
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|
With the return of Doctor Who proving to be a massive success, the
BBC elected to commission not just a second season, but also -- for the
first time in the programme's history -- a Christmas special, which would
serve to introduce the Tenth Doctor to his audience. It was subsequently
decided to preface The Christmas
Invasion with a mini-episode to air during the 2005 Children
In Need charity appeal.
|
| Season Twenty-Eight (2006): Lonely
Gods |
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|
New Earth by Russell T Davies,
directed by James Hawes
The Face of Boe summons the Doctor and Rose to a hospital on New Earth
in the far future. The facility is run by the cat-like Sisters of
Plenitude, and the Doctor is astonished to find that their medical
technology is centuries ahead of its time. Suspicious of how the Sisters
have achieved such advancements, he discovers secret holding cells full
of sick and dying humans, being experimented upon against their will.
Meanwhile Cassandra, the last human, has survived her apparent death on
Platform One and is lurking in the bowels of the hospital. There she
uses a psychograft to displace Rose's mind and take control of her body.
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Tooth And Claw by Russell T Davies,
directed by Euros Lyn
In 1879 Scotland, the Doctor and Rose join Queen Victoria's retinue as
she travels to her Balmoral estate. They stop for the night at Torchwood
House, the residence of Sir Robert MacLeish, whose father was a friend
of Victoria's late husband, Prince Albert. However, they are
unaware that the premises have been taken over by an order of corrupted
monks, who are holding Sir Robert's wife hostage. The monks serve an
alien force which can inhabit a host body and transform it into a
werewolf under the light of the full moon. And now it plans to infect
none other than Victoria herself...
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School Reunion by Toby Whithouse,
directed by James Hawes
Mickey summons the Doctor and Rose to Deffry Vale High School, which he
believes is the site of an alien incursion. Since the arrival of a
sinister new headmaster, Lucas Finch, academic performance is soaring --
but some of the students have started to go missing. The Doctor poses as
a teacher, while Rose becomes a dinner lady and discovers that there is
something peculiar about a special cooking oil. Someone else has also
grown suspicious of Deffry Vale: a journalist by the name of Sarah Jane
Smith. Reunited with the Doctor, she must help him uncover the plans of
the extraterrestrial scavengers known as the Krillitanes.
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The Doctor and Rose invite Mickey to join them aboard the TARDIS.
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The Girl In The Fireplace by Steven
Moffat, directed by Euros Lyn
Aboard a derelict spaceship generating vast quantities of energy, the
Doctor, Rose and Mickey are surprised to come across an ornate
fireplace. More astonishingly, the fireplace provides access to a
bedroom in 1727 Paris. There the Doctor meets a girl named Reinette who
is being stalked by sinister clockwork robots. Each visit propels the
Doctor further along Reinette's timestream, and he soon discovers that
she grows up to become Madame de Pompadour, mistress of King Louis XV.
The Doctor is determined to uncover the mystery which links Reinette to
the clockwork robots and the spaceship -- but at what cost to himself?
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|
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Rise Of The Cybermen / The Age Of
Steel by Tom MacRae, directed by Graeme Harper
The TARDIS is catapulted into a parallel universe where Rose discovers
that her father, Pete, is still alive. A successful but childless man in
this reality, Peter Tyler is in business with the wealthy and powerful
John Lumic, the owner of Cybus Industries, who is seeking to stave off
his terminal illness by any means necessary. At the same time, Mickey
learns that his counterpart, Ricky, is the leader of the Preachers, a
resistance movement trying to prevent Lumic from giving humanity the
ultimate upgrade. Much to the Doctor's horror, Lumic's plan is one which
he has seen executed before: the creation of the Cybermen!
|
Mickey decides to stay on the parallel Earth to combat the Cybermen.
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The Idiot's Lantern by Mark Gatiss,
directed by Euros Lyn
Strange things are happening in 1953 London, in the days leading up to
the coronation of Queen Elizabeth II. Mr Magpie, the owner of an
electronics store, is practically giving away television sets -- despite
the fact that they're the cutting edge of new technology. Black-suited
policemen are taking people away under the cloak of darkness. And
something is turning normal men and women into faceless monsters. An
entity called the Wire dwells within the television signal, preying upon
those around it. Now it's up to the Doctor to stop the Wire, even as
Rose becomes its latest victim...
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The Impossible Planet / The Satan
Pit by Matt Jones, directed by James Strong
The TARDIS brings the Doctor and Rose to Sanctuary Base Six, a research
facility on a planet which -- against all the laws of physics -- orbits
a black hole. Meeting the crew, the Doctor is astonished to find that
they have unearthed writing so ancient that even the TARDIS can't
translate it. The goal of the expedition is to drill miles below the
planet's surface and locate the incredible power source which is
counteracting the black hole's massive gravitational pull. But Toby Zed,
the team archaeologist, is being haunted by a malevolent voice. The
telepathic Ood servants are behaving very strangely. And the Beast has
awakened...
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Love & Monsters by Russell T
Davies, directed by Dan Zeff
Elton Pope encountered the Doctor as a small boy, and has been looking for
him ever since. As an adult, Elton comes across a blog about the Doctor
written by a woman named Ursula. She helps Elton connect with other
individuals who have an interest in the Doctor, and the result is the
formation of a group called LINDA -- ostensibly an investigatory
organisation, but really just a small social club. All that changes,
though, when LINDA gains a new member in the form of the enigmatic
Victor Kennedy. He ruthlessly sets LINDA the task of ensnaring the
Doctor: a plan which soon brings Jackie Tyler into Elton's life.
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Fear Her by Matthew Graham,
directed by Euros Lyn
In 2012, London is gearing up to host the Summer Olympic Games. But in
Dame Kelly Holmes Close, a residential neighbourhood along the route of
the Olympic torch, children are vanishing in broad daylight. The Doctor
and Rose investigate, and the trail leads them to a young girl named
Chloe Webber. Her mother worries because Chloe has become withdrawn
following the recent death of her abusive father. But the Doctor
discovers that Chloe has bonded with a powerful interstellar entity
called an Isolus. Now she has the ability to trap people inside her
crayon drawings -- and anyone could be her next target.
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Army Of Ghosts / Doomsday
by Russell T Davies, directed by Graeme Harper
Spectral figures are appearing all over the world, leading many to
believe that they're the ghosts of the dead. Suspicious, the Doctor
follows their trail to the London headquarters of the enigmatic
Torchwood Institute. Led by Yvonne Hartman, Torchwood's remit is to deal
remorselessly with alien incursions on British soil. But
Torchwood itself has been infiltrated by the Cybermen, who have
established a bridgehead between dimensions using the breach caused by a
Gallifreyan Void Ship. The Void Ship is now hidden at the top of
Torchwood Tower -- and concealed aboard is something even more
terrible...
|
Rose's time in the TARDIS ends when she is trapped in a parallel
universe.
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|
Despite the abrupt change of lead actor, the second season of Doctor
Who's revival lived up to the unexpected success of the first. A
milestone was reached in its final story, Army Of Ghosts / Doomsday,
which brought the Daleks and the Cybermen into conflict with one another
for the first time in the programme's history. But this adventure also
saw the departure of popular companion Rose Tyler, once again raising
questions about the extent to which viewers would stick with a show
which had undergone such extensive changes to its main cast.
|
| Special (2006): A Spaceman Came
Travelling |
| Companions and Recurring Characters |
|
Donna Noble was an office temp from Chiswick,
London. Rescued by the Doctor from the Empress of the Racnoss, she
refused his offer to stay aboard the TARDIS. Donna later regretted this
decision, and sought the Doctor out so that she could join him in his
travels.
Catherine Tate (bio) made her first appearance as
Donna in Doomsday (July 2006)
and her last in The Giggle
(December 2023).
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Sylvia Noble had an uneasy relationship with
her daughter, Donna, and struggled to be supportive during her travels
in the TARDIS.
Jacqueline King (bio) made her first appearance as
Sylvia in The Runaway Bride
(December 2006) and her last in The
Giggle (December 2023).
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The Runaway Bride by Russell T
Davies, directed by Euros Lyn
Donna Noble is supposed to wed Lance Bennett at Christmastime, but she
suddenly vanishes while walking down the aisle. She reappears in the
TARDIS console room -- much to the Doctor's bewilderment. He tries to
return Donna to the church, but they are attacked by robotic Santas.
Finally reuniting Donna with Lance, the Doctor becomes suspicious of
their employer, HC Clements, which has ties to Torchwood and a secret
laboratory under the Thames. But in an orbiting Webstar, the Empress of
the Racnoss awaits the culmination of a plan older than the Earth
itself...
|
After helping the Doctor discover how she appeared aboard the TARDIS,
Donna decides that she's not cut out for his way of life.
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A strong indication of the Doctor Who revival's success came in
June 2005. Having already confirmed that the programme would continue to
a Christmas special and then a full season in 2006, the BBC now
announced that 2006 would also see a second Christmas special, to be
followed by a third season in 2007. With the production team able to
enjoy the benefits of planning two years in advance, the decision
represented a tremendous vote of confidence in Doctor Who.
|
| Season Twenty-Nine (2007): The Measure Of
A Man |
| Companions and Recurring Characters |
|
Martha Jones was a medical student who
encountered the Doctor when her hospital was teleported to the Moon by
the Judoon.
Freema Agyeman (bio) made her first appearance as
Martha in Smith And Jones (March
2007) and her last in The End Of
Time (January 2010).
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Martha's mother, Francine Jones, allowed her
mistrust of the Doctor to deliver her into the clutches of the
Master.
Adjoa Andoh (bio) made her first appearance as
Francine in Smith And Jones
(March 2007) and her last in Journey's
End (July 2008).
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Sister to Martha, Tish Jones unknowingly
worked for the Master when she became an assistant to the misguided
Professor Lazarus.
Gugu Mbatha-Raw (bio) made her first appearance as
Tish in Smith And Jones (March
2007) and her last in Last Of The Time
Lords (June 2007).
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Leo Jones was Martha's brother, and the only
member of their family to escape the trap laid by the Master.
Reggie Yates (bio) made his first appearance as Leo
in Smith And Jones (March 2007)
and his last in The Sound Of
Drums (June 2007).
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Having been resurrected to fight in the Time War, the
Master regenerated soon after being found by the Doctor, and his
new incarnation scaled unprecedented heights of ambition and
madness.
John Simm (bio) made his first appearance as the
Master in Utopia (June 2007) and
his last in The Doctor Falls
(July 2017).
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Smith And Jones by Russell T
Davies, directed by Charles Palmer
Medical student Martha Jones is trying to solve a family squabble
involving her divorced parents, Clive and Francine, and her siblings,
Tish and Leo, when she encounters the Doctor at the hospital where she
works. The Doctor is masquerading as a patient, having observed strange
phenomena nearby. Too late, he realises that it's the work of the
Judoon, ruthless intergalactic policemen-for-hire who hijack the
hospital to the Moon. The Judoon are tracking a blood-sucking alien
fugitive called a Plasmavore... and the Plasmavore will stop at nothing
to avoid capture.
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The Doctor invites Martha to join him as thanks for saving his life.
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The Shakespeare Code by Gareth
Roberts, directed by Charles Palmer
In 1599 London, the beautiful Lilith who haunts the Globe Theatre is
really a witch, in league with the grotesque Bloodtide and Doomfinger.
They're using supernatural means to control the Globe's resident
playwright, William Shakespeare, compelling him to write a new play
called Love's Labour's Won. The Doctor and Martha become
suspicious when they come across a man who has drowned in the street,
and then a woman who dies of fright. They must uncover the true purpose
behind Love's Labour's Won before the curtain rises on its first
-- and only -- performance.
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Gridlock by Russell T Davies,
directed by Richard Clark
The Doctor takes Martha to New Earth, thirty years after his last visit.
Something has gone very wrong: there's a massive traffic snarl on the
Motorway, a conduit beneath New New York, and the congestion has trapped
people in their vehicles for years. When Martha is kidnapped by a
desperate couple who need her to gain access to the Motorway's fast
lane, the Doctor sets off in pursuit with the help of a Catkind named
Brannigan. But rumours abound that there are creatures in the depths of
the Motorway who prey upon the fast lane. And, elsewhere on New Earth,
the Face of Boe is waiting with a final message for the Doctor...
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The TARDIS brings the Doctor and Martha to New York City in the early
days of the Great Depression. There they are alerted to a rash of
disappearances amongst a “Hooverville” transient community
by Solomon, its unofficial mayor. Investigating, the time travellers
discover genetically-engineered Pig Men living in the sewers. Their
masters are none other than the Daleks who, with the help of the wealthy
Mr Diagoras, have perverted the construction of the Empire State
Building. The Daleks plan to spearhead the next stage in their race's
evolution -- a transformation with terrible ramifications for humanity.
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The Lazarus Experiment by Stephen
Greenhorn, directed by Richard Clark
The Doctor brings Martha home, on the day after she joined him in the
TARDIS. Martha learns that her sister, Tish, has been working for the
elderly Professor Lazarus, who has invented a machine which will change
the world. Intrigued, the Doctor accompanies Martha to the unveiling of
Lazarus' device, only to earn a frosty reception from her mother,
Francine. Lazarus announces that he has found a way to reverse ageing
and demonstrates it on himself, apparently restoring his youth. But the
Doctor discovers that Lazarus' DNA is now unstable, and is trying to
transform him into something monstrous.
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42 by Chris Chibnall, directed by
Graeme Harper
The Doctor and Martha find themselves trapped aboard a spaceship which
is spiralling into a sun. Its main engines have been sabotaged by
Korwin, the husband of Captain McDonnell, who has suddenly gone berserk.
The Doctor soon discovers that Korwin's entire biological make-up is
changing. His eyes start to burn with a terrible light, incinerating at
a glance, and he begins to prowl the ship -- killing some crewmembers
and infecting others. The time travellers have just forty-two minutes to
avert disaster... but the Doctor is succumbing to the same horrible
transformation.
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Human Nature / The Family Of Blood
by Paul Cornell, directed by Charles Palmer
At Farringham School for Boys in 1913, teacher John Smith dreams of
being an adventurer in time and space known as “the Doctor”.
One of the maids, Martha Jones, watches warily as Mr Smith grows close
to Joan Redfern, the school nurse. Oft-bullied student Tim Latimer, who
sometimes experiences flashes of preternatural insight, suspects that
something is very odd about a fob watch Mr Smith keeps on his mantel.
And in the neighbouring fields, one of Tim's tormentors, Baines, finds
an invisible spaceship. Soon Farringham is overrun with animated
Scarecrows, as the cruel Family of Blood hunts for a Time Lord...
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Blink by Steven Moffat, directed by
Hettie MacDonald
While exploring an abandoned house called Wester Drumlins, Sally Sparrow
is intrigued when she notices some writing hidden behind the peeling
wallpaper. Her curiosity turns to bewilderment when she reveals a
message left in 1969 by someone called “the Doctor” -- a
message addressed directly to her. The puzzle turns deadly serious when
Sally's friend, Kathy Nightingale, goes missing in Wester Drumlins after
encountering a sinister statue. Stranger still, Kathy's brother, Larry,
has been investigating the Doctor after discovering hidden clips of him
on several DVDs... all warning of the mysterious Weeping Angels.
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Utopia by Russell T Davies,
directed by Graeme Harper
When the Doctor and Martha land in modern-day Cardiff, Captain Jack
Harkness hitches a ride, inadvertently propelling the TARDIS forwards in
time to the last days of the universe. On the barren planet Malcassairo,
the Doctor and his friends discover the remaining vestiges of humanity,
marooned and preyed upon by the degenerate Futurekind. The elderly
Professor Yana is trying to perfect a spaceship which will take his
people to a fabled Utopia beyond the dying stars. But even the Doctor
fails to suspect that there is more to Yana than even the professor
realises.
|
Alerted by the sound of the TARDIS materialising, Jack forces his way
back into the Doctor's company.
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The Sound Of Drums / Last Of The Time
Lords by Russell T Davies, directed by Colin Teague
The Master has stolen the TARDIS, but the Doctor, Martha and Jack follow
him back to modern-day Earth using Jack's vortex manipulator. Arriving
months after their enemy, they discover that he has assumed the
name Harold Saxon. Using the Archangel network of satellites, he has
been subtly manipulating human minds, and has now been elected Prime
Minister! Tracking the Master to an aircraft carrier called the
Valiant, the Doctor is horrified to discover that he's
transformed the TARDIS into a Paradox Machine. Soon, only Martha remains
free as the Master unleashes the psychopathic Toclafane, on the Earth...
|
Knowing that the Doctor will never requite her love, Martha returns to
her own life. Jack leaves to continue his work with Torchwood.
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Having resurrected the Daleks in 2005 and the Cybermen in 2006, Russell
T Davies decided that 2007 would be the Master's year. He had long
concealed his intentions by publicly asserting his dislike for the
character, in order to make the Master's reappearance in Utopia all the more surprising. In
a sign of the production team's increasing willingness to experiment,
this adventure effectively formed the first episode of a three-part
story which concluded with The Sound Of
Drums / Last Of The Time Lords -- the longest single
narrative since Doctor Who's return in 2005. And while Davies had
now reintroduced the three most prominent enemies created for Doctor
Who during the twentieth century, Season Twenty-Nine introduced a
new monster which would soon achieve a legendary status of the its own.
Steven Moffat's Blink marked the first
time that audiences were terrorised by the Weeping Angels... but hardly
the last.
|
| Specials (2007): Golden Days Of
Yore |
| Companions and Recurring Characters |
|
Astrid Peth was a waitress aboard the
spaceship Titanic who helped the Doctor stop the stricken vessel
from crashing into the Earth.
Kylie Minogue (bio) played Astrid in Voyage Of The Damned (December
2007).
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Wilfred Mott was Donna Noble's grandfather,
who first met the Doctor after the Time Lord had briefly teleported to
Earth at Christmastime from the spaceship Titanic.
Bernard Cribbins (bio) made his first appearance as
Wilfred in Voyage Of The Damned
(December 2007) and his last in Wild
Blue Yonder (December 2023).
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Time Crash by Steven Moffat,
directed by Graeme Harper
A temporal collision brings the Doctor face-to-face with his fifth
incarnation. Desperate to save the TARDIS, the other Doctor is unaware
that he's confronting his future self. They must find a way to work
together before the paradox creates a black hole that will devastate
space and time.
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|
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Voyage Of The Damned by Russell T
Davies, directed by James Strong
The TARDIS collides with a spacefaring replica of the Titanic, in
orbit around the Earth. Its passengers have come to visit yuletide
England, and even the robotic Host servitors are outfitted like
Christmas angels. The Titanic is protected against an approaching
meteor shower by powerful shields -- until they're disabled by Captain
Hardaker. Soon, the crippled Titanic is on a collision course
with the Earth. With the help of a plucky waitress named Astrid and a
motley group of survivors, the Doctor must unearth the reason for the
sabotage and stop the ship's descent, even as they're hunted by the
suddenly murderous Host.
|
Astrid throws her lot in with the Doctor, only to sacrifice her life to
save him from Max Capricorn.
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|
The last days of 2007 saw Doctor Who demonstrate its mighty
cultural heft in two very different ways. First, in its second
Children In Need mini-episode in three years, Fifth Doctor Peter
Davison made a celebrated return to the programme, delighting casual
audiences and longtime fans alike in a way that previous multi-Doctor
stories had not always managed to achieve. Then, the 2007 Christmas
special successfully attracted a celebrity of unprecedented status to a
key supporting role. This was singer/actress Kylie Minogue, whose
appearance as one-time companion Astrid Peth helped propel Voyage Of The Damned to a
heretofore-unmatched runner-up finish in the weekly ratings table.
|
| Season Thirty (2008): Lost Horizons |
| Companions and Recurring Characters |
|
Adventurer and archaeologist River Song was
born Melody Pond to two of the Doctor's companions. She was kidnapped by
the Silence and trained to assassinate the Doctor, but they would go on
to have a much more complex relationship as their timelines became
dizzyingly intertwined.
Alex Kingston (bio) made her first appearance as
River in Silence In The Library
(May 2008) and her last in The Husbands
Of River Song (December 2015).
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Partners In Crime by Russell T
Davies, directed by James Strong
Donna Noble has come to realise that she made a mistake when she
declined the Doctor's offer to travel with him in the TARDIS. Now she
finds herself seeking out every hint of the unusual and the unexplained,
in the hope of running into him again. Her plan succeeds when both she
and the Doctor begin to investigate Adipose Industries, a company run by
the sinister Miss Foster which offers a suspiciously effective diet
pill. They discover that Miss Foster is actually using the human race as
the breeding ground for alien creatures called the Adipose -- and
millions of lives are at risk.
|
Finally reunited with the Doctor, Donna joins him aboard the TARDIS.
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|
The Fires Of Pompeii by James
Moran, directed by Colin Teague
A planned trip to Ancient Rome instead sees the time travellers land in
Pompeii, AD 79. The Doctor realises that he and Donna have arrived on
the eve of Mount Vesuvius' eruption but, before they can retreat to the
TARDIS, it's sold as an objet d'art. Pursuing his vessel to the
home of a marble trader named Caecilius, the Doctor becomes aware of
strange developments in the city. Seers like the enigmatic Sibylline
Sisterhood are exhibiting extraordinary flashes of precognition -- even
as they slowly turn to stone. Soon it appears that the destruction of
Pompeii may not be a natural occurrence at all, but the work of the
molten Pyroviles.
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|
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Planet Of The Ood by Keith Temple,
directed by Graeme Harper
The Doctor takes Donna to the Ood-Sphere in the year 4126. Here Ood are
bred by the Ood Operations company, to be distributed as pliant servants
throughout the worlds of the Earth Empire. But something is going wrong:
the Oods' eyes are turning red, precipitating acts of revolt and murder,
and ultimately reducing them to a feral state. The time travellers pose
as Ood buyers to investigate, even as the odious Mr Halpen arrives to
right the corporate ship. The search for answers leads inexorably to the
terrible secret hidden for generations within Warehouse 15.
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|
The Sontaran Stratagem / The Poison
Sky by Helen Raynor, directed by Douglas Mackinnon
UNIT is investigating ATMOS, a new device which somehow cleanses the
exhaust from automobiles. The Taskforce believes that ATMOS is alien
technology, and so their newest recruit -- Martha Jones, now a
fully-credentialled physician -- calls the Doctor back to Earth for
assistance. ATMOS is purported to be the invention of a wunderkind name
Luke Rattigan, but the Doctor discovers that he is working with the
Sontarans. Together, they have used ATMOS to turn four hundred million
cars into deadly weapons. And, in the bowels of the ATMOS factory,
Martha finds herself replaced with a Sontaran clone.
|
Martha is whisked away in the TARDIS when it unexpectedly
dematerialises.
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The Doctor's Daughter by Stephen
Greenhorn, directed by Alice Troughton
The TARDIS is drawn to the planet Messaline, where a war between human
colonists and the piscine Hath has been waging for generations. Martha
is kidnapped by the Hath, while the Doctor and Donna discover that the
humans breed by accelerated progenation: a single individual's DNA is
recombined to produce an adult ready for battle. Subjected to this
process, the Doctor abruptly comes face to face with his daughter. As he
struggles to relate to the girl, whom Donna names Jenny, they discover a
series of hidden tunnels beneath Messaline. Soon, the time travellers
start to realise that there is more to the war than meets the eye.
|
The crisis on Messaline resolved, the Doctor brings Martha home.
|
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The Unicorn And The Wasp by Gareth
Roberts, directed by Graeme Harper
The Doctor and Donna arrive at the English country home of Lady Eddison
and Colonel Curbishley. It is 1926, and rumours abound that a jewel
thief nicknamed “the Unicorn” is at large. But these stories
are overshadowed by a murder in the library, and the timely arrival of
famed suspense novelist Agatha Christie -- during a period when the
Doctor knows that she is supposed to have vanished without explanation
for several days. As the body count starts to climb, Donna is menaced by
what appears to be a giant wasp, and only the Queen of Crime can help
the Doctor to unravel the mystery.
|
|
|
An enigmatic message sends the Doctor and Donna to a library the size
of a planet, which has been deserted for a century. Eerily, the
automated systems still function -- all uttering dire warnings to flee.
Then an archaeological expedition arrives; it's led by Professor River
Song, who claims to know the Doctor of old. Joining forces, the Doctor
and River investigate the circumstances which led to the library being
sealed. They discover that the shadows are alive with a flesh-consuming
intelligence called the Vashta Nerada... and, somewhere, a little girl
believes that all of these events are playing out in her mind.
|
|
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Midnight by Russell T Davies,
directed by Alice Troughton
The sun of the gemstone-rich planet Midnight is hostile to all life, but
a leisure complex has been constructed there which filters out its
deadly radiation. While Donna enjoys some rest and relaxation, the
Doctor takes a transport to the famed Sapphire Waterfall. An obstruction
on the planned route prompts the transport to take a
previously-unexplored path. Suddenly, the vehicle comes to a stop --
and, impossibly, something begins banging on the exterior. As a strange
intelligence possesses one of the passengers, the Doctor finds himself
fighting a losing battle against the rising tides of panic and paranoia.
|
|
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Turn Left by Russell T Davies,
directed by Graeme Harper
On the planet Shan Shen, Donna meets a mysterious fortune teller. The
woman persuades Donna to reveal the event which led to her original
meeting with the Doctor -- and then Donna's world suddenly changes, as
that crucial choice is undone. Now Donna Noble lives in a world without
the Doctor: a world in which London is destroyed by the spaceship
Titanic, America is devastated by the Adipose, and the entire
planet is nearly annihilated by the Sontarans. Only an enigmatic blonde
traveller from a parallel universe can help Donna restore the course of
history, and prepare her to face the oncoming darkness.
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The Stolen Earth / Journey's End
by Russell T Davies, directed by Graeme Harper
Davros has been rescued from the Time War by an insane Dalek Caan.
Cannibalising his own body, he has created a new race of Daleks, who
transport the Earth and twenty-six other planets across time and space.
Former Prime Minister Harriet Jones sacrifices her life to connect
Martha, Jack and Sarah Jane, while Rose's search for the Doctor and
Donna leads her to Wilfred and Sylvia. The disappearance of Earth's bees
provides the Doctor with the clue he needs to track the missing worlds
to the Medusa Cascade. Separately or together, the Doctor and his
friends must find a way to stop Davros' plot to obliterate all of
reality.
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Having lost her memories of the Doctor, Donna returns to her family.
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It was always planned that 2008 would be a watershed year for Doctor
Who, since Russell T Davies knew that it would represent his last
chance to craft a major story arc. He took the opportunity to
reintroduce both the Sontarans and Davros from twentieth-century
Doctor Who, while also bringing back a host of characters who had
debuted since 2005, including Rose Tyler and Martha Jones. And, to
Davies' astonishment and delight, Catherine Tate agreed to reprise the
role of Donna Noble for the entire year, taking the place of a character
called Penny Carter whom Davies had intended to be the Doctor's new
companion. The result was a year of incredible viewer interest, with the
season finale, Journey's End,
achieving an unprecedented Number One finish in the weekly viewing
charts. If there had been any lingering doubt, this spectacular result
cemented the fact that Doctor Who was one of the most enduringly
popular dramas in the history of British television.
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| Specials (2008-10): Rage, Rage Against The
Dying Of The Light |
| Companions and Recurring Characters |
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Jackson Lake was a schoolteacher in Victorian
London who came to believe that he was the Doctor as the result of a
traumatic encounter with the Cybermen.
David Morrissey (bio) played Jackson in The Next Doctor (December
2008).
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Lady Christina de Souza was a cat burglar who
found herself fighting for her life alongside the Doctor on the
devastated planet San Helios.
Michelle Ryan (bio) played Christina in Planet Of The Dead (April
2009).
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Adelaide Brooke was the commander of a human
expedition to Mars in 2059 whose fate was apparently sealed after her
outpost became contaminated by the relentless Flood.
Lindsay Duncan (bio) played Adelaide in The Waters Of Mars (November
2009).
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Shaun Temple was a good-natured cab driver who
married Donna Noble after her adventures with the Doctor appeared to
have come to an end.
Karl Collins (bio) made his first appearance as
Shaun in The End Of Time
(December 2009) and his last in The
Giggle (December 2023).
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The Next Doctor by Russell T
Davies, directed by Andy Goddard
It's Christmas Eve 1851, and the Doctor arrives in London to learn of
murdered men and missing children. To his astonishment, these events are
being investigated by another Doctor -- but one with no memory of past
incarnations, and sporting a suspiciously conventional sonic
screwdriver. This Doctor and his companion, Rosita, believe the Cybermen
are active in London, while the Doctor suspects that his counterpart's
forgotten past hides a terrible tragedy. But whatever the truth of the
other man's identity, they must find a way to work together to stop both
the Cybermen and their ally, the ruthless Miss Hartigan.
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Believing himself to be the Doctor, Jackson Lake teams up with the real
Doctor, but stays in 1851 to raise his son.
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Planet Of The Dead by Russell T
Davies and Gareth Roberts, directed by James Strong
Having just pulled off a heist, a cat burglar called Lady Christina de
Souza boards a London bus to evade the police. She finds herself sitting
next to the Doctor, who's tracking a mysterious energy signal. Suddenly,
the bus is catapulted through a wormhole to San Helios, on the other
side of the universe. The planet seems to be one enormous desert, but
stranded Tritovore traders explain that it should be a bustling world of
billions. While the Doctor's biggest fan, Dr Malcolm Taylor of UNIT,
struggles to bring the bus home, it becomes clear that the wormhole and
the devastation on San Helios are linked -- and Earth may be next.
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Despite their camaraderie on San Helios, the Doctor -- unwilling to risk
losing another companion -- refuses to invite Christina aboard the
TARDIS.
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The Waters Of Mars by Russell T
Davies and Phil Ford, directed by Graeme Harper
The Doctor lands on Mars on November 21st, 2059. Bowie Base One, the
first human colony on the Red Planet, has been established under the
command of Captain Adelaide Brooke. However, the Doctor knows that it's
destined to be destroyed in a nuclear explosion... today. Brooke is
suspicious of the Doctor, but she needs his help when an intelligent
contagion starts to possess her crew. The Doctor deduces that there is a
connection with the glacier which provides the base's water. Yet he also
knows that this event must happen: it is a pivotal moment in human
history. Can he force himself to walk away without trying to save the
day?
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After helping the Doctor save as many people as possible from Bowie Base
One, Adelaide kills herself in order to preserve history.
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The End Of Time by Russell T
Davies, directed by Euros Lyn
Schemes set in motion long ago lead to the resurrection of the Master,
albeit in a form that hovers between life and death. He is abducted by
Joshua Naismith, an unscrupulous billionaire who needs assistance
repairing an alien device called the Immortality Gate. Warned of these
events by the Elder Ood, the Doctor prepares to confront his
arch-nemesis. As the threads of prophecy pull tighter, unexpected help
arrives in the form of Wilfred Mott. But even as the Master schemes to
betray Naismith and use the Immortality Gate to achieve unimaginable
power, a far greater threat to all of time and space is returning
through the dark...
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The Doctor regenerates after sacrificing himself to save Wilfred from a
lethal dose of radiation.
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Wary that overexposure might lead to public fatigue with Doctor
Who, the production team and a reluctant BBC decided that there
would be no full season in 2009. Instead, the gap between Season Thirty
in 2008 and Season Thirty-One in 2010 was bridged by a number of
specials, each of which paired the Doctor with a one-off companion
figure. These specials represented a period of transition for the
programme, as High Definition production was introduced, executive
producers Russell T Davies and Julie Gardner wound up their tenures, and
The End Of Time culminated in
the regeneration of David Tennant's Tenth Doctor. As a result, Doctor
Who would be guided into a new decade by a new production team and a
new Doctor.
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