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...

Having written the Victorian-era ghost story The Unquiet Dead for the inaugural season of Doctor Who's twenty-first-century revival, Mark Gatiss was eager to return to the programme. He met with executive producer Russell T Davies in January 2005, expecting to be assigned an adventure with a similar historical setting. However, Davies' request was for a narrative which took place in a comparatively recent time period: the Fifties. Although he knew that this lay outside of Gatiss' comfort zone, Davies was keen to present him with a challenge. Davies proposed a story idea involving an alien intelligence which existed within a contagious song; those infected by the melody became faceless creatures. He dubbed the adventure “Mr Sandman”, after the classic song first recorded in 1954 by Vaughn Monroe & His Orchestra, and popularised later the same year by the Chordettes.

Gatiss began writing a treatment called “Sonic Doom”, which tied Davies' notion of a sound monster to the dawn of the rock 'n roll era in the latter part of the decade; an American location was contemplated. However, concern soon arose that the idea of a living song did not translate sufficiently well to the visual medium of television. Consideration was given to incorporating the launch of the Russian satellite Sputnik 1 in October 1957 -- the event which ignited the Space Race between the United States and the Soviet Union. However, Davies wanted a colourful, lighthearted adventure which would contrast sharply with the sombre mood of Matt Jones' The Impossible Planet / The Satan Pit, the story intended to precede Gatiss' adventure.

The change in setting to 1953 would force the abandonment of the rock 'n roll element

As such, Gatiss proposed adjusting his script's time period from 1957 to 1953, when it could be set against the backdrop of the coronation of Queen Elizabeth II. This national milestone was generally perceived to mark the end of the austerity which Britons had endured during and after the Second World War. It was therefore an opportunity to introduce precisely the kind of joyous tone sought by Davies. But although the change in setting amounted to a mere four years, Gatiss noted that it would force the abandonment of the rock 'n roll element, since the story's events would now predate the rise in popularity of the musical genre.

Instead, it was agreed that Gatiss' script should take advantage of the writer's abiding passion for, and extensive knowledge of, the history of the television medium. Rather than a song, the alien force would now inhabit a television signal. A key plot hook could then be the substantial upsurge which the coronation had inspired in television set ownership. Gatiss decided that a crucial location of the story -- now functionally known as “1950's” -- should be Alexandra Palace in Wood Green, London. Built in 1873, parts of “Ally Pally” had been leased by the BBC from 1935 to serve as its principal hub for television production and transmission. Not until 1956 would Alexandra Palace be superseded by a more sophisticated transmitter station at Crystal Palace. Gatiss envisaged a struggle atop Alexandra Palace's iconic transmission mast, akin to the climactic moments of 1933's film classic King Kong, which placed the titular giant ape atop the Empire State Building in New York City. Gatiss also hit on the idea of patterning his villain's guise after Sylvia Peters, who had been one of the BBC's primary continuity announcers from 1947 to 1958.

One of the story's key supporting characters was Tommy Connolly, whom Gatiss initially intended to reflect some of his own experiences as a gay teenager. One idea was to tease the notion that Tommy was romantically interested in Rose, only for him to reveal in the closing moments that he was actually attracted to the Doctor. However, Gatiss decided to change tack after watching the latter episodes of Season Twenty-Seven, in which the Doctor and Rose were accompanied by the explicitly and unapologetically bisexual Captain Jack Harkness. Gatiss concluded that this was a more modern and effective way to explore sexual orientation in Doctor Who, and Tommy's role in the narrative was consequently amended.

As an ardent fan of early British television, Gatiss was keen to litter his script with in-jokes. One of the most prominent was the name given to the road on which the Connolly family lived: Florizel Street. This had been the working title of the long-running ITV soap opera which had become Coronation Street by the time it debuted in 1960. Indeed, at one point, the story would have concluded when the Doctor taped over the Wire with an installment of Coronation Street itself! At an earlier stage, the script had instead been set on Powell Street, the implication being that this was where Rose Tyler's apartment block, the Powell Estate, would later be built. However, it had already been established that Rose's home was situated in the south of London, and so the notion was dropped since it would complicate the placement of the climax at Alexandra Palace.

A subplot was dropped in which Rose visited her aunt, who worked on a game show for the BBC

Gatiss also wanted to include several references to Nigel Kneale's 1953 serial The Quatermass Experiment and its sequels, which occupied an iconic place in the annals of British telefantasy. However, Davies was concerned that this would have self-congratulatory implications, since both Gatiss and David Tennant had starred in a 2005 remake of The Quatermass Experiment. As a result, only the clenching hands of the faceless victims were retained, recalling the similar gesture made by doomed astronaut Victor Carroon in Kneale's opus. Also dropped was a subplot in which Rose visited her aunt, who worked on a game show for the BBC. Davies feared that the direct involvement of the Corporation in the plot would make it difficult to take the episode seriously.

In Gatiss' original conception, Magpie was a successful businessman and a more overtly malevolent figure; his wealth and villainous nature were toned down at Davies' suggestion. The entrance to Bishop's headquarters was first concealed by a newspaper vendor rather than a market stall; a subsequent version of the deception involved a pair of ersatz mechanics. The street party in the last scene was intended to be set at night, complete with fireworks; however, it was felt that this would be too similar to the conclusion of Fear Her later in the season. Dropped entirely were a much longer chase sequence involving the Doctor's Vespa, which included action in the London Underground, and a climactic scene in which the television sets in Magpie's shop exploded after the defeat of the Wire. Tommy's grandparent was male in one draft, and it was only at a late stage that Gatiss decided to raise the stakes by having Rose join the ranks of the Wire's faceless victims; previously, she had just been kidnapped by Bishop's men.

Searching for a suitable title, Gatiss contemplated “The One-Eyed Monster”; this had been the name of a 1973 installment of the children's series The Kids From 47A which had involved a television addict. Worried that it had phallic connotations, he instead opted for The Idiot's Lantern, which was contemporary slang for a television set. This title was suggested by Gareth Roberts, who was contributing the season's TARDISodes, after he recalled hearing his father use the term.

The placement of The Idiot's Lantern in the season schedule changed during the summer. When Davies learned that Doctor Who had again been granted a Christmas special for 2006, he decided to repurpose his plans for The Runaway Bride, which had originally been positioned between Rise Of The Cybermen / The Age Of Steel and The Impossible Planet / The Satan Pit. Since Davies wanted to avoid consecutive two-part stories, The Idiot's Lantern was brought forward to take the spot vacated by The Runaway Bride. The middle of part of the season's recording schedule likewise underwent some significant changes. Initially, The Impossible Planet / The Satan Pit was to be made as the fourth production block, followed by The Idiot's Lantern on its own as Block Five. When the scripts for Jones' futuristic adventure experienced delays, however, it was decided that The Idiot's Lantern would instead be paired with Fear Her as Block Four. The director assigned to both episodes was Euros Lyn, who had already handled Tooth And Claw and The Girl In The Fireplace earlier in the season.

Because of Maureen Lipman's limited availability to play the human guise of the Wire, her material was Lyn's first priority. All of the footage featuring the Wire was recorded on January 23rd, 2006 at Alexandra Palace itself; Lyn also took the opportunity to shoot some exteriors of the building, which had been operating as a museum since 1980. Fear Her then became Lyn's focus, with work on The Idiot's Lantern not resuming until February 7th. Florentia Street in Cardiff had now been appropriately dressed to appear as Florizel Street, and filming continued there through the 9th. The exterior of Magpie Electricals, meanwhile, was actually on the corner of Blenheim Road and Kimberley Road in Cardiff, where the cameras rolled on February 10th.

After the weekend, action in the Connolly home was recorded over three days -- from February 13th to 15th -- at Unit Q2, Doctor Who's regular studio space in Newport. Work on Florentia Street was then completed on the 16th, the same day that Roberts' TARDISode for The Idiot's Lantern was taped at Unit Q2 on the set for the Connolly residence. Originally written for an anonymous older woman, the TARDISode script was revised so that Margaret John could reprise her role as Grandma Connolly. The prelude consequently depicted the Wire assailing her, an event not shown in the episode itself. Earlier, Roberts had planned for the TARDISode to follow the Wire as it searched for a victim, travelling between televisions in empty sitting rooms.

On February 17th, the Cardiff Royal Infirmary stood in for Alexandra Palace. The next day, a portion of Ally Pally's transmitter mast was replicated on the Veritair Limited tarmac, at the Cardiff Heliport on Cardiff Bay. Bishop's lair was really the South Dock, part of the Newport Docks; filming there took place on February 20th and 21st. Production on The Idiot's Lantern then wrapped up back at Unit Q2, with scenes in Magpie Electricals taped on the 22nd and 23rd.

The TARDISode for The Idiot's Lantern was released on May 20th. The episode itself was broadcast the following week, and saw Doctor Who return to the 7.00pm timeslot which would now be standard for the rest of the season. With the schedule disruptions imposed by the World Cup now a thing of the past, Strictly Dance Fever and The National Lottery: Jet Set returned on either side of The Idiot's Lantern.

• Doctor Who Magazine Special Edition #14, 9th November 2006, “Episode 7: The Idiot's Lantern” by Andrew Pixley, Panini Publishing Ltd.
• Doctor Who: The Complete History #52, 2016, “Story 173: The Idiot's Lantern”, edited by John Ainsworth, Hachette Partworks Ltd.
• Doctor Who: The Inside Story by Gary Russell (2006), BBC Books.