Series 4 (Doctor Who 2005)

File:2007 S3 title Logo.jpg

The 2009 Specials will be broadcast between the end of Series 4 and the beginning of Series 5. Four specials will be broadcast at various points in 2009. Of the four specials, one has been scheduled for Easter 2009, and one for Christmas 2009, leaving the other two unscheduled. These four specials will be overseen by Russell T Davies and Julie Gardner, but traditional line producer, Phil Collinson, will not be returning for them. All will reportedly star David Tennant.

David Tennant announced that after the 2009 specials he would leave Doctor Who. Rumoured actors to replace Tennant were James Nesbitt , Robert Carlyle , David Walliams (who was the leading choice) , Harry Lloyd , David Morrissey (who previously played Jackson Lake in the 2008 Christmas special) and Paterson Joseph. Bill Nighy has stated he would love to take over from Tennant once he leaves if the producers approach him . On the 3rd January 2009, it was announced that 26 year old actor Matt Smith would be portraying the Eleventh Doctor for the duration of Series 5 (Doctor Who). It is currently unknown whether the regeneration from the Tenth to Eleventh Doctor will occur in the last special, or at the beginning of the 5th series. In an interview with "Wired", Euros Lyn revealed that the story in which the Doctor regenerates will be a two-part story with the Doctor presumably regenerating in the second part.

For the 2009 Specials, the Doctor will be traveling alone, each episode starring a one-off companion.

There have been conflicting reports given as to why the decision was made to take a year off. Initial media reports suggested that this was in order to allow David Tennant to perform a season of Shakespeare during the time a regular season would have normally entered production. However, these reports are directly contradicted in Russell T. Davies' book Doctor Who: The Writer's Tale, which contains correspondence from the spring of 2007 -- months before the gap year plan was announced -- in which Davies indicated that the intent was to take the series off for a year, except for a few specials, in order to allow a new production team to make its transition, as Davies had already informed the BBC that he would not executive-produce a fifth season.

Although it was originally announced that the four specials following The Next Doctor would air during 2009, with a possible summer-fall broadcast for at least one of them, this now appears to not be the case, as Russell T. Davies has indicated to SFX Magazine that, following the broadcast of Planet of the Dead in April 2009, the remaining three specials will air "around Christmas/end of the year". An earlier indication that at least one special would not air until 2010 was given by David Tennant himself during interviews following the announcement of his departure from the series. In a subsequent BBC interview prior to broadcast of Planet of the Dead, Davies stated the Waters of Mars special may air "November-ish", suggesting an earlier broadcast than indicated in SFX Magazine; Davies' modified comment is supported by a statement by producer Julie Gardner in Doctor Who Confidential that Waters of Mars will air in the fall.

The Next Doctor

There are conflicting reports from the BBC and other sources as to whether The Next Doctor, the 2008 Christmas special, is part of the 2009 Specials "series" or not. Arguments in favour of it being included are that it was not aired with the rest of Series 4, and Series 4 already was linked to a Christmas special, Voyage of the Damned, and also that it was not included on the so-titled "Complete Fourth Series" DVD box set issued in the autumn of 2008. Arguments in favour of it being considered part of the Fourth Series include it being produced during the same production block as Series 4, and that Russell T Davies referred to it as the 14th episode of Series 4 in his book Doctor Who: The Writer's Tale. The fact the episode uses a Series 4 production code cannot be used as support as the same is holding true with all of the 2009 Specials which raises the question as to whether the "gap year" might eventually come to be known as Series 4.5 (or season 30.5). According to Davies' interview with SFX Magazine the four specials being produced in 2009 form an arc, suggesting that The Next Doctor is likely to be accorded standalone status, as was the case with the previous Christmas specials, none of which were considered part of the seasons that followed (although they were nonetheless included in the DVD box sets).

2009 specials

Television stories

• Planet of the Dead (11th April 2009)
• The Waters of Mars (Around November 2009)
• Special 3 (date and title TBA, around Christmas Time 2009) (1st Part of the Christmas Specials)
• Special 4 (date and title TBA, around Christmas Time 2009) (2nd Part of the Christmas Specials)

Euros Lyn has confirmed that he will be directing the final two specials. In an interview with the website Zap2It.com in February 2009, Lyn indicated that the final two specials will constitute a two-part story. Claire Bloom will star was The Doctor's Mother in his final outing, as her manager confirmed to the Telegraph.

The title of the first special, Planet of the Dead was not made public until the closing credits of The Next Doctor; the title of The Waters of Mars was released at the end of Planet of the Dead.

Casting

Planet of the Dead

• Lady Christina de Souza - Michelle Ryan
• Malcolm - Lee Evans
• Captain Arisa Magambo - Norma Dumezweni

The Waters of Mars

• Adelaide - Lindsay Duncan
• Mia Bennett - Gemma Chan
• Ood Sigma - Paul Kasey

Production

Filming of Planet of the Dead commenced in mid-January 2009 and concluded in February. Production of The Waters of Mars to began late January 2009, and finished in mid February.

Series numbering

Although it was initially thought that the "interval" season of specials might come to be known as Series 5, or Series 4.5, however at present it appears that the BBC will not be assigning a series "number" to the specials, much as the previous Christmas specials and mini-episodes do not technically belong to any particular season. This, however, is contradicted by Russell T Davies himself in his book The Writer's Tale, where he calls The Next Doctor the fourteenth episode of the fourth series (likely due to the fact it was produced during the production of Series 4).DWM confirmed the specials would be coded 4.14, 4.15, 4.16 etc. Also, the BBC iPlayer page for The Next Doctor on its Christmas Day release stated the episode was part of 'Series Four'.

Writers

Russell T Davies is solely writing only the Christmas 2008 special and two others. One of the specials will be co-written by Gareth Roberts, and one will be co-written by Phil Ford. These particular specials will be historic in that they will be the first two episodes of the BBC Wales production of Doctor Who to formally credit a co-writer. With the inclusion of Ford, 2009 will mark the fifth straight year that Doctor Who has included at least one new writer for the show, and make Ford the only writer other than RTD himself to write for Torchwood, The Sarah Jane Adventures and Doctor Who.

Rumours

See 2009 Rumours page

Broadcast dates

• The BBC did not announce a broadcast date for Planet of the Dead until 1 April, leading to some erroneous reports that it would air on 12 April; it ended up being scheduled for 11 April.
• Russell T. Davies has indicated that the remaining three specials will not air until near the end of 2009 and possibly into 2010.

International broadcasts

• The American Sci Fi Channel, which holds the US broadcast rights to the revival series, as of mid-April 2009 has not yet announced plans to broadcast The Next Doctor or the other specials.
• In Canada, broadcast of The Next Doctor occurred on March 14 on the cable broadcaster Space, marking a change in network for Doctor Who, which previously had been shown on the CBC. Space subsequently announced plans to air Planet of the Dead on June 20, 2009, and the remaining specials and Series 5 are expected to air on Space in due course as well. (Space also airs Torchwood, another series it inherited from the CBC.)

Trailers

• According to BBC journalist Lizo Mzimba on Twitter, the first television trailer for the Planet of the Dead would air on BBC One on Wednesday 1st April at 9 pm, just prior to "The Apprentice".
• A trailer for the second special aired after Planet of the Dead and revealed the title of the next special to be The Waters of Mars.

DVD releases

• The Next Doctor was released to DVD in the UK in January 2009 in a special edition that included the corresponding (Cutdown) episode of Doctor Who Confidential, a specially edited version of the 2008 Proms concert special, and the mini-episode Music of the Spheres.
• Amazon.co.uk is showing a DVD release of Planet of the Dead scheduled for 11 May 2009, although no official release announcement has been made by BBC Video/2 Entertain.
• As the remaining three specials are not expected to air until the end of 2009-early 2010, further DVD releases are not expected in Region 2 (UK) until early 2010.
• With the change to High Definition production with Planet of the Dead, future release of the specials in the Blu-Ray format is assumed, but as of mid-April no such releases have been announced, including a Blu-Ray edition of the Amazon-listed Planet of the Dead.
• No DVD releases have as yet been announced for Region 1 (North America). It remains to be seen if the individual UK releases of The Next Doctor and Planet of the Dead will also be issued in Region 1 during 2009 or if BBC Video/2 Entertain will wait to release all the specials in one box set in 2010.