The Waters of Mars (TV story)
The Waters of Mars is the second of the 2009 Specials leading up to the end of the David Tennant era. Tennant himself has announced that the special will air on 15th November 2009 on BBC One.[1]
Synopsis
Mars. 2059. Bowie Base One. Last recorded message: "Don't drink the water. Don't even touch it. Not one drop."
Plot
The TARDIS arrives on Mars and the Doctor steps out in his spacesuit, seemingly just to relax and enjoy the landscape. Stumbling across a base inhabited by a team from Earth, the Doctor is detained by a remote-controlled robot called "GADGET" and brought inside. The base commander, Adelaide Brooke, is at first suspicious of the Doctor, but after a tense interrogation, decides to trust him. The Doctor learns that the date is 21st November 2059, and that this is in fact Bowie Base One, the first human outpost on Mars. History has it that on this date the base was destroyed in a mysterious explosion and Brooke and her crew were all killed. Unwilling to break the laws of time and interfere with fixed points in history, the Doctor decides to leave. However, at the very same moment a crisis is developing: two crewmembers, Andy Stone and Maggie Cain, have been infected by a mysterious life form which takes over their bodies and causes them to gush copious amounts of water. Adelaide confiscates the Doctor's spacesuit, reasoning that he could be responsible for the infection in some way, and orders him to come with her and another crewmember, Tarak Ital, to investigate.
The infection spreads, with Andy passing on the condition to Tarak. The two men are contained in the base's "bio-sphere" section while Maggie is secured in the medical wing. In a conversation with colleague Yuri Kerenski, the organism occupying Maggie's body reveals its desire to reach Earth, a planet rich in water. The crew plan to evacuate in an escape shuttle, and the Doctor breaks the news to Adelaide that she must die today, on Mars, if events are to unfold as they should. However, he also tells her that her death will inspire her descendants to travel further into space and establish peaceful relations with numerous extraterrestrial species. Unwillingly, Adelaide lets him leave. As the Doctor is making his way back to the TARDIS, Maggie breaks out of confinement, infiltrates the shuttle and infects pilot Ed Gold, Adelaide's deputy. Before the condition takes a hold over him, Ed manages to trigger the shuttle's self-destruct mechanism, which traps the infection on Mars but also leaves the surviving crew with no means of escape. The destruction of the shuttle is witnessed by the Doctor who, overcome by defiance against time itself, returns to the base to save the others.
Realising that there is no way to change the course of history, Adelaide activates Bowie Base's self-destruct sequence. The infected personnel mount the roof of the control centre and exude more water, which pours into the room and claims GADGET's operator, Roman Groom, and Steffi Ehrlich. However, the Doctor uses GADGET to access the TARDIS, operate its controls remotely and transport the time and space machine into the base, rescuing Adelaide, Yuri and Mia Bennett from the resulting nuclear explosion.
The TARDIS materialises outside Adelaide's house on Earth. Mia and Yuri are shocked by their experiences on Mars and Doctor's power and depart, bewildered. In a conversation with Adelaide, the Doctor reflects on why he ultimately decided to save her and the others. He argues that the Time Lords' rules were only valid while their civilisation existed, and that since he is the last of his race he has total authority over time. He proudly declares himself the "Time Lord Victorious" and remarks that with this power he will now be able to save influential figures such as Adelaide as well as "little people" the likes of Yuri and Mia. Scolding the Doctor for his new found arrogance, Adelaide returns home and commits suicide, reverting the changes that the Doctor has made to the timeline.
Only now understanding the full impact of his actions, the Doctor is overcome with horror and realises that there will be a price to pay for his interference. Ood Sigma appears in the street, prompting the Doctor to ask him whether he has finally gone too far — whether the time has come for him to die. Unresponsive, Sigma vanishes, and the Doctor staggers back into the TARDIS to the ominous sound of the Cloister Bell. With a defiant "No!", he begins to work the machine's controls.
Cast
- Tenth Doctor - David Tennant
- Adelaide Brooke - Lindsay Duncan
- Ed Gold - Peter O'Brien
- Tarak Ital - Chook Sibtain
- Andy Stone - Alan Ruscoe
- Maggie Cain - Sharon Duncan-Brewster
- Mia Bennett - Gemma Chan
- Yuri Kerenski - Aleksander Mikic
- Steffie Ehrlich - Cosima Shaw
- Roman Groom - Michael Goldsmith
- Emily - Lily Bevan
- Mikhail Kerenski - Max Bollinger
- Ulrika Ehrlich - Anouska Strahnz
- Lisette Ehrlich - Zofia Strahnz
- Adelaide's Father - Charlie De'ath
- Ood Sigma - Paul Kasey
- Yound Adelaide - Rachel Fewell
Crew
to be added
References
- "Bowie Base One" is a reference to the David Bowie song "Life on Mars"
- The Doctor said that he hates robots (possibly a reference to Experimental Prototype Robot K1 or any of the countless robots he has previously encountered) but notes that he'd be okay with a robot dog.
- The Doctor mentions the Ice Warriors and suggests that they froze The Flood away.
Story Notes
- As Lindsay Duncan has been cast as a companion, she is the oldest actor to play a companion since the beginning of the series, although this title will be taken away from her in the next episode when Bernard Cribbins becomes the Doctor's companion.
- Russell T Davies has said in Doctor Who Magazine that this will be a very scary episode of Doctor Who, as he described it "nightmarish".
- Julie Gardner said on the Easter Doctor Who Confidential that another Your Song is Ending style reference will be made in this episode as well as playing a massive part last 2 specials.
- Filming for the special began on 23rd February 2009. In late February, David Tennant, Duncan and other actors were seen filming in Victoria Place, Newport.[10] The filming took place on a city street, which the production team covered with artificial snow.[10] Also present during filming were a small robot inscribed with the word "GADGET" and Ood Sigma, from the 2008 episode Planet of the Ood.
- On 28th July 2009, a new trailer was shown at the 2009 San Diego Comic Con, soon after it was posted on the BBC website.
- The trailer showed the Doctor talking about how "certain points in time are fixed... Everything else is in flux, anything can happen, but those certain points, they have to stand... This base on Mars... what happens here must always happen." Adelaide warns "Don't drink the water... don't even touch it, not one drop". Finally, the Doctor says to Adelaide: "They said I was going to die, they said he will knock four times, and I think I know what that means, and it doesn't mean right here, right now 'cause I don't hear anyone knocking, do you?" Four knocks then ring out as the tagline appears: "The Waters of Mars: Coming Soon".
- The BBC has confirmed that the special will be dedicated to 1970s-era producer Barry Letts, who died a month before its broadcast.[1]
- Chook Sibtain previously played Mark Grantham in SJA: Warriors of Kudlak.
- A new trailer released by the BBC on the 4th November depicts, among other things, the Doctor walking towards the base in his space suit previously seen in DW: The Impossible Planet/The Satan Pit. The Doctor also says, when Adelaide asks why won't he help them, that "You die. On Mars. You die today".
- An Australian airdate has been confirmed, 6th December, three weeks after the UK premiere [2]
Ratings
to be added
Filming Locations
- Victoria Place, Newport
- National Botanic Gardens of Wales, Carmarthenshire
Discontinuity, Plot Holes, Errors
- If no Human had ever heard of the Ice Warriors then how can the events of NA: The Dying Days not be known by the Humans? The novels may not be considered canon, by the current production team also, that event may have been in flux, like how no one had heard of the Daleks in Dalek despite the Earth being moved years before. Also, it is never explicitly stated that Humans have never heard of the Ice Warriors. When the Doctor mentions them, Adelaide simply states, "I haven't got time for stories," not saying whether she has heard of the Ice Warriors in the story. In fact, she does not seem surprised by thier existence.
- After the explosion of the shuttle, several fires are burning all around the site. Now taking into account the initial explosion was fueled by the base's oxygen, and given that Mars has no appreciable atmosphere, how can these smaller fires burn in the vacuum?Because Mars does have an atmosphere. It is in no way a vaccum.
- In Father's Day The reapers turned up due to Rose saving her father when somebody who was dead is now alive - surely this should be the case now for Yuri and Mia as they should have died but are now alive. The Reapers seemingly don't always turn up, but only feed on the changes to the timeline caused by someone surviving when they "previously" died. They may not have found this alteration, or they may simply not have been hungry enough to feed. The Doctor's lack of concern suggests that their invasions are rare. Also, we didn't see Yuri and Mia again after they walked away from Adelaide's house. We only see the news article about thier survival; for all we know the Reapers could have shown up but Yuri and Mia escaped and the Reapers gave up looking for them. As shown at the end of Father's Day, when the Reapers leave an area, all knowledge of them is forgotten and other people killed by them are revived, so if it is true, as soon as the Reapers leave they would be forgotten.
- The news article on Adelaide claims that she was born in 1999 and yet was also 10 when her parents died in 2008. The obituary of Tarak Ital also misspells Havana. The events of (DW: Journey's End) occurred in the year 2009, which would mean she was 10 years old when her parents died.
Continuity
- There are references to DW: The Fires of Pompeii.
- There is a flashback to the events of DW: The Stolen Earth / Journey's End and a Dalek cameo.
- The spacesuit the Doctor wore was the same suit from DW: The Impossible Planet / The Satan Pit.
International broadcasts
- ABC1 - Australia : 6th December 2009
- BBC America: 19th December 2009
- Space - Canada: 19th December 2009[2]
DVD release
- It has been announced that the four specials plus The Next Doctor will be released in North America on both DVD and Blu-Ray in a box set on 2nd February 2010.[3]
