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Series 6 of Doctor Who, occasionally known as Season 32 to avoid confusion with Season 6, was aired in 2011. DWM 419 confirmed that it had been commissioned by the BBC, and producer Piers Wenger also announced the same at the BBC Press Launch for series five in March 2010.
Filming started in July 2010. This series was preceded by a 2010 Christmas Special written by Steven Moffat. The series was split into two sections, with the first episode, The Impossible Astronaut, airing on 23rd April 2011. It paused after the seventh episode, A Good Man Goes to War, was aired. The series picked up with the eighth episode, Let's Kill Hitler, at the end of August and ran through to the final, thirteenth episode, The Wedding of River Song. Short prequels were released on the official site to publicise the series, the first time such brief productions had been made since the Tardisodes of Series 2.
Overview
The story arc of this series involves River Song's true identity, revelations of the mysterious Silence referenced in Series 5 and the Doctor's apparent death.
Series 6 began with the Eleventh Doctor inviting Amy, Rory and River Song to a picnic in Utah using blue envelopes, where a figure clad in an Apollo spacesuit shoots the Doctor and kills him before he can regenerate. After burning the Doctor's body, the companions find the Doctor alive and well in a café; the Doctor that was shot and killed was a future version, and he apparently invited his companions and past self to instigate a plan in 1969 America. The rest of the series makes references to the future Doctor's plan and his apparently final death.
The Silence was also revealed in this series; as race of humanoid alien creatures that people instantly forget about once they take their eyes off them. Additionally they also possess the ability to plant ideas into people's minds and influence their behaviour, a form of post-hypnotic suggestion, and they have been subtly controlling the human race for aeons. Their motivations remain unclear through the series' first half, but soon it is revealed that they are the figureheads of a religious order dedicated to eliminating the Doctor before he can answer "the Question".
Finally, River Song's true identity was revealed, a mystery that has been present ever since her introduction in Silence in the Library. Whilst there have subtle clues and plot points concerning a mysterious little girl, Amy's seemingly failed pregnancy and a lady with an eye patch throughout the first half of the series, the mystery was finally revealed in A Good Man Goes to War; River Song is Amy and Rory's daughter, raised and indoctrinated by the Silence for the sole purpose of assassinating the Doctor. Because she was conceived within the TARDIS during flight she absorbed the energy of the time vortex, making her a quasi-Time Lord capable of regenerating. Her Time Lord-like physiology and abilities also made her the perfect assassin for the Doctor.
The series concluded with the final outcome of the Doctor's plan throughout the series; the spacesuit-clad figure who killed the Doctor was River Song, with the Silence-modified spacesuit forcing her to commit the deed. However, the Doctor had faked his own death and made it a fixed point in time in order to trick the Silence, getting them off his back at least for a while. Whilst most of the universe is convinced that the Doctor is dead once and for all, a handful of individuals including his companions know otherwise.
However, there were still unresolved matters following the conclusion of the series; the Silence, whilst their numbers have fallen, are still present and they may still learn later that the Doctor was not killed. This series has also addressed a mystery that has been part of Doctor Who since its creation and one that head writer Steven Moffat has mentioned in at least two episodes (The Girl in the Fireplace and Forest of the Dead). The oldest question in the Universe is revealed to be "Doctor who?"
Cast
Primary cast
Secondary cast
Guest cast
- Kazran Sardick - Michael Gambon
- Abigail Pettigrew - Katherine Jenkins
- Canton Delaware - Mark Sheppard
- Richard Nixon - Stuart Milligan
- Henry Avery - Hugh Bonneville
- Toby Avery - Oscar Lloyd
- Idris - Suranne Jones
- House - Michael Sheen
- Jennifer Lucas - Sarah Smart
- Miranda Cleaves - Raquel Cassidy
- Dorium - Simon Fisher Becker
- Colonel Manton - Danny Sapani
- Madame Vastra - Neve McIntosh
- Jenny - Catrin Stewart
- Strax - Dan Starkey
- Lorna Bucket - Christina Chong
- Adolf Hitler - Albert Welling
- Mels - Nina Toussaint-White
- Young Amy Pond - Caitlin Blackwood
- Young Rory Williams - Ezekiel Wigglesworth
- George - Jamie Oram
- Alex - Daniel Mays
- Gibbis - David Walliams
- Rita - Amara Karan
- Craig Owens - James Corden
- Sophie - Daisy Haggard
- Val - Lynda Baron
- Winston Churchill - Ian McNeice
- Gantok - Mark Gatiss
Television stories
Christmas special
| Episode Number |
Title | Writer | Director | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| N/A | A Christmas Carol | Steven Moffat | Toby Haynes |
Spring half
| Episode Number |
Title | Writer | Director | Prequel | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 & 2 | Pt. 1: The Impossible Astronaut Pt. 2: Day of the Moon |
Steven Moffat | Toby Haynes | Prequel | First appearance of the Silence and Madame Kovarian. Return of River Song. |
| 3 | The Curse of the Black Spot | Steve Thompson | Jeremy Webb | Prequel | Reappearance of Kovarian. |
| 4 | The Doctor's Wife | Neil Gaiman | Richard Clark | Reappearance of the Ood. | |
| 5 & 6 | Pt. 1: The Rebel Flesh Pt. 2: The Almost People |
Matthew Graham | Julian Simpson | Reappearance of Kovarian and introduction of the Flesh concept. | |
| 7 | Pt. 1: A Good Man Goes to War | Steven Moffat | Peter Hoar | Prequel | Return of River Song, along with the Cybermen, Judoon, Silurians, Kovarian, The Church, Headless monks, and Dorium. First Appearance of Vastra, Strax and Jenny |
Autumn half
| Episode Number |
Title | Writer | Director | Prequel | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 8 | Pt. 2: Let's Kill Hitler | Steven Moffat | Richard Senior | Prequel | Conclusion to A Good Man Goes to War. Return of River Song. First appearance of the Teselecta. |
| 9 | Night Terrors | Mark Gatiss | Richard Clark | ||
| 10 | The Girl Who Waited | Tom MacRae | Nick Hurran | ||
| 11 | The God Complex | Toby Whithouse | Nick Hurran | Amy and Rory leave the Doctor. Cameo appearance of the Weeping Angels. | |
| 12 | Closing Time | Gareth Roberts | Steve Hughes | Reintroduction of the Cybermats and return of Craig Owens, Sophie, the Cybermen, River Song, Madame Kovarian and the Silence. | |
| 13 | The Wedding of River Song | Steven Moffat | Jeremy Webb | Prequel | Reappearance of River Song, Winston Churchill, Charles Dickens, Dorium, the Silence and Kovarian. |
Mini-episodes
Doctor Who Confidential mini-episode
| Episode Number |
Title | Writer | Director | Notes |
| N/A | Death Is the Only Answer | Pupils from Oakley CE Junior School | Jeremy Webb | Appearance of an Ood |
Comic Relief mini-episode
| Episode Number |
Title | Writer | Director | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| N/A | Pt. 1: Space Pt. 2: Time |
Steven Moffat | Richard Senior |
DVD Box Set Mini-episodes
These five mini-episodes were released on the Series 6 DVD boxset. They were all given an umbrella title of Night and the Doctor.
| Episode Number |
Title | Writer | Director | Notes |
| 1 | Bad Night | Steven Moffat | Richard Senior | |
| 2 | Good Night | Steven Moffat | Richard Senior | |
| 3 & 4 | Pt. 1: First Night Pt. 2: Last Night |
Steven Moffat | Richard Senior | Reappearance of River Song. Last Night is set immediately before River and the Doctor's final meeting (from the Doctor's perspective) and Silence in the Library from River's. |
| 5 | Up All Night | Tom MacRae | Unknown | Prequel to Closing Time. Reappearance of Craig Owens and Sophie. The Doctor does not appear. |
Episode notes
- Series 6 is the first series of the 2005-present revival not to include Daleks, save for a cameo appearance by the Supreme Dalek in the finale.
Adaptations and merchandising
Home media
DVD
All episodes of Series 6 were released in 2011.
| Episode name | Number and duration of episodes |
R2 release date | R4 release date | R1 release date |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Doctor Who: A Christmas Carol A Christmas Carol |
1 × 60 min. | 24 January 2011 | 3 March 2011 | 15 February 2011 |
| Doctor Who: Series 6, Part 1 The Impossible Astronaut / Day of the Moon The Curse of the Black Spot The Doctor's Wife The Rebel Flesh / The Almost People A Good Man Goes to War |
6 x 45 min. 1 × 50 min. |
11 July 2011 | 4 August 2011 | 19 July 2011 |
| Doctor Who: Series 6, Part 2 Let's Kill Hitler Night Terrors The Girl Who Waited The God Complex Closing Time The Wedding of River Song |
4 x 45 min. 2 × 50 min. |
10 October 2011 | 3 November 2011 | 8 November 2011 |
| Doctor Who: The Complete Sixth Series includes A Christmas Carol |
1 x 60 min. 3 x 50 min. 10 x 45 min. |
21 November 2011 | 1 December 2011 | 22 November 2011 |
Novels
- Dead of Winter
- The Way Through the Woods
- Hunter's Moon
- Touched by an Angel
- Paradox Lost
- Borrowed Time
- The Silent Stars Go By
Audiobooks
DVD and Blu-ray release
The DVD release of Series 6 was issued in two parts, unlike the preceding series, which was released in four or five parts over the duration of the series. Part One, which contains episodes one to seven, was released on 11th July 2011, shortly after the airing of episode seven. Part Two was released in the autumn, shortly after episode thirteen was aired.[1] Both parts were released as a box set on November 22 with the Night and the Doctor minisodes and the Doctor Who Confidential cutdowns.[2]