The Waters of Mars (TV story)
The Waters of Mars was the second of the 2009 Specials leading up to the end of the David Tennant era. It aired on 15th November 2009 on BBC One.
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 a "fixed point" 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, alerts Andy and Tarak in the biodome corridor to the humans' plans by emitting an alien scream, 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 by the 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 inexplicably 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
- The 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
- Steffi Ehrlich - Cosima Shaw
- Roman Groom - Michael Goldsmith
- Emily Brooke - Lily Bevan
- Mikhail Kerenski - Max Bollinger
- Ulrika Ehrlich - Anouska Strahnz
- Lisette Ehrlich - Zofia Strahnz
- Adelaide's Father - Charlie De'Ath
- Ood Sigma - Paul Kasey
- Young Adelaide- Rachel Fewell
- Susie Fontana Brooke - Alice Southwood
Crew
| Executive Producers Russell T Davies and Julie Gardner |
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| Not every person who worked on this adventure was credited. The absence of a credit for a position doesn't necessarily mean the job wasn't required. The information above is based solely on observations of the actual end credits of the episodes as broadcast, and does not relay information from IMDB or other sources. |
References
- Adelaide was 10 years old when the Earth was stolen by the Daleks, and she witnessed one herself.
- Whilst on Earth, the TARDIS the cloister bell is audible while the Doctor stands alone in the TARDIS.
- "Bowie Base One" has similar layout like the Moonbase from Gerry Andersons TV series "UFO"
- "What the hell is that noise?" the sound is a Proximity Alarm, used in the Movie: "2001, a Space Odyssey"
- "Bowie Base One" is a reference to David Bowie's song "Life on Mars"
- The Doctor also used the tactic of electrifying bulkhead doors in The Ark in Space.
Earth history
- Adelaide Brooke says that the last forty years on Earth have been chaos, with massive climate change, ozone degradation, and "the oil apocalypse"; humanity "almost reached extinction" during this period. Andy's obituary mentions "appalling storm conditions" in 2040, and climate change affecting agriculture in 2045.
- Maggie believes the Doctor may be a Filipino or Spanish astronaut, as the Philippines are rumoured to be building a Mars rocket and Spain have a "space link" that they managed to keep secret. Andy Stone's sister worked for the Spanish space programme. Ed Gold believes the Doctor is from a non-state independent group, referring to the "Branson Inheritance", likely a reference to Richard Branson, a British industrialist who uses his vast wealth to fund commercial space flight.
- Various lunar missions have been carried out, including ten German missions and Project Pit Stop, establishing a refueling station on the moon. Mars was landed on in 2041, with Adelaide Brooke as part of the crew. Thirty years after 2059, Brooke's granddaughter Susan will pilot the first lightspeed ship.
- At least one of the webpages (the one showing Brooke's granddaughter) dates from the 2080s or later, suggesting the Internet still exists in some form in the late 21st century.
- In 2059 flares emanating from the Solar System's Sun are preventing clear communications between Earth and Mars.
- Although its name is not given in dialogue, one of the webpages shown on screen indicates that the name of the spacecraft that brought Brooke's crew to Mars and that of the vessel Ed Gold is forced to destroy, is Apollo 34.
Locations
- Bowie Base One is Earth's first off world colony.
- "Bowie Base One" is a reference to the David Bowie song "Life on Mars", which was also the name of a BBC TV series set in 1973 which starred John Simm, who currently plays the Master.
- Bowie Base One is located on Mars in the Gusev Crater.
- The colony's plantation grows, according to the Doctor, the first vegetation seen on Mars for 10,000 years.
Races and species
- The Doctor mentions the Ice Warriors and suggests that they may have frozen the Flood. The Ice Warriors' present apparent absence from Mars goes unexplained.
Robots
- The Doctor said that he hates "funny robots" but notes that he'd be okay with a robot dog.
- Gadget was built by Roman Groom using parts from the drones that constructed Bowie Base One.
Story notes
- This story was initially envisaged as a Christmas special, several festive references remain, such as the crew on Mars preparing for Christmas dinner, and it snowing when the Doctor arrives back on Earth as he exclaims how he likes snow.
- This story was originally entitled; Red Christmas.
- Lindsay Duncan becomes the oldest actress, and briefly the oldest individual, to be cast in the companion role (although like several before her, her official status as a companion will remain debatable). As Bernard Cribbins took on the companion role in DW: The End of Time, he will become the elder male actor and elder individual in this role.
- The episode ends with a dedication to Barry Letts. The former Doctor Who producer and writer had died several weeks before the broadcast.
- Phil Ford's original draft was called "A Midwinter's Tale", and was a sword and sorcery tale about an alien princess coming to Earth to be married. It ended with a long chase sequence in secret tunnels beneath Buckingham Palace. [1]
- When initially sketching out the story, Davies considered Helen Mirren as a potential actress to play the character that eventually became Adelaide. In an early draft, the character that became Adelaide was Russian, but this was changed when, still thinking of Mirren as a potential guest star, Davies felt it would have been too close to the character played by Mirren in the film 2010: The Year We Make Contact. (REF: Doctor Who: The Writer's Tale - The Final Chapter)
Ratings
- 15th November 2009 - 10.32 Milion
- 33.9% of TV share
Filming locations
- Victoria Place, Newport
- National Botanic Gardens of Wales, Carmarthenshire
- Taff's Well quarry, Cardiff, Wales
Production errors
- The first of the web pages brought up in the episode claims that Adelaide had a seven-strong crew with her, though there were 9 people on-site not counting the Doctor.
- In Yuri Kerenski's profile near the beginning of the episode, Tarak Ital's name is incorrectly spelt as "Tarek".
- When it is revealed that Maggie is one of the creatures, the outer shot shows her hair back while in the closer shot, it is around her face.
- When the Doctor opens Adelaide's door, the door unlocks and is opened till it is ajar. When Adelaide approaches the door however, it is closed over.
Continuity
- The Doctor speaks partially to the events of DW: The Fires of Pompeii.
- There is a flashback to an event that occurred during the timeframe of DW: The Stolen Earth / Journey's End, which includes a cameo appearance by a Dalek.
- The spacesuit the Doctor wore was the same suit from DW: The Impossible Planet / The Satan Pit and similar to the one he wore in 42.
- Mars appears not to have much of an atmosphere, however NA: The Dying Days suggests otherwise.
- Carmen's prophecy "he will knock four times" is mentioned from DW: Planet of the Dead.
- Sound clips of the Doctor talking about the Time Lords and The Time War are used from DW: Rise of the Cybermen, Doomsday, Gridlock, Utopia / The Sound of Drums / Last of the Time Lords.
- The Doctor says that heat worked against the Ice Warriors, a reference to DW: The Seeds of Death and DW: The Monster of Peladon.
International Broadcasts
- Prime - New Zealand: 29th November 2009[1]
- ABC1 - Australia: 6th December 2009[2]
- BBC America: 19th December 2009
- Space - Canada: 19th December 2009[3]; rebroadcasts on 20th December 2009 and 2nd January 2010.
- Virtually no major edits were made to The Waters on Mars for any of its broadcasts on Space on 19th and 20th December, except that the preview for The End of Time was omitted (the dedication to Barry Letts, however, remained intact).
Home video releases
- The four specials along with The Next Doctor were released in North America on both DVD and Blu-Ray in a box set on 2nd February 2010.[4]
- The Waters of Mars were released with The End of Time in a 'Winter Specials' DVD and Blu-Ray Box Set.
External links
- BBC - Doctor Who - The Waters of Mars - Episode Guide
- Original script, posted online by Russell T Davies in conjunction with the release of his book REF: Doctor Who: The Writer's Tale.
- The Waters of Mars at Shannon Sullivan's A Brief History of Time (Travel)
- The Waters of Mars at The Locations Guide
Footnotes
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