Production Notes

Production Notes

Talk

Production Notes was a regular feature in Doctor Who Magazine in which showrunners and other prominent production figures would write on current events in the making of Doctor Who, often teasing stories still being made. Published monthly from 2004 to 2012 and intermittently from 2013 to 2022, the feature lasted from the beginning to end of the second iteration of Doctor Who, succeeded by Letter from the Showrunner for the show's third iteration.

Russell T Davies' 2004-2009 production tenure

Numbered entries

Following the production-oriented interview with Russell T Davies in the Gallifrey Guardian of DWM 337, Production Notes began in early 2004, situated at the end of each issue in the position formerly used for It's the end, but.... Davies wrote every article at this time, introduced from the get-go long-staying conventions such as teasing three contextless words from an upcoming script. James Clarkson illustrated the first four articles and was then succeeded by Ben Morris, who would illustrate almost every Production Notes until it stopped having regular illustrations in 2012.

The Production Notes in DWM 350 was complimented by Cardiff Data-Bank.

Issue	Image(s)	Title	Topics	Teases	3 Words
341		#1 The Sound of Silence	Davies' history with DWM. The pre-publicity 'limbo' of early production, before the Doctor has been cast.	1.12 contains material requiring advance copyright clearance. 1.9 introduces "a very important character". Script 1.1 has been completed.	1.1: "radial", "balcony", "shunt"
342		#2 My Beautiful Balhoon	Titling episodes of the new series.	1.1 and 1.2 have the preliminary titles "Rose" and "The End of the World". Davies jokes that some episode topics include the Moxx of Balhoon, "the one with the Space Goat", and a "Pompeii musical". 1.9 is a one-parter.	1.2: "blue", "faith", "bird"
343		#3 Coffee and TV	Casting and announcing Christopher Eccleston.	Davies is starting to write 1.4, titled "Aliens of London", the first of a two-parter. Mark Gatiss has finished the script for 1.3.	1.3: "lobster", "gas", "window"
344		#4 Think of a Number	Numbering of the season, episodes, and Doctor. Eccleston plays the Ninth Doctor, "the same man who fought the Drahvins, the Macra, the Axons, the Wirrn, the Terileptils, the Borad, the Bannermen - and the Master in 1999!" Doctor numbering is decided "not by the production office, nor the fans, but by time and the tabloids," and so the Shalka Doctor becomes "no less a Doctor, just different" and "Unbound".	The first director will soon be chosen and filming will soon begin.	1.8, second draft: "football", "fractal", "clingfilm"
345		#5 'Feel (Mighty Real)'	Deciding tone. Additionally, the naming of two-parters.	Davies teases the characters Jackie, Moxx of Balhoon, and Mickey.	1.8, third draft: "kettle", "crocodile", "detergent" ; 1.5, first draft: "zig-zag", "Hannibal", "decanter"
346		#6 Spoiler-Sport / My Favourite Letter / This Week in Doctor Who	Spoilers and publicity. A letter about Christopher Eccleston's stubble. Editing scripts and budgeting sets. Logo design.	1.7 is provisionally titled "The Long Game".	1.6, third draft: "skull", "hairdryer", "laser"
347		#7 We're Getting There / Two Days later...	First readthrough. Doctor Who moving to Cardiff.	Episode 1.4, scene 44 originally had the line "five hundred fathoms" before Davies realized how deep that was.	1.9, first draft: "Union Jack", "Gas", and "one of the most beautiful words in the English Language transformed into something stark and terrifying"
348		#8 I'm Still Russell From The Block / My Favourite Joke So Far	Filming in blocks. The meeting for the initial Dalek redesign was titled "Resemblance of the Daleks".	As already announced elsewhere, permission was granted for the Daleks.	N/A
349		#9 In Praise of Idleness	Filming in public. A saucy encounter between Davies and a drag queen (later retold in A Letter from the Showrunner DWM 589). New theme music and title sequence to be commissioned.	New monsters include the Moxx of Balhoon, the Adherents, and the S....	1.10: "digital", "bomb", "banana"; 1.7: "meat", "100", "Nottingham"; 1.11: "railway", "mayor", "poison"
350		#10 Man and Boy	Outdoor Swansea filming of Mark Gatiss' episode 3. Davies' youth in Swansea.	1.9 is tentatively titled "The Unquiet Child". The Long Game has ideas originating from Russell T Davies' first Doctor Who script, written when he was 17.	N/A
351		#11 Resilience of the Daleks	The Daleks and their creation by Terry Nation.	New alien concepts include the Moxx, the Adherents, the Steward, and Platform One.	1.12: "droid", "chainsaw", "naked"

2005 New Look

With the general "New Look" redesign of the magazine starting in DWM 352 to coincide with Series 1, Production Notes gained a new logo and stopped numbering its entries. Russell T Davies continued to be the sole writer and Ben Morris continued to illustrate, with Ben Willsher illustrating the Production Notes in DWM 381.

As had been the intention from the start, in DWM 361 the article to feature writers other than Davies.

Davies expanded on his "3 Words" tradition by sometimes also including a line of dialogue. With DWM 364, Davies established another tradition of the feature having an annual Twelve Days of Christmas Countdown, which always only had eleven pieces of information because the fifth section was taken up by the exclamation "Five golden rings".

DWM 373, which also included a large interview with Davies, had a five-page "Production Notes Extra" at the beginning of the magazine, swapping placements with Matrix Data Bank.

Issue	Writer	Image(s)	Title	Topics	Teases	3 Words
352	Russell T Davies		to be added	17 short thoughts, including experiences with Casanova and its lead actor David Tennant.	to be added	1.7, Draft Two: "Nottingham" changed to "Manchester"; 1.3: "lobster" removed; 1.13: "war", "surfboard", "life"
353			The Ruiners	Spoilers being published in TV journalism, especially for surprises in the final minutes of an episode.	N/A	N/A
354			That Was The Week That Was	Being the promotional face of Doctor Who and Casanova. For tie-in media, Justin Richards proposed a "crafty way" of linking the novels with the TV series.	The 13-week story of Series 2 is being pitched; if made, one episode will feature "the Satan Pit".	N/A
355			Fears of a Clown	Doing interviews. The BBC Worldwide Brighton Showcase.	N/A	N/A
356			The Evasion of Time	Solving the plot hole of Rose disappearing for a year while Jackie had her cross-temporal phone number. The relationship of the War in Heaven with the Last Great Time War.	More will be revealed about the Time War, and viewers should "beware the Bad Wolf". Series 2 is confirmed.	N/A
357			He's Alive	Spoiling of the Ninth Doctor's regeneration. The joy of Doctor Who's new popularity.	Between this week's episode and the regeneration, the Doctor still has "Cardiff left to come, followed by a deadly trap, then the final legacy of the Time War, and the reveal of the Bad Wolf."	Tom MacRae's first episode: "sickness", "mole", "meat"
358			They Know You	Generations of the audience. Tone meeting for Series 2.	N/A	The Christmas Invasion: "Guinevre", "Venezuela", "pork pie", "the Doctor says, 'remote controll!'"; School Reunion: "paradigm", "Aberdeen", "Secret Squirrel", "Rose says, 'So now what do we do?'"
359			It's the Wolf!	The development of the Bad Wolf meme.	There will be another linking word for Series 2, an anagram already said on screen.	N/A
360			Bay Watch	Cardiff bay. The UNIT UN incident. Series 2 scripts.	The Sycorax have been designed. One new alien, the Krillians, have been renamed the Krillitanes.	Tooth and Claw: "punk", "rockabilly", "Muppet", "I'm bored of nakedness."
361	Helen Raynor		Right Then, I Actually Feel Pretty	Readthroughs for Series 2. Onscreen names (including Raynor's creation of Jubilee Pizza).	Cybermen and K9 are on their way.	N/A
355	Simon Winstone		Well this is another milestone.	Working on Doctor Who.	to be added	N/A
363	Steven Moffat		N/A	Writing new Doctor Who. His six-year-old son's activities on set. Hugging Stephen Fry.	Moffat's The Girl in the Fireplace was originally titled Every Tick of My Heart, Reinette and the Lonely Angel, and Madame de Pompadour.	The Girl in the Fireplace: "she", "kisses", "him"
364	Russell T Davies		The Twelve Facts of Christmas!	The deleted scenes were lost and could not be included on the first Series 1 boxset. The Children in Need special.	Radio Times will soon reveal titles for two episodes of Series 2.	N/A
365			Magic Moments	Writing a Christmas Doctor Who comedy story for Time Out. Planning series 3. Winning awards at the TV Moments. A moment when adolescent Who fans on the street mocked Davies' sexuality.	Series 3 will have multiple two-parters, a Steven Moffat script, "those pigs", and "such an ending".	Matthew Graham's script: "kookaburra", "ionic", "loo", "Deep Realms".
366			Phil's Space	A day in the life of Phil Collinson. A gay Chinese bar is hastily created for the background of scene 6/05a.	Overseeing the final FX for New Earth, Phil "shaves three seconds off a dying [1], added more ugly [2] to a poor [3], and stopped a digital [4] from actually moving." In the filming for this day, the Doctor and Rose discover something about Cybus Industries.	N/A
367	James Goss		Face Forwards	The tie-in websites. The Face of Boe chatbot.	More behind the scenes extras on the websites.	N/A
368	Russell T Davies		Moving Stuff	Creation of Camelot, an official studio for Doctor Who and Torchwood.	Davies mentions the Ood. While still working on Series 3, initial script meetings for Series 4 are occurring. The Satan Pit requires 35 different sets of clothes for each of the lead characters. Joking about a spoilers, Davies describes an episode where "the Doctor and Rose visit New Earth and discover the evil plans of the Macra... and the very last line is 'I'm not Jackie, I am the Master.'"	N/A
369			Believe the Hype	Series 2 is designed as a "shrapnel attack" for the headlines: "Doctor/Rose kiss! Female Doctor! Satan! Contracts! Awards outrage!" The practice of 'throw forwards' at the end of each episode.	With Series 2 finished and airing, Series 3 has officially begun.	N/A
370			Forget-Me-Not	ADR recording, in particular an incident in which Anthony Head's line "get the dog" was changed to "forget the dog" using crafty repurposing of the word "for" from elsewhere in the episode.	N/A	N/A
371			Going for Gold	The BAFTAs.	N/A	N/A
372			Back in Business	Series 3 beginning while the final mix is created for Doomsday. Dalek Jast was originally "Dalek Rabe". Upper Boat is in use, with such sights as the Torchwood Hub set next to the moved and rebuilt TARDIS console set.	Camelot, now officially titled Upper Boat, is festooned with designs for the Christmas Enemy, as well as hundreds of Torchwood props, including the Ghost Machine, Toshiko's Pendant, and Jack's new comms device. Toshiko's house is a regular standing set in Upper Boat.	Gareth Roberts' story, fourth draft: "Dolly", "elephant", "Rexel"; Helen Raynor's story, first draft: "devils", "wings", "wardrobe"; Paul Cornell's story, fourth draft: "tango", "Jenny", "gun"; 2006 Christmas story, shooting script: "Morocco", "biodamper", "Lotto", "You can do the explaining, Martian Boy."
373			Companion Piece	The discovery of Freema Agyeman's talent during her auditions for "Esme" (a draft character for Rise of the Cybermen) and "Adeola". Auditions for the Martha character were done under the guise of auditions for Torchwood's Gwen. Catherine Tate was successfully sought out for the one-off companion "the Bride".	Agyeman's Martha Jones will have "encounters with... oh, you'll see."	N/A
374			Day & Night	The chorus of Don't Bring Me Down. Day # and Night # terminology in scripts, and the misunderstandings of timeline-oriented fans. Davies' post-broadcast opinion that the Dalek Sphere's arrival in Canary Wharf caused the universal fault line which the TARDIS fell through in Rise of the Cybermen.	N/A	3.6: "moon", "miracle", "1666", "Look, they've got nibbles!"; Torchwood episode 3: "No guns, I'm not having guns."
375	Gareth Roberts		One Year On...	Production of Attack of the Graske (in October 2005), learning he would write the Series 3 Shakespeare episode (in February and March 2006), filming scenes at 4AM at the Globe Theatre (in August 2006), and the readthrough of The Sarah Jane Adventures Special (in September 2006).	Page 37 of 3.3 has something "rather marvellous and totally unexpected". The Sarah Janes Adventures will have new and old monsters; its main characters will be Sarah Jane, Maria, Luke, and Kelsey.	The Sarah Jane Adventures Special: "blunt", "muffin", "Artron"
376	Russell T Davies		Go Go Munro	Davies' encounters with Pennant Roberts, Rona Munro, Sion Tudor Owen, and a cab driver whose daughter loved Doctor Who too much.	N/A	N/A
377			12 Facts A-Facting	The second 12 Days of Christmas Production Notes special. Due to the EPG, other, shorter titles had to be considered for The Sarah Jane Adventures, including The SJA, SJS, Sarah Jane, Sarah and Co, and Vortex. A canary flew on the set of The Impossible Planet and was captured and adopted by Tracie Simpson.	3.5 Scene 4 is "Tallulah is joined by the Doctor and Co running away." In The Runaway Bride, Donna says, "That's not even a proper word, you're just saying things!" In Series 3, Ardal O'Hanlon and Jennifer Hennessy play married couple Brannigan and Valerie, with their children played by "oh, you'll see". Other characters are Anne Reid as Florence and Roy Marsden as Mr Stoker. 3.2 is titled The Shakespeare Code. Two old friends of the Doctor will return in Series 3, and "one of them might just possibly be a big old Face" (retrospectively, a description which applies to Jack Harkness).	N/A
378			New Year's Revelations	K9's fate revolving a black hole. Alien planets in the new series. Running out of space for sets in Upper Boat (fun fact, Sarah Jane's attic was repurposed from "the Crooked House" in The Shakespeare Code).	Graeme Harper will direct episodes "on the far-flung planet Malcassario" and "in the extremes of a distant solar system". 3.3 is also set on an alien world. 3.8/9 and 3.10 both have very creepy monsters.	3.10: "Banto", "Hull", "timey-wimey", "Life is short, and you are hot."; 3.7: "fridge", "countdown", "mini-toothbrush"; 3.11: "Utopia", "prejudiced", a character called Chantho, "Now I can say I was provoked."
379			3 AM Eternal	Davies' sleep-deprived musings from a night of wandering Cardiff.	3.12 Scene 67 has an apocalyptic showdown between the central characters. The Doctor and Martha's final scene in 3.9 was filmed in a storm. An upcoming monster is "the Toclafane".	3.12: "Cruciform", a place called "Wild Endeavour", a crucial "yes" from someone unexpected, "Who wants to spend their life in school?"
380			Finito TARDIS	Series 3 is finished.	Beware spoilers for the endings of episodes, such as, hypothetically, Nyssa jumping out of a Space Cake. Martha had better A Levels than Rose.	3.13: "Shakespeare", "drumbeat", "Japan", "A current of 58.5 kiloamperes.", and a location 'cunningly hidden in the first paragraph' of this Production Notes (Valiant).
381			Marching On...	The airing of early Series 3. Seeing Edwin Starr in his pants while filming a cryptic Kylie Minogue teaser for Top of the Pops.	If Series 4 occurs, it could involve Gareth Roberts, Stephen Greenhorn, and Steven Moffat.	N/A
382			Whistle While You Work	Series 4 is being written. Final edits for The Lazarus Experiment and 3.13. Tone meeting for new season of Torchwood.	Four mystery writers for Series 4 are "Geordie", "Old", and "Blonde", and "Pink".	Pink's Series 4 script: "century", "Caravaggio", "jam", "Engaging tractor beams."
383			Going Live!	A 2-second loss of transmission during airing of Gridlock. Airing against Eurovision.	N/A	N/A
384	Steven Moffat		Remember Nostalgia?	Mark Gatiss' role as a Doctor Who baddie. The joys of being part of a thriving Doctor Who revival.	N/A	N/A
385	Russell T Davies		Rocking the Boat	A week when all 3 shows film simultaneously	Upper Boat has the Titanic, "bits of 1918, 2008, 51st century, and the oh-so-pivotal 1964", and "extras dressed as Stewards and World War I soldiers and Combat 3000 kids", while filming also happens at a nearby beach for "the Boeshane Peninsula". Sarah Jane is fighting Mr Grantham, and his boss Kudlak, and his boss the Mistress. Martha Jones will battle "the Pharm" with Torchwood. James Moran's script for Series 4 is "epic". Stephen Greenhorn's S4 script is "mindblowing, giving the Doctor a dilemma we've never seen him face before."	Gareth Roberts S4, draft 3: "peach", "sting", "unicorn", "The poor little child."; Helen Raynor's S4 part 1: "chimney", "pod", "hurricane", "Our campaign is progressing slowly."; Steven Moffat's S4 script: "node"; Voyage of the Damned, Shooting Script: "host", "lifeboats", "trapped", "they think we should be in steerage."
386	Gareth Roberts		Get With the Programme	to be added	N/A	N/A
387	Russell T Davies		The Doctor Calls	Colin Baker visiting during filming of Voyage of the Damned.	When Davies is Colin Baker's age (64 years old), he'll hate the new Doctor Who and wish it had the Isolus.	N/A
388			Between the Lines	Davies decision to not explicitly say that the Saxon Presidency filled the gap of Harriet Jones' Golden Age, despite having planned it for years. Additionally, Davies vision of the Cruciform is more disgusting and visually spectacular than anything that could go on screen, so he prefers the millions of viewers to all have their own ideas of it. Davies has personal visions of Ancient Silurian Civilisation, the origin of the Great Intelligence, and whatever-happened-to-the-rest-of-the-Zygons.	N/A	N/A
389			Crashing the Party	Filming Time Crash. Davies and Moffat's shared fan theory that the Fifth Doctor only wore celery from false realities.	N/A	N/A

2008 New-Look

With the magazine's revamp accompanying Tom Spilsbury succeeding Clayton Hickman as editor, Production Notes was redesigned by Stuart Manning to a sleeker, less-scrapbook look. The feature moved to the front of the magazine, with its old spot at the back taken by Benjamin Cook's Who on Earth is...

The first of these Production Notes was marked as the feature's 50th edition.

Issue	Writer	Image(s)	Topics	Teases	3 Words
390	Russell T Davies		The third annual Twelve Days of Christmas special.	Voyage of the Damned has a terrifying scene on a strut. In an echo of The Christmas Invasion, Voyage also quotes The Lion King. 4.5 includes UNIT Mobile HQ and a scene described as "Mace hears Ross call in, and declares a Code Red." Series Four will mention at least six planets (Ood-Sphere, Messaline, Midnight, Shan Shen, Pyrovillia, and the Lost Moon of Poosh) and visit five in total (four of the previous list); also, one story redefines the category of 'alien planet'. Episode 4.5 will be titled The Sontaran Stratagem. Hidden in the text is another episode title (retrospectively, Midnight).	Voyage of the Damned Scene 12: "He's like a talking conker!", Scene 63: "Oh, I think Bannakaffalatta and I just got engaged."; 5.11 "Leeds", "photocopy", "Spanish", "telescope", "labour", "raffle ticket", "Don't get chippy with me, Vera Duckworth!"
391			Tracie Simpson leaving BBC Wales.	N/A	N/A
392			Remembering Verity Lambert	4.11 has "dazzling dilemmas" for Donna. 4.10 has the Doctor facing "a danger [he's] never seen (or heard) before".	N/A
393			Learning to love Underworld after 30 years of hating it.	N/A	4.12: "Don't use Project Indigo, it's not safe!"; 4.13: "The strands are still drawing together."
394			Teasing Series 4. Saying goodbye to Totally Doctor Who. Phil Collinson leaving.	The audience have yet to see "the wilds of Messaline", "the delights of Planet Midnight", "the Library", "the Crucible", and also scenes set in Delhi, the Ardennes, and Leeds. In the new Doctor Who Confidentials, David Tennant will give a tour of Pompeii. Davies warns of "the Doctor throws the Taran wood beast into the compost machine" as a hypothetical spoiler. In the Sontaran episode, Colonel Mace will say "Trap One to Hawk Major! Go go go!" before a 'truly astonishing' scene. A companion will say, "You liar! You told me I was special." There will be 'climactic scenes in the Vault' with the line, "After all these years. Can it be...?" Other elements include "the Sontaran ship", "the Source", "Proper Dave and Other Dave", "Ood Sigma", "the language of the Hath", and "scary monsters from Steven Moffat that threaten to topple the Weeping Angels".	N/A
395			Secretly putting Rose Tyler in the final scene of Partners in Crime.	The Rose and Donna scene was shot during filming for Turn Left, which will have a totally different scene with all the same practical elements; Davies notes that this scene won't be "a parallel version of the same event".	N/A
396			The last minute insertion of Rose Tyler into The Poison Sky after public reaction to Partners in Crime. Meeting Glyn Houston at the Welsh Baftas.	Rose may be edited into the background of further Series 4 episodes. Sound design will be a very important part of Midnight. 4.13 will have dark consequences.	Music of the Spheres: "music", "tuba", "sweets", "Get out of my TARDIS!"; 4.13: "spanners"
397	Steven Moffat		Replacing Davies as showrunner.	Moffat can reveal "nothing of our plans (except, obviously, THEY'RE BACK!)".	N/A
398	Russell T Davies		Collaborating with Moffat as his successor, including ensuring that current expanded media doesn't contradict Moffat's plans.	Moffat will take over Production Notes in 2010.
399	Julie Gardner		Going to L.A. Comic Con.	N/A	N/A
400	Russell T Davies		The first summer since 2003 without Doctor Who in production. David Tennant's Hamlet performance.	Two huge parts in the upcoming specials have been cast.	4.15: "jewel", "fly", "chamber"; 4.16: "oxygen", "probe", "tree"
401			TV Choice awards. Bernard Cribbins' popularity with the general public.	N/A	4.15, first draft: "posh", "Athelstan", "chirrup", "Wonder what she gets up to of an evening."
402			Going on tour for The Writer's Tale. Preproduction for the Specials beginning soon on 24 November.	Davies hopes that Doctor Who's producer in 2028 will be someone who was a child when Rose came out. 4.15 will have the Doctor discover alien pictograms.	N/A
403			The fourth annual Twelve Days of Christmas countdown. Meeting Sarah Mowat.	RTD jokes that he "never did get to bring back the Ugrakks".	The Next Doctor: "This is hardly work for a woman!"; 4.15, draft 4, scene 7: "Hello, I'm the Doctor."; 4.16, draft 3: "Emily", "pipes", "carrots", "legend", "gadget", "concerto", "the map of the Water Snake Wormholes"
404			Worrying about spoilers in a year with Season Five incoming. The fears of filming anything in public with spoilers in it.	The alien for 4.15 has a name starting with 'T' that's nine letters long. The episode will have two "Very Important Things" modelled with computer graphics. The alien pictograms mentioned two issues ago have been removed from the script. Speaking of the Tenth Doctor's regeneration, Davies notes that an upcoming scene labelled "EXT. STREET" has him worried about onlookers spoiling the show.	The name of a new enemy from the Specials is hidden in the article ("the flood").
405	Steven Moffat		Moffat's childhood reactions to new Doctor actors. The casting of Matt Smith as the Eleventh Doctor.	Moffat jokes about "mysterious Time Angels" in another dimension who experience all time simultaneously.	N/A
406	Russell T Davies		The incident of the damaged bus during filming of Planet of the Dead. The story's status as the 200th Doctor Who story, and why Davies is uneasy with DWM's numbering of stories.	A solution to the bus dilemma took a minute to think of and 20 minutes to add rewrites to the script.	N/A
407			Endings and beginnings. Contemplating last words. The Dalek in the pond in Planet of the Daleks.	4.16 will have a studio set like nothing that has been done before.	N/A
408	Gary Russell		Script editing for the Whoniverse. The genius of Russell T Davies.	Russell "may" have contributed "a reference to the fabled Planet Zog" to one of Tennant Specials.	N/A
409	Russell T Davies		The theme of "the last".	Davies has read Moffat's first script and was very impressed.	N/A
410			Davies had promised genuine Doctor Who for the Tonight's the Night contest minisode, but felt unable to have that be the final story he wrote for the Tenth Doctor. The Last Day is approaching.	N/A	N/A
411			Radio Times billings, in particular one which read "The Doctor thwarts an attack on the humans".	A possible billing for 4.17 could be "What is the secret of the Silver Cloak...?"	N/A
412			Visiting Los Angeles. Anticipation for Moffat's Who as a fan, including reading filming leaks, the daft hypocrite!	N/A	N/A
413			Being at San Diego Comic-Con.	N/A	N/A
414			Reminiscing on the magic of catching Doctor Who repeats and seeing VHSes of old episodes in the 1980s.	N/A	N/A
415			Remembering Barry Letts. Finishing work on the specials. Celebrating the 75th Production Notes.	4.17 has the "longest title yet", at six words. The Waters of Mars has sinister gurgling from the biodome.	N/A
416			A 12-Days-of-Christmas-style final Davies Production Notes. Teases for The End of Time. Davies' recent foreward for The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy. Davies' death and regeneration into Steven Moffat.	The End of Time Part 2 has scenes in China and Geneva. There are seven returning characers, and Donna's neighbour is finally named. 4.17 was originally titled "The Final Days of Planet Earth".	4.17, scene 12: "INT. ICE CAVE" and "The woman in the cage, who is she?"

Steven Moffat's production tenure

2010 format

Starting in 2010, Steven Moffat took over writing Production Notes. Adapting himself to a format developed by a different creative voice, he often joked within Production Notes that he didn't want to write the column and it was all a bit of filling up space without saying anything meaningful.

Ben Morris continued to illustrate. Adrian Salmon stepped in to illustrate the article for DWM 424.

Issue	Writer	Image(s)	Topics	Teases
417	Steven Moffat		Writers for "Series Fnarg".	Beyond Who, Moffat is also working on a show about Sherlock Holmes.
418			to be added	to be added
419			to be added	Episode 11 will have the Doctor carry a flaming torch.
420			to be added	Moffat answers three questions about the first four episodes before you watch them: "1. Because it's a time machine, dummy. 2. Because the structural damage alluded to in the opening scenes has caused a certain amount of leakage. Yes, leakage. Shut up, it's all planned, you wait till Episode 12! 3. Ah! Ah! But where in the episode does it say it's the second time? No, see, it doesn't. So nyer. In fact, the use of the word "keep" in scene 23 would suggest that it isn't the second time." (1 may refer to the opening modern London scene of The Eleventh Hour, 2 may refer to the TARDIS doors opening outwards in The Eleventh Hour, and 3 refers to the Doctor's familiarity with River Song in The Time of the Angels.)
421			to be added	to be added
422			6 things Moffat recently learned.	N/A
423	Piers Wenger, Matt Smith, Karen Gillan		to be added	to be added
424	Steven Moffat		to be added	to be added
425			The orchestra.	to be added
426			Series 6, Part One! Sherlock. The upcoming Christmas Special with Michael Gambon.	Series 6 will have "the startling truth about Idris' new soul," "the frankly appalling revelation concerning the one person in the universe the Doctor trusts the most," a "peek inside a cupboard that will chill your blood" and a meeting with "a workforce that will haunt your dreams," "Apollo Ten and a half", and the truth "that River Song is-". At the climax of episode 7, "you will see the Doctor's life changed forever, you will gasp in astonishment at the true nature of his relationship with Amy Pond, and you will cry out in horror as Rory Williams stumbles to the brink of a tragic mistake."
427	Neil Gaiman		The history of The Doctor's Wife, including its origins as a story for the previous season and the excising of the Planet of the Rain Gods.	The Doctor's Wife "starts in void-space, with something - or someone - we have not seen since The War Games, and a knock at the door."
428	Steven Moffat		Transcript of a meeting between Moffat, Beth Willis, Matthew Graham, and Marcus Wilson.	In a scene where the Doctor dies, the script says that he's remembering being on Skaro with Sarah Jane Smith.
429			to be added	Moffat mentions that River Song has a true name.

The contributor headshots for this period were as follows:

• 

  Steven Moffat

• 

  Piers Wenger

• 

  Neil Gaiman

2011 New-Look Production Notes...

With the magazine's "new-look" beginning in DWM 430, a new aesthetic was established for Production Notes, with the feature's title changed to "Production Notes..."

Issue	Writer	Image(s)	Topics	Teases
430	Steven Moffat		A train conversation with Matt Graham concerning the upcoming episode 7.	to be added
431			Meditations on children's shows that adults watch.	to be added
432			The pressure of February.	to be added
433			The writers for the episodes of Series 6 Part 1.	to be added
434			Spoilers amid media journalism.	In the opening two-parter, someone dies, Amy has a predicament, and episode 2 ends with a cliffhanger.
435			Remembering Lis Sladen's performances as Sarah Jane Smith.	N/A
436	Russell T Davies		A short story parodying The Three Doctors in which Davies promotes Torchwood: Miracle Day.	Miracle Day will be in continuity with Doctor Who, with several fleeting continuity references amid the "action-packed and powerfull intelligent blockbuster which challenges the very nature of the human race".
437	Steven Moffat		Outlining the writers of Series 6 Part 2.	to be added
438			An interview of Moffat by his son's classmates for a school magazine.	to be added
439			Readthrough of the Christmas Special. The end of Piers Wenger and Beth Willis' time with Doctor Who.	Viewers will soon see the wedding of River Song.
440			Celebrating the 100th edition of Production Notes.	N/A
441			to be added	Christmas Special 2011 has the words "looms", "panthers", and "wish" and the line "Watch and learn, kid." followed by a large crash. Additionally, the Doctor's name isn't "Doctor Who" (except for all the times it is) and the anniversay year is coming.
442			Stevie answers some questions from Twitter.	In one answer, Moffat imagines the Doctor's earliest origins as a little boy. One joke improvised by Matt Smith in The Doctor, the Widow, and the Wardrobe has the words "bear" and "duvet".
443	Mark Gatiss		Sherlock. The recovery of missing episodes.	Gatiss' next pitch for Doctor Who involves the words "meat", "klaxon", and "Vienna".
444	Steven Moffat		Series 7 tone meeting. Filming Sherlock. Karen Gillan and Arthur Darvill's decision to leave.	The end of Amy and Rory.
445	Caroline Skinner		The Doctor Who Orchestra.	Filming for Doctor Who begins "tomorrow".
446	Steven Moffat		Casting Jenna Coleman. A printing of the full audition script.	to be added
447			Interacting with fans and its effects on the ego. Not writing Christmas Special 2012.	to be added
448			Shooting the final scene with Amy and Rory.	Chris Chibnall's Episode 4 will have scenes shot in the same hospital used for The Eleventh Hour, but fictionally it will be a different hospital.
449	Chris Chibnall		Chibnall's scripts for Series 7.	During filming of Episode 4, Matt Smith was surprised by a big name actor, referred to here as "[REDACTED]".
450	Steven Moffat		While on a train, Moffat gives updates on all 14 upcoming episodes of Series 7.	7.9 will have a surprising recognizable monster.
451			Introducing the episodes of Series 7 Part 1.	to be added
452			Keeping the secret of Jenna Coleman in Asylum of the Daleks.	Much is mysterious about the nature of Oswin.
453			A cut scene from The Angels Take Manhattan about the Doctor's grey hairs.	N/A
454	Stephen Thompson		Thompson's history with Who. The inspirations behind Journey to the Centre of the TARDIS.	to be added
455	Steven Moffat		Moffat summarizes the upcoming 9 episodes until the end of the Series 7 Part 2.	to be added

Replaced by Steven Moffat

In 2013, Production Notes's place in the magazine was replaced by Steven Moffat, a feature which served many similar functions to Production Notes but gradually diverged significantly as it leaned heavily towards Moffat answering questions from fans (as he had done in Production Notes 442).

The column was intermittently retitled Production Notes for special occasions.

2016's DWM 500 had neither a Production Notes or Steven Moffat, making it the first issue since February 2004 to have no article in the vein of what Davies once started, although it did have a feature interview with Steven Moffat. This continued in DWM 501 and 502, then 508 and 512. Starting with DWM 516, no equivalent to Production Notes appeared in the magazine until Chris Chibnall's tenure.

Issue	Writer	Image(s)	Topics
467	Steven Moffat, Russell T Davies		Ruminations on the 50th Anniversary. Via a parody of The Three Doctors, Russell T Davies returns to tell of his anniversary plans and to jokingly criticize the current state of "Production Notes".
470	Brian Minchin	N/A	Producing Series 8.
499		N/A	Starting production on Series 10. "Project: Meantown", the casting of the new companion.
511	Steven Moffat	N/A	Introducing the writers for Series 10
514			Titled "The Last Time Round", Moffat ponders the end of his Who career which spanned 42 episodes.
515		N/A	Titled "The Time of Our Lives", Moffat ponders the fact that many members of his team are also ending their time with Who. He admits that he has few secrets left that the audience does not know, and knows little of what comes next.

Chris Chibnall's production tenure

Reflecting Chris Chibnall's wider production tendencies, Production Notes continued the late-Moffat trend of having a less bombastic and future-oriented tone. Chibnall's articles updated readers on his feelings concerning production details more firmly in the past than previous writers for the feature.

Visually, this version of Production Notes brought back the scrapbook-y look of earlier versions of the feature, with the article appearing to be a piece of paper on a corkboard surrounded by sticky notes and paperclips.

Issue	Writer	Topic
521	Chris Chibnall	to be added
523		to be added
524	Russell T Davies	13 years since Rose.
528	Chris Chibnall	The filming of Jodie Whittaker's teaser, a year ago.
530		The upcoming transmission of Series 11.
539		Jodie Whittaker.
540		Return of the Judoon. Remembering Paul Condon
546		The first half of Series 12.
548		The second half of series 12.
550		Meeting Philip Hinchcliffe
551		The start of the COVID-19 pandemic.
558		Figuring out filming during COVID-19.
559		The beginning of filming for Series 13. Saying goodbye to the characters of Graham and Ryan.
568		Chibnall and Whittaker leaving Who.
571		The final day of Jodie Whittaker filming Doctor Who.
583		Chibnall looks back on his tenure.

The contributor photos for this period were as follows:

• 

  Chris Chibnall in DWM 521

• 

  Chibnall photo first used in DWM 523

• 

  Chibnall photo first used in DWM 546

Legacy

Main article: Letter from the Showrunner

Starting with DWM 584, Production Notes was replaced by Letter from the Showrunner, in which RTD brought back many of the conventions of his past Production Notes. The first Letter from the Showrunner had the tagline "Production Notes has regenerated!"