Planet of the Dead (TV story)

Planet of the Dead was the first Easter special in the history of Doctor Who.

Synopsis
When a London bus takes a detour to an alien world, the Doctor must join forces with the extraordinary Lady Christina. But the mysterious planet holds terrifying secrets, hidden in the sand. And time is running out as the deadly Swarm gets closer...

Plot
Guards are protecting a golden cup inside a museum, later to be identified as the Cup of Athelstan, worth 18 million pounds. Lady Christina de Souza, a thief, lowers herself from the roof, and replaces the cup with a mechanical Maneki Neko; when the guards finally turn around at the sound of her releasing her winch on the roof, she waves at them in a mocking fashion. As the alarms go off, she runs out to the street to see someone being arrested, and she says, "Sorry, lover" to her presumed accomplice.

She then takes a back route onto the main road, where she frantically looks for a way out as police move in searching for her, although unaware of her presence. She runs onto a 200 bus to Victoria, where she exchanges her diamond earrings for a bus ride. Soon afterwards, a man wearing trainers, whose face we aren't shown, comes onto the bus, and uses a psychic paper on the Oyster Card scanner. He then sits down opposite Lady Christina, and is shown to be The Tenth Doctor. After enjoying a chocolate Easter egg and engaging in some small talk with Christina, he receives an alert from the rhondium sensor in his pocket that the particles he's been looking for have been detected.

The police are still after Christina, since they know she has stolen the Cup of Athelstan, but whilst chasing the bus through a tunnel, the police witness it disappear in front of their eyes; startled, they set up a perimeter around the area. Meanwhile, the bus passes through a warp into a world covered in desert: the planet San Helios, apparently completely deserted. The bus is wrecked in the process. By the time it arrives at the planet the driver proclaims it unmovable.

The Doctor tells the passengers that the bus has passed through a wormhole into a different world, proving this to them by throwing a handful of sand into the space behind the bus. The sand causes a rippling effect in the air. The Doctor says that the other end of the wormhole was in the tunnel on Earth. Among the passengers is Carmen, who has been hearing mysterious voices since Christina got on. The bus driver announces his desire to return to Earth, and promptly runs through the wormhole, accompanied by The Doctor's "No, don't!". The other passengers of the bus witness the driver's skin and tissues incinerating, before he disappears into the wormhole with the same rippling effect as the sand.

Meanwhile on Earth, where the police are watching the wormhole, the driver's blackened skeleton steps out, halts, and then tumbles to the ground. Unnerved, the police declare an emergency Code One, calling UNIT to the scene. Captain Erisa Magambo commands the operation and she tells her soldiers to fire at anything that comes through the wormhole.

Meanwhile, The Doctor explains to the passengers of the bus that the metal of the bus had protected them from the same fate as the driver (like a Faraday cage, as Christina states). The Doctor then attempts to call someone on Earth and gets in touch with UNIT at the tunnel. Speaking to Captain Magambo, the Doctor informs her of the crisis and speaks to UNIT's scientific advisor, Malcolm Taylor. They all set to digging the bus wheels out from the sand to try and enable them to move it back through the wormhole. The Doctor and Christina set off to explore the area, and find that there is what looks like a massive sandstorm sweeping across the planet towards them, glinting in the sun as if made from metal. They are then found and captured by a fly-like alien (later identified as a Tritovore).

The Doctor and Cristina are escorted to the Tritovore's crashed ship, where the Tritovore blame the Doctor for their crashed ship. The Doctor soon explains to the two Tritovores that they mean them no harm, and are trapped on the planet just as they are. The Tritovores in turn tell them their ship has crashed on the surface of the planet where they wanted to trade with the people of the world. The Doctor, though, claims that the entire planet became a desert last year, with all 100 billion inhabitants. The Doctor then asks them to send a probe out to investigate the sandstorm seen earlier. It sends back results, showing that the storm is a swarm of billions of carnivorous stingray-like aliens with metal exoskeletons, before the transmission is cut off by the probe being eaten by one of the alien stingrays. The Doctor then analyses the alien physique by the data they get and theorises that they must be creating the wormhole effect, by their velocity and physiology buildup, and are immune to the effects of the Wormhole because their exoskeletons are metal.

The Tritovores and the Doctor plan to get away from the planet before the swarm hits their area, and need to get the crystal power source that makes the Tritovorian ship fly. The Doctor and the two aliens try to bring up the source manually, but the entire system is nonresponsive, lacking power. Christina, in the meantime, prepares her cat burgling equipment, and lines down the shaft. The Doctor stops her just in time before she is electrocuted by a security grid. After disabling it, she makes her way slowly down the shaft. The Doctor tells her about himself, and some of the places he's been, including the Court of Athelstan: but he didn't remember her being there, pulling the Cup of Athelstan out of her bag...

He realises that she's a thief, and she says she prefers to say she liberates things. While getting the crystal and the brackets she sees a stingray waking behind some metal poles, and the Doctor tells her that it is detecting her body heat and waking up. She replies she has that effect on men, and the Doctor brings her back up, saying that many must have flown into the ship's mainframe, and that is what crashed it, he says, like birds into a jet engine. The alien stingray which was down in the shaft next to Christina gives chase, getting fried in the security grid as she turns it back on on the way up. As they run away with the Tritovores out of the ship another stingray jumps down from above and kills one of the Tritovores, the other, in rage, prepares to fire its weapon at the Stingray but before he can is eaten as well.

The Doctor and Christina run to the bus, and after throwing away the crystal itself, the Doctor attaches 4 Tritovorian anti-gravity clamps onto the wheels, and uses the 5th to interface the bus steering wheel with the Tritovorian technology. The Doctor calls Malcolm telling him that they need to prepare to close the wormhole. Malcolm figures out a way to it and starts on the process immediately.

Integrating the 5th anti-gravity clamp to the bus's steering proves difficult, as the two technologies are incompatible alone; he needs something soft, malleable, non corrosive and able to conduct electricity, suggesting gold, to act as an interface. After she hands the Doctor the Cup of Athelstan, a hammer upon request, and the request to "be careful with it", he smashes it to bits so it fits between the bus wheel and the anti-gravity clamp controller. In response, Christina says "I hate you".

Once Malcolm is ready to close the wormhole, Captain Magambo orders him to close it to protect the Earth, despite the fact the Doctor and the passengers of Bus 200 were still trapped on the other side. Morally outraged at the idea of abandoning the Doctor, who had saved humanity countless times before, Malcolm refused to follow her order so they could allow the Doctor to get back to earth. Drawing her gun on him, Magambo once again ordered him to close the wormhole in the hopes of intimidating him. In spite of his fear, Malcolm passionately refused to close the wormhole, surprising even Magambo. The bus then lifts out of the sand and into the air, flying back through the wormhole to Earth. Once the Doctor and the passengers safely made their way through the wormhole, Christina passionately kisses the Doctor, taking back her earlier comment of "hating him". The tense stand-off between Captain Magambo and Malcolm is defused when a soldier tells her the bus is safely through.

As the bus flies across London, three stingrays chase them through the wormhole. On the Doctor's orders, Malcolm proceeds to close the wormhole just ahead of the main swarm while UNIT soldiers kill the three stingrays in a small battle. The bus lands back on the spot where it vanished, and the passengers are released and taken to be examined by UNIT. The Doctor meets Malcolm, who embraces him in a hug and exclaims "I love you!" four times to the Doctor's bemusement. Magambo then reveals to the Doctor that they found the TARDIS at Buckingham Palace, revealing it in the back of a military truck. The Doctor recommends Nathan and Barclay for jobs at UNIT. Christina, meanwhile, is being searched by UNIT soldiers but she breaks off and runs to the Doctor. She wants to come with him for adventure and excitement, telling him that is why she steals, but he says no. When she asks him why, he tells her that he lost all his companions, and that he does not want that happening again. The police promptly arrest Christina, and take her away, leaving the unperturbed Doctor by himself.

The Doctor, about to enter the TARDIS, is told by Carmen to take care of himself; the Doctor, full of joy, tells her the same. However, she replies "No, but you be careful, because your song is ending, sir!". When the bemused Doctor asks what she means by this, Carmen replies "It is returning. It is returning through the dark, and then Doctor...oh but then... he will knock four times", leaving the Doctor very unnerved at the meaning of this prophecy.

Meanwhile, the Doctor decides to take pity on Christina, who is now handcuffed and being put in a police car. The Doctor points his sonic screwdriver at her handcuffs, and frees her hands. Christina gets in the police car on one side- and gets out on the other. She heads for the bus chased by the poice and closes the doors. The police inspector orders her to open them, but the Doctor advises him to step back. The inspector charges him with aiding and abetting; the Doctor heads over to the TARDIS, saying he will 'arrest himself'. The bus takes off, flies over the inspector's head and to the TARDIS, opening the door as the others watch. Smiling down at the Doctor, Chrstina happily tells him, "We could have been so good together", revealing no hard feelings over her rejection. The Doctor merely smiles back and replies, "Christina, we were." Christina flies off into the night, the other passengers cheering her off, the Doctor merely watching; the Doctor then heads into the TARDIS.

Cast

 * The Tenth Doctor - David Tennant
 * Lady Christina de Souza - Michelle Ryan
 * Professor Malcolm Taylor - Lee Evans
 * Captain Erisa Magambo - Noma Dumezweni
 * D.I Macmillan - Adam James
 * Lou - Reginald Tsiboe
 * Carmen - Ellen Thomas
 * Angela - Victoria Alcock
 * Barclay - Daniel Kaluuya
 * Nathan - David Ames
 * Bus Driver - Keith Perry
 * Sgt Dennison - Glenn Doherty
 * Sgt Ian Jenner - James Layton
 * Sorvin - Paul Kasey
 * Praygat - Ruari Mears

Astronomical objects

 * The bus is transported to the Scorpion Nebula on the other side of the universe.
 * San Helios became a desert over the course of a year or less. The sand is all that remains of the dead.
 * Barclay and Nathan mention the Stolen Planets.

The Doctor

 * Carmen makes a prediction for the Doctor's future using her psychic gift: "Your song is ending, sir. It is returning. It is returning through the dark. And then, Doctor, he will knock four times." This prophecy reflects the Ood's message to the Doctor, "Your song will end soon". It's later revealed that the "it" that's returning is Gallifrey and "he" is Wilfred Mott, trying to get the Doctor's attention to release him from a containment chamber after the Doctor and the Master defeat Rassilon which does lead to his death as he absorbs a fatal dose of radiation to rescue Wilfred that forces him to regenerate.
 * The Doctor's TARDIS is discovered in the gardens of Buckingham Palace, and according to the Doctor, the Queen "doesn't mind", though he may be referring to the Tardis not minding the fact that it had been left in the gardens of Buckingham Palace. Previous stories implying that the Doctor and Queen Elizabeth II know each other and are on good terms include Silver Nemesis and Voyage of the Damned.
 * The Doctor said that he will "never" take another companion on board the TARDIS because he has lost all his previous ones.
 * The Doctor's psychic paper is compatible with the Oyster Card scheme used for public transport in London and he uses his psychic paper to 'pay' his bus fare.
 * A reference was made to Donna Noble as the Doctor said he had a friend who called him "Spaceman" (DW: Journey's End, et al).
 * Malcolm says he had read all the Doctor's files and the Doctor asked "Really? What was your favourite? The Giant Robot?" This is a reference to the Fourth Doctor story Robot.
 * The Doctor's Sonic screwdriver can be used to tint his glasses to look like sunglasses.
 * The Doctor admits that he stole his TARDIS from his own people.
 * The Doctor says Christina looks Time Lord, in response to her saying that he looks human.
 * The Doctor tells Christina of some of the eras he's visited: World War I, the creation of the universe, the end of the universe (DW: Utopia), "the war" between China and Japan (exactly which war is not specified; possibly a reference to the conflict predating World War II); and the court of King Athelstan in the 10th century AD.

Foods and Beverages

 * The Doctor offers Christina the rest of his chocolate Easter egg because he's determined to keep his teeth. This suggests that the tenth Doctor plans on living long enough that losing his teeth could be a problem. (This, and the Doctor's offhand remark about dying of old age while he's talking to Malcom, could be considered foreshadowing of the Doctor's upcoming regeneration.) It should be noted that his "new teeth" were the first thing the Tenth Doctor commented on following his regeneration. The First Doctor had to have one of his teeth pulled by Doc Holliday in DW: The Gunfighters.

Physics

 * The Doctor's device is attempting to detect Rhondium particles.
 * A wavelength parcel of ten kilohertz operating in four dimensions equals one Malcolm.
 * 100 Malcolms are equal to 1 Bernard

UNIT

 * UNIT is called in by the police to assist in locating the bus.
 * UNIT has an automated phone system. Like most standard phone systems, however, pressing zero bypasses the automation and connects with an operator. UNIT's phone number contains the numbers 7-6. Reversing those numbers calls up a pizzeria instead.
 * UNIT troops are equipped with H&amp;K G36 assault rifles, M4 carbines, and Walther P99 pistols.
 * Malcolm's apparel as he leaves his laboratory is similar to that of the Doctor's fourth incarnation.
 * UNIT maintains extensive files about the Doctor.
 * The Captain expresses her surprise that "guns work" on the Swarm. As the Brigadier lamented in Robot, UNIT's enemies generally have an immunity to bullets.

Real world

 * Oyster cards, a form of electronic payment on London buses, are referenced, with Christina making a joke about them in an unsuccessful attempt to board the bus without paying, and the Doctor uses his psychic paper in lieu of one.
 * Christina says her father lost the family fortune investing in Icelandic banks, a reference to the real-life financial crisis in Iceland, which in turn is considered part of the overall world financial crisis and recession that erupted in 2008.

Story notes

 * Planet of the Dead started at the second half of the third episode of ITV's rival Saturday night drama, Primeval, Series 3. As such, this is the first time a Doctor Who television story has been shown at the same time as an episode of Primeval, which at the time of its premiere, was described as ITV's answer to Doctor Who.
 * The Number 200 story strand comes from the New Adventures novel The Highest Science written by Planet of the Dead co-writer Gareth Roberts.
 * Planet of the Dead had a one-off companion, Lady Christina de Souza was unique amongst her BBC Wales predecessors, in that she was depicted as both a criminal and a member of the British aristocracy. The episode also featured the return of UNIT for its third story in 12 months. Narratively, it was perhaps most significant for beginning the "he will knock four times" story arc, ultimately resolved in The End of Time.
 * Behind the scenes, it featured a revolution in the way Doctor Who was filmed. Beginning with this episode, Doctor Who episodes were natively recorded in high definition. Likewise, the home video release of Dead was the first episode of Doctor Who ever released in the Blu-Ray format. The story also broke new ground with its location filming, which involved Doctor Who's first road trip to an Arabic country. Finally, it was Tracie Simpson's debut as a full producer, after having risen up through the production ranks since starting as a production manager on Rose.
 * As seen in David Tennant's video diary for this episode's read-through, Tennant feared that, having spent six months portraying Hamlet for the RSC, that he would be unable to accurately replicate the voice he uses when portraying the Doctor. In an informal discussion with Julie Gardner, he describes his voice for Hamlet as being the same as the Doctor's (being an English accent) except "more posh" and mentioned he may have to watch his previous performances as the Doctor and practice the voice. This strongly echoes Billie Piper's dilemma when she returned to film Turn Left; in interviews with Doctor Who Confidential, Piper confessed to having forgotten how to speak in Rose's accent; it was later noted that she spoke with a noticeable lisp in several scenes of that episode.
 * Michelle Ryan, best known for her work on the UK soap opera EastEnders and the US science fiction series Bionic Woman, had previously co-starred in the Steven Moffat-written mini-series Jekyll and was also reportedly a candidate for new companion after the departure of Billie Piper in 2006.
 * As revealed in Doctor Who Confidential, Ryan performed most of her own stunts in the episode -- including the high-wire stunt that opens the episode.
 * Part of the episode was filmed in Dubai, United Arab Emirates. A bus that was to be used for filming there was heavily damaged upon arrival there.
 * According to the BBC report, the damage to the bus -- a twin to one being used for filming in Cardiff -- prompted a rewrite of part of the script to add a few references to the bus being damaged going through the wormhole.
 * On 16 January 2009 The Guardian newspaper published an online column condemning the then-rumoured plan to film in Dubai, citing the UAE's human rights record. Similar criticism was posted by the fan site Kasterborous on 28 January.
 * Planet of the Dead was the first Doctor Who story to be produced in high-definition; this changeover can be likened to the move from black and white to colour production in 1970. As such, it features a more detailed, but otherwise unchanged version of the title sequence.
 * According to Tennant's video diary, he and co-star Adam James have been friends for 10 years, having also worked together in the past. James is also Jon Pertwee's godson.
 * In an interview for BBC Breakfast on 7th April 2009, Russell T Davies revealed that the episode had only been completed at 11:30pm the previous night, only 5 days before the episode aired.
 * DWM 407 confirmed that Planet of the Dead was Doctor Who's 200th story.
 * In pre-broadcast publicity interviews, Michelle Ryan described her character as a one-off companion, though like most other one-offs, such as (initially) Donna Noble, and Jenny the door has been left open for a future return. Prior to the announcement that Karen Gillan had been cast as the new ongoing companion, Ryan was listed among possible candidates.
 * When discussing Easter, the Doctor claims to "remember the original". It's unclear whether this means he was present at the crucifixion and/or resurrection of Jesus -- the events the Easter season commemorates -- or the first actual celebration. If the former, this bookends an earlier statement made by the Doctor in Voyage of the Damned suggesting he was present at the birth of Christ.
 * Although the Doctor has had invitations to join him turned down by potential companions in the past (Grace Holloway in the 1996 TV movie, Mickey Smith at the end of World War Three and, initially, Donna Noble in The Runaway Bride, for example), this is one of the few occasions in which the Doctor has outright refused to take on a companion of his own volition, despite clear indications of compatibility. This also occurred with Mr Copper in Voyage of the Damned, and for much the same reason the Doctor gives Christina.
 * This story went through several drafts. These included a space opera about a giant war (possibly featuring the Chelonians); a bizarre story about time-freezing centaurs in a deserted hotel; a Star Trek pastiche; and a story about a outer space hotel where guests were disappearing-taken down to the planet below in order to be implanted with alien eggs.
 * This is the first Doctor Who episode in which series producer Russell T Davies shares co-writing credit, and the first episode since the show's return in 2005 to credit two writers. The last televised story to credit two writers was the 1993 mini-episode Dimensions in Time.
 * This story was nominated for a 2010 Hugo Award in the category of "Best Dramatic Presentation, Short Form," as was The Next Doctor and The Waters of Mars, the latter of which ultimately won the award.

Ratings
The BARB official ratings are 9.54 million, the 5th most watched programme of the week, the second most watched on BBC of the week and the second most watched of Saturday 11th April. It also gained 200,000 viewers on BBC HD, the biggest ever audience for the channel. Planet of the Dead is now the sixth best rated Doctor Who episode since its 2005 revival with Voyage of the Damned, The Next Doctor, Rose, Journey's End and The Christmas Invasion beating the episode.
 * Easter Saturday 11th April 2009 ~ 6:45pm ~ BBC One ~ 8.41 million (unofficial overnight)
 * The first American airing garnered 657,000 viewers.

Rumours

 * Carmen mentioned that "Your song is ending, it is returning through the dark, he will knock four times," leading to people believing it could refer to River Song. The first part of the prophecy refered to the Tenth Doctor's life.
 * People thought that "it is returning through the dark" refered to either Davros, who presumably died two episodes prior, or Gallifrey. It was indeed Gallifrey.
 * People thought that the four knocks refered to either the Midnight Entity or the Master returning. In fact, the four knocks refered to Wilfred Mott knocking on a glass door four times when trapped, an event that would lead to the death of the Tenth Doctor. But the Master did return, however.
 * Since eccentric time lady Iris Wildthyme had a TARDIS that resembled a London bus, there were rumours she'd appear in the special.
 * Related to the Wildthyme rumour, speculation regarding the identity and true nature of Lady Christina, following statements by Davies that she would have a profound impact on the Doctor, included the possibility that she might be a Time Lord, and perhaps even a known Time Lord such as Romana. This ultimately proved not to be the case, although the Doctor's comment to Christina that "You look Time Lord" referred to the fact that humans and Time Lords look alike; however, Time Lords came first. There are, in fact, many situations where fans believe a character is a Time Lord, but it never turns out to be true.
 * It was rumoured this episode would feature the Nimon, because they were mentioned in the commentary by Russell T Davies for The Next Doctor and are known to suck the life out of planets.
 * Before Russell T Davies announced the episode's title as 'Planet of the Dead', it was rumoured that the episode's title was 'Transport of the Doomed'.

Filming locations

 * Cardiff, St Mary Street - the first scenes with the red bus driving down the road with the Doctor and Christina stepping on to it
 * Cardiff Bay - Police and UNIT investigating the disappearance of the bus through the wormhole
 * Dubai, United Arab Emirates - San Helios
 * Cardiff ~ Butetown Tunnel - Queens Gate ~ A4232

Production errors

 * When the bus is originally shown, it has a number plate of W974GHM, but later, when flying, its number plate has changed to RUA461W.
 * The bus wasn't fitted with a Ibus announcement system which had been on all London buses since 2007.
 * The bus' front sign displayed a destination of Victoria, despite the fact that the route 200 doesn't go to Victoria.

Continuity

 * As this episode is the 200th storyline of Doctor Who, the episode makes an in-universe reference to this by calling the bus The 200.
 * A flying bus previously appeared in DW: Delta and the Bannermen.
 * Several bus passengers discuss the events surrounding the relocation of Earth to the Medusa Cascade (per DW: The Stolen Earth/Journey's End), which places this story as taking place after those events, while confirming that, unlike the Battle of Canary Wharf, there seems to have been no attempt to "cover up" what happened, and it remains public knowledge. This is further confirmed in TW: Children of Earth: Day One. This also means that the episode is set in Easter 2010, as the events of The Stolen Earth and Journey's End occur in summer 2009.
 * The Doctor mentions "Humans on buses, always blaming me", referring to DW: Midnight.
 * The Doctor mentions the K1 Robot that featured in DW: Robot, when asking Malcolm what his favourite file about him was.
 * Carmen says "Your song is ending" which is what the Ood also said to the Doctor in DW: Planet of the Ood. As well as the warnings of darkness heard in Series 4 (Turn Left, et al); the reference to knocking reflects a similar event that occurred in DW: Midnight.
 * Bernard Quatermass is mentioned and referenced, he was previously mentioned in DW: Remembrance of the Daleks.
 * UNIT at last meets an alien race that's not immune to bullets or as Captain Magambo puts it, "I don't believe it, guns that work", this could be a call back to the Brigadier who once proclaimed he hated how so many aliens were immune to bullets; this also references the events of DW: The Sontaran Stratagem / The Poison Sky, where UNIT's weapons are rendered useless.
 * When Christina calls the Doctor "Spaceman" he refers to Donna, saying "I had a friend that used to call me that".
 * An alternate reality Captain Magambo appeared in Turn Left and helped Rose Tyler and an alternate Donna Noble set history right.
 * When the Doctor tries to call UNIT, he gets connected to Geronimo's Pizza. "Geronimo" would later become a catchphrase of the Eleventh Doctor.
 * Reference is made to the recession being the cause of current problems. The recession is finally over by Christmas 2009 in DW: The End of Time

Timeline

 * This story takes place after DWA: Borrowed Time
 * This story takes place before DWAN: The Vortex Code

Home video releases
Planet of the Dead was released on DVD and for the first time for a Doctor Who episode on Blu-ray in the United Kingdom on 29th June 2009. The release includes a single bonus feature:


 * Doctor Who Confidential - unlike previous DVD releases, this is a complete, 60-minute version, including licensed music and clips from both the classic series and the 1996 TV movie.

In North America, the DVD and Blu-ray was released on 28 July 2009. The release is identical to the Region 2 version, including the intact Confidential, even though it includes clips from the 1996 TV movie which at present cannot be released in Region 1 due to licensing issues.

In Australia, the DVD was released on 29th of June 2009, Blu-ray on 1st of October 2009 and include the same special feartures at the UK release.

This is the first Doctor Who episode to ever be released on the high-definition Blu-Ray format.

The four specials plus The Next Doctor were released in the UK on both DVD and Blu-Ray in a box set in January 2010, with a North American release scheduled for 2nd February 2010.

International broadcast
The Canadian cable network, Space, aired the special on July 25th, 2009 in an 85-minute timeslot (with commercials) with minimal edits, the most noticeable being the omission of the trailer for The Waters of Mars. As a result of the edit, the episode ends uniquely, with the traditional "howlaround" sound replaced instead with a single tolling of the cloister bell.

BBC America aired the special on 26 July as part of the rollout of its new HD service. This marks the changeover for Doctor Who from broadcasts on Syfy to BBC America, which has taken over first-run broadcasts of the series.