The Next Doctor (TV story)

The Next Doctor is the 2008 Christmas Special of Doctor Who. It is the first of five special episodes planned for 2008-09 prior to the launch of Series 5 in 2010, and marked the beginning of the final set of episodes to feature David Tennant as the Tenth Doctor, as well as producers Russell T Davies and Julie Gardner.

The opening pre-credits sequence of the episode was broadcast as a teaser during the 2008 Children in Need appeal in November 2008 and the broadcast was made on 25th December.

Synopsis
It's Christmas Eve in 1851 and Cybermen stalk the snow of Victorian London. The Doctor arrives and starts to investigate a spate of mysterious deaths. He's surprised to meet another Doctor. The 'other' Doctor has his own sonic screwdriver and TARDIS... and his own companion, Rosita. But how is this even possible?

Soon the three must combine forces to defeat the ruthless Miss Hartigan. But are two Doctors enough to stop the rise of the CyberKing? Predictably, confusion reigns for the Time Lords. Apparently, the CyberKing is waiting to claim his throne and is using an army of Cybershades to do it. They seem to be working for the devious and dastardly Miss Hartigan. But what exactly is her plan? And who are all those mysterious-looking funeral director types?

Could the missing children be the secret to the Cybershades' existence? And can the new companions be trusted? Is the 'other' Doctor really who he claims to be? It's bound to get competitive with two Doctors in town, but the Doctors will have to work together to defeat this enemy. And they'll no doubt need some help. The Doctor must work with himself to get to the bottom of what's going on.

The 'other' Doctor seems a bit out of shape, but Miss Hartigan isn't an enemy to be underestimated. She's gathered a large number of Cybermen, Cybershades, and creepy looking funeral directors who have interesting, blue glowing, earpieces. Can the Doctor save the day and can he save his new friends? At the end of it all when the Cloister Bell sounds the Doctors have an appointment to keep...

Plot


''On 15 November 2008, the BBC's Children in Need Appeal broadcast the pre-credits teaser sequence for this episode. The following is a description of that teaser:''

The Doctor steps happily out of the TARDIS. He has recovered from the events of his latest adventure, and is surprised to find himself in London on Christmas Eve 1851.

As people mill and sing carols, The Doctor is surprised to hear a voice, screaming loudly for him. He begins to run only to find Rosita, a young woman down an alleyway screaming, a door stands in front of her, she continues to scream for the Doctor, much to the bewilderment of the Doctor, as another man runs to meet her. The Doctor asks the man who he is.

He replies: "I'm the Doctor. Simply the Doctor. The one. The only. And the best" Then he takes a regular screwdriver from the woman Rosita, calling it the Sonic Screwdriver and opens the door. A Cybershade pops out. Rosita stares as the two Doctors raise two sonic screwdrivers, look at each other, and simultaneously say: "Allons-y!", much to the Doctor's frantic irritation.

Cast

 * The Doctor - David Tennant
 * Jackson Lake - David Morrissey
 * Miss Hartigan - Dervla Kirwan
 * Rosita - Velile Tshabalala
 * Cybershade - Ruari Mears
 * Cyberleader - Paul Kasey
 * Mr Scoones - Edmund Kente
 * Mr Cole - Michael Bertinshaw
 * Jed - Neil McDermott
 * Vicar - Jason Morell
 * Lad - Ashley Horne
 * Nicole - Lara Goodison
 * Frederick - Tom Langford

Production crew
to be added

Story notes

 * The episode was filmed during production of Series 4, the first time a Christmas special has been rolled into production of the preceding series. This allowed the Series 4 finale, Journey's End to include a trailer for the episode.
 * The pre-credits sequence of the special were broadcast as a special preview during the 2008 Children in Need Appeal in November 2008.
 * The DVD release of Series 4 included an alternate ending for Journey's End that would have had a cliffhanger involving the Cybermen suddenly appearing inside the TARDIS. This idea was dropped before broadcast and the opening scene of this episode gives no indication of the Doctor being in peril.
 * This is the only Christmas Special so far in the series not to be set in the modern day.
 * Russell T Davies recently revealed to the Radio Times: "the Doctor finds himself staring at that inevitable day when his tenth incarnation must die..."
 * The title of the first 2009 special was at the end of this story; Planet of the Dead.

Ratings

 * 6:00:11.7 million viewers (Christmas Day on BBC One) 2:50:Not Shown (New Year's Day on BBC One)

Rumours
<--Rumors should have sources cited. To discuss possible outcomes of this episode please use the discussion page--> "One thing I would like to point out is that the title is NOT 'The Return of the Cybermen'. Even though those were the words that appeared in the big, silver letters at the end of Journey's End, that was more of tagline than a title." Other speculative titles were circulated after Davies announced that the title of the special would consist of three words. One mistaken title was Ghosts in the Machines.
 * Prior to the official announcement, numerous "false alarm" titles for the episode were circulated among fans, the most common being Return of the Cybermen given this was the on-screen text seen during the Journey's End preview. However, in Doctor Who Magazine, Russell T Davies said:
 * The Sun newspaper in the UK has reported David Morrissey will be playing The Doctor in this episode with David Tennant taking the companion role.The BBC's official Doctor Who website, has confirmed that David Morrissey is playing a character that calls himself 'The Doctor' .

Filming Locations

 * The set with the children working was the Torchwood Hub set.

Discontinuity, Plot Holes, Errors

 * These Cybermen are of Pete's World so how do they have past footage of all 10 Doctors when they have only met the Tenth Doctor. The Doctor says the Cybermen stole the Daleks' database
 * The Cybermen are too weak to kill a single Dalek with an army. So how did they steal their technology? The Daleks in the void were destroyed by Donna using the reality bomb in the Medusa Cascade, that would leave all their technology un-protected for the Cybermen to steal.
 * In Doomsday there were no Daleks seen with any devices or machines,(except the Cult of Skaro with the Genesis Ark) so where did the technology come from? Deconstructed Daleks and Cybermen
 * How did the infostamps have images from times when the Daleks were not present? The Daleks did some research, no doubt. There is lots of historical information on the internet, and the Daleks visited the 21st century London where the internet is commonplace.

Continuity

 * This is the first time the Cybus Industries Cybermen have returned in the new series since DW: Doomsday, when the Cybermen were sucked into the void.
 * The Doctor refers to the events of DW: ''Blink while talking to Jackson Lake.
 * The Doctor describes the events of DW: The Age of Steel, Doomsday and then the following The Stolen Earth and ''Journey's End.
 * The sequence of (confirmable) shots of the previous Doctors was taken from: First Doctor DW: The Time Meddler, Fourth Doctor DW: City of Death, Fifth Doctor DW: Arc of Infinity, Sixth Doctor DW: The Mysterious Planet, Eighth Doctor DW: Doctor Who: The TV Movie, Ninth Doctor DW: The Parting of the Ways
 * Guess work suggests that the Second Doctor clip is from DW: The Seeds of Death, Third Doctor DW: Doctor Who and the Silurians, Seventh Doctor DW: Survival.
 * Guesses are partly narrowed down as confirmable shots suggest clips are from stories released on DVD.

DVD and Other releases
The DVD will be released on the 19 January 2009. Will have the highlighted bonus features.
 * Doctor Who Prom
 * Music of the Spheres
 * Doctor Who Confidential