The Next Doctor (TV story)

The Next Doctor is the announced title of the 2008 Doctor Who Christmas episode. It is the first of five special episodes planned for 2008-09 prior to the launch of Series 5 in 2010, and will mark 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.

Synopsis
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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 this teaser; no other plot information has, as yet, been officially released.

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 1851 Christmas Eve. As people mill and sing carols.

The Doctor is suprised to hear a loud scream: "DOCTOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOR!" He legs it to find a young woman with black curly hair screaming her head off. A door stands in front of her. She continiued to scream, then another man ran up. The Doctor asked who he was. 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 beast with the body of a ghost and the head of a Cyberman 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
 * The Other Doctor - David Morrissey
 * Sarah Roche - Lara Goodison
 * Miss Hartigan - Dervla Kirwan
 * Rosita - Velile Tshabalala
 * Cybermen - Paul Kasey
 * Cybermen voices - Nicholas Briggs

Production crew
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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 Cybermen appear in the trailer, which included the onscreen caption Return of the Cybermen. That was confirmed as merely a tag-line rather than the title.
 * This episode introduces the Cybershades, which are believed to be mutated Cybermen.
 * Russell T Davies has guaranteed a twist ending so shocking that they might not show an early press screening, because they doubt that anyone will be able to keep it a secret.
 * The pre-credits sequence of the special were broadcast as a special preview during the 2008 Children in Need Appeal in November 2008.
 * On the new trailer on the BBC's website it shows the 'Cybershades' who have a rusty cyber head and a yeti like body. It also shows that Miss Hartagan knows the Cybermen.
 * In the Chidren in Need preview David Morrisey had a regular screwdriver as opposed to the sonic screwdriver.
 * 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.

Ratings
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Rumours

 * The title of the story, The Next Doctor, was announced in late September 2008, and is expected to further fan the flames of speculation regarding the future of Tennant with the series. During his acceptence speech for "Best Drama Performance" at the National Television Awards on 29/10/08, he announced that he would not return for Series 5. However it has been confirmed that he will appear in the four specials that will follow The Next Doctor.
 * 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. Other speculative titles were circulated after Davies announced that the title of the special would consist of three words.
 * 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 .
 * The announcement by David Tennant on 29 October 2008 that he would be leaving Doctor Who following production of the 2009 Christmas special is expected to renew speculation that the "Next Doctor" of this special could be a future incarnation, although Tennant's confirmation that he will appear in the four specials that follow suggests that a regeneration is unlikely to occur in this episode. In an interview with BBC Entertainment following his announcement, Tennant says the episode title "is more intriguing than before" but otherwise gives no indication whether it is to be taken literally.

Filming Locations
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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.

DVD and Other releases
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