Untitled The Waters of Mars precursor (unproduced TV story)

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The television episode that eventually became The Waters of Mars originally began life as a Christmas Special.

According to writer Phil Ford; "The first concept had seen an Earth where everybody vanished on Christmas Eve but for one woman (who was a lot like Adelaide [Brooke]), who had been looking forward to spending it with her family. Then the Doctor showed up and, soon after, a whole cavalcade of weird aliens."

The idea was scrapped as Russell T Davies felt the idea to be "a bit swords-and-sorcery". The pair later met in Cardiff Bay and conceived what would eventually become The Waters of Mars.