Series 5 (Doctor Who)

Series 5, also known as Season 31 for clarity over Season 5, began on 25th December 2009 with a two-part Christmas special entitled The End of Time. Following the 2009 Specials, there will be a full 13-episode season to be broadcast in 2010; filming began in July 2009.

According to Issue 410 of Doctor Who Magazine, the BBC intends to begin the numbering of seasons over again to reflect the change of production team; thus, as far as the BBC is concerned, the 2010 season will not be known as Series 5, but rather, once again, Series 1. What this may mean for marketing and availability of the 2005 to 2008 seasons (particularly the previous "Series 1" starring Christopher Eccleston) remains to be seen. A December 2009 announcement by the BBC regarding the show filming in Croatia also refers to the upcoming season as Series 1.

In the spring of 2008, it was announced that Steven Moffat, who has written Hugo Award-winning or nominated scripts for the revived series in each of its first four seasons and whose association with Doctor Who dates back to his writing of the Comic Relief parody The Curse of Fatal Death in the early 1990s, will succeed Russell T Davies as head writer and producer of the series. Davies has announced he will officially retire from involvement with the series after the 2009 specials are completed and at present has no plans to retain any direct connection to the series once Moffat's tenure begins. However, Davies has announced that he plans to remain involved with production of Torchwood for the foreseeable future, and hopes to see further crossovers with Doctor Who, indicating he may not completely sever his ties with the parent show.

Also departing at the end of 2009 is co-executive producer Julie Gardner. She will be replaced by Piers Wenger. It has yet to be announced whether a third producer will replace Phil Collinson, either in the 2009 specials or the 2010 series.

During his acceptance speech for the award for Best Drama Performance at the National Television Awards on 29 October 2008, David Tennant announced that he would not return for the 5th series. On 3 January 2009, during a special episode of Doctor Who Confidential entitled "The Eleventh Doctor", the BBC announced that Matt Smith would be playing the Eleventh Doctor.

Primary Cast

 * The Doctor - Matt Smith
 * Amy Pond - Karen Gillan

Confirmed Guest Stars

 * River Song - Alex Kingston
 * Vincent Van Gogh - Tony Curran
 * Rory - Arthur Davrill
 * TBA - Meera Syal (Confirmed her appearence of the Paul O'Grady Show)
 * TBA - Caitlin Blackwood
 * TBA - Bill Paterson
 * TBA - Ian McNeice
 * TBA - Sophie Okonedo

Writers

 * Aside from Steven Moffat, who is writing six episodes of the season: the other confirmed writers for Series 5 are:
 * Richard Curtis, best known for co-creating and writing the Blackadder series for Rowan Atkinson and for writing films such as Four Weddings and a Funeral.
 * In his official BBC interview after the casting announcement, Smith let slip that he had (as of January 2009) already read the scripts for Episodes 1 and 4. Although he did not divulge any plot information, he did strongly suggest that one or both of those episodes have been written by Moffat.

Filming

 * The BBC has confirmed that at least one episode will be filmed in Croatia.

Episode Notes

 * One Episode will feature Vincent Van Gogh stabbing a yellow monster.
 * Another episode that has been filmed in Croatia is thought to feature Vampires.
 * According to Steven Moffat, the Weeping Angels are to return.

Series Changes

 * On 6th October 2009, the BBC unveiled a new series logo which will be launched with Series 5.
 * It is speculated that the opening credits/theme arrangement will be changed. The introduction of a new series logo increases the likelihood of this occurring, but the BBC has yet to officially confirm such a change.
 * British tabloid media have reported rumours that Moffat plans a "radical redesign" of the TARDIS interior, both to mark the new era and also because of the show's switch to high-definition production.

Confirmed Rumours

 * Richard Curtis has confirmed that Series 5 (Series 1) will be broadcast in February 2010 and that he is to pen an episode featuring Vincent Van Gogh stabbing a yellow monster".
 * In DWM Issue 397, Steven Moffat wrote the "Production Notes" feature. This consisted mainly of an anecdote about how he became the head writer but he also touched upon his plans for Series 5. In particular he wrote "Piers Wenger and I are hard at work on Series 5. I can tell you nothing of our plans (except, obviously, THEY'RE BACK!)". Some have interpreted "they" to refer to the Time Lords, who had been "killed off" as a race during the Davies era. However, others have interpreted this as simply referring to the Daleks, who have become notorious for returning at least once a series since the revival. In a radio interview on 15th December 2009, Steven Moffat confirmed the return of the Weeping Angel; whether these are the species in question that are back is unknown.
 * It could well mean Time Lords as they have been confirmed to be back in The End of Time.
 * The speculation as to whether "They're back" refers to the Time Lords may intensify with the announcement in September 2009 of a Blue Peter contest in which entrants are being asked to design "a TARDIS console" to be used within the series, which could be interpreted as referring to a TARDIS other than the Doctor's. At the time of the contest's launch in early October, however, the contest description suggested that the console should look like "something the Doctor put together" suggesting a different storyline possibility.