2005 (production)

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2005 in

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the DWU • production history • vital statistics • releases

2005 was a year in which a number of events important to the production of Doctor Who and its spin-offs occurred.

• January - The BBC was made aware that Christopher Eccleston was not taking part in a second series of Doctor Who. According to a 4 April press release, the BBC agreed not to announce this to the public. It was later revealed that Russell T Davies had hoped to keep the actor's departure secret until the regeneration in The Parting of the Ways was broadcast.
• 16 February - The very first edit was made on this wiki, then known as "Tardis Index File", curiously three whole months after the wiki's founding.
• February - The story originally slotted for Doctor Who series 2, episodes 7 and 8, which would eventually become episodes 8 and 9, The Impossible Planet and The Satan Pit, was allocated to Matt Jones. (DWMSE 14)
• March - Promotion for the upcoming return of Doctor Who to television entered high gear.
• 1 March - As early reviews of the new Doctor Who series began to appear, IGN Filmforce reported the American cable broadcaster Sci-Fi Channel, considered the most likely US broadcast home for the series, had chosen not to purchase it. Although there was talk of a related cable network, Universal HD, picking up the series, for the time being United States viewers would not be able to see the new series, with the exception of those close enough to Canada to receive the CBC broadcasts, which was now the North American première of the series.
• 8 March - Big Finish Productions announced it had agreed to a deal with Paul Cornell allowing the company to continue its range of Bernice Summerfield books and audio CDs for the next few years.
• 9 March - BBC Radio 4's Today ran a feature on the new series.
• 12 March - Whether by coincidence or design (as the impending change of lead actor was already known behind the scenes), this week's cover of Radio Times featured yet-to-be-announced Tenth Doctor actor David Tennant in a very Doctor-like pose promoting the mini-series Casanova - right next to a headline promoting the return of Doctor Who. This was the first of many Radio Times covers for Tennant over the next few years.
• 23 March - Billie Piper was interviewed on The Chris Moyles Show on BBC Radio 1.
• 25 March - Christopher Eccleston was interviewed on Friday Night with Jonathan Ross.
• 26 March - Radio Times featured Doctor Who on its cover. With the arrival of the new series, the Radio Times began featuring the series on a more frequent basis.
• 30 March - The BBC announced production would proceed on a second series and a Christmas Special.
• 30 March - A publicity branch of the BBC prematurely announced Christopher Eccleston would not return for a second series as the Ninth Doctor, citing his desire to not be typecast. This reason was denied immediately by Eccleston and the BBC ultimately retracted it. Ecceleston later stated he left because he disliked the working environment. [1] In his 2008 book The Writer's Tale, Russell T Davies confirmed that Eccleston's departure was intended to be kept secret until the final moments of The Parting of the Ways.
• 16 April - David Tennant was officially announced as the Tenth Doctor. At this time Tennant was best known for playing the title role in Casanova, a BBC miniseries written and produced by Russell T Davies. He had also recently filmed a role in Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, which was released to theatres the same day his first solo performance as the Doctor was broadcast.
• 21 April - David Tennant spent "a couple of hours" recording his first scene as the Tenth Doctor on the set of the TARDIS, which would be edited into The Parting of the Ways with Billie Piper. (DWMSE 14)
• April, before the 28th - Tom MacRae was invited to write a Cyberman two-parter for Doctor Who series 2. (DWMSE 14)
• 28 April - The first draft script for the story which would become Rise of the Cybermen and The Age of Steel was submitted. (DWMSE 14)
• May - The Canadian Broadcasting Corporation in Canada began airing series 1 of Doctor Who, the first time the CBC had aired Doctor Who since the mid-1960s. For the CBC broadcasts, Christopher Eccleston videotaped special introductions and promotions for a contest sponsored by TV Guide, the first prize being a trip to London to visit the set of Doctor Who. These broadcasts were promoted as the North American debut of the series, as no other broadcaster on the continent had yet picked up the revived series.
• May - BBC Books launched the New Series Adventures line of original novels tying in with the new series; this line, featuring the Ninth Doctor, replaced the BBC Eighth Doctor Adventures and BBC Past Doctor Adventures lines, though both continued publishing briefly. The new line of books was published in hardcover and had a shorter word count than the EDA/PDA novels. The books were released three at a time. The first three released were The Clockwise Man, The Monsters Inside and Winner Takes All.
• 26 May - DWM 367 announced the return of the Cybermen. (DWMSE 14)
• 15 June - After The Runaway Bride was pushed back to become the Christmas special, Russell commissioned himself Queen Victoria, based on an earlier treatment to fill the gap. The script, eventually becoming Tooth and Claw, was written hastily to allow for pre-production in late July. (DWMSE 14)
• June - "[F]urther scripts" of Rise of the Cybermen and The Age of Steel, then titled Parallel World Part 1 and 2, were delivered. (DWMSE 14)
• June - It was announced that Graeme Harper was assigned as director of Block Three of Doctor Who series 2. (DWMSE 14)
• June - The BBC announced that a Christmas special was already commissioned for 2006, as well as a third season for the new Doctor Who series.
• 18 July - Rehearsals for Block One of Doctor Who series 2 began. (DWMSE 14)
• 19 July - The read-through for The Christmas Invasion took place. (DWMSE 14)
• 19 July - The Design a Monster competition was launched. (DWMSE 14)
• 20 July - Rewrites for The Christmas Invasion and New Earth known as "pink revisions" were made. These applied to the scenes with Harriet Jones' press conference, the taxi returning Rose Tyler and Mickey Smith to the Powell Estate, Harriet being brought aboard the Sycorax spaceship, the Tenth Doctor asking Rose how he looks, the newly-regenerated Doctor asking what kind of character he is, the Doctor's challenge to the Sycorax leader and the Cassandra watching a home movie of her younger self. (DWMSE 14)
• 21 July - Rewrites for School Reunion known as "pink script revisions" were made. These covered the opening scene with Lassar and Nina, the Tenth Doctor's physics lesson, the Doctor and Rose Tyler in the "dining room" [sic], Kenny meeting Melissa after her first class with Mr Wagner, the Doctor meeting Sarah Jane Smith at the classroom that night, the Krillitane teachers' mid-morning break in Lassar's office and from the Doctor's realisation of the Skasis Paradigm through to the destruction of the Krillitanes. (DWMSE 14)
• 25 July - David Tennant posed in-costume as the Tenth Doctor with Billie Piper and executive producers Russell T Davies and Julie Gardner for a press photocall. (DWMSE 14)
• 25 July - The first scenes with David Tennant and Billie Piper together, not including the insert of David into The Parting of the Ways, was recorded. (DWMSE 14)
• 26 July - The first scene featuring principal actors David Tennant, Billie Piper, Noel Clarke and Camille Coduri together was recorded. (DWMSE 14)
• 28 July - Fight rehearsals between David Tennant and Sean Gilder for The Christmas Invasion began. (DWMSE 14)
• 29 July - Rewrites for The Christmas Invasion known as a "blue rewrite" were made. These covered Mickey Smith telling Rose Tyler how he just wanted a normal life, the Tenth Doctor discussing blood control and the fight between the Doctor and the Sycorax leader. (DWMSE 14)
• July - The episode Queen Victoria was now titled Tooth and Claw. (DWMSE 14)
• July - The position for Parallel World Part 1 and 2, later retitled Rise of the Cybermen was moved back from their positions in series 2 from episodes 4 and 5 to 5 and 6. (DWMSE 14)
• Late July - In a meeting, Russell T Davies and Tom MacRae "broke the story" of what would eventually be Rise of the Cybermen and The Age of Steel into "pieces" and "reassembled it". In doing so, they moved away from the initial inspiration of Marc Platt's Spare Parts. (DWMSE 14)
• 17 August - The winning entry of the Design a Monster competition was announced on Blue Peter as William Grantham's Abzorbaloff. (DWMSE 14)
• 31 August - Matthew Graham's pitch for a story revolving around either drawings or paintings, which eventually became Fear Her was commissioned, possibly for broadcast in 2006, but more likely at the time for 2007. (DWMSE 14)
• 5 September - Doctor Who Magazine attended the storyboard meeting for Tooth and Claw. (DWMSE 14)
• 7 September - Rewrites of School Reunion known as a "yellow script revision" covered a scene where K9 Mark III recognises the Tenth Doctor on reactivation. (DWMSE 14)
• 9 September - Doctor Who Magazine attended a production meeting on Tooth and Claw. (DWMSE 14)
• 14 September - Rewrites for New Earth and Tooth and Claw known as "goldenrod script changes" for New Earth and "pink script revisions" for Tooth and Claw shortened Matron Casp and Sister Jatt's discussion of their experiments in Intensive Care and also covered the TARDIS' arrival in Scotland, the scenes from the arrival in Torchwood House through to the observatory scene, Queen Victoria meeting Sir Robert MacLeish, the Tenth Doctor and Rose Tyler on the stairs and the TARDIS leaving Scotland. (DWMSE 14)
• 3 October - A tone meeting for Army of Ghosts and Doomsday was held. Head writer Russell T Davies saw the tone of the episodes as "classy". (DWMSE 14)
• 17 October - Clearance issues caused rewrites known as "yellow rewrites" to alter Tooth and Claw playing Lene Lovich's "Lucky Number" in the TARDIS to Ian Dury and the Blockheads' "Hit Me with Your Rhythm Stick". (DWMSE 14)
• 17 October - The British Broadcasting Corporation announced the Doctor Who spinoff series Torchwood. (DWMSE 14)
• 19 October - The original script for Attack of the Graske, then called Christmas Challenge, was prepared. (DWMSE 14)
• 24 October - Untitled shooting scripts for Doctor Who series 2, episodes 12 and 13, later titled Army of Ghosts and Doomsday, were issued. (DWMSE 14)
• 25 October - The shooting script for Rise of the Cybermen, then titled Parallel World Part 1, was prepared. (DWMSE 14)
• 26 October - A planning meeting for Rise of the Cybermen and The Age of Steel was held. (DWMSE 14)
• 27 October - The shooting script for The Age of Steel, then titled Parallel World Part 2, was issued. (DWMSE 14)
• 31 October - Rewrites for The Christmas Invasion known as a "goldenrod revision", of New Earth known as a "salmon revision", and of The Age of Steel and Doomsday known as "pink rewrites" were made. These amended Invasion's pre-titles, the introduction to the Sycorax, the Tenth Doctor choosing his outfit, the TARDIS arriving at Lady Cassandra's party, the Doctor discovering Pete Tyler and Rose Tyler being captured, the scene where the aforementioned trio climb a ladder to escape, the Daleks and the Cybermen comparing the size of their forces, Pete and Jackie embracing inside Torchwood Tower, the Doctor realising the nature of the Genesis Ark, "Rose's return from the other Torchwood" and the Daleks and the Cybermen being sucked into the Void. (DWMSE 14)
• End of October - By this point, Parallel World Part 1 had been renamed Rise of the Cybermen. Part 2 was not renamed The Age of Steel until some time later. (DWMSE 14)
• 1 November - Rewrites known as "pink script changes" for Attack of the Graske, then called Christmas Challenge, extended the segment linking the living room in the then-present day with Victorian era. (DWMSE 14)
• 3 November - The Children in Need Special was filmed at Upper Boat Studios. (DWMSE 14)
• 8 November - Rewrites for The Christmas Invasion known as "salmon script revisions" were made. This changed Guinevere One's television coverage, Daniel Llewellyn arriving at the Tower of London and the A-positive people being returned to normal. (DWMSE 14)
• 9 November - Rewrites known as a "blue revision" or "blue rewrites" were made on Attack of the Graske, or Christmas Interactive Challenge: Attack of the Graske, and on Rise of the Cybermen / The Age of Steel. For Graske this mainly gave clearer instructions on how to play the hatchery segment of the interactive adventure to younger audiences, while the rewrites on Rise and Steel covered the scenes where Jackie complained about her birthday banner, the Tenth Doctor agreeing with Rose Tyler about meeting Pete Tyler, the two at the Tylers' mansion, the Doctor at the computer terminal, Pete asking about Torchwood, the arrival of the Cybermen, and Angela Price and the Doctor inside the tunnel filled with Cybermen. (DWMSE 14)
• 11 November - Rewrites for The Age of Steel known as a "yellow rewrite" were made. These covered the establishment of the Cybus factory and the demise of the Cyber-Controller. (DWMSE 14)
• 14 November - Music written by Murray Gold for The Christmas Invasion, including an extended version of his first incarnation of the Doctor Who theme, was recorded in a six-hour session with the BBC National Orchestra of Wales conducted by Ben Foster at Studio 1 of the BBC in Cardiff. (DWMSE 14)
• 24 November - Recording for the Sarah Jane Smith audio story Dreamland took place at The Moat Studios.
• 25 November - Rewrites for Rise of the Cybermen and The Age of Steel known as "green rewrites" were made. These covered the scene with the hypnotised Londoners, Rose Tyler mentioning the Cyberman head inside Henry van Statten's Vault, the Tenth Doctor confronting the converted John Lumic, and expanding on Angela Price's scene where she was killed. (DWMSE 14)
• Late November - Fear Her, then on its fifth draft, was scheduled for the second half of series 2, having been pushed forward from its slot in series 3 after Stephen Fry's submission could not be amended for either series 2 or 3's production schedule due to Fry being "entrenched" in other projects at the time. (DWMSE 14)
• October-November - Post production company The Mill worked on The Christmas Invasion. (DWMSE 14)
• 28 November - A final edit of The Christmas Invasion was available for viewing. (DWMSE 14)
• 2 December - During shooting of Doomsday, the Daleks and Cybermen were on set together for the first time. (DWMSE 14)
• 6 December - A tone meeting was held for Fear Her. Head writer and executive producer Russell T Davies saw the episode as "colourful" and wanted elements of "strangeness in suburbia". (DWMSE 14)
• 7 December - Rewrites for Army of Ghosts known as "blue revisions" and for Doomsday known as "yellow rewrites" covered the activation of the Genesis Ark, the Tenth Doctor's return from Pete's World through to the adjustment of Jake Simmonds' gun and the sequence with the Doctor and Rose Tyler cut off from one another in the two Torchwood Tower lever rooms after the gap between worlds was closed. (DWMSE 14)
• 12 December - A press release was issued for the interactive adventure Attack of the Graske. (DWMSE 14)