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"The Next Doctor" is a special episode of the British science fiction television programme Doctor Who, broadcast on 25 December 2008 as the fourth Doctor Who Christmas special of the revived series. During its original airing, the episode had an audience of 13.1 million viewers and was the second-most-watched programme of Christmas Day 2008. It was the final Doctor Who episode to be filmed in standard definition.

David Tennant stars as the Tenth Doctor with one-off companions Jackson Lake (David Morrissey) and Rosita Farisi (Velile Tshabalala). The episode is set in London during the Christmas period of 1851. In the episode, the Doctor teams up with a man who appears to be another incarnation of himself; in their quest to foil a plot by the Cybermen to create a giant Cyberman called a CyberKing under the control of workhouse matron Miss Hartigan (Dervla Kirwan), the two inadvertently discover that the "new" Doctor is actually Jackson Lake, a regular human who began suffering from amnesia and believing himself to be the Doctor after interacting with Cyberman technology.

Plot

The Tenth Doctor lands in London on Christmas Eve, 1851. Overhearing cries for help, he encounters a man calling himself "the Doctor" and his companion Rosita attempting and failing to capture a Cybershade. The Doctor believes the man, who is suffering from amnesia, may be a future incarnation of himself. The man, dubbed the Next Doctor, takes the Doctor to a nearby house of a recently deceased reverend, believing him to be tied to a series of disappearances around London. Inside, they discover a pair of Cyberman data-storage infostamps, which the Next Doctor recalls holding the night that he lost his memories.

The two Doctors regroup with Rosita at the Next Doctor's base. The Doctor comes to realize that the Next Doctor is really a human, Jackson Lake, the supposed first missing person. The Doctor suspects that Jackson had encountered the Cybermen and used the infostamps, containing knowledge of the Doctor, to ward them off. Jackson's mind then entered a fugue state from the trauma of the Cybermen killing his wife, and as the infostamp had infused his mind with knowledge of the Doctor, he came to believe he was the Doctor. The Doctor and Rosita set off to try to find the source of the Cybermen.

The Doctor and Rosita find numerous children, pulled from workhouses around the city by Miss Mercy Hartigan, are being put to work at an underground facility under Cybermen guard. The Cybermen betray Miss Hartigan, and convert her into the controller for the "CyberKing", a giant mechanical Cyberman powered by the energy generated by the children. She also gains control over the Cybermen. Jackson remembers encountering the Cybermen on moving into his new home. The Doctor discovers another entrance to the Cybermen's base under Jackson's house. Within the complex, as the CyberKing starts to rise to the city, the three rescue the children, including Jackson's son, who was abducted in the initial attack that triggered Jackson's fugue state. The CyberKing starts to lay waste to the city. When Miss Hartigan refuses the Doctor's offer to leave the planet, the Doctor uses the infostamps to sever her connection to the CyberKing, exposing her to the raw emotion of what she has done. The emotional feedback destroys both the Cybermen and Miss Hartigan. As the CyberKing starts to topple, the Doctor draws it into the Time Vortex with technology from Jackson's cellar, saving London.

Continuity

According to Neil Gaiman, when discussing the 2013 episode "Nightmare in Silver", the Cybus Industries Cybermen "zapped off into time and space" by the Doctor at the end of this episode eventually encountered the Mondas Cybermen; their "cross-breeding and interchange of technology" resulted in the variety of Cybermen seen in that episode.

Production

Writing

Pre-broadcast publicity, based on excerpts from Davies' book Doctor Who: The Writer's Tale, revealed that the Doctor would meet a man played by David Morrissey who also claims to be the Doctor. In further excerpts, Davies commented, "The best title for this episode would be The Two Doctors... but maybe not. The New Doctor, perhaps? Or The Next Doctor? I quite like The Next Doctor." The book also contained two pictures from a scene cut from the end of the previous episode, intended to segue into the special echoing the previous two series. This scene was included on the series boxset.

Following the success of the previous year's Christmas special, "Voyage of the Damned", which guest starred pop star Kylie Minogue as one-off companion Astrid Peth, Russell T Davies had initially felt tempted to copy this format with another high-profile guest star, but decided against it after jokingly offering up "Cheryl Cole on board the Hindenburg" as an example.

When writing the episode, Davies was unhappy with the final scene in which the Doctor gets rid of the CyberKing with the convenient Dalek dimension vault, but could not think of another way to stop London being crushed by a giant robot. Later, after the episode was produced, he conceived an alternate ending in which Miss Hartigan "should have destroyed the Cybermen when she screamed... but she's still in the chair", as the CyberKing falls to the Earth, the Doctor calls out to her saying "Save them." This version would have Hartigan redeem herself as she is the one to cause the CyberKing to disappear, with no need for what Davies called "a silly Dalek continuum dimension vault". Julie Gardner felt this would have been a superior, "marvellous" ending and Davies said that he "can't bear that there could have been a better ending than we actually transmitted".

Davies said that he attempted to make Jackson Lake's companion Rosita a combination of Rose and Martha so that she felt like a companion before she had done anything.

Locations

Filming for this episode was conducted in April 2008 at Gloucester Cathedral, St Woolos Cemetery in Newport and the streets of Gloucester, where shooting was hampered by up to 1,000 onlookers. The main setting of Torchwood, their Torchwood Hub was also redesigned and used as the workshop for the children.

Casting

David Morrissey is the main guest star, playing "a character called The Doctor – a man who believes himself to be a Time Lord". He was influenced in his performance by previous Doctor actors William Hartnell, Patrick Troughton and Tom Baker, as he believed there was "a truth" to their performances because they "never saw as a genre show or a children's show". He is joined by Velile Tshabalala as Rosita, the companion to Morrissey's "Doctor", whom Russell T Davies describes as "probably cleverer than the two of them put together". For Tshabalala, the character came naturally because her "feisty cockney girl" characterization was very "close to home" for her.

Dervla Kirwan plays Mercy Hartigan, who Russell T Davies describes in the episode's podcast commentary as "dark a villain as you will ever have". A lot of her characterization goes unstated, but Russell discussed it in long conversations with Dervla Kirwan and fellow executive producer Julie Gardner. Davies characterizes Miss Hartigan as "a victim of abuse", for whom the subtext suggests a "terrible backstory" which is symptomatic of her being "part of Victorian Age." Davies describes this as being "a powerless woman who's been in servitude or far worse all her life", but holds his tongue from saying her precise profession, relaying: "I'm talking quite discreetly around this because there are children listening and watching and there's only so far I should go." He does however explain that "She's had terrible things done to her" which is responsible for her "really twisted character where she sexualizes everything." In terms of costume, "she wears red" because "everything's inflammatory with her". "And in the end, actually" Davies discusses how to escape her male oppression she "becomes a man, she becomes the CyberKing. She has to go through this extraordinary process because she's so damaged." Kirwan would later go on to voice Miss Quill, replacing the original actress Katherine Kelly, in the audio dramas of the spin-off Class produced by Big Finish Productions in 2019.

Design

Millennium FX's Neil Gorton's original design for the Cybershade took the existing Cyberman design and "refurbished" it by adding rivets and a copper finish. The design was cost-effective but Russell T Davies did not believe it was the right approach. He sketched a new design for the Cybershade that was "a crude version of a Cyberman, all angular and blocky, with its trademark handlebars set at a jaunty angle and shrouded in flowing black robes". Gorton used Davies' sketch to create a fiberglass mask that the Cybershade actors wore over their heads. Costume designer Louise Page made the flowing robes, that were "light enough to not restrict movement" to complete the Cybershade costume. A new head design for the Cyber Leader was also introduced, sporting a black face and handles and an exposed brain similar to the one of the Cyber Controller from "The Age of Steel" (2006).

Originally, Gardner relayed that there was a widespread dissatisfaction with Hartigan's CyberKing crown. The original helmet, he remarked "was like the Cyberwoman's head from Torchwood" (referring to the episode "Cyberwoman"), literally "a Cyberman's head on Dervla Kirwan" or "as if Dervla Kirwan decided to go to a party as a Cyberman." Davies' response was "Oh my lord, no." The production team however worked hard, and in two days produced the final headpiece seen in the episode which Davies described as "beautiful", because it's "Victorian and it fits the design." In the scene after the headpiece is placed on her, Dervla wore black contact lenses and SFX company The Mill helped to get rid of "any traces of white" in post-production.

Broadcast

Preliminary figures show that the episode had a viewing audience of 11.71 million during its original airing, with a peak at 12.58 million viewers, and a 50.5% share of the 18:00 timeslot it was shown. It was the second most watched programme of Christmas Day 2008, behind Wallace and Gromit's A Matter of Loaf and Death. Final viewing figures show an audience of 13.1 million viewers.

The episode had an Appreciation Index figure of 86 (considered Excellent), making it the second most-enjoyed programme on mainstream television on Christmas Day. The only programme to score higher was A Matter of Loaf and Death, which scored 88.

In Australia, the ABC aired the episode on 25 January 2009 from 7:30pm. In Canada, Space aired the special instead of CBC on 14 March 2009. BBC America aired the special in United States on 27 June 2009.

Although The Next Doctor was not filmed in HD, the BBC aired it on BBC One HD Thursday 30 December 2010. They up-scaled the program to HD, and it also included Dolby Surround sound. This is the third Doctor Who episode that has been up-scaled in the United Kingdom.

Home media

DVD release

The DVD was released in the United Kingdom on 19 January 2009. The DVD features a full set of end credits newly produced in a "cinematic" format to replace the broadcast version. There is an hour of special features on the disc, including the full Doctor Who Confidential for the episode, a cut-down edition of the Doctor Who Prom hosted by Freema Agyeman and the seven-minute mini-episode "Music of the Spheres". The DVD was re-released on 11 January 2010 in the boxset 'The Complete Specials', packaged with the remainder of the 2008–10 specials.

The ten Christmas specials between "The Christmas Invasion" and "Last Christmas" inclusive were released in a boxset titled Doctor Who – The 10 Christmas Specials on 19 October 2015.

Blu-ray release

Although "The Next Doctor" was not filmed in High Definition, it was up-scaled for Blu-ray, with DTS HD 5.1 Audio, and released as part of the 2008–2010 Specials boxset, for Blu-ray, entitled "Doctor Who: The Complete Specials".

Soundtrack

Selected pieces of score from this special, as composed by Murray Gold, were included in the specials soundtrack on 4 October 2010, released by Silva Screen Records.

Awards

In April 2010, it was nominated for the Hugo Award for Best Dramatic Presentation, Short Form, along with "Planet of the Dead". Both lost out to "The Waters of Mars". It was nominated for Outstanding Visual Effects in a Broadcast Miniseries, Movie or Special at the 7th Visual Effects Society Awards but lost to John Adams.

References

1. Spilsbury, Tom (21 August 2008). "Letter from the Editor". Doctor Who Magazine (399). Royal Tunbridge Wells, Kent: Panini Comics: 3.
2. Walker, Stephen James (17 December 2008). "Series Overview". Monsters Within: the Unofficial and Unauthorised Guide to Doctor Who 2008. Tolworth, Surrey, England: Telos Publishing. p. 232. ISBN 978-1-84583-027-4.
3. "Programme Information - BBC Network TV Weeks 52/53: Doctor Who – The Next Doctor". BBC. Retrieved 27 November 2008.
4. ^ "The Next Doctor - official ratings". Outpost Gallifrey. 8 January 2009. Retrieved 9 January 2009.
5. ^ Wilkes, Neil (26 December 2008). "'Wallace & Gromit' leads Xmas Day ratings". Digital Spy. Retrieved 12 December 2022.
6. ^ Mark Cossey (executive producer), Zoë Rushton (producer), Gillane Seaborne (series producer) (25 December 2008). "Xmas 2008". Doctor Who Confidential. Series 4. Episode 14. BBC. BBC Three.
7. ^ Russell T Davies, Julie Gardner (hosts) (25 December 2008). "The Next Doctor". Doctor Who: The Commentaries. Series 1. Episode 14. BBC. BBC Radio 7.
8. Setchfields, Nick (7 May 2013). "EXCLUSIVE – Neil Gaiman Talks Doctor Who And Cybermen". SFX. Retrieved 2 November 2013.
9. Davies, Russell T; Cook, Benjamin (25 September 2008). The Writer's Tale. BBC Books. pp. 500–502. ISBN 978-1-84607-571-1.
10. Davies, Russell T. "The Next Doctor Commentary Podcast". BBC. Retrieved 1 June 2010.
11. "David films 'Dr Who' Christmas special in 'snowy' Gloucester". Hello Magazine. 23 April 2008. Retrieved 5 July 2008.
12. David Deans (4 April 2008). "Cybermen invade Newport". South Wales Argus. Retrieved 12 December 2022.
13. "Brief Encounter With ... David Morrissey". WhatsOnStage. 6 November 2008. Archived from the original on 17 July 2012. Retrieved 12 December 2022.
14. Staff writer (28 November 2008). "David Morrissey fuels Doctor rumour", South Wales Evening Post, South Wales Media. Retrieved on 13 February 2012.
15. Collins, Robert (16 December 2008). "Doctor Who: Velile Tshabalala". Daily Telegraph. London. Retrieved 20 December 2008.
16. Gorton, Neil (10 December 2008). "How I... designed the Cybershade". Broadcastnow. Emap Media. Retrieved 11 December 2008.
17. "Next Doctor - Appreciation Index". Outpost Gallifrey. Retrieved 29 December 2008.
18. "ABC website Coming Soon announcement". Australian Broadcasting Corporation. Retrieved 24 December 2008.
19. "Watch out for Watchmen this March on SPACE". ChannelCanada.com. Archived from the original on 20 September 2010. Retrieved 26 February 2009.
20. Thielman, Sam (27 May 2009). "'Doctor Who' returns to BBC America". Variety. Retrieved 12 December 2022.
21. "The Next Doctor", BBC, retrieved 4 February 2011
22. "Doctor Who Christmas Special: The Next Doctor DVD at the BBC Shop". Retrieved 28 November 2008.
23. Sarah Walker (BBC Radio 3), Freema Agyeman (presenters) (27 July 2008). "Prom 13: Doctor Who Prom". The Proms. BBC. BBC Radio 3.
24. "Doctor Who News: Doctor Who - The Ten Christmas Specials". Doctor Who News. 1 October 2015. Retrieved 8 October 2015.
25. "Doctor Who: The Complete Specials [Blu-ray]". Amazon UK. 11 January 2010. Retrieved 25 September 2011.

External links

• The Next Doctor on Tardis Wiki, the Doctor Who Wiki
• "The Next Doctor" at the BBC Doctor Who homepage
• "The Next Doctor" at IMDb
• Shooting Script for "The Next Doctor"

Links to related articles

v t e Doctor Who episodes by Russell T Davies Ninth Doctor Series 1 "Rose" "The End of the World" "Aliens of London" / "World War Three" "The Long Game" "Boom Town" "Bad Wolf" / "The Parting of the Ways" Tenth Doctor Series 2 "The Christmas Invasion" "New Earth" "Tooth and Claw" "Love & Monsters" "Army of Ghosts" / "Doomsday" Series 3 "The Runaway Bride" "Smith and Jones" "Gridlock" "Utopia" / "The Sound of Drums" / "Last of the Time Lords" Series 4 "Voyage of the Damned" "Partners in Crime" "Midnight" "Turn Left" "The Stolen Earth" / "Journey's End" Specials "The Next Doctor" "Planet of the Dead" "The Waters of Mars" "The End of Time" Fourteenth Doctor Specials "The Star Beast" "Wild Blue Yonder" "The Giggle" Fifteenth Doctor Series 14 "The Church on Ruby Road" "Space Babies" "The Devil's Chord" "73 Yards" "Dot and Bubble" "The Legend of Ruby Sunday" / "Empire of Death" Mini episodes "Doctor Who : Children in Need" "Music of the Spheres" "Destination: Skaro" See also Damaged Goods Death of the Doctor Mind of the Hodiac v t e Doctor Who Christmas and New Year's specials Tenth Doctor "The Christmas Invasion" "The Runaway Bride" "Voyage of the Damned" "The Next Doctor" "The End of Time" Eleventh Doctor "A Christmas Carol" "The Doctor, the Widow and the Wardrobe" "The Snowmen" "The Time of the Doctor" Twelfth Doctor "Last Christmas" "The Husbands of River Song" "The Return of Doctor Mysterio" "Twice Upon a Time" Thirteenth Doctor "Resolution" "Revolution of the Daleks" "Eve of the Daleks" Fifteenth Doctor "The Church on Ruby Road" Related "The Feast of Steven" K-9 and Company "Invasion of the Bane" "Captain Jack Harkness" "End of Days" "Spyfall, Part 1" v t e Doctor Who: Tenth Doctor stories Television Series 2 "The Christmas Invasion" "New Earth" "Tooth and Claw" "School Reunion" "The Girl in the Fireplace" "Rise of the Cybermen" / "The Age of Steel" "The Idiot's Lantern" "The Impossible Planet" / "The Satan Pit" "Love & Monsters" "Fear Her" "Army of Ghosts" / "Doomsday" Series 3 "The Runaway Bride" "Smith and Jones" "The Shakespeare Code" "Gridlock" "Daleks in Manhattan" / "Evolution of the Daleks" "The Lazarus Experiment" "42" "Human Nature" / "The Family of Blood" "Blink" "Utopia" / "The Sound of Drums" / "Last of the Time Lords" Series 4 "Voyage of the Damned" "Partners in Crime" "The Fires of Pompeii" "Planet of the Ood" "The Sontaran Stratagem" / "The Poison Sky" "The Doctor's Daughter" "The Unicorn and the Wasp" "Silence in the Library" / "Forest of the Dead" "Midnight" "Turn Left" "The Stolen Earth" / "Journey's End" 2008–2010 specials "The Next Doctor" "Planet of the Dead" "The Waters of Mars" "The End of Time" Other appearances Major The Wedding of Sarah Jane Smith "The Day of the Doctor" Minor "The Parting of the Ways" "The Name of the Doctor" Mini episodes "Doctor Who : Children in Need" "Attack of the Graske" "Time Crash" "Music of the Spheres" Animated serials The Infinite Quest Dreamland Audio Audiobooks Pest Control The Forever Trap The Nemonite Invasion The Rising Night The Day of the Troll The Last Voyage Dead Air Death's Deal Audio drama The Churchill Years The Tenth Doctor Adventures Zero Space A Brave New World Books Novels The Feast of the Drowned The Resurrection Casket The Nightmare of Black Island The Art of Destruction The Price of Paradise Sting of the Zygons The Last Dodo Wooden Heart Forever Autumn Sick Building Wetworld The Pirate Loop Peacemaker Martha in the Mirror Snowglobe 7 The Many Hands Ghosts of India The Doctor Trap Shining Darkness The Story of Martha Beautiful Chaos The Eyeless Judgement of the Judoon The Slitheen Excursion Prisoner of the Daleks The Taking of Chelsea 426 Autonomy The Krillitane Storm Novellas I Am a Dalek Made of Steel Revenge of the Judoon The Sontaran Games Code of the Krillitanes Decide Your Destiny The Spaceship Graveyard The Time Crocodile The Crystal Snare War of the Robots The Haunted Wagon Train Second Skin The Dragon King The Horror of Howling Hill Video games Top Trumps Legacy Lego Dimensions Fourteenth Doctor stories template v t e Doctor Who: Cyberman stories Television First Doctor The Tenth Planet Second Doctor The Moonbase The Tomb of the Cybermen The Wheel in Space The Invasion Fourth Doctor Revenge of the Cybermen Fifth Doctor Earthshock "The Five Doctors" Sixth Doctor Attack of the Cybermen Seventh Doctor Silver Nemesis Tenth Doctor "Rise of the Cybermen" / "The Age of Steel" "Army of Ghosts" / "Doomsday" "The Next Doctor" Eleventh Doctor "Closing Time" "Nightmare in Silver" Twelfth Doctor "Dark Water" / "Death in Heaven" "World Enough and Time" / "The Doctor Falls" Thirteenth Doctor "The Haunting of Villa Diodati" "Ascension of the Cybermen" / "The Timeless Children" "The Power of the Doctor" Other appearances Major "Cyberwoman" Minor The War Games The Mind of Evil Carnival of Monsters "Dalek" "The Pandorica Opens" / "The Big Bang" "A Good Man Goes to War" "The Day of the Doctor" "The Time of the Doctor" "Face the Raven" "Hell Bent" "Once, Upon Time" / "The Vanquishers" See also Dimensions in Time Tardisode "Twice Upon a Time" Audio Spare Parts Legend of the Cybermen Books Iceberg Made of Steel Video games Destiny of the Doctors Top Trumps "Blood of the Cybermen" Return to Earth The Mazes of Time The Eternity Clock Legacy Lego Dimensions Stage Doctor Who Prom Doctor Who Live

• Fiction set in 1851
• 2008 British television episodes
• Doctor Who Christmas specials
• Cybermen television stories
• Television episodes written by Russell T Davies
• Steampunk television episodes
• Tenth Doctor episodes
• Doctor Who pseudohistorical serials
• 2008 television specials
• Television episodes set in London
• Television episodes set in the 1850s