Outpost GallifreyFirst DoctorSecond DoctorThird DoctorFourth DoctorFifth DoctorSixth DoctorSeventh DoctorEighth DoctorNinth DoctorTenth DoctorOutpost Gallifrey
This Week in Doctor WhoReleases
The Doctor Who TV Series Frequently Asked Questions List (FAQ) is copyright © 2006 by Outpost Gallifrey. Special Thanks to Steve Manfred for the most recent updates to the FAQ. Additional contributors to this FAQ include: Shaun Lyon, Josiah Rowe, Michael Lee, Chris Orton, Paul Hayes, Lance Bayliss, Andrew Orton, Stephen Sherry, John Dorney, Mark Wyman, Ryan Piekenbrock, David Headman, Lee Beckett, Caleb Woodbridge, Scott Nisbet, Michael Blumenthal. With thanks to Russell T Davies, Paul Cornell, Rob Shearman, Bryan Hitch, Mark Ayres, Gary Russell, John Ainsworth, Clayton Hickman, Bill Baggs, Paul Engelberg, Steve Tribe, Andrew Harvey, Chuck Foster, Ian Wheeler, Roger Anderson, David Howe, Martin Hoscik, Jerry Grefenstette, and the members of the Doctor Who Forum at Outpost Gallifrey.
Last Updated: April 13, 2006

Special thanks to Steve Manfred for his diligent work compiling the latest version of the FAQ.

A NOTE ABOUT SPOILERS / OUR SPOILER POLICY:  We will not spoil the stories themselves for our readers. However, there is an enormous sensitivity on what a spoiler actually is; some people don't like to know ANY details (which bids the question, why would they be reading a news page?) We will put up details -- such as photos -- that have certain things to do with an actual story, but not the actual storyline itself. Nor will we ruin the big surprises... although when there is extensive reporting in the media over a particular concept appearing in the show (such as the presence of the Daleks and Charles Dickens), we will report that. Outpost Gallifrey has NO plans to "ruin" the story for anyone.


The Return of Doctor Who
Doctor Who is back on the air?
After a fifteen year hiatus (broken only by a single television film in 1996), Doctor Who made a stunning return to the airwaves on March 26, 2005 with a thirteen-episode first series of adventures starring Christopher Eccleston as the ninth incarnation of the Doctor and Billie Piper as his new companion, Rose Tyler. Eccleston departed the series after only one season, to be replaced by actor David Tennant. Tennant is currently filming the second series alongside Tyler; the second series is comprised of thirteen episodes as well as a Christmas special and a "red button" interactive episode being produced for BBC online services.
Who produces the new series of Doctor Who?
Doctor Who is being produced by BBC Wales by executive producers/show runners Russell T. Davies and Julie Gardner. The man who orchestrated the series' return, Russell T Davies created the hugely successful "Queer As Folk," which spawned a successful US television version for the Showtime network, and has written some of the best acclaimed UK series in recent memory, including various kinds of writing from children's fare like "Century Falls" and "Dark Season" to "Springhill" and "The Grand." His own original series range from the aforementioned "Queer as Folk," to the comedy series "Bob & Rose" and "Mine All Mine" to the controversial drama "The Second Coming" (with Christopher Eccleston). He has won many awards including a BAFTA for "Children's Ward." In addition, Davies is an ardent Doctor Who fan who has penned numerous articles for Doctor Who Magazine, and wrote the highly-regarded novel "Damaged Goods" for Virgin Publishing's line of Doctor Who spinoff fiction, "The New Adventures," in 1996. Davies has promised that he will stay true to the ethos of Doctor Who while giving a modern take that will take the Doctor into the first decade of the twenty-first century and beyond.
Davies and Gardner are joined by series producer Phil Collinson, who runs the day to day operations of the production of the series.
Who is playing the Doctor?
David Tennant is the current (tenth) incarnation of the Doctor. Born in West Lothian, Scotland, David Tennant (whose birth name is David MacDonald) had trained early at the Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama in Glasgow. He began his career on the stage, performing as part of the Royal Shakespeare Company, including in such roles as Touchstone in As You Like It (1996), Romeo in Romeo and Juliet (2000), Antipholus of Syracuse in The Comedy of Errors (2000) and Captain Jack Absolute in The Rivals (2000), and performing at such venues as the Young Vic, the Edinburgh Lyceum, the 7:84 theatre company and Dundee Rep. Tennant had been nominated for a 2003 Laurence Olivier Theatre Award for ‘Best Actor of 2002’ for his performance in Lobby Hero at the Donmar Warehouse and the New Ambassador’s Theatres. A fan of the series, Tennant had narrated Doctor Who: A New Dimension, the preview special that had aired on BBC1 prior to the first episode’s transmission. He had also played the Caretaker in the official BBC Doctor Who website’s animated serial The Scream of the Shalka (2003) and had appeared in several audios for Big Finish Productions, not only in their Doctor Who range but also in their Dalek Empire, Unbound and UNIT spinoffs, and playing the title role in their 2005 adaptation of Bryan Talbot’s graphic novel series Luther Arkwright. Tennant’s many film and television roles included Jude (1996), Bite (1997), Holding the Baby (1997), Duck Patrol (1998), LA Without a Map (1998), The Last September (1999), Love in the 21st Century (1999), The Mrs Bradley Mysteries (1999), Being Considered (2000), Randall and Hopkirk (Deceased) (2000), Bright Young Things (2003), Posh Nosh (2003), Spine Chillers (2003), The Deputy (2004) and Blackpool (2004). He has achieved acclaim for his roles in "Casanova" and "Quatermass", and recently starred in the television series "Secret Smile" and as Barty Crouch Jr in "Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire."
On his announcement, Tennant was very happy to be named to the role. "I am delighted, excited and honoured to be the tenth Doctor! I grew up loving Doctor Who and it has been a lifelong dream to get my very own TARDIS. Russell T Davies is one of the best writers television has ever had, and I'm chuffed to bits to get the opportunity to work with him again. I'm also really looking forward to working with Billie Piper who is so great as Rose. Taking over from Chris is a daunting prospect; he has done a fantastic job of reinventing the Doctor for a new generation and is a very tough act to follow."
During the first series, Christopher Eccleston portrayed the Doctor. Eccleston has been a regular on UK Television screens over the last decade; his most memorable roles on television were "Our Friends In The North" and recently Russell T Davies' penned "The Second Coming." He has also starred in many films including "The Others" with Nicole Kidman. After Eccleston completed recording of all thirteen episodes, it was announced that he would be leaving the series; a variety of reasons have been reported, including that he did not wish to be typecast and that it had to do with salary issues, but nothing has been confirmed by the BBC.
Who is the Doctor's companion in the television series?
Billie Piper plays Rose Tyler, a London shopgirl who accompanies the Doctor on his adventures. Born on 22 September 1982, Billie Paul Piper began taking dance lessons at age five; by age seven, she was filming soft-drink commercials in America as well as taking a brief film role as an extra in Evita (1996) starring Madonna. She won a scholarship to the Sylvia Young Theatre School in London in her teenage years; while she filmed several commercials and even had a bit part on EastEnders. She was scouted by the head of Virgin Music's Innocent label, who signed her up aged 15. Her first hit topped the charts in 1998 – making her the youngest female vocalist to hit the exalted top position since Helen Shapiro in 1961. Her second album, ‘Walk of Life’, came out during the summer of 2000 ... but was accompanied by tabloid gossip, as she collapsed in a bar amidst rumours and gossip. Piper eventually turned back to acting, and in 2003 starred in Canterbury Tales: The Miller’s Tale, following this with several film roles, including The Calcium Kid (2004), Bella and the Boys (2004), Things To Do Before You’re 30 (2004) and Spirit Trap (2005). She most recently starred in a BBC1 adaptation of Shakespeare's "Much Ado About Nothing". Piper was recently married to talk show host Chris Evans; the two have now split.
Where is the series being made?
Doctor Who is filmed at the BBC Wales studios in Cardiff and Newport, as well as the Welsh countryside and various locations around the UK, including London. The first series was filmed in such cities as Swansea, Penarth and Monmouth as well as on Wales' Gower Peninsula; series two has been filmed in the highlands north of the Welsh southern coast, with production continuing thereafter.
Who's writing for the series?
In addition to scripts by producer Russell T. Davies, six additional writers will be contributing scripts for the series' second season. Mark Gatiss is best known as a member of the writing/performing team behind the award-winning comedy series "The League of Gentlemen." In addition, Gatiss has penned several Doctor Who novels including "Nightshade" and "Last of the Gaderene" and scripts for Big Finish's range of original Doctor Who audio adventures including "Invaders from Mars" starring Paul McGann. He was also a prime contributor to the BBC 2 Doctor Who night in 1999, to which he contributed three Doctor Who comedy sketches (in one of which he played the Doctor). He penned the first series' episode "The Unquiet Dead". Steven Moffat is the creator of comedy series "Coupling" -- which recently spun off its own American version on NBC -- and "Chalk," and his previous experience with Doctor Who includes writing the screenplay for the 1999 Comic Relief charity skit "The Curse of Fatal Death" starring Rowan Atkinson, Julia Sawalha and Jonathan Pryce. He wrote "The Empty Child" and "The Doctor Dances" during the first series, two episodes that are generally considered to be the show's best episodes to date. Toby Whithouse created and wrote Channel 4’s No Angels (2004-), has written for Attachments (2000), Outlaws and Where The Heart Is (1997), and has written the stage the play Jump, Mr Malinoff, Jump (2004, winner of the Verity Bargate Award). Other series for which he was penning episodes in the spring of 2005 were Other People, Scarlet and Guy and Hotel Babylon. Tom MacRae wrote the pilot episode of Sky One’s Mile High (2003), the BAFTA nominated drama School’s Out (2002), Money Can Buy You Love and UgetMe (2003), was script editor on Nine Lives (2002) and As If (2001), and is currently writing for both Channel 4 (No Angels) and an original series for the BBC. Matt Jones script edited Linda Green (2001), Clocking Off (2000) and Davies’s own Queer as Folk (1999-2000), and wrote both the Doctor Who novel Bad Therapy (1996) for Virgin Publishing and a novel called Beyond the Sun (1997) in their New Adventures series featuring the character Bernice Summerfield. His first ever professional Doctor Who commission had come in 1995, for the Decalog 2 short story anthology, also from Virgin Publishing; his contribution, The Nine-Day Queen, had been described by the anthology’s co-editor Stephen James Walker as: ‘Possibly the finest Doctor Who short story I have ever read.’ Jones had also been a regular columnist for Doctor Who Magazine from 1995 until 1998. Matthew Graham, among whose credits are writing for "Hustle," "Spooks," "EastEnders," "This Life," "P.O.W.," "Byker Grove" and co-creating and writing the acclaimed series "Life on Mars".
Stephen Fry, the celebrated English comedian, actor, writer and director was writing an episode for the series, however his script has now been deferred to the 2007 series, with Matthew Graham's story taking his old slot in the 2006 series. This is reportedly due to the team not having enough budget left in the 2006 series to fully realize Fry's story's heavy effects requirements, and rather than compromise it, it's being deferred to the next budget cycle. Voted in 2005 as one of the top 50 comedy acts ever by The Comedian's Comedian, Fry's writing credits include rewriting the script of the stage musical, Me and My Girl, which subsequently became a huge West End hit.
Two additional writers joined the series for its first season. Paul Cornell is a very prolific screenwriter whose recent work includes episodes of "Casualty" and "Holby City," and has been one of the most acclaimed Doctor Who authors in recent years since his debut novel "Timewyrm: Revelation" in 1990. Cornell created Bernice Summerfield, the companion written exclusively for the Doctor Who novel series that spun off into her own line of audios and books; his most recent Doctor Who work was as the writer of The Scream of the Shalka, a fully-animated Doctor Who serial broadcast over the Internet on BBCi starring Richard E. Grant and Sophie Okonedo. He penned the episode "Father's Day" during Series One. Rob Shearman is a critically acclaimed and award-winning playwright who has penned several of Big Finish's most popular Doctor Who audios including "The Holy Terror," "Jubilee," "Deadline" and "The Chimes of Midnight". He was voted Favorite Doctor Who Writer by the readers of Doctor Who Magazine. Shearman penned "Dalek," the first glimpse of the metal villains in the new series.
Who's directing the second season of the television series?
The following directors have been announced as directing episodes of the second season: Euros Lyn directed the Children In Need special, "Tooth and Claw," "The Girl in the Fireplace," "The Idiot's Lantern," and "Fear Her"; his previous directing credits include "Cutting It," "Belonging III," "Casualty," "Pam Fi Duw?" and "Sunday Stories" as well as the first series' episodes "The End of the World" and "The Unquiet Dead". James Hawes has directed "The Christmas Invasion," "New Earth" and "School Reunion"; his directing credits include "Sea of Souls," "Holby City," "The Mrs. Bradley Mysteries," "The Bill" and "Lawrence of Arabia: The Battle for the Arab World" as well as the first season's "The Empty Child" and "The Doctor Dances". Graeme Harper, director of "The Caves of Androzani" and "Revelation of the Daleks" in the original series, has returned to Doctor Who to direct episodes 5 and 6 and two additional episodes (likely episodes 12 and 13, "Army of Ghosts" and "Doomsday"). A celebrated television director, Harper has directed episodes of "Juliet Bravo," "Grange Hill," "The Royal," "Heartbeat," "Star Cops," "The House of Elliott" and "The Bill". James Strong is directing the two-part story told in episodes 8 and 9 ("The Impossible Planet" and "The Satan Pit"). His credits include episodes of the TV series "Rocket Man," "Holby City," "Casualty," and "Mile High." Dan Zeff is directing "Love & Monsters." His TV directing credits include "At Home With the Braithwaites," "Ideal," "The Worst Week of My Life," and "Out of the Ashes. Ashley Way directed "Attack of the Graske," the "red button" interactive episode debuting on Christmas Day; Way has directed episodes of the Welsh series "Belonging" as well as "Casualty" and "Filligoggin".
Will there be more 'Doctor Who' after the second series?
Yes; the series has been renewed through the end of its third season. David Tennant has agreed to stay in the role for both seasons, with future years to be negotiated.
Will Billie Piper be remaining as Rose Tyler in the show?
Piper returned to the series for its second season, despite rumors that she would leave early on. However, the Mirror reported on November 11 that Piper informed producers that she will be leaving Doctor Who and has no intention of returning for a third series. The article stated that Piper "told producers she did not want to become typecast as they begged her to stay for a third run of the hit show. A source said last night: 'Her mind's made up. ... She wants to strike while the iron's hot and make a big name for herself while she's so popular. She feels her profile will go down if the series isn't as big the third time around. The BBC are auditioning other girls to take over. They want to have the next actress all lined up when they announce Billie's departure.'" BBC News then reported that the BBC has "declined to comment" on reports that Billie Piper will be leaving the series at the end of this forthcoming second season. Says a BBC spokesperson, "We are not commenting on the third series - we are still working on the second series. Rose has a whole new journey and a fantastic set of adventures to go on with the brand new Doctor, starting in the special on Christmas Day. Viewers will then see them return in a host of scary and exciting stories in a new series next year." There has been no official denial of the story, however. Time will tell as to whether she stays for the third season.
Will Captain Jack (John Barromwan) return for the second series?
John Barrowman, who played the role of Captain Jack Harkness in five episodes of the first season ("The Empty Child" through "The Parting of the Ways"), joining the Doctor and Rose on their adventures, will not return for the second series, for one major reason: Barrowman will reprise the role for Torchwood, a spinoff series coming in late 2006. (See Torchwood section for details.)

Story Elements
What elements from the original series are being brought in for Series Two of the new show?
The Cybermen, second only to the Daleks in popularity as villains from the 'classic' Doctor Who series, will face the Doctor and Rose during series two beginning in a two-part story to be aired as episodes 5 and 6.
Sarah Jane Smith is a companion of the Doctor's from the classic series, portrayed by actress Elizabeth Sladen between 1973 and 1976. She first met the Doctor in his third incarnation (as played by Jon Pertwee) and travelled with him for the first couple of years of his fourth incarnation (as played by Tom Baker). Although she left the series in 1976, Sladen returned to play Sarah in both the television spin-off K-9 and Company in 1981 and in 'The Five Doctors', the feature length twentieth anniversary special episode of Doctor Who broadcast in 1983. Sladen returns in "School Reunion" to match wits with the new Doctor alongside K-9, an intelligent robotized computer in the shape of a dog (hence the name) that travelled with the Doctor's fourth incarnation between 1977 and 1981. There were actually three K-9s over the course of the series; the last one featured in the television spin-off K-9 and Company alongside Sarah Jane Smith. Although the two did not travel together on the TARDIS, within the spin-off it was established that the Doctor had given K-9 to Sarah as a present, thus tying the spin-off to the official series, and thus enabling both to appear in the new series. John Leeson has agreed to reprise the voice of the robot dog for the new series.
Is the Master in the new series?
No. Rumours did spring up around the beginning of filming that actor Anthony Stewart Head (most frequently known to audiences as 'Giles' from Buffy the Vampire Slayer and 'The Prime Minister' from Little Britain) might be portraying the classic series villain, as he is playing the Headmaster in "School Reunion," the third episode of series two. However, it has been stated emphatically that this is not the Master from the classic series, the Doctor's archnemesis. There are no plans for the Master to return.
Will the TARDIS travel to alien worlds during series two?
Yes. Episodes 8 and 9, "The Impossible Planet" and "The Satan Pit", will be set on an alien planet. It has been suggested that other stories in the season will be set on alien planets, but how many and which stories are not known for certain at this point in time, although judging by its title alone, it's a safe bet that "New Earth" is probably on a planet that isn't plain old ordinary Earth.

Broadcasting
When will the new series air in the UK?
The second series of Doctor Who will run on BBC One weekly on Saturday nights at 7pm. It will debut on 15 April 2006. If there are no interruptions in the run, it should conclude on 8 July. Meanwhile, episodes of the first series are currently running in syndication on the UK Gold network.
Is the new series airing in the US?
Yes! Doctor Who airs on Friday nights on the Sci Fi Channel, with new episodes at 9:00pm. This began on March 17 and is expected to last through June, with repeats at various times during the week (check the 'schedulebot' at the site for details). Negotiations with various American networks went on for the better part of a year before the BBC and The SciFi Channel finally agreed to terms early in 2006, with their getting to see "The Christmas Invasion" apparently being the tipping point. There is no official word over why this process was so protracted compared to the negotiations with networks in other countries.
Where else is the series shown?
For complete details about the weekly broadcasts of the new Doctor Who series on television, check out This Week in Doctor Who, a weekly update (mirrored here at Outpost Gallifrey) about worldwide Doctor Who broadcasts.
What is "Doctor Who Confidential"?
A second season of the 13-part tie-in documentary series will transmit on BBC Three at 7.45pm on Saturdays following the transmission of series two. A first season of 13 episodes was transmitted in the same timeslot during the run of series one. Each episode of Confidential ties in with some aspect of the Doctor Who episode it follows, looking at various aspects of the show's current production and the classic series' history. The first series' episodes are available in cut-down format on the Series One DVD Boxed Set (reduced to avoid licensing issues for classic series footage; only the items specifically about the new series are included).
The production team behind "Confidential" also produced a stand-alone half-hour documentary, Doctor Who: A New Dimension, which ran on BBC One at 5.30pm on Saturday 26th March, introducing viewers to the show and looking at how it has been revived. Following the transmission of the final episode of series one, The Ultimate Guide was screened; this compilation episode included footage from all thirteen episodes of the first season of "Confidential".
What does the new series look like on screen? Will it be made in widescreen? High-definition?
Like all current BBC drama series, the new series of Doctor Who has been shot in widescreen, and is being transmitted in 16:9 aspect ratio on the digital version of BBC One. The analogue service carries it in the compromise 14:9 aspect ratio, the modern analogue transmission standard for all BBC services. The series has been shot on standard-definition digital betacam format for 625-line PAL, lit, shot and 'filmised' in post production to give it a slick 'film look'. It is believed that an up-converted high definition version has been prepared for broadcast on the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation's HD channel, but this will not be 'true' high definition - as there is no real HD market in the UK, it is unlikely the series will be produced this way in the near future.
Is the series available on DVD? And in which regions? As a box set?
The first series was initially released on Region 2 format in the UK across four single-DVDs in May, June, August, and September 2005 in extras-less 'vanilla' format. A special boxed set containing all of the episodes and various special features and extra material was released in November in special 'TARDIS' packaging (which turned out to be rather flimsy). That boxed set was released in more standard DVD packaging in Canada on 14 February 2006, and that same edition (which is Region 1) will see U.S. release on 4 July 2006, shortly after the SciFi Channel has completed its run of the series. It is also available in Australia and New Zealand
"Vanilla" releases of the 2006 series will begin in the UK in early May, with the release of "The Christmas Invasion" and "New Earth." Further vanilla releases will follow in subsequent months, to a pattern similar to that used in 2005.
I'm not in the UK / I don't have digital television! Will Doctor Who Confidential be released on DVD?
Confidential Cut-Down was included on the first series DVD box set. These are reduced-length versions of the full episodes trimmed to remove classic series and classic song clips to avoid the thorny rights issues involved in republishing either. Each episode of "Doctor Who Confidential" (NOT the series itself!) was available to view, for free, on the BBC's official Doctor Who website following its BBC Three broadcast, and it is expected that will be true again with this year's series.
Does the new series use the original theme music?
A brand new version of the series theme music, still Ron Granier's original composition, has been prepared by the series' incidental music composer Murray Gold. Gold's arrangement uses some original elements from Delia Derbyshire's 1963 arrangement, most notably the famous melodic (''oooo-eeeeeee-ooooooo") section, and the "cliffhanger scream" from Derbyshire's later 1970s re-mix. For "The Christmas Invasion" the music for the closing credits was re-recorded by the Wales National Orchestra, under Gold's direction, this time also including the "B" section of the theme which was not heard in the 2005 series (nor most of the time during the 1970s episodes).
What is "Project Who"?
Project Who was a two-part radio documentary that aired on March 22 and 29 at 8:30pm on BBC Radio 2, narrated by Anthony Stewart Head ("Buffy the Vampire Slayer," also Grayvorn in the Big Finish Excelis Trilogy" "Doctor Who" audios). It went behind-the-scenes on the new series, and provided many exclusive interviews, clips, and insights. It was subsequently released on CD from the BBC Audio Collection.
What sound format does the new series use? Dolby Digital 5.1? Or just basic stereo?
The series is being mixed to Dolby Digital 5.1 for future DVD release, but the BBC1 and BBC3 broadcasts are only in stereo surround sound as the BBC can't transmit in Dolby Digital 5.1 yet.

The Doctor
Which Doctors are Christopher Eccleston and David Tennant supposed to be?
Russell T Davies referred to Christopher Eccleston as the Ninth Doctor, and obviously Tennant is therefore the Tenth Doctor. In his column in Doctor Who Magazine issue #344, Davies put to rest any confusion about who the previous eight are: they're the seven Doctors from the original TV series and the 1996 TV movie, William Hartnell, Patrick Troughton, Jon Pertwee, Tom Baker, Peter Davison, Colin Baker, Sylvester McCoy, and Paul McGann. "He's the same man who fought the Drahvins, The Macra, The Axons, The Wirrn, the Terileptils, the Borad, the Bannermen and the Master in San Francisco on New Year's Eve 1999," Davies wrote in DWM. Case closed.
"Other" Doctors, such as the Peter Cushing movie Doctor and the Big Finish audio Unbound Doctors, do not count. The curtailment of the BBCi Ninth Doctor, as played by Richard E Grant in the Scream of the Shalka animated webcast, would suggest that he too is considered to be unofficial (see below). This was also confirmed by Davies in Doctor Who Magazine.
So is the Doctor (both of him) like?
Davies offered this description of the Ninth Doctor, and so far it seems to apply equally well to the Tenth: "He is so marvellously human, a scientist, an artist, passionate, funny, emotional" Mark Gatiss said he is warm, exciting, radioactive, magnetic, and the kind of person you just want to be with, yet who is dangerous to know. According to the script notes "most of all, this is a man who enjoys himself." And yet as we saw in the 2005 series, the Ninth Doctor seemed to be carrying a heavy dose of "survivor's guilt" with him that stems from unseen events that took place between the end of the classic series and the start of the new one. What happened is slowly revealed through the course of the 2005 episodes. After his regeneration, the Tenth Doctor seems to have shed some of that baggage and come out a happier man, yet there are hints of a harder, more judgmental edge to him. "No second chances," he says at one point. "I'm that sort of a man." He also has a tendency to gabber on and on and to get easily distracted by trivia.
What about his costume?
Pictures are worth a thousand words... therefore, check out the following photos on the official Doctor Who website of the Ninth Doctor and Tenth Doctor.
What about his relationship with Rose, his companion?
Rose is much more the Doctor's equal in the new series than previous companions were. While she may not have the scientific knowledge or experience of the universe he possesses, she is in many ways more emotionally mature and connected to the world and to other people than he is. They experience the universe through each other's eyes and in so doing see it as if it were new, and that bonds them in a very special, loving way. It's not, however, a sexual relationship. As Rose puts it at one point, "He's not my boyfriend. He's much better than that." It's a tension that goes beyond that sort of love and onto another, almost spiritual, level.
I heard Paul McGann (the previous Doctor) was coming back as the Doctor. Is this true?
No, sorry. Paul McGann, who starred as the Eighth Doctor in the 1996 TV movie co-produced by the BBC and FOX Television, was not asked to play the role of the Doctor in this new series, though Davies and company have a great deal respect for the actor, who has returned to the role of the Doctor for Big Finish Productions' series of audio dramas.
Did Paul McGann be return for a regeneration scene?
No. Although Eccleston, and now Tennant, are playing the same Doctor character from all the previous television episodes, the assumption is that the "regeneration" from McGann's Eighth Doctor to Eccleston's Ninth happened off-screen during unseen adventures between the TV Movie and Rose, the first episode of the new series. And given the momentous other events that seemed to occur in that same span, it's tempting to assume the two were connected.
If Christopher Eccleston is the ninth Doctor, then which Doctor is Richard E. Grant ("Scream of the Shalka")? Wasn't he the ninth Doctor as well?
Officially Christopher Eccleston is the ninth Doctor as recognized by BBC television. Richard E. Grant's Doctor was, for a short time, the official ninth Doctor as was announced as such on BBCi and the book "Doctor Who- The Legend." Due to Scream of the Shalka being produced before the new series was announced, BBCi had no idea that Doctor Who would be returning to TV so they thought that regenerating the Doctor would be the most interesting thing to do instead of continuing the Paul McGann eighth Doctor. Theoretically, BBC Books, the Doctor Who Magazine comic strip and even Big Finish's audio series could have eventually used this new Doctor. BBC Books did release a Scream of the Shalka novelisation and Justin Richards proposed a quarterly ninth Doctor series featuring the Grant incarnation; those plans were later abandoned. Doctor Who Magazine and Big Finish being licensee's would have had to separately negotiate with Grant but it would be possible, if they wanted to, for them to also feature his Doctor in stories as well. The new series effectively made this ninth Doctor redundant. He is unlikely to ever appear again in any form except for a one-off BBCi e-book to wrap up the backstory of Shalka and is now referred to as the BBCi Doctor or the REG (Richard E. Grant) Doctor.

The Production
How many more series will there be?
The 2006 series will run from April to July on BBC1 for 13 weeks, 1 episode a week. There will also be another 2006 Christmas Special, and they have already committed to another 13-episode series for 2007. There is also a 13-episode spinoff series called Torchwood in production that should run in the fall of 2006. (See the Torchwood news in the news section for details of that series!)
What budget does the new series have?
This is unknown, as the BBC does not disclose exact budgets of ongoing productions. However, newspaper reports of £1 million per episode can probably be discounted. Experts on BBC television production such as members of the Doctor Who Restoration Team have cast doubt on the likelihood of such a high budget. Still, this is a lavish production, with much more money being spent on it than was ever spent on the original 1963-1989 series. The new series has been fully commissioned and produced by the BBC and was largely funded directly from the license fee. The 2005 series received some advance money from the CBC in Canada, and the closing credits of the North American broadcasts of those episodes list CBC as a co-producer. It appears that the production of new episodes is now being fully financed from the license fee, but the very healthy overseas sales are certainly not hurting the series' standing.
I've heard (insert any group here) is doing the theme tune. Is this true?
No. Murray Gold (incidental music composer) has rearranged Ron Grainer's famous composition, combining elements of Delia Derbyshire's original treatment with new elements of his own.
I've heard that J.K Rowling was asked to write for the series. Is this true?
J.K. Rowling ("Harry Potter") was indeed asked if she would like to contribute an episode to the new television series. Rowling was apparently 'amused' by the idea, but turned it down owing to commitments on the latest Potter novel she was writing at the time.
Can I submit a story idea or script to the new series?
The simple yet absolute answer is NO. You cannot submit stories, concepts or ideas to the new series. All of the pitching and development is being done with established writers on the invitation of the production team; that's just the way television works.
Since Michael Grade has become Chairman of the BBC, won't he try to axe Doctor Who again?
The Chairman of the BBC has no responsibility for decisions on programming, and even if Michael Grade -- the man responsible for axing the series publicly in 1985 for eighteen months -- were in a position to have a say, being a professional in television he would not cancel a programme intended as a flagship show for BBC1 that has already had considerable time and money invested in it, no matter his personal opinions of it. The new series has in fact apparently won him over, as he's made several public comments in praise of the new show, and has mentioned that his young son is a very big fan.

Content
Will the TARDIS still be a police box or are they changing it?
The TARDIS is still a police box, and there are no plans to change it.
Is this a continuation of the original series, or a completely new series?
That depends on your definition of "a new series". This is not a "reboot" or "reimagining" of Doctor Who in the sense of, say, the new Battlestar Galactica or the Tim Burton Planet of the Apes movie. This new Doctor Who is more like what the old one would have been like had it just kept running from 1990-2004. The Doctor is still a Time Lord, and all his history and continuity is intact. However, from a production standpoint this is a new series. Hardly anyone from the original series is involved in the new one. The show's format is very different: instead of a number of 25-minute episodes comprising a story, the episodes are 45 minutes long (except "The Christmas Invasion," which was 60), with 7 stand-alone stories and 3 2-part stories in the 2005 season. The 2006 season is using the same balance of episodes and stories, though in a different order.
What's happening with the Daleks? Are they be in the show?
YES!, we're happy to say! In a highly-publicized legal wrangle in late June 2005, it was made known that the BBC and Hancocks, the agency that represents the estate of the late Terry Nation, could not come to agreement, and therefore the Daleks would not appear... at least, not in the first series. That all changed on August 4, as it was announced that the BBC and the Terry Nation Estate had achieved an agreement that allows the Daleks to return to Doctor Who in the show. Tim Hancock of the Terry Nation estate told BBC News, "I am absolutely delighted that the Terry Nation estate and the BBC have been able to reach agreement on terms for the use of the Daleks in the new Doctor Who series. We look forward to working closely with the production team in the forthcoming months." The Nation estate, said BBC News, had accused the BBC of trying to "ruin the brand of the Daleks" by trying to wrestle control of the image. The Daleks first returned in the episode written by Rob Shearman entitled Dalek. We'd tell you about further appearances (if there are any), but that's too much a spoiler for a FAQ like this. If you're dying to know, you can always look in our "Episode Guide," for which there is a link to at the top of this page.
Do the Daleks say "Exterminate!"?
Yes. Though there were rumors printed to the contrary in the tabloids, producer Russell T Davies told the Manchester Evening News that this was bogus, and they would use their familiar catchphrase. It is true that writer Rob Shearman did try a draft of his script with them limited to saying it just once, but that was changed back in the next draft.
Do the Daleks fly?
Yes. Quite a lot in fact. Watch the episode(s?) and see for yourself!
I heard that the Autons / Cybermen / The Master will be appearing, is this true?
The Autons appeared in the first story in the 2005 season, and the Cybermen are making a much-publicized return in the 2006 season. The Master has not yet appeared nor is there any indication that he will do so. Some other, more friendly, classic series elements have returned however. There have been and will be more classic series characters and elements appearing, but again, see the spoiler sections for news on these.
What other aliens will be appearing?
Lots and lots of new aliens have been appearing. Tune in to see what they are!
Is the 2005 series the 27th series of Doctor Who, and is the 2006 series the 28th?
This very much depends on your point of view. Certainly, the 2005 series was the twenty-seventh continuous season of Doctor Who television episodes produced by the BBC (the original series produced up until its twenty-sixth season), and the production team have stated their intention to continue on from the original Doctor Who series and not produce a 'reboot' of the show. However, in his Doctor Who Magazine column Russell T Davies has confirmed that "the new series is not called Season Twenty-Seven on any official documents, it's Series One." This seems to be due to the facts that production of the series has shifted to BBC Wales and that for production purposes, this is an entirely new show. However, in the same column, Davies allows that future programme guides may well call this Season Twenty-Seven, to avoid confusion between Series One (1963) and Series One (2005). Davies has not dictated which term the fans of today should use. As there are strong cases for both perspectives, this very much depends on how you yourself view the new series.
Will there be multi-Doctor stories like The Three Doctors, The Five Doctors or The Two Doctors?
It is always a possibility that the new production team could do a multi-Doctor story and figure out a way to explain why Doctors four through seven are much older looking than they were when they played the Doctor on TV. The aborted 1993 story The Dark Dimension had created an alternate timeline to explain why the fourth Doctor was older while Doctors 3,5 and 6 would have been treated much like Pertwee in The Five Doctors where you just have to overlook the obvious age difference. Doctor seven would have been easy as he was still current and could be older. The same applies to McGann as Doctor 8. Nothing along these lines was done in the 2005 series, and there's no indication of anything like this happening in the 2006 one. There were some rumors of an appearance by the Fifth Doctor, Peter Davison, in "The Christmas Invasion," but this was due to Mr. Davison taking his kids along to see some of the filming of that episode and some photos of his visit getting out. He didn't act in it.

The World of Doctor Who
Why did Doctor Who get cancelled in the first place? What's happened with Doctor Who since then?
In the last scene of "Survival", broadcast on December 6th, 1989, the Doctor (Sylvester McCoy) and his companion Ace (Sophie Aldred) walked down the hill into new adventures. That was the last broadcast of the original Doctor Who series. In 1990, the BBC announced that they were putting Doctor Who on "hiatus" until a way to "bring the series into the '90s" was found. In reality, the Doctor Who production office was shut down, in part because producer Philip Segal (then at Columbia Pictures) had contacted the BBC enquiring about the rights to Doctor Who. At the time, the BBC was very interested in getting outside production companies to make its programs, and Doctor Who being produced in-house was becoming very much an anachronism. Also, the show's ratings had never really recovered after the BBC's first attempt to cancel it in 1985 (which was reversed after public outcry).
In 1991, Virgin Publishing began releasing original Doctor Who novels under the banner of Doctor Who: The New Adventures. These purported to tell stories "too big and too broad for the small screen". Originally continuing from where "Survival" left off with the Seventh Doctor and Ace, eventually the novel series introduced new companions Bernice Summerfield, Roz Forrester and Chris Cwej, as well as many other recurring characters. The New Adventures brought a more adult sensibility to Doctor Who, with deeper characterization and themes. In 1994, Virgin also began publishing novels about the First through Sixth Doctors, under the banner of Doctor Who: The Missing Adventures. You may see some fans referring to these novel lines as NAs and MAs.
Doctor Who returned to the television for the show's 30th anniversary in 1993... after a fashion. A short (13-minute), two-part story, "Dimensions in Time", was made for the British charity "Children in Need", and filmed in a new 3-D television process. In keeping with the anniversary theme, the story featured all the living Doctors and many companions. It was also a cross-over with popular BBC soap Eastenders. As you might guess, with all these elements included in so short a time, the story doesn't hold much water. Most fans regard "Dimensions in Time" as a bit of an embarassment.
Meanwhile, Philip Segal had continued to pursue his interest in making Doctor Who in North America. His original hope was to make a new version of Doctor Who for the American market, but he was unable to get this project off the ground. However, in 1995, he established a co-production deal between the BBC and Universal Pictures for a Doctor Who television movie, which was filmed and broadcast in 1996. In the United States, the TV movie was broadcast on the Fox network.
Filmed in Vancouver and starring Paul McGann, the TV Movie was a continuation of the original series (beginning with Sylvester McCoy's Doctor, who regenerated into McGann some 20 minutes into the film). There were, however, several changes from the series' continuity, most notably the revelation (or claim) that the Doctor is half-human. Also (at the insistence of Fox executives), the Doctor shared a few kisses and hints of romance with the companion character, Dr. Grace Holloway, something which the original series had deliberately shied away from.
Segal said at the time that this project was intended as a "back-door pilot", but it is unclear how realistic a prospect this actually was. At any rate, in the United States the TV movie (broadcast during the May "sweeps") faced strong competition from an episode of Roseanne in which her husband suffered a heart attack, as well as a popular Knicks/Bulls basketball playoff game. It was watched by only 5.5 million viewers (9% of the television audience for that night), which was far too few for Fox to be interested in a series or further films. In Britain, the TV movie was much more successful, with 9.08 million viewers (the 9th most watched show that week). But under the terms of the coproduction deal, without American interest no more Doctor Who could be made for television until Universal's rights expired.
In 1997, the BBC took back the rights to publish Doctor Who novels from Virgin and began releasing them under their own BBC Books imprint. Virgin concluded the adventures of the Seventh Doctor, and for a while continued the New Adventures line without the Doctor, focusing on his former companion, archaeologist Bernice Summerfield. BBC Books, meanwhile, began releasing novels featuring the new Eighth Doctor, as well as "Past Doctor" novels featuring the first seven Doctors. The Eighth Doctor Adventures soon carved their own path, introducing the voodoo terrorist time-cult known as Faction Paradox. The Faction Paradox storyline culminated in the Doctor destroying Gallifrey to prevent a horrific future war, an act so traumatic it caused him to lose his memory. He was stranded on Earth for a hundred years (and several novels), eventually regaining the use of the TARDIS, but not his memory. During his century-long exile on Earth, he even adopted a daughter, Miranda. The novels subsequently introduced a new antagonist, the mysterious Sabbath, whose path crossed the Doctor's several times before meeting his end in the novel Sometime Never.... The Eighth Doctor has also had several companions in the BBC novels, starting with schoolgirl Sam Jones, then joined by the affable Fitz Kreiner, the ironically named Compassion (who actually became a TARDIS herself!), the City executive Anji Kapoor, and finally the con-artist Beatrix "Trix" MacMillan. The Doctor was travelling with Fitz and Trix at the conclusion of this novel range, which wrapped up at the end of 2005.
However, the novels were not the only place to find new Doctor Who after the TV Movie failed to produce a series. Doctor Who Magazine continued its comic strip and produced some of the best Doctor Who comics ever. In those pages, the Doctor was joined by the nerdy-yet-cool Izzy Sinclair. Other companions came and went, including 1930s Secret Service agent Fey Truscott-Sade, and Kroton, the "Cyberman with a soul", but Izzy stayed with the Doctor until very recently. DWM plans to reprint these strips in the near future.
1999 saw two humorous versions of Doctor Who appear on British television. In March, "The Curse of Fatal Death" was written by Steven Moffat (writer of the sitcom "Coupling") and broadcast as part of the "Comic Relief" charity drive. Starring Rowan Atkinson as the Doctor, Julia Sawalha as his companion Emma, and Jonathan Pryce as the Master, the sketch was an affectionate parody of Doctor Who. In the final episode, the Doctor regenerated several times, being played in turn by Richard E. Grant, Jim Broadbent, Hugh Grant, and finally Joanna Lumley(!).
In November of 1999, BBC2 had a special "Doctor Who Night". As part of that evening's programming, there were several sketches written by and starring Mark Gatiss of "The League of Gentlemen" and David Walliams of "Little Britain" fame. One of those featured Gatiss as a distracted Doctor, confronted by two rather fey aliens. Another involved crazed fans plotting to kidnap Peter Davison.
Also in 1999, Big Finish Productions obtained the license to make new Doctor Who audio dramas. They began by releasing stories featuring the Fifth, Sixth, and Seventh Doctors (Tom Baker declined to participate). The original actors were joined by most of their companions from the television series. Many well-known British actors have also appeared in the audio series. The Sixth Doctor gained a new companion, 55-year-old history professor Evelyn Smythe. Later, the Fifth and Seventh Doctors also received new companions (Egyptian pharaoh-elect Erimem and 21st-century nurse Hex), in addition to their television companions. There have also been "side-step" adventures featuring Bernice Summerfield, the shape-shifter Frobisher (from Doctor Who Magazine's comic strip), and the fallen and dubious Time Lady Iris Wildthyme (from the BBC novels by Paul Magrs, and played for Big Finish by Katy Manning).
In 2001, Big Finish released their first audio featuring the Eighth Doctor (Paul McGann), and paired him with self-styled "Edwardian Adventuress" Charley Pollard (played by actress India Fisher), whom he rescued from the R101 airship disaster. There have now been four "seasons" of Eighth Doctor stories from Big Finish, and they've recently put the Eighth Doctor into the regular rotation of past Doctors rather than releasing his adventures in consecutive months. In the third and fourth seasons, the Doctor and Charley became stranded in a "divergent universe", where they were joined by the alien monk C'Rizz (Conrad Westmaas), but have recently returned with him into our own universe. Parts of the first two McGann seasons have seen broadcast on BBC7 digital radio, and further stories may follow later in 2006, though probably not until after the Tennant TV episodes have finished their run.
They have also released several limited series focusing on the Daleks, one about Sarah Jane Smith, two series of "Gallifrey" featuring Romana, Leela, and two K-9s, a "Cyberman" series, a "UNIT" series, and an Iris Wildthyme series. Future plans include more of "Gallifrey" and "I, Davros," a series concentrating on the creator of the Daleks' early life on Skaro. In 2003, Big Finish released a series called "Doctor Who Unbound", with alternate versions of the Doctor and his world, and starring Geoffrey Bayldon, David Warner, David Collings and Arabella Weir as the Doctor, as well as Michael Jayston returning to his role as the Valeyard (from the "Trial of a Time Lord" serial), and Sir Derek Jacobi as a writer who traces his failed life to an unproduced science-fiction series called "Doctor Who".
There have also been other spin-offs that were not licensed by the BBC. BBV Productions released audios and videos featuring the Autons, the Sontarans, and the Krynoids, as well as continuing the saga of Faction Paradox from the BBC Books. Both Faction Paradox and the Doctor's adopted daughter Miranda have received their own comic books, although both are plagued with delays in production.
In 2001, the BBC's website, BBCi, broadcast an original Doctor Who story as a "webcast" (at that point, an audio drama with pictures). This story, "Death Comes to Time", starred Sylvester McCoy and Sophie Aldred re-creating their roles as the Seventh Doctor and Ace, and also starred Stephen Fry, John Sessions, and Nicholas Courtney as the Brigadier. The epic story, created by audio producer Dan Freedman, envisions a very different view of the Time Lords than any other incarnation of Doctor Who, and actually ended with the apparent death of the Doctor. BBCi considered the webcast a success, but to follow it up, they went to Big Finish rather than to Freedman. Big Finish produced two webcasts for BBCi, one starring the Sixth Doctor and Evelyn, and a remake of Douglas Adams' unfinished Doctor Who story, "Shada", this time starring Paul McGann as the Eighth Doctor, with Lalla Ward as Romana and John Leeson as K-9. (Ward was the only cast member who appeared in both the original, unfinished television version and the webcast.) Finally, in 2003, just before BBC Television announced the return of Doctor Who to television, BBCi streamed a fully animated story, "The Scream of the Shalka", starring Richard E Grant as the Ninth Doctor. The story was written by Paul Cornell, who had also written several acclaimed Doctor Who novels for Virgin and BBC Books, as well as Big Finish audios. The announcement of the new series has made Grant's Doctor considered non-canonical, but at the time the webcast was recorded it was intended to be the official continuation of Doctor Who. BBCi didn't realize that another BBC department had other plans...
As you can see, while Doctor Who was off the television, it thrived in almost every other medium conceivable. And that's not to mention the stage plays, the computer game, the charity fiction anthologies, the pinball game, the opera... okay, just kidding about the opera. But now it's coming back to the television, where it all began.
Wow. That's a lot of Doctor Who. Am I going to need to know all those storylines in order to understand the new series?
Absolutely not. The new series is a fresh start, accessible to people who know nothing about any past Doctor Who, be it television or any other medium. In fact, Russell T Davies once used his regular DWM column to point out that they are forbidden to overtly bring in story elements from the spinoff media as anything they do at the parent BBC must be freely accessible to anyone who pays the license fee without having to pay extra for a book or audio story to be able to understand it. (though that doesn't stop them dropping the odd hint here or there as an in-joke)
What is Scream of the Shalka? Was that a preview of the new series?
Scream of the Shalka was an animated BBCi webcast that ran in late 2003. It starred Richard E. Grant as the Doctor. It was created by BBCi and consisted of 6 episodes of approximately 12-15 minutes in length. It was originated over a year before the new series was announced and has no connection to the new series. Further planned webcast starring Grant were planned but were shelved several months after the new series was announced.
I'm a follower of the BBC Books novels and/or Big Finish range of original audio plays featuring the Eighth Doctor. Will the ranges continue?
The BBC Books range of stories featuring the first through eighth Doctors has been ended. Six books featuring the Ninth Doctor and Rose were released in 2005, however, now the Doctor's regenerated, the follow-on books in 2006 will now feature the Tenth Doctor and Rose. Big Finish are continuing to release brand new audio plays featuring the fifth through eighth Doctors at the rate of one per month. Their license agreement with the BBC only permits them to make stories that take place before the Ninth Doctor, and so it is not possible for them to make Ninth or even Tenth Doctor audios at this time. Of course, if this agreement were to ever change, it would still be contingent on Christopher Eccleston's willingness to participate. David Tennant has already acted for them in a number of guest roles before he became the Tenth Doctor and presumably he'd be a cinch for them to sign if they were able to.
There has been talk of a Doctor Who film made by BBC Films. Is this still happening in light of the new series?
The official line from the BBC in 2003-04 was originally that a Doctor Who film was still planned, but stressed that it is "only in its very early stages". No production dates, target release dates, cast or crew were decided, and as nothing has continued to happen, it would seem unlikely that a film is being seriously considered at this time, if for no other reason than that the current stars are committed to making the TV series 9-10 months out of the year leaving them little time to make a movie.
Will Big Finish produce Ninth Doctor / Rose audios ?
Eventually, perhaps, but certainly not immediately. As Eccleston has already left the TV part behind, it would seem unlikely that he would want to perform the role on CDs for Big Finish for now. For another thing, the BBC currently have the "Doctor Who" license split in two parts, one for Doctors 1-8 (all using the "blue mirror" logo introduced in the 1996 TV Movie) and one for Doctors 9-10 (using the new orange "taxi" logo), and Big Finish's license is only for Doctors 1-8. Their license with the BBC would have to be renegotiated for them to be able to do Eccleston or Tennant audios.
Do people from the new series (crew, cast, etc.) read the Internet?
Ask yourself this question: Considering how widely available the Internet is in developed nations, and considering how many doctors, lawyers, mechanics, merchants and door-to-door salesmen have Internet access, it stands to reason that a group of individuals working on a television series probably does, too. And they're probably very curious to see what's out there. So next time you post something on an Internet forum, remember that the people who are making the show may see it... so be nice!