"
Planet of the Dead" is an episode of the
BritishThe United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland is a sovereign state located off the northwestern coast of continental Europe. It is an island country, spanning an archipelago including Great Britain, the northeastern part of Ireland, and many small islands...
science fictionScience fiction is a genre of fiction. It differs from fantasy in that, within the context of the story, its imaginary elements are largely possible within scientifically-established or scientifically-postulated laws of nature...
television series
Doctor WhoDoctor Who is a British science fiction television programme produced by the BBC. The programme depicts the adventures of a mysterious alien time-traveller known as "the Doctor" who travels in his space and time-ship, the TARDIS, which normally appears from the exterior to be a blue 1950s police box...
that was
simultaneously broadcastSimulcast is a portmanteau of "simultaneous broadcast", and refers to programs or events broadcast across more than one medium, or more than one service on the same medium, at the same time. For example, Absolute Radio is simulcast on both AM and on satellite radio, and the BBC's Prom concerts are...
on
BBC One
and
BBC HDBBC HD is a high-definition television channel provided by the BBC. The service was initially run as a trial from 15 May 2006 until becoming a full service on 1 December 2007...
on 11 April 2009. It is the first of four special episodes to be broadcast throughout 2009 and early 2010, which serve as lead actor
David TennantDavid Tennant is a Scottish actor. In addition to his work in the theatre, Tennant is best known for his roles in Doctor Who as the tenth incarnation of the Doctor, in Casanova as the title character, and as Barty Crouch, Jr...
's denouement as the
Tenth DoctorThe Tenth Doctor is the tenth incarnation of the fictional character known as the Doctor seen on screen in the long-running BBC television science-fiction series Doctor Who. He is played by David Tennant, who replaced Christopher Eccleston's Ninth Doctor in the 2005 series finale, "The Parting of...
. He is joined in the episode by actress
Michelle RyanMichelle Claire Ryan is an English actress.She was previously best known for portraying the role of Zoe Slater on the BBC soap opera EastEnders. She has also starred in the 2007 television series remake Bionic Woman...
, who plays
Lady Christina de SouzaLady Christina de Souza is a fictional character played by Michelle Ryan in the long-running British science fiction television series Doctor Who. She is a one-off companion of the Tenth Doctor appearing in the episode "Planet of the Dead"...
, a one-off
companionA companion refers to a character who travels with, and shares the adventures of the Doctor in the long-running BBC television science fiction programme Doctor Who and related works. The term is primarily used in Doctor Who fandom; the press and general public often refer to these characters as...
to the Doctor. The episode was co-written by Russell T Davies and
Gareth RobertsGareth John Pritchard Roberts is a British television screenwriter and novelist, best known for his work related to the science-fiction television series Doctor Who...
, the first writing partnership since the show's revival in 2005.
The episode depicts Christina fleeing the police from a museum robbery by boarding a bus that accidentally travels from
London[]London is the capital of England and the United Kingdom. It has been a major settlement for two millennia, and the history of London goes back to its founding by the Romans, when it was named Londinium. London's core, the ancient City of London, the 'square mile', retains its medieval boundaries...
to the desert planet of San Helios, trapping her, the Doctor, and several passengers on board the damaged vehicle. After the bus driver dies trying to return to Earth, the Unified Intelligence Taskforce, headed by Captain Erisa Magambo (
Noma DumezweniNoma Dumezweni is a Laurence Olivier Award-winning English actress based in London.-Personal life:Born in Swaziland, of South African parents, Dumenzweni came to England with her family as a child, first living in Suffolk, where she was educated, before moving to London.-Theatre:Dumezweni's work in...
) and scientific advisor Malcolm Taylor (
Lee EvansLee Evans is an English stand-up comedian, writer, actor and musician.-Personal life:Lee Evans was born in Avonmouth, Bristol, England, the son of Dave Evans, a nightclub performer. His secondary school was The Billericay School in Billericay, Essex...
), attempt to return the bus while preventing a race of metallic
stingrayThe stingrays are a family—Dasyatidae—of rays, cartilaginous fishes related to sharks. They are common in coastal tropical and subtropical marine waters throughout the world, but the family also includes species found in warmer temperate oceans such as Dasyatis thetidis, and species entirely...
aliens from posing a threat to Earth. At the end of the episode, one of the passengers delivers a warning to the Doctor which
foreshadowThis article is about the Polish record label "Foreshadow". For the literary device, see foreshadowing. For the fictional starship on the sci-fi television show LEXX, see Foreshadow ....
s the remaining three specials.
"Planet of the Dead" is the first
Doctor Who episode to be filmed in
high definitionHigh-definition television is a digital television broadcasting system with higher resolution than traditional television systems...
, after a positive reaction to the visual quality of spin-off series
TorchwoodTorchwood is a British science fiction television programme, created by Russell T Davies. It deals with the machinations and activities of the Cardiff branch of the fictional Torchwood Institute, who deal mainly with incidents involving extraterrestrials...
and the financial viability of HDTV convinced the production team to switch formats. To ensure that the desert scenes looked as realistic as possible, the production team filmed in
DubaiDubai is one of the seven emirates and the most populous state of the United Arab Emirates . It is located along the southern coast of the Persian Gulf on the Arabian Peninsula. The Dubai Municipality is sometimes called Dubai state to distinguish it from the emirate...
for three days, sending several props—most notably, a 1980 double-decker
Bristol VRThe Bristol VR was Bristol's rear-engined bus chassis, designed as a competitor to the Leyland Atlantean and Daimler Fleetline.-Development:...
bus—to the
United Arab EmiratesThe United Arab Emirates is a federation of seven emirates situated in the southeast of the Arabian Peninsula in Southwest Asia on the Persian Gulf, bordering Oman and Saudi Arabia. The UAE consists of seven states, termed emirates, which are Abu Dhabi, Dubai, Sharjah, Ajman, Umm al-Quwain, Ras...
for filming. After the bus was unintentionally damaged in Dubai by a shipping container, Davies rewrote the script to explain the damage in the narrative.
Reaction to the episode was mixed: the audience gave the episode an
Appreciation IndexAn Appreciation Index is a score between 0 and 100 which is used as an indicator of the public's approval for a particular television programme or broadcast service in the United Kingdom. Until 2002, the AI of a programme was calculated by BARB, the organisation that compiles television ratings...
of 88—considered excellent—but critics gave it average reviews. The consensus among critics was that it was enjoyable as a whole but that it was only an average script. The main point of praise was Evans' performance alongside Dumezweni in scenes set on Earth, which countered their criticism of the events on San Helios as being relatively boring.
Plot
The episode begins with a young thrill-seeking burglar, Lady Christina de Souza (Ryan), stealing a gold chalice once belonging to King
AthelstanAthelstan or Æthelstan , called the Glorious, was the King of England from 924/925 to 939. He was the son of King Edward the Elder, and nephew of Æthelflæd of Mercia...
from a museum. She then narrowly evades the police by riding on a
London busThe London Bus is one of London's principal icons, the archetypal red rear-entrance double-deck Routemaster being recognised worldwide. Although the Routemaster has now been largely phased out of service, with only two heritage routes still using the vehicles, the majority of buses in London are...
on which the Doctor (Tennant) is also travelling, shortly before the bus suddenly passes through a
wormholeIn physics, a wormhole is a hypothetical topological feature of spacetime that is fundamentally a 'shortcut' through space and time. Spacetime can be viewed as a 2D surface that, when 'folded' over, allows the formation of a wormhole bridge. A wormhole has at least two mouths that are connected...
and arrives on the desert planet of San Helios. The Doctor and the other passengers find that while the wormhole is still present, returning on foot is not possible, after the bus driver is killed trying to cross back, evaporating to a skeleton instantly; the passengers deduce that the bus had protected them like a
Faraday cageA Faraday cage or Faraday shield is an enclosure formed by conducting material, or by a mesh of such material. Such an enclosure blocks out external static electrical fields....
. Seeing the driver's skeleton coming out on the other side of the portal, the police call in
UNITUNIT is a fictional military organisation from the British science fiction television series Doctor Who. Operating under the auspices of the United Nations, its purpose is to investigate and combat paranormal and extraterrestrial threats to the Earth...
, commanded by Captain Erisa Magambo (Dumezweni) and aided by scientific adviser Malcolm Taylor (Evans), to close the wormhole.
Trapped on the heavily damaged bus, the other passengers introduce themselves: Angela (Victoria Alcock) is a middle-aged mother travelling home to her family; Lou (Reginald Tsiboe) and Carmen (
Ellen ThomasEllen Thomas has been the primary support person for the vigil in front of the White House against nuclear weapons for over a decade. She first became involved with the vigil on April 13, 1984. The daughter of a U.S. Marine, Ms. Thomas grew up in California and became opposed to nuclear weapons as...
) are an elderly couple who win £10 each time they play the
National LotteryThe National Lottery is the largest lottery in the United Kingdom. It is operated by Camelot Group, to whom the licence was granted in 1994, 2001 and again in 2007. The lottery is regulated by The National Lottery Commission. The National Lottery undertook a major rebranding programme in 2002...
due to Carmen's low-level psychic abilities; also Barclay (
Daniel KaluuyaDaniel Kaluuya is an English actor and writer, who is best known for playing Kenneth in the E4 teen-drama Skins...
), who was travelling to a friend's house to ask her on a date; and Nathan (
David AmesDavid Ames is a professor of ageing and health at the University of Melbourne in Australia, and the current director of the National Ageing Research Institute ....
), who was travelling home to watch television. The Doctor and Christina decide to scout the planet, spotting an approaching storm, while Nathan and Barclay try to fix the bus. As they travel, the Doctor learns of Christina's troubled history, and appreciates her callousness and aptitude in their alien situation. The Doctor and Christina encounter the Tritovores, an anthropomorphic fly species, who take them to their wrecked spaceship.
After clearing up a misunderstanding, the Tritovores explain that they were making a routine goods collection with San Helios before they crashed, revealing the planet to had housed a hundred billion inhabitants and a thriving ecosystem. The Tritovores send out a probe to investigate the cause, and discover a large swarm of metallic
stingrayThe stingrays are a family—Dasyatidae—of rays, cartilaginous fishes related to sharks. They are common in coastal tropical and subtropical marine waters throughout the world, but the family also includes species found in warmer temperate oceans such as Dasyatis thetidis, and species entirely...
-like aliens who routinely create wormholes and destroy ecospheres as their biological imperative. To rescue the Tritovores and the bus passengers, Christina uses her burglary skills to retrieve a crystal which powers the spaceship (together with the pedestal it is located on), unintentionally awakening the stingrays that were inactive within the ship, one of which devours the two Tritovores. The Doctor attaches parts of the pedestal to the bus and uses the chalice of Athelstan as an interface to the technology (much to Christina's fury). This allows the bus to fly through the wormhole, with the stingrays in hot pursuit. Taylor quickly closes the wormhole but not before three of the stingrays pass through it. After UNIT shoots down the stingrays and the passengers have been debriefed, Christina offers to the Doctor to let her travel with him, but he coldly rejects her because he has no wish to lose another companion.
The characters part ways again. The Doctor recommends that UNIT hire Barclay and Nathan, Christina is arrested by the police for the theft and Carmen has a premonition that visibly unnerves the Doctor:
As a final act of kindness, the Doctor uses his
sonic screwdriverThe sonic screwdriver is a fictional tool in the British science fiction television series Doctor Who. Its most common function is to operate virtually any lock, mechanical or electronic. It has also been used for repairing equipment, and as a weapon...
to release Christina from her handcuffs, allowing her to escape. The pair part on good terms as she flies away in the bus and the Doctor enters his
TARDISThe TARDIS is a time machine and spacecraft in the British science fiction television programme Doctor Who....
and dematerialises.
Writing and casting
Russell T Davies co-wrote the episode with
Gareth RobertsGareth John Pritchard Roberts is a British television screenwriter and novelist, best known for his work related to the science-fiction television series Doctor Who...
, the first writing partnership for the show since its 2005 revival. "Planet of the Dead" was a departure from Roberts' usual stories—Roberts had previously only written pseudo-historical stories—and instead consisted of "wild" science fiction elements from his literary career and teenage imagination. The episode had no clear concept—such as Shakespeare and witches in "
The Shakespeare Code"The Shakespeare Code" is an episode of the British science fiction television series Doctor Who. It was broadcast on BBC One on 7 April 2007, and is the second episode of Series 3 of the revived Doctor Who series. According to the BARB figures this episode was seen by 7.23 million viewers and was...
" or
Agatha ChristieDame Agatha Christie DBE , was an English crime writer of novels, short stories and plays. She also wrote romances under the name Mary Westmacott, but is best remembered for her 80 detective novels and her successful West End theatre plays...
and a murder mystery in "
The Unicorn and the Wasp"The Unicorn and the Wasp" is the seventh episode in the fourth series of the British science fiction television series Doctor Who, which was aired by BBC One on 17 May 2008 at 19:00. Perhaps due to its later broadcast, it received an overnight audience rating of 7.7 million, making it the most...
"—and instead was a deliberate "clash [of concepts] with many disparate elements". Roberts explained he was cautious to ensure that each element had to "feel precise and defined ... like we meant that", citing the serial
Arc of InfinityArc of Infinity is a serial in the British science fiction television series Doctor Who, which was first broadcast in four twice-weekly parts from January 3 to January 12, 1983...
as an example where such control was not enforced. The episode includes a common feature of Davies' writing in that there is no clear antagonist: the Tritovore are eventually sympathetic to the protagonists and the stingrays are only following their biological imperative.
Unlike the Christmas specials, the theme of Easter was not emphasised in the story; the episode only contained a "fleeting mention" of the holiday instead of "robot bunnies carrying baskets full of deadly egg bombs". The episode's tone word—"joyous"—was influenced by Davies' realisation that "every story since '
The Fires of Pompeii"The Fires of Pompeii" is the second episode of the fourth series of the British science fiction television series Doctor Who. It was broadcast on BBC One on 12 April 2008....
' [had] a bittersweet quality" and his subsequent desire to avoid the recurring theme. The starting point for the story was Roberts' first novel
The Highest ScienceThe Highest Science is an original novel written by Gareth Roberts and based on the long-running British science fiction television series Doctor Who. It features the Seventh Doctor and Bernice and the first appearance of the recurring monsters, the Chelonians...
. Davies liked the image of a
London UndergroundThe London Underground, Underground or Tube is a rapid transit system serving a large part of Greater London and neighbouring areas of Essex, Hertfordshire and Buckinghamshire in the UK. The first section opened in 1863, and was the first underground railway system in the world, and, starting in...
trainThe history of London Underground's rolling stock is as complex as the history of the network itself. A wide variety of types have been operated, from the early days of steam locomotives and carriages through to today's electric multiple units...
on a desert planet and rewrote the train as a bus. Davies nevertheless emphasised it was not an "adaptation as such" because tangential elements were constantly being conceived and added.
Michelle RyanMichelle Claire Ryan is an English actress.She was previously best known for portraying the role of Zoe Slater on the BBC soap opera EastEnders. She has also starred in the 2007 television series remake Bionic Woman...
portrays Lady Christina de Souza, an adrenaline junkie and thief. Christina is a "typical"
Doctor Who companion, Davies electing to draw parallels from the
Time LadyTime lady may refer to:*Female Time Lord in the U.K. television series Doctor Who*Female voice heard on speaking clock...
RomanaRomana, short for Romanadvoratrelundar, is a fictional character in the long-running British science fiction television series Doctor Who...
rather than new series companion
Rose TylerRose Marion Tyler is a fictional character portrayed by Billie Piper in the long-running British science fiction television series Doctor Who, and was created by series producer Russell T Davies...
. Roberts described her as an "adventuress" who is "upper class and glam, suited and booted, and extremely intelligent" which the Doctor could relate to because they both rejected their heritages. The episode's director James Strong described the character as reverting to a traditional romantic-based companionship—rather than the platonic companionship of
Donna NobleDonna Noble is a fictional character played by Catherine Tate in the long-running British science fiction television series Doctor Who. A secretary from Chiswick, London, she is a companion of the Tenth Doctor, appearing in one scene at the end of the final episode of the 2006 series, "Doomsday" ,...
(
Catherine TateCatherine Tate, born 12 May 1968 as Catherine Ford, is an English actress, writer and comedienne. She has won numerous awards for her work on the sketch comedy series The Catherine Tate Show as well as being nominated for an International Emmy Award and four BAFTA Awards...
) in the
fourth seriesThe fourth series of British science fiction television series Doctor Who began on 25 December 2007 with the Christmas special "Voyage of the Damned". Following the special, a regular series of thirteen episodes aired, starting with "Partners in Crime" on 5 April 2008 and ending with "Journey's End"...
—while still being a unique companion:
Comedian
Lee EvansLee Evans is an English stand-up comedian, writer, actor and musician.-Personal life:Lee Evans was born in Avonmouth, Bristol, England, the son of Dave Evans, a nightclub performer. His secondary school was The Billericay School in Billericay, Essex...
plays Professor Malcolm Taylor, a UNIT scientist devoted to his predecessor, the Doctor. Davies created Evans' character to serve as a
foilA foil is a person that contrasts with another character in order to highlight various features of the main character's personality: to throw the character of the protagonist into sharper relief...
for
Noma DumezweniNoma Dumezweni is a Laurence Olivier Award-winning English actress based in London.-Personal life:Born in Swaziland, of South African parents, Dumenzweni came to England with her family as a child, first living in Suffolk, where she was educated, before moving to London.-Theatre:Dumezweni's work in...
's pragmatic character Captain Erisa Magambo, who previously appeared in the episode "
Turn Left"Turn Left" is the eleventh episode of the fourth series of British science fiction television series Doctor Who. It was written by showrunner Russell T Davies and broadcast on BBC One on 21 June 2008....
". Roberts noted after writing the episode that Evans' character had unintentionally become a "loving" caricature of
Doctor Who fandom.
The episode was influenced by several works: Davies described "Planet of the Dead" as "a great big adventure, a little bit
Indiana JonesDr. Henry Walton "Indiana" Jones, Jr. is a fictional adventurer, OSS agent, professor of archaeology, and the protagonist of the Indiana Jones franchise. George Lucas created the character in homage to the action heroes of 1930s film serials...
, a little bit
Flight of the PhoenixThe Flight of the Phoenix is a 1964 novel by Elleston Trevor. The plot involves the crash of a transport aircraft in the middle of a desert and the survivors' desperate attempt to save themselves...
, a little bit
Pitch Black."; the relationship between the Doctor and Christina was influenced by 1960s films such as
CharadeCharade is a film directed by Stanley Donen, written by Peter Stone and Marc Behm, and starring Cary Grant and Audrey Hepburn. It also features Walter Matthau, James Coburn, George Kennedy, Dominique Minot, Ned Glass, and Jacques Marin...
and
TopkapiTopkapi is a heist film made by Filmways Pictures and distributed by United Artists. It was produced and directed by an American film director, Jules Dassin. The film is based on Eric Ambler's novel The Light of Day , adapted as a screenplay by Monja Danischewsky...
, which included
Cary GrantArchibald Alexander Leach , better known by his stage name Cary Grant, was a British-American actor...
and
Audrey HepburnAudrey Hepburn was a British actress and humanitarian.Born in Ixelles as Audrey Kathleen Ruston, Hepburn spent her childhood chiefly in the Netherlands, including German-occupied Arnhem, Netherlands, during the Second World War...
"being witty and sophisticated together, and then running for their lives"; and the Tritovore were influenced by 1950s and 1970s science fiction B-movies such as
The FlyThe Fly is an American science-fiction/horror film, directed by Kurt Neumann. The screenplay was written by James Clavell , from the short story "The Fly" by George Langelaan. It was followed by two sequels, Return of the Fly and Curse of the Fly.It was remade under the same title in 1986, and...
and Davies' habit of including aliens that were recognisable to the audience as animals from Earth, such as the
JudoonThe Judoon are a fictional extraterrestrial species of mercenary police from the British science fiction television series Doctor Who and its spin-offs. First appearing in the episode "Smith and Jones" , they are basically humanoid in form, have heads that look like that of a rhinoceros, and wear...
. Carmen's warning evoked memories of the
OodThe Ood are a fictional humanoid species from the long running science fiction series Doctor Who with coleoid tentacles on the lower portions of their faces. In the series' narrative, they live in the distant future , where the Ood are a slave race to humanity, performing menial tasks, and it is...
's warning to the Doctor and Donna in the fourth series episode "
Planet of the Ood"Planet of the Ood" is the third episode of the fourth series of British science fiction television series Doctor Who. It was broadcast on BBC One on 19 April 2008. It features the return of the Ood, who appeared in the second series episodes "The Impossible Planet" and "The Satan Pit".The episode...
". Tennant explained the prophecy meant that the Doctor's "card [had become] marked" and the three specials would thus be darker—characterising "Planet of the Dead" as the "last time the Doctor gets to have any fun"—and that the subject of the prophecy was not the obvious answer:
Filming
Pre-production on the four specials started on 20 November 2008—four days before scheduled—because the episode's overseas filming in Dubai required the extra planning time. Two weeks later, the production team was on a
recceRecce is a military term that has been borrowed by media production in the United Kingdom, derived from "reconnoiter"...
for the special and the final draft of the script was completed. The production team examined overseas locations to film the episode because they wanted the scenery to feel "real" and thought that they would be unable to film on a Welsh beach in winter. After examining countries such as
MoroccoMorocco, officially the Kingdom of Morocco, is a country located in North Africa with a population of nearly 32 million and an area just under . Its capital is Rabat, and its largest city is Casablanca. Morocco has a coast on the Atlantic Ocean that reaches past the Strait of Gibraltar into the...
and
TunisiaTunisia , officially the Tunisian Republic , is a country located in North Africa. It is bordered by Algeria to the west and Libya to the southeast. Tunisia is located southwest of the island of Sicily and south of Sardinia. Its size is almost 165,000 km² with an estimated population of just...
, the production team decided to film in Dubai because the area was more amicable to the filming industry and viable filming locations were nearer to urban areas than other locations.
Production began on 19 January in Wales. The special was the first
Doctor Who episode to be filmed in high-definition television resolution. The move to HD had previously been resisted for two major reasons: when the show was revived in 2005, high-definition television had not been adopted by an adequate portion of the audience to be financially viable; and special effects were considerably more expensive to create in high-definition than in standard-definition. "Planet of the Dead" was used as a switch to HD because of the show's reduced schedule in 2009 and because the filming crew had become experienced with the equipment while they were filming
TorchwoodTorchwood is a British science fiction television programme, created by Russell T Davies. It deals with the machinations and activities of the Cardiff branch of the fictional Torchwood Institute, who deal mainly with incidents involving extraterrestrials...
.
Filming began at the
National Museum CardiffNational Museum Cardiff is a museum and art gallery in Cardiff, Wales. It is part of the Edwardian civic complex of Cathays Park, which includes the City Hall, Law Courts, Cardiff University and Cathays Park Building, which is a Welsh Assembly building and the former Welsh Office building.The...
,
[National Museum Cardiff (International Gallery): ] which doubled for the history museum depicted in the episode's first scene. To portray the tunnel the bus travelled into, the Queen's Gate Tunnel of the
A4232 roadThe A4232, which is known either as the Peripheral Distributor Road or the Cardiff Link Road , is a distributor road in Cardiff, the capital of Wales....
in
ButetownButetown is a community in the south of the city of Cardiff, the capital of Wales. It was originally a model housing estate built in the early nineteenth century by John Crichton-Stuart, 2nd Marquess of Bute, for whose title the area was named...
[Queen's Gate Tunnel (Gladwall Tunnel): ] was closed for four nights to accommodate filming. The last major piece of filming in Wales took place in the closed Mir (formerly Alphasteel) steelworks in
NewportNewport is a city and unitary authority area in Wales. Standing on the banks of the River Usk, it is located about east of Cardiff, and is the largest urban area within the historic county boundaries of Monmouthshire and the preserved county of Gwent...
,
[Mir Steelworks (Tritovore Spaceship): ] which doubled almost unaltered for the Tritovore spaceship. Filming took place at the peak of the
February 2009 Great Britain snowfallThe snowfall across Great Britain and Ireland in February 2009 was a prolonged period of snowfall that began on 1 February 2009. Some areas experienced their largest snowfall levels in 18 years. Snow fell over much of Western Europe. The United Kingdom's Met Office and Ireland's Met Éireann issued...
, where the sub-zero temperatures slowed filming and had a visible effect on the cast. To accommodate for the adverse conditions, Davies included a line in the script that specified that the Tritovore spaceship cooled as external temperatures increase.
Filming in Dubai
[Dubai Desert (The Planet of the Dead): ] took place in mid-February 2009. Two weeks previously, one of the two 1980
Bristol VRThe Bristol VR was Bristol's rear-engined bus chassis, designed as a competitor to the Leyland Atlantean and Daimler Fleetline.-Development:...
double-decker buses bought for filming had been substantially damaged when a crane accidentally dropped a container in Dubai City Port. After an emergency discussion by the production team, they agreed that the damage was unintentionally artistic and decided to include the damaged bus in the episode; instead of shipping the spare bus from Cardiff—which would have delayed the already hurried filming schedule—the production team decided to partially reconstruct the bus in Dubai, damage the spare bus in Cardiff to match the bus in Dubai, and rewrite part of the script to accommodate and mention the damage to the bus. James Strong recalled the reaction of the production team to the damage to the bus in an issue of
Doctor Who MagazineDoctor Who Magazine is a magazine devoted to the long-running British science fiction television series Doctor Who. Its current editor is Tom Spilsbury.-History:...
:
The damaged bus was not the only problem to filming in Dubai: the first of the three days was afflicted by a
sandstormSandstorm can refer to:* Dust storm, a storm caused by strong winds and blowing sand or dust* "Sandstorm ", an electronica song by Darude* "Sandstorm", a song by Level 42 on the album Strategy* Sandstorm: The Jim Boz Dance Company...
which left most of the footage shot unusable. The production team then struggled to complete three days of filming in two days; the last day was compared to "filming
Lawrence of ArabiaLawrence of Arabia is a 1962 British epic film based on the life of T. E. Lawrence. It was directed by David Lean and produced by Austrian Sam Spiegel , from a script by Robert Bolt and Michael Wilson...
". To complete the episode's filming, interior scenes in the bus were filmed in a studio in Wales. To disguise the fact they were using a
transliteA duratrans is an element used in some television news sets and theater designs. Duratrans are most often used to create the backgrounds that appear behind news presenters or anchors. If it is used in a theatre the backgrounds would appear behind the actors, actresses, and other talent respectively...
, a 360-degree background image, Strong utilised often-avoided techniques such as muddied windows and lens flares; the latter also served to create a warmer environment for the viewer. After filming ended, editing and post-processing took place until two days before transmission, leaving the BBC to resort to using an unfinished copy to market the episode.
200th story
"Planet of the Dead" was advertised as
Doctor Whos 200th story. Writer Russell T Davies admitted that the designation was arbitrary and debatable, based upon how fans counted the unfinished serial ShadaShada is an unaired serial of the British science fiction television series Doctor Who. It was intended to be the final serial of the 1979-80 season , but was never completed due to a strike at the BBC during filming...
, the season-long fourteen-part serial The Trial of a Time LordThe Trial of a Time Lord is a fourteen-part British science fiction serial of the long running BBC series Doctor Who. The serial, produced as the twenty-third season of the Doctor Who television series, aired in weekly episodes from 6 September to 6 December 1986...
, and the third series finale consisting of "Utopia"Utopia" is an episode of the British science fiction television series Doctor Who. It was broadcast on BBC One on 16 June 2007 and is the eleventh episode of series three of the revived Doctor Who series...
", "The Sound of Drums"The Sound of Drums" is an episode of the British science fiction television series Doctor Who. It was broadcast on BBC One on 23 June 2007, and is the twelfth episode of Series 3 of the revived Doctor Who series...
" and "Last of the Time Lords"Last of the Time Lords" is an episode of the British science fiction television series Doctor Who. It was broadcast on BBC One on 30 June 2007, and is the thirteenth and final episode of Series 3 of the revived Doctor Who series. It is the last of three episodes that form a linked narrative,...
". Davies personally disagreed about counting The Trial of a Time Lord
as one serial—arguing that it "felt like four stories" to him—and grouping "Utopia" with its following episodes, but agreed that it was only an opinion which did not override any others. Gareth Roberts inserted a reference to the landmark—specifically, the bus number is 200—and Davies emailed the show's publicity team to advertise the special as such. Doctor Who MagazineDoctor Who Magazine is a magazine devoted to the long-running British science fiction television series Doctor Who. Its current editor is Tom Spilsbury.-History:...
s editor
Tom SpilsburyTom Spilsbury, born in Swindon, England, in 1976, is a British writer, magazine editor and journalist. He is the editor of Doctor Who Magazine, having taken over from previous editor Clayton Hickman in August 2007. He first joined the magazine in 2003 as deputy editor.Prior to this, Spilsbury was...
acknowledged the controversy in the magazine's 407th issue, which ran a reader survey of all 200 stories.
Broadcast and reception
Overnight figures estimated that the special was watched by 8.41 million people, a 39.6% share of the audience. An additional 184,000 watched the programme on BBC HD, the channel's highest rating so far. The initial showing had an
Appreciation IndexAn Appreciation Index is a score between 0 and 100 which is used as an indicator of the public's approval for a particular television programme or broadcast service in the United Kingdom. Until 2002, the AI of a programme was calculated by BARB, the organisation that compiles television ratings...
of 88: considered excellent. A BBC One repeat, two days later, gained an overnight figure of 1.8 million viewers. The special was therefore the second most watched programme of the day, beaten only by the premiere of the new series of
Britain's Got TalentBritain's Got Talent is a British television show on ITV and part of the Got Talent series. Presented by British celebrity presenters Ant & Dec, singers, dancers, comedians, variety acts, and other performers compete against each other for audience support...
. The final viewing figure for the initial broadcast was 9.54 million viewers on BBC One and 200,000 viewers on BBC HD, making it the fifth most watched programme of the week and the most watched programme ever aired on BBC HD. Including repeats in the following week and viewings on the
BBC iPlayerBBC iPlayer is a service available via website, P2P, cable television, and several mobile devices developed by the BBC to extend its existing RealPlayer-based "Radio Player" and other streamed video clip content...
, 13.89 million viewers watched the episode in total.
The episode received average critical reviews. Simon Brew of science fiction blog Den of Geek said the episode was "by turns ambitious and predictable" but "still quite entertaining". The first part of the review mentioned an objection from his wife that the bus trapped in the sand "[looked] really fake", despite the episode being actually filmed in Dubai, and then mentioned Brew's appreciation of the concept of people stranded in the desert and concluded that "made a fair fist of it". Brew positively reviewed Michelle Ryan's performance—comparing her performance to be on par to her role in
Bionic WomanBionic Woman is an American science fiction television drama created by David Eick, under NBC Universal Television Group, GEP Productions and David Eick Productions that aired in 2007...
rather than her role as Zoe SlaterZoe Slater is a fictional character from the popular BBC soap opera EastEnders, played by Michelle Ryan.-Storylines:Zoe arrives in Walford with her family, presumed father Charlie , sisters Kat , Lynne and Little Mo , and grandmother Mo , in September 2000...
in EastendersEastEnders is a long-running, popular and award-winning television soap opera, first broadcast in the United Kingdom on BBC One on 19 February 1985...
—and Lee Evans' performance as Malcolm Taylor, calling him the highlight of the episode because of his dialogue. He closed his review by saying that "'Planet of the Dead' was passable enough": he thought it "never really gelled" for him; but he thought it was overall entertaining and was excited for the remaining three specials as a result of Carmen's prophecy.
Charlie Jane Anders of
io9io9 is a science fiction blog launched in 2008 by Gawker Media. It is edited by Annalee Newitz, a former policy analyst for the Electronic Frontier Foundation and contributor to Popular Science, Wired, New Scientist. Other contributors include Geoff Manaugh , Graeme McMillan , Charlie Jane Anders,...
"mostly loved 'Planet Of The Dead'", commenting that it was a standard Russell T Davies script that had the "elements of a cracking good story":
She compared it to two previous episodes, "
The Impossible Planet"The Impossible Planet" is an episode in the British science fiction television series Doctor Who. It is the first part of a two-part story, followed by "The Satan Pit"...
" and "
Midnight"Midnight" is the tenth episode of the fourth series of British science fiction television series Doctor Who. It was first broadcast on BBC One on 14 June 2008...
", both of which she enjoyed. She criticised three aspects of the episode: Lady Christina, who was the "first RTD heroine who actually filled [her] with revulsion", leaving her hoping that the character would be killed off-screen, Malcolm's reluctance to close the wormhole and the implausibility of only three stingrays travelling through it. She thought that the episode was "a pretty solid adventure with a cool set of monsters".
Ben Rawson-Jones of entertainment website
Digital SpyDigital Spy is a British entertainment and media website, noted for its forums. According to comScore figures, it is the fourth largest British entertainment website with 2.1 million unique users on its news site...
gave the episode two stars out of five. He characterised the episode as being "as hollow as a big chocolate Easter egg" because it was "lacking in the enthralling drama and compelling characterisation that has been the lynchpin of the Russell T Davies era". His main criticism was towards Ryan's character, describing the romantic tension between Christina and the Doctor as "feeling forced" and arguing that Ryan was "utterly unconvincing" as Christina. Conversely, he was appreciative of Strong's direction and the UNIT subplot. Specifically, he approved of Evans' performance, noting that "the fact that Malcolm names a unit of measurement after himself is both inspired and hilarious". His review ended by describing the episode as "lifeless for much of the hour" and expressing his hope that the ambiguous entity from Carmen's premonition would "hurry up".
Orlando Parfitt of
IGNIGN is a multimedia news and reviews website that focuses heavily on video games...
gave the episode a 7.1 (Good) rating out of ten. Parfitt called it a "straightforward story" that did not elevate to the level of excitement typically seen in Doctor Who until the episode's climax, instead describing the majority of the story as being "taken up with Tennant and Ryan standing in the desert, swapping flirtatious banter in between proclaiming how dire their situation in between", and criticised the writing of the part of the episode where the bus was on San Helios, claiming that plot devices such as the Tritovore or Taylor being held at gunpoint and ordered to close the wormhole as "feel[ing] forced and unnaturally shoe-horned into the script". His praise of the episode went to Ryan and Evans: although he thought of Christina as a "shameless
Lara CroftLara Croft is a fictional character and the protagonist of Eidos Interactive's Tomb Raider video game series. Created by Toby Gard, the character has also appeared in comic books, novels and a series of animated short films, and has been played by Angelina Jolie in two feature films...
ripoff", he said that the character "still proves a sexy and wise-cracking counterpart to the Doctor"; and Evans' acting alongside Dumezweni highlighted his "undeniably great comic acting" as opposed to his "love-it-or-hate-it"
stand-up comedyStand-up comedy is a style of comedy where a comedian performs for a live audience, usually speaking directly to them. It is usually performed by a single comedian with the aid of a microphone, either hand-held or mounted on a stand...
. The last paragraph of his review focused on the climax, which he thought was "a cracker [that] just-about makes up for the previously plodding plot", and described the entire episode as having "enough enjoyable moments" to entertain fans before the transmission of "The Waters of Mars".
International broadcast
The special aired in Canada in July on Space, and in the US on
BBC AmericaBBC America is an American television network, owned and operated by BBC Worldwide Americas, and available on both cable and satellite.-History:...
on 26 July 2009.
External links