The Waters of Mars
Encyclopedia
"The Waters of Mars" is the second 2009 special of British
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...

 science fiction
Science fiction
Science fiction is a genre of fiction dealing with imaginary but more or less plausible content such as future settings, futuristic science and technology, space travel, aliens, and paranormal abilities...

 television series Doctor Who
Doctor Who
Doctor Who is a British science fiction television programme produced by the BBC. The programme depicts the adventures of a time-travelling humanoid alien known as the Doctor who explores the universe in a sentient time machine called the TARDIS that flies through time and space, whose exterior...

, broadcast on BBC One
BBC One
BBC One is the flagship television channel of the British Broadcasting Corporation in the United Kingdom. It was launched on 2 November 1936 as the BBC Television Service, and was the world's first regular television service with a high level of image resolution...

 on 15 November 2009. It aired on BBC America
BBC America
BBC America is an American television network, owned and operated by BBC Worldwide, and available on both cable and satellite.-History:The channel launched on March 29, 1998, broadcasting comedy, drama and lifestyle programs from BBC Television and other British television broadcasters like ITV and...

 on 19 December 2009 and was released on DVD
DVD
A DVD is an optical disc storage media format, invented and developed by Philips, Sony, Toshiba, and Panasonic in 1995. DVDs offer higher storage capacity than Compact Discs while having the same dimensions....

 and Blu-ray
Blu-ray Disc
Blu-ray Disc is an optical disc storage medium designed to supersede the DVD format. The plastic disc is 120 mm in diameter and 1.2 mm thick, the same size as DVDs and CDs. Blu-ray Discs contain 25 GB per layer, with dual layer discs being the norm for feature-length video discs...

 in the UK on 11 January 2010 and in the US on 2 February 2010. The story is set on Mars
Mars (Doctor Who)
Mars, the fourth planet in our solar system, has been featured in the Doctor Who fictional universe on a number of occasions. In the various Doctor Who serials which feature the Ice Warriors, mention is made that Mars is their homeworld....

 in the year 2059 where the Doctor encounters the first human colony, Bowie Base One. This is commanded by Captain Adelaide Brooke who turns out to be a pivotal character in the history of humanity. The Doctor must decide whether to use his knowledge of her fate to change history. According to Doctor Who writer and producer Russell T Davies, the special is closely linked to the next two episodes but is not the first part of a three-part story. The special was dedicated to Barry Letts
Barry Letts
Barry Leopold Letts was a British actor, television director, writer and producer best known for his work on the BBC science fiction television series Doctor Who, and for producing the BBC's Sunday Classic drama serials in the late 1970s and early 1980s...

, the former writer and producer of Doctor Who who died in October 2009. The episode won the 2010 Hugo Award for Best Dramatic Presentation, Short Form.

Plot

The Doctor
Doctor (Doctor Who)
The Doctor is the central character in the long-running BBC television science-fiction series Doctor Who, and has also featured in two cinema feature films, a vast range of spin-off novels, audio dramas and comic strips connected to the series....

 lands his TARDIS
TARDIS
The TARDISGenerally, TARDIS is written in all upper case letters—this convention was popularised by the Target novelisations of the 1970s...

 on Mars in 2059; while wandering the landscape, he comes across "Bowie Base One", humans' first colony on the planet. He is detained by its crew, led by Captain Adelaide Brooke. The Doctor learns the current date, and recalls that on this date, the base was destroyed by a nuclear blast with no survivors; the event would cause humanity, including Adelaide's descendants, to further explore the universe and meet interstellar lifeforms, and thus is considered an event "fixed in time". He reluctantly becomes involved in the base's problems when Adelaide cannot communicate with crew members in the remote bio-dome.

In the bio-dome, they find the two crew members: they have become infected by a water-borne virus that causes their bodies to generate copious amounts of water. The virus is intelligent; it attempts to infect the others through the already-affected crew. One of the infected people is put into quarantine; Adelaide and the Doctor return to central control and the base is sealed. Studying the infected crewmember, the Doctor and Adelaide learn that the virus desires to go to the water-rich Earth, an event they cannot allow to happen. While inspecting the glacier that is the source of the base's water, the Doctor surmises that the virus was placed there eons ago by the Ice Warrior
Ice Warrior
The Ice Warriors are a fictional extraterrestrial race of reptilian-like humanoids in the long-running British science fiction television series Doctor Who. The race originated on Mars, and first appeared in the 1967 serial The Ice Warriors where they encountered the Second Doctor and his...

s. Adelaide discovers that one of the filters was not properly fitted, which allowed the virus to enter the bio-dome's water supply. Adelaide realizes that the rest of crew has yet to be exposed to the tainted water, and orders them to prepare to return to Earth via rocket. The Doctor dons his spacesuit and leaves for the TARDIS, but Adelaide stops him and demands he reveal what he knows; the Doctor sadly explains the fate of the base and its crew.

As the Doctor walks back towards the TARDIS, he hears over his headset the infected beings breach central control; others, including their pilot Ed, become infected. Ed destroys the rocket to strand the virus on Mars. As Adelaide and her last two remaining crew, Yuri and Mia, become trapped by the water, the Doctor returns to the base, delays the advance of the infected crew, and, as Adelaide initiates the base's auto-destruct sequence, uses the exploration robot GADGET to bring the TARDIS to the base in time to evacuate it before self-destruct.

The TARDIS materialises on Earth outside Adelaide's home. Yuri tends to an emotionally distraught Mia while Adelaide asks the Doctor why he saved them. He explains that before, such actions were prohibited by the Time Lords, but now as the last Time Lord, he can use his power to ensure the survival of pivotal figures such as Adelaide in addition to the "little people" he has rescued previously. Adelaide angrily asks, "Little people? What, like Mia and Yuri? Who decides they’re so unimportant – you?" The Doctor takes a harsher tone as he references the Time War: "For a long time now, I thought I was just a survivor, but I'm not; I'm the winner...the Time Lord Victorious." Visibly alarmed, Adelaide responds, "the Time Lord Victorious is wrong"; she leaves the Doctor and enters her home, where she kills herself just after closing the door behind her.

The Doctor recoils in shock as he realizes that Adelaide has ensured that history be unchanged, save for Yuri and Mia as witnesses to the fate of Bowie Base One. The Doctor is overcome with emotion as Adelaide's words echo in his mind. Ood Sigma
Ood
The Ood are a fictional alien species with telepathic abilities from the long running science fiction series Doctor Who. In the series' narrative, they live in the distant future ....

 appears in the street. Visibly shaken, the Doctor sees this as a message and says, "I've gone too far." He then asks whether it is time for him to die. Unresponsive, Sigma vanishes, and the Doctor staggers back into the TARDIS to the ominous sound of the Cloister Bell. With a defiant "No!" he begins to operate the controls.

Continuity

The Ice Warrior
Ice Warrior
The Ice Warriors are a fictional extraterrestrial race of reptilian-like humanoids in the long-running British science fiction television series Doctor Who. The race originated on Mars, and first appeared in the 1967 serial The Ice Warriors where they encountered the Second Doctor and his...

s are classic series aliens that originated on Mars long before the events depicted here. In the series' original run, they appeared in The Ice Warriors
The Ice Warriors
The Ice Warriors is a serial in the British science fiction television series Doctor Who, which was first broadcast in six weekly parts from November 11 to December 16, 1967...

, The Seeds of Death
The Seeds of Death
The Seeds of Death is a serial in the British science fiction television series Doctor Who, which originally aired in six weekly parts from 25 January to 1 March 1969...

, The Curse of Peladon
The Curse of Peladon
The Curse of Peladon is a serial in the British science fiction television series Doctor Who, which was first broadcast in four weekly parts from 29 January to 19 February 1972.-Synopsis:...

and The Monster of Peladon
The Monster of Peladon
The Monster of Peladon is a serial in the British science fiction television series Doctor Who, which was first broadcast in six weekly parts from 23 March to 27 April 1974.-Synopsis:...

. In the episode, the Doctor speculates that it may have been the Ice Warriors who froze the aquatic infection to stop it spreading.

The Doctor refers to the events of "The Fires of Pompeii
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....

", saying both events are fixed points in time.

Adelaide is shown in a flashback of her experiences as a young girl during the events of "The Stolen Earth
The Stolen Earth
"The Stolen Earth" is the twelfth episode of the fourth series and the 750th overall episode of the British science fiction television series Doctor Who. The episode was written by show runner and head writer Russell T Davies and is the first of a two-part crossover story; the concluding episode is...

", where her father put her in an attic to keep her safe from the Dalek
Dalek
The Daleks are a fictional extraterrestrial race of mutants from the British science fiction television series Doctor Who. Within the series, Daleks are cyborgs from the planet Skaro, created by the scientist Davros during the final years of a thousand-year war against the Thals...

 invasion. Though a Dalek observed her through the attic window, it did not attack her; the Doctor presumes that the Dalek spared Adelaide because it realised that her death was a fixed point in time.

Ood Sigma
Ood
The Ood are a fictional alien species with telepathic abilities from the long running science fiction series Doctor Who. In the series' narrative, they live in the distant future ....

 (who is seen at the end of the episode when the Doctor realises the severity of what he has done) previously appeared in "Planet of the Ood
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...

", where he likewise predicted not only the events of "Journey's End
Journey's End (Doctor Who)
"Journey's End" is the thirteenth episode of the fourth series of British science fiction television series Doctor Who first broadcast on BBC One on 5 July 2008. It is the second episode of a two-part crossover story featuring the characters of spin-off shows Torchwood and The Sarah Jane...

", but the Tenth Doctor
Tenth Doctor
The Tenth Doctor is the tenth incarnation of the protagonist of the long-running BBC television science-fiction series Doctor Who. He is played by David Tennant, who appears in three series, as well as eight specials...

's death.

The Doctor remembers several previous declarations he's made about the Time Lords as he decides to help the survivors. These audio clips were taken from several episodes, including "Rise of the Cybermen
Rise of the Cybermen
"Rise of the Cybermen" is an episode in the British science fiction television series Doctor Who. The episode features the return of Cybermen, where they are created on Earth itself. It is the first part of a two-part story, the concluding part being "The Age of Steel"...

", "Doomsday
Doomsday (Doctor Who)
"Doomsday" is the thirteenth and final episode in the second series of the revival of the British science fiction television series Doctor Who. It was first broadcast on 8 July 2006 and is the conclusion of a two-part story; the first part, "Army of Ghosts", was broadcast on 1 July 2006...

", "Gridlock
Gridlock (Doctor Who)
"Gridlock" is the third episode from the third series of the revived British science fiction television series Doctor Who which aired on 14 April 2007. The Doctor returns to a much grittier New Earth with Martha Jones and meets the Face of Boe one final time. But as New New York becomes a deadly...

", and "Utopia
Utopia (Doctor Who)
"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 Doctor makes reference to Carmen's prophecy
Prophecy
Prophecy is a process in which one or more messages that have been communicated to a prophet are then communicated to others. Such messages typically involve divine inspiration, interpretation, or revelation of conditioned events to come as well as testimonies or repeated revelations that the...

 that "he will knock four times", made at the end of the previous story
Planet of the Dead
"Planet of the Dead" is the first 2009 special of the British science fiction television series Doctor Who that was simultaneously broadcast on BBC One and BBC HD on 11 April 2009. It was the second of five special episodes broadcast throughout 2009 and early 2010, which served as lead actor...

. Leading up to the final destruction of Bowie Base One, the infected Andy Stone pounds three times on a secure door in a bid to gain entry to the control centre. The Doctor electrifies the door to prevent Andy striking the door a fourth time.

The Doctor refers to humanity's first venture outside the Solar System as taking place in the time of Captain Adelaide Brooke's granddaughter. In the classic series episode The Invisible Enemy, the Fourth Doctor states that this milestone occurred in the 51st century. However, this contradicted a number of previous episodes where the First and Third Doctors visited human explorers and colonies in other star systems as early as the 25th century, and has been contradicted by many episodes since. (See Chronology of the Doctor Who universe.)

Production

"The Waters of Mars" was originally conceived as a Christmas special with the title "Red Christmas". In this story's accompanying episode of Doctor Who Confidential, it was confirmed that Bowie Base One is named after David Bowie
David Bowie
David Bowie is an English musician, actor, record producer and arranger. A major figure for over four decades in the world of popular music, Bowie is widely regarded as an innovator, particularly for his work in the 1970s...

, the writer and singer of "Life on Mars?
Life on Mars?
"Life on Mars?" is a song by David Bowie first released in 1971 on the album Hunky Dory. The song—which BBC Radio 2 later called "a cross between a Broadway musical and a Salvador Dalí painting"—featured guest piano work by keyboardist Rick Wakeman. When released as a single in 1973,...

". Filming for the special began on 23 February 2009. In late February, David Tennant
David Tennant
David Tennant is a Scottish actor. In addition to his work in theatre, including a widely praised Hamlet, Tennant is best known for his role as the tenth incarnation of the Doctor in Doctor Who, along with the title role in the 2005 TV serial Casanova and as Barty Crouch, Jr...

, Duncan and other actors were seen filming in Victoria Place, Newport
Newport
Newport 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...

. The filming took place on a city street, which the production team covered with artificial snow. The glasshouse scenes were filmed in the National Botanic Garden of Wales
National Botanic Garden of Wales
The National Botanic Garden of Wales is situated near Llanarthney in the Towy Valley, Carmarthenshire, Wales. The garden is both a visitor attraction and a centre for botanical research and conservation, and features the world's largest single-span glasshouse measuring long by wide.NBGW seeks...

, Carmarthenshire
Carmarthenshire
Carmarthenshire is a unitary authority in the south west of Wales and one of thirteen historic counties. It is the 3rd largest in Wales. Its three largest towns are Llanelli, Carmarthen and Ammanford...

. Also present during filming were a small robot inscribed with the word "GADGET" and Ood Sigma
Ood
The Ood are a fictional alien species with telepathic abilities from the long running science fiction series Doctor Who. In the series' narrative, they live in the distant future ....

 from the 2008 episode
"Planet of the Ood
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...

". The robot was included in a promotional image released on the official Doctor Who website.

Producer Nikki Wilson described Captain Adelaide Brooke, played by actress Lindsay Duncan
Lindsay Duncan
Lindsay Vere Duncan, CBE is a Scottish stage, television and film actress. On stage she won two Olivier Awards and a Tony Award for her performance in Les Liaisons dangereuses and Private Lives , and she starred in several plays by Harold Pinter. Her most famous roles on television include:...

, as "the Doctor's cleverest and most strong-minded companion yet." David Tennant said, "Well, she's not really a companion like the others have been... She's very wary of the doctor; she's not the sort of person you could imagine hooking up with him and riding off into the sunset... she's kind of the alpha male in the room, really. So, the doctor has to learn to assume a slightly different role when he's around her."

Trailer

A 30-second teaser trailer
Teaser trailer
A teaser campaign is an advertising campaign which typically consists of a series of small, cryptic, challenging advertisements that anticipate a larger, full-blown campaign for a product launch or otherwise important event. These advertisements are called "teasers" or "teaser ads"...

 for this episode aired after the broadcast of "Planet of the Dead
Planet of the Dead
"Planet of the Dead" is the first 2009 special of the British science fiction television series Doctor Who that was simultaneously broadcast on BBC One and BBC HD on 11 April 2009. It was the second of five special episodes broadcast throughout 2009 and early 2010, which served as lead actor...

". On 9 July 2009, a short clip of the episode was made available online. On 28 July 2009, at the 2009 San Diego Comic Con, a longer trailer was shown, which was posted on the BBC website soon afterwards. On 8 November 2009, a short trailer was played on BBC One.

Broadcast and reception

According to overnight viewing figures, "The Waters of Mars" was watched by 9.1 million people. The episode also received an Appreciation Index
Appreciation Index
The Audience Appreciation Index is a score out of 100 which is used as an indicator of the public's appreciation for a television or radio programme, or broadcast service, in the United Kingdom. Until 2002, the AI of a programme was calculated by BARB, the organisation that compiles television...

 score of 88 (considered Excellent). More recent statistics from the BARB state that official ratings ended up at 10.32 million viewers for the UK premiere and that "The Waters of Mars" was the fifth most watched programme of the week. It was first broadcast on a Sunday, the only non-Christmas episode of the revived series to air outside the usual Saturday evening slot.

"The Waters of Mars" achieved relatively high ratings in the United States, drawing over 1.1 million viewers: at the time the highest ever primetime rating for BBC America
BBC America
BBC America is an American television network, owned and operated by BBC Worldwide, and available on both cable and satellite.-History:The channel launched on March 29, 1998, broadcasting comedy, drama and lifestyle programs from BBC Television and other British television broadcasters like ITV and...

 (later beaten by the Series 5 opener followed by the Series 6 opener).

Critical reception was generally positive. Sam Wollaston of The Guardian
The Guardian
The Guardian, formerly known as The Manchester Guardian , is a British national daily newspaper in the Berliner format...

complimented the episode for showing "a side to the Doctor ... that we haven't really seen before – indecisive, confused, at times simply plain wrong" and Tennant's tenure of the part overall as bringing "humanity and humour to the part", with his only criticism being of "the irritating little robot, Gadget". Though Robert Colville of The Daily Telegraph
The Daily Telegraph
The Daily Telegraph is a daily morning broadsheet newspaper distributed throughout the United Kingdom and internationally. The newspaper was founded by Arthur B...

criticised "the glaring inconsistencies" between this episode and the Doctor's previous frequent historical interventions, he complimented the scenario for "allow[ing] us to watch Tennant wrestle with his conscience and curiosity ... [in what] was a logical progression for the character".
Like Wollaston, Colville was "not sure what the children will have made of it, but it set things up intriguingly for Tennant’s final two-part adventure".

Soundtrack

Selected pieces of score from this special, as composed by Murray Gold
Murray Gold
Murray Gold is an English composer for stage, film, and television and a dramatist for both theatre and radio.-Television:Gold has been nominated for a BAFTA four times in the category Best Original Television Music, for Vanity Fair , Queer as Folk , Casanova and Doctor Who...

, were included in the specials soundtrack on 4 October 2010, released by Silva Screen Records.

Awards

"The Waters of Mars" won the 2010 Hugo Award for Best Dramatic Presentation, Short Form, over the two previous Doctor Who specials, "The Next Doctor" and "Planet of the Dead
Planet of the Dead
"Planet of the Dead" is the first 2009 special of the British science fiction television series Doctor Who that was simultaneously broadcast on BBC One and BBC HD on 11 April 2009. It was the second of five special episodes broadcast throughout 2009 and early 2010, which served as lead actor...

".

External links


Reviews

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