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Doctor Who series 6

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Doctor Who series 6
Series 6
No. of episodes13
Release
Original networkBBC One
Original release23 April 2011 (2011-04-23)
Series chronology
← Previous
Series 5
Next →
Series 7[1]
List of episodes

The sixth series of British science fiction television series Doctor Who is being shown in two parts, the first seven episodes began in April and the final six episodes in September. Matt Smith, Karen Gillan and Arthur Darvill are continuing their roles as The Doctor, Amy Pond and Rory Williams. The series will continue story threads from Series 5, investigating the mysterious Silence that caused the TARDIS to explode in "The Pandorica Opens" / "The Big Bang" and the identity of River Song.[2]

Episodes

The first seven episodes started in April 2011 and the final six are scheduled to begin in September, after the mid-series finale.[3][4][5][6]

Story No. Episode Title Directed by Written by UK viewers
(million)
AI
(%)
Original air date Production
code
214a1"The Impossible Astronaut"Toby HaynesSteven Moffat8.86[7]88[8]23 April 2011 (2011-04-23)2.1
Amy and Rory, River Song and a mysterious man each receive an envelope, numbered 2, 3 and 4, containing a date, time and map reference, unsigned, but TARDIS blue. This strange summons reunites them in the middle of the Utah desert and unveils a terrible secret the Doctor's friends must never reveal to him. After they meet up, they find a fourth envelope in a restaurant, sent to the Doctor, who joins them. Placing his life entirely in their hands, the Doctor agrees to join them on their mission. Their quest lands them in the Oval Office in Washington, D.C., where they are enlisted by President Nixon himself to assist enigmatic former-FBI agent Canton Everett Delaware III, in saving a terrified little girl from a mysterious spaceman.
214b2"Day of the Moon"Toby HaynesSteven Moffat7.30[7]87[9]30 April 2011 (2011-04-30)2.2
The second episode of a two-parter, the FBI are looking for River Song, Rory and Amy. The world has been occupied by aliens that leave your memory the moment you stop looking at them; the Doctor and his companions can trust no one.
2153"The Curse of the Black Spot"Jeremy WebbStephen Thompson7.85[7]86[10]7 May 2011 (2011-05-07)2.9
Aboard a 17th-century pirate ship the Doctor needs to win the trust of Captain Avery as his friends start to be influenced by a beautiful Siren (Lily Cole). Can the Doctor save them all before they fall for the siren's song?
2164"The Doctor's Wife"Richard ClarkNeil Gaiman7.97[7]87[11]14 May 2011 (2011-05-14)2.3
In the hope of finding another Time Lord, the Doctor responds to a distress signal. Greeted warmly by Auntie, Uncle and Nephew, Idris' welcome is unusual.
217a5"The Rebel Flesh"Julian SimpsonMatthew Graham7.35[7]85[12]21 May 2011 (2011-05-21)2.5
On 22nd century Earth the Doctor finds humans using clones to perform dangerous tasks.
217b6"The Almost People"Julian SimpsonMatthew Graham6.72[7]86[13]28 May 2011 (2011-05-28)2.6
Continuing the story started in "The Rebel Flesh", the insane Jennifer is looking for revenge.
218a7"A Good Man Goes to War"Peter HoarSteven Moffat7.51[7]88[14]4 June 2011 (2011-06-04)2.7
In this mid-series finale, Amy is held captive on Demon's Run and the Doctor assembles an army of allies to recover her. Meanwhile, River must reveal her greatest secret to the Doctor.
218b8"Let's Kill Hitler"Richard Senior[15]Steven MoffatTBATBASeptember 2011 (2011-09)[4]2.8
2199"Night Terrors"[16]Richard ClarkMark GatissTBATBATBA2.4
22010TBANick HurranTom MacRaeTBATBATBATBA
22111"The God Complex"[4]Nick HurranToby WhithouseTBATBATBATBA
22212TBASteve Hughes[15]Gareth RobertsTBATBATBATBA
22313TBAJeremy Webb[15]Steven MoffatTBATBATBATBA

Production

Production for Series 6 began in October[17] and concluded in May.[18] Peter Bennett remains as producer[citation needed], but his counterpart Tracie Simpson is replaced by Sanne Wohlenberg, while departing production designer Edward Thomas is replaced by Michael Pickwoad.[19] The two-part opening story, written by Steven Moffat and directed by Toby Haynes,[20] was partially filmed in the United States, a first for the programme.[17] During the production process the order of the third, fourth and ninth episodes was changed.[21]

Casting

Matt Smith,[22] Karen Gillan,[23] and Arthur Darvill[24] are continuing their roles as The Doctor, Amy Pond, and Rory Williams.

David Walliams,[25] Hugh Bonneville,[26] Mark Sheppard,[27] and James Corden (returning as Craig Owens)[28] are among the confirmed guest cast for series 6. Alex Kingston is returning as River Song.[17] In Neil Gaiman's episode Suranne Jones plays Idris, a young woman,[29] along with Michael Sheen, who provides the voice of House, a sentient entity.[30]

Writers

The writers for all episodes have been confirmed, with Steven Moffat continuing his role as head writer, writing five episodes.[4][31] Stephen Thompson has written the third episode of the series,[21] Neil Gaiman wrote the fourth episode of the series,[21][32] which was followed by Mathew Graham's two part episode.[15] Mark Gatiss,[21] is to write the ninth episode following Steven Moffat's episode seven and eight cliffhanger, Tom MacRae, Toby Whithouse and Gareth Roberts are all confirmed to be writing episodes for the second half of the series.[4]

Filming blocks

Production blocks were arranged as follows:

Block Episode Title Director Writer Producer Code
X "A Christmas Carol" Toby Haynes Steven Moffat Sanne Wohlenberg 2.X
1 "The Doctor's Wife"
"Night Terrors"
Richard Clark Neil Gaiman
Mark Gatiss
Sanne Wohlenberg 2.3
2.4
2 "The Impossible Astronaut"
"Day of the Moon"
Toby Haynes Steven Moffat Marcus Wilson 2.1
2.2
3 "The Rebel Flesh"
"The Almost People"
Julian Simpson Matthew Graham Marcus Wilson 2.5
2.6
4 "A Good Man Goes to War"
"The Curse of the Black Spot"
Peter Hoar
Jeremy Webb
Steven Moffat
Stephen Thompson
Marcus Wilson 2.7
2.9
5 "The God Complex"
"Episode 10"
Nick Hurran Toby Whithouse
Tom MacRae
2.11
2.10
6 "Episode 12" Steve Hughes Gareth Roberts Denise Paul 2.12
7 "Let's Kill Hitler"
"Episode 13"
Richard Senior
Jeremy Webb
Steven Moffat 2.8
2.13

Promotion

Trailers

The first trailer for Series 6 showed directly after the Christmas Special and showed reappearance of the Ood, a person in a space suit, evil dolls, characters from Nazi Germany, the Doctor wearing a Stetson, the interior of a craft resembling the timeship from "The Lodger", a scene with "A 51" on a wall, Suranne Jones' character of Idris, and several scenes filmed in Utah's Monument Valley and Valley of the Gods. In December 2010, BBC America began airing promotions for the new series featuring Smith, Gillan, Darvill, and Kingston, filmed in Monument Valley and announcing the US locations. A 15-second teaser trailer was shown on BBC One at 9pm, 22 March 2011. A 1-minute trailer was shown on BBC 1, on 30 March 2011 showing, among other scenes, River Song kissing the Doctor and the interior of the Ninth and Tenth Doctors' TARDIS. An alternative version of the trailer was also shown, with the scene of the TARDIS console exploding replaced with a close-up of a Silent.[33] A different 30-second trailer was shown on BBC America on the same day, with a full 60-second trailer being shown two days later.[34] Both these trailers show a scene with a group of three of the Silence from the alternative UK trailer.

Prequels

On 25 March 2011, a short exclusive scene serving as a "prequel" for the first two episodes was released on the show's official website. The prequel depicts Richard Nixon (portrayed by Stuart Milligan) receiving a recorded phone call of a girl's voice while sitting in the Oval Office. The girl, whose voice the president appears to recognize from a previous call, begs him to "look behind you", warning him that there is something there. The president angrily refuses and tells the girl that "there are no monsters in the Oval Office." He hangs up; the camera then pans around him to show a blurred, but visibly alien, figure standing to the president's right wearing a black suit and tie.

The second prequel for the episode "The Curse of the Black Spot", shows a ship's captain writing in his log. His ship is in dead water with no wind. Exhaustion of fear will take over the crew, and every night 'she' keeps appearing. The captain believes that everyone on board will die.

The third prequel for the episode "A Good Man Goes to War", was released on the show's official website.

International broadcast

In the US, it began airing on BBC America on 23 April.[35]

The first episode was broadcast in Australia on ABC1 on 30 April.[36]

SPACE aired the premiere on 23 April for Canadian viewers.[37]

Series Six started screening in New Zealand on Prime (New Zealand) on 19 May in a later timeslot of 8.30pm.

References

  1. ^ http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-13694871
  2. ^ "Out of Time". Doctor Who Confidential. 26 June 2010. 42 minutes in. The Doctor: Something drew the TARDIS to this particular date and blew it up. Why? And why now? The Silence, whatever it is, is still out there.
    Steven Moffat: The whole point of the Silence is next series. Also, who is River Song?
    {{cite episode}}: Unknown parameter |episodelink= ignored (|episode-link= suggested) (help); Unknown parameter |serieslink= ignored (|series-link= suggested) (help)
  3. ^ Hibbard, James (9 March 2011). "'Doctor Who' premiere date, plot details, poster revealed". Entertainment Weekly. Retrieved 9 March 2011.
  4. ^ a b c d e "Matt Smith's Series Two: Latest News". Doctor Who Magazine (432): 9. 6 April 2011 (cover date). {{cite journal}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  5. ^ "Next series of Doctor Who to be split transmission". BBC Press Office. 29 August 2010. Retrieved 29 August 2010.
  6. ^ Plunkett, John (29 August 2010). "Doctor Who promises 'game-changing cliffhanger' as series split in two". London: The Guardian. Retrieved 29 August 2010.
  7. ^ a b c d e f g "Final BARB-Rating". Broadcasters' Audience Research Board. BARB. 9 May 2011. Retrieved 9 May 2011.
  8. ^ http://www.doctorwhonews.net/2011/04/dwn260411110612-impossible-astronaut.html
  9. ^ http://www.doctorwhonews.net/2011/05/dwn020511130312-day-of-moon-scores-ai.html
  10. ^ http://www.doctorwhonews.net/2011/05/dwn090511124612-curse-of-balck-spot-ai.html
  11. ^ http://www.doctorwhonews.net/2011/05/dwn160511121612-doctors-wife-ai-87.html
  12. ^ http://www.doctorwhonews.net/2011/05/dwn230511124612-rebel-flesh.html
  13. ^ http://www.doctorwhonews.net/2011/05/dwn300511134312-almost-people.html
  14. ^ http://www.doctorwhonews.net/2011/06/dwn060611133112-good-man-goes-to-war-ai.html
  15. ^ a b c d "Story titles revealed at last for Series 32!". Doctor Who Magazine (433): 7. 4 May 2011 (cover date). {{cite journal}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  16. ^ http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b011y437
  17. ^ a b c "Doctor Who to film two-part opener in us". Digital Spy. 10 October 2010.
  18. ^ "That's a wrap! Cast, crew complete Series 6 filming". Whoviannet. 2 May 2011. Retrieved 13 May 2011.
  19. ^ "2011 Series Production Team". Doctor Who News Page. 21 July 2010.
  20. ^ "Toby Haynes". Curtis Brown.
  21. ^ a b c d "Episodes shuffle for the 2011 series...". Doctor Who Magazine (430): 7. 9 Feb 2011 (cover date). {{cite journal}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  22. ^ "Doctor Who confirmed for Christmas and sixth series". Digital Spy. 18 March 2010. Retrieved 19 March 2010.
  23. ^ Doctor Who Magazine, issue 420
  24. ^ Doctor Who Magazine, issue 426
  25. ^ BBC - Doctor Who - David Walliams Cast - News & Features
  26. ^ BBC - Doctor Who - Bonneville On Board! - News & Features
  27. ^ "Casting Update: Mark Sheppard". Doctor Who News Page. 16 October 2010. Retrieved 25 March 2011.
  28. ^ BBC - Doctor Who - Casting News: He's Back! - News & Features
  29. ^ "Surrane Jones confirmed for 2011". BBC. 23 September 2010. Retrieved 12 November 2010.
  30. ^ "Michael Sheen confirmed for Doctor Who". BBC. 21 March 2011. Retrieved 23 March 2011.
  31. ^ "Moffat writting five episodes for 2011 series". Doctor Who News Page. 30 July 2010.
  32. ^ "Gaiman's Doctor Who Will Be fourth Story Of Next Season". SFX. 10 June 2010.
  33. ^ [1] 30 March 2011. Retrieved 4 April 2011.
  34. ^ [2] 1 April 2011. Retrieved 4 April 2011
  35. ^ "Doctor Who/BBC America". Retrieved 10 April 2011.
  36. ^ "Returning: Doctor Who". TV Tonight. 2 April. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  37. ^ "New Season of Doctor Who hits Space Saturday, April 23, 8E/P". Retrieved 13 April 2011.