When a London bus takes a detour to an alien world, the Doctor must join forces with the extraordinary Lady Christina, in this one-off seasonal special. But the mysterious planet holds terrifying secrets, hidden in the sand. And time is running out, as the deadly Swarm gets closer...

WRITTEN BY
Russell T Davies
Gareth Roberts

DIRECTED BY
James Strong

FIRST TRANSMITTED
Saturday 11th April 2009

GUEST CAST
Michelle Ryan (Lady Christina de Souza); Professor Malcolm Taylor (Lee Evans); Captain Erisa Magambo (Noma Dumezweni); D.I. McMillan (Adam James); Lou (Reginald Tsiboe); Carmen (Ellen Thomas); Angela (Victoria Alcock); Barclay (Daniel Kaluuya); Nathan (David Ames); Bus Driver (Keith Perry); Sgt. Dennison (Glenn Doherty); Sgt. Ian Jenner (James Layton); Sorvin (Paul Kasey); Praygat (Ruari Mears)

VIEWING FIGURES
9.54million

NEXT EPISODE
The Waters of Mars

PREVIOUS EPISODE
The Next Doctor

OFFICIAL EPISODE TRAILER


CLIP: The Doctor recieves a chilling prophecy.

TRIVIA

• This episode is the first of four specials that will mark the end of David Tennant's tenure as the Tenth Doctor.
• This episode was also the last chance for the Tenth Doctor 'to have fun'. According to David Tennant, things are going to take a turn for the worse for the Time Lord after this adventure, as he approaches his regeneration.
• The title for this episode was revealed at the end of the 2008 Christmas special, The Next Doctor.
• This episode is the first Doctor Who episode to be filmed and broadcast in High-definition.
• This episode also marks the first time a story has been written by two writers (Davies and Roberts).
• When the double decker bus arrived at the docks in Dubai, a crane operator was accidentally dropped on top of it, resulting in mass damage. While the press back in the UK were describing the incident as a disaster, and claiming that filming had to be cancelled, Russell T Davies later confirmed that it was blown out of proportion, and a quick script rewrite that took all of 30 seconds incorporated the damaged bus into the story.

This episode is set in London in 2009. The Doctor, the bus and the rest of its passengers are transported to the Scorpion Nebula, located on the other side of the Universe. The bus travels through a wormhole and lands on the planet of San Helios, which has been ravaged by the Swarm and everything that it was is now dust and sand.

Filming for the episode began on 19th January 2009 and wrapped on 14th February 2009. Scenes for the opening sequence inside the International Gallery were filmed at the National Museum of Wales, and scenes at the tunnel were shot at Butetown Tunnel in Cardiff. Filming also took place in Dubai.

60 minutes