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Executive producer and chief writer gives us the lowdown on the new series in our exclusive story overview. Accept no imitations!

EPISODE 1: PARTNERS IN CRIME EPISODE 3: PLANET OF THE 00D WRITER: Russell TDavies WRITER: Keith Temple GUEST STAR: Sarah GUEST STAR: Tim Mclnnerny Modern-day , and a brand-new that right - and once Donna decides Donna's first visit to an alien world. And it's freezing! diet pill is being tested by the to do something, not even the sinister But on the icescapes of a distant planet, the greatest mysterious Adipose Industries. Miss Foster and her macabre alien danger might be from the human race itself. When Slogan: the fat just walks away! But horde can stop her! meets the Ood again - last seen in 2006's soon, there are unexplained deaths, had loved Donna so much, and The Impossible Planet and The Satan Pit - he's strange creatures in the shadows, wanted to write more for her, but determined to find out the truth behind their servility. and the Doctor starts investigating, I never dreamt for a second that But when an Ood's eyes turn red, you know you're in little knowing that an old friend of his would be able to trouble, and the red-eye is spreading... is also on the trail... commit to an entire series of 13 Trips to alien worlds allow all our design We last saw in the episodes. Surely she's the busiest departments to shine - from the prosthetic Christmas 2006 special (The Runawaywoma n in TV, not to mention cinema? Ood, to incredible CG vistas, right down Bride), when her wedding day was But thank God, we decided to risk it, to the tiny details of the wardrobe ruined by Robot Santas, a Giant Spider, and actually asked. And Catherine department's futuristic collars and a villainous groom. But at the end said yes! Immediately! And her and ties. But it's a savage of that story, when the Doctor offered performance is just dazzling. After •world out there in space her a place on board the Tardis, she Rose plucked our heartstrings, and Ewith soldiers and riots said no. I've always imagined Donna's Martha's love went unrequited, it's • and betrayals - and for the reaction, when she woke up on Boxing wonderful to have a poctor, a terrifying encounter Day. "I said what??!" She's realised thatwh o isn't interested in the Doctor in with a very big claw! life as a temp in Chiswick doesn't quite that way - she's a friend, an equal EPISODE Z: THE FIRES OF POMPEII compare to adventures in and and a conscience, and I swear she WRITER: James Moran space. Now she's determined to put will break your heart. GUEST STARS: , Peter Capaldi, Sasha Behar EPISODE 4: THE SOHTARAH STRATAGEM Pompeii, AD 79. And it's volcano day! But there's far more than Vesuvius to worry about: psychic powers are running rampant; a secretive EPISODE 5: THE POISOH SKY Sisterhood conceals a horrifying High Priestess; and WRITER: beneath the ground, vast creatures are stirring. This is GUEST STAR: Christopher Ryan where Donna truly comes into her own, challenging the like no-one's ever done before, Pthe return of ! We've seen Freema with one vital question: if he knows everyone Agyeman take Martha from to is going to die, why can't he save them? , and now back home again in her new job For once, there's no easy answer for the as medical officer for UNIT, a worldwide army dedicated Doctor, as the Cult of Vulcan prepares to I to fighting alien menaces. But the menace is bigger forge a new empire on Earth... 'than ever, as the threat of ATMOS spreads across the After last year's visit to meet planet. Sounds like she needs her old friend, the Shakespeare - our most ambitious iDoctor! But he's about to meet an old enemy, as the production to date - we were lie in wait - the warlike, potato-faced determined to go one better. This Bnonsters not seen on screen since 1985. They're production team meets every back, they're brutal and they're out for revenge... challenge thrown at it, every I This story also gives us a chance to catch up with time. In this case, it meant •the family Donna left behind - her no-nonsense taking the Tardis from Kmum () and Grandad, played by Cardiff to the Cinecitta none other than . Bernard appeared studios in Rome to in the Christmas 2007 special, alongside Kylie Minogue, shoot the exterior • and we loved him so much, we asked him back! scenes. The result SPUDS YOU DON'T LIKE is spectacular, Warrior race the Sontarans, last seen in 1985 story The Two explosive and tragic. Doctors, are led this time by General Staal (Christopher Ryan)

VIDTENNANT AND CATHERINE TATE impressive. The prosthetic kVitlill .' Who k'l3\s DT? Slit have to be five foot and under. one is amazing, then you see rvy're But they're great when you see to see more!]. The guy who the lr.i.1 k\v ON THEIR NEW ADVERSARIES the computer-generated version. NERIHETATE7 dots this thing not evil, you see. them all there with their chunky I feel like I say this every new season Lord of the Rings [see p25] offered "ev'rerm* big muscle suits. s with his head Tney're very Any monsters you can talk about? but it does feel like the CGI people services to because he wa ^ .iusetht I IMIW head to one side tv nevolent creatures. CTs And I didn't know they were : We've got the have again stepped it up with their a Doctor Who fan. We're so fortune """of my art. quizzically], which m\ CTs Like my cat. I thought they were moved by Pyrovillians in episode two. Which incredible attention to detail. In the to have these people who not only -\ •.<-1 tv Ood cat does. Somehow t he .-• c\-t . t\ or something. I genuin are a mixture of prosthetics by first episode -1 don't want t HnHiTl'Ju I'JjlIiin Ood brtrwj out this low in Artel litre Sontarans refimrw? .- .• • : •• -.-.. the e were people ins fans of the show, often long-term r Neill Gorton and the CGI people much away - there's a sequence in a mrfh.-it ! -.^=- '•• n> ..-'. DTs !t «.is qi '.:• .• " .-. t ..->st '.; f, \ ;v , " eaked me out. They fans. So they'll throw themselves [computer-generated imagery] at Cardiff street where you see quite a Hut thc\ I'ehor'-eiikVi.N the Skvn.i[;> s LV.-.1. >e we had ...... , 11, .-.• .in. k (owwhat [effects house] The Mill. They are very large number of creatures, which is into it with enthusiasm and skill oo* •.: ' he\ \,-.;.-f .; :• ,f- ten full-size suits, but the actors t"e\ ,- se ' A -..;, .isned Shrek

RadioTimes 5-11 April20C The remaining series-four episodes, with your host Russell T Davies • 19 NEW SEN-

EPISODE 6: THE DOCTOR'S DAUGHTER WRITER: Stephen Greenhorn GUEST STARS: Georgia Moffett, Nigel Terry Yes, that's the title. And it does exactly what it says on the tin! I'm saying no more; just watch David Tennant take the Doctor into new territory, with his most spellbinding performance yet.

^Wf~ EPISODE 7: THE UNICORN AND THE WASP <ۥ EPISODE 11: TURN LEF WRITER: Gareth Roberts WRITER: Russell T Davies GUEST STARS: Felicity Kendal, Fenella Woolgar GUEST STAR: Chipo Chung In 1926, Agatha Christie mysteriously disappeared, only to be found, ten days The strands of Donna's story later, with no memory of what happened. Was it a nervous breakdown? A cry begin to draw towards a terrible for help? Or perhaps a giant alien wasp.. ? climax as she finds her life, her It's a classic murder mystery, with a country house, vintage cars, a flapper,family , her entire world being a vicar, a butler, a body in the library, tea on the lawn, and horrible deathsdevastated. . Only one person can And see if you can spot how many titles of Agatha Christie novels help. But this time, it's not the are hidden in the dialogue! Doctor - it's someone from a parallel universe, a woman EPISODE 8: thought to be lost for ever... EPISODE 9: RIVER'S RUN WRITER: EPISODE 12: TRA GUEST STARS: , Just to warn you, Steven Moffat created the "Are you my EPISODE 13: mummy?" Empty Child, Madame de Pompadour's Clockwork JOURNEY'S END Droids and last year's Weeping Angels ("Don't !"). But I think WRITER: Russell T Davies he was just warming up, getting ready for this year's adventure. GUEST STARS: Now we've got two episodes of terror with an abandoned library, Too many to name! FAMILY VIEWING moving shadows, the gruesome Nodes, and the horrifying Data Georgia Moffett, real-life Ghost - possibly the most spine-chilling scene I've ever seen, It's the big ! And the title of daughter of anywhere. Don't blink indeed, don't miss a second! Episode 12 is being kept secret as , plays it gives away too much. But the thre in The Doctor's Daughter EPISODE 10: is on a truly epic scale, as an ancienl WRITER: Russell T Davies enemy is resurrected and the whole universe is thrown into danger. GUEST STARS: Lesley Sharp, Lindsey Coulson, David Troughton Who are the Children of Time? The planet Midnight: a leisure world! Golden spas, diamond landscapes, What is the secret of the Vault? anti-gravity restaurants... what could possibly go wrong? But for once the And surely, this time, not everyone Doctor's left powerless and terrified as the knocking on the wall begins... can get out alive..?

MORE FROM out as a kid, and exploiting them. Agatha Chri in our language, particularly - we AND CATHERINE So you had the child who had lost (Fenella embody the time, whereas with th Ms parents in series one, the Woolgar, one it was like being in a Miss Mar What can we expect from this creatures under the bed [in series right> also ' DTt It pushes the idea of pastichin fear's Steven Moffat scripts? two] and then fast year he had makes an Y 1 the form as far as you might dare. Cnit'satwo-parter the [Weeping AngelsJ that moved appearance . . • J That's always the thing with set in a library [see above]... when you blinked. And without DT: It's quite unusual. Doctor Who, that the format must CTJ Very frightening. giving too much away, he's found It's unlike any we've done before. remain immutable and within that DT:Very scary, yes. What another area of childhood alarm CTt The tone is different. You you've got to find new ways of Steven's good at is finding to exploit. It's a rite of passage - don't, for example, watch the telling the story. I think it's guite those things that freaked you it's good to be scared. Pompeii episode and think that - a bold one - it might divide opinion

Tennant and Tate on the Doctor/Donna dynamic