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You may wish to consult Series 5 for other, similarly-named pages.

Series 5 of Doctor Who ran from 3 April 2010 to 26 June 2010. It starred Matt Smith as the Eleventh Doctor, Karen Gillan as Amy Pond and Arthur Darvill as Rory Williams. The series opened with The Eleventh Hour [+]Steven Moffat, Doctor Who series 5 (BBC One, 2010). and concluded with The Big Bang [+]Steven Moffat, Doctor Who series 5 (BBC One, 2010)..

Overview[]

It consisted of ten stories and thirteen episodes. With the start of this series, the show was now helmed by new head writer Steven Moffat.

New production team[]

Doctor Who Producers Landscape

Beth Willis, Steven Moffat and Piers Wenger in a publicity shot for Series 5.

Executive producer and head writer Russell T Davies and executive producer Julie Gardner officially left production on Doctor Who at the end of filming of series 4's special episodes in 2009. Their last story, The End of Time [+]Russell T Davies, Doctor Who Christmas Special 2009 and New Year Special 2010 (BBC One, 2009-2010)., aired on 25 December 2009 and 1 January 2010. In May 2008, Steven Moffat, a multi Hugo Award winning Doctor Who writer for this outgoing production era, was announced as the Doctor Who head writer and executive producer.

Although he was not involved with the fifth series or any series involving Moffat as head writer, Davies returned to the series when he became head writer of the 2023 specials, having also written episodes of spin-off shows Torchwood and The Sarah Jane Adventures, along with involvement in the Doctor Who: Lockdown! event and the 2018 revival of the Target novelisations, during Moffat and Chris Chibnall's eras on Doctor Who.

Moffat stated that no characters from the first Russell T Davies era would return in series 5.[1] This did not prove entirely true. River Song, a Moffat-created character from the Russell T Davies era, returned in four episodes of this series.

Gardner was replaced by her successor as BBC Wales Head of Drama, Piers Wenger. Beth Willis was added as a third executive producer — giving the show three execs for the first time since Mal Young left at the end of Series 1. The line producer of the series — a position once held by Phil Collinson — was split between Tracie Simpson and Peter Bennett, two members of the production staff who had risen to prominence during "the specials". For the first time since 2005, the series also credited a co-producer, Patrick Schweitzer, for episodes 6 and 10, the two episodes filmed in Croatia. Other senior members of the production staff, such as production designer Ed Thomas and composer Murray Gold remained at their posts.

Several departments underwent big changes beginning with The Eleventh Hour [+]Steven Moffat, Doctor Who series 5 (BBC One, 2010).. Directors of photography Rory Taylor and Ernie Vincze — who between them had fairly evenly split responsibilities since 2005 — left, along with Davies and Gardner. They were replaced by a series of individuals, each handling only one or two episodes of the series.

The costume department came under the leadership of Ray Holman, who replaced Louise Page, the longest-serving designer since the Hartnell era costumer Daphne Dare. The change, however, was not just the replacement of one individual with another, as Holman brought in members of his design company to fill junior positions in the costume department.

Series 5 also saw a subtler behind-the-scenes change, especially for the more junior members of the production team. Combined with the general economic downturn that saw an across-the-board cut in jobs, it was also the first year since 2004 that Torchwood was not in some stage of production at BBC Wales. This meant there was some job competition at the Upper Boat Studios. Some long-term members of staff left the studios completely, while others took effective reductions in rank to remain. Arwel Wyn Jones, for instance, went from being the supervising art director for the previous two series to alternating set decorating duties with Julian Luxton. Still, others remained in Wales, but shifted to Moffat's other Welsh production, Sherlock, or found placement on Merlin, Being Human or other BBC Wales programmes.

Series numbering[]

While issue 410 of Doctor Who Magazine initially reported that the series' numbering would be reset to series 1 like the first Russell T Davies series had done before,[2] by the time of the DVD, Blu-ray, and soundtrack releases, this series was officially known by 2|entertain and Silva Screen Records' cover design as series 5, with the following series being series 6, and so on. As of November 2023, BBC iPlayer officially listed this series as series 5 of "Doctor Who (2005–2022)".

New TARDIS team[]

During his acceptance speech for the award for Best Drama Performance at the National Television Awards on 29 October 2008, David Tennant announced that he would not return for the fifth series. His successor, Matt Smith, was announced as the Eleventh Doctor on 3 January 2009 during a broadcast of a special episode of Doctor Who Confidential entitled The Eleventh Doctor.[3] Karen Gillan was cast as the Eleventh Doctor's companion, Amy Pond.

New icons[]

In addition to the cast and crew changes, many of the other continuing elements of the show also underwent major redesigns at the start of the series. Most conspicuous was the 6 October 2009 unveiling of a new series logo — the first significant departure from the one that debuted on Rose [+]Russell T Davies, Doctor Who series 1 (BBC One, 2005).. Likewise, the TARDIS itself got a noticeable exterior and radical interior make-over. British tabloid media reported the switch was due to the show's switch to high-definition production,[4] although Doctor Who had already started broadcasting in HD since April of that year.

DW-Logo-2010

The logo for Series 5 as it was originally unveiled in late 2009 and as it is used on merchandise

A new Doctor Who theme arrangement was introduced, replacing the version introduced for the 2007 Christmas special. Like that version and variations of the theme introduced in Rose [+]Russell T Davies, Doctor Who series 1 (BBC One, 2005)., Ron Grainer's theme was arranged by Murray Gold.

Cast[]

Recurring[]

Guest[]

Production[]

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Please help by adding some more information.

Crew[]

Producers[]

to be added

Writers[]

to be added

Directors[]

to be added

Filming[]

to be added

Television stories[]

Regular season[]

Episode Number Title Writer Director Notes
1 The Eleventh Hour [+]Steven Moffat, Doctor Who series 5 (BBC One, 2010). Steven Moffat Adam Smith First appearance of Amy Pond and Rory Williams. First appearance of the cracks in time. Destruction of the blue diode sonic screwdriver. First appearance of the green diode sonic screwdriver.
2 The Beast Below [+]Steven Moffat, Doctor Who series 5 (BBC One, 2010). Andrew Gunn First appearance of Liz Ten and Winston Churchill.
3 Victory of the Daleks [+]Mark Gatiss, Doctor Who series 5 (BBC One, 2010). Mark Gatiss Andrew Gunn First appearance of the New Dalek Paradigm.
4 & 5 The Time of Angels [+]Steven Moffat, Doctor Who series 5 (BBC One, 2010). / Flesh and Stone [+]Steven Moffat, Doctor Who series 5 (BBC One, 2010). Steven Moffat Adam Smith Return of River Song and the Weeping Angels. First appearance of the Church.
6 The Vampires of Venice [+]Toby Whithouse, Doctor Who series 5 (BBC One, 2010). Toby Whithouse Jonny Campbell Rory joins the TARDIS crew. First mention of the Silence.
7 Amy's Choice [+]Simon Nye, Doctor WhoTelevision stories series 5 (BBC One, 2010). Simon Nye Catherine Morshead
8 & 9 The Hungry Earth [+]Chris Chibnall, Doctor Who series 5 (BBC One, 2010). / Cold Blood [+]Chris Chibnall, Doctor Who series 5 (BBC One, 2010). Chris Chibnall Ashley Way Reintroduction of the Silurians. Rory dies for the first time. The Doctor discovers his TARDIS is fated to explode.
10 Vincent and the Doctor [+]Richard Curtis, Doctor Who series 5 (BBC One, 2010). Richard Curtis Jonny Campbell
11 The Lodger [+]Gareth Roberts, adapted from The Lodger (Gareth Roberts), Doctor Who series 5 (BBC One, 2010). Gareth Roberts Catherine Morshead First appearance of Craig Owens and Sophie.
12 & 13 The Pandorica Opens [+]Steven Moffat, Doctor Who series 5 (BBC One, 2010). / The Big Bang [+]Steven Moffat, Doctor Who series 5 (BBC One, 2010). Steven Moffat Toby Haynes First appearance of Dorium Maldovar. Return of Rory. Resolution of the "cracks in time" arc. Amy and Rory are wed.

DVD box set mini-episodes[]

Episode Number Title Writer Director Notes
1 Meanwhile in the TARDIS [+]Steven Moffat, Doctor Who - Minisodes series 5 (2010).: Part 1 Steven Moffat Richard Senior Interlinked between The Eleventh Hour [+]Steven Moffat, Doctor Who series 5 (BBC One, 2010). and The Beast Below [+]Steven Moffat, Doctor Who series 5 (BBC One, 2010).
2 Meanwhile in the TARDIS [+]Steven Moffat, Doctor Who - Minisodes series 5 (2010).: Part 2 Steven Moffat Richard Senior Interlinked between Flesh and Stone [+]Steven Moffat, Doctor Who series 5 (BBC One, 2010). and The Vampires of Venice [+]Toby Whithouse, Doctor Who series 5 (BBC One, 2010).

Episode notes[]

Adaptations and merchandising[]

Home media[]

DVD[]

This section's awfully stubby.

This section need to have images added and information on the sets needs to be expanded upon.

All episodes of Series 5 were released in 2010.

Name Number and duration
of episodes
R2 release date R4 release date R1 release date
Doctor Who: Series 5, Volume 1
The Eleventh Hour [+]Steven Moffat, Doctor Who series 5 (BBC One, 2010).
The Beast Below [+]Steven Moffat, Doctor Who series 5 (BBC One, 2010).
Victory of the Daleks [+]Mark Gatiss, Doctor Who series 5 (BBC One, 2010).
1 x 65 min.
2 × 45 min.
7 June 2010 1 July 2010 TBA
Doctor Who: Series 5, Volume 2
The Time of Angels [+]Steven Moffat, Doctor Who series 5 (BBC One, 2010). /
Flesh and Stone [+]Steven Moffat, Doctor Who series 5 (BBC One, 2010).
The Vampires of Venice [+]Toby Whithouse, Doctor Who series 5 (BBC One, 2010).
2 × 45 min.
1 x 50 min.
5 July 2010 5 August 2010 TBA
Doctor Who: Series 5, Volume 3
Amy's Choice [+]Simon Nye, Doctor WhoTelevision stories series 5 (BBC One, 2010).
The Hungry Earth [+]Chris Chibnall, Doctor Who series 5 (BBC One, 2010). /
Cold Blood [+]Chris Chibnall, Doctor Who series 5 (BBC One, 2010).
3 × 45 min. 2 August 2010 2 September 2010 TBA
Doctor Who: Series 5, Volume 4
Vincent and the Doctor [+]Richard Curtis, Doctor Who series 5 (BBC One, 2010).
The Lodger [+]Gareth Roberts, adapted from The Lodger (Gareth Roberts), Doctor Who series 5 (BBC One, 2010).
The Pandorica Opens [+]Steven Moffat, Doctor Who series 5 (BBC One, 2010). /
The Big Bang [+]Steven Moffat, Doctor Who series 5 (BBC One, 2010).
2 x 45 min.
1 × 50 min.
1 x 55 min.
6 September 2010 7 October 2010 TBA
Doctor Who: The Complete Fifth Series
The Eleventh Hour [+]Steven Moffat, Doctor Who series 5 (BBC One, 2010).
Meanwhile in the TARDIS [+]Error: Code 2 - no data stored in variables, cache or SMW.: Scene 1
The Beast Below [+]Steven Moffat, Doctor Who series 5 (BBC One, 2010).
Victory of the Daleks [+]Mark Gatiss, Doctor Who series 5 (BBC One, 2010).
The Time of Angels [+]Steven Moffat, Doctor Who series 5 (BBC One, 2010). /
Flesh and Stone [+]Steven Moffat, Doctor Who series 5 (BBC One, 2010).
Meanwhile in the TARDIS [+]Error: Code 2 - no data stored in variables, cache or SMW.: Scene 2
The Vampires of Venice [+]Toby Whithouse, Doctor Who series 5 (BBC One, 2010).
Amy's Choice [+]Simon Nye, Doctor WhoTelevision stories series 5 (BBC One, 2010).
The Hungry Earth [+]Chris Chibnall, Doctor Who series 5 (BBC One, 2010). /
Cold Blood [+]Chris Chibnall, Doctor Who series 5 (BBC One, 2010).
Vincent and the Doctor [+]Richard Curtis, Doctor Who series 5 (BBC One, 2010).
The Lodger [+]Gareth Roberts, adapted from The Lodger (Gareth Roberts), Doctor Who series 5 (BBC One, 2010).
The Pandorica Opens [+]Steven Moffat, Doctor Who series 5 (BBC One, 2010). /
The Big Bang [+]Steven Moffat, Doctor Who series 5 (BBC One, 2010).
8 x 45 min.
3 x 50 min.
1 x 55 min.
1 x 65 min.
1 x 3 min.
1 x 4 min.
8 November 2010 2 December 2010 9 November 2010

Blu-ray[]

Series 5 released on 21 November 2023 in a limited edition Blu-ray box set containing every "New Who" series up to Series 13.[6]

Soundtrack[]

According to Who Online, the soundtrack for Series 5 was released on 8 November, 2010. [7]

Stories set during this season[]

Novels[]

Audiobooks[]

External links[]

Footnotes[]

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