Doctor Who: 12 Cool Details Russell T Davies Just Revealed About New Earth & Gridlock
The Face of Boe's true identity is confirmed. Again.
While not a multi-part story in the traditional sense, New Earth and Gridlock - which were broadcast a year apart from each other - are strongly linked. Not only does Gridlock (a Series 3 episode) bring the TARDIS back to New New York, but it also continues the stories of supporting characters like Hame and the Face of Boe, who both met the Tenth Doctor during New Earth in Series 2.
As a result, Gridlock can be described as a sequel to New Earth (which, in turn, can be described as a sequel to The End of the World, the Face of Boe's first appearance), making this one of the only "multi-part stories" to air across different seasons.
And that's exactly why these two episodes were chosen for a recent watch-along event, which was attended by the man who wrote them both - Russell T Davies.
Over on his Twitter account, he discussed the scripting and production of both adventures at great length, dropping a host of cool details along the way. From CGI shortcuts to Star Wars influences, here are some of the best things he revealed!
12. New Earth Was Chosen As The Series 2 Opener Because It's A Comedy
After appearing for a quick post-regeneration scene at the end of 2005's The Parting of the Ways, David Tennant's first full episode was festive special The Christmas Invasion. But his actual debut series didn't kick off until New Earth in 2006.
However, the decision to open Series 2 with New Earth wasn't always set in stone: according to Davies, Tooth and Claw - which ended up being the second episode - was also a prime contender.
In fact, this was such a tough decision to make that a "series opener" edit of Tooth and Claw was even put together. This hybrid version of the episode used the first scene of New Earth - where Jackie and Mickey say goodbye to Rose - just before the titles, with Tooth and Claw running as normal afterwards.
Ultimately though, New Earth was chosen as the first episode because of its lighter, more comedic tone, with Davies adding that Tooth and Claw was "too dark" to be given that coveted premiere slot.