First broadcast: Saturday 11th April 2009 Doctor Who fans were left disheartened when it was revealed that their favourite show would be taking a 'gap year' to coincide with its imminent behind the scenes overhaul but their spirits were lifted with the subsequent announcement that they'd still be getting a string of sporadic "specials" to help ease the transition between showrunners. Thank God for that, eh? And then Planet of the Dead happened. Nobody can quite put their finger on what's so unforgettable about this adventure but it probably didn't help that 2009's subsequent specials - The Waters of Mars and then David Tennant's spectacular swansong in The End of Time - were just so good compared to this lacklustre tale about a double decker bus that gets transported through a wormhole to another world. It looks stunning, thanks to the fact that about 30 seconds of it was filmed on location in the Dubai desert, but there's nothing particularly engaging about the story and fans were left punching the air with relief when the Doctor declined Lady Christina de Souza's advances to step aboard the TARDIS. And off she flew in that aforementioned double decker bus (oh, the bus flies now, by the way!), never to be seen again. Good riddance.
Dan Butler is the Doctor Who Editor at WhatCulture.com. When he isn't writing his own articles or editing other people's, he can be found trawling the internet for gifs of Steven Moffat laughing. Contact him via dan.butler@whatculture.co.uk.
