The bell is about to toll for Who.
Doctor Who, that is.
David Tennant’s final three episodes as the star of the iconic series are about to air on BBC America. First up is “The Waters of Mars,” premiering Saturday, December 19, 9/8c. In it, the Doctor must prevent the preordained doom of the first base on the Red Planet. Lindsay Duncan (
Rome) plays the captain who runs the imperiled mission, unaware that there’s something very bad lurking in the Martian glaciers. “The episode becomes a battle of wits between the two,” says exec producer
Russell T Davies, who, like Tennant, is leaving the franchise after “The End of Time,” the two-part season finale. The first part airs December 26, with the conclusion as-yet-unscheduled.
The Doctor’s death may be imminent, but since he’s warned that “the end of time is approaching, he’s much more concerned with saving the world,” says Davies, who promises, “It never gets too dark. It’s got great jokes, and lots of chases and explosions.” Look for return visits from renegade Time Lord the Master (John Simm) and onetime companion Donna Noble (Catherine Tate) and her stalwart grandfather Wilfred (Bernard Cribbins). Former James Bond Timothy Dalton is also on hand, playing a mysterious character called the Narrator.
Next year, 27-year-old British actor Matt Smith
takes over as the 11th Doctor.
Here’s a preview of “The End of Time”: