I'm excited. The Doctor has come to America before, but never like this. For the first time in the show's history, Doctor Who is filming stateside.
Sure, there have been episodes set in the states before, but none were filmed on American soil -- the closest they got was Canada for the Doctor Who television movie with the Eighth Doctor, which was set in San Francisco. This time, they're doing it for real: they're filming in Utah.
"The Doctor has visited every weird and wonderful planet you can imagine, so he was bound get round to America eventually!" enthused showrunner Steven Moffat in a press release. "And of course every Doctor Who fan will be jumping up and down and saying he's been in America before. But not for real, not on location - and not with a story like this one! Oh, you wait!"
America will be a setting for the two-part opening to series six, it's been revealed. The episode, set in the 1960's, will feature "the Doctor, Amy and Rory find themselves on a secret summons that takes them on an adventure from the desert in Utah - right to the Oval Office itself." Looks to me like they'll be dealing with either President Kennedy or Johnson, who held the office for the greater part of the decade (though I'd much prefer some Nixon interaction myself, Nixon didn't take office until the last year of that decade, making him a long shot).
Are you as excited as I am? I can't wait to see what Moffat's got up his sleeve. Here's the full press release from the BBC:
DOCTOR WHO TO FILM IN THE U.S. FOR THE FIRST TIME
Upcoming season's first two episodes to be set in the U.S.
The BBC announced today that season six of Doctor Who, which delivered record ratings for BBC AMERICA earlier this year, will open with a spectacular two-parter set in the U.S. and penned by 'Who supremo' Steven Moffat.
In the special two-parter co-produced with BBC AMERICA, key scenes will be filmed in Utah for a story set in the late '60s in which the Doctor, Amy and Rory find themselves on a secret summons that takes them on an adventure from the desert in Utah - right to the Oval Office itself.
Production on episodes one and two of the new season starts in Cardiff this month and Matt Smith, Karen Gillan and Arthur Darvill will then travel to America in mid November to shoot pivotal scenes. They will also be joined by Alex Kingston who reprises her role as River Song.
Showrunner and lead writer, Steven Moffat, said: "The Doctor has visited every weird and wonderful planet you can imagine, so he was bound get round to America eventually! And of course every Doctor Who fan will be jumping up and down and saying he's been in America before. But not for real, not on location - and not with a story like this one! Oh, you wait!"
Piers Wenger, Head of Drama BBC Wales and Executive Producer, added: "Steven's scripts generally inspire us to go that extra mile - this time we're going that extra four thousand. Thanks to our friends at BBC AMERICA and to the continuing ambition of our lead writer and production team, the first two episodes of Matt Smith's second season as the Doctor are going global and look set to become Doctor Who's most action-packed and ambitious season opener yet".
The new season follows on from the Doctor Who Christmas special guest starring Katherine Jenkins and Michael Gambon which is due to premiere at Christmas. Season six will start airing on BBC AMERICA in spring 2011 and has been split into two blocks, with the second block airing in autumn 2011. By splitting the series Moffat plans to give viewers one of the most exciting Doctor Who cliffhangers and plot twists ever, leaving them waiting, on the edge of their seats, until the autumn to find out what happens.
2010 has been a breakthrough year for the Doctor Who franchise across all platforms since BBC AMERICA became the official home of the series. The series reached the number one spot on the "Top TV Seasons" chart on iTunes and now Doctor Who: The Complete Fifth Season hits stores on Blu-ray and DVD on November 9.
Doctor Who was co-commissioned by Ben Stephenson, Controller, BBC Drama Commissioning for BBC One and Jay Hunt, Controller of BBC One and will be produced by Marcus Wilson (Life on Mars) and Sanne Wohlenberg (Margaret). Steven Moffat is Lead Writer and Executive Producer (Sherlock Holmes) with Piers Wenger, Head of Drama, BBC Wales and Beth Willis (Ashes to Ashes), also Executive Producing.
Filming is taking place in Cardiff until March 2011.
There was an episode set and filmed in NYC 2-3 years ago.
Both those episodes had some second unit exteriors and plates shot in NYC, but that's as far as I'm aware of there being any US filming in those episodes. The Statue of Liberty scenes were actually in Wales, and David Tennant has said he never filmed in New York. So I think what they're referring to is that this is the first time that the main cast is actually shooting a substantial part of an episode in the United States.
There was an episode set and filmed in NYC 2-3 years ago.
Not quite.The episode was set in NYC, and there were scenes of Liberty Island filmed, but they were background plates filmed by a small 2 man crew sent to NYC. The cast of the show were never sent to America, and the scenes filmed in front of the base of the Statue of Liberty were done in front of a similar looking wall in South Wales. Central Park scenes were also filmed in South Wales.This is the first time actual episodes have been filmed in the USA.