Phil Ford talks 'Dreamland', 'Waters of Mars'

Earlier this year, Russell T Davies teased three "special projects" that would herald the end of David Tennant's tenure with Doctor Who. The first was a rather well-received crossover with The Sarah Jane Adventures, while the mysterious third project is still to be announced. And the second? That would be Dreamland, a 45-minute animated adventure that involves The Doctor, a US government conspiracy and ten foot alien monsters. We caught up with writer Phil Ford - also co-writer with Russell on the recent 'Waters of Mars' episode of Who - to find out more.

What's the story of Dreamland?
"The Doctor arrives in a small one street town in Nevada called Dry Springs. He discovers a bar that has what they think is a piece of junk but they're using it to attract tourists by saying that it's a piece of a crashed UFO that landed there five years before. The Doctor rapidly discovers that actually it's not a piece of junk but it really is part of a crashed UFO. That leads him into a confrontation with the US army, Men in Black and ten foot tall bug eyed monsters!"

Where did the idea come from?
"I just thought it would be quite cool to work that kind of established - if you can call it that - UFO mythology into Doctor Who. The Doctor's never been to Dreamland or Area 51 - as far as I'm aware we've never done an episode set in America - and these animation episodes are all about doing stories we could never do in the live-action series. Doing a story set in Nevada and doing it with ten foot tall monsters and flying saucers and grey aliens just seemed like a great idea. I've always been a fan of the 1950s B movies like Them so that's really where that came from."

Where does it fit in the Doctor's timeline?
"It's set after 'Waters of Mars'. It's a much more light-hearted story than 'Waters of Mars' or the story that will follow it. As I think Russell said elsewhere, just because of the dark ending of 'Waters of Mars' it doesn't necessarily mean the rest of the journey is going to be doom-laden. The Doctor stops off for a bowl of chili - the kind of chili you could only get in an American diner before 1962, as he says!"

Georgia Moffett is in the episode - was there ever a question of bringing Jenny back as The Doctor's daughter?
"No, there was never any question of bringing Jenny back. In terms of using Georgia it was purely that Gary Russell who directed it - and who was casting it - really wanted Georgia. She makes a great Cassie as well."

You co-wrote 'Waters of Mars' - are you pleased with the general reaction to it?
"In that they say it's the scariest Doctor Who ever? Yes, very! I have to say that before it went out we were saying that it was a very scary Doctor Who because I thought it was and that's the sort of Doctor Who that I remember from when I was a kid. I kind of wanted it to be scary. From my first draft it was always quite scary but I have to say the scariest thing about it is the sight we see of The Doctor at the end, which is very much Russell's input. You can't get away from the fact that a lot of the impact of that episode - much as I'm quite prepared to soak up all of the kudos! - goes to Russell, of course. He wanted the Doctor to go on a dark journey and that's what he does on 'Waters of Mars'."

Why does it go dark? It was shocking to see that side of The Doctor.
"Yes. Well there's always been a dark side to The Doctor I think and I suppose it's this question of power and the fact that power can corrupt. Suddenly, after having thought that he was a victim for so long, The Doctor realises that actually he's a winner - he's the last of the Time Lords and he has this power over time. It's an enormous power and - just for a short period of time - that power consumes him. It's for the best of reasons, he's decided to save as many people as he can do but with great power comes responsibility. Just for a moment he's consumed by it. It goes back to a scene that Russell wrote way back in 'The Runaway Bride' when Donna tells The Doctor that he needs somebody to be with him. He needs that human companion to ground him."

How do you feel about David leaving?
"Obviously I'm kind of gutted by it because he's been a brilliant Doctor but at the same time I'm sure we have a brilliant Doctor waiting in the wings - well, not even waiting in the wings - down in Cardiff making another bunch of great episodes. I think it was an emotional time for everybody when David left because he, perhaps more than any Doctor before him, took that role and made it something so special. The Doctor has grown while David has been in that incarnation. I've no doubt I will weep absolute buckets in the final episode but at the same time Matt looks brilliant from what I've seen and what I've read of the new series. It's going to be stunning."

Was Dreamland David's last time playing The Doctor?
"Actually the final time he played The Doctor was in The Sarah Jane Adventures. We recorded the soundtrack for Dreamland over a weekend and he may actually have still been working on the final episode of Who at that point, so it would have been before he went and shot Sarah Jane. His final time in the long coat and everything was actually making The Sarah Jane Adventures. It's just the way TV schedules run in terms of filming."

That had a great final scene...
"I'm such a wuss! I've seen that scene so many times as well - it's just such an emotional scene. It wouldn't work as well, perhaps, if we didn't know what was coming because we know that the next time Sarah Jane sees him, if she ever sees him again, it will be a different Doctor. There's so much in that scene - it's fabulous. Sarah Jane is so emotionally raw in that scene as well having just lost the man she was going to marry. Gareth wrote an amazing episode, it was a fabulous story."

It seemed like Sarah Jane was saying goodbye to David Tennant too - the lines had a double meaning.
"'We will never forget you' - that's absolutely it. I don't think we ever will forget to love David Tennant as The Doctor and that's absolutely how it should be."

You're part of the circle of Doctor Who writers - is it hard to stay away from spoilers or not give them away?
"I've had it knocked into me - don't forget I did Coronation Street for five years so I'm used to not giving stuff away! It's such a temptation to talk about things that are coming up but, having said that, I know very little about the last two episodes. Those episodes have been so well-protected by everyone that's had anything to do with them because the last thing we want is spoilers getting out to spoil it all. I've never understood that spoiler mentality and why people would want to know what's going to happen or want to spoil it for people. Back on The Street we would constantly struggle against leaks getting out. It used to get me angry, to be honest, that people would let out big story points. The whole point of this is surprise. If it was down to me, people wouldn't know anything about an episode before it went out!"

Bernard Cribbins told us that even he wasn't given the final three pages of the final script so he doesn't know what happens...
"I'm saying nothing!"

What else have you got coming up?
"We're at the early stages of planning the new series of Sarah Jane - we're not actually greenlit yet but it's no secret that we're actually working on storylines and hopefully we'll be moving on to getting a new series underway before long. The other things I've got on I can't tell you about I'm afraid! It's terrible being so secretive."

Dreamland airs Saturday at 10am on BBC Two.

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