 This story guest stars Lindsay Duncan playing the part of Base Commander Adelaide Brooke. Even though she only makes a one-off appearance in the show her name appears in the opening credits.
Peter O'Brien, who plays Ed Gold – Adelaide Brooke's second in command, is more famous for being in Neighbours and Casualty.
Chook Sibtain previously played Mark Grantham in the 2007 The Sarah Jane Adventures story "Warriors of Kudlak".
"The Waters of Mars" was initially due to be broadcast as a Christmas special and several festive references remain. Its original title was "Red Christmas".
In the build up for this story co-writer and Executive Producer, Russell T Davies, has was reported as saying that "The Waters of Mars" will be a very scary story for Doctor Who – describing it as ‘nightmarish’.
Director Graeme Harper previous credits on the show include "Army of Ghosts/Doomsday", "Utopia" and "The Stolen Earth/Journey's End".
This is the first time The Doctor has visited Mars since the 1975 Fourth Doctor story "The Pyramids of Mars".
The space suit The Doctor’s is seen to wear when he exits the TARDIS is the same type he used during "The Impossible Planet/The Satan Pit". A similar variant also appeared in "42". The only slight modification made for "The Waters of Mars" is to the helmet.
They may be the first but The Doctor has already encountered many humans attempting to develop outposts on alien planets. The idea of humans struggling to establish settlements on other worlds has been explored in many Doctor Who stories including "The Ark", "Colony in Space", "Frontios" and "Utopia".
The name of the base, Bowie Base One, is a reference to the David Bowie song ‘Life on Mars’.
Much of the scenes in the bio-sphere were filmed at the National Botanic Garden of Wales in Carmarthenshire. It is rumoured that Russell T Davies got the idea to utilise the location when he saw it advertised on a bus!
Adelaide Brooke reveals to The Doctor that the reason she became such a high ranking cosmonaut was directly due to the events of "The Stolen Earth/Journey's End" where, as a young girl, she came face-to-face with a Dalek, who spared her life. This flashback scene shows events in this earlier story including a Dalek cameo.
At one point we see a written news item which gives background detail about the team's journey and arrival on Mars. It reads: 'Mission Control in Houston breathed a sigh of relief when the first words via satellite communication were received from Bowie Base One, the first colony set up on Mars. After a long two year journey travelling 56 million kilometres from Earth in the shuttle Apollo 34, Captain Adelaide Brooke and her seven strong team landed safely on the planet Mars and in the most historic moment in space exploration have started the first off world colony in the Bowie Base One in the Gusev Crater on Mars'. The Gusev Crater actually exists and was named after the Russian astronomer, Matvei Gusev.
During this story The Doctor twice refers to the Ice Warriors who originated on Mars long before the events depicted in this story. At one point The Doctor calls them 'a fine and noble race'. The Ice Warriors are a Martian species who twice attempted to take over Earth but were foiled on both occasions by The Doctor. When he later encountered them on the planet Peladon he found they had rejected their bellicose attitude in favour of a peaceful, noble approach. The Doctor has encountered this proud, Martian race in "The Ice Warriors", "The Seeds of Death", "The Curse of Peladon", "The Monster of Peladon" as well as in numerous books and audio adventures.
It is also implied in this story that the Ice Warriors were the ones who froze the aquatic infection (known as The Flood) to stop it spreading.
The Doctor is heard to reflect back to events which we saw in "The Fires of Pompeii", referring to both events being fixed points in time. In that story he also grappled with the dilemma of whether to interfere with history in order to save lives. His companion Donna Noble begged him to rescue one family from the volcano that destroyed Pompeii and he agreed, whisking Caecilius, his wife and their children to safety in the TARDIS.
The Doctor initially expresses distaste for Gadget, the remote-controlled robot. He is heard to say that he hates robots (possibly a reference to Experimental Prototype Robot K1 ("Robot") or any number of the countless robots he has previously encountered) but is heard to state, ‘Ah, well, dogs... That's different’ - alluding to K9.
The reference to 'They said he will knock four times' comes from Carmen's prophesy that The Doctor's end was imminent, made towards the close of "Planet of the Dead".
Ood Sigma (who is seen at the end of this story when The Doctor realises the severity what he has done) previously appeared in "Planet of the Ood", where he likewise predicted not only the events of "The Stolen Earth/Journey's End", but the Tenth Doctor's death.
At the end of this story, whilst The Doctor stands alone in the TARDIS we again hear the Cloister Bell. This first featured in the 1980 story "Logopolis" when The Doctor explained, 'It's a sort of communications device reserved for wild catastrophes and sudden calls to man the battle stations'. Actually it warns of impending danger and was later heard in "Castrovalva", "Resurrection of the Daleks" and more recently it tolled in "The Sound of Drums" and "Turn Left".
Before the end titles there is a dedication that reads 'In Memory of Barry Letts, 1925 – 2009'. Barry Letts worked on Doctor Who in many capacities, most notably as the show's producers during the early 1970s. Sadly, he died in October 2009.
"The Waters of Mars" is the first story, other than a Christmas special, to premiere on a Sunday. "The Christmas Invasion" was broadcast on a Sunday but this was because Christmas Day, in 2005, fell on a Sunday.
Following on immediately after this story, on BBC3, was an episode of Doctor Who Confidential called "Is There Life On Mars?" presented by Anthony Head. This programme was released in full in The Complete Specials Box Set in January 2010.
In September 2010 this story won the 2010 Hugo Award for 'Best Dramatic Presentation, Short Form'.
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The Firsts:
The first time The Doctor has visited Mars in the revived television series and the first since the 1975 Fourth Doctor story "The Pyramids of Mars".
The first story, other than a Christmas special, to premiere on a Sunday.
The first Doctor Who story to be written by Phil Ford.
Gary Russell's first involvement in the show as Script Editor.
Nikki Wilson's first involvement in the show as Producer.
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(Position = 1 out of 10)
(Position = 43 out of 241)
