2009 Specials and series 5

Filming Schedule:
Filming has wrapped for the 2008 Christmas special. Filming for the 2009 specials will commence in January 2009 (Tennant will begin filming on the 9th Jan) with the filming for series 5 starting later that Spring.

Format
The Christmas Special for 2008 has already been filmed. In 2009 there will be either three or four hour-long specials, one of which will broadcast at Easter and another of which will broadcast on Christmas 2009. Two will be written by RTD, and the rest will be co-written by him

And as for how many specials there are:
Three specials were mentioned in the original press release. DT confirmed four on the Andrew Marr show. DWM 397 also confirmed four specials for 2009. The Guardian said there were five in total. The latest information from Julie Gardner mentions four specials (including Christmas 2008) then mentions DT coming back to film them.

Speculation:
One of the Specials may be taking place partially or entirely in a location outside the UK.

For the Christmas Special:
Many have speculated this is based on the audio "The One Doctor" - according to "very good, close sources", this episode is indeed based on that audio, and is a light comedy after the tearjerker of the finale. DM is the fake Doctor, and the Cybershades are fakes made by Morrissey's character, only for the real Cybermen (and the real Doctor) to show up...

Casting

* Ace (Sophie Aldred)
* McGann rumoured to return in the second 2009 special, in an episode directed by Graham Harper (heard by a few people but apparently the "latest sources" say this is not happening)
* Brian Blessed may make his return to the show
* Agynes Deyn is reported as being in one of the specials.
* Rumour on IMDB that Bad Girls star Alicia Eyo has been offered a companion role for one of the specials; a role that may play into full-time companion for series 5
* John Simm - instead of a small cameo in series 4, plans were changed to bring the Master in a much bigger way in the specials
* Georgia Moffet may also be returning as Jenny.


Heroes and Villains

* Sea Devils. "The return of The Sea Devils is definitely planned and all preliminary work has long since been concluded."
* Winston Churchill (for specials or series 5) - reputedly TV people asked for his removal from "Revenge of the Judoon" so he could be kept in reserve.
* According to Julie Gardner, characters and storylines from last series will not necessarily be picked up for the specials