The Waters of Mars

201 – "The Waters of Mars"
Doctor Who episode
Maggie, infected with the Flood.
Cast
Doctor David Tennant (Tenth Doctor)
Companion Lindsay Duncan (Adelaide Brooke)
Others Peter O'Brien – Ed Gold Aleksander Mikic – Yuri Kerenski Gemma Chan – Mia Bennett Sharon Duncan Brewster – Maggie Cain Chook Sibtain – Tarak Ital Alan Ruscoe – Andy Stone Cosima Shaw – Steffi Ehrlich Michael Goldsmith – Roman Groom Lily Bevan – Emily Max Bollinger – Mikhail Charlie De'Ath – Adelaide's father Rachel Fewell – Young Adelaide Anouska Strahnz – Ulrika Ehrlich Zofia Strahnz – Lisette Ehrlich Paul Kasey – Ood Sigma
Production
Directed by	Graeme Harper
Written by	Russell T Davies and Phil Ford
Script editor	Gary Russell
Produced by	Nikki Wilson
Executive producer(s)	Russell T Davies Julie Gardner
Incidental music composer	Murray Gold
Production code	4.16
Series	2008–2010 specials
Length	60 minutes
Originally broadcast	15 November 2009
Chronology
← Preceded by Followed by → "Planet of the Dead" The End of Time
List of Doctor Who serials

"The Waters of Mars" is the third episode of the 2008–2010 specials of British science fiction television series Doctor Who, broadcast on BBC One on 15 November 2009. It aired on BBC America on 19 December 2009 and was released on DVD and Blu-ray in the UK on 11 January 2010 and in the US on 2 February 2010. The story is set on Mars in the year 2059 where the Doctor encounters the first human colony, Bowie Base One. This is commanded by Captain Adelaide Brooke who turns out to be a pivotal character in the history of humanity. The Doctor must decide whether to use his knowledge of her fate to change history. According to Doctor Who writer and producer Russell T Davies, the special is closely linked to the next two episodes but is not the first part of a three-part story. The special was dedicated to Barry Letts, the former writer and producer of Doctor Who who died in October 2009. The episode won the 2010 Hugo Award for Best Dramatic Presentation, Short Form.

The Doctor lands his TARDIS on Mars in 2059; while wandering the landscape, he comes across "Bowie Base One", named after David Bowie and the first human colony on the planet. He is detained by its crew, led by Captain Adelaide Brooke. The Doctor learns the current date, and sorrowfully recalls that on this date, the base was destroyed by a nuclear blast with no survivors; the event would cause humanity, including Adelaide's descendants, to further explore the universe and meet interstellar lifeforms, and thus is considered an event "fixed in time". He reluctantly becomes involved in the base's problems when Adelaide cannot communicate with crew members in the remote bio-dome.

In the bio-dome, they find the two crew members (Andy Stone and Tarak Ital): they have become infected by a water-borne virus that causes their bodies to generate copious amounts of water and become zombie-like in movement. The virus is intelligent; it attempts to infect the others through the already-affected crew. Another infected crew member, Maggie Cain, is put into quarantine. Adelaide and the Doctor return to central control and the base is sealed. Studying the infected crew member, the Doctor and Adelaide learn that the virus, calling itself the Flood, desires to go to the water-rich Earth, an event they must not allow to happen. While inspecting the glacier that is the source of the base's water, the Doctor surmises that the Flood was trapped there aeons ago by the Ice Warriors. Adelaide discovers that one of the filters was not properly fitted, which allowed the Flood to enter the bio-dome's water supply. Adelaide realises that the rest of the crew has yet to be exposed to the tainted water, and orders them to prepare to return to Earth via rocket. The Doctor puts on his spacesuit and leaves for the TARDIS, but Adelaide stops him and demands he reveal what he knows; the Doctor sadly explains the fate of the base and its crew.