Writer Tim Foley said: I'm delighted to be sending the Doctor and Rose into deep space! And it's the deepest kind of space at that, where impossible things lurk in the dark. But perhaps the light can be scarier than the dark... I’ve always wanted to write a brutal, gothic space adventure, so I can't wait for you to meet the Knights of Atlas, and their curious damsel in distress, played by the brilliant Doon Mackichan."

Director Helen Goldwyn added: "We’ve left the Powell Estate behind and the Doctor and Rose are back out exploring time and space together again. What's lovely about this is that we've seen both facets of their relationship - the Doctor has had to slot into Rose's world and now she's in his domain, although she's learned quite a lot along the way already.

"This story draws in influences from folk tales, medieval stories and even pirate stories. It's a lovely mishmash of all these different influences. Every script I've worked on by Tim has thrilled me. He's just so original and his voice is so distinctive as a writer."