The series was meant to be fantastical to stand out from other science-fiction and fantasy shows, and the production team strove for a fairy-tale quality because Moffat believed that media aimed at children were some of the most popular among adults.

[16] Alex Kingston, who played River Song in the series 4 episodes "Silence in the Library" and "Forest of the Dead", reprised her role in the two-part stories "The Time of Angels" and "Flesh and Stone" and "The Pandorica Opens" and "The Big Bang".

[22] Guest stars in the series included Olivia Colman, James Corden, Annette Crosbie, Tony Curran, Iain Glen, Daisy Haggard, Terrence Hardiman, Tom Hopper, Toby Jones, Helen McCrory, Neve McIntosh, Ian McNeice, Patrick Moore, Stephen Moore, Lucian Msamati, Bill Nighy, Sophie Okonedo, Bill Paterson, Alex Price, Robert Pugh, Nia Roberts, Mike Skinner, Meera Syal and Nina Wadia.

Its premise would have been similar to the beginning of "The Eleventh Hour" as broadcast: Had David stayed for one final year, it would certainly have been his last, so my pitch was that it would start with the Tardis crashing in Amelia’s back garden – as now – and a terribly battered and bruised Tenth Doctor staggering out.

But when he returns – many years later for Amy – he seems perfectly fine, and indeed doesn’t remember any of those events…And of course over time, we realise what we saw was the Tenth Doctor at the end of his life, about to regenerate.

[43] For the next episode, Moffat asked comedy writer Simon Nye to write a story which challenged the relationship between Amy and the Doctor.

Moffat extended an open invitation to return, but Shearman declined, citing changes in his career and the higher profile of screenwriters attracted to the show.

[76] A new TARDIS prop was used, with the St John Ambulance logo which had been used in the early days of the show and the mid-1960s Peter Cushing films (of which Moffat was a fan).

[88] Moffat wrote that in a typical television production the first day of filming "will probably be something fairly inconsequential and involve a minor character getting shot, or a close up of a hand or something", rather than the "iconic" scene with the Doctor, Amy, River Song and the TARDIS.

[91] Scenes for Amy and Rory's town of Leadworth in the first episode, "The Eleventh Hour", were filmed in the village of Llandaff in Cardiff over a number of days in the autumn of 2009: 29 September, 5–7 October, and 20 November.

[93] Scenes for "Cold Blood" were also filmed at the Plantasia botanical garden in Swansea on 13 November 2009,[94] and in Cardiff's Temple of Peace and other locations and unusual sets for the Silurian city.

[60][96] Although a small crew went to Venice for wide shots of coastal buildings, the episode was not filmed there because it would take too long to cover up the modern shops in the present-day city.

[96] Scenes for "The Vampires of Venice" were also filmed at Atlantic College, Caerphilly Castle, Castell Coch, Trogir's town hall, and Llancaich Fawr Manor.

[100] Production blocks were arranged as follows:[17] The first trailer of the series was shown on television and released online shortly after the broadcast of the second part of "The End of Time" on 1 January 2010.

[107] Promotional touring for the series began on 29 March and ended two days later, with Smith and Gillan presenting the first episode in Belfast, Inverness, Sunderland, Salford and Northampton.

[121][122] The fourth and final volume, with "Vincent and the Doctor", "The Lodger", "The Pandorica Opens" and "The Big Bang", was released on DVD and Blu-ray on 6 September.

[127] It contained the two "Meanwhile, in the TARDIS" additional scenes, profiles of enemies in "The Monster Files", abridged versions of Doctor Who Confidential, out-takes, in-vision commentaries, video diaries, and trailers and promos for the series.

On 22 April 2010, the first three (Apollo 23 by Justin Richards, Night of the Humans by David Llewellyn, and The Forgotten Army by Brian Minchin) were published with the Eleventh Doctor and Amy.

[144][145][146] On 8 July 2010, three more novels were published: Nuclear Time by Oli Smith, The Glamour Chase by Gary Russell and The King's Dragon by Una McCormack, with the Doctor, Amy and Rory.

[154] A two-disc soundtrack with 63 tracks of the score from this series (from "The Eleventh Hour" to "The Big Bang"), composed by Murray Gold, was released on 8 November 2010 on Silva Screen Records.

Doctor Who: The Adventure Games will offer fans a unique opportunity to enter his world, face his challenges and grapple with his deadliest foes.

The likes of "The Eleventh Hour", the "Time of Angels/Flesh and Stone" two-parter, "Amy's Choice" and the series closing double-bill of "The Pandorica Opens" and "The Big Bang" delivered absolutely mesmerising TV gold.

The series garnered a 100% approval from 14 critics—an average rating of 9/10 on the review aggregation website Rotten Tomatoes, which said, "Doctor Who morphs once again into an enchanting odyssey in its fifth season, spearheaded by Matt Smith's endlessly endearing incarnation of the Time Lord.

"[206] Matt Wales of IGN gave the series a "great" rating of 8.5 out of 10, saying that it "mightn't have been perfect" but rebooted the show "with a burst of creative energy" and "got bold, exciting, witty, smart, home-grown event television back on the small screen".

Although he considered her "thoroughly watchable" (particularly her chemistry with Smith), he criticised the character as "frequently painted in largely two-dimensional strokes that made for a brash, sometimes irritating turn" and the series as a whole for lacking "heart to ground the elaborate sci-fi trimmings".

[208] In a review of the first six episodes, Dan Martin of The Guardian thought that they were strong and "generally funnier [and] appears to have rewritten the rule that said Doctor Who had to out-epic itself every year".

[211] Slice of SciFi reviewer Michael Hickerson praised Moffat's "fascinating" story arc, which made the series more consistent; it gave the audience answers as it went along, and explored its impact on the characters.

[212] Radio Times's Patrick Mulkern praised Moffat for "[rebooting] the series with an ambitious game-plan, a delightful fairy-tale vibe adults can enjoy too, and [finding] stars in Matt Smith, Karen Gillan and Arthur Darvill".

[214] Digital Spy ranked the programme the third-best of 2010, saying that it "gave us some terrific episodes — the beautifully tragic 'Vincent and the Doctor', the wonderfully-paced opener and the well-imagined finale ... but also the multi-colored monstrosity 'Victory of the Daleks'.

"[215] After the broadcast of "The Eleventh Hour" (which introduced Amy as a kissogram, in a skimpy policewoman outfit, who watched the Doctor change into his new costume), it was reported that several viewers criticised the character and her occupation online as "not fitting for a family show".