Following the release of the UK transmission date, BBC America has confirmed The Waters of Mars will air in the US on Saturday December 19 at 9:00pm ET/PT.

Tennant's final two stories will then air over the holiday season as a two-part special. Airdates will be released in early December.

The BBC will release The Waters of Mars and the two-part finale on DVD and Blu-ray on Tuesday, February 2, 2010 both as individual releases and also as part of a 5 disc specials collection including The Next Doctor and Planet of the Dead.

David Tennant today launched The Waters of Mars, which airs on Sunday November 15 at 7pm on BBC One. The episode is the second Doctor Who special to be screened this year, and Tennant will also star in two more shows before bowing out at Christmas.

Tennant said he was excited for new Doctor Matt Smith, saying: "I remember how exciting it was starting out on this kind of a journey and nerve-wracking. I'm jealous that he's going through that now - but it couldn't happen to a nicer chap. I'm looking forward to not knowing what happens next. I'm looking forward to being a viewer again."

Of the special, Tennant said: "The Doctor finds himself in a situation where he knows what the end is. It's all about whether he can un-knit the inevitable. With this particular Time Lord's life coming to an end, if he starts fiddling with the fundamentals of time and space, it might lead to his undoing."



Tennant said: "The Doctor now knows incontrovertibly that he's running from his own demise." He described shooting the final scenes as "emotional" but said that as they were filmed out of sequence, the situation did not get too weepy. The actor said the last line he said as the Doctor was: "'You two, with me, spit spot'... so it was robbed of any epic quality. It was very emotional saying cheerio. Filming the final scene was very, very sad. There's lots of scenes in the final, final story that are very sad and were very sad to play."

Tennant spoke about the big opportunities that arose in killing off the current tenth incarnation of the Doctor, to take the story "to places we've never quite been before". He said: "It allows it to be bigger and more epic and wilder... and sadder."

Tennant said he had originally felt under some pressure in taking on the role, saying: "It means so much to so many people. It meant so much to me." He said the bit he would miss the most was "when the new script comes. That was always such a thrill. It was always surprising." Asked if he felt he was in danger of becoming typecast, Tennant said: "I seem to have managed to do quite a variety of things while I've been doing Doctor Who. I haven't felt that it has been anything other than a positive." The star said he had his own sonic screwdriver which he kept locked up in a "secure location" in case his house was burgled.

On playing the role, he said: "You're not really expected to follow what went before, you're sort of expected to go your own way and mess it up a little bit the Doctor is different each time. You know James Bond is always James Bond and Tarzan is always Tarzan and Sherlock Holmes is always Sherlock Holmes but the Doctor is up to you, it's a blank sheet and you can scribble all over it, it's up to you."

He compared the job to being the United States president, saying: "You always get to be called the Doctor."

At the launch, Executive producer Russell T Davies confirmed The Waters of Mars will be dedicated to former producer Barry Letts. Davies paid tribute to his predecessor saying "He was one of the finest producers of Doctor Who and many programmes.. He used to do the Sunday afternoon classic serials and he actually produced the Jon Pertwee years. And then he cast Tom Baker. He cast Lis Sladen as well. He was an extraordinary figure in Doctor Who history and in pop culture – and he passed away, sadly. So, of course, we wanted to have that tribute to him on screen."

The launch has been covered by BBC News, The Guardian and BBC Newsbeat.

Journalist Ian Wylie has posted the full transcript of the press launch with Tennant and Davies on his blog.

The forthcoming special The Waters of Mars will be broadcast on Sunday 15th November at 7:00pm; the date and time were confirmed by David Tennant during this morning's GMTV.

The press preview for the episode is also due to take place today.

The BBC press office has released details of the forthcoming special The Waters of Mars. The episode is currently unplaced in the schedule, but is expected to be shown in mid November.

The BBC Press Office has published details of the line-up for this year's BBC Children in Need charity appeal, with which Doctor Who has long had an association. This year the programme is once again featured, with what the release describes as "An exclusive preview of the Doctor Who Christmas special." Last year there was a similar preview for the 2008 Christmas special, "The Next Doctor", with the pre-titles sequence for this episode being shown, a month in advance of its broadcast.

This year's Children in Need night takes place on Friday 20th November, broadcasting from 7pm on BBC One.

This month's Doctor Who Magazine confirms the title of David Tennant's swansong to be The End of Time. The final episode will be 75 minutes long, with the penultimate episode running to 60 minutes. Former James Bond, Timothy Dalton will play The Narrator in these final episodes where he is joined by Bernard Cribbins as Wilfred Mott, June Whitfield playing Minnie Hooper, Catherine Tate returning as Donna Noble and John Simm as the Master.

The magazine once more features the Fourth Doctor, Tom Baker, on the cover, the first time since issue 258 that Baker has featured on the cover two months running. Inside can be found the second part of DWM's interview with the longest running Doctor, in advance of his return to the role, with the release of Hornets' Nest next month. The magazine was present at the recording and gives a full report on proceedings, including interviews with the cast and crew.

Also in the magazine

• Sixth Doctor companion actress, Nicola Bryant takes her turn to delve into the TARDIS tin!
• The Doctor turns sleuth as he races to save New Old Detroit from the ominously-named World Bomb in the complete new comic-strip adventure, The Deep Hereafter with words by Dan McDaid and art by Rob Davis.
• Everything you need to know about the Doctor’s Sixth and most colourful incarnation in one easy package, thanks to The Watcher and his continuing guide to the lives of our favourite Time Lord.
• Step back in time to 1974 with The Fact of Fiction and take a look at the Fourth Doctor’s first adventure, Robot.
• The Time Team’s Richard, Peter, Jac and Clay turn their square eyes to The Curse of Fenric and share their thoughts on this terrifying tale of World War II espionage, vampires and chess games.
• Mary Tamm, who was the first incarnation of the Fourth Doctor’s companion, Romana talks to DWM about writing her autobiography and being a grandmother.
• Outgoing Doctor Who supremo, Russell T Davies reflects on life in America, (including the revelation of chicken sausages) and his thoughts on the Eleventh Doctor’s costume.
• There’s a photo special in this month’s Gallifrey Guardian rounding up all the pictures and coverage for the first day of filming for next year’s Series One, starring Matt Smith.
• Neil Harris celebrates the unseen heroes of Doctor Who, including Leonardo Da Vinci who has the honour of not appearing in the series on two separate occasions!

The BBC's offical Doctor Who site has now been updated with more information on the forthcoming Autumn special, The Waters of Mars, with a preview gallery, wallpapers, and a video clip of a scene from the episode - with a note to say that some people might find the scene upsetting!

Various news sources online and in print - including science-fiction website io9 and British tabloid newspaper the Sun - have in recent days been running a picture from behind-the-scenes of David Tennant's forthcoming two-part finale in Doctor Who. The image, apparently a screen grab from a video, shows Tennant along with guest star Timothy Dalton and another actor, whose presence in the story may be considered a spoiler, so his name is given in the spoiler box below.

Dalton's role in the forthcoming specials is not currently known.

UK news service The Sun is reporting that former James Bond star Timothy Dalton will appear in one of the final specials starringDavid Tennant as the Doctor.

Dalton, star of The Living Daylights and License to Kill, is reportedly playing a villain in the Who episode.

As always, treat all such reports as rumour until confirmed from official sources.