Series 5 ( Doctor Who ) Series 5 of " Doctor Who " , also known as season 31 for clarity over season 5 , began its run on BBC One on 3 April 2010 , — almost twenty - one months after the last episode of the previous regular series — and ended on 26 June 2010 . It was notable for being the debut series for Eleventh Doctor Matt Smith and for introducing a new companion , Karen Gillan ' s Amy Pond and later Arthur Darvill ' s Rory Williams . From a production standpoint , the series featured the largest number of staff changes since the BBC Wales version debuted in 2005 . By far the most publicised was Steven Moffat ' s replacement of Russell T Davies as head writer , but whole departments within the production got new leadership , as well . The trailer for the series was yet again narrative , with new material filmed . Overview . New production team . In the spring of 2008 , it was announced that Steven Moffat , who had written Hugo Award - winning or - nominated scripts for the revived series in each of its first four seasons and whose association with " Doctor Who " dated back to his writing the Comic Relief parody " The Curse of Fatal Death " in the late 1990s , would succeed Russell T Davies as head writer and producer of the series . Davies officially retire d from involvement with the series after the 2009 specials and announced he had no plans to retain any direct connection to the series now Moffat ' s tenure had begun . However , in 2009 he said he would remain involved with production of " Torchwood " for the foreseeable future , and hoped to see further crossovers with " Doctor Who " , indicating he might not completely sever his ties with the parent show . Though a single 2010 two - parter of " The Sarah Jane Adventures " , " Death of the Doctor " , featured the Eleventh Doctor and former companion Jo Grant , the following year , Russell T Davies ' " Doctor Who " spin - off " The Sarah Jane Adventures " was cancelled . Following " Torchwood : Miracle Day " s broadcast in 2011 and Davies ' return to the United Kingdom , " Torchwood " has also been put on hold . Moffat stated that no characters from the Russell T Davies era would return in series 5 . This did not prove entirely true . River Song , a Moffat - created character from the Russell T Davies era , returned in four episodes of this series . Fellow executive producer Julie Gardner also left at the end of 2009 . She was replaced by Piers Wenger . Beth Willis was added as a third executive producer — giving the show three execs for the first time since Mal Young left at the end of Series 1 . The line producer of the series — a position once held by Phil Collinson — was split between Tracie Simpson and Peter Bennett , two members of the production staff who had risen to prominence during the 2009 specials . For the first time since 2005 , the series also credited a co - producer , Patrick Schweitzer , for episodes 6 and 10 , the two episodes filmed in Croatia . Other senior members of the production staff , such as production designer Ed Thomas and composer Murray Gold remained at their posts . Several departments underwent big changes beginning with " The Eleventh Hour " . Directors of photography Rory Taylor and Ernie Vincze — who between them had fairly evenly split responsibilities since 2005 — left , along with Davies and Gardner . They were replaced by a series of individuals , each handling only one or two episodes of the series . The costume department came under the leadership of Ray Holman , who replaced Louise Page , the longest - serving designer since the Hartnell era costumer Daphne Dare . The change , however , was not just the replacement of one individual with another , as Holman brought in members of his design company to fill junior positions in the costume department . Series 5 also saw a subtler behind - the - scenes change , especially for the more junior members of the production team . Combined with the general economic downturn that saw an across - the - board cut in jobs , it was also the first year since 2004 that " Torchwood " was not in some stage of production at BBC Wales . This meant there was some job competition at the Upper Boat Studios . Some long - term members of staff left the studios completely , while others took effective reductions in rank to remain . Arwel Wyn Jones , for instance , went from being the supervising art director for the previous two series to alternating set decorating duties with Julian Luxton . Still others remained in Wales , but shifted to Moffat ' s other Welsh production , " Sherlock " , or found placement on , or other BBC Wales programmes . Series numbering . The run - up to the broadcast of the series premiere was characterised by confusing and sometimes contradictory indications from BBC sources . According to issue 410 of " Doctor Who Magazine " , the BBC intended to begin the numbering of seasons yet again to reflect the change of production team . Thus , the 2010 season would ostensibly be marketed as " Series 1 " . A December 2009 announcement by the BBC regarding the show filming in Croatia also referred to the upcoming season as " Series 1 . " This seemed to be supported by photographs of location filming , which clearly showed clappers labelled " Series 1 " . This suggested that , at least internally , the production team believed it was , indeed , a " first " series . However , in early 2010 , Steven Moffat indicated in issue 418 of " Doctor Who Magazine " that this season would be referred to as " Season 31 " . In his column in issue 417 , Moffat addressed the confusion humorously , suggesting the season be called " Series Fnarg " . " It ' s a whole new number , " he wrote . " I haven ' t decided yet , but I think it ' s even . " Muddying the waters even further , BBC Video announced on 3 March 2010 that the first DVD release of episodes from the series , scheduled for issue in the UK in June 2010 , would be titled " Series Five , Volume 1 " . As of late June 2010 , there were conflicting sources which each marketed the series differently . BBC iPlayer listed it as series 5 , as did the DVD releases but on the " Doctor Who " website , they added a gallery called series 1 wallpapers . Even in the weeks immediately following series broadcast there was no definite information on the " official " numbering system for this series . However , from around the time of the full series DVD and Blu - ray box set , the name of this series firmly resolved into " series 5 " . The numbering of later series also firmly confirmed that this was indeed " series 5 " . New TARDIS team . During his acceptance speech for the award for Best Drama Performance at the National Television Awards on 29th October 2008 , David Tennant announced that he would not return for the 5th series . As the Tenth Doctor ' s companion , Donna Noble , had been ostensibly written out by the time , Tennant ' s announcement set up the possibility that series 5 would begin with a completely new set of starring actors . Aside from the special case of " Rose " , the only reasonably analogous situation in the history of " Doctor Who " was the start of Jon Pertwee ' s first season . On 3rd January 2009 , during a special episode of " Doctor Who Confidential " entitled " The Eleventh Doctor " , the BBC announced that Matt Smith would be playing the Eleventh Doctor . Smith succeeded Tennant in the last scene of " The End of Time " and Smith ' s Doctor was seen crashing towards the Earth in a flaming , badly damaged TARDIS . That scene also confirmed that the Doctor would almost certainly sever connections with previous companions , making way for the introduction of new co - star Karen Gillan , who would play the character of Amy Pond . New icons . In addition to the cast and crew changes , many of the other continuing elements of the show also underwent major redesigns at the start of the series . Most conspicuous was the 6 October 2009 unveiling of a new series logo — the first significant departure from the one that debuted on " Rose " . Likewise , the TARDIS itself got a noticeable exterior and radical interior make - over . British tabloid media reported the switch was due to the show ' s switch to high - definition production , although periodic revisions to the TARDIS are nothing new to the series . Changes both major and minor have occurred numerous times since 1963 . Along with the TARDIS change came a substantially redesigned sonic screwdriver , which was expected to remain the Doctor ' s all - purpose tool as it has been since the series returned in 2005 . A new " Doctor Who " theme arrangement was introduced , replacing the version introduced for the 2007 Christmas special . Discounting closing - credit variations and versions devised for non - series events , this was Murray Gold ' s third major arrangement of the Ron Grainer / Delia Derbyshire theme . Gold had now arranged more versions of the theme for TV than any other composer . Although some reviews referred to it as a new theme , it was still recognisably the same piece of music dating from 1963 . Television stories . Story arc . Shortly after the airing of the first episode , Matt Smith discussed the cracks in time and the mention of silence falling , telling the interviewer that they would be a key to the series story arc . He also mentioned that the crack might be one of five things that viewers needed to look out for throughout the series . The other four things remained unknown . In " The Eleventh Hour " , there was one on Amy ' s wall and one with a similar shape on the TARDIS scanner , which the Doctor looked at worriedly and quickly turned the screen off . A third crack was seen at the end of " The Beast Below " on the side of the United Kingdom space ship . The fourth one was seen at the end of " Victory of the Daleks " on the wall behind the TARDIS right as it disappeared . The crack played a major role in " Flesh and Stone " , appearing inside the " Byzantium " in the 51st century , larger than ever and prompting the Doctor to begin investigating it . The crack was connected to a history - ending , Big Bang - scale temporal explosion , on 26 . 06 . 2010 at Amy ' s wedding . It leaked time energy into the universe . This caused people and events to be erased from history , leaving no traces of their existence except in the memories of time travellers . Several events erased from time by the crack included the Cybermen creating the CyberKing in Victorian London and the Dalek invasion of 2009 , both of which occurred late in the Russell T Davies era . The Doctor closed the crack by feeding it an army of Weeping Angel s ( because they are complicated space - time events ) , but this was only temporary . The crack next appeared towards the end of " Cold Blood " during Rory ' s death scene . The Doctor reached inside the crack and drew a part of the TARDIS from inside it . ( TV : " Cold Blood " ) In " The Lodger " , a crack was seen behind Craig Owens ' fridge . A crack appeared on the TARDIS ' television screen in " The Pandorica Opens " , just before River Song left the TARDIS , whilst the words , " Silence will fall " , were heard just after she left . Adaptations and merchandising . Home media . DVD . All episodes of Series 5 were released in 2010 . Soundtrack . According to Who Online , the soundtrack for series 5 was released on 8th November , 2010 .