Dreamland ( TV story ) Dreamland was a " Doctor Who " animated special consisting of a twelve - minute episode and five six - minute episodes . Conjoined , they amounted to one normal - length television episode of 42 minutes . Originally planned as seven six - minute episodes , the first two were edited together , and the six - part run aired on the BBC ' s Red Button service , as well as the BBC ' s Doctor Who website , between 21 and 27 November 2009 . It was then broadcast , complete , on BBC Two on 5 December 2009 , followed by a showing on BBC HD later that day . It was later shown on CBBC from time to time in its complete form . This marked the first six - part story televised since " The Armageddon Factor " , and the first produced since " Shada " , which was completed in 2017 . The special was notable for including David Warner ' s first role in a televised adventure of " Doctor Who " , who had until then only contributed his voice for audio adventures . Synopsis . During a visit to a local diner , the Tenth Doctor stumbles upon a mysterious alien artefact that leads him on a mission to rescue Rivesh Mantilax from the threat of the Viperox and the clutches of the American military . Plot . A ship is being chased by two white ships . It is fired at and crash lands in New Mexico , 13 June 1947 , at the site of Roswell . Dry Springs , Nevada , 11 years later . The TARDIS lands at a diner . The Tenth Doctor meets two people : Cassie Rice and a man called Jimmy . He notices a piece of alien equipment on the table , picks it up and it activates . Two men in black suits are outside the diner . One walks in after a small confrontation . They end up having a brawl . He chases the trio out and they get in Jimmy ' s truck . Jimmy and Cassie tell the Doctor of the Roswell crash and how near they are to Area 51 . Jimmy is convinced that aliens have been killing his cattle as he works at a ranch . Cassie says a cougar did it . The Doctor makes Jimmy stop the truck where he sees a large footprint . The three of them are confronted by a large alien which the Doctor says is a Viperox . Cassie screams piercingly , angering the alien , who threatens to attack them . Jimmy catches and restrains Cassie , and the three of them run for their lives as the Viperox chases them . Suddenly , the Viperox is hit by a missile aimed at it by a helicopter . The helicopter lands and a man walks out and arrests them and takes them to Colonel Stark at Area 51 . At Area 51 the three are locked up in a room together , until Stark arrives and tells them that their minds are to be wiped completely . The Doctor , Cassie , and Jimmy are escorted to the lab by soldiers , who strap them down on operating tables and turn on the gas . Stark taunts the captives for a short while before leaving the room . As he walks out , the Doctor manages to free himself and turn off the gas . He then releases Cassie and Jimmy , and the three of them escape through a ventilation shaft . As they get through they come out and go to a corridor . The alarm rings and soldiers come out . They hide in a lab where they see a blue female alien sealed off behind glass . Soldiers burst in the lab and the Doctor , Cassie , and Jimmy go up a lift . Once the lift gets to the top , however , they are faced with armed gunmen . The Doctor tells his new friends to put their hands up and smile . In General Stark ' s office , a Viperox threatens Colonel Stark that the Colonel ' s failure would have dire consequences for the Earth . The Doctor , Cassie , and Jimmy are being lead to the gas room when they come across an alien ship . The Doctor uses his sonic screwdriver and lowers it . All three enter it and the Doctor launches it . The controls are a bit wonky . General Stark is in the room with the Viperox Leader . He notes that this Doctor is not human . The space ship crash lands . Stark detects this and orders a landing team to search for the Doctor . The trio makes it out of the crash unhurt . They find a ghost town which was abandoned during the gold rush . They enter a room and light a gas lantern . When Jimmy goes to look around , he finds the floor being completely destroyed . A Viperox arm grabs him and pulls him down into a tunnel . The Doctor and Cassie hear his cries and run after his voice . They find Jimmy being tied up in some sort of hardened insect goo . The Doctor confronts the leader Lord Azlok , who detects the Doctor ' s two hearts . While he is distracting them , Cassie lets Jimmy free ; the Doctor learns the Viperox have no interest in conquering Earth - they are merely hunting for an old enemy of theirs . In a bid for protection , Cassie chucks the gas light at the Viperox leader and his guards before the Doctor can learn more . The Doctor , Cassie , and Jimmy run down a tunnel and find eggs of hatched Viperox . The Doctor discovers the Viperox have laid eggs and not brought an army , being very clever . A few tens of young Viperox surround the Doctor , Cassie , and Jimmy . The Viperox Queen is annoyed at the Doctor , so she orders her troops to attack him and his friends . The Doctor , Cassie , and Jimmy run and find a mine cart . The Doctor sets it to go and sets a trap for the baby Viperox . The Viperox get hit in this trap and fall down . The cart speeds along but it crashes into a rock . They climb out of the cart and find four members of the Alliance of Shades . The Men in Black were sent by the Alliance to find evidence of aliens on level five planets and cover them up . Mister Dread , leader of the Men in Black and the man who attacked Jimmy , is among them . The Doctor says they will destroy anything that knows about alien invasions . Their hands turn into guns and they attempt to vaporise the Doctor , Cassie , and Jimmy . They , who turn out to be robots , are immobilised by arrows and defeated by Jimmy ' s grandfather Night Eagle . Night Eagle takes them to an alien he found called Rivesh Mantilax . Rivesh tells the doctor that his wife Seruba Velak is the alien the Doctor , Cassie , and Jimmy found earlier , who had crash landed in 1947 ; her ship was attacked by mercenaries paid to ensure she could not reach negotiations intended to create an alliance against the Viperox . Rivesh tried to find her , but he was shot down by the humans . The reason why he came to Earth was the Viperox were on the verge of winning a long and bloody war with his species , one in which his race had been all but exterminated . After Rivesh has told his story , General Stark walks in and attempts to arrest Rivesh . He announces that the Doctor helped him save the world , but the Doctor feels like that is a bad thing . The Doctor , Cassie , Jimmy , and Night Eagle are being transported to Area 51 by the US army . Night Eagle says that people like Stark are hell bent on destruction , a sentiment the Doctor shares . When they arrive at Area 51 , they are surprised to see Lord Azlok there . Azlok says he and Stark have formed an alliance . The Doctor tells Stark not to trust the Viperox , as their only goal is consuming every world they encounter , but Stark ignores him and Azlok proceeds to tell them that Rivesh ( who has been imprisoned with Seruba ) is a geneticist who had created a weapon capable of killing every Viperox in the universe ; Jimmy supports such an idea , but the Doctor retorts genocide is never a good thing , arguing that even the Viperox can change . Stark reveals that he plans to have Rivesh repurpose the ionic fusion bar to destroy Russia and end the Cold War . Mister Dread walks in , and it is revealed that he was working for Lord Azlok . He has the ionic fusion bar in his hand . The Doctor zaps him with his screwdriver and he is shut down again . He grabs the ionic fusion bar and runs off , leaving his friends behind . Stark chases the Doctor to a roof and warns the Doctor to put the ionic fusion bar down . The Doctor turns Stark around on the idea that the Viperox are enemies ; Stark laughs at the idea of a few bugs conquering Earth , but the Doctor retorts that Rivesh ' s people were far more advanced and they couldn ' t defeat the Viperox ; thus , what chance does humanity have ? The Doctor asks whether Stark wants to be remembered as the man who saved the world or the one who destroyed it . Convinced , Stark orders his men to arrest Azlok , but the Viperox leader , who has heard everything , bursts in . Stark declares Azlok a prisoner of the United States Army , but Azlok sneers that the Viperox have laid waste to entire galaxies ; the United States and Earth pose no threat . The Doctor advises the Viperox to leave Earth while they still can , but Azlok retorts that possession of the genetic weapon means nothing because it is useless without Rivesh . Taking wing , Azlok declares he will destroy the Earth and then flies off . The Doctor and Stark run down to the room where Rivesh and Seruba are . Cassie , Jimmy , and Night Eagle are there and Seruba is cradling Rivesh ; seriously injured by Azlok , he is near death . The weapon is attuned to Rivesh ' s DNA ; thus , no one can activate it but him . This is why Azlok tried to kill him . Seruba says there is something in the ship that could revive him . Stark says that anything found in the ship was stored in Area 51 Vault . With only an hour until sunset and the Viperox ' s impending attack , the Doctor , Cassie , Jimmy , Seruba , and Stark arrive at the vault . The Doctor asks Jimmy and Cassie to defend the TARDIS and nearby Dry Springs . Inside the Vault , the Doctor and Seruba look for the device they need . In the Viperox lair , Azlok gets the Viperox Queen to release her newly hatched brood so that they will destroy the whole town . The Doctor in the Vault comes across the Skorpius Flies , a carnivorous alien brain with alien flies hovering around it . Seruba tells the doctor she has found the device that could revive Rivesh . The Skorpius Flies chase after them until the Doctor finds a crate and hides inside . At the Area 51 base , Stark is informed that they are getting reports of Viperox attacks . He orders a row of tanks to block the Viperox off . The Doctor and Seruba avoid the flies by escaping in the crate that has been serving as their hiding place . Cassie and Jimmy are driving along with the TARDIS strapped to their pick - up . Viperox begin to emerge from the ground and one bursts its way up in front of Jimmy ' s truck . Jimmy manages to swerve and drives off while the Viperox chase them . Helicopters fly overhead and fire at flying Viperox . Stark is annoyed that they are losing . Lord Azlok storms in and tries to get the truth of where the Doctor is . The Doctor and Seruba meanwhile have escaped the vault . They then drive a Jeep to the base , where they see that it ' s under heavy attack . The Doctor is worried until Jimmy and Cassie show up with the TARDIS strapped to the back of their truck . They all travel in the TARDIS to the room in Area 51 where Rivesh is dying . In the nick of time , Seruba revives Rivesh . The Doctor asks for the device to be activated and Rivesh relishes the thought of killing the Viperox . However , the Doctor warns him not to detonate it , or it will completely wipe the Viperox out not only on Earth , but in the entire universe . He restates his beliefs and tells him that no - one should have the power to exterminate an entire species . Rivesh returns the favour of his revival and trusts the Doctor with the device . The Doctor uses his sonic screwdriver on it and then he rushes into the TARDIS and grabs a cable . At that moment , Azlok holds Jimmy hostage at the entrance to the TARDIS , threatening to kill him if the Doctor detonates it . The Doctor says he isn ' t going to set it off and explains that one day , the Viperox will become a peace - loving race . Azlok dismisses this as madness , to which the Doctor replies that one thing the TARDIS does have is a killer - sound system ; the Doctor connects the cable to the device and unleashes a deafening soundwave that affects all the Viperox in the area . On the Doctor ' s orders , they retreat , flee Earth , and don ' t come back . Before he flees , Azlok furiously snarls , " " Your day will come , Doctor ! " before withdrawing ; the Doctor dismisses the warning of his impending death . After the attack , Stark thanks the Doctor and Seruba and Rivesh leave in their ship . Stark tells them to keep quiet about the events and then the Doctor suggests that Cassie and Jimmy clear up the Viperox mess . As the TARDIS departs , Cassie and Jimmy hold hands . Story notes . Ratings . " to be added " Rumours . " to be added " Production errors . Production errors on an animated story are particularly hard to assess . Some degree of artistic license is to be expected ; the production " intent " is not really to give a perfect emulation of a live - action shot . Thus , the much - criticised movement style of particularly the humanoid characters in this story can ' t be considered a " production error " . The producers chose a particular physics model and used it consistently throughout the production , even though it gives characters like the Tenth Doctor a not - very - David - Tennant - like way of walking and talking . Nevertheless there does seem to be at least one movement pattern that breaks the logic of the movement physics . On several occasions , Azlok ' s head can be seen to actually pass " through " his shell , seemingly indicating a glitch in the collision detection code . Another type of error that occurs in animation is when an object disappears from a location where it would logically be . During the sequence where the Doctor and his companions escape from the room where they were to be gassed , he throws his shackles to a particular spot on the floor . Yet when he ascends to the air vents and the camera looks back to that spot , the shackles are no longer there . There are also a number of design errors with respect to backgrounds and object models . It is hard to definitively call these errors , because it must always be considered that the " Doctor Who " universe is not the same thing as the real world . What we know to be true in our universe does not necessarily carry over to the DWU . Just because Tony Blair was the British Prime Minister in the real world ' s 2007 doesn ' t mean that he was so in the DWU ' s 2007 . However , the following errors are so minor , and so unremarked upon by the script , that they appear to be unintentional , and therefore errors on the part of the concept illustrators . Were this a live - action production , they would likely be considered costuming , graphics or props errors . All of them display a lack of detailed knowledge about the United States by the British production staff . Home video releases . " Dreamland " was released on DVD in the UK on 2nd February 2010 at an RRP of £12 . 99 . A North American DVD release was scheduled for 5 October 2010 , after initially being announced for release on 4 May Also included on a second disc are all three episodes of Doctor Who Greatest Moments : The Doctor , The Companions and The Enemies Digital releases . It is available to stream in the UK on Amazon Instant Video . International broadcast . At present , there has been no indication whether " Dreamland " will be broadcast , or made available online , officially , outside the UK . Most original video content on the BBC website is " geolocked " and restricted to UK users only . It is assumed " Dreamland " will be likewise restricted . The previous animated serial , TV : " The Infinite Quest " , was never broadcast in North America or Australia , and remained unavailable there until its DVD release . This appears to be the case with " Dreamland " , as well . However this story aired in New Zealand as part of UKTV ' s Doctor Who Weekend .