The short piece at the beginning of the story comes from the fact that the existence of a ‘tenth planet’ in the solar was being debated by scientists in the summer of 2005 when I put this story together. The “I Left My Heart in San Francisco joke was inevitable, of course. Meanwhile an explanation of why the TARDIS console room changes over the years so drastically was called for.

The title of Pyramids of SangC’lune was inspired by a throwaway line in the 2005 episode Bad Wolf in which Rose refers to a place called the Glass Pyramid of San Kaloon – or at least that was how the subtitle writers spelt it. I for one heard something slightly different and worked it around to SangC’lune which roughly translated is French for blood moon – hence one of the moons of the planet it red. Thus was created the planet of SangC’lune. I then thought about what it's pyramids might be and fixed on the idea of them being something like the Egyptian pyramids which are tombs for the kings. Only in this case they would be tombs for the essences of the Time Lords. The idea of them turning black when the Time Lord dies finally, came first, and the obelisks which count down the remaining lives were a suggestion from Simon.

Coming to a place like that was bound to disturb The Doctor. We see a different side of him here. We also get The Doctor wearing something other than his leather jacket. The scripts of the 2005 season never allowed for any change of costume and that is a tragedy in itself because Christopher Eccleston’s tall, masculine figure would have looked magnificent in full Gallifreyan formal regalia. It was for that reason as much as any other that I wrote the idea of the Daygone festival with The Doctor and his ‘consort’ in attendance. Likewise, it was because I wanted to write a scene that suited Christopher Eccleston’s intense acting style and his portrayal of The Doctor as an intense, troubled character. Thus the scene inside the pyramid where he feels himself weighed down by the memories of his past lives but fights back against it to break the ‘spell’ they all seem to be under and emerge from the pyramid spiritually and physically renewed – including a new grown heart. Originally I did intend to run several stories with him coming to terms with being more Human than before. But it seemed like a nice way for him to become whole again.