The BBC have announced (note - the link contains mild story and casting spoilers) that filming will take place for the forthcoming second season of 11th Doctor adventures in the US, and in Utah in particular. This will mark the first time the series has undertaken principle filming (with the regular cast) in the US for a Doctor Who story (previously some establishing shots had been filmed for Daleks in Manhattan back in 2007 and for The TV Movie back in 1996 (set in the US, but filmed in Canada). An attempt to film Doctor Who in New Orleans in the mid-80’s fell through due to cost and union issues and the story in question (The Two Doctors) ended up being filmed and shot in Spain instead.

Filming will take place in Utah (a place that the Doctor visited on-screen in 2005’s Dalek, but which was filmed in Cardiff) in November for a two-part story that is to be the season premiere for the 2011 season. Written by Steven Moffat, it will be the first time that a Doctor Who season will begin with a two-part story since it came back to television, marking a further departure from the traditional season “formula” that had been used for the previous 5 full-length seasons (the initial departure coming from the 13 episode being split into two chunks). It marks the fourth consecutive season (counting the “specials” year as one) that Doctor Who has filmed abroad, with 2008 The Fires of Pompeii, 2009’s Planet of the Dead and 2010’s The Vampires of Venice and Vincent and the Doctor being the previous stories in question to be filmed outside the UK during this period.