Doctor Who will touch down on US soil for the first time in the opener of Matt Smith's second outing as the Time Lord, the BBC reports.

When Smith re-emerges from the Tardis in spring 2011, it will be in the Utah desert "for a story set in the late '60s in which the Doctor, Amy and Rory find themselves on a secret summons to the Oval Office", as the BBC teases.

Steven Moffat, who penned the two-parter, said: "The Doctor has visited every weird and wonderful planet you can imagine, so he was bound get round to America eventually.

"And of course every Doctor Who fan will be jumping up and down and saying he's been in America before. But not for real, not on location - and not with a story like this one."

Shooting on the new series kicks off this month, not in Utah, but in a rather less arid Cardiff. ®

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