Doctor Who (series 3)

Doctor Who series 3
DVD box
Country of origin	United Kingdom
No. of episodes	14 (+1)
Broadcast
Original channel	BBC One
Original run	31 March 2007 (2007-03-31) – 30 June 2007 (2007-06-30)
Home video release
DVD release
Region 1	6 November 2007 (2007-11-06)[1]
Region 2	5 November 2007 (2007-11-05)
Region 4	5 December 2007 (2007-12-05)
Series chronology
← Previous Series 2 Next → Series 4
List of Doctor Who serials

The third series of British science fiction series Doctor Who was preceded by the 2006 Christmas special "The Runaway Bride". Following the special, a regular series of thirteen episodes was broadcast, starting with "Smith and Jones" on 31 March 2007. In addition, a 13-part animated serial (equivalent to one regular episode) was produced and broadcast as part of Totally Doctor Who.

Production

Following the success of the first series, the BBC announced that Doctor Who had been recommissioned for a third series on 16 June 2005,^[2] only two months after the announcement of the second series.^[3] Recording for the Christmas special began on 4 July 2006,^[4] with production on the series itself beginning on 8 August^[5] and concluding on 19 March 2007.^[6]

First-time writers for the show included Gareth Roberts, who previously wrote the interactive episode "Attack of the Graske" and the TARDISODEs, Helen Raynor, one of the show's script editors, Chris Chibnall, the head writer and co-producer of spin-off series Torchwood, and Stephen Greenhorn. Previous writers Paul Cornell, Steven Moffat and Russell T Davies all contributed to the series, with Davies continuing to act as head writer and executive producer. Phil Collinson and Susie Liggat acted as producers, with Julie Gardner as executive producer. Euros Lyn, Charles Palmer, Richard Clark, James Strong, Graeme Harper, Hettie MacDonald and Colin Teague directed episodes in the series. Production blocks were arranged as follows:

Block	Episodes	Director	Writers	Producer	Code
1	"The Runaway Bride"	Euros Lyn	Russell T Davies	Phil Collinson	3.X
2	"Smith and Jones" "The Shakespeare Code"	Charles Palmer	Russell T Davies Gareth Roberts	Phil Collinson	3.1 3.2
3	"Gridlock" "The Lazarus Experiment"	Richard Clark	Russell T Davies Stephen Greenhorn	Phil Collinson	3.3 3.6
4	"Daleks in Manhattan" "Evolution of the Daleks"	James Strong	Helen Raynor	Phil Collinson	3.4 3.5
5	"Blink"	Hettie MacDonald	Steven Moffat	Phil Collinson	3.10
6	"Human Nature" "The Family of Blood"	Charles Palmer	Paul Cornell	Susie Liggat	3.8 3.9
7	"42" "Utopia"	Graeme Harper	Chris Chibnall Russell T Davies	Phil Collinson	3.7 3.11
8	"The Sound of Drums" "Last of the Time Lords"	Colin Teague	Russell T Davies	Phil Collinson	3.12 3.13

An animated serial, The Infinite Quest, was also produced alongside the series and was broadcast as part of the CBBC programme Totally Doctor Who.

Casting

The Doctor Who title card for series 3, slightly modified from that used in the first two series, and used until David Tennant's final episode in 2010.

Main characters

Series three was David Tennant's second series in the role of the Doctor, during which he is joined by three companions - Donna Noble, Martha Jones and Jack Harkness.

Actress and comedienne Catherine Tate was cast as one-off companion Donna Noble for the Christmas special. At the end of the episode the character turns down the chance to travel in the TARDIS, however Tate later reprised her role and returned for a full series in the 2008 episode "Partners in Crime".

Following the departure of Billie Piper as Rose Tyler at the end of series two, a new full-time companion was needed. On 5 July 2006 the BBC confirmed that Freema Agyeman would join the show as new companion Martha Jones.^[7] Agyeman had previously appeared in the 2006 episode "Army of Ghosts". John Barrowman also returned as Jack Harkness for the three-part series finale.

Guest stars

Recurring guest stars for the series included Adjoa Andoh, Gugu Mbatha-Raw, Reggie Yates and Trevor Laird who portrayed Martha Jones' family.

Other guest stars included Don Gilet, Sarah Parish, Roy Marsden, Anne Reid, Christina Cole, Dean Lennox Kelly, Matt King, Chris Larkin, Stephen Marcus, Angela Pleasence, Lenora Crichlow, Jennifer Hennessy, Ardal O'Hanlon, Travis Oliver, Ryan Carnes, Andrew Garfield, Hugh Quarshie, Miranda Raison, Thelma Barlow, Mark Gatiss, Michelle Collins, Anthony Flanagan, Jessica Hynes, Harry Lloyd, Thomas Sangster, Lucy Gaskell, Carey Mulligan, Michael Obiora, Sir Derek Jacobi, John Simm, McFly, Sharon Osbourne and Ann Widdecombe.

List of episodes

The episodes in series three are arranged in a loose story arc: "Mr Saxon", an alias for the Master.^[8] The character's name was first mentioned in "The Runaway Bride"; the Ministry of Defence shot down an alien craft at Saxon's request.^[8][9] Several elements from episodes in the series are contributory to the three-part finale: the events of "The Lazarus Experiment" and "42" were directly influenced by the Master;^[8][10][11] the Face of Boe's prophecy is directly related to Master;^[12][13] and a similar fob-watch that was used by the Doctor to change his Time Lord biology into human was also used by the Master to hide from the Time Lords.^{[8][12][14][15]}

Story No.	Episode	Title	Directed by	Written by	UK viewers[16] (million)	AI[16]	Original air date	Production code
178	—	"The Runaway Bride"	Euros Lyn	Russell T Davies	9.3	84	25 December 2006 (2006-12-25)	3.X
A bride (Catherine Tate) suddenly materialises in the Tardis. The Doctor must get her to the church on time, but the Empress of Racnoss (Sarah Parish), an alien spider, has other ideas...
179	1	"Smith and Jones"	Charles Palmer	Russell T Davies	8.71	88	31 March 2007 (2007-03-31)	3.1
The Doctor meets his latest companion, Martha Jones, in a hospital that's abducted by the Judoon who are searching for the evil, blood-sucking Florence Finnegan (Anne Reid).
180	2	"The Shakespeare Code"	Charles Palmer	Gareth Roberts	7.23	87	7 April 2007 (2007-04-07)	3.2
The Doctor takes Martha back in time to Elizabethan England where they meet William Shakespeare (Dean Lennox Kelly) and try to solve what sent the architect of the Globe Theatre mad.
181	3	"Gridlock"	Richard Clark	Russell T Davies	8.4	85	14 April 2007 (2007-04-14)	3.3
The Doctor and Martha return to New Earth to find it has been laid out as a horrendous trap, stuck in a giant and long traffic jam under the streets of New New York.
182a	4	"Daleks in Manhattan"	James Strong	Helen Raynor	6.69	86	21 April 2007 (2007-04-21)	3.4
The Doctor and Martha confront a host of surviving Daleks from the Canary Wharf battle. What are those creatures in the sewers? Who is Solomon? And why are the Cult Of Skaro attempting to create a Dalek/Human hybrid...?
182b	5	"Evolution of the Daleks"	James Strong	Helen Raynor	6.97	85	28 April 2007 (2007-04-28)	3.5
Concluding part to Daleks in Manhattan. In 1930s New York, the Daleks' plan is in full force. Faced with the cyborgs' most evil and dangerous scheme yet, will the Doctor and Martha be able to defeat their greatest opponents?
183	6	"The Lazarus Experiment"	Richard Clark	Stephen Greenhorn	7.19	86	5 May 2007 (2007-05-05)	3.6
The famous Dr Lazarus has appeared to discover the secret of eternal youth - but do his experiments hide a sinister secret?
184	7	"42"	Graeme Harper	Chris Chibnall	7.41	85	19 May 2007 (2007-05-19)	3.7
On a spaceship headed straight for the centre of the sun, The Doctor only has 42 minutes to save Martha and the rest of the ship's crew from an inevitable doom...
185a	8	"Human Nature"	Charles Palmer	Paul Cornell	7.74	86	26 May 2007 (2007-05-26)	3.8
A teacher in the year 1913 dreams of adventures in time and space, and a mysterious blue box...
185b	9	"The Family of Blood"	Charles Palmer	Paul Cornell	7.21	86	2 June 2007 (2007-06-02)	3.9
The Great War has arrived a year ahead of time. Will John Smith be able to become the Doctor, and defeat the Family of Blood?
186	10	"Blink"	Hettie MacDonald	Steven Moffat	6.62	87	9 June 2007 (2007-06-09)	3.10
Sally Sparrow (Carey Mulligan) enters an abandoned house to take pictures, inside though she notices statues that are never in the same place the next time you look. She must decipher several cryptic messages from 1969 from a strange man called the Doctor to find the truth about the Weeping Angels, and all the while; she must never blink.
187a	11	"Utopia"	Graeme Harper	Russell T Davies	7.84	87	16 June 2007 (2007-06-16)	3.11
Professor Yana (Derek Jacobi) is trying to save mankind in the far future. But is he what he seems? Featuring the return of Captain Jack Harkness.
187b	12	"The Sound of Drums"	Colin Teague	Russell T Davies	7.51	87	23 June 2007 (2007-06-23)	3.12
Harry Saxon (John Simm) wins the general election - but he is in fact the Doctor's old enemy, the Master.
187c	13	"Last of the Time Lords"	Colin Teague	Russell T Davies	8.61	88	30 June 2007 (2007-06-30)	3.13
Earth has been conquered. Can Martha Jones save the world?

Supplemental episode

A 13-part animated serial, The Infinite Quest, was produced and broadcast as part of the childrens programme Totally Doctor Who on CBBC. Each installment was approximately three-and-a-half minutes in length and, when compiled, was equivalent to a regular episode. The serial was broadcast in its entirety on 30 June 2007 and later released on DVD.

Title	Directed by	Written by	UK viewers (million)	Original air date	Production code
"The Infinite Quest"	Gary Russell	Alan Barnes	0.6–0.9[17]	2 April - 30 June 2007	—
The Tenth Doctor and Martha Jones set off on an adventure through space to find the datachips to unlock The Infinite, a huge spaceship that can grant people their heart's desire. However, the evil Baltazar is also searching for the ship.

Soundtrack

Further information: Doctor Who: Original Television Soundtrack - Series 3

Selected pieces of score from this series (and "Voyage of the Damned"), as composed by Murray Gold, were released on 5 November 2007 by Silva Screen Records

References

1. ^ http://www.amazon.com/dp/B000UVV2GA/
2. ^ "Doctor Who - a third series is commissioned". BBC. 2005-06-16. http://www.bbc.co.uk/pressoffice/pressreleases/stories/2005/06_june/16/who_series3.shtml. Retrieved 2008-04-07. 
3. ^ "Second season is go!". BBC. 2005-03-30. http://www.bbc.co.uk/doctorwho/news/cult/news/drwho/2005/03/30/18213.shtml. Retrieved 2008-04-07. 
4. ^ "The Runaway Bride". Doctor Who Magazine: Series Three Companion (17 – Special Edition): pp. 11. 2007-11-22 (cover date) 
5. ^ "Smith and Jones". Doctor Who Magazine: Series Three Companion (17 – Special Edition): pp. 23. 2007-11-22 (cover date) 
6. ^ "The Sound of Drums/Last of the Time Lords". Doctor Who Magazine: Series Three Companion (17 – Special Edition): pp. 113. 2007-11-22 (cover date) 
7. ^ "Freema Agyeman confirmed as new companion to Doctor Who". BBC. 2006-07-05. http://www.bbc.co.uk/pressoffice/pressreleases/stories/2006/07_july/05/agyeman2.shtml. Retrieved 2008-04-07. 
8. ^ ^{a b c d} "The Sound of Drums". Writer Russell T Davies, Director Colin Teague, Producer Phil Collinson. Doctor Who. BBC. BBC One, Cardiff. 2007-06-23.
9. ^ "The Runaway Bride". Writer Russell T Davies, Director Graeme Harper, Producer Phil Collinson. Doctor Who. BBC. BBC One, Cardiff. 2006-12-25.
10. ^ "The Lazarus Experiment". Writer Stephen Greenhorn, Director Richard Clark, Producer Phil Collinson. Doctor Who. BBC. BBC One, Cardiff. 2007-05-05.
11. ^ "42". Writer Chris Chibnall, Director Graeme Harper, Producer Phil Collinson. Doctor Who. BBC. BBC One, Cardiff. 2007-05-19.
12. ^ ^{a b} "Utopia". Writer Russell T Davies, Director Graeme Harper, Producer Phil Collinson. Doctor Who. BBC. BBC One, Cardiff. 2007-06-16.
13. ^ "Gridlock". Writer Russell T Davies, Director Richard Clark, Producer Phil Collinson. Doctor Who. BBC. BBC One, Cardiff. 2007-04-14.
14. ^ "Human Nature". Writer Paul Cornell, Director Charles Palmer, Producer Susie Liggat. Doctor Who. BBC. BBC One, Cardiff. 2007-05-26.
15. ^ "The Family of Blood". Writer Paul Cornell, Director Charles Palmer, Producer Susie Liggat. Doctor Who. BBC. BBC One, Cardiff. 2007-06-02.
16. ^ ^{a b} "Final Consolidated Ratings - Series Three". Outpost Gallifrey. 2007-05-31. http://www.doctorwhoforum.com/showpost.php?p=4103300&postcount=1. Retrieved 2008-04-07. ^{[dead link]}
17. ^ "The Infinite Quest". Doctor Who Magazine: Series Three Companion (17 – Special Edition): pp. 129. 2007-11-22 (cover date) 

External links

	Doctor Who portal
	BBC portal

• List of Doctor Who episodes at the Internet Movie Database
• List of Doctor Who season 3 episodes at TV.com
• Doctor Who at epguides.com