Doctor Who (series 3)

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Doctor Who series 3
Country of origin	United Kingdom
Network	BBC
Original run	Christmas special: 25 December 2006 Regular series: 31 March 2007 – 30 June 2007
No. of episodes	14
Previous series	Series 2
Next series	Series 4

The third series of British science fiction series Doctor Who began on 25 December 2006 with the 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.

Contents 1 Production 2 Casting 2.1 Main Characters 2.2 Guest Stars 3 Plot and episodes 4 References

[edit] 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,^[1] only two months after the announcement of the second series.^[2] Filming for the Christmas special began on 4 July 2006,^[3] with production on the series itself beginning on 8 August^[4] and concluding on 19 March 2007.^[5]

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. 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.

[edit] Casting

[edit] Main Characters

Series three was David Tennant's second series in the role of the Doctor, during which he is joined by three companions. 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.^[6] Agyeman had previously appeared in the 2006 episode "Army of Ghosts". John Barrowman also returned as Jack Harkness for the three-part series finale.

[edit] 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 Pleasance, Lenora Crichlow, Jennifer Hennessy, Ardal O'Hanlon, Travis Oliver, Ryan Carnes, 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.

[edit] Plot and episodes

The episodes in series three are arranged in a loose story arc: "Mr Saxon", an alias for the Master.^[7] 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][7] 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;^[9][10][7] the Face of Boe's prophecy is directly related to Master;^[11][12] and the fob-watch used by the Doctor to change his Time Lord biology into human was used by the Master to hide from the Time Lords.^{[11][7][13][14]}

Story number	#	Title	Director	Writer	Viewers (in millions)[15]	AI[15]	Original air date	PC
182	Special	"The Runaway Bride"	Euros Lyn	Russell T Davies	9.3	84	25 December 2006	3.X
183	1	"Smith and Jones"	Charles Palmer	Russell T Davies	8.71	88	31 March 2007	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).
184	2	"The Shakespeare Code"	Charles Palmer	Gareth Roberts	7.23	87	7 April 2007	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.
185	3	"Gridlock"	Richard Clark	Russell T Davies	8.4	85	14 April 2007	3.3
186a	4	"Daleks in Manhattan"	James Strong	Helen Raynor	6.69	86	21 April 2007	3.4
186b	5	"Evolution of the Daleks"	James Strong	Helen Raynor	6.97	85	28 April 2007	3.5
187	6	"The Lazarus Experiment"	Richard Clark	Stephen Greenhorn	7.19	86	5 May 2007	3.6
188	7	"42"	Graeme Harper	Chris Chibnall	7.41	85	19 May 2007	3.7
189a	8	"Human Nature"	Charles Palmer	Paul Cornell	7.74	86	26 May 2007	3.8
189b	9	"The Family of Blood"	Charles Palmer	Paul Cornell	7.21	86	2 June 2007	3.9
190	10	"Blink"	Hettie MacDonald	Steven Moffat	6.62	87	9 June 2007	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.
191a	11	"Utopia"	Graeme Harper	Russell T Davies	7.84	87	16 June 2007	3.11
191b	12	"The Sound of Drums"	Colin Teague	Russell T Davies	7.51	87	23 June 2007	3.12
191c	13	"Last of the Time Lords"	Colin Teague	Russell T Davies	8.61	88	30 June 2007	3.13

[edit] References

v • d • e Doctor Who series 3 episodes "The Runaway Bride" • "Smith and Jones" • "The Shakespeare Code" • "Gridlock" • "Daleks in Manhattan" • "Evolution of the Daleks" • "The Lazarus Experiment" • "42" • "Human Nature" • "The Family of Blood" • "Blink" • "Utopia" • "The Sound of Drums" • "Last of the Time Lords"