| Bgcolour: |
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| Image Upright: | 1 |
| Image Alt: | Doctor Who Series 3 DVD box set cover art |
| Showrunner: | Russell T Davies |
| Num Stories: | 9 |
| Num Episodes: | 13 |
| Network: | BBC One |
| Episode List: | List of Doctor Who episodes (2005–present) |
The third series of the revived British science fiction programme Doctor Who, and the twenty-ninth season of the show overall, 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 and ending with "Last of the Time Lords" on 30 June 2007. In addition, a 13-part animated serial (equivalent to one regular episode) was produced and broadcast as part of Totally Doctor Who.
The series stars David Tennant as the tenth incarnation of the Doctor, an alien Time Lord who travels through time and space in his TARDIS, which appears to be a British police box on the outside. In the Christmas special he is joined by Catherine Tate as Donna Noble. The series also introduces Freema Agyeman as the Doctor's new companion Martha Jones, who leaves at the end of the series due to the fact that her family need support whilst recovering from the events of the series finale, which involved her mother, sister and brother being tortured. John Barrowman also reprises his role as Captain Jack Harkness in the final three episodes which serve as the finale. The series is connected by a loose story arc consisting of the recurring phrase "Vote Saxon", which ultimately is revealed to be the return of the Doctor's enemy Time Lord the Master, first played by Derek Jacobi before regenerating into John Simm.
See also: List of Doctor Who episodes (2005–present).
Three episodes from Series 3 were adapted from previously published works: "Human Nature" / "The Family of Blood" was adapted by Paul Cornell from his own New Adventures novel, also entitled Human Nature, while "Blink" originated as a short story in the 2006 Doctor Who annual by Steven Moffat called "What I Did on My Christmas Holidays' By Sally Sparrow".
"Human Nature" is also the first instance of the Doctor's previous incarnations prior to his ninth being explicitly referenced in the revived era through the sketches in The Journal of Impossible Things.[1]
A 13-part animated serial, The Infinite Quest, was produced and broadcast as part of the children's programme Totally Doctor Who on CBBC, leading up to the finale of series 3. Each instalment was approximately 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.
See also: List of Doctor Who cast members.
Series 3 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 Captain Jack Harkness.
Actress and comedian Catherine Tate was cast as one-off companion Donna Noble for the Christmas special.[2] At the end of the episode the character turns down the chance to travel in the TARDIS, but Tate later reprised her role and returned for a full series starting in the 2008 episode "Partners in Crime".
Following the departure of Billie Piper as Rose Tyler at the end of Series 2, 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.[3] [4] [5] Agyeman had previously appeared in the 2006 episode "Army of Ghosts". John Barrowman also returned as Captain Jack Harkness for the three-part series finale.
Recurring guest stars for the series included Adjoa Andoh, Trevor Laird, Gugu Mbatha-Raw and Reggie Yates, who portrayed Martha's family.[6] Derek Jacobi[7] and John Simm portray The Master, Simm doing so in three episodes.
Other guest stars included Thelma Barlow,[8] Ryan Carnes, Matthew Chambers, Chipo Chung, Christina Cole, Michelle Collins, Lenora Crichlow, Anthony Flanagan, Andrew Garfield, Lucy Gaskell, Mark Gatiss,[8] Don Gilet, Jennifer Hennessy, Anna Hope, Gerard Horan, Jessica Hynes, Dean Lennox Kelly, Matt King, Chris Larkin, Harry Lloyd, Eric Loren, Stephen Marcus, Roy Marsden, McFly, Alexandra Moen, Carey Mulligan, Michael Obiora, Ardal O'Hanlon, Travis Oliver, Sharon Osbourne, Sarah Parish, Angela Pleasence, Hugh Quarshie, Miranda Raison, Anne Reid, Finlay Robertson, Thomas Sangster, Rebekah Staton and Ann Widdecombe.
Following the success of the first series, the BBC announced that Doctor Who had been recommissioned for a third series on 16 June 2005,[9] only two months after the announcement of the second series.[10] Recording for the Christmas special began on 4 July 2006,[11] with production on the series itself beginning on 8 August 2006[12] and concluding on 2 April 2007.[13]
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.
The episodes in series three are arranged in a loose story arc: "Mr Saxon", an alias for the Master. The character's name was first mentioned in "The Runaway Bride"; the Ministry of Defence shot down an alien craft at Saxon's request.[14] [15] 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;[16] [17] the Face of Boe's prophecy is directly related to Master;[18] [19] 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.[20] [21]
Murray Gold composed the music, with orchestration by Ben Foster.
Production blocks were arranged as follows:
| Block | Episode(s) | Director | Writer(s) | Producer | Code |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Christmas special: "The Runaway Bride" | Euros Lyn | Russell T Davies | Phil Collinson | 3X |
| 2 | Episode 1: "Smith and Jones" | Charles Palmer | 3.1 | ||
| Episode 2: "The Shakespeare Code" | Gareth Roberts | 3.2 | |||
| 3 | Episode 3: "Gridlock" | Richard Clark | Russell T Davies | 3.3 | |
| Episode 6: "The Lazarus Experiment" | Stephen Greenhorn | 3.6 | |||
| 4 | Episode 4: "Daleks in Manhattan" | James Strong | Helen Raynor | 3.4 | |
| Episode 5: "Evolution of the Daleks" | 3.5 | ||||
| 5 | Episode 10: "Blink" | Hettie MacDonald | Steven Moffat | 3.10 | |
| 6 | Episode 8: "Human Nature" | Charles Palmer | Paul Cornell | Susie Liggat | 3.8 |
| Episode 9: "The Family of Blood" | 3.9 | ||||
| 7 | Episode 7: "42" | Graeme Harper | Chris Chibnall | Phil Collinson | 3.7 |
| Episode 11: "Utopia" | Russell T Davies | 3.11 | |||
| 8 | Episode 12: "The Sound of Drums" | Colin Teague | 3.12 | ||
| Episode 13: "Last of the Time Lords" | 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.
The third series premiered on 31 March 2007 with "Smith and Jones", and concluded after 13 episodes on 30 June 2007 with "Last of the Time Lords".[22] The series was initially planned to conclude a week earlier, but on 2 May 2007, episodes 7–13 were pushed back a week due to the Eurovision Song Contest 2007, rather than air "42" in an earlier timeslot.[23] Doctor Who Confidential also aired alongside each episode of the series, continuing on from the previous series.[24]
See also: List of Doctor Who home video releases.
Arnold T. Blumberg of IGN gave an overwhelmingly positive review of the third series. He praised the acting of Tennant, Agyeman and John Simm, describing Simm's portrayal as "a master stroke". Overall he said, "With an assured air earned by success, Series 3 of Doctor Who is a tour de force excursion across time and space...it doesn't get much better than this". He gave the series 9 out of 10 (Amazing).[25] Nick Lyons of DVD Talk gave a positive review saying, "series three is on par with the last two seasons of the new series." He said that the character of Martha and series three, "will no doubt please fans". He gave the series 4 and a half stars out of 5.[26]
See also: List of awards and nominations received by Doctor Who.
| Year | Award | Category | Nominee(s) | Result | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2007 | Edinburgh International Television Festival | Best Programme of the Year | Doctor Who | [27] | |
| Glenfiddich Spirit of Scotland Awards | Screen Award | David Tennant | [28] | ||
| Monte-Carlo Television Festival | Outstanding Actor in a Drama Series | David Tennant | |||
| Outstanding Actress in a Drama Series | Freema Agyeman | [29] | |||
| National Television Awards | Most Popular Drama | Doctor Who | [30] | ||
| Most Popular Actor | David Tennant | ||||
| Most Popular Actress | Freema Agyeman | [31] | |||
| Nebula Awards | Best Script | Steven Moffat for "Blink" | [32] | ||
| Saturn Awards | Best International Series | Doctor Who | |||
| Scream Awards | Best TV Show | Doctor Who | [33] | ||
| TV Quick Awards | Best Loved Drama | Doctor Who | |||
| Best Actor | David Tennant | ||||
| Best Actress | Freema Agyeman | [34] | |||
| Writers' Guild of Great Britain | Best Soap/Series | Chris Chibnall, Paul Cornell, Russell T Davies, Stephen Greenhorn, Steven Moffat, Helen Raynor and Gareth Roberts | [35] | ||
| 2008 | BAFTA Cymru Awards | Best Drama Series | Doctor Who | ||
| Best Director of Photography: Drama | Doctor Who | ||||
| Best Costume | Louise Page for "The Shakespeare Code" | ||||
| Best Make-Up | Doctor Who | [36] | |||
| Best Sound | Doctor Who | ||||
| Best Director: Drama | Doctor Who | ||||
| Best Screenwriter | Steven Moffat | ||||
| British Academy Television Awards | Best Writer | Steven Moffat for "Blink" | |||
| Best Original Television Music | Murray Gold | ||||
| Best Sound Fiction/Entertainment | BBC Wales Sound Team | [37] | |||
| Constellation Awards | Best Science Fiction Television Series of 2007 | Doctor Who | |||
| Best Male Performance in a 2007 Science Fiction Television Episode | David Tennant for "Human Nature" / "The Family of Blood" | ||||
| Best Female Performance in a 2007 Science Fiction Television Episode | Carey Mulligan for "Blink" | [38] | |||
| Hugo Awards | Best Dramatic Presentation | "Blink" | |||
| "Human Nature" / "The Family of Blood" | [39] | ||||
| TRIC Awards | TV Drama Programme | Doctor Who | [40] | ||
| VES Awards | Outstanding Visual Effects in a Broadcast Miniseries, Movie or Special | David Houghton, Will Cohen, Nicolas Hernandez and Sara Bennett for "Voyage of the Damned" | |||
| Outstanding Visual Effects in a Broadcast Series | David Houghton, Will Cohen, Jean-Claude Deguara and Nicolas Hernandez for "Last of the Time Lords" | ||||
| Outstanding Animated Character in a Live Action Broadcast Program or Commercial | Nicolas Hernandez, Adam Burnett, Neil Roche and Jean-Claude Deguara for "Last of the Time Lords" | [41] [42] |
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.[43]
| Italic Title: | no |
| Doctor Who: Series 3 | |
| Type: | soundtrack |
| Artist: | Murray Gold, Ben Foster and the BBC National Orchestra of Wales |
| Released: | 5 November 2007 |
| Recorded: | 2006–2007 |
| Genre: | Soundtrack |
| Length: | 74:18 |
| Label: | Silva Screen Records |
| Producer: | Murray Gold and Ben Foster |
| Chronology: | Doctor Who soundtrack |
| Prev Year: | 2006 |
| Next Title: | Doctor Who: Series 4 |
| Next Year: | 2008 |