Harry Potter

Magic and stuff, that's a surprise. It's all a bit Harry Potter.Martha Jones

Published in the late 20th and early 21st centuries, Harry Potter was a series of novels by British author J.K. Rowling which were extremely popular and spawned a series of film adaptations. The novels chronicled the early life of a young wizard as he was groomed to defeat an evil wizard.

Mentions

The Doctor had read the Harry Potter novels, and cried upon reading the ending of the seventh book. Martha Jones also knew the books and suggested Potter's magic word "expelliarmus" to William Shakespeare to help defeat the Carrionites. The suggestion worked. (DW: The Shakespeare Code) Donna Noble jokingly referred to a centaur she met as Firenze - the name of one of the centaurs in the Potter universe (BBC Audio: Pest Control). A copy of Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone (the first Potter novel) can be seen in a display case on Platform One. (DW: The End of the World)

Although originally consisting of seven books, there is a possibly apocryphal account suggesting that at some point several more novels in the series were written, as the Doctor had a complete set of 11 Harry Potter novels in his TARDIS. (EDA: The Gallifrey Chronicles)

Behind the Scenes

Trivia

• In 2005, Russell T Davies asked Harry Potter's creator J.K. Rowling if she would write for Doctor Who. She refused, saying that she was "was amused by the suggestion but simply doesn't have the time." She was writing the sixth Harry Potter novel at the time.
• In The Christmas Invasion, a Hogwarts-style uniform briefly appears as the Doctor considers what clothes to wear in his new incarnation.
• The Shakespeare Code, in which the Doctor references reading the seventh book, was broadcast before the book was published, during a period of intense anticipation for its release. The Doctor doesn't mention the book's title, as it had not been revealed by the time the episode began filming.
• According to his 2008 autobiography A Writer's Tale, Russell T Davies also considered basing the 2008 Christmas special around an appearance by Rowling.
• Roger Lloyd Pack, who played the creator of the Cybus Cybermen, guest starred in Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire alongside David Tennant. The two played father and son. This film featured tents that were bigger in the inside, much like the TARDIS.
• Harry Potter star, Daniel Radcliffe, was a name thrown out by Russell T. Davies to play the Eleventh Doctor.
• Other actors who have appeared in the Harry Potter films who have been considered for the role of the Doctor include Jim Broadbent, John Cleese, Robbie Coltrane, Richard Griffiths and Alan Rickman. Bill Nighy, who will appear in the yet-to-be-released final two Harry Potter films, was reportedly a candidate for the role in 2005 and is scheduled to appear in an Eleventh Doctor episode in 2010.
• In The Gallifrey Chronicles, written in 2005, a character picks up a copy of the last Harry Potter book in the TARDIS, before replacing it next to its "ten other sequels." While this can be seen as an anachronism, possibly the author was unaware Rowling only planned to publish seven books, it should be noted that since the publication of book 7, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Rowling has not dismissed the possibility of writing more Potter books in the future (perhaps in the Whoniverse she did in fact write additional volumes). It also should be noted that the title Deathly Hallows is not mentioned in The Shakespeare Code, as the Doctor simply refers to it as "the seventh book". There is precedent for book series to be continued by other authors, i.e. Eoin Colfer's continuation of Douglas Adams' The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy published in 2009.
• Zoë Wanamaker, who appeared in DW: The End of the World and DW: New Earth as Cassandra O'Brien.Δ17, also appeared in the film adaptation of Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone; a copy of this book is visible in a display case seen in End of the World.

Actors who have appeared in Doctor Who and Harry Potter

• Jim Broadbent - Horace Slughorn
• John Cleese - Nearly Headless Nick
• Shirley Henderson - Moaning Myrtle
• Roger Lloyd Pack - Barty Crouch Sr.
• David Tennant - Barty Crouch Jr.
• Zoë Wanamaker - Rolanda Hooch
• Julian Glover - Aragog (voice only)
• Adrian Rawlins - James Potter
• Jeff Rawle - Amos Diggory
• Jim McManus - Aberforth Dumbledore
• Jessica Hynes - Mafilda Hopkirk (voice only)
• Chris Whittingham - Ministry Wizard
• John Atterbury - Phineas Nigellus
• Elizabeth Spriggs - The Fat Lady (Philosopher’s Stone)
• Terence Bayler - The Bloody Baron
• Derek Deadman - Tom the Innkeeper (Philosopher’s Stone)
• Jimmy Gardner - Ernie Prang
• Bill Nighy - Rufus Scrimgeour (Deathy Hallows)

In the audiobooks ranging from Big Finish and the BBC itself a number of actors have used their talents As well as David Tennant and Jessica Hynes as mentioned above who have also been involved.

• Mark Williams - Arthur Weasley
• Sean Biggerstaff - Oliver Wood
• Leslie Philips - The Sorting Hat
• David Ryall - Elphias Doge
• Christian Coulson - Tom Riddle
• Pam Ferris - Aunt Marge
• Mariam Margoyles - Professor Pomona Sprout

Other Notes

Other references can be observed by the fact that Harry Melling who plays Dudley Dursley in Harry Potter is the grandson of Patrick Troughton. Also Alfie Enoch who is Harry’s friend and dorm-mate Dean Thomas is the son of William Russell who played Ian Chesterton.

Stephen Fry (narrator for the UK Harry Potter audio books), voiced a character for the Webcast story WC: Death Comes to Time, and was at one point to have written an episode for the revived series, but due to various factors including a change in the Doctor's companion, the episode was never produced.

In addition, Richard Curtis (co-creator of Blackadder and a scriptwriter for Series 5) conducted the cast interviews included in the DVD release of Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire.

Notes and referances