Human Nature (TV story)

Human Nature was the eighth episode of the third series of Doctor Who. It introduced the Chameleon arch and its ability to change Time Lord's DNA and saw the Doctor become human. The episode was based on a novel of the same name.

	Human Nature
	John Smith (Tenth Doctor)
	Martha
	Family of Blood, Animated scarecrows
	Farringham, 1913
	Paul Cornell
	Charles Palmer
	Susie Liggat
	185a
	26 May 2007
	BBC One
	1x45 minute episode
	3.8
	[[confidential::Alter Ego|Alter Ego]]
← Previous	42
Next →	The Family of Blood
Production order
← Previous	Blink
Next →	The Family of Blood

Synopsis

England 1913, and a schoolteacher called John Smith has strange dreams of adventures in time and space.

Plot

The Tenth Doctor and Martha barely make it into the TARDIS as some sort of energy weapon discharges behind them. After ascertaining that their pursuers had not seen their faces, the Doctor explains that they are being pursued by aliens who have stolen a Time Agent's vortex manipulator and can follow the TARDIS anywhere.

The Tenth Doctor transforms himself into a human.

The Doctor sees only one way out: since their pursuers have very short lifespans, he and Martha can hide from them until they die naturally. He considers their plight and comes to a decision: he entrusts Martha with a pocket watch, explaining that his Time Lord consciousness will be kept in the watch while he uses the TARDIS' Chameleon Arch to transform himself into a human.

A few months later, in November 1913, schoolteacher John Smith is settling into his new job at the Farringham School for Boys, ably assisted by his maid, Martha. A quiet, introspective, and somewhat absent-minded man, John finds a creative outlet in a journal he keeps of his strange and vivid dreams. Fascinated by his extraordinary dreams of adventures in space and time, he begins to confide in Matron Joan Redfern, the school's nurse.

Meanwhile, a group of John's students are studying in their dormitory room. One of them, Timothy Latimer, is bullied by a fellow student, Hutchinson, as much for his obvious intelligence as for his uncanny and unsettling ability to know things he shouldn't or couldn't possibly know. Another student, Jeremy Baines, tires of teasing Latimer and announces to Hutchinson and the others that he knows the location of a secret stash of beer in the woods, and will bring some back for the boys to enjoy in secret. He sneaks out by climbing down a ladder outside his window.

The inside of the spaceship.

Baines has just found the cache of beer, in the woods near the school, when he sees a strange green light land on the field just beyond the woods. Curious, he investigates the light source, and stumbles across an entrance to an invisible spaceship. There, he meets its occupants, gaseous creatures who call themselves the Family. He asks to see their forms, but they reply that that is easy: soon, they will sound familiar. He screams.

Hutchinson and the other boys are getting impatient when Baines returns, without the secret stash of beer. He is also behaving unusually, sniffing the air as though he has a cold.

Joan Redfern confronts Martha and asks about John's strange behaviour, but Martha cannot tell her the truth. She finds refuge in the TARDIS, which has been hidden safely out of sight, and reviews instructions that the Doctor hastily recorded just before his transformation. But the instructions are notably lacking: the Doctor did not foresee that his human self might fall in love.

Meanwhile, Tim Latimer is summoned to John Smith's office to retrieve a book. While Smith looks for it, Latimer is drawn to the pocket watch that contains the Tenth Doctor's Time Lord memories and abilities. The boy opens it, briefly seeing the Doctor's world, but closes it quickly as he hears Smith approaching. Latimer slips the watch into his pocket and scurries away, unnerved.

Latimer inspects his prize, unaware that each time he opens the watch, a diffuse trace is detected by the pursuers, who now number three, as the Family have possessed two other villagers: Mr. Clark from nearby Oakham Farm becomes the Family's Father, and schoolgirl Lucy Cartwright becomes the Daughter.

John Smith and Nurse Redfern discuss his Journal of Impossible Things while on a walk around the village.

The Family of Blood uses scarecrows.

Meanwhile, the Family uses scarecrows as their mindless soldiers to capture Jenny, Martha's fellow maid, and Mother of Mine possesses her. Jenny then returns to the school and engages Martha in conversation. Martha quickly realises Jenny has been taken over. She runs to Smith, who is with Redfern preparing to go to the village dance that evening. She finds that the watch is gone, and tries in vain to restore him to his Time Lord configuration without it. Smith, shocked at Martha's behaviour, promptly fires her and leaves for the village dance with Nurse Redfern.

The pursuers crash the dance and reveal that John Smith is the Doctor in human form. Smith still refuses to believe it. They take Martha and Joan hostage and demand that the bewildered schoolteacher choose which of them they should kill: his friend or his lover.

Cast

• The Doctor/John Smith - David Tennant
• Martha Jones - Freema Agyeman
• Joan Redfern - Jessica Hynes
• Jenny - Rebekah Staton
• Tim Latimer - Thomas Sangster
• Jeremy Baines - Harry Lloyd
• Hutchinson - Tom Palmer
• Farmer Clark - Gerald Horan
• Lucy Cartwright - Lauren Wilson
• Mr Rocastle - Pip Torrens
• Mr Phillips - Matthew White
• Doorman - Derek Smith
• Mr Chambers - Peter Bourke

Crew

Executive Producers   Russell T Davies, Julie Gardner and Phil Collinson

Written by Paul Cornell	Produced by Susie Liggat	Directed by Charles Palmer	Director of Photography Rory Taylor	Production Designer Edward Thomas	Visual Effects The Mill
Make-up Designer Barbara Southcott	Casting Director Andy Pryor CDG	Music Murray Gold	Costume Designer Louise Page	Edited by Matthew Tabern	Special Effects Any Effects
Original theme music by Ron Grainer  •  With thanks to the BBC National Orchestra of Wales

General production staff Production Executive - Julie Scott Production Manager - Tracie Simpson Location Manager - Lowri Thomas Location Scout - Branwen Evans Unit Manager - Huw Jones Production Co-ordinator - Jess van Niekerk Production Assistant - Debi Griffiths Production/Script Secretary - Kevin Myers Production Runner - Sián Eve Goldsmith Drivers - Wayne Humphreys, Malcolm Kearney Senior Production Accountant - Endaf Emyr Williams Production Accountant - Oliver Ager Contracts Assistant - Kath Blackman Finance Manager - Chris Rogers Script department Script Editor - Lindsey Alford Camera and lighting department 1st Assistant Director - Richard Harris 2nd Assistant Director - Steffan Morris 3rd Assistant Director - Sarah Davies Floor Runners - Lowri Denman, Heddi Joy Taylor Continuity - Non Eleri Hughes 2nd unit Camera Operator - Steven Hall Focus Puller - Steve Rees 2nd Unit Focus Puller - Jamie Southcott Grip - John Robinson Camera Assistant - Tom Hartley Boom Operators - Jeff Welch, Bryn Thomas Gaffer - Mark Hutchings Best Boy - Steve Slocombe Electricians - Clive Johnson, Ben Griffiths	Art department Chief Supervising Art Director - Stephen Nicholas Supervising Art Director - Arwel Wyn Jones Art Department Production Manager - Jonathan Marquand Allison Art Department Co-ordinator - Matthew North Associate Designer - James North Set Decorator - David Morison Props Buyer - Catherine Samuel Design Assistants - Peter McKinstry, Rob Dicks Cyfle Trainee - Christina Tom Standby Props - Phill Shellard, Nick Murray Standby Carpenter - Paul Jones Standby Rigger - Bryan Griffiths Standby Painter - Ellen Woods Chief Props Master - Adrian Anscombe Props Master - Paul Aitken Senior Props Maker - Barry Jones Props Makers - Penny Howarth, Mark Cordory, Nick Robatto Construction Manager - Matthew Hywel-Davies Construction Chargehands - Allen Jones, Scott Fisher Graphics - BBC Wales Graphics Costume department Costume Supervisor - Lindsay Bonaccorsi Assistant Costume Designer - Marnie Ormiston Costume Assistants - Sheenagh O'Marah, Kirsty Wilkinson	Make-up and prosthetics Make-up Artists - Pam Mullins, Steve Smith, John Munro Prosthetics - Millennium FX Prosthetics Designer - Neill Gorton Prosthetics Supervisor - Rob Mayor On Set Prosthetics Supervisor - Lotta Hagvist Prosthetics Technician - Lisa Crawley Movement Stunt Co-ordinator - Glenn Marks Choreographer - Ailsa Berk Casting Casting Associates - Andy Brierley, Kirsty Robertson General post-production staff Post-production Supervisors - Samantha Hall, Chris Blatchford Post-production Co-ordinator - Marie Brown Assistant Editors - Tim Hodges, Matthew Mullins On-line Editor - Mark Bright Special and visual effects Visual FX Producers - Will Cohen, Marie Jones Visual FX Supervisor - Dave Houghton VFX Editor - Ceres Doyle VFX Production Assistant - Marianne Paton SFX Co-ordinator - Ben Ashmore SFX Supervisor - Paul Kelly SFX Technicians - Danny Hargreaves, Henry Brook Colourist - Mick Vincent Sound Sound Recordist - Julian Howarth Dubbing Mixer - Tim Ricketts Supervising Sound Editor - Paul McFadden Sound Effects Editor - Paul Jeffries Sound Editor - Doug Sinclair Foley Editor - Kelly-Marie Angell

Not every person who worked on this adventure was credited. The absence of a credit for a position doesn't necessarily mean the job wasn't required. The information above is based solely on observations of the actual end credits of the episodes as broadcast, and does not relay information from IMDB or other sources.

References

The Doctor

• In Smith's sketchbook there are sketches of: a Dalek, Moxx of Balhoon, Rose Tyler, Clockwork Droids, Cybus Cyberman (head), Captain Jack Harkness, a Raxacoricofallapatorian, and gas masks from the gas mask virus. There are also clear sketches of the First, Seventh and Eighth Doctors, and partial appearances of sketches of the Fifth and Sixth Doctors.
• The watch at one point is heard to say the first and the last of the Time Lords, this could be a reference to the Cartmell masterplan which culminated in the seventh Doctor novel Lungbarrow

Foods and beverages

• The Tenth Doctor is seen eating a pear.

History

• John Smith teaches a lesson on Napoléon Bonaparte's defeat at the Battle of Waterloo on 18 June 1815.
• Smith lends Timothy the book The Definitive Account of Mafeking by Aitchinson Price, a history of the Siege of Mafeking.

Species

• In the visual flashes, a Dalek, Cybermen, Ood, Sycorax, werewolf, Racnoss and Richard Lazarus appear briefly, as well as the Doctor using his sonic screwdriver.

Technology

• The Doctor says the watch has a perception filter on it.

Weapons

• The weapons used by the Family are sonic.

Story notes

• When the Doctor is speaking to Joan he names his parents as Sydney and Verity. This is clearly a reference to Sydney Newman, the original creator of Doctor Who, and Verity Lambert, the first producer.
• This is the first occurrence of an explicitly racist comment within the new series directed at a companion.
• Radio Times credits David Tennant as 'John Smith', and not the Doctor. On-screen credits read 'The Doctor/Smith'.
• During the video instructions that the Doctor has recorded for Martha, a deleted scene for the episode reveals that instruction number five stated that the Doctor hated pears (before a number of improvised statements by Tennant that were intended to be "fast forwarded" when shown). The declaration of the Doctor's distaste for pears was removed, and the fast forward implemented just before this instruction was said, as the BBC felt that it may encourage children to stop eating pears.
• The BBC logo does not appear on screen at any point during the episode, whereas it usually appears at the beginning of the cold opening or during the opening titles.
• In the beginning of the episode, when John Smith is walking through the school, the old Bunyan hymn To be a Pilgrim is heard. The lyrics may be taken to reference the return of the Saxon Master, and even his ship the Valiant.
• As is routine for post-2005 Doctor Who, a "NEXT TIME" trailer for the next episode is shown at the end of the episode.

Ratings

• 7.1 million (overnight)
• 7.74 million (final ratings)
• 0.87 million (BBC3 repeat ratings)

Filming locations

• Llandaff Cathedral, Llandaff, Cardiff
• St Fagans National History Museum, Cardiff
• Tredegar House, Newport
• Treberfydd House, Llangasty, Brecon
• BBC Broadcasting House, Llandaff, Cardiff
• Cwm Ifor Farm, Caerphilly

Production errors

If you'd like to talk about narrative problems with this story — like plot holes and things that seem to contradict other stories — please go to this episode's discontinuity discussion.

• Joan puts her stethoscope in her ears backwards when listening to John Smith's single heart.
• When John Smith throws the cricket ball to stop the baby carriage from reaching where the piano is going to fall, the rope is revealed snapping just seconds after the ball has left his hand. In the wide shot showing the aftermath, the carriage is a good fifteen feet from the crashed piano.
• The Dalek in the flashback has an inversed symbol whereas in the actual scene the symbol's written position is different.

Continuity

• The visual flashes come from: TV: Dalek, Rise of the Cybermen, The Impossible Planet, The Christmas Invasion, Tooth and Claw, Army of Ghosts, The Runaway Bride and The Lazarus Experiment.
• Perception filters were first mentioned by Captain Jack Harkness in TV: Everything Changes. They later play a large role in TV: Utopia and The Sound of Drums.
• The music signature for Lucy Cartwright is extremely similar to that of the young girl who is used as the Renegade Daleks' Battle computer in TV: Remembrance of the Daleks.
• John Smith mentions that he learned to draw on Gallifrey, to which Joan responds by asking if it is in Ireland. This is similar to the dialogue between the Fourth Doctor and his examiner in TV: The Hand of Fear.
• At one point when the watch is opened, the Doctor is heard saying, "You Are Not Alone". This was said by the Face of Boe in TV: Gridlock and plays an important part in TV: Utopia.

• Also when the watch is opened, the Doctor is heard saying, "I've always wanted to do that", a quote he previously used during his tenth incarnation.

• Martha's Myspace blog states that she and the Doctor were attending the 2007 Eurovision concert when the Family found them.
• This story introduced the Chameleon Arch, which would play a major role in TV: Utopia.
• In a reference to PROSE: Human Nature the novel this story is based upon the Tenth Doctor is seen eating a pear. In the novel the Seventh Doctor hated pears. (In a deleted scene included with the DVD release of the episode it would have established the Tenth Doctor had the same dislike).

The sketches in Smith's sketchbook marked the first visual acknowledgement in the revived series of any incarnations predating that of the Ninth Doctor, although TV: School Reunion previously re-established the fact that there were incarnations prior to the Ninth.

• This sketchbook was also seen in TV: Rose when Rose is questioning Clive Finch about the Doctor. He shows her the book and references the role of "The Doctor" being passed down from father to son, a misinterpretation of the multiple regenerations of the Doctor.
• While talking about John's "Journal Of Impossible Things", Joan mentions that there is "a girl in every fireplace." (TV: The Girl in the Fireplace)

Home video releases

Series 3 Volume 3 cover

• This episode has been released with The Family of Blood and Blink on the Series 3 Volume 3 DVD.
• It is also part of the series 3 DVD box set.

See also

• The Family of Blood (TV story)
• Human Nature (novel)

External links

• Official BBC Website - Episode Guide: Human Nature
• Human Nature at the Doctor Who Reference Guide
• Human Nature at Shannon Sullivan's A Brief History of Time (Travel)
• Human Nature at The Locations Guide