Series 7 (Doctor Who 2005)

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File:DWlogo-2012.jpg
The Doctor Who Logo, as seen in the first episode of Series 7, Asylum of the Daleks.

Series 7 of Doctor Who, sometimes known as Season 33 to avoid confusion with the original Season 7, airs on BBC One between 2012 and 2013. Like Series 6, it will be split into two parts. The BBC first announced the new series, which will contain fourteen episodes, on the official Doctor Who site on 8 June 2011.

Series 7 began its run on 1 September 2012 with five regular, stand-alone episodes and a Christmas Special. These are followed by the remaining eight episodes in 2013.

Overview

Series 7 has been described at being a series of "movies" squeezed into forty five minutes, although The Snowmen was sixty minutes. The first half is about the Doctor deleting himself from the Universe to hide himself from the deadly Silence, who attempted to assassinate him in Series 6 to stop him from answering the Question. During this time, the Doctor regularly visits Amy Pond and Rory Williams and also meets his grandfather-in-law Brian Williams. The Doctor meets his wife, River Song, in the final episode of the first half of the series, which involved the Weeping Angels who separated him from Amy and Rory forever, although River has implied that she and the Doctor will meet again in the future. The Doctor still has not told River his true name, which River was revealed to know in Forest of the Dead.

Also, a mysterious woman named Clara Oswin Oswald has appeared to the Doctor twice in three different lives, first in Asylum of the Daleks, then in The Snowmen, and then again in The Bells of Saint John. She died in the first two episodes, but the Doctor realised that both incarnations of her were the same woman and believed there was another version of her somewhere in the Universe. He went searching for her third incarnation, intending to take her as his companion. He found her in The Bells of Saint John. The reason behind these multiple Claras will be the Story Arc of this series.

Cast

Matt Smith, will continue to play the Eleventh Doctor throughout all of Series 7.

Karen Gillan, who played Amy Pond, and Arthur Darvill, who played Amy's husband Rory Williams, returned for the first five episodes, departing in The Angels Take Manhattan. This episode also featured River Song, played by Alex Kingston, who will again return for the season finale.[1]

The 2012 Christmas Special saw the introduction of Clara Oswald, played by Jenna-Louise Coleman. Coleman had previously played Oswin Oswald in Asylum of the Daleks earlier that year. She returned once more in The Bells of Saint John, playing a third version of Clara, who became the Doctor's newest companion.

Primary cast

Secondary cast

Guest cast

Production

Crew

Producers

Before the airing of Series 7, it was announced that both Beth Willis and Piers Wenger would step down as executive producers.[6][7] Willis' last credit was on The Wedding of River Song; however, Piers Wenger stayed for one episode longer, and produced The Doctor, the Widow and the Wardrobe.[8]

A new executive producer named Caroline Skinner joined Steven Moffat to produce The Doctor, the Widow and the Wardrobe onwards,[8] but it was announced before the broadcast of the spring half of Series 7 that she was departing the show after just one season and would be replaced by BBC Wales Head of Drama, Faith Penhale.[9]

Writers

Head writer Steven Moffat will write seven episodes. He has written the 2011 Christmas special, episodes one and five in the autumn run, the Children in Need mini-episode, and the 2012 Christmas special, and episode six in the spring run. He will write episode thirteen for the spring run.[10]

Chris Chibnall and Toby Whithouse, who had both written episodes for multiple previous series of Doctor Who, returned to contribute scripts for the Autumn run. Chibnall wrote episodes two and four, while Whithouse wrote episode three.

Mark Gatiss also returned. He wrote episode eight and will write episode eleven.[10]

Another returning writer is Steve Thompson, who will write episode ten.[10]

Fantasy author Neil Gaiman (who previously wrote The Doctor's Wife), will write episode twelve, which will feature the Cybermen. [10][3]

Luther creator Neil Cross made his Doctor Who debut with episode seven. He will also write episode nine.[11]

Directors

Returning director Nick Hurran directed episodes one and five. Douglas Mackinnon, another returning director directed episodes four and eight.

New director Farren Blackburn directed the 2011 Christmas special, as well as episode seven.

Saul Metzstein, another director new to Doctor Who, directed episodes two and three, the 2012 Christmas special, and will also direct episodes eleven and thirteen.[10]

A handful of new directors will direct one episode each in the spring half of the series. These are: Colm McCarthy, Jamie Payne, Mat King and Stephen Wolfenden, who will direct episodes six, nine, ten and twelve representatively. [10]

Filming

Filming for series 7 began on 20 February 2012.[12]

Episode three was filmed in Spain. [13]

Filming for episode five saw the crew return to America. This time, they were filming in New York.[14]

Television stories

Webcast

Episode
Number
Title Writer Director Notes
N/A Prequel (The Doctor, the Widow and the Wardrobe)

Christmas special

Episode
Number
Title Writer Director Notes
N/A The Doctor, the Widow and the Wardrobe Steven Moffat Farren Blackburn

Mini-episodes

Episode
Number
Title Writer Director Notes
N/A Good as Gold The Children of Ashdene School Reappearance of a Weeping Angel.

Regular series

Webcast

Episode
Number
Title Writer Director Notes
N/A Pond Life Chris Chibnall Saul Metzstein Reappearance of the Sontarans and an Ood.

Autumn half

Episode
Number
Title Writer Director Notes
1 Asylum of the Daleks Steven Moffat Nick Hurran Reappearance of the Daleks. First introduction and death of Clara Oswin Oswald.
2 Dinosaurs on a Spaceship Chris Chibnall Saul Metzstein Reappearance of the Silurians. First appearance of Brian Williams.
3 A Town Called Mercy Toby Whithouse Saul Metzstein
4 The Power of Three Chris Chibnall Douglas Mackinnon Reappearance of UNIT, Kate Stewart and Brian Williams.
5 The Angels Take Manhattan Steven Moffat Nick Hurran Reappearance of the Weeping Angels and River Song. Final appearances of Amy Pond and Rory Williams.

Mini-episodes

Episode
Number
Title Writer Director Notes
N/A The Great Detective Steven Moffat[15] Prequel to The Snowmen. Reappearance of Madame Vastra, Jenny Flint, and Strax.

Webcasts

Episode
Number
Title Writer Director Notes
N/A Vastra Investigates Steven Moffat Prequel to The Snowmen.

Christmas special

Episode
Number
Title Writer Director Notes
N/A The Snowmen Steven Moffat Saul Metzstein Reintroduction of the Great Intelligence. Second introduction and death of Clara Oswin Oswald

Webcasts

Episode
Number
Title Writer Director Notes
N/A The Bells of Saint John: A Prequel Steven Moffat
N/A The Battle of Demons Run: Two Days Later Steven Moffat

Spring half

The remaining eight episodes of Series 7 began airing on 30 March, 2013.

Episode
Number
Title Writer Director Notes
6 The Bells of Saint John Steven Moffat Colm McCarthy Reappearance of the Great Intelligence. Reappearance of UNIT. Third introduction of Clara Oswin Oswald.
7 The Rings of Akhaten Neil Cross Farren Blackburn
8 Cold War Mark Gatiss Douglas Mackinnon Return of the Ice Warriors.
9 Hide Neil Cross Jamie Payne
10 Journey to the Centre of the TARDIS Steve Thompson Mat King
11 The Crimson Horror [16] Mark Gatiss[10] Saul Metzstein[10]
12 Nightmare in Silver[17] Neil Gaiman[10] Stephen Wolfenden[10] Reintroduction of the Mondasian Cybermen.[3]
Reappearance of Artie and Angie.[18]
13 The Name of the Doctor [17][19] Steven Moffat[10] Saul Metzstein[20] Reappearance of Post-library River Song.

Episode notes

  • This is the only series so far to have special 'movie' posters made featuring titles, cast and credits.
  • There will be no two-parters in this series. [21]
  • In an interview with SFX, Steven Moffat gave teasers on the episodes leading up to the 50th anniversary, including the second half of series 7. Episodes will include: a Doctor Who take on a modern urban thriller, a base-under-siege story, a brand new alien planet which he said they have gone 'all out' on, and a ghost story. [22]
  • The series finale will be seriously "fan-boy pleasing".[22]
  • The series finale will also reveal the Doctor's biggest secret.[23]

Aliens and enemies

Notes

  • Steven Moffat has teased that he has created a new 'monster' which he claims 'will' scare viewers.[24]
  • Moffat also revealed that there will be "a mummy of sorts and some zombie creatures as well."[25]
  • Neil Gaiman has claimed that he has made the Cybermen scary again.[26][22]

Adaptations and merchandising

Home media

DVD

Episode name Number and duration
of episodes
R2 release date R4 release date R1 release date
Doctor Who: The Doctor, the Widow and the Wardrobe
The Doctor, the Widow and the Wardrobe
1 × 60 min. 16 January 2012 1 March 2012 14 February 2012
Doctor Who: Series 7, Part 1
Asylum of the Daleks
Dinosaurs on a Spaceship
A Town Called Mercy
The Power of Three
The Angels Take Manhattan
1 x 50 min.
4 × 45 min.
29 October 2012 14 November 2012 13 November 2012
Doctor Who: Series 7, Part 2 [27]
The Snowmen
The Bells of Saint John
The Rings of Akhaten
Cold War
Hide
Journey to the Centre of the TARDIS
The Crimson Horror
Nightmare in Silver
The Name of the Doctor
1 x 60 min.
8 x 45 min.
20 May 2013 TBA 28 May 2013
Doctor Who: The Complete Series Seven [28]
1 x 50 min.
1 x 60 min.
12 x 45 min.
TBA TBA TBA

Footnotes

  1. The Doctor Who Team (19 April 2013). The Name of the Finale. BBC - Blogs - Doctor Who. Retrieved on 19 April 2013.
  2. Brendon Connelly (6 July 2012). Doctor Who Set Pics Take Us Inside Sweetville, Reveal Returning Aliens And Fan Favourite Co-Stars. Bleeding Cool. Retrieved on 23 August 2012.
  3. 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 3.4 The Doctor Who Team (7 November 2012). Confirmed for 2013: Cybermen and Stellar Cast. BBC - Blogs - Doctor Who. Retrieved on 7 November 2012.
  4. Ruther (5 December 2012). @CultBoxTV also Will Merrick as Brains http://unitedagents.co.uk/will-merrick. And Warwick Davis is playing Porridge #pedant. Twitter. Retrieved on 3 March 2012.
  5. 5.0 5.1 Daniel Sperling (2 July 2012). 'Doctor Who' casts Dame Diana Rigg, Rachael Stirling. Digital Spy. Retrieved on 23 August 2012.
  6. Beth Willis On Leaving Doctor Who. BBC - Doctor Who. Retrieved on 2 April 2012.
  7. End of the Piers Show. BBC - Doctor Who. Retrieved on 2 April 2012.
  8. 8.0 8.1 Steven Moffat on the New Executive Producer. BBC - Doctor Who. Retrieved on 2 April 2012.
  9. Executive Producer Moves On. BBC - Doctor Who. Retrieved on 13 March 2013.
  10. 10.00 10.01 10.02 10.03 10.04 10.05 10.06 10.07 10.08 10.09 10.10 Chuck Foster (18 October 2012). Christmas Special for... Christmas Day!. Retrieved on 24 October 2012.
  11. Morgan Jeffery (30 May 2012). 'Doctor Who': 'Luther' creator Neil Cross to write new episode. Digital Spy. Retrieved on 23 August 2012.
  12. Morgan Jeffery (9 February 2012). 'Doctor Who' to resume filming this month, Saul Metzstein to direct. Digital Spy. Retrieved on 23 August 2012.
  13. The Doctor Who Team (16 July 2012). New Series: Dinosaurs and Mercy!. BBC - Blogs - Doctor Who. Retrieved on 7 November 2012.
  14. "Marcus" (24 March 2012). Production: Convention News. Doctor Who News. Retrieved on 23 August 2012.
  15. The Doctor Who Team (14 November 2012). The Doctor Returns for Children in Need. BBC - Blogs - Doctor Who. Retrieved on 18 November 2012.
  16. Matt Smith interview on The Chris Evans Breakfast Show. Retrieved on 15 March, 2013.
  17. 17.0 17.1 Cite error: Invalid <ref> tag; no text was provided for refs named spring posters
  18. http://www.bbc.co.uk/mediacentre/proginfo/2013/20/doctor-who-pi-week-20.html
  19. The Doctor Who Team (19 April 2013). The Name of the Finale. BBC - Blogs - Doctor Who. Retrieved on 19 April 2013.
  20. DWM 460
  21. Tom Eames (21 March 2012). 'Doctor Who' new series avoids two-part episodes, says Steven Moffat. Digital Spy. Retrieved on 23 August 2012.
  22. 22.0 22.1 22.2 Nick Setchfield (12 December 2012). Steven Moffat Teases Next Year’s Doctor Who. SFX. Retrieved on 12 December 2012.
  23. http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/doctorwho/articles/Doctor-Who-to-Return-with-The-Bells-of-St-John-First-Official-Picture
  24. Daniel Sperling (14 June 2012). Doctor Who Steven Moffat teases 'scary' new monster: 'It's a good one'. Digital Spy. Retrieved on 23 August 2012.
  25. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nO_IBO6ozqw&list=UUUbtxcy1Vy1kBR7Xb-qA4TQ&index=3
  26. http://www.digitalspy.co.uk/tv/s7/doctor-who/news/a436955/doctor-who-writer-neil-gaiman-i-want-to-make-cybermen-scary-again.html
  27. http://www.bbcshop.com/matt-smith/doctor-who-series-7-part-2-dvd/invt/bbcdvd3802
  28. http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00C6ACVD6?tag=tvshowsondvdcom&link_code=as3&creativeASIN=B00C6ACVD6&creative=373489&camp=211189