Series 7 (Doctor Who 2005)

Series 7 — 2011-13

Doctor:

Eleventh Doctor

Companions:

Amy, Rory, Clara, River

Key crew

Executive producer(s):

Steven Moffat, Caroline Skinner

Producer(s):

Marcus Wilson
Denise Paul

Series details

Start date:

6 December 2011

End date:

24 September 2013

Premiere network:

BBC One

Typical episode length:

45'

More info

Official trailer

Another official trailer

One more trailer

Memorable moment

Another memorable moment

One more memorable moment

Behind the scenes video

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6	specials

You may wish to consult Series 7 for other, similarly-named pages.

Series 7 of Doctor Who ran from 6 December 2011 to 24 September 2013. It starred Matt Smith as the Eleventh Doctor, Karen Gillan as Amy Pond, Arthur Darvill as Rory Williams and Jenna Coleman as Clara Oswald. The regular series was preceded by The Doctor, the Widow and the Wardrobe ^[+]Loading...["The Doctor, the Widow and the Wardrobe (TV story)"], opened with Asylum of the Daleks ^[+]Loading...["Asylum of the Daleks (TV story)"] and concluded with The Name of the Doctor ^[+]Loading...["The Name of the Doctor (TV story)"], with the gap between parts one and two of the series being bridged by The Snowmen ^[+]Loading...["The Snowmen (TV story)"].

Overview[[edit] | [edit source]]

It consisted of fifteen stories and episodes. This series was broadcast on BBC One between 2012 and 2013, and, like Series 6, it was split into two parts. The BBC first announced the new series, which contained fourteen episodes, on the official Doctor Who site on 8 June 2011 It was followed by a series of 2013 specials, in honour of the programme's 50th anniversary. This was the last full series with Matt Smith's Eleventh Doctor.

Series 7 has been described as being a series of "movies" squeezed into forty-five minutes, although The Snowmen ^[+]Loading...["The Snowmen (TV story)"] was sixty minutes. The first half is about the Doctor deleting himself from the universe to hide 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.

As established in The Name of the Doctor ^[+]Loading...["The Name of the Doctor (TV story)"], in Asylum of the Daleks ^[+]Loading...["Asylum of the Daleks (TV story)"] and The Snowmen ^[+]Loading...["The Snowmen (TV story)"] and many other encounters with the Doctor before, echoes of Clara Oswald were sent through time with the purpose of saving the Doctor, dying in at least the lives in Asylum and The Snowmen. The Doctor, not knowing who Clara was, realised that both incarnations of her were the same woman and believed there would be more versions of her somewhere in the universe. He found and travelled with the original Clara from 2013, determined to solve the mystery of the "impossible girl". To save the Doctor from having his victories undone by the Great Intelligence, Clara followed the Intelligence into the wound of the Doctor's timeline from his tomb on Trenzalore, sacrificing herself to save the Doctor many times over, influencing the outcomes of his many battles, and even making sure he stole the right TARDIS from Gallifrey when he originally left.

Cast[[edit] | [edit source]]

The Doctor - Matt Smith
Clara Oswald - Jenna Coleman, Sophie Downham
Amy Pond - Karen Gillan
Rory Williams - Arthur Darvill
Madge Arwell - Claire Skinner

Recurring[[edit] | [edit source]]

Daleks - operated by Barnaby Edwards, Nicholas Pegg and voiced by Nicholas Briggs
Brian Williams - Mark Williams
Kate Stewart - Jemma Redgrave
River Song - Alex Kingston
Jenny Flint - Catrin Stewart
Madame Vastra - Neve McIntosh
Strax - Dan Starkey
The Great Intelligence - Richard E Grant and additionally voiced by Ian McKellen
Ellie Oswald - Nicola Sian
Angie Maitland - Eve De Leon Allen
Artie Maitland - Kassius Carey Johnson
Dave Oswald - Michael Dixon
Cybermen - Aidan Cook and voiced by Nicholas Briggs
The Doctor - John Hurt

Guest[[edit] | [edit source]]

Lily Arwell - Holly Earl
Solomon - David Bradley
Kahler-Tek - Andrew Brooke
Shakri - Steven Berkoff
Captain Latimer - Tom Ward
Dr Walter Simeon - Richard E Grant, Cameron Strefford
Miss Kizlet - Celia Imrie
Newsreader – Olivia Hill
Merry - Emilia Jones
Mummy - Aidan Cook
Captain Zhukov - Liam Cunningham
Professor Grisenko - David Warner
Lieutenant Stepashin – Tobias Menzies
Skaldak - Spencer Wilding and voiced by Nicholas Briggs
Alec Palmer - Dougray Scott
Emma Grayling - Jessica Raine
Gregor Van Baalen - Ashley Walters
Bram Van Baalen - Mark Oliver
Tricky Van Baalen - Jahvel Hall
Winifred Gillyflower - Diana Rigg
Ada Gillyflower - Rachael Stirling
Webley - Jason Watkins
Ludens Nimrod Kendrick Cord Longstaff XLI - Warwick Davis

Production[[edit] | [edit source]]

Crew[[edit] | [edit source]]

Producers[[edit] | [edit source]]

Before the airing of series 7, it was announced that both Beth Willis and Piers Wenger would step down as executive producers. Willis' last credit was on The Wedding of River Song ^[+]Loading...["The Wedding of River Song (TV story)"]; however, Piers Wenger stayed for one episode longer, and produced The Doctor, the Widow and the Wardrobe ^[+]Loading...["The Doctor, the Widow and the Wardrobe (TV story)"].

A new executive producer named Caroline Skinner joined Steven Moffat to produce The Doctor, the Widow and the Wardrobe onwards, 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.^[1]

Writers[[edit] | [edit source]]

Head writer Steven Moffat wrote seven episodes. He has written the 2011 Christmas special, episodes one and five in the autumn run, the Children in Need mini-episode, the 2012 Christmas special, episodes six and thirteen of the spring run, and the 50th anniversary special.

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, writing episodes eight and eleven.

Another returning writer was Steve Thompson, who wrote episode ten.

Fantasy author Neil Gaiman (who previously wrote The Doctor's Wife ^[+]Loading...["The Doctor's Wife (TV story)"]), wrote episode twelve.

Luther creator Neil Cross made his Doctor Who debut with episode seven, as well as writing episode nine.

Directors[[edit] | [edit source]]

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, three, eleven, thirteen and the 2012 Christmas special.

A handful of new directors directed one episode each in the spring half of the series. These are: Colm McCarthy, Jamie Payne, Mat King and Stephen Woolfenden, who directed episodes six, nine, ten and twelve respectively.

Filming[[edit] | [edit source]]

Filming for series 7 began on 20 February 2012.^[2] Episode three was filmed in Spain,^[3] as were some scenes for episode one. Filming for episode five saw the crew return to America. This time, they were filming in New York.^[4] Filming for The Snowmen began 6 August.^[5]

Television stories[[edit] | [edit source]]

Christmas special[[edit] | [edit source]]

Episode Number	Title	Writer	Director	Prequel	Notes
N/A	The Doctor, the Widow and the Wardrobe ^[+]Loading...["The Doctor, the Widow and the Wardrobe (TV story)"]	Steven Moffat	Farren Blackburn	Prequel	The Doctor reestablishes contact with Amy and Rory since faking his death.

Mini-episodes[[edit] | [edit source]]

Episode Number	Title	Writer	Director	Notes
N/A	Good as Gold	The Children of Ashdene School	Saul Metzstein
N/A	Pond Life	Chris Chibnall	Saul Metzstein	Glimpse into the life of Amy and Rory.
N/A	The History of the Doctor	Gareth Roberts	Tom Cohen

Regular series[[edit] | [edit source]]

Autumn half[[edit] | [edit source]]

Episode Number	Title	Writer	Director	Prequel	Notes
1	Asylum of the Daleks ^[+]Loading...["Asylum of the Daleks (TV story)"]	Steven Moffat	Nick Hurran	Pond Life and Asylum of the Daleks Prequel	First appearance of Clara Oswald, in the form of Oswin Oswald.
2	Dinosaurs on a Spaceship ^[+]Loading...["Dinosaurs on a Spaceship (TV story)"]	Chris Chibnall	Saul Metzstein		First appearance of Brian Williams.
3	A Town Called Mercy ^[+]Loading...["A Town Called Mercy (TV story)"]	Toby Whithouse	Saul Metzstein	The Making of the Gunslinger
4	The Power of Three ^[+]Loading...["The Power of Three (TV story)"]	Chris Chibnall	Douglas Mackinnon		Reintroduction of Kate Stewart, and her first appearance in the television series.
5	The Angels Take Manhattan ^[+]Loading...["The Angels Take Manhattan (TV story)"]	Steven Moffat	Nick Hurran		Final regular appearances of Amy Pond, Rory Williams and River Song. A webcast, P.S., was later released, detailing an unfilmed scene, featuring the last appearance of Brian Williams.

Christmas special[[edit] | [edit source]]

Episode Number	Title	Writer	Director	Prequel	Notes
N/A	The Snowmen ^[+]Loading...["The Snowmen (TV story)"]	Steven Moffat	Saul Metzstein	The Great Detective, Vastra Investigates and The Battle of Demons Run: Two Days Later	Reappearance of Clara as Clara Oswin Oswald, and cameo from Clara herself. Reintroduction of the Great Intelligence. Establishment of Vastra, Strax and Jenny Flint as the Paternoster Gang.

Spring half[[edit] | [edit source]]

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

Episode Number	Title	Writer	Director	Prequel	Notes
6	The Bells of Saint John ^[+]Loading...["The Bells of Saint John (TV story)"]	Steven Moffat	Colm McCarthy	The Bells of Saint John: A Prequel	Debut of the Eleventh Doctor's purple costume. First appearance of Angie And Artie Maitland.
7	The Rings of Akhaten ^[+]Loading...["The Rings of Akhaten (TV story)"]	Neil Cross	Farren Blackburn
8	Cold War ^[+]Loading...["Cold War (TV story)"]	Mark Gatiss	Douglas Mackinnon		Reintroduction of the Ice Warriors.
9	Hide ^[+]Loading...["Hide (TV story)"]	Neil Cross	Jamie Payne
10	Journey to the Centre of the TARDIS ^[+]Loading...["Journey to the Centre of the TARDIS (TV story)"]	Steve Thompson	Mat King		Reintroduction to the Eye of Harmony.
11	The Crimson Horror ^[+]Loading...["The Crimson Horror (TV story)"]	Mark Gatiss	Saul Metzstein		100th Episode of the Revived Series. Angie And Artie find out about Clara's life with the Doctor.
12	Nightmare in Silver ^[+]Loading...["Nightmare in Silver (TV story)"]	Neil Gaiman	Stephen Woolfenden		First appearance of the "weapons-grade" Cybermen. Reintroduction to the Cyber-Planner.
13	The Name of the Doctor ^[+]Loading...["The Name of the Doctor (TV story)"]	Steven Moffat	Saul Metzstein	She Said, He Said and Clarence and the Whispermen	Introduction of the War Doctor. Explanation of Clara's multiple lives, giving resolution to the "Woman Twice Dead" arc.

DVD Box Set Mini-episodes[[edit] | [edit source]]

These three mini-episodes were released on the series 7 DVD boxset.

Episode Number	Title	Writer	Notes
N/A	Clara and the TARDIS	Steven Moffat	The Doctor does not appear.
N/A	Rain Gods	Neil Gaiman
N/A	The Inforarium	Steven Moffat	Shows how the Doctor "deleted" himself from the universe.

Episode notes[[edit] | [edit source]]

This is the first series in the BBC Wales era of Doctor Who not to begin in the spring. In fact, the show would not see a spring series premiere again until Series 10.
The BBC justified the decision to split the series into two blocks starting in the fall by citing Steven Moffat's commitments to Sherlock as well as the upcoming 50th anniversary. Steven Moffat disputed this, insisting that Sherlock had nothing to do with the decision.^[6]
This is the first series to have special "movie" posters made featuring titles, cast and credits.
For the first time in Doctor Who, this series had no two-parters in it. Asylum of the Daleks through The Angels Take Manhattan form a loose story arc involving Amy and Rory, whereas the mystery of Clara is a background arc contained in the remaining episodes of the season.
Series 7 stands as one of only three seasons in Doctor Who history in which each story of the season has consisted of the same number of episodes - with this series consisting entirely of one parters - the others being Season 18, with entirely four-part serials, and Series 11, with one-parters. If the unfinished Shada is discounted, then this number is raised to four, with Season 17 also entirely consisting of four-part serials.
During Series 7, Matt Smith appeared as the Doctor in a spoof titled One Born Every Minute, aired on 15 March 2013 as part of the annual Comic Relief appeal.
The series had two opening sequences. From Asylum of the Daleks ^[+]Loading...["Asylum of the Daleks (TV story)"] to The Angels Take Manhattan ^[+]Loading...["The Angels Take Manhattan (TV story)"], the opening sequence was the one used starting from The Eleventh Hour ^[+]Loading...["The Eleventh Hour (TV story)"]. From The Snowmen ^[+]Loading...["The Snowmen (TV story)"], a different opening sequence was used and was used for the rest of Matt Smith's tenure.

Aliens and enemies[[edit] | [edit source]]

Adaptations and merchandising[[edit] | [edit source]]

Home media[[edit] | [edit source]]

DVD[[edit] | [edit source]]

This section's awfully stubby.

This section need to have information added as an opening paragraph, and images need to be added at the bottom.

Title	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 ^[+]Loading...["The Doctor, the Widow and the Wardrobe (TV story)"]	1 × 60 min.	16 January 2012	1 March 2012	14 February 2012
Doctor Who: Series 7, Part 1 Pond Life Asylum of the Daleks ^[+]Loading...["Asylum of the Daleks (TV story)"] Dinosaurs on a Spaceship ^[+]Loading...["Dinosaurs on a Spaceship (TV story)"] A Town Called Mercy ^[+]Loading...["A Town Called Mercy (TV story)"] The Power of Three ^[+]Loading...["The Power of Three (TV story)"] The Angels Take Manhattan ^[+]Loading...["The Angels Take Manhattan (TV story)"]	1 x 50 min. 4 × 45 min. 1 x 5 min.	29 October 2012	14 November 2012	13 November 2012
Doctor Who: Series 7, Part 2 The Snowmen ^[+]Loading...["The Snowmen (TV story)"] The Bells of Saint John ^[+]Loading...["The Bells of Saint John (TV story)"] The Rings of Akhaten ^[+]Loading...["The Rings of Akhaten (TV story)"] Cold War ^[+]Loading...["Cold War (TV story)"] Hide ^[+]Loading...["Hide (TV story)"] Journey to the Centre of the TARDIS ^[+]Loading...["Journey to the Centre of the TARDIS (TV story)"] The Crimson Horror ^[+]Loading...["The Crimson Horror (TV story)"] Nightmare in Silver ^[+]Loading...["Nightmare in Silver (TV story)"] The Name of the Doctor ^[+]Loading...["The Name of the Doctor (TV story)"] Clarence and the Whispermen	1 x 60 min. 8 x 45 min. 1 x 2 min.	27 May 2013	22 May 2013	28 May 2013
Doctor Who: The Complete Seventh Series The Doctor, the Widow and the Wardrobe ^[+]Loading...["The Doctor, the Widow and the Wardrobe (TV story)"] Pond Life Asylum of the Daleks ^[+]Loading...["Asylum of the Daleks (TV story)"] Dinosaurs on a Spaceship ^[+]Loading...["Dinosaurs on a Spaceship (TV story)"] A Town Called Mercy ^[+]Loading...["A Town Called Mercy (TV story)"] The Power of Three ^[+]Loading...["The Power of Three (TV story)"] The Angels Take Manhattan ^[+]Loading...["The Angels Take Manhattan (TV story)"] The Snowmen ^[+]Loading...["The Snowmen (TV story)"] The Bells of Saint John ^[+]Loading...["The Bells of Saint John (TV story)"] The Rings of Akhaten ^[+]Loading...["The Rings of Akhaten (TV story)"] Cold War ^[+]Loading...["Cold War (TV story)"] Hide ^[+]Loading...["Hide (TV story)"] Journey to the Centre of the TARDIS ^[+]Loading...["Journey to the Centre of the TARDIS (TV story)"] The Crimson Horror ^[+]Loading...["The Crimson Horror (TV story)"] Nightmare in Silver ^[+]Loading...["Nightmare in Silver (TV story)"] The Name of the Doctor ^[+]Loading...["The Name of the Doctor (TV story)"] Clara and the TARDIS Rain Gods The Inforarium	1 x 50 min. 2 x 60 min. 12 x 45 min. 1 x 5 min. 3 x 2 min.	28 October 2013	30 October 2013	28 September 2013

Blu-ray[[edit] | [edit source]]

This section's awfully stubby.

This section need to have information added as an opening paragraph, and images need to be added at the bottom.

Title	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 ^[+]Loading...["The Doctor, the Widow and the Wardrobe (TV story)"]	1 × 60 min.	16 January 2012	1 March 2012	14 February 2012
Doctor Who: Series 7, Part 1 Pond Life Asylum of the Daleks ^[+]Loading...["Asylum of the Daleks (TV story)"] Dinosaurs on a Spaceship ^[+]Loading...["Dinosaurs on a Spaceship (TV story)"] A Town Called Mercy ^[+]Loading...["A Town Called Mercy (TV story)"] The Power of Three ^[+]Loading...["The Power of Three (TV story)"] The Angels Take Manhattan ^[+]Loading...["The Angels Take Manhattan (TV story)"]	1 x 50 min. 4 × 45 min. 1 x 5 min.	29 October 2012	14 November 2012	13 November 2012
Doctor Who: Series 7, Part 2 The Snowmen ^[+]Loading...["The Snowmen (TV story)"] The Bells of Saint John ^[+]Loading...["The Bells of Saint John (TV story)"] The Rings of Akhaten ^[+]Loading...["The Rings of Akhaten (TV story)"] Cold War ^[+]Loading...["Cold War (TV story)"] Hide ^[+]Loading...["Hide (TV story)"] Journey to the Centre of the TARDIS ^[+]Loading...["Journey to the Centre of the TARDIS (TV story)"] The Crimson Horror ^[+]Loading...["The Crimson Horror (TV story)"] Nightmare in Silver ^[+]Loading...["Nightmare in Silver (TV story)"] The Name of the Doctor ^[+]Loading...["The Name of the Doctor (TV story)"]	1 x 60 min. 8 x 45 min.	27 May 2013	22 May 2013	28 May 2013
Doctor Who: The Complete Seventh Series The Doctor, the Widow and the Wardrobe ^[+]Loading...["The Doctor, the Widow and the Wardrobe (TV story)"] Pond Life Asylum of the Daleks ^[+]Loading...["Asylum of the Daleks (TV story)"] Dinosaurs on a Spaceship ^[+]Loading...["Dinosaurs on a Spaceship (TV story)"] A Town Called Mercy ^[+]Loading...["A Town Called Mercy (TV story)"] The Power of Three ^[+]Loading...["The Power of Three (TV story)"] The Angels Take Manhattan ^[+]Loading...["The Angels Take Manhattan (TV story)"] The Snowmen ^[+]Loading...["The Snowmen (TV story)"] The Bells of Saint John ^[+]Loading...["The Bells of Saint John (TV story)"] The Rings of Akhaten ^[+]Loading...["The Rings of Akhaten (TV story)"] Cold War ^[+]Loading...["Cold War (TV story)"] Hide ^[+]Loading...["Hide (TV story)"] Journey to the Centre of the TARDIS ^[+]Loading...["Journey to the Centre of the TARDIS (TV story)"] The Crimson Horror ^[+]Loading...["The Crimson Horror (TV story)"] Nightmare in Silver ^[+]Loading...["Nightmare in Silver (TV story)"] The Name of the Doctor ^[+]Loading...["The Name of the Doctor (TV story)"] Clara and the TARDIS Rain Gods The Inforarium	1 x 50 min. 2 x 60 min. 12 x 45 min. 1 x 5 min. 3 x 2 min.	28 October 2013	30 October 2013	28 September 2013