The third series of the revived Britishscience 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 companionMartha 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.
Episodes
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".[citation needed]
"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]
Supplemental episode
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 3+1⁄2 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.
Casting
Freema Agyeman was the first change in companion since the show returned while John Barrowman returned to the series after having his own spin-off created
Actress and comedianCatherine Tate was cast as one-off companion Donna Noble for the Christmas special.[5] 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.[6][7][8] 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.
Following the success of the first series, the BBC announced that Doctor Who had been recommissioned for a third series on 16 June 2005,[12] only two months after the announcement of the second series.[13] Recording for the Christmas special began on 4 July 2006,[14] with production on the series itself beginning on 8 August 2006[15] and concluding on 2 April 2007.[16]
The episodes in series three are arranged in a loose story arc: "Mr Saxon", an alias for the Master.[17] The character's name was first mentioned in "The Runaway Bride"; the Ministry of Defence shot down an alien craft at Saxon's request.[17][18] 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;[17][19][20] the Face of Boe's prophecy is directly related to Master;[21][22] 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.[17][21][23][24]
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".[25] 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.[26]Doctor Who Confidential also aired alongside each episode of the series, continuing on from the previous series.[27]
Home media
All releases are for DVD unless otherwise indicated:
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).[49]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.[50]
Awards and nominations
Soundtrack
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.[67]
References
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Bibliography
Pixley, Andrew (22 November 2007). "Series Three Companion". Doctor Who Magazine. No. 17 – Special Edition. Retrieved 25 August 2024.
External links
Wikiquote has quotations related to Doctor Who (series 3).