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Aug 24, 2007 · The actors depicted on screen were William Hartnell, Peter Davison, Colin Baker, Sylvester McCoy and Paul McGann. Images of the Journal that were published on the BBC website reveal that the other remaining Doctors, Tom Baker, Jon Pertwee, Patrick Troughton, Christopher Eccleston, and David Tennant himself, were also illustrated on the page.
- (9.1K)
- Adventure, Drama, Sci-Fi
- Charlie Palmer
- 2007-08-24
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was the eighth episode of series 3 of Doctor Who.
It introduced the Chameleon arch and its ability to change Time Lord DNA, making the Doctor human. The episode was based on the 1995 novel of the same name and was a two-parter.
In England in 1913, school teacher John Smith experiences amazing dreams of living an incredible life as a mysterious adventurer called "the Doctor", fighting monsters and seeing far away worlds.
The Tenth Doctor and Martha barely make it into the TARDIS as an 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. He gives her a watch and tells her his life depends on it...
In November 1913, at the Farringham School for Boys, schoolteacher John Smith wakes up from this dream. Martha comes in as his maid to bring him breakfast and addresses him as "Dr John Smith". He explains to her that he sometimes has dreams of being an alien adventurer from another world, and she was with him. He notices the watch on the mantelpiece of his bedroom and Martha looks up eagerly, but he replaces it idly whilst remarking how easily dreams seem to slip away. He does, however, remember that it took place in 2007, but she shows him a paper showing he's in 1913 and he's completely human.
Outside, a column of boys in grey trousers and black coats march in formation to the front of the school, which is an elegant if rather old building, as a hymn is sung by another chorus. Smith, wearing a long black coat and hat, leads them through a history lesson regarding the end of the Napoleonic Wars. Elsewhere, Martha and fellow maid Jenny scrub the floors and are accosted by two particularly unpleasant cadets, one of whom makes a snide remark regarding Martha's skin colour. She doesn't rise to it, though remarks that she'd like to smack him upside the head with her bucket once he's out of earshot, and Jenny notes that in a few years, boys like them will be running the country. Martha, her face sad, responds quietly that with the year being 1913, they might not.
Later, Smith runs into Matron Joan Redfern, the school's nurse, and they chat about the boys. She wonders if he'll be going to the local village dance and he rather awkwardly falls down the stairs. Martha comes to check up on him but Redfern casually dismisses her as a maid, under the assumption she has no medical knowledge. Smith talks about dreaming that he has two hearts but a stethoscope easily shows this is not the case. He shows Joan his journal of his various dreams and the creatures he has seen such as Daleks, Cybermen, and the TARDIS. He also has pictures of Rose, although she disappears from the later entries. Nurse Redfern leaves with the book and when Martha goes after her, she asks how Martha came to be there with Smith.
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, who compels him into doing his Latin homework with a daunting deadline—the next morning. He proceeds to bully Latimer further as much for his obvious intelligence as for his uncanny and unsettling ability to know things he shouldn't or couldn't possibly know, like where Hutchinson's father is posted while serving abroad. 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. He sneaks out the window to bring some back for the boys to enjoy in secret.
Outside the local pub, Martha is complaining to Jenny that it's not fair that they have to freeze outside just to have a beer. Her modern attitude amuses Jenny, who wonders where she gets such ideas. Martha then notices a green light shooting through the sky. John Smith arrives and greets them, explaining shooting stars to them. Martha doubts the explanation, in this case, being exceptionally careful to protect him. She runs off to investigate with Jenny following her.
•The Doctor/Smith - David Tennant
•Martha Jones - Freema Agyeman
•Joan Redfern - Jessica Hynes
•Jenny - Rebekah Staton
•Tim Latimer - Thomas Sangster
•Baines - Harry Lloyd
Culture
•The students sing "To Be a Pilgrim". •Hutchinson makes Latimer do his homework on Catullus.
The Doctor
•When disguised as John Smith, the Doctor only has one heart. •In Smith's sketchbook there are sketches of the TARDIS console room, the sonic screwdriver, a Dalek, Moxx of Balhoon, Autons, Rose Tyler, Clockwork Droids, a Cybus Cyberman head, 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.
Foods and beverages
•Jeremy Baines goes to collect beer. •The Doctor eats a pear. •Martha drinks afternoon tea. •Martha suggests making mutton and gravy, as well as mentioning sardines and jam.
•When the Doctor is speaking to Joan he names his parents as Sydney and Verity. This is clearly an in-joke reference to Sydney Newman, the original creator of Doctor Who, and Verity Lambert, the first showrunner/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", as opposed to "The Doctor", while the on-screen credit reads "The Doctor/Smith". For The Family of Blood, Tennant is credited as "The Doctor" both on-screen and in Radio Times.
•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.
•This story introduced the Chameleon Arch, which would play a major role in the episode Utopia.
•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 School Reunion previously re-established the fact that there were incarnations prior to the Ninth.
•The Doctor's TARDIS and related items make use of a perception filter. (TV: Everything Changes, Utopia, The Sound of Drums, The Lodger)
•When Joan asks where he learned to draw, John Smith replies Gallifrey. Joan asks if it is in Ireland. This is similar to an exchange between the Fourth Doctor and his examiner, (TV: The Hand of Fear) as well as a conversation Leela had with the receptionist at the Bi-Al Foundation. (TV: The Invisible Enemy)
•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 (TV: Gridlock) and proved to have great significance in the Doctor's immediate future. (TV: Utopia)
•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)
•John Smith throws a cricket ball at a pile of scaffolding poles, which sets off a chain of events that knocks over a milk churn in front of a woman with a baby carriage before a piano falls down on them both, demonstrating his remarkable pitching aim. The Tenth Doctor previously hurtled a satsuma at a button on board the ship of the Sycorax, which opened a panel underneath the Sycorax leader as he charged the Doctor from behind with a sword, and caused him to plummet to his death. (TV: The Christmas Invasion)
•The Fifth Doctor once saved himself by throwing a cricket ball as well. (TV: Four to Doomsday)
•This episode was released with The Family of Blood and Blink on the Series 3 Volume 3 DVD.
•It was later released as part of the series 3 DVD box set.
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Apr 28, 2020 · Doctor Who review: Human Nature is still one of the best stories of the New Series. The final story in Doctor Who Lockdown will be the crucial three-part finale to Series 3, starring David Tennant ...
Doctor Who Guide: Human Nature / The Family of Blood - Cast and Crew. Last updated 23 March 2024. Cast. David Tennant. The Doctor. Freema Agyeman. Martha Jones. Jessica Hynes. Joan Redfern.
Mar 13, 2020 · Tucked into the science-heavy discussion are only a few patient testimonies, which “Human Nature” could have spent more time on. One story follows the parents of a girl whose albinism affected her sight, and they wrestle with the possibilities that CRISPR-led genetic treatment could, in theory, one day give her the ability to see clearly.
Human Nature. Technically speaking, the Doctor isn't in this picture... Written by Paul Cornell. Directed by Charles Palmer. Production code: 3.8. Air date: 26 May 2007. Part 1 of 2. "It's all becoming clear. The Doctor is the man you'd like to be, doing impossible things with cricket balls."
Apr 6, 2014 · At the end of last week’s review, I suggested that “Human Nature”/“The Family Of Blood” represented the apex of David Tennant’s tenure as the show’s leading man, of Russell T. Davies ...
