Human Nature (Doctor Who)
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"Human Nature" is the eighth episode of the
third series Third or 3rd may refer to: Numbers * 3rd, the ordinal form of the cardinal number 3 * , a fraction of one third * 1⁄60 of a ''second'', i.e., the third in a series of fractional parts in a sexagesimal number system Places * 3rd Street (dis ...
of the revived British
science fiction television Science fiction first appeared in television programming in the late 1930s, during what is called the Golden Age of Science Fiction. Special effects and other production techniques allow creators to present a living visual image of an imaginary ...
series ''
Doctor Who ''Doctor Who'' is a British science fiction television series broadcast by the BBC since 1963. The series, created by Sydney Newman, C. E. Webber and Donald Wilson (writer and producer), Donald Wilson, depicts the adventures of an extraterre ...
'', which was originally broadcast on
BBC One BBC One is a British free-to-air public broadcast television channel owned and operated by the BBC. It is the corporation's oldest and flagship channel, and is known for broadcasting mainstream programming, which includes BBC News television b ...
on 26 May 2007. It is the first episode of a two-part story written by
Paul Cornell Paul Douglas Cornell (born 18 July 1967) is a British writer. He has worked in television drama and ''Doctor Who'' fiction, being the creator of one of the Doctor's spin-off companions, Bernice Summerfield. Other British television dramas f ...
adapted from his 1995 ''Doctor Who'' novel ''
Human Nature Human nature comprises the fundamental dispositions and characteristics—including ways of Thought, thinking, feeling, and agency (philosophy), acting—that humans are said to have nature (philosophy), naturally. The term is often used to denote ...
''. Its second part, " The Family of Blood", aired on 2 June. Along with "The Family of Blood", it was nominated for the Hugo Award for Best Dramatic Presentation, Short Form in 2008. In the episode, the alien
time traveller Time travel is the hypothetical activity of traveling into the past or future. Time travel is a concept in philosophy and fiction, particularly science fiction. In fiction, time travel is typically achieved through the use of a device known a ...
the
Tenth Doctor The Tenth Doctor is an incarnation of the Doctor, the protagonist of the British science fiction television series ''Doctor Who''. He is played by David Tennant in three series and nine specials. The character has also appeared in other ''Docto ...
(
David Tennant David John Tennant (; born 18 April 1971) is a Scottish actor. He is best known for portraying the Tenth Doctor, tenth and Fourteenth Doctor, fourteenth incarnations of The Doctor (Doctor Who), the Doctor in the science fiction series ''Docto ...
) hides from his pursuers, the Family of Blood, in a public school in 1913. He transforms himself into a human and implants the false persona of a schoolteacher called "John Smith" to avoid detection until the Family's life runs out.


Plot


Synopsis

The
Tenth Doctor The Tenth Doctor is an incarnation of the Doctor, the protagonist of the British science fiction television series ''Doctor Who''. He is played by David Tennant in three series and nine specials. The character has also appeared in other ''Docto ...
is pursued by the Family of Blood, who seek his
Time Lord The Time Lords are a fictional ancient race of extraterrestrial life, extraterrestrial people in the British science fiction television series ''Doctor Who''. Time Lords are so named for their command of time travel technology and their Nonli ...
life force to prevent themselves from dying. The Doctor tells
Martha Martha (Aramaic language, Aramaic: מָרְתָא‎) is a Bible, biblical figure described in the Gospels of Gospel of Luke, Luke and Gospel of John, John. Together with her siblings Lazarus of Bethany, Lazarus and Mary of Bethany, she is descr ...
that he must transform into a human to escape the Family's detection until they die out, and gives her a list of instructions to follow. The Doctor turns himself into a human and transfers his Time Lord essence and memories into a fob watch that he asks Martha to guard. They land in England in 1913. The Doctor has taken the persona of John Smith, a teacher at Farringham School for Boys, and Martha goes undercover as a maid at the school. John is quiet and timid, but faint memories of the Doctor slip through in his dreams. He catalogues the dreams in a book he has titled ''A Journal of Impossible Things''. John keeps the fob watch on his mantle, believing it is a normal watch. John has also become infatuated with the school nurse, young widow Joan Redfern, and shares his journal with her. Martha is concerned, as the Doctor did not instruct her on what to do should he fall in love. Timothy Latimer, a young student at the school with
extrasensory perception Extrasensory perception (ESP), also known as a sixth sense, or cryptaesthesia, is a claimed paranormal ability pertaining to reception of information not gained through the recognized physical senses, but sensed with the mind. The term was ad ...
, discovers the fob watch and bonds with it, seeing visions of the Doctor. The Family of Blood track the Doctor to England, and cloak their ship with an invisibility shield to keep it hidden. The Family seek out humans to possess, and take the bodies of several people including one of the schoolboys, Jeremy Baines. They also animate scarecrows to use as their soldiers. When Timothy briefly opens the fob watch and experiences portions of the Doctor's memories, the Family detects its presence at the school. Martha realises that the Family has found them, and attempts to find the watch. John asks Joan to accompany him to the village dance that night, and she accepts. Timothy follows them to the dance and bumps into Martha, recognising her from the Doctor's memories. At the dance, Martha again tries to persuade John to become the Doctor by showing him elements of his past such as his
sonic screwdriver The sonic screwdriver is a fictional multifunctional tool in the British science fiction television programme ''Doctor Who'' and its spin-offs, used by the Doctor. Like the TARDIS, it has become one of the icons of the programme, and spin-off ...
. Now aware that John Smith is the Doctor, the Family interrupt the dance and confront him. They take Martha and Joan as hostages and give John a choice to either become a Time Lord again or watch Martha and Joan die.


Continuity

All ten incarnations of the Doctor are also illustrated, with the
First First most commonly refers to: * First, the ordinal form of the number 1 First or 1st may also refer to: Acronyms * Faint Images of the Radio Sky at Twenty-Centimeters, an astronomical survey carried out by the Very Large Array * Far Infrared a ...
, Fifth, Sixth, Seventh, and Eighth clearly visible, marking the first time the faces of the Doctors from the classic series had been depicted on screen in the revived series.


Production

''
Human Nature Human nature comprises the fundamental dispositions and characteristics—including ways of Thought, thinking, feeling, and agency (philosophy), acting—that humans are said to have nature (philosophy), naturally. The term is often used to denote ...
'' was Paul Cornell's fifth original novel, all having been ''Doctor Who'' stories for
Virgin Publishing Virgin Books is a British book publisher 90% owned by the publishing group Random House, and 10% owned by Virgin Group, the company originally set up by Richard Branson as a record company. History Virgin established its book publishing arm ...
, and the thirty-eighth New Adventure. The plot was developed with fellow New Adventure novelist Kate Orman and the book was well received on its publication in 1995. Several years later, the revived ''Doctor Who'' television series included several people who had worked on the New Adventures. For his second story for the television series, Cornell adapted his novel. Although most praise for the script was directed at Cornell, a great deal of the episode had in fact been rewritten by executive producer
Russell T Davies Stephen Russell Davies ( ; born 27 April 1963), known professionally as Russell T Davies, is a Welsh screenwriter and television producer. He is best known for being the original showrunner and head writer of the revival of the BBC sci-fi seri ...
. Despite
Julie Gardner Julie Ann Gardner (born 4 June 1969) is a Welsh television producer. Her most prominent work has been serving as executive producer on the 2005 revival of ''Doctor Who'' and its spin-off shows '' Torchwood'' and '' The Sarah Jane Adventures'' ...
's position as
executive producer Executive producer (EP) is one of the top positions in the production of media. Depending on the medium, the executive producer may be concerned with management accounting or associated with legal issues (like copyrights or royalties). In film ...
since "
Rose A rose is either a woody perennial plant, perennial flowering plant of the genus ''Rosa'' (), in the family Rosaceae (), or the flower it bears. There are over three hundred Rose species, species and Garden roses, tens of thousands of cultivar ...
", this episode marks the first time since
Verity Lambert Verity Ann Lambert (27 November 1935 – 22 November 2007) was an English television and film producer. Lambert began working in television in the 1950s. She began her career as a producer at the BBC by becoming the founding producer of t ...
's
1965 Events January–February * January 14 – The First Minister of Northern Ireland and the Taoiseach of the Republic of Ireland meet for the first time in 43 years. * January 20 ** Lyndon B. Johnson is Second inauguration of Lynd ...
swansong, " Mission to the Unknown", that a woman was the credited producer of an episode of ''Doctor Who''. However, it is not producer Susie Liggat's first production job in the ''Doctor Who'' universe: in 2006, she produced '' Invasion of the Bane'', the first episode of ''
The Sarah Jane Adventures ''The Sarah Jane Adventures'' is a British science fiction television programme that was produced by BBC Cymru Wales for CBBC, created by Russell T Davies, and starring Elisabeth Sladen. The programme is a spin-off of the long-running BBC s ...
''. Thus, only she and
John Nathan-Turner John Turner (12 August 1947 – 1 May 2002), known professionally as John Nathan-Turner, was an English television producer. He was the ninth producer of the long-running BBC science fiction series ''Doctor Who'' and the final producer of the ...
have produced episodes from two different programmes set in the ''Doctor Who'' universe. The physical prop of John Smith's journal notebook was created by artist Kellyanne Walker, and incorporates text provided by writer
Paul Cornell Paul Douglas Cornell (born 18 July 1967) is a British writer. He has worked in television drama and ''Doctor Who'' fiction, being the creator of one of the Doctor's spin-off companions, Bernice Summerfield. Other British television dramas f ...
. Much of the episode was filmed at
St Fagans National History Museum St Fagans National Museum of History ( ; ), commonly referred to as St Fagans after the village where it is located, is an open-air museum in St Fagans, Cardiff, Wales, chronicling the historical lifestyle, culture, and architecture of the Wels ...
, an open-air museum near
Cardiff Cardiff (; ) is the capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of Wales. Cardiff had a population of in and forms a Principal areas of Wales, principal area officially known as the City and County of Ca ...
, and
Treberfydd Treberfydd House is a Gothic Revival house, built in 1847–50 just south of Llangorse Lake in the Brecon Beacons National Park in South Wales, to the designs of architect John Loughborough Pearson. It remains a private home to the Raikes family ...
, the Victorian Gothic mansion which served as Farringham School, located near
Llangorse Lake Llangorse Lake, or Llangors Lake (, variant: ), is the largest natural lake in Mid and South Wales, and is situated in the Brecon Beacons National Park, near the town of Brecon and the village of Llangors. The lake is famous for its coarse fis ...
in south Wales. Other interior locations were filmed at Llandaff Cathedral, Cardiff. The Doctor's list of 23 directives, much of which is sped through in the episode, is presented at normal speed in a
deleted scene A deleted scene is footage that has been removed from the final version of a film or television show. There are various reasons why these scenes are deleted, which include time constraints, relevance, quality or a dropped story thread, and can al ...
released on the BBC DVD. In place of the nonexistent unheard requests, David Tennant breaks the
fourth wall The fourth wall is a performance dramatic convention, convention in which an invisible, imaginary wall separates actors from the audience. While the audience can see through this "wall", the convention assumes the actors act as if they cannot. ...
to speak about a love for
The Housemartins The Housemartins were an English indie rock group formed in Hull who were active in the 1980s and charted three top-ten albums and six top-twenty singles in the UK. Many of their lyrics conveyed a mixture of socialist politics and Christiani ...
and also talk nonsense to pad out the time before returning to character for the 23rd and final directive. Another instruction, about not letting Smith eat pears, appears in both the deleted scene and in the novel ''Human Nature''.


Reception

Along with "The Family of Blood", "Human Nature" was nominated for the 2008 Hugo Award for Best Dramatic Presentation, Short Form. David Tennant won the Constellation Award for Best Male Performance in a 2007 Science Fiction Television Episode for the two-part story. The episode also received a favourable review from ''
The Stage ''The Stage'' is a British weekly newspaper and website covering the entertainment industry and particularly theatre. Founded in 1880, ''The Stage'' contains news, reviews, opinion, features, and recruitment advertising, mainly directed at thos ...
'' with reviewer Mark Wright commenting that the episode "is unlike any ''Doctor Who'' story you'll ever see", and that there was "nothing duff" about the episode. Wright singles out the performances of Agyeman and Tennant for considerable praise and he concludes by describing the episode as "BAFTA worthy Drama".
IGN ''IGN'' is an American video gaming and entertainment media website operated by IGN Entertainment Inc., a subsidiary of Ziff Davis, Inc. The company's headquarters is located in San Francisco's SoMa district and is headed by its former e ...
's Travis Fickett gave "Human Nature" a rating of 9.1 out of 10, writing that it "has some of the highest caliber of writing the series has seen". He particularly praised the performances of Hynes and Brodie-Sangster and the episode's "more deliberate pace". While he noted that the Family was creepy (with Baines in particular), he felt that the scarecrows "might seem a little silly" to older viewers. In 2009, ''
Doctor Who Magazine ''Doctor Who Magazine'' (abbreviated as ''DWM'') is a magazine devoted to the British science fiction television series ''Doctor Who''. Launched in 1979 as ''Doctor Who Weekly'', the magazine became a monthly publication the following year. In ...
'' readers voted "Human Nature"/"The Family of Blood" as the sixth best ''Doctor Who'' story of all time. In a 2014 poll, ''Doctor Who Magazine'' readers voted the episodes as the ninth best. Matt Wales of IGN named the two-part story the best episode of Tennant's tenure as the Doctor, describing it as "stunningly produced" and praising Tennant's performance. In 2008, ''
The Daily Telegraph ''The Daily Telegraph'', known online and elsewhere as ''The Telegraph'', is a British daily broadsheet conservative newspaper published in London by Telegraph Media Group and distributed in the United Kingdom and internationally. It was found ...
'' named it the seventh best Doctor Who episode in the show's history.


Notes


References


External links

*
"Human Nature"
episode trailer * {{Tenth Doctor stories, selected=Television Fiction set in 1913 Fiction set in 2007 2007 British television episodes Doctor Who pseudohistorical serials Television episodes written by Paul Cornell Television shows based on British novels Tenth Doctor episodes Television episodes about spirit possession Television episodes about telepathy Television episodes set in England Television episodes set in schools Television episodes set in the 1910s Television episodes set in the 2000s