Series 7 ( Doctor Who ) Series 7 of " Doctor Who " , sometimes known as Season 33 to avoid confusion with the original Season 7 , was a transitional series , both within the narrative and behind the scenes . Matt Smith continued as the Eleventh Doctor , but series 7 part 1 saw the exit of Amy Pond and Rory Williams , and Clara Oswald was introduced thereafter . With a new companion , and an anniversary year starting , " Doctor Who " gained a new title sequence , the Doctor gained a wholly new outfit , a new TARDIS interior , and a new mystery : who is this impossible girl , he meets again and again ? Series 7 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 . Series 7 began its run on 1 September 2012 with five regular , stand - alone episodes which aired between 1 September 2012 and 29 September 2012 and a Christmas special . These were followed by the remaining eight episodes , which aired between 30 March 2013 and 18 May 2013 . Series 7 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 Doctor . 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 . As established in " The Name of the Doctor " , in " Asylum of the Daleks " and " The Snowmen " and thousands of 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 . Matt Smith , continued 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 again returned for the season finale . Jenna Coleman debuted as the original , 21st century version of Clara Oswald , the Doctor ' s newest companion , from " The Bells of Saint John " . Prior to this episode , echoes of Clara spread through time , known as Oswin Oswald in the Dalek Asylum and Clara Oswin Oswald in Victorian London , appeared in " Asylum of the Daleks " and " The Snowmen " respectively , also played by Coleman , and dying at the end of each story . Other versions of Clara existing at various prior eras of the show were also played by Coleman in " The Name of the Doctor " . 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 . 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 " . 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 . Writers . 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 " ) , wrote episode twelve . " Luther " creator Neil Cross made his " Doctor Who " debut with episode seven , as well as writing episode nine . 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 , 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 . Filming for series 7 began on 20 February 2012 . Episode three was filmed in Spain , 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 . Television stories . Regular series . Spring half . The remaining eight episodes of series 7 began airing on 30 March , 2013 . DVD Box Set Mini - episodes . These three mini - episodes were released on the series 7 DVD boxset .