Series 7 (Doctor Who)

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 , opened with and concluded with , with the gap between parts one and two of the series being bridged by .
== Overview ==
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 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 , in and 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 ==
* The Doctor - Matt Smith
* Clara Oswald - Jenna Coleman, Sophie Downham
* Amy Pond - Karen Gillan
* Rory Williams - Arthur Darvill
* Madge Arwell - Claire Skinner
=== Recurring ===
* 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 ===
* 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 ==
=== 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 ; however, Piers Wenger stayed for one episode longer, and produced .
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 ), 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. Filming for The Snowmen began 6 August.https://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/doctorwho/entries/71c567d9-d7c5-3758-a3bc-1bc095e4b829
== Television stories ==
=== Christmas special ===
EpisodeNumber	Title	Writer 	Director 	Prequel	Notes
N/A 	 	Steven Moffat	Farren Blackburn	Prequel	The Doctor reestablishes contact with Amy and Rory since faking his death.
=== Mini-episodes ===
EpisodeNumber	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 ===
==== Autumn half ====
EpisodeNumber	Title	Writer 	Director 	Prequel 	Notes
1 	 	Steven Moffat 	Nick Hurran 	Pond Life and Asylum of the Daleks Prequel	First appearance of Clara Oswald, in the form of Oswin Oswald.
2 	 	Chris Chibnall	Saul Metzstein 	 	First appearance of Brian Williams.
3 	 	Toby Whithouse	Saul Metzstein 	The Making of the Gunslinger 	
4 	 	Chris Chibnall	Douglas Mackinnon	 	Reintroduction of Kate Stewart, and her first appearance in the television series.
5 	 	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 ====
Episode Number	Title	Writer 	Director 	Prequel 	Notes
N/A 	 	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 ====
The remaining eight episodes of series 7 began airing on 30 March, 2013.
EpisodeNumber	Title	Writer 	Director 	Prequel 	Notes
6 	 	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 	 	Neil Cross 	Farren Blackburn 	 	
8 	 	Mark Gatiss 	Douglas Mackinnon 	 	Reintroduction of the Ice Warriors.
9 	 	Neil Cross 	Jamie Payne 	 	
10 	 	Steve Thompson	Mat King 	 	Reintroduction to the Eye of Harmony.
11 	 	Mark Gatiss 	Saul Metzstein 	 	100th Episode of the Revived Series. Angie And Artie find out about Clara's life with the Doctor.
12 	 	Neil Gaiman 	Stephen Woolfenden	 	First appearance of the "weapons-grade" Cybermen. Reintroduction to the Cyber-Planner.
13 	 	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 ====
These three mini-episodes were released on the series 7 DVD boxset.
EpisodeNumber	Title 	Writer 	Director	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 ===
* 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.Guardian Article
* 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 to , the opening sequence was the one used starting from . From , a different opening sequence was used and was used for the rest of Matt Smith's tenure.
== Aliens and enemies ==
* Daleks
* Dalek puppets
* Dalek Prime Minister
* Nanogene
* Solomon
* Robot 1 and Robot 2
* Dinosaurs
* Silurians
* Kahler-Tek
* Kahler-Jex
* Orderlies
* Shakri
* Weeping Angels
* Great Intelligence
* Walter Simeon
* Snowmen
* Spoonheads
* Miss Kizlet
* Rezh Baphix
* Merry Gejelh
* Dor'een
* Pan-Babylonians
* Lugaleracush
* Lucanians
* Hooloovoo
* Terraberserker
* Ultramancer
* Citizen from the City State of Binding Light
* Energy-based aliens
* Four-eyed aliens
* The Mummy
* Vigil
* Old God
* Ice Warrior
* The Crooked Man
* Time zombies
* Winifred Gillyflower
* Mr Sweet
* Cybermen
* Cybermites
* Whisper Men
== Adaptations and merchandising ==
=== Home media ===
==== DVD ====
Title 	Number and durationof episodes 	R2 release date	R4 release date 	R1 release date
Doctor Who: The Doctor, the Widow and the Wardrobe 	1 × 60 min. 	16 January 2012	1 March 2012 	14 February 2012
Doctor Who: Series 7, Part 1Pond Life 	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 2Clarence 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 SeriesPond LifeClara and the TARDISRain GodsThe 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 ====
Title 	Number and durationof episodes 	R2 release date	R4 release date 	R1 release date
Doctor Who: The Doctor, the Widow and the Wardrobe 	1 × 60 min. 	16 January 2012	1 March 2012 	14 February 2012
Doctor Who: Series 7, Part 1Pond Life 	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 	1 x 60 min.8 x 45 min. 	27 May 2013 	22 May 2013 	28 May 2013
Doctor Who: The Complete Seventh SeriesPond LifeClara and the TARDISRain GodsThe 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
Series 7 released on 21 November 2023 in a limited edition Blu-ray box set containing every "New Who" series up to Series 13.https://www.ign.com/articles/doctor-who-limited-edition-complete-new-who-blu-ray-set-is-up-for-preorder
Limited Edition New Who Blu-Ray Collection Box Set front.jpg|New Who Limited Edition (front)
Limited Edition New Who Blu-Ray Collection Box Set back.jpg|New Who Limited Edition (back)
Limited Edition New Who Blu-Ray Collection Box Set promo front.jpg|New Who Limited Edition (front)
Limited Edition New Who Blu-Ray Collection Box Set promo back.jpg|New Who Limited Edition (back)
Limited Edition New Who Collector's promo 1.jpg|New Who Limited Edition promo
Limited Edition New Who Collector’s promo 2.jpg|New Who Limited Edition promo
== Stories set before this season ==
=== Webcasts ===
* Prequel to The Doctor, the Widow and the Wardrobe
== Stories set during this season ==
=== Novels ===
* Dark Horizons
* Terrible Lizards
* Horror of the Space Snakes
* Extra Time
* The Water Thief
* The Angel's Kiss: A Melody Malone Mystery
* Devil in the Smoke: An Adventure for the Great Detective
*The Silurian Gift
* Plague of the Cybermen
* The Dalek Generation
* Shroud of Sorrow
=== Audiobooks ===
* The Empty House
* Sleepers in the Dust
* Snake Bite
=== Audio Drama ===
* Thin Time (Eleventh Doctor's involvement)
* Regeneration Impossible (Eleventh Doctor's involvement)
* The Inheritance
* The House of Masks
* The End
=== Webcasts ===
* Pond Life
* Prequel to Asylum of the Daleks
* The Making of the Gunslinger
* The Great Detective
* Vastra Investigates: A Christmas Prequel
* The Bells of Saint John: A Prequel
* She Said, He Said: A Prequel
== Footnotes ==
de:Doctor Who Staffel 33
es:Serie 7 (Doctor Who)
he:עונה 7
it:Settima Stagione (Doctor Who)
pt:7ª Temporada (SN)
ru:7 сезон (Доктор Кто, новые серии)
Series 07 (Doctor Who)
Series 07 (Doctor Who)