Season 33

Lena Haigh

**Season 33** of *Doctor Who* ran between 31 August and 2 November 1996. It starred Stephen Fry as the Doctor, Lisa Bowerman as Bernice Summerfield, Robert Llewellyn as Norman Manning and Emma Fielding as Lena Haigh*.* The season opened with *The Eyes of Madmen* and ended with *Damaged Goods**.*

## Synopsis

### A new, kinder Doctor

Following the departure of Richard Griffiths in Season 32, a new Doctor was required for Season 33. After extensive auditions, it was decided that *Blackadder* and *Jeeves and Wooster* actor Stephen Fry would take up the role. Fry had previously appeared in Griffiths' era as the villain Glospin in *Lungbarrow*. Fry's Doctor was to be similar to many of his earlier selves, having his second incarnation's humour and kindness, his third incarnation's savviness with technology and much of his first incarnation's wisdom.

### A Tonal Shift

With this change in Doctor came a change in tone, as Lambert and Grant decided to largely leave the darkness of the Griffiths era and the Cartmel Masterplan behind in favour of a more light-hearted style of storytelling. However, it was agreed that the occasional dark story would still appear on screen.

With this new tone came a new theme composed by newcomer Alistair Lock, and a new title sequence composed of the TARDIS flying through space, before the camera fades into a colourful vortex.

### Reunited at Last

Lisa Bowerman and Robert Llewellyn both announced their joint decision to depart from the show during this season. As a result, it was decided to bring Bernice's story arc of looking for her father to a close in the middle of the season, with Norman Manning leaving the same episode. In their place, it was decided to have a more military-based companion similar to those seen in the Pertwee era. This came to pass in the form of Sergeant Lena Haigh, played by *Tell Tale Hearts* actress Emma Fielding.

### Increase in Quality, Decrease in Quantity

For Season 33, Cinema Verity and the BBC gave *Doctor Who* a budget increase, allowing it to better contend with American exports. However, this came at the cost of dropping the number of episodes from 12 to 10. This resulted in Season 33 being the first season since Season 3 to have a single-part story, with two stories in the season being a single part long.

## Cast

### Main

* The Doctor - Stephen Fry
* Bernice Summerfield - Lisa Bowerman
* Norman Manning - Robert Llewellyn
* Lena Haigh - Emma Fielding

### Guest

* Isaac Summerfield - Frank Thornton
* Gabriel Tyler/Steven Jericho - Nick Robinson
* *TBA*

## Adaptations and Merchandising

### Home Media

#### VHS

* *The Eyes of Madmen*/*Toy Soldiers*
* *Return of the Living Dad*
* *Subjects of War*/*The English Way of Death*
* *Damaged Goods*

#### DVD

* All of Season 33 was released on DVD in 2011.

#### Blu-Ray

* The complete series has been upscaled in 1080i50 high definition and was released as *Doctor Who: The Collection - Season 33* in the UK.
* It was released in the US under the title *Doctor Who: Stephen Fry - Complete Season One.*

#### Novels

* *The Eyes of Madmen*
* *Toy Soldiers*
* *Return of the Living Dad*
* *Subjects of War*
* *The English Way of Death*
* *Damaged Goods*