Human Nature (Doctor Who episode)

185a – "Human Nature"
Doctor Who episode
Smith shows Joan his A Journal of Impossible Things, containing stories about Daleks, Cybermen and his previous selves.[1]
Cast
Doctor David Tennant (Tenth Doctor)
Companion Freema Agyeman (Martha Jones)
Others Jessica Hynes – Joan Redfern Harry Lloyd – Jeremy Baines Thomas Sangster – Tim Latimer Tom Palmer – Hutchinson Pip Torrens – Rocastle Rebekah Staton – Jenny Gerard Horan – Mr. Clark Lauren Wilson – Lucy Cartwright Matthew White – Phillips Derek Smith – Doorman Peter Bourke – Mr. Chambers
Production
Writer	Paul Cornell
Director	Charles Palmer
Script editor	Lindsey Alford
Producer	Susie Liggat
Executive producer(s)	Russell T Davies Julie Gardner Phil Collinson
Production code	3.8
Series	Series 3
Length	1st of 2-part story, 45 minutes
Originally broadcast	26 May 2007
Chronology
← Preceded by Followed by → "42" "The Family of Blood"

"Human Nature" is the eighth episode of the third series of the revived British science fiction television series Doctor Who. It is the first episode of a two-part story written by Paul Cornell adapted from his 1995 Doctor Who novel Human Nature. Along with its continuation, "The Family of Blood", it was nominated for the Hugo Award for Best Dramatic Presentation, Short Form in 2008.^[2]

Plot

The Doctor and Martha narrowly escape an attack by the Family of Blood who are seeking the Doctor's Time Lord life force to prevent themselves from dying out. As the Doctor directs the TARDIS to Earth, he tells Martha that he must transform into a human for three months to escape the Family's detection while they die, and gives her a list of instructions to follow. He then uses the Chameleon Arch to transfer his Time Lord configuration to a fob watch which he asks Martha to guard.

Thomas Sangster as Timothy Latimer.

After landing on earth in 1913, a year before the Great War, the Doctor adopts the persona of John Smith, a schoolteacher at Farringham School for boys, while Martha acts his maid. John's personality is nearly opposite of the Doctor's, being quiet and timid, but faint memories of the Doctor slip through in dreams, appearing as text and images he writes in his "Journal of Impossible Things". Though John carries the fob watch, the perception filter that it possesses prevents John from being curious about it. John has become infatuated with the new school nurse, Joan Redfern, and shares his journal with her; Martha remains concerned, as the Doctor did not instruct her what to do, should he fall in love. Timothy Latimer, a younger student at the school with extrasensory perception, discovers the fob watch and pockets it for himself, unbeknownst to Martha.

Meanwhile, the Family of Blood have been able to track the Doctor to Earth, and cover their ship in an invisibility shield to keep it from being discovered. The various members of the Family seek out human victims to possess, including one of the school's prefects, one of Martha's fellow maids, a farmer, and a young girl with a balloon, allowing them to seek out the Doctor undetected. When Timothy briefly opens the watch and experiences portions of the Doctor's memories, the Family detects its presence at the school, and soon recognises Martha. They try to get information from her about the Doctor. Martha realises that the Family has found them and attempts to retrieve the watch in order to bring back the Doctor, but cannot find it. She talks to John and tries to awaken the Time Lord persona, but instead causes John to become angry with her, forcing her out of his chambers as he prepares for a village dance with Joan that night. 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, but is unaware that the Family has overheard her conversation. Now aware that John is the Doctor, the Family captures both Martha and Joan. The cliffhanger ending leaves the Family asking John the question of "Maid or matron, your friend or your lover. Your choice."

Continuity

The journal as it appeared on the show's microsite for the following episode. Left-to-right, top-to-bottom: First page - Tenth and Ninth Doctors; Second page - Fourth, Third, Second, Seventh, Eighth, First, Sixth, and Fifth Doctors.

• The process the Doctor uses to disguise himself resurfaces in "Utopia".
• John Smith's A Journal of Impossible Things features sketches of the interior and exterior of the TARDIS, a sonic screwdriver, K-9, Rose Tyler, Autons, Clockwork Droids, Cybermen, Daleks, the Moxx of Balhoon and a Raxacoricofallapatorian as well as a picture of the gas-masked Chula Zombie from "The Empty Child"/"The Doctor Dances". All ten incarnations of the Doctor are also illustrated (albeit not all are shown on-screen), with the First, Fifth, Sixth, Seventh, and Eighth clearly visible, this being the first time in the revived series when the Eighth Doctor is explicitly referenced, prior incarnations having been alluded to in "School Reunion". The pocket watch from the episode is also sketched.^[3] The image of the Eighth Doctor resembles an often-referenced publicity photo of Paul McGann as the character, holding a pocket watch.
• John Smith refers to his parents Sydney and Verity, part of the personal history created for him by the TARDIS. This is a nod to Sydney Newman, credited as the primary creator of Doctor Who, and Verity Lambert, the show's first producer. Russell T Davies confirmed this in Doctor Who Confidential. Verity Newman was later the name of Joan Redfern's granddaughter, seen in the episode "The End of Time", who had written a novel recounting the events of "Human Nature" and "The Family of Blood".
• Fleeting clips of the lone Dalek in "Dalek", Cybermen, Ood, Sycorax, the werewolf seen in "Tooth and Claw", Racnoss and Lazarus in his mutated form are shown when Timothy opens the watch. There is also a clip of the Doctor using his sonic screwdriver in "Doomsday", "Army of Ghosts" and "New Earth". The voice coming from the watch mentions "You are not alone", which is the last message given to the Doctor by the Face of Boe.
• John Smith's skill with the cricket ball is reminiscent of that of the Fifth Doctor, best exemplified in Black Orchid and Four to Doomsday. The BBC's Fact File notes several other examples of the Doctor being a "good shot", including his throwing the satsuma in "The Christmas Invasion".^[3]
• Nurse Redfern remarks that, "The Doctor has an eye for the pretty ladies", and "A girl in every fireplace". This is a reference to the character of Madame de Pompadour from the episode "The Girl in the Fireplace"
• When asked where exactly Gallifrey is, the Doctor responds that it must be in Ireland, much the same as Tegan tells her captors in Arc of Infinity. Gallifrey was also assumed to be in Ireland in The Hand of Fear, The Invisible Enemy, and in the novels Blood Harvest and All-Consuming Fire.
• The theme that plays when Lucy Cartwright/The Sister appears is the same as that used for the girl component of the Dalek battle computer in Remembrance of the Daleks.
• John Smith would appear to be a fine artist. In "Fear Her", the Doctor claims "stick men are about my limit" (although the Fourth Doctor produced exaggerated sketches of various Time Lords in The Deadly Assassin).

Comparison with the novel

The novel featured the Seventh Doctor and Bernice Summerfield, with their roles replaced on television by the Tenth Doctor and Martha Jones.

The key plot difference between the book and television versions is that, in the novel, the Doctor seeks human form to better understand humans, whereas in the television version, he is hiding from the Family of Blood.

The villains in the novel are a family of Aubertide shapeshifters, who provide the device that transforms him. Their plan is to gain his abilities by stealing the "biodata module" while he is relatively helpless. The Family's possession of Lucy Cartwright is a nod to the character of Aphasia, an Aubertide who likewise takes the form of a young girl with a balloon, although in the book, the "balloon" is a semi-sentient being Aphasia can send to attack people.

Bernice's cover story is that she is John Smith's niece, who has just finished university education and is staying in the village. She meets her uncle weekly in the pub. Martha's position as a maid reflects the position of ethnic minorities in the period, as well as a need to be nearer the Doctor, since she knows he may be in danger. This also necessitates another change; the replacement of Bernice's friend, the suffragette Constance with another maid at the school, Jenny. There is also no equivalent to the character of Alexander Shuttleworth, Bernice's landlord, who learns the truth and agrees to help her.

Other character changes include Joan Redfern becoming the school matron rather than a science teacher, although in both she is Smith's love interest and opposes teaching the boys to fight. Hutchinson, as Captain of House and leader of the boys who bully Timothy, is also a more significant character in the book. In a very minor change, Tim Latimer is named Timothy Dean in the original. In the novel Tim absorbs some of the Doctor's memories and personality, taking on a Doctor-like role, whereas his acts of bravery in the TV story seem to be his own. Timothy Dean's experiences with the Doctor lead Timothy Dean to become a conscientious objector, whereas Tim Latimer becomes a combat medic.

In the novel, Benny has a document listing nine things she should not let the Doctor do while in human form. In the television episode, Martha has a video recording with a much longer list of at least 23 directives. Both characters note that falling in love is not mentioned, although Benny adds "Don't let me fall in love" in biro. In both versions, attempts to persuade Smith he is the Doctor without the memory store result in his concluding the companion is mad.^[4]

In the episode, Smith mentions learning to draw on Gallifrey, which he assumes is in Ireland. The same assumption occurs in the book. He also recalls his parents, Verity and Sydney. In the book, Verity is Smith's lost love, and he has many flashbacks to her. She is actually a trigger to remind him when he needs to become the Doctor again.

The TV episode is set primarily on 11 November 1913, a date that would later be Armistice Day, but the novel is set in 1914.

Smith's journal clearly has 'Maius intra qua extra' written on one page — Latin for what is inside is greater than what is outside, which is a reference to the TARDIS, but is also the school's motto in the original book (the motto in the episode is 'Audaces Fortuna Juvat' — fortune favours the brave). In the book, however, Smith fails to understand the motto, saying "It's written in a foreign language." The journal itself is equivalent to a children's story Smith tries to write in the book, which described a Victorian scientist bringing laws and police boxes to the primitive planet of Gallifrey, before escaping the order he had created.

Historic and cultural references

• Latimer is forced to translate Latin homework, poems of Catullus.
• Smith gives a lesson on the Battle of Waterloo early in the episode.
• A doorman takes up a charity collection for "veterans of the Crimea" (1854–56) outside the village hall.
• The recent Second Boer War is referenced frequently in this episode and the following one: Hutchison's father writes that he may be posted there (in the letter which Latimer guesses), and Latimer's uncle had a posting in Johannesburg; Redfern's husband died at the battle of Spion Kop, hence her antipathy to the machine gun practice; the book Latimer is picking up from Smith is a "Aitchison-Price's definitive account of Mafeking"; and in the following episode, the headteacher reveals that he served during the war.
• Both Human Nature and its sequel The Family of Blood explore prejudice, particularly of race, gender and class. Jenny mentions the Suffragettes, though this exploration mainly centres on Martha - both Redfern and the pupils refer negatively to her race and class, whilst Redfern, Smith and the headteacher frequently reprimand Martha for being too bold and ready with advice for a servant.

Production

Human Nature was Paul Cornell's fifth original novel, all having been Doctor Who stories for Virgin Publishing, 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.^[5]

Despite Julie Gardner's position as executive producer since "Rose", this episode marks the first time since Verity Lambert's 1965 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. Thus, only she and John Nathan-Turner 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.^[6] Much of the episode was filmed at St Fagans National History Museum, an open-air museum near Cardiff,^[7] and Treberfydd, the Victorian Gothic mansion which served as Farringham School, located near Llangorse Lake in south Wales.^[8] Other interior locations were filmed at Llandaff Catherdral, Cardiff.^[9]

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 released on the BBC DVD. In place of the nonexistent unheard requests, David Tennant breaks the fourth wall to speak humorously about a love for The Housemartins and also spout gibberish 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.^[3][10]

Radio Times credits David Tennant as John Smith for Human Nature and as The Doctor for The Family of Blood. On-screen credits read The Doctor/Smith for Human Nature and The Doctor for The Family of Blood.

Cast notes

• Jessica Hynes played Glory Bee in the Eighth Doctor audio play Invaders from Mars.
• Thomas Sangster appeared in the Fifth Doctor audio plays The Mind's Eye and The Bride of Peladon.

Reception

Along with "The Family of Blood", "Human Nature" was nominated for the 2008 Hugo Award for Best Dramatic Presentation, Short Form.^[2] David Tennant won the Constellation Award for Best Male Performance in a 2007 Science Fiction Television Episode for the two-part story.^[11]

The episode also received a favourable review from The Stage with reviewer Mark Wright commenting that the episode "is unlike any Doctor Who story you’ll ever see", and that there's "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".^[12]

In 2009, Doctor Who Magazine readers voted "Human Nature"/"The Family of Blood" as the sixth best Doctor Who story of all time.^[13]

References

1. ^ "Human Nature". Writer Paul Cornell, Director Charles Palmer, Producer Susie Liggat. Doctor Who. BBC. BBC One, Cardiff. 2007-05-26.
2. ^ ^{a b} "2008 Hugo Nomination List". Denvention 3: The 66th World Science Fiction Convention. World Science Fiction Society. 2008. http://www.denvention.org/hugos/08hugonomlist.php. Retrieved 2008-03-21. 
3. ^ ^{a b c} Ware, Peter. "Doctor Who - Fact File - Human Nature". BBC. http://www.bbc.co.uk/doctorwho/episodes/2007/facts/fact_308.shtml. Retrieved 2011-08-15. 
4. ^ Cornell, Paul. "eBooks - Human Nature - Adaptation". Doctor Who - the Classic Series. BBC. http://www.bbc.co.uk/doctorwho/classic/ebooks/human_nature/adaptation.shtml. Retrieved 2007-06-07. ^{[dead link]}
5. ^ "Russell T. Davies and Benjamin Cook interview". Unreality SF archive. http://unreality-sf.net/interviews/thewriterstale.html. Retrieved 2011-08-15. 
6. ^ Doctor Who - Fact File - The Family of Blood
7. ^ "Walesarts, St Fagans Natural History Museum, Cardiff". BBC. http://www.bbc.co.uk/wales/arts/sites/doctor-who-wales/alllocations/cardiff-st-fagans-natural-history-museum. Retrieved 2010-05-30. 
8. ^ "Human Nature" podcast
9. ^ "Walesarts, Llandaff village, Cardiff". BBC. http://www.bbc.co.uk/wales/arts/sites/doctor-who-wales/alllocations/cardiff-llandaff-village. Retrieved 2010-05-30. 
10. ^ Cornell, Paul (1995). Human Nature. BBC eBooks. pp. 68. ISBN 0-426-20443-3. http://www.bbc.co.uk/doctorwho/classic/ebooks/human_nature/human_nature.pdf. 
11. ^ "2008 Constellation Awards". Constellation Awards website. 2008-07-15. http://constellations.tcon.ca/. Retrieved 2008-07-15. 
12. ^ Wright, Mark (2007-05-28). "Doctor Who 3.8: Human Nature". The Stage. http://blogs.thestage.co.uk/tvtoday/2007/05/doctor-who-38-human-nature/. Retrieved 2011-08-15. 
13. ^ Haines, Lester (2009-09-17). "Doctor Who fans name best episode ever". The Register. http://www.theregister.co.uk/2009/09/17/best_who_ever/. Retrieved 2011-08-15. 

External links

• Human Nature (TV story) on TARDIS Index File, an external wiki
• "Human Nature" at the BBC Doctor Who homepage
• "Human Nature" / "The Family of Blood" at the Doctor Who Reference Guide
• "Human Nature" / "The Family of Blood" at Doctor Who: A Brief History Of Time (Travel)
• "Human Nature": episode trailer
• "Human Nature" at the Internet Movie Database

Reviews

• "Human Nature" reviews at The Doctor Who Ratings Guide
• "Human Nature" reviews at Outpost Gallifrey