Series 3, Episode 2 | 1 part | First broadcast: 7 April 2007 | Writer: Gareth Roberts | Director: Charles Palmer
Cast
- David Tennant as the Doctor
- Freema Agyeman as Martha Jones
- Dean Lennox Kelly as William Shakespeare
- Christina Cole as Lilith
Summary
Taking Martha on her first trip through time, the Doctor brings her to Elizabethan London to meet William Shakespeare, only to discover that his final, mysteriously lost play is being used as a mystical weapon by three witch-like alien beings called the Carrionites. As the sinister Carrionites plot to use Shakespeare’s own words at the Globe Theatre to unleash their kind upon the Earth, the Doctor and Martha must convince the playwright to help them craft a linguistic counter-spell before it’s too late.
Interesting Facts
- This is Martha Jones’s first trip through time in the TARDIS, marking an early bonding adventure between her and the Doctor.
- The story imagines the alien Carrionites as the source behind Shakespeare’s supposedly cursed, lost play “Love’s Labour’s Won.”
- The Doctor references Harry Potter within the episode, one of several playful pop-culture nods included in Gareth Roberts’s script.
- Dean Lennox Kelly’s portrayal of Shakespeare as witty and charismatic was praised for humanizing the legendary playwright.
No Responses