Series 7 (Doctor Who)

Series 7 of Doctor Who, sometimes known as Season 33 to avoid confusion with the original Season 7, will air on BBC One between 2012 and 2013. Like Series 6, it will be split into two parts. The BBC first announced the new series, which will contain 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 and a Christmas Special. These will be followed by the remaining eight episodes in 2013.

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, although River has implied that she and the Doctor will meet again in the future. The Doctor still has not told River his true name, which River was revealed to know in Forest of the Dead.

Also, a mysterious woman named Clara Oswin Oswald has appeared to the Doctor twice in two different lives, first in Asylum of the Daleks and later in the Christmas special. She died in both episodes but the Doctor realised that both incarnations of her were the same woman and believed there was another version of her somewhere in the Universe. He went searching for her third incarnation, intending to take her as his companion. The reason behind these multiple Claras will be the Story Arc of this series.

Cast
The Eleventh Doctor, played by Matt Smith, will not be leaving; he will stay all 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, which also featured River Song, played by Alex Kingston.

The 2012 Christmas Special saw the introduction of Clara Oswald, played by Jenna-Louise Coleman. Coleman had previously played Oswin Oswald in Asylum of the Daleks earlier that year. She will return once more, playing a third version of Clara, who will be the Doctor's newest companion.

Primary cast

 * The Eleventh Doctor - Matt Smith

Secondary cast

 * Amy Pond - Karen Gillan
 * Rory Williams - Arthur Darvill
 * Clara Oswald - Jenna-Louise Coleman

Guest cast

 * Madge Arwell - Claire Skinner
 * Cyril Arwell - Maurice Cole
 * Lily Arwell - Holly Earl
 * Oswin Oswald - Jenna-Louise Coleman
 * Queen Nefertiti - Riann Steele
 * Brian Williams - Mark Williams
 * Solomon - David Bradley
 * John Riddell - Rupert Graves
 * Kahler-Jex - Adrian Scarborough
 * The Gunslinger - Andrew Brooke
 * Isaac - Ben Browder
 * Kate Stewart - Jemma Redgrave
 * River Song - Alex Kingston
 * Jenny Flint - Catrin Stewart
 * Madame Vastra - Neve McIntosh
 * Strax - Dan Starkey
 * Voice of the Great Intelligence - Ian McKellen
 * Doctor Simeon - Richard E. Grant
 * Latimer - Tom Ward
 * Edmund - Brendan Patricks
 * Porridge - Warwick Davis
 * TBA - David Warner
 * TBA - Liam Cunningham
 * TBA - Dougray Scott
 * TBA - Jessica Raine
 * TBA - Diana Rigg
 * TBA - Rachael Stirling
 * TBA - Tamzin Outhwaite
 * TBA - Jason Watkins

Casting notes

 * John Simm has denied rumours that he is returning for the series.

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 will write seven episodes. He has written the 2011 Christmas special, episodes one and five in the autumn run, the Children in Need mini-episode, and the 2012 Christmas special. He will also write episodes six and thirteen for the spring run.

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 is also returning. He is writing two episodes, which are episodes eight and eleven.

Another returning writer is Steve Thompson, who will write episode ten.

Fantasy author Neil Gaiman (who previously wrote The Doctor's Wife), will write episode twelve, which will feature the Cybermen.

Luther creator Neil Cross is set to write two episodes for the second half of the series, making his Doctor Who debut. He will write episodes seven and nine.

Directors
Returning director Nick Hurran directed episodes one and five. Douglas Mackinnon, another returning director directed episode four and will also direct episode eight.

New director Farren Blackburn directed the 2011 Christmas special. She will also direct episode seven.

Saul Metzstein, another director new to Doctor Who, directed episodes two and three. He directed the 2012 Christmas special and will direct episodes eleven and thirteen.

A handful of new directors will direct one episode each in the spring half of the series. These are: Colm McCarthy, Jamie Payne, Mat King and Stephen Wolfenden, who will direct episodes six, nine, ten and twelve representatively.

Filming
Filming for series 7 began on 20 February 2012.

Episode three was filmed in Spain.

Filming for episode five saw the crew return to America. This time, they were filming in New York.

Spring half
The remaining eight episodes of Series 7 will begin airing on 30 March, 2013.

Episode notes

 * There will be no two-parters in this series.
 * In an interview with SFX, Steven Moffat gave teasers on the episodes leading up to the 50th anniversary, including the second half of series 7. Episodes will include: a Doctor Who take on a modern urban thriller, a base-under-siege story, a brand new, alien planet which he said they have gone 'all out' on and a ghost story.
 * The series finale will be seriously "fan-boy pleasing".
 * The series finale will also reveal the Doctor's biggest secret.

Aliens and enemies

 * Daleks
 * Dalek puppets
 * Dalek Prime Minister
 * Solomon
 * Robot 1 and Robot 2
 * Dinosaurs
 * Silurians
 * Kahler-Tek
 * Kahler-Jex
 * Shakri
 * Weeping Angels
 * Great Intelligence
 * Walter Simeon
 * Snowmen
 * Spoonheads
 * Ice Warriors

Rumours

 * In an interview with SFX, Caroline Skinner hinted at the return of the Zygons.