Harry Potter was a series of ten novels (PROSE: The Gallifrey Chronicles) written by British authors J.K. Rowling (PROSE: The Tomorrow Windows; TV: The Shakespeare Code) and PQ Rowling. (PROSE: Doctor Who and the Adaptation of Death) The series was adapted into eight films released between 2001 and 2011.[source needed]
The Doctor was familiar with them as early as his first incarnation. (PROSE: A Big Hand for the Doctor) By his tenth incarnation, the Doctor had read the seventh Harry Potter novel, and cried upon reading the ending. (TV: The Shakespeare Code)
There were ten novels, starting with Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone. The Eighth Doctor had a complete set in his TARDIS. His first edition copy of Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone had the first page crossed out and a note reading "No, no, no, no, it didn’t happen like this at all" written in red ink. (PROSE: The Gallifrey Chronicles)
A copy of Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone was in a display case on Platform One. (TV: The End of the World) A descendant of Rowling known as PQ Rowling wrote Harry Potter and the Half-Moon Dentist. (PROSE: Doctor Who and the Adaptation of Death)
References[]
Mark Whitaker owned first editions of some of the Harry Potter books. Amy Pond likened the TARDIS chasing Whitaker's train to a scene in Harry Potter, where Harry and his friend Ron Weasley chased the Hogwarts Express in a flying car. (PROSE: Touched by an Angel)
Martha Jones was a fan of the series as a child, and said she began reading Harry Potter after she read her first book series, The Troubleseekers. (PROSE: The Mystery of the Haunted Cottage) She suggested the spell "Expelliarmus" to William Shakespeare to help defeat the Carrionites. The suggestion worked, to which the Tenth Doctor cheered "Good old J.K.!" (TV: The Shakespeare Code) On a planet of fiction created from her mind, Martha and the Doctor ran through Hogwarts. (PROSE: The Mystery of the Haunted Cottage)
Donna Noble jokingly referred to a centaur-like Aquabi she met as Firenze — the name of one of the centaurs in the Harry Potter universe. (AUDIO: Pest Control)
Ross Lee watched an episode of a parody of Harry Potter titled Potter Puppet Pals. The episode in question was titled "The Mysterious Ticking Noise" and featured several of the prominent characters performing over a ticking noise before being blown up by a pipe bomb. (TV: Chute! Episode 9)
When Clyde Langer and Rani Chandra were inside Erasmus Darkening's secret chamber in Ashen Hill Manor Clyde told Rani that this place was creepy. According to Clyde it was "Creepsville, Transylvania", "Hogwarts Tim Burton Style" or "Harry Potter Has A Close Shave Off Sweeney Todd". (TV: The Eternity Trap)
George Thompson believed that the noise that the lift made (PROSE: My Special Book) in the Rowbarton Estate, (PROSE: Night Terrors) was actually a dragon or a monster, living in the walls like the snake in Harry Potter. (PROSE: My Special Book)
When Clara Oswald pointed out to three incarnations of the Doctor that their meeting couldn't happen due to a fixed point in time, the Tenth Doctor said "one point to the girl from Gryffindor." The Twelfth Doctor rebuked this, saying that she was Slytherin "all the way," and that he meant it as a compliment. (COMIC: Four Doctors)
Andy Hansen compared Erimem living in a cupboard that led to a room outside of time and space at Helena and Ibrahim Hadmani's house to Harry Potter living in a cupboard under the stairs. (PROSE: The Beast of Stalingrad)
Flip Jackson likened the Gallifreyan Chapters to Hufflepuff and Slytherin. (AUDIO: Stage Fright)
Upon seeing the Hereticum for the first time, Bill exclaimed "Harry Potter!" (TV: Extremis)
Working as a tour guide on Gloucester, Ruth Clayton mentions to a passerby that parts of the Harry Potter films were filmed at Gloucester Cathedral. (TV: Fugitive of the Judoon)
While trapped in a Judoon prison, the Thirteenth Doctor recalled how the Harry Potter series were a "classic" story and proceeded to start reciting the opening chapter of the first novel, Philosopher's Stone, from memory as a bedtime story for herself. (TV: Revolution of the Daleks)
Behind the scenes[]
- In real life, only seven Harry Potter novels (plus several spin-off works) have been published.
- Martha's use of Expelliarmus comes from the actual works (it's the incantation for the Disarming Charm, introduced in Chamber of Secrets and used throughout.)
- The mention of Harry and Ron taking a flying car to Hogwarts also references canon, as the two of them took Mr Weasley's enchanted Ford Anglia to Hogwarts in Chamber of Secrets.
- In 2005, Russell T Davies asked J.K. Rowling if she would write for Doctor Who. She refused, saying that she was "amused by the suggestion but simply doesn't have the time."[1] She was writing the sixth Harry Potter novel (Half-Blood Prince) at the time.[2]
- In The Christmas Invasion, as the Doctor considers what clothes to wear in his new incarnation, a uniform with wizards' robes, similar to the way Hogwarts uniforms were presented in the Warner Bros. film adaptations of the Harry Potter may briefly be glimpsed.
- The Shakespeare Code, in which the Doctor references reading the seventh book, was broadcast before Deathly Hallows was published and during a period of intense anticipation of its release. The Doctor doesn't mention the book's title, as it had not been revealed by the time the episode began filming. The fact the Doctor was emotional about the book's ending was an educated guess on behalf of the script writer that the conclusion to the long-running book series would be an emotional event.
- According to the book The Writer's Tale by Russell T Davies and Benjamin Cook, Davies also considered basing the 2008 Christmas special around an appearance by Rowling.
- When filming the 2005 series Russell T Davies commented upon the difficulty of finding little person actors for Doctor Who because Harry Potter and Charlie and the Chocolate Factory were filming at the same time.[3]
- PROSE: My Special Book claims that there was a snake in Harry Potter, when in the real world it was actually a basilisk; this, however, can be explained by George not remembering the story properly.
- Both franchises are featured together in LEGO Dimensions, as is Harry Potter's spin-off franchise Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them.
Cast connections[]
Actors in both Doctor Who and the Harry Potter series by their first film appearance:
The Philosopher's Stone[]
The Chamber of Secrets[]
Actor | Doctor Who role(s) | Harry Potter role(s) |
---|---|---|
Toby Jones | Dream Lord Kotris |
Dobby (voice) |
Jim Norton | Thomas Kennet | Mason |
Mark Williams | Brian Williams Maxwell Edison |
Arthur Weasley |
Miriam Margolyes | Leef Apple Glyn Slitheen-Blathereen Tod |
Pomona Sprout |
Shirley Henderson | Ursula Blake | Moaning Myrtle |
Christian Coulson | Pelleas Robert McIntosh |
Tom Riddle |
Julian Glover | Richard the Lionheart Scaroth/Scarlioni/Tancredi |
Aragog (voice) |
The Prisoner of Azkaban[]
Actor | Doctor Who role(s) | Harry Potter role(s) |
---|---|---|
Pam Ferris | Lizzie Corrigan Amanda Steele |
Marge Dursley |
Lee Ingleby | Samson Griffin | Stan Shunpike |
Jimmy Gardner | Chenchu Idmon |
Ernie Prang |
Lenny Henry | Daniel Barton | Dre Head (voice) |
Michael Gambon | Kazran Sardick Elliot Sardick |
Albus Dumbledore |
Genevieve Gaunt | Linda Maxwell | Pansy Parkinson |
The Goblet of Fire[]
Actor | Doctor Who role(s) | Harry Potter role(s) |
---|---|---|
Jeff Rawle | Plantagenet Lionel Harding Mervyn Pinfield |
Amos Diggory |
Christopher Whittingham | Carson | Ministry wizard |
Roger Lloyd-Pack | John Lumic | Bartemius Crouch Senior |
David Tennant | Tenth Doctor Fourteenth Doctor Kurtz Daft Jamie Ross Brimmicombe-Wood Galanar |
Bartemius Crouch Junior |
The Order of the Phoenix[]
Actor | Doctor Who role(s) | Harry Potter role(s) |
---|---|---|
Peter Cartwright | Arnold Underwood | Elphias Doge |
Timothy Bateson | Binro | Kreacher (voice) |
Imelda Staunton | Interface | Dolores Umbridge |
John Atterbury | White Robot Alien guard |
Phineas Nigellus Black |
Jessica Hynes | Joan Redfern Verity Newman |
Mafalda Hopkirk (voice) |
Jim McManus | Opthalmologist | Aberforth Dumbledore |
The Half-Blood Prince[]
Actor | Doctor Who role(s) | Harry Potter role(s) |
---|---|---|
Helen McCrory | Rosanna Calvierri | Narcissa Malfoy |
Jim Broadbent | Eleventh Doctor (The Shy Doctor) | Horace Slughorn |
Anna Shaffer | Rachel Chapman | Romilda Vane |
The Deathly Hallows Part 1 and Part 2[]
Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them[]
Actor | Doctor Who role(s) | Harry Potter role(s) |
---|---|---|
Gemma Chan | Mia Bennett | Ya Zhou |
Eddie Redmayne | Himself | Newt Scamander |
Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald[]
Actor | Doctor Who role(s) | Harry Potter role(s) |
---|---|---|
Victoria Yeates | Maleeva Balva |
Bunty Broadacre |
Other connections[]
- Harry Melling, who plays Dudley Dursley (Harry's cousin) in the film series, is the grandson of Patrick Troughton. However, he never met him, as Patrick died before he was born. David Troughton is his uncle. Melling himself would later have a role in the Big Finish Doctor Who audio story The Whispering Forest.
- Alfie Enoch, who plays Harry's friend and dorm-mate Dean Thomas, is the son of William Russell. [4] (After the Potter series ended, Enoch adjusted his name to Alfred Enoch as he launched a TV acting career in the US.)
- David Tennant is, just like the Tenth Doctor, a huge fan of the Harry Potter series. Tennant appeared in Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire as Death Eater Barty Crouch Jr. Roger Lloyd Pack appeared in the same movie as the father of David's character. Coincidentally, Goblet of Fire, which includes Alastor "Mad-Eye" Moody morphing into Crouch, opened in British cinemas the same day that Tennant made his first appearance in earnest as the Tenth Doctor in the Children in Need Special minisode, which is set immediately after regeneration.
- Ralph Fiennes, who portrayed the series main villain, Lord Voldemort, is the ex-husband of Alex Kingston.
- The Twelfth Doctor briefly communicated with Eddie Redmayne, who was in costume as his Fantastic Beasts character Newt Scamander, in Looking for Pudsey, which first broadcast on the day the aforementioned film was released. Redmayne also voiced Newt in LEGO Dimensions.
- Outside of the films, the series also had a stage play sequel titled Harry Potter and the Cursed Child. In the original West End production, Noma Dumezweni portrayed Hermione Granger (played by Emma Watson in the films).
- Stephen Fry recited the UK releases of the audio books.
- Matt Smith was almost cast as Newt Scamander in the Fantastic Beasts films.
External links[]
Footnotes[]
|