The Shakespeare Code
Encyclopedia
"The Shakespeare Code" is an episode of the British
science fiction television series Doctor Who
. It was broadcast on BBC One
on 7 April 2007, and is the second episode of Series 3
of the revived Doctor Who series. According to the BARB
figures this episode was seen by 7.23 million viewers and was the fifth most popular broadcast on British television in that week. Originally titled "Love's Labour's Won
", the episode was re-titled as a reference to The Da Vinci Code
.
The Tenth Doctor
takes Martha Jones on her first trip in the TARDIS
. Arriving in Elizabethan England
, they meet William Shakespeare
, who is writing his play Love's Labour's Won
. However, evil, witch-like Carrionites plot to end the world by placing a code in the new play's closing dialogue. Shakespeare will have to give the performance of his life in order to save the Earth.
; she introduces her two "mothers", Doomfinger and Bloodtide, who lunge, cackling, at the screaming youth, apparently devouring him.
Meanwhile, the TARDIS lands in Elizabethan London
in 1599. The Doctor, who had promised to take Martha on one time-travelling trip, takes her to a performance of Love's Labours Lost at the Globe Theatre
. At the end of the play, William Shakespeare announces a forthcoming sequel entitled Love's Labour's Won
. Lilith, using a poppet
, influences Shakespeare to declare that the new play will premiere the following evening.
The two go to The Elephant, the inn at which Shakespeare is staying. They chat with the playwright, who plans to finish writing the final scene of Love Labour's Won that night. Martha takes offense when the author lets slip what she thinks is a racial insult. Lynley, Master of the Revels
, demands to see the script before he allows the play to proceed. The trio of "witches" view the scene remotely by looking into a cauldron. Lilith, who works at the inn, secretly takes some of Lynley's hair and makes another poppet, which she plunges into a bucket of water, then stabs the doll in the chest, and Lynley collapses, dead. The Doctor calmly announces that Lynley has died of an imbalance of the humours, privately telling Martha that any other explanation would lead to panic about witchcraft
. But when Martha asks what did kill Lynley, the Doctor responds, "Witchcraft."
Meanwhile, Lilith entrances Shakespeare and, using a marionette
, compels him to write a strange concluding paragraph to Love's Labour's Won. She is discovered by the Bard's lover, whom she frightens to death. On hearing another scream, the Doctor runs in and finds the body. Through the window, Martha sees a witch fly away.
In the morning the Doctor, Martha and Shakespeare proceed to the Globe Theatre, where the Doctor asks why the theatre has 14 sides. After hearing Shakespeare's explanation, the three visit the architect, Peter Streete, in Bedlam Asylum
. The Doctor helps Streete to emerge from his catatonia
long enough to reveal that the witches dictated the Globe's design to him. The witches observe this through their cauldron. Doomfinger teleports to the cell and kills Peter with a touch. The Doctor identifies the witches as Carrionites, a species whose magic is based on the power of words.
Back at the Elephant, the Doctor deduces that the Carrionites intend to use the powerful words of Love's Labours Won to break their species out of eternal imprisonment. The Doctor tells Shakespeare to stop the play whilst he and Martha go to All Hallows Street to thwart the witches, explaining to Martha that if they don't stop the Carrionites, she and the rest of the human race will fade. The Doctor and Martha reach All Hallows Street and confront Lilith, who is expecting them. She confirms the Doctor's suspicions.
Lilith steals a lock of the Doctor's hair. Taking flight through the window, she attaches the hair to a doll — which the Doctor explains is essentially a DNA
replication module — and stabs it in the heart, whereupon the Doctor collapses. Assuming that he is dead, Lilith flies to the Globe. Martha helps the Doctor restart his left heart before the duo race to the Globe. Meanwhile, the actors have already spoken the last lines of the play, a series of directions and instructions that have opened a portal allowing the Carrionites back into the universe. The Doctor tells Shakespeare that only he can find the words to close the portal. Shakespeare improvises a short rhyming stanza but is stuck for a final word. Martha comes up with Expelliarmus (a word from the Harry Potter
novels), which is shouted at the Carrionites. The Carrionites — together with all the extant copies of Love's Labour's Won — are sucked back through the closing portal. Martha, The Doctor finds the three witches trapped, screaming in their own crystal ball
and appropriates it for safe-keeping in the TARDIS. The confused audience eventually begin clapping, believing everything to be part of the performance.
Before they depart, the two share a few parting words with the author in which he announces that he knows Martha is from the future and the doctor is alien and Martha realizes that Shakespeare is taken with her when he refers to her as his "Dark Lady" Then, Queen Elizabeth arrives at the Globe, having heard of last night's performance. Upon seeing the Doctor, she immediately sends her guards after her 'sworn enemy'. The Doctor-intrigued as to how he will later upset the Queen- runs for the TARDIS with Martha.
(1965), conversing with Elizabeth I; in Planet of Evil
(1975), the Fourth Doctor
mentions having met Shakespeare, and in City of Death
(1979) he claims that he helped transcribe the original manuscript of Hamlet
; and in The Mark of the Rani
(1985) the Sixth Doctor
says "I must see him [Shakespeare] again some time".
Among non-TV material (which is of debated canonicity), Shakespeare features in the Virgin Missing Adventures
novels The Empire of Glass
and The Plotters
, and in the Big Finish Productions
audio drama The Kingmaker
. In another Big Finish drama, The Time of the Daleks
, a child is revealed to be Shakespeare at the story's end. This has a sequel in Ian Potter
's short story Apocrypha Bipedium in Short Trips: Companions
, which concerns the young Shakespeare's anachronistic meeting with some of the characters he will later portray in Troilus and Cressida
. Finally, the Bard
also appears in the Doctor Who Magazine
Ninth Doctor
comic A Groatsworth of Wit (also written by Gareth Roberts).
Producer Russell T Davies and screenwriter Gareth Roberts have both stated that they were aware of these past references to meeting Shakespeare, but that they would neither be mentioned nor contradicted in the episode. Roberts added that although early draft of "The Shakespeare Code" contained "a sly reference to City of Death", it was removed because "it was so sly it would have been a bit confusing for fans that recognised it and baffled the bejesus out of everyone else."
franchise. At one point, Martha says "It's all a bit Harry Potter
", which prompts the Doctor to claim that he has read the final book in the series (which would not be released until 3 months after the episode was aired; the Doctor refers to it as "Book 7" because the title had not been made public at the time of filming). At the end of the episode, Shakespeare, the Doctor and Martha use a word from Harry Potter, "Expelliarmus", to defeat the Carrionites, and the Doctor exclaims "Good old J.K.!". These references include some metatheatrical humour, since David Tennant played the part of Barty Crouch, Jr in the film adaptation of Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire
.
There are several references to the paradoxes of time travel. Martha mentions the possibility of killing her grandfather, an allusion to the grandfather paradox
, when she first steps from the TARDIS. She also suggests that stepping on a butterfly might change the future of the human race, an idea that originates in Ray Bradbury
's 1952 short story A Sound of Thunder
. The Doctor explains how history could be changed with devastating results by referring to the movie Back to the Future
. Martha scorns this explanation by saying 'The film?' to which the Doctor retorts 'No, the novelisation! Yes the film!'. There is indeed a novelisation of Back to the Future
, written by George Gipe
.
Some of the words and names used are derived from other works. The Doctor claims Martha comes from Freedonia
, a fictional country in the Marx Brothers
film Duck Soup. (And also the name of a planet in the Doctor Who novel Warmonger
(2002) by Terrance Dicks
.) The planet Rexel 4 is named in an episode of The Tomorrow People
from 1974.
The Doctor quotes the line, "Rage, rage against the dying of the light," from "Do not go gentle into that good night
" by Dylan Thomas
— but warns Shakespeare he cannot use it as it is "somebody else's".
' first writing credit proper on the show, however he had written for Doctor Who many times before. He started writing some Virgin New Adventures
, a series of Doctor Who novels, with The Highest Science
(1993). He went on to write several more books for Virgin Books
and further Doctor Who spin-offs
. With the new TV series, Roberts again produced a tie-in novel (Only Human, 2005) and then various smaller jobs for the TV show, including the "Attack of the Graske
" digital television
interactive mini-episode and the TARDISODE
s.
As revealed in Doctor Who Adventures
issue 30, this episode had the working title of "Love's Labours Won". By the time of production, however, the title had been changed to "Theatre of Doom", according to David Tennant's video diary shot during production and included as a bonus feature of the Series 3 DVD set. Tennant remarks that the title would likely change before broadcast, suggesting "Theatre of Doom" was only a temporary title.
The ending featuring Queen Elizabeth was Russell T Davies's idea, who told Roberts to "make it a bit like the ending of The One Doctor
", a Big Finish Productions
audio drama also written by Roberts.
The scene in which the Doctor and Martha share a room was originally written to have the Doctor casually undress down to his underwear; and still obliviously invite Martha to share the bed. It was rewritten as the producers and Tennant thought it would be inappropriate.
for the scenes in the Crooked House.
Production then went on a week of location night shoots, beginning in Coventry
for one night, before moving to the Lord Leycester Hospital
at Warwick
. Scenes set in the Globe Theatre were then partially filmed in the recreated Globe Theatre
in London.
Apart from Newport Indoor Market, where the scenes at Bedlam were recreated in the basement, the remainder of the shoot took place in Upper Boat Studios, for the scenes set in the Elephant Inn, sections of Globe Theatre material, and the TARDIS scenes.
In SFX magazine
#152, producer Phil Collinson
called this episode the "most expensive ever", because of the large amounts of CGI
and filming in Warwick, Coventry and London.
, who have created the special effects on all Doctor Who episodes since its return in 2005. The vast amount of CGI work required was mainly for the climax of the episode.
One shot of the Doctor and Martha looking at the Globe Theatre was changed between the Series Three preview at the end of "The Runaway Bride
" and the final episode; the edge of the Globe Theatre has been replaced with a CGI shot of a village and the distant theatre itself.
"The Shakespeare Code", along with "Smith and Jones
" and "Gridlock
" was released on a DVD on 21 May 2007. It was then re-released as part of the Series Three boxset in November 2007.
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
science fiction television series Doctor Who
Doctor Who
Doctor Who is a British science fiction television programme produced by the BBC. The programme depicts the adventures of a time-travelling humanoid alien known as the Doctor who explores the universe in a sentient time machine called the TARDIS that flies through time and space, whose exterior...
. It was broadcast on BBC One
BBC One
BBC One is the flagship television channel of the British Broadcasting Corporation in the United Kingdom. It was launched on 2 November 1936 as the BBC Television Service, and was the world's first regular television service with a high level of image resolution...
on 7 April 2007, and is the second episode of Series 3
Doctor Who (series 3)
The third series of British science fiction series Doctor Who was preceded by the 2006 Christmas special "The Runaway Bride". Following the special, a regular series of thirteen episodes was broadcast, starting with "Smith and Jones" on 31 March 2007...
of the revived Doctor Who series. According to the BARB
Barb
Barb may refer to:* A backward-facing point on a fish hook or similar implement, rendering extraction from the victim's flesh more difficult* Wind barbs for each station on a map of reported weather conditions...
figures this episode was seen by 7.23 million viewers and was the fifth most popular broadcast on British television in that week. Originally titled "Love's Labour's Won
Love's Labour's Won
Love's Labour's Won is the name of a play written by William Shakespeare before 1598. The play appears to have been published by 1603, but no copies are known to have survived. One theory holds that it is a lost work, possibly a sequel to Love's Labour's Lost...
", the episode was re-titled as a reference to The Da Vinci Code
The Da Vinci Code
The Da Vinci Code is a 2003 mystery-detective novel written by Dan Brown. It follows symbologist Robert Langdon and Sophie Neveu as they investigate a murder in Paris's Louvre Museum and discover a battle between the Priory of Sion and Opus Dei over the possibility of Jesus having been married to...
.
The Tenth Doctor
Tenth Doctor
The Tenth Doctor is the tenth incarnation of the protagonist of the long-running BBC television science-fiction series Doctor Who. He is played by David Tennant, who appears in three series, as well as eight specials...
takes Martha Jones on her first trip in the TARDIS
TARDIS
The TARDISGenerally, TARDIS is written in all upper case letters—this convention was popularised by the Target novelisations of the 1970s...
. Arriving in Elizabethan England
Elizabethan era
The Elizabethan era was the epoch in English history of Queen Elizabeth I's reign . Historians often depict it as the golden age in English history...
, they meet William Shakespeare
William Shakespeare
William Shakespeare was an English poet and playwright, widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's national poet and the "Bard of Avon"...
, who is writing his play Love's Labour's Won
Love's Labour's Won
Love's Labour's Won is the name of a play written by William Shakespeare before 1598. The play appears to have been published by 1603, but no copies are known to have survived. One theory holds that it is a lost work, possibly a sequel to Love's Labour's Lost...
. However, evil, witch-like Carrionites plot to end the world by placing a code in the new play's closing dialogue. Shakespeare will have to give the performance of his life in order to save the Earth.
Plot
The episode begins with a young man romantically serenading a young woman, who watches from her balcony. Invited inside, the young man discovers that the woman, Lilith, is in fact a wrinkled hagHag
A hag is a wizened old woman, or a kind of fairy or goddess having the appearance of such a woman, often found in folklore and children's tales such as Hansel and Gretel. Hags are often seen as malevolent, but may also be one of the chosen forms of shapeshifting deities, such as the Morrígan or...
; she introduces her two "mothers", Doomfinger and Bloodtide, who lunge, cackling, at the screaming youth, apparently devouring him.
Meanwhile, the TARDIS lands in Elizabethan London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
in 1599. The Doctor, who had promised to take Martha on one time-travelling trip, takes her to a performance of Love's Labours Lost at the Globe Theatre
Globe Theatre
The Globe Theatre was a theatre in London associated with William Shakespeare. It was built in 1599 by Shakespeare's playing company, the Lord Chamberlain's Men, and was destroyed by fire on 29 June 1613...
. At the end of the play, William Shakespeare announces a forthcoming sequel entitled Love's Labour's Won
Love's Labour's Won
Love's Labour's Won is the name of a play written by William Shakespeare before 1598. The play appears to have been published by 1603, but no copies are known to have survived. One theory holds that it is a lost work, possibly a sequel to Love's Labour's Lost...
. Lilith, using a poppet
Poppet
The word poppet is an older spelling of puppet, from the Middle English popet, meaning a small child or doll. In British Dialect it continues to hold this meaning. Poppet is also a chiefly English term of endearment.-Folk magic:...
, influences Shakespeare to declare that the new play will premiere the following evening.
The two go to The Elephant, the inn at which Shakespeare is staying. They chat with the playwright, who plans to finish writing the final scene of Love Labour's Won that night. Martha takes offense when the author lets slip what she thinks is a racial insult. Lynley, Master of the Revels
Master of the Revels
The Master of the Revels was a position within the English, and later the British, royal household heading the "Revels Office" or "Office of the Revels" that originally had responsibilities for overseeing royal festivities, known as revels, and later also became responsible for stage censorship,...
, demands to see the script before he allows the play to proceed. The trio of "witches" view the scene remotely by looking into a cauldron. Lilith, who works at the inn, secretly takes some of Lynley's hair and makes another poppet, which she plunges into a bucket of water, then stabs the doll in the chest, and Lynley collapses, dead. The Doctor calmly announces that Lynley has died of an imbalance of the humours, privately telling Martha that any other explanation would lead to panic about witchcraft
Witchcraft
Witchcraft, in historical, anthropological, religious, and mythological contexts, is the alleged use of supernatural or magical powers. A witch is a practitioner of witchcraft...
. But when Martha asks what did kill Lynley, the Doctor responds, "Witchcraft."
Meanwhile, Lilith entrances Shakespeare and, using a marionette
Marionette
A marionette is a puppet controlled from above using wires or strings depending on regional variations. A marionette's puppeteer is called a manipulator. Marionettes are operated with the puppeteer hidden or revealed to an audience by using a vertical or horizontal control bar in different forms...
, compels him to write a strange concluding paragraph to Love's Labour's Won. She is discovered by the Bard's lover, whom she frightens to death. On hearing another scream, the Doctor runs in and finds the body. Through the window, Martha sees a witch fly away.
In the morning the Doctor, Martha and Shakespeare proceed to the Globe Theatre, where the Doctor asks why the theatre has 14 sides. After hearing Shakespeare's explanation, the three visit the architect, Peter Streete, in Bedlam Asylum
Bethlem Royal Hospital
The Bethlem Royal Hospital is a psychiatric hospital located in London, United Kingdom and part of the South London and Maudsley NHS Foundation Trust. Although no longer based at its original location, it is recognised as the world's first and oldest institution to specialise in mental illnesses....
. The Doctor helps Streete to emerge from his catatonia
Catatonia
Catatonia is a state of neurogenic motor immobility, and behavioral abnormality manifested by stupor. It was first described in 1874: Die Katatonie oder das Spannungsirresein ....
long enough to reveal that the witches dictated the Globe's design to him. The witches observe this through their cauldron. Doomfinger teleports to the cell and kills Peter with a touch. The Doctor identifies the witches as Carrionites, a species whose magic is based on the power of words.
Back at the Elephant, the Doctor deduces that the Carrionites intend to use the powerful words of Love's Labours Won to break their species out of eternal imprisonment. The Doctor tells Shakespeare to stop the play whilst he and Martha go to All Hallows Street to thwart the witches, explaining to Martha that if they don't stop the Carrionites, she and the rest of the human race will fade. The Doctor and Martha reach All Hallows Street and confront Lilith, who is expecting them. She confirms the Doctor's suspicions.
Lilith steals a lock of the Doctor's hair. Taking flight through the window, she attaches the hair to a doll — which the Doctor explains is essentially a DNA
DNA
Deoxyribonucleic acid is a nucleic acid that contains the genetic instructions used in the development and functioning of all known living organisms . The DNA segments that carry this genetic information are called genes, but other DNA sequences have structural purposes, or are involved in...
replication module — and stabs it in the heart, whereupon the Doctor collapses. Assuming that he is dead, Lilith flies to the Globe. Martha helps the Doctor restart his left heart before the duo race to the Globe. Meanwhile, the actors have already spoken the last lines of the play, a series of directions and instructions that have opened a portal allowing the Carrionites back into the universe. The Doctor tells Shakespeare that only he can find the words to close the portal. Shakespeare improvises a short rhyming stanza but is stuck for a final word. Martha comes up with Expelliarmus (a word from the Harry Potter
Harry Potter
Harry Potter is a series of seven fantasy novels written by the British author J. K. Rowling. The books chronicle the adventures of the adolescent wizard Harry Potter and his best friends Ron Weasley and Hermione Granger, all of whom are students at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry...
novels), which is shouted at the Carrionites. The Carrionites — together with all the extant copies of Love's Labour's Won — are sucked back through the closing portal. Martha, The Doctor finds the three witches trapped, screaming in their own crystal ball
Crystal ball
A crystal ball is a crystal or glass ball believed by some people to aid in the performance of clairvoyance. It is sometimes known as a shew stone...
and appropriates it for safe-keeping in the TARDIS. The confused audience eventually begin clapping, believing everything to be part of the performance.
Before they depart, the two share a few parting words with the author in which he announces that he knows Martha is from the future and the doctor is alien and Martha realizes that Shakespeare is taken with her when he refers to her as his "Dark Lady" Then, Queen Elizabeth arrives at the Globe, having heard of last night's performance. Upon seeing the Doctor, she immediately sends her guards after her 'sworn enemy'. The Doctor-intrigued as to how he will later upset the Queen- runs for the TARDIS with Martha.
Shakespeare in Doctor Who
Shakespeare has appeared in one earlier Doctor Who episode before, and the Doctor has also mentioned prior meetings. The Bard is seen by the Doctor and his companions on the screen of their Time-Space Visualiser in The ChaseThe Chase (Doctor Who)
The Chase is a serial in the British science fiction television series Doctor Who, which was first broadcast in six weekly parts from 22 May to 26 June 1965. The story is set on multiple locations including the Mary Celeste, the Empire State Building, and the planet Aridius...
(1965), conversing with Elizabeth I; in Planet of Evil
Planet of Evil
The plot was deliberately conceived by Philip Hinchcliffe, Robert Holmes and Louis Marks as a mixture of the film Forbidden Planet and the novella The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde. In addition, Marks had been reading science magazine articles about antimatter, and decided to write a...
(1975), the Fourth Doctor
Fourth Doctor
The Fourth Doctor is the fourth incarnation of the protagonist of the long-running BBC British television science-fiction series Doctor Who....
mentions having met Shakespeare, and in City of Death
City of Death
-Pre-production:Writer David Fisher had contributed two scripts to Doctor Whos sixteenth season – The Stones of Blood and The Androids of Tara – and was asked by producer Graham Williams for further story ideas...
(1979) he claims that he helped transcribe the original manuscript of Hamlet
Hamlet
The Tragical History of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark, or more simply Hamlet, is a tragedy by William Shakespeare, believed to have been written between 1599 and 1601...
; and in The Mark of the Rani
The Mark of the Rani
The Mark of The Rani is a serial in the British science fiction television series Doctor Who, which was first broadcast in two weekly parts from 2 February to 9 February 1985...
(1985) the Sixth Doctor
Sixth Doctor
The Sixth Doctor is the sixth incarnation of the protagonist of the long-running BBC television science-fiction series Doctor Who. He was portrayed by Colin Baker...
says "I must see him [Shakespeare] again some time".
Among non-TV material (which is of debated canonicity), Shakespeare features in the Virgin Missing Adventures
Virgin Missing Adventures
The Virgin Missing Adventures were a series of novels from Virgin Publishing based on the British science-fiction television series Doctor Who, which had been cancelled in 1989, featuring stories set between televised episodes of the programme. The novels were published from 1994 to 1997, and...
novels The Empire of Glass
The Empire of Glass
The Empire of Glass is a Virgin Missing Adventures original novel written by Andy Lane based on the long-running British science fiction television series Doctor Who...
and The Plotters
The Plotters
The Plotters is an original novel written by Gareth Roberts and based on the long-running British science fiction television series Doctor Who...
, and in the Big Finish Productions
Big Finish Productions
Big Finish Productions is a British company that produces books and audio plays based, primarily, on cult British science fiction properties...
audio drama The Kingmaker
The Kingmaker
The Kingmaker is a Big Finish Productions audio drama based on the long-running British science fiction television series Doctor Who. The drama was written by Nev Fountain who is better known for his work on the radio and television series Dead Ringers, and also stars Jon Culshaw who in the same...
. In another Big Finish drama, The Time of the Daleks
The Time of the Daleks
The Time of the Daleks is a Big Finish Productions audio drama based on the long-running British science fiction television series Doctor Who...
, a child is revealed to be Shakespeare at the story's end. This has a sequel in Ian Potter
Ian Potter (writer)
Ian Potter is a UK based writer and broadcaster, best known for a series of short stories in the Big Finish Short Trips Doctor Who fiction range...
's short story Apocrypha Bipedium in Short Trips: Companions
Short Trips: Companions
Short Trips: Companions is a Big Finish original anthology edited by Jacqueline Rayner and based on the long-running British science fiction television series Doctor Who. The stories focus on the companions and their travels with the Doctor.-Stories:...
, which concerns the young Shakespeare's anachronistic meeting with some of the characters he will later portray in Troilus and Cressida
Troilus and Cressida
Troilus and Cressida is a tragedy by William Shakespeare, believed to have been written in 1602. It was also described by Frederick S. Boas as one of Shakespeare's problem plays. The play ends on a very bleak note with the death of the noble Trojan Hector and destruction of the love between Troilus...
. Finally, the Bard
Bard
In medieval Gaelic and British culture a bard was a professional poet, employed by a patron, such as a monarch or nobleman, to commemorate the patron's ancestors and to praise the patron's own activities.Originally a specific class of poet, contrasting with another class known as fili in Ireland...
also appears in the Doctor Who Magazine
Doctor Who Magazine
Doctor Who Magazine is a magazine devoted to the long-running British science fiction television series Doctor Who...
Ninth Doctor
Ninth Doctor
The Ninth Doctor is the ninth incarnation of the protagonist of the long-running BBC television science-fiction series Doctor Who. He is played by Christopher Eccleston....
comic A Groatsworth of Wit (also written by Gareth Roberts).
Producer Russell T Davies and screenwriter Gareth Roberts have both stated that they were aware of these past references to meeting Shakespeare, but that they would neither be mentioned nor contradicted in the episode. Roberts added that although early draft of "The Shakespeare Code" contained "a sly reference to City of Death", it was removed because "it was so sly it would have been a bit confusing for fans that recognised it and baffled the bejesus out of everyone else."
Other
There are several references to the Harry PotterHarry Potter
Harry Potter is a series of seven fantasy novels written by the British author J. K. Rowling. The books chronicle the adventures of the adolescent wizard Harry Potter and his best friends Ron Weasley and Hermione Granger, all of whom are students at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry...
franchise. At one point, Martha says "It's all a bit Harry Potter
Harry Potter
Harry Potter is a series of seven fantasy novels written by the British author J. K. Rowling. The books chronicle the adventures of the adolescent wizard Harry Potter and his best friends Ron Weasley and Hermione Granger, all of whom are students at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry...
", which prompts the Doctor to claim that he has read the final book in the series (which would not be released until 3 months after the episode was aired; the Doctor refers to it as "Book 7" because the title had not been made public at the time of filming). At the end of the episode, Shakespeare, the Doctor and Martha use a word from Harry Potter, "Expelliarmus", to defeat the Carrionites, and the Doctor exclaims "Good old J.K.!". These references include some metatheatrical humour, since David Tennant played the part of Barty Crouch, Jr in the film adaptation of Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire
Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire
Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire is the fourth novel in the Harry Potter series written by J. K. Rowling, published on 8 July 2000.The novel won a Hugo Award in 2001, the only Harry Potter novel to do so...
.
There are several references to the paradoxes of time travel. Martha mentions the possibility of killing her grandfather, an allusion to the grandfather paradox
Grandfather paradox
The grandfather paradox is a proposed paradox of time travel first described by the science fiction writer René Barjavel in his 1943 book Le Voyageur Imprudent . The paradox is this: suppose a man traveled back in time and killed his biological grandfather before the latter met the traveler's...
, when she first steps from the TARDIS. She also suggests that stepping on a butterfly might change the future of the human race, an idea that originates in Ray Bradbury
Ray Bradbury
Ray Douglas Bradbury is an American fantasy, horror, science fiction, and mystery writer. Best known for his dystopian novel Fahrenheit 451 and for the science fiction stories gathered together as The Martian Chronicles and The Illustrated Man , Bradbury is one of the most celebrated among 20th...
's 1952 short story A Sound of Thunder
A Sound of Thunder
“A Sound of Thunder” is a science fiction short story by Ray Bradbury, first published in Collier’s magazine in 1952. As of 1984 it was the most re-published science fiction story up to the present time...
. The Doctor explains how history could be changed with devastating results by referring to the movie Back to the Future
Back to the Future
Back to the Future is a 1985 American science-fiction adventure film. It was directed by Robert Zemeckis, written by Zemeckis and Bob Gale, produced by Steven Spielberg, and starred Michael J. Fox, Christopher Lloyd, Lea Thompson, Crispin Glover and Thomas F. Wilson. The film tells the story of...
. Martha scorns this explanation by saying 'The film?' to which the Doctor retorts 'No, the novelisation! Yes the film!'. There is indeed a novelisation of Back to the Future
Back to the Future
Back to the Future is a 1985 American science-fiction adventure film. It was directed by Robert Zemeckis, written by Zemeckis and Bob Gale, produced by Steven Spielberg, and starred Michael J. Fox, Christopher Lloyd, Lea Thompson, Crispin Glover and Thomas F. Wilson. The film tells the story of...
, written by George Gipe
George Gipe
George Gipe was an American magazine writer, author and screenwriter...
.
Some of the words and names used are derived from other works. The Doctor claims Martha comes from Freedonia
Freedonia
Freedonian was probably first used by Americans immediately after the American Revolution in place of the demonym "American". The term Freedonia was later popularized by the 1933 Marx Brothers movie Duck Soup, as a fictional country. Over time, however, the word has come to have a more generic...
, a fictional country in the Marx Brothers
Marx Brothers
The Marx Brothers were an American family comedy act, originally from New York City, that enjoyed success in Vaudeville, Broadway, and motion pictures from the early 1900s to around 1950...
film Duck Soup. (And also the name of a planet in the Doctor Who novel Warmonger
Warmonger (Doctor Who)
Warmonger is a BBC Books original novel written by Terrance Dicks and based on the long-running British science fiction television series Doctor Who...
(2002) by Terrance Dicks
Terrance Dicks
Terrance Dicks is an English writer, best known for his work in television and for writing a large number of popular children's books during the 1970s and 80s.- Early career :...
.) The planet Rexel 4 is named in an episode of The Tomorrow People
The Tomorrow People
The Tomorrow People is a British children's science fiction television series, devised by Roger Price. Produced by Thames Television for the ITV Network, the series first ran between 1973 and 1979. The series was re-imagined in 1992, Roger Price acting as executive producer...
from 1974.
The Doctor quotes the line, "Rage, rage against the dying of the light," from "Do not go gentle into that good night
Do not go gentle into that good night
Do not go gentle into that good night, a villanelle, is considered to be among the finest works by Welsh poet Dylan Thomas . Originally published in the journal Botteghe Oscure in 1951, it also appeared as part of the collection "In Country Sleep." Written for his dying father, it is one of...
" by Dylan Thomas
Dylan Thomas
Dylan Marlais Thomas was a Welsh poet and writer, Encyclopædia Britannica. Retrieved 11 January 2008. who wrote exclusively in English. In addition to poetry, he wrote short stories and scripts for film and radio, which he often performed himself...
— but warns Shakespeare he cannot use it as it is "somebody else's".
Writing and pre-production
The episode was Gareth RobertsGareth Roberts (writer)
Gareth John Pritchard Roberts is a British television screenwriter and novelist, best known for his work related to the science-fiction television series Doctor Who...
' first writing credit proper on the show, however he had written for Doctor Who many times before. He started writing some Virgin New Adventures
Virgin New Adventures
The Virgin New Adventures were a series of novels from Virgin Publishing based on the British science-fiction television series Doctor Who...
, a series of Doctor Who novels, with The Highest Science
The Highest Science
The Highest Science is an original novel written by Gareth Roberts and based on the long-running British science fiction television series Doctor Who. It features the Seventh Doctor and Bernice and the first appearance of the recurring monsters, the Chelonians...
(1993). He went on to write several more books for Virgin Books
Virgin Books
Virgin Books is a United Kingdom book publisher 90% owned by the publishing group Random House, and 10% owned by Virgin Enterprises, the company originally set up by Richard Branson as a record company.-History:...
and further Doctor Who spin-offs
Doctor Who spin-offs
Doctor Who spin-offs refers to material created outside of, but related to, the long-running British science fiction television series Doctor Who....
. With the new TV series, Roberts again produced a tie-in novel (Only Human, 2005) and then various smaller jobs for the TV show, including the "Attack of the Graske
Attack of the Graske
"Attack of the Graske" is an interactive mini-episode of the British science fiction television series Doctor Who that was first broadcast on the BBC Red Button service on 25 December 2005. It is now available as an online game on the official Doctor Who website.-Synopsis:The human race is in...
" digital television
Digital television
Digital television is the transmission of audio and video by digital signals, in contrast to the analog signals used by analog TV...
interactive mini-episode and the TARDISODE
TARDISODE
Tardisodes are mini-episodes of the television programme Doctor Who created to accompany the 2006 series of the programme. Made by Doctor Who producers BBC Wales, each Tardisode is approximately 60 seconds long and serves as an introduction to one of the actual 45-minute episodes...
s.
As revealed in Doctor Who Adventures
Doctor Who Adventures
Doctor Who Adventures is a magazine based on the British science fiction television programme Doctor Who. It is published by BBC Magazines and aimed at 6–13 year-olds, a different demographic from the Doctor Who Magazine readership...
issue 30, this episode had the working title of "Love's Labours Won". By the time of production, however, the title had been changed to "Theatre of Doom", according to David Tennant's video diary shot during production and included as a bonus feature of the Series 3 DVD set. Tennant remarks that the title would likely change before broadcast, suggesting "Theatre of Doom" was only a temporary title.
The ending featuring Queen Elizabeth was Russell T Davies's idea, who told Roberts to "make it a bit like the ending of The One Doctor
The One Doctor
The One Doctor is a Big Finish Productions audio drama based on the long-running British science fiction television series Doctor Who.- Plot :The Sixth Doctor and Mel come up against an impostor Doctor and his companion Sally-Anne....
", a Big Finish Productions
Big Finish Productions
Big Finish Productions is a British company that produces books and audio plays based, primarily, on cult British science fiction properties...
audio drama also written by Roberts.
The scene in which the Doctor and Martha share a room was originally written to have the Doctor casually undress down to his underwear; and still obliviously invite Martha to share the bed. It was rewritten as the producers and Tennant thought it would be inappropriate.
Filming
Filming for the episode took place from 23 August to 15 September 2006. Production started at the production team's Upper Boat Studios in TrefforestTrefforest
Treforest is a village in the south-east of Pontypridd in the county borough of Rhondda Cynon Taf, Wales situated in the Treforest electoral ward along with the village of Glyntaff , being part of the Pontypridd Community...
for the scenes in the Crooked House.
Production then went on a week of location night shoots, beginning in Coventry
Coventry
Coventry is a city and metropolitan borough in the county of West Midlands in England. Coventry is the 9th largest city in England and the 11th largest in the United Kingdom. It is also the second largest city in the English Midlands, after Birmingham, with a population of 300,848, although...
for one night, before moving to the Lord Leycester Hospital
Lord Leycester hospital
The Lord Leycester Hospital is a retirement home for ex-Servicemen in Warwick, England, that is located next to the West Gate, on High Street.-Buildings and composition:...
at Warwick
Warwick
Warwick is the county town of Warwickshire, England. The town lies upon the River Avon, south of Coventry and just west of Leamington Spa and Whitnash with which it is conjoined. As of the 2001 United Kingdom census, it had a population of 23,350...
. Scenes set in the Globe Theatre were then partially filmed in the recreated Globe Theatre
Shakespeare's Globe
Shakespeare's Globe is a reconstruction of the Globe Theatre, an Elizabethan playhouse in the London Borough of Southwark, located on the south bank of the River Thames, but destroyed by fire in 1613, rebuilt 1614 then demolished in 1644. The modern reconstruction is an academic best guess, based...
in London.
Apart from Newport Indoor Market, where the scenes at Bedlam were recreated in the basement, the remainder of the shoot took place in Upper Boat Studios, for the scenes set in the Elephant Inn, sections of Globe Theatre material, and the TARDIS scenes.
In SFX magazine
SFX magazine
SFX is a British magazine covering the topics of science fiction and fantasy.-Description:SFX magazine is published every four weeks by Future Publishing and was founded in 1995. The magazine covers topics in the genres of popular science fiction, fantasy and horror, within the media of films,...
#152, producer Phil Collinson
Phil Collinson
Philip "Phil" Collinson is a British television producer. He was initially an actor, before switching to working behind the cameras in the industry as a script editor and writer on programmes such as Springhill and Emmerdale, later becoming the producer of Peak Practice, Doctor Who and Coronation...
called this episode the "most expensive ever", because of the large amounts of CGI
Computer-generated imagery
Computer-generated imagery is the application of the field of computer graphics or, more specifically, 3D computer graphics to special effects in art, video games, films, television programs, commercials, simulators and simulation generally, and printed media...
and filming in Warwick, Coventry and London.
Special effects
The special effects on the episode were done by The MillThe Mill (post-production)
The Mill is a post-production and visual effects company launched in 1990 with offices in London, New York and Los Angeles.The Mill's Film special effects subsidiary, Mill Film, won an Oscar for its work on the film Gladiator. The Mill was the first UK-based post-production company to set up...
, who have created the special effects on all Doctor Who episodes since its return in 2005. The vast amount of CGI work required was mainly for the climax of the episode.
One shot of the Doctor and Martha looking at the Globe Theatre was changed between the Series Three preview at the end of "The Runaway Bride
The Runaway Bride (Doctor Who)
"The Runaway Bride" is a special episode of the long-running British science fiction television series Doctor Who, starring David Tennant as the Tenth Doctor...
" and the final episode; the edge of the Globe Theatre has been replaced with a CGI shot of a village and the distant theatre itself.
Broadcast and release
The episode was first broadcast at 7pm on 7 April 2007. It was seen by 7.2 million viewers, and was the fourteenth most watched program of the week."The Shakespeare Code", along with "Smith and Jones
Smith and Jones (Doctor Who)
"Smith and Jones" is the first episode of the third series of the British science fiction television series Doctor Who. It was first broadcast on BBC One on 31 March 2007. It sees the debut of Freema Agyeman as new companion Martha Jones...
" and "Gridlock
Gridlock (Doctor Who)
"Gridlock" is the third episode from the third series of the revived British science fiction television series Doctor Who which aired on 14 April 2007. The Doctor returns to a much grittier New Earth with Martha Jones and meets the Face of Boe one final time. But as New New York becomes a deadly...
" was released on a DVD on 21 May 2007. It was then re-released as part of the Series Three boxset in November 2007.
External links
- "Witchcraft" - episode trailer