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David Tennant
The Doctor's Daughter
Tenth Doctor Logo


Synopsis


Jenny
Jenny
 On the planet Messaline, in the middle of an endless war, The Doctor meets the most important woman of his life.

Source: BBC DVD


General Information

Season: Thirty (New Series 4)
Production Code: 4-6
Story Number: 193 (New Series: 37)
Episode Number:744 (New Series: 48)
Number of Episodes: 1
Percentage of Episodes Held:100%
Production Dates: December 2007 - January 2008
Broadcast Date: 10 May 2008
Colour Status: Colour
Studio: BBC Wales (Upper Boat, Pontypridd)
Location: Aberbaiden Open Cast Colliery (Kenfig), Cardiff City Hall, Newbridge, Pontypool, Plantaisia (Swansea), Rhondda Heritage Park, Barry Island and Cardiff.
Writer:Stephen Greenhorn
Director:Alice Troughton
Producer:Phil Collinson
Executive Producers:Julie Gardner and Russell T Davies
Script Editor:Lindsey Alford
Editor:Philip Kloss
Production Executive:Julie Scott
Production Manager:Peter Bennett
Production Designer:Edward Thomas
Director of Photography:Ernie Vincze BSC
Casting Director:Andy Pryor CDG
Costume Designer:Louise Page
Make-Up Designer:Barbara Southcott
Cameramen:Joe Russell (Operator) and Julian Barber (Operator)
Visual Effects:The Mill
Special Effects:Any Effects
Prosthetics:Millennium FX
Stunt Co-ordinator:Crispin Layfield
Incidental Music:Murray Gold
Special Sounds (SFX Editor):Paul Jefferies
Sound Recordist:Julian Howarth
Sound Supervisor:Paul McFadden
Music Performed By:The BBC National Orchestra of Wales
Title Music:Ron Grainer and the BBC Radiophonic Workshop. Arranged by Murray Gold
Number of Doctors: 1
The Doctor: David Tennant (The Tenth Doctor)
Number of Companions: 2The Companions: Freema Agyeman (Martha Jones) (Departs) and Catherine Tate (Donna Noble) Additional Cast: Georgia Moffett (Jenny), Nigel Terry (Cobb), Joe Dempsie (Cline), Paul Kasey (Hath Peck), Ruari Mears (Hath Gable), Akin Gazi (Carter), Olalekan Lawal Jr (Soldier)Setting: Planet Messaline (6012) and London (2009) Villain:Cobb

The Episodes

No. Episodes Broadcast
(UK)
Duration Viewers
(Millions)
In Archive
744The Doctor's Daughter10 May 200845'09"7.3Yes

Total Duration 45 Minutes


Audience Appreciation

Average Viewers (Millions) 7.3
Doctor Who Magazine Poll (2008)69.70%  (Position = 11 out of 11)
Doctor Who Magazine Poll (2009)63.60% Lower (Position = 140 out of 200)
Doctor Who Magazine Poll (2014)62.30% Lower (Position = 180 out of 241)
Doctor Who Magazine Poll (2023) Position = 28 out of 36


Archives


 This story exists and is held in the BBC's Film and Videotape Library.



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Notes


This story marks the end of Freema Agyeman's second tenure playing the regular character companion Martha Jones who leaves the Tenth Doctor for a second time.

Georgia Moffett, who plays Jenny, is the real-life daughter of Fifth Doctor actor Peter Davison and The Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy star Sandra Dickinson. David Tennant has described this story by saying 'We get to see The Doctor's daughter, played by The Doctor's daughter'. Georgia Moffett also previously appeared alongside her father in the Big Finish Productions audio story "Red Dawn". It is reported that Peter Davison said to Georgia, once he had finished filming the 2007 Children in Need special "Time Crash", 'it's your turn' as in it was her turn to play a role. Interestingly back in 2004 Georgia was considered for the role of Rose Tyler.

In "Fear Her" The Doctor mentioned to Rose Tyler he 'was a dad once'. The only other member of The Doctor's family seen in the show has been Susan, The Doctor's granddaughter, whose last appearance in the television show was in the 1983 Twentieth Anniversary Special "The Five Doctors". The Eighth Doctor also adopted a daughter called Miranda in Lance Parkin’s 2001 BBC Books story "Father Time".

Stephen Greenhorn's previous Doctor Who adventure, 2007's "The Lazarus Experiment", also dealt with genetic manipulation.

Terraforming is a method of artificially accelerating planetary processes and evolution to bring life to a lifeless planet or moon. It's been seen before in such movies as Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan and Aliens.

Donna Noble compares the TARDIS to a sports car (in comparison to a people carrier), as The Doctor did in "Utopia". Donna had previously called the TARDIS a 'box'.

Just prior to Jenny's reanimation she exhales a golden-green mist reminiscent of similar expirations The Doctor displayed shortly after his regeneration in the 2005 "Children in Need Special" and "The Christmas Invasion".

Jenny's impressive acrobatics in the corridor full of deadly laser beams was inspired by Britney Spears' Toxic video.

This is the fifth television story to be partially set in a theatre, following 1977's "The Talons of Weng-Chiang", 2005's "The Unquiet Dead" and 2007's "The Shakespeare Code" and "Daleks in Manhattan/Evolution of the Daleks".

All the Hath dialogue was fully scripted. Bits you may have missed include: "It's better! It's better!"; "This is a human, but not an enemy. She shows our brother kindness. We must show kindness in return", and "You saved me. I won't let you die!".

Donna is heard questioning what a female Time Lord is called. The answer is a Time Lady. Amongst the ones we've encountered so far are Rodan in 1978's "The Invasion of Time" the Romana (first seen in 1978's "The Ribos Operation") and the Rani (1985’s "The Mark of The Rani" and 1987’s "Time and the Rani”).

The end of this story contains a trailer for the next story "The Unicorn and the Wasp".

Following on immediately after this story, on BBC3, was the sixth chapter of the fourth series of Doctor Who Confidential, "Sins of the Fathers" presented by Anthony Head.



First and Last

The Firsts:

 The first Doctor Who story to be directed by Alice Troughton.


The Lasts (Subject to Future Stories):

 Freema Agyeman's last story, in this stint, as companion Martha Jones.


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The Plot

WARNING: May Contain SpoilersHide Text
We Surrender
We Surrender

The TARDIS is drawn to the planet Messaline, materialising in an underground tunnel. The Doctor, Donna Noble and Martha Jones soon discover that they have arrived in the midst of a war which has been waging for generations between human colonists, lead by General Cobb, and the Hath - militaristic, fish-based creatures who communicate through bubbles.

The human colonists seize The Doctor and stick his hand in a cloning machine, which uses his diploid cells to produce the titular character, Jenny. She is "born" an adult soldier trained to fight against the Hath. The Hath then appear and a battle commences leading to the tunnel they are in being sealed off. However, this causes The Doctor and Donna to become separated from Martha and the TARDIS by the rock fall.

Martha befriends the Hath, while The Doctor and Donna learn, from the human colonists, more about the cloning and the history of the planet. It seems that the two races were initially meant to live in peace in a colony, but have long been at war.

Jenny is 'Born'
Jenny is 'Born'

While examining an electronic map terminal of the structure, The Doctor reveals a secondary set of blueprints leading to a structure the humans refer to as the temple of "The Source", the breath of their goddess. Believing this to be a weapon, Cobb announces that he intends to use it to wipe out the Hath. When The Doctor protests he has The Doctor, Donna, and Jenny locked up. However, unbeknown to them The Doctor's actions have likewise altered the Hath's map terminal, and they too set out to find The Source.

While imprisoned together Donna proves to The Doctor that Jenny is a member of his own race as she has two hearts. Jenny though is puzzled by The Doctor as he has the aptitude to be a soldier, despite his insistence that he is now one. He does though warn Jenny that once she starts killing it'll become addictive.

Jenny
Jenny

The Doctor, Donna, and Jenny finally manage to escape from the cell, when Jenny distracts the guard, and they set out to beat the humans to The Source. Meanwhile Martha is also trying to reach The Source. She though goes above ground with a Hath she has befriended. She manages to reach the temple first, but her Hath friend dies when he saves her from some quicksand.

The Doctor's party reaches the temple shortly after and the two sides join once more. The Doctor discovers that the temple is in fact a colony ship. Donna, while studying a number display matching plaques that she has spotted previously within the colony, realises that they are a dating system, and according to the display, it's only been a week since the war started. The Doctor deduces from the ship’s logs the war started when their commander died resulting in a power vacuum and that because the cloning machines produce new soldiers so quickly, they ran through dozens of generations in only a week, degrading their history to mere myth in a relative short time.

As they move further into the ship they find a terraforming agent - The Source - ready to be released. It is then the human colonists and the Hath catch up with them. The Doctor manages to persuade them not to fight and explains to them what has happened. It is then that he releases the terraforming agent. Despite the Hath and the human colonists dropping their weapons Cobb instead tries to shoot The Doctor. However, Jenny steps into his path and is shot instead. Enraged at this pointless death The Doctor nearly shots Cobb but he does not pull the trigger.

Cobb
Cobb

Back in the TARDIS, The Doctor concludes that the entire event was a ontological paradox; the TARDIS sensed Jenny but arrived too early, allowing her to be born in the first place. He returns Martha home, and Donna resolves to stay with The Doctor while Martha leaves.

Meanwhile, back on Messaline, Jenny suddenly is revived, after exhaling a coloured gaseous substance, and escapes the planet in a shuttlecraft resolving to fight villains, just like her father…

 
Two Hearts
Two Hearts
Martha
Martha
The Doctor and Donna
The Doctor and Donna
The Doctor and Jenny
The Doctor and Jenny
 
The Source
The Source
The Hath
The Hath
Doctor and Daughter
Doctor and Daughter
Regeneration
Regeneration




Quote of the Story


 'He saves planets, rescues civilisations, defeats terrible creatures ... and runs a lot. Seriously, there is an outrageous amount of running involved.'

Donna Noble



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Release Information

FormatTitleRelease Date (UK)Code NumberCover ArtRemarks
Video
DVD
The Sontaran Stratagem - The Poison Sky - The Doctor's Daughter - The Unicorn and the WaspJuly 2008BBCDVD 2606Photo-montage
Video
DVD
The Complete Fourth SeriesNovember 2008BBCDVD 2609Photo-montageBoxed set containing all 11 stories
Audio
CD
Original Television Soundtrack - Series 4October 2008SILCD1275Photo-montageMusic by Murray Gold
Video
DVD
Series 1 - 4 Box SetOctober 2009BBCDVD 3058Boxed set containing all 43 stories on 23 Discs
Video
Blu-Ray
The Complete Series 1-7 Box Set (Limited Edition)December 2013BBCBD 0242Photo-montageLimited Edition Blu-Ray boxed set containing all Series 1-7 stories at full 1080p high definition
Video
DVD
The Complete Fourth Series (2014 Re-release)August 2014BBCDVD 3968Photo-montageBoxed set containing all 11 stories
Video
DVD
The Complete David Tennant Years Box SetNovember 2014BBCDVD 4000Photo-montageBoxed set containing all 37 stories on 26 Discs
Video
Blu-Ray
The Complete Fourth Series Box SetAugust 2015BBCBD 0264Photo-montageBlu-Ray boxed set containing 11 stories
Video
Blu-Ray
The Complete Fourth Series Box Set (Limited Edition Steelbook)August 2019BBCBD 0467Photo-montageLimited Edition Blu-Ray Steelbook boxed set containing 11 stories
Video
Blu-Ray
Series 1 - 4 & Specials Blu-Ray CollectionNovember 2023BBCBD 0582Photo-montageBoxed set containing all Ninth and Tenth Doctor stories upscaled to high definition


In Print

No Book Release
Doctor Who Magazine - PreviewIssue 395 (Released: May 2008)
Doctor Who Magazine - ReviewIssue 397 (Released: July 2008)
Doctor Who Magazine - Time TeamIssue 474 (Released: July 2014)
Doctor Who DVD FilesVolume 24 (Released: December 2009)

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Photo Gallery


The Doctor and Companions

 
David Tennant
The Tenth Doctor

   

Freema Agyeman
Martha Jones
 
Catherine Tate
Donna Noble
   




On Release

DVD Cover
DVD Cover

BBC
VIDEO
Complete Series DVD Box Set
Complete Series DVD Box Set

BBC
VIDEO
Original Television Soundtrack Cover
Original Television Soundtrack Cover

BBC
AUDIO
Series 1-4 DVD Box Set
Series 1-4 DVD Box Set

BBC
VIDEO
   
Complete Series 1-7 Ltd Edition Blu-Ray Box Set
Complete Series 1-7 Ltd Edition Blu-Ray Box Set

BBC
VIDEO
Complete Series DVD Box Set<BR>(2014 Re-release)
Complete Series DVD Box Set
(2014 Re-release)

BBC
VIDEO
Complete David Tennant Years DVD Box Set
Complete David Tennant Years DVD Box Set

BBC
VIDEO
Complete Series Blu-Ray Box Set
Complete Series Blu-Ray Box Set

BBC
VIDEO
   
Complete Series Blu-Ray Limited Edition Steelbook Box Set
Complete Series Blu-Ray Limited Edition Steelbook Box Set

BBC
VIDEO
Series 1 - 4 & Specials Blu-Ray Collection Cover
Series 1 - 4 & Specials Blu-Ray Collection Cover

BBC
VIDEO



Magazines

Doctor Who Magazine - Preview: Issue 395
Doctor Who Magazine - Preview: Issue 395

Marvel Comics
Doctor Who Magazine - Review: Issue 397
Doctor Who Magazine - Review: Issue 397

Marvel Comics
Doctor Who Magazine - Time Team: Issue 474
Doctor Who Magazine - Time Team: Issue 474

Marvel Comics
Doctor Who DVD Files: Volume 24
Doctor Who DVD Files: Volume 24

GE Fabbri
   


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