"Doctor Who"
The Family of Blood (2007)

Director:

Charles Palmer

Writer:

Paul Cornell (written by)

TV Series:

"Doctor Who" (2005)

Original Air Date:

2 June 2007 (Season 3, Episode 9)

Genre:

Adventure | Drama | Sci-Fi

Plot:

The Doctor must deal with the repercussions of his decision to become human, as The Family Of Blood unveil themselves... |

Plot Keywords:

Based On Novel | Doctor Who | Man With No Name | Fish Out Of Water | Extraterrestrial

Cast

David Tennant	...	The Doctor / John Smith
Freema Agyeman	...	Martha Jones
Jessica Hynes	...	Joan Redfern
Rebekah Staton	...	Jenny
Thomas Sangster	...	Tim Latimer
Harry Lloyd	...	Baines
Tom Palmer	...	Hutchinson
Gerard Horan	...	Clark
Lauren Wilson	...	Lucy Cartwright
Pip Torrens	...	Rocastle
Matthew White	...	Phillips
Sophie Turner	...	Vicar

Directed by
Charles Palmer

Writing credits
Paul Cornell		(written by)

Produced by
Phil Collinson	....	executive producer
Russell T. Davies	....	executive producer
Julie Gardner	....	executive producer
Susie Liggat	....	producer

Original Music by
Murray Gold

Cinematography by
Rory Taylor		(director of photography)

Film Editing by
Matthew Tabern

Casting by
Andy Pryor

Production Design by
Edward Thomas

Art Direction by
Arwel Jones		(supervising art director) (as Arwel Wyn Jones)

Set Decoration by
David Morison

Costume Design by
Louise Page

Makeup Department
Pam Mullins	....	makeup artist
John Munro	....	makeup artist
Steven Smith	....	makeup artist (as Steve Smith)
Barbara Southcott	....	makeup designer

Production Management
Chris Blatchford	....	post-production supervisor
Samantha Hall	....	post-production supervisor
Huw Jones	....	unit manager
Tracie Simpson	....	production manager

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Sarah Davies	....	third assistant director
Richard Harris	....	first assistant director
Steffan Morris	....	second assistant director

Art Department
Paul Aitken	....	property master
Adrian Anscombe	....	chief property master
Ian Bunting	....	design assistant
Amy Chandler	....	forward dresser
Tim Dickel	....	stand-by art director
Rob Dicks	....	design assistant
Bryan Griffiths	....	stand-by rigger
Martin Griffiths	....	props storeman
Matthew Hywel-Davies	....	construction manager
Gareth Jeanne	....	props chargehand
Paul Jones	....	stand-by carpenter
Jonathan Marquand Allison	....	art department production manager
Peter McKinstry	....	design assistant
Nick Murray	....	stand-by props
Stephen Nicholas	....	chief supervising art director
James North	....	associate designer
Matthew North	....	art department coordinator
Al Roberts	....	design assistant
Catherine Samuel	....	property buyer
Phil Shellard	....	stand-by props
Shaun Williams	....	storyboard artist
Ellen Woods	....	stand-by painter

Sound Department
Kelly-Marie Angell	....	foley editor
Julian Howarth	....	sound recordist
Paul Jefferies	....	sound effects editor
Paul McFadden	....	supervising sound editor
Tim Ricketts	....	dubbing mixer
Doug Sinclair	....	sound editor
Bryn Thomas	....	boom operator
Jeff Welch	....	boom operator
Julie Ankerson	....	foley artist (uncredited)
Howard Eaves	....	sound editor (uncredited)

Special Effects by
Ben Ashmore	....	special effects coordinator
Henry Brook	....	special effects technician
Neill Gorton	....	prosthetics designer
Lotta Haggqvist	....	on-set prosthetics supervisor (as Lotta Hagvist)
Danny Hargreaves	....	special effects technician
Paul Kelly	....	special effects supervisor
Rob Mayor	....	prosthetics supervisor
Anthony Parker	....	prosthetics technician

Visual Effects by
Tim Barter	....	digital compositor
Will Cohen	....	visual effects producer
Kate Cuffin	....	compositor
Dave Houghton	....	visual effects supervisor
Marie A. Jones	....	visual effects producer (as Marie Jones)
Arianna Lago	....	digital compositor
Marianne Paton	....	visual effects production assistant
Sara Bennett	....	2D visual effects supervisor (uncredited)
Jean-Claude Deguara	....	CG supervisor (uncredited)
Nicolas Hernandez	....	CG supervisor (uncredited)
Rebecca Johnson	....	visual effects coordinator (uncredited)
Jenna Powell	....	visual effects coordinator (uncredited)
Neil Roche	....	3D artist (uncredited)

Stunts
Glenn Marks	....	stunt coordinator

Camera and Electrical Department
Ben Griffiths	....	electrician
Steven Hall	....	camera operator: second unit
Tom Hartley	....	assistant camera
Mark Hutchings	....	gaffer
Albert James	....	practical electrician
Clive Johnson	....	electrician
Steve Rees	....	focus puller
John Robinson	....	grip
Steve Slocombe	....	best boy
Jamie Southcott	....	focus puller: second unit

Casting Department
Andy Brierley	....	casting associate
Kirsty Robertson	....	casting associate

Costume and Wardrobe Department
Lindsay Bonaccorsi	....	costume supervisor
Sheenagh O'Maran	....	costume assistant (as Sheenagh O'Marah)
Marnie Ormiston	....	assistant costume designer
Kirsty Wilkinson	....	costume assistant

Editorial Department
Mark Bright	....	on-line editor
Marie Brown	....	post-production coordinator
Tim Hodges	....	assistant editor
Matt Mullins	....	assistant editor (as Matthew Mullins)
Mick Vincent	....	colorist

Music Department
Ron Grainer	....	composer: original theme music

Transportation Department
Wayne Humphreys	....	driver
Malcolm Kearney	....	driver

Other crew
Olivier Ager	....	production accountant
Lindsey Alford	....	script editor
Ailsa Berk	....	choreographer
Bethan Britton	....	contracts assistant
Lowri Denman	....	runner
Bronwen Evans	....	location scout
Siân Eve Goldsmith	....	production runner
Debi Griffiths	....	production assistant
Non Eleri Hughes	....	continuity
Kevin Myers	....	production secretary
Chris Rogers	....	finance manager
Julie Scott	....	production executive
Heddi-Joy Taylor	....	runner
Lowri Thomas	....	location manager
Christina Tom	....	trainee: Cyfle
Jess Van Niekerk	....	production coordinator
Endaf Emyr Williams	....	senior production accountant

Makeup Department
Stuart Bray	....	special makeup supervisor

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Chris Hill	....	third assistant director
Alex Mercer	....	third assistant director

Sound Department
Colin Cooper	....	adr mixer
Dave Humphries	....	foley recordist
Richard Ostroff	....	boom operator

Special Effects by
Charlie Bluett	....	special effects senior technician
Benjamin M. Esterson	....	special effects coordinator

Camera and Electrical Department
Gareth Hughes	....	camera operator: second unit

Other crew
Ian Gruchfield	....	brand manager: BBC

Runtime:

45 min | 45 min (50 episodes)

Country:

UK

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Certification:

UK:PG (DVD rating)

Trivia:

A character mentions that his parents were called Verity and Sydney. This is a tribute to Verity Lambert, the first producer of the original series "Doctor Who" (1963), and Sydney Newman, the Head of Drama at the BBC who gave her this job.

Quotes:

Son of Mine: Headmaster, sir! Good evening, sir. Come to give me a caning, sir? Would you like that, sir?

A showcase of acting brilliance

Well well, Paul Cornell has cooked up another stonker here. This two-parter, and this episode in particular, is probably one of the best yet, second only, in my opinion, to the previous two season finales, and on a par with The Impossible Planet/Satan Pit. Of this series, only 42 has engrossed me more.

The main point of this episode is, of course, the Doctor becoming a slightly idiotic human to avoid the eponymous Family of Blood, Martha's struggle to make him realise who he really is again, and the importance of the watch that the Doctor stored himself inside. I won't say any more than that for the sake of spoiling what is truly a fantastic story. Every part of it is brilliantly executed - the script, the direction, the effects, and the aftermath.

Special mentions in this episode though, go to two people. Firstly, David Tennant, whose portrayal of the ordinary man struggling to come to terms with who he might be and what he has to do with everything is fantastic. Secondly, to Harry Lloyd, who plays Jeremy Baines, the ringleader of the Family. While he is relatively unknown as an actor - his only major role to date has been as Will Scarlet in the BBC's retake of Robin Hood - I can't think of any world-famous actor who would've fitted the part better than him. His performance is absolutely astonishing, he plays the mad eyes, frightening smile, and all round scariness of his character to utter perfection. He's probably been the scariest and most believable human-looking villain since the show was resurrected, with the possible exception of Roger Lloyd-Pack's John Lumic from last year. Maybe it's in the surname.

This is, without doubt, one of the best story lines seen in Doctor Who so far. And next week's 'Blink' looks like a cracker as well. Series 3 is storming towards being the best series yet, if it isn't already.