| The following article is written from an Out of Universe perspective. |
"Sometimes the Past Comes Back to Haunt Us"
Doctor Who: Vengeance was the third featured film in the Doctor Who motion picture franchise.
It was a co-production between Paramount Pictures and BBC Films and was released on the 12th of February 2010.
The film marked the last regular appearance for Paterson Joseph as The Twelfth Doctor and also featured the introduction of Zenla, portrayed by Juliet Landau, and Chris Parsons, portrayed by Dougray Scott.
It also featured the first appearance of David Suchet as The Thirteenth Doctor and Peter Capaldi as Gregori.
Synopsis
The Rogue has been comfortably in office as Lord President of Gallifrey for the past few years, but one day suddenly everything changes. The long lost former Lord President, Gregori, is found in an old Gallifreyan ship, drifting in space, with his crew.
Now returned to Gallifrey, Gregori wants his title back, and the only way to claim legitimacy is from an Ancient Gallifreyan Law, which the only evidence of resides in a book... which happens to have disappeared. Now Gregori embarks on a quest to find this book.
The Rogue, fearful of Gregori, calls upon the Doctor to find this book before him and destroy it.
Plot
We begin with the vacuum of space and then a Gallifreyan ship flies past the camera and we hear the hum of its engines. Cut to the bridge and Leela is in command. The navigation officer tells her that there’s an unidentified ship closing in on them. Leela opens a channel and asks for the ship to identify itself and a distorted voice is heard back through. Leela boosts the signal and states ‘This is Leela representing Gallifrey under the Alliance of Planets. Please identify yourselves’. And then the scanner on the ship flicks on and we see an old man in Gallifreyan ceremonial robes on an old Gallifreyan bridge (like the ones we saw in the Griffiths era) and he states, ‘This is President Gregori – Lord President of Gallifrey…’. And then we cut to the citadel. The Rogue walks down a corridor with haste into a hangar bay. Both Leela’s ship and Gregori’s ship land in the hangar. The door opens on Gregori’s ship and out he steps. The Rogue shakes his hand and leads him to his office. They sit down and Gregori cuts to the chase and tells the Rogue that he claims the right to the Lord Presidency under Article 782 of Ancient Gallifreyan Law. Francis explains that there is no such law. Leaving the Rogue quite relieved. However, Gregori states that this law does exist and exists in a book known as ‘the Worshipful and Ancient Law of Gallifrey’ except according to Francis, no such book exists in the Panopticon Archives. Gregori, hell bent on becoming President once more, takes his ship off Gallifrey to go on a quest to find the book and prove his right to the Presidency.
Then we cut to the Doctor in 1930s Germany. He’s walking through the Reichstag, undercover in a dark suit, tracking an alien entity. This goes on for a bit and the Doctor goes back in the TARDIS to get a piece of equipment he needs however while in the TARDIS, it begins to dematerialize, much to the Doctor’s resentment. The Doctor steps back out of the TARDIS and finds himself in the Panopticon Archives. In front of him stands the Rogue. The Rogue explains that he has summoned the Doctor to Gallifrey because he needs someone to unofficially track down ‘the Worshipful and Ancient Law of Gallifrey’ and destroy it, to stop President Gregori becoming President again. The Doctor, aware of what Gregori is capable of (from the Prisoner of Time), eventually agrees. The Rogue introduces a woman called Zenla to the Doctor, who is a Professor at the Academy well versed in Gallifrey law and tells the Doctor that she along with his chief of staff, Francis, will accompany him on his journey.
Cut to Cambridge University 2010, and we follow Chris Parsons, a student a Cambridge, who visits Professor Chronotis, an old slightly eccentric professor. Chris asks to borrow some books from the Professor and in curiosity takes a slightly strange book too. As Chris leaves we see Cordale looking across the street at him. She speaks into a device saying, ‘Lord President subject located’.
Cut to the TARDIS landing and out steps the Doctor, Zenla and Francis. The Doctor states that Gregori landed here, within the past 8 hours and it’s possible that the book is here. Zenla tells the Doctor that one of her own Professors from the Academy, when she was a student, mentioned retiring to Cambridge on Earth and she concludes that it probably is not a coincidence that Gregori has come here. They visit the Professor, and Zenla introduces Francis and the Doctor to him. The Doctor asks the Professor about the book however the Professor is so confused and senile, it’s impossible to work anything out. Eventually, the Professor remembers that he did in fact take ‘the Worshipful and Ancient Law of Gallifrey’ and that it is on a bookshelf somewhere.
Chris goes back to his apartment and starts reading the book. He discovers that it’s written in a completely alien script. He goes down to the lab and tries to analyse it however he can’t. There are no readings.
The Doctor, Zenla and Francis search the professor’s room for the book and they discuss time lord law. This reminds them of the Time Lord criminal Salyavin, a boyhood hero of the Doctor. The Professor, asked about his contemporary Salyavin, recalls Chris Parsons' visit and wonders if he has borrowed the book by accident. The Doctor asks Zenla to go and try and find this Chris Parsons and see if he has the book. Chronotis suggests that Chris maybe in the lab. Zenla meets Chris at the lab and questions him about the book, however he won’t let Zenla have it as he insists on trying to analyse it. The Professor’s door is burst open by Cordale who puts a gun to the Professor’s head. The Doctor and Francis manage to diffuse the situation by persuading Cordale that he doesn’t know where the book is and neither do they. However, Cordale is convinced they are lying and kidnaps the professor. Meanwhile, back at the lab, Zenla and Chris discover that the book’s carbon dates as minus twenty thousand years old. Chris is naturally confused but Zenla tells him that if he comes with her and brings the book, all will be explained.
Zenla and Chris leave the lab and walk to the Professor’s room however on the way they are ambushed by Cordale and some other of Gregori’s followers. A fight breaks out between Zenla and Cordale, leaving Chris especially bewildered, but in the end Cordale manages to get the book and leaves Zenla and Chris beaten up. They both manage to make it back to the Professor’s room but not in a very good state. They find the Doctor and Francis eager to get the book when Zenla reports that the book was taken by Cordale. The Doctor decides he need to speak with Gregori personally, and not only get the book back but also the Professor himself. The Doctor asks Francis to stay in the Professor’s room and keep it safe.
The Doctor, Zenla and Chris go back to the TARDIS and Chris enters for the first time, Chris completely bewildered, demands and explanation, to which the Doctor gives the truth, Chris doesn’t believe it until they leave the TARDIS to find themselves in a field with a cottage in the middle. The Doctor states that that cottage is in fact, Gregori’s TARDIS with the chameleon circuit on. The Doctor, Zenla and Chris enter to face Gregori. Gregori orders them to be restraint and his guards come in and take Zenla and Chris to a cell, leaving the Doctor to him. The Doctor tries to speak to Gregori but he is cut off by Gregori telling him that ‘they have broken Gallifreyan law and have attempt to commit mutiny and theft against the rightful Lord President of Gallifrey’. The Doctor states that the Rogue is the rightful president but Gregori shows him the book which explains that the rightful president is in fact himself, Gregori. The Doctor is taken to a cell, in despair, to join Zenla, Chris and the Professor. The Professor is in a very bad condition and Zenla predicts he is close to death. She says that he is on his last regeneration and after this, death will be death. The TARDIS takes off and leaves for Gallifrey.
Back in the Professor’s room, Francis searches it for anything else that isn’t supposed to be there and discovers that his room is in fact a Type 12 TARDIS and his accidently triggers dematerialisation. Because it’s an old TARDIS that hasn’t been used in decades, the trip is rough and Francis is knocked out.
Gregori’s TARDIS arrives back on Gallifrey to be greeted by a party of armed Chancellery guards with the Rogue. Gregori holds up the book and reads the article which gives him the right to the Presidency. The Doctor, Zenla and Chris walk out and he states that under his divine law, he charges them with mutiny and theft and sentences them to life imprisonment on the Gallifreyan prison colony, Shada. The Rogue tries to stop Gregori but Gregori states that he could very well be joining them. Gregori asks whether or not he ordered them to go after him, and the Rogue lies, denying it all, in order to save his own skin. The Rogue asks what will happen to his own government, including the Rani, who was recently appointed Vice President, in a collation government. Gregori states that an election would have to be held soon anyway, and he decides to call and election for the Presidency with himself, the Rogue and the Rani as the three candidates. In the meantime, using ancient law from the book, he will be placed as acting president of Gallifrey and the Alliance of the Planets.
The prison ship, carrying the Doctor, Zenla and Chris, arrives on Shada. A prison planet, existing since the Ancient Gallifreyan times. The Doctor explains that this place used to be led by the Order of Rassilon but since their collapse it has become a little chaotic. They find themselves among thousands of prisoners, including famous criminals from Earth’s past, which have been pulled out of time, and also a few Daleks, Cybermen, Zygons, Nimon, Ood and even Poplne wondering about, and getting into fights.
Back on Gallifrey, the Rogue visits the Chancellery prison where the Professor lies on his deathbed. The Professor briefly regains consciousness and he tells the Rogue to return him to his TARDIS. He needs to be there. The Rogue decides that he’s got nothing to lose and stuns the two guards behind him and breaks the Professor out, taking him to the time-space transmat room and transmats him back to his TARDIS. The Professor arrives to find Francis unconscious on the floor and he wakes him up.
On Shada, the Doctor, Zenla and Chris find Erasmus Darkening, a foe of the Doctor’s in the previous season, who the Doctor ended up inexplicably sending here. Darkening, unusually offers to help break the Doctor, Zenla and Chris out after he hears of Lizzie’s unfortunate demise. We follow them break out of prison, and they end up on a desolate planet. Erasmus parts ways with them to be with his family on his home planet, which was all he ever wanted.
Cut back to Gallifrey and Gregori, the Rogue and the Rani are sitting in Gregori’s office. They are talking about the future of Gallifrey but Gregori brings up the mysterious disappearance of Chronotis and the deaths of two-armed chancellery guards and asks if the Rogue knows anything about it. The Rogue denies knowing anything and asks what Gregori is possibly insinuating. Gregori smiles and states that the Professor won’t last long anyway as he’s a dying man however he tells the Rogue and the Rani that they can prove their loyalty to Gallifrey in one way. He tells them that the Doctor and his party have escaped from Shada and that they need to be taken out, for good. The Rogue gulps, and says that it will not be possible as the Doctor is not guilty of the charges laid before him however the Rani states that she’d be happy to deal with the Doctor, in exchange to go on the ticket with Gregori as Vice President. Gregori asks why she doesn’t want the Presidency for herself and she says that she does but she knows realistically that she won’t win against Gregori and the Rogue, it’s a two-man race, and so she’s going to back the winning horse and join Gregori. Gregori smiles and agrees, telling her to meet his Chief of Staff, Cordale, and they will deal with this matter. The Rogue looks at him and tells him that this is wrong. Gregori just states: ‘We will see, we will see’.
We cut back to the Professor’s TARDIS and he is sat in an arm chair, on the verge of death. Francis asks him what to do and the Professor says that he needs to take his TARDIS and find the Doctor because the book is a fake and he is the only one who can prove it. Francis asks why he knows this and the Professor confesses it’s because he is the long-lost criminal, Salyavin and he faked the book and then used his mental powers to try and remove its existence from everyone’s memory. Gregori only remembers because he was gone for so long. Francis sets the controls and says that he hopes he can find the Doctor.
We cut to the surface of an alien planet and the Doctor, Zenla and Chris traverse along the terrain. The Doctor states that there should be a spaceport within the next few miles and from their they should be able to hitch a ride to somewhere in the Alliance. Time passes and they eventually make it to the space port. However, before they can hitch a ride, they are spotted by someone who acts as an informant for the Rani. The Doctor, Zenla and Chris nearly manage to get onto a ship when they are stopped by the Rani and Cordale, who cuff them and take them onto their ship. Cordale tells them that Gregori has ordered their execution and they want to make it as clean and quick as possible. The Doctor asks why they haven’t done it already and Cordale tells him that they will have to do it in transit as they can be charged for murder on this primitive planet. The ship takes off and it enters the vortex. While Cordale is piloting the ship, the Doctor, Zenla and Chris take cue and break free of their restraints. The Doctor is confronted by the Rani in the corridor however with Zenla and Chris they manage to overpower her. They then here the sound of a TARDIS materialising and they look over to the side of the corridor and the door to the Professor’s room appears. They enter finding Francis and the Professor. The Doctor quickly shuts the door and tells Francis to take off. Francis informs the Doctor about the book and Salyavin. The Professor is still just alive, but he is unconscious.
The Rani and Cordale arrive back on Gallifrey and, to Gregori’s displeasure, they tell him of what has happened. Gregori in a fit of rage, takes a ship and decides to deal with it himself. Gregori flies his ship into the time vortex after the Professor’s TARDIS.
Inside the Professor’s TARDIS, the Doctor tells them that he’s going to give himself up to Gregori, so they can get away. He tells Zenla that he’d like her to get his TARDIS. Zenla, activates a vortex manipulator and leaves for Earth. The Doctor opens the door into the vortex and activates a travel corridor, to get between the two ships. The Doctor slowly crosses the corridor, as one false step could send him hurtling into the vortex. The Doctor makes it to Gregori’s ship to find him pointing a gun at him, reading for the kill. The Doctor tells him to stop and then tells him that the book is a fake. There never was such a book. Salyavin created it to try and overthrow Rassilon. Rassilon banished him to an eternity in Shada. Eons later, Salyavin escaped and went the alias of Chronotis and became a Professor at the Academy. He later stole the book, retired to Cambridge on Earth and using his mental abilities, he removed the book from everyone’s memory. Gregori states that this cannot be true but the Doctor tells him it is. Gregori in a fit of rage pushes the Doctor into the vortex, the Doctor just about clings onto the travel corridor. He looks into Chronotis’ TARDIS and Chronotis awakens. Chronotis stares at Gregori and his eyes turn yellow. Gregori closes his ships door and flies away. Chronotis has removed the Doctor from Gregori’s memory. With Gregori’s ship gone, the corridor falls apart and the Doctor hurtles through the vortex. It isn’t long until the vacuum of the vortex kills the Doctor. A golden glow appears around his body and he continues falling and he begins regenerating. Beneath him, his own TARDIS materialises and the doors open. The Doctor’s body falls through them into his console room still regenerating. Zenla closes the door and the process finishes. The Doctor stands up in his new body, that of David Suchet. Zenla looks at him and smiles. The Doctor says that they’ll be needing to return Chris to Earth. The Doctor lands the TARDIS within the Professor’s TARDIS and finds the Professor dead. Chris asks who this man is and why he is in the Doctor’s clothes and the Doctor explains about regeneration. The Doctor picks up the Professor’s body and states that he is now in his last body – number 13 – and it won’t be long until he ends up like Chronotis. The Doctor tells Francis to land Chronotis’ TARDIS on Gallifrey with Zenla and he’ll return Chris to Earth. Zenla, stops the Doctor and tells him that she’ll like to come with him. She knows that the Doctor travels the universe and she wants to have an adventure. So, the Doctor, Zenla and Chris take off in the TARDIS off into space and time.
We cut to the Panopticon and Gregori is making a speech laying out the future of Gallifrey and explaining about the election. We pull away from a monitor and the Rogue is watching. The Rogue then turns around and we see he’s in a Gallifreyan lab. A scientist, Caldera, tells him that the extraction has taken place. The Rogue walks into a chamber and in front of him stands, the Valeyard. The Rogue smiles and then cut to end credits.
Cast
- The Doctor - Paterson Joseph
- The Rogue - Timothy Dalton
- Gregori - Peter Capaldi
- The Rani - Siobhan Redmond
- Will Adams - David Tennant
- Zenla - Juliet Landau
- Chris Parsons - Dougray Scott
- Cordale - Emma Caulfield
- Leela - Louise Jameson
- Professor Chronotis - Paul Bentley
- Voice of K-9 - John Leeson
- Francis - Christopher Biggins
- Ohila - Clare Higgins
- Orthena - Katarina Olsson
- Kendara - Karen Gillan
- Presta - Gai Waterhouse
- Wilkin - Ronnie Corbett
- Lucrezia Borgia - Ingrid Oliver
- Rasputin - Todd Kramer
- Genghis Khan - Omar Sharif
- Erasmus Darkening - Donald Sumpter
- Dalek Operator - Barnaby Edwards
- Cyberman Performer - David Banks
- Zygon Peformer - Aidan Cook
- Nimon Peformer - Tom Wilton
- Ood Performer - Paul Casey
- Caldera - William Thomas
- Policeman - Gary Russell
- Man in Car - Anthony Calf
- Fisherman - Nick Hobbs
- Alliance Computer Voice - Elisabeth Sladen
- Voice of the Daleks/Cybermen - Nicholas Briggs (uncredited)
- Voice of the Nimon - Clifford Norgate (uncredited)
- Voice of the Ood - Silas Carson (uncredited)
- Voice of the Poplne - Alexander Balie (uncredited)
- The Valeyard - Charles Dance
- And Introducing David Suchet as The Doctor
Crew
- Doctor Who Created by Sydney Newman, Donald Wilson and C.E. Webber
- Executive Producers - Martin Campbell, Ira Steven Behr, Graeme Harper, Faith Penhale and Robert Shearman
- Consulting Producers - Nicholas Meyer, Paul Cornell, Marc Platt and Tony Redston
- Director - Martin Campbell
- Producer - Gary Russell
- Screenplay by Robert Shearman & Gareth Roberts
- Story by Robert Shearman & Gary Russell
- based upon a story by Douglas Adams
- Director of Photography - Phil Meheux
- Production Designer - Edward Thomas
- Visual Effects Supervisor - Roger Guyett
- Visual Effects - Industrial Light & Magic
- Make-Up Designer - Sarah Wilson
- Casting Director - Andy Pryor
- Music - David Arnold
- Costume Designer - Michael Kaplan
- Edited by - Stuart Baird
- Special Effects - Any Effects
- The Rogue created by Nicholas Meyer
- Gregori created by Russell T Davies
- The Rani created by Pip & Jane Baker
- The Valeyard created by Eric Saward
- Daleks created by Terry Nation
- Cybermen created by Kit Pedler and Gerry Davies
Memorable Quotes
To be added.
Panopticon
Doctor Who: Vengeance was re-edited and repackaged as Vengeance, Part I and Vengeance, Part II for the spinoff series, Panopticon.
Vengeance
Vengeance was the first and second episode of Series 3 of Panopticon. It was written by Robert Shearman and Gareth Roberts, directed by Martin Campbell.
It is the first story to feature Gregori.
Synopsis
The Rogue has been comfortably in office as Lord President of Gallifrey for the past few years, but one day suddenly everything changes. The long lost former Lord President, Gregori, is found in an old Gallifreyan ship, drifting in space, with his crew.
Now returned to Gallifrey, Gregori wants his title back, and the only way to claim legitimacy is from an Ancient Gallifreyan Law, which the only evidence of resides in a book... which happens to have disappeared. Now Gregori embarks on a quest to find this book.
The Rogue, fearful of Gregori, calls upon the Doctor to find this book before him and destroy it.
Cast
- The Rogue - Timothy Dalton
- Gregori - Peter Capaldi
- The Doctor - Paterson Joseph
- The Rani - Siobhan Redmond
- Will Adams - David Tennant
- Leela - Louise Jameson
- Cordale - Emma Caulfield
- Francis - Christopher Biggins
- Ohila - Clare Higgins
- Kendara - Karen Gillan
- Zenla - Juliet Landau
- Chris Parsons - Dougray Scott
- Professor Chronotis - Paul Bentley
- Voice of K-9 - John Leeson
- Orthena - Katarina Olsson
- Presta - Gai Waterhouse
- Fisherman - Nick Hobbs
- Alliance Computer Voice - Elisabeth Sladen
Changes from Doctor Who: Vengeance
To be added.
Home Video Releases
To be added.
Background Information
Development
To be added.
Pre-Production
To be added.
Production
To be added.
Post-Production
To be added.
Reaction
- Doctor Who: Vengeance premiered in cinemas on 12 February 2010 , number one at the box office. With a budget of around US$150,000,000, it opened on 4,230 screens and went on to garner US$256,347,329 domestically. This gave the film a gross margin of 41.49%, a markup of 70.9% and a gross profit of US$106,347,329.
Story Notes
To be added.
Awards and Honours
Continuity
- To be added.
Home Video Releases
To be added.