| The following article is written from an Out of Universe perspective. |
Season 51 of Doctor Who premiered in Spring 2017. The season was the first full season for Adjoa Andoh as the Doctor, the second season for Daniel Adegboyega as Pete Fletcher, the second and final season for Sarah Winter as Raleigh Baker-Mitchell and the first for Shelley King as Sally Brennen.
Overview
Production Team
While the same production team, as led by Ronald D. Moore, continued onto Season 51, some more notable changes were made, with only Matthew B. Roberts staying on as a Co-Executive Producer, although former co-executive producer, Toni Graphia (who left to mainly work on the Elysium) still contributed one script. New co-executive producers were Jacqueline Rayner, Kevin Murphy and Sarah Dollard. All four of these co-executive producers were in the writer's room and helped block out all 13 episodes before they were all given off to each individual writer to write. In addition, Gaynor Holmes took over as the Executive Producer for BBC Scotland, replacing Ken MacQuarrie, from this season.
Out with the Old...
Although the Last Winter, starred the TARDIS team, as left by Season 50, Ronald D. Moore decided to axe the character of Raleigh Baker-Mitchell, as he wanted to lose her as a main character, due to her nature as a mole for the future-Scallatti government was problematic for a companion, and he thought she'd be better as a recurring villain.
As a result, a new companion was conceived, Sally Brennen would be a primary school teacher from a northern English town. Originally, Sally was meant to be in her 30s, but after seeing Shelley King audition, the role was rewritten to suit her age, as Moore and the rest of the production crew, were so impressed with her performance.
Cosmetic Changes
Due to the BBC wanting to transition their leading dramas to more a cinematic look, and already many changing aspect ratio to either 2:1 or 2.35:1. The BBC asked Doctor Who to transition from 16:9 to one of these, and as Netflix had already ordered the Elysium to be made in 2.35:1, since it's inception, Moore made the decision to join the Elysium in that aspect ratio.
As a result, this meant that a new title sequence would be made, which Moore was keen to do anyway, as while he favoured the S49/S50 titles, they were not popular with fans, as they found them more generic. Hiring Peter Anderson Studios, the new titles were to be much more simplistic, but also sleek in nature, as most importantly short, as the BBC were not happy with the long titles from the previous two seasons. These titles were more popular with fans, but many complained that they didn't include the Doctor's face, for the first time since 1966.
Format
As a result of the complicated production during Season 50, and Samantha Bond's exit, the decision was made to shorter the season to just 13 episodes, with one being a Christmas Special, so the main season was only made up of just 12 episodes, however, they remained 60 minutes in length. In addition, as the production team were given a break, not just because of Season 50's production, but also because the BBC wanted Christmas as the new Doctor's first proper story, the show was scheduled to begin in the spring. Because of this, the BBC decided not to split the season up into two halves, and broadcast it for 12 weeks running, which had a negative impact on the ratings, in the end, as the season didn't get a second launch, half way through.
Cast
Regular
- The Doctor - Adjoa Andoh
- Sally Brennen - Shelley King
- Raleigh Baker-Mitchell - Sarah Winter
- Pete Fletcher - Daniel Adegboyega
Recurring
- Oliver Griffiths / The Rogue - David Thewlis
- The Rani - Michael Hogan
- Utnapishtim - Francis Magee
- Ersiah - Annette Badland
- Lord Hanson - William Boyde
- Caitrin Ryan - Gillian Anderson
- Annie Downes - Jane Wymark
- Jade Brennen-Downes - Jasmine Uson
- Krasko - Joshua Bowman
- Lynda Baker - Gillian Taylforth
- José Mitchell – Sasha Roiz
- Captain Mohindra - Dominique Moore
- Sergent Wilson - Bradley Gardner
- Michelle Griffiths – Sherry Bains
- Vicar – Billy Boyle
- Voice of the Daleks - Nicholas Briggs
- Daniel Bevin - Pierce Brosnan
Guest
- Pie Man - Peter Singh
- Overseer - Simon Ludders
- Dowell - Tomi May
- Charles Perry - Nigel Betts
- President Thorn - Shaun Dingwall
- President Yarnesh - Yasmin Bannerman
- Queen Pameti - Michelle Gayle
- Ranto - Kedar Williams-Stirling
- Puerto - Jonathan Raggett
- Hanto - Joel Beckett
- Rulilo - Gareth Hunt
- Detective Shaw - John Lightbody
- Rosa Parks - Vinette Robinson
- James Blake - Trevor White
- Mr Steele - Richard Lothian
- Waitress - Jessica Claire Preddy
- Police Officer Mason - Kevin Kilner
- Raymond Parks - David Rubin
- Martin Luther King - Ray Sesay
- Fred Gray - Aki Omoshaybi
- Elias Griffin Jr - David Dukas
- Arthur - Morgan Deare
- Miss Mercy - Natasha O'Keeffe
- Maria - Jennie McAlpine
- Dr. Almond - Judith Barker
- Inspector Turner - Roger Sloman
- Tom - James Hooton
- Janine - Chelsea Halfpenny
- Michelle - Lisa Riley
- Lesley - Matthew Wolfenden
- Gaerair - Alex Walkinshaw
- Huerta - Catherine Russell
- Lana - Nancy Carroll
- Eurlla - Tom Chambers
- Rala - Adrian Dobson
- Baeren - Craig Gazey
- Vestve - Laura Rollins
- Sukhi - Gurinder Chadha
- Mr Bowles-David - Stewart Wright
- Suzie - Gabby Best
- Danny - Jordan Renzo
- Enid - Mona Hammond
- Moria - Judith Jacob
- Roberts - Hayley Jane Standing
- Hurley - Huw Higginson
- William Hurley - Gerard Kearns
- Thomas Tyler - Philip Labey
- Walton - Dominic Monaghan
- Roberts - Robert Mammone
- Reverend Small - Steve Weston
- Mrs Hurley - Liz Morgan
- Sister - Virginia Fiol
- Val Fletcher - Jenna Russell
- Leanne - Beverly Rudd
- Joe - David Keeling
- Sarah - Claudie Blakley
- Paula - Lorraine Stanley
- Mrs Papadopolous - Melissanthi Mahut
- Mr Reinhart - Victor McGuire
- Sue - Thelma Barlow
- Onslow - Ian Midlane
- Voice of the Memporhians - Nicholas Briggs
- Jemma Stanley Macon - Diane Keen
- Barnley Macon Stanley - Ashley Rice
- George Macon - Alun Armstrong
- Executive Haigh - Jason Barnett
- Micel Antonriou - Ali Bastian
- Si Demitriou - Gareth Farr
- Keo – Neil Pearson
- Shamash – Georgie Glen
- Receptionist - Charlotte Beaumont
Television Stories
Main Season
Mini-Episode
| Title | Writer | Director | Air Date |
|---|---|---|---|
| Convict No More | Ronald D. Moore | Terry McDonough | 23 July 2016 |
Production
Crew
To be added.
Shooting Blocks
| Block | Episodes | Director | Producer | DOP | Editor |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 3.X, 3.01, 3.10 | Terry McDonough | Nikki Wilson | John Pardue | Philip Kloss |
| 2 | 3.04, 3.08 | John Dahl | Nic Morris | Phil Hookway | |
| 3 | 3.02, 3.05, 3.06 | Daniel O'Hara | Ella Kelly | Richard Stoddard | Will Oswald |
| 4 | 3.03, 3.07 | Sallie Aprahamian | Brian Minchin | Tim Palmer | Helen Murphy |
| 5 | 3.09, 3.11, 3.12 | Chris Grismer | Mike McMurray | Michael Schweitzer |
Filming
To be added.
Aliens and Enemies
- Lord Hanson
- Oliver Griffiths
- The Rutans
- Krasko
- Earth Nationalists
- Miss Mercy
- The Teriuans
- The Dervishe
- The Daleks
- Hurley
- The Memporhians
- Raleigh Baker-Mitchell
- The Rogue
- Ersiah
Viewing Figures
| No. | Title | Official BARB Figures (7-day) | Official BARB Figures (28-day) | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Consolidated (m) | Weekly Rank | Consolidated (m) | Weekly Rank | ||
| - | The Last Winter | 11.75 | 1 | 12.18 | 1 |
| 1 | The Demons of Madison Road | 9.21 | 2 | 9.89 | 2 |
| 2 | The Assassins | 8.77 | 2 | 9.23 | 2 |
| 3 | Rosa | 8.23 | 2 | 8.62 | 3 |
| 4 | The Haunting | 8.34 | 2 | 8.76 | 3 |
| 5 | Open Minds | 8.08 | 5 | 8.42 | 5 |
| 6 | Comercecilla | 7.89 | 4 | 8.38 | 4 |
| 7 | The Peterloo Massacre | 7.45 | 3 | 7.94 | 3 |
| 8 | The Conspiracy of PriceMart | 7.21 | 6 | 7.70 | 3 |
| 9 | Angels of Time | 7.56 | 3 | 8.07 | 2 |
| 10 | The Sinister Minister | 7.89 | 4 | 8.23 | 5 |
| 11 | False Prophets, Part One | 7.02 | 5 | 7.36 | 5 |
| 12 | False Prophets, Part Two | 6.68 | 16 | 7.11 | 14 |
| Series Average | 7.86 | 8.31 | |||
Physical Media
To be added.