Season 43 - 2006

 

Season 43 of Doctor Who was considered a new era of the show as this was the first season for the new showrunner - Russell T Davies, Davies was chosen as he was one of the most experienced writers on

the show and with his success with shows such as Queer as Folk, Bob and Rose and The Second Coming the BBC felt it was necessary to let Davies be showrunner, Mal Young left after Season 42.

This season would also be the final season for Douglas Henshall as the Doctor as he would leave at the end of the season, however it was the first season for the new companion Holly Tyler played by Freema Agyeman, a working class woman who works

as a cleaner at a shopping mall and living on a council estate. Playing Holly’s mother, Lindsey Tyler would be Adjoh Andoh and the final recurring character would be Aidan Jones, Holly’s boyfriend, played by Andrew Hayden-Smith.

This season would also debut a new title sequence, The sequence begins in a blue time vortex, where we see the TARDIS spinning through it. The vortex then turns red and the TARDIS disappears, we then see the main cast credits, then the new Doctor Who logo, followed by the episode title with the writer credit beneath it. The new logo was a long, silver oval with the Doctor Who text in the logo. The new theme music was done by Doctor Who composer Murray Gold.

A new TARDIS interior was introduced this season, it would essentially be the TARDIS interior from the Christopher Eccleston/David Tennant eras.

The next major change was the return of the sonic screwdriver and the introduction of the psychic paper. Russell wanted the Doctor to get out of situations quicker, so brought back the device. The psychic paper would be used by the Doctor to get into places by basically displaying a fake ID on the paper; with the John Smith alias sometimes being used.

The Trip of A Lifetime

By Russell T Davies

July 1st

This story would introduce Holly Tyler.

We would see Holly’s everyday life with her mum and Aidan, we then see her job at the mall and she goes into the basement to put away cleaning equipment she hears a noise and soon comes face to face with reptilian humanoids, however as she’s about to be attacked she’s rescued by the Doctor and they get out of the basement. The two of them leave the mall and Holly wants to know what’s going on and the Doctor tells her to forget about what happened and to forget about him.

The next day Holly and Aidan go to the mall as Holly wants to investigate what is going on, Aidan doesn’t think it’s a great idea but comes along anyway, they eventually encounter the Doctor who tells them to leave but Holly says she’s not going anywhere as she works here and wants to know what’s going on, the Doctor reluctantly agrees to let them investigate with him.

We later learn that a dinosaur-like humanoid race known as the Deathraptors, who once ruled Earth along with the Silurians and the Sea Devils, want to reclaim it; we would’ve seen them invade as they attack people in the street.

In the end the Doctor would blow up the mall and the army would kill the remaining Deathraptors, at the end of the story Holly would accept the chance to travel with the Doctor but Aidan would choose to stay on Earth.

Lockdown

By Russell T Davies

July 8th

This story is similar to New Earth but it’s set on Earth in the distant future and the cat people are replaced with normal humans and there is no body swap or Cassandra.

The Unquiet Dead

By Mark Gatiss

July 15th

This is the same as it is in real life so I don’t need to go into it.

The Impossible Planet

By Matt Jones

July 22nd

This is pretty much the same as it is in real life but any hint of romance between the Doctor and companion is removed.

The Satan Pit

By Matt Jones

July 29th

Again pretty much the same as it is in real life but any hint of romance between the Doctor and companion is removed.

Jubilee

By Robert Shearman

August 5th

This story would take place in an alternate universe created by the Doctor and Holly when they protect

England from an invasion of the Daleks. This alternate Earth would be ruled by a brand new English empire which had conquered the globe and end up using Dalek technology to exterminate any other races that are not British.

42

By Chris Chibnall

August 12th

This is the same story in real life.

What Happened to Holly Tyler?

By Gareth Roberts

August 19th

This story would see the Doctor travelling with a woman named Ashley Jackson, played by Lucy Davis, the story would see the Doctor investigate what has happened to Holly and we discover that many years

ago Holly had a friend called Ashley, they were both in a car accident and whilst Holly lived Ashley died. A being known as the Trickster switched the fate so Holly died and not Ashley, the story would also see the Earth be threatened by a meteor due to the Trickster. In the end the Doctor reverses the fates of Holly and Ashley and stops the meteor.

The Lost Ship

By Steven Moffat

August 26th

This story would focus on the Doctor and Holly explore a ship where researchers plan to investigate the mysterious disappearance of the crew, as the story goes on the investigators are picked off one by one and we would discover the Vashta Nerada to be responsible and the story would end on a cliffhanger where the Doctor and co. are about to be killed.

No Way Out

By Steven Moffat

September 2nd

This story carries on from the last where we see the Doctor, Holly and two researchers get out as the others have been killed, the Doctor and Holly along with the investigators try to escape the ship but it’s made to be an impossible task to try and get out. At the end of the story only the Doctor and Holly make it out alive as the ship is set for self-destruct.

Most Wanted

By Joe Ahearne

September 9th

This story sees the Doctor and Holly being chased by a planet’s law enforcement as they have been framed by the government, the story has a lot action in it and focuses on the Doctor and Holly trying to get back to the TARDIS as the story plays out essentially like a survival film.

Bad Wolf

By Russell T Davies

September 16th

This is pretty much the same story as in real life, though the story is edited to make it work with one companion not two.

The Parting of The Ways

By Russell T Davies

September 23rd

This would be the final story for Douglas Henshall as the Doctor.

The story is pretty much the same as in real life but Captain Jack is removed, the Doctor still dies the same way after Holly absorbs the time vortex, the Doctor sacrifices himself as Holly shoots all of the energy at him. The Doctor then regenerates due to absorbing the time vortex as his final words are “Oh well, it’s a shame how it must end.” The Doctor then regenerates into the Twelfth Doctor – David Tennant.

The Christmas Invasion

By Russell T Davies

December 25th

This is the first story for David Tennant as the Doctor.

The story sees the Doctor and Holly arriving back at the Powell Estate where the Doctor collapses and becomes bedridden for most of the episode.

The story sees a race of aliens called ‘The Rinoth’ who plan to use a device called ‘The Present’ to

hypnotise everyone on Christmas day. The resolution to this is a similar one to our timeline where the TARDIS lands on the mothership and the Doctor defeats the leader, he banishes them from Earth and UNIT destroys the ship on the orders of Prime Minister Barbara Warburton.

And that concludes Season 43 of Doctor Who, a pretty good season on the whole and a good farewell to the Henshall era, overall Henshall would be a fan favourite Doctor and really popular in the fanbase. The next season is Season 44 of Doctor Who. Until then thank you for watching and goodbye.