Human Nature was the eighth episode of series 3 of Doctor Who.

It introduced the Chameleon arch and its ability to change Time Lord DNA, making the Doctor human. The episode was based on a novel of the same name.

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Synopsis Edit

In England in 1913, school teacher John Smith experiences amazing dreams of living an incredible life as a mysterious adventurer called "the Doctor", fighting monsters and seeing far away worlds.

Plot Edit

The Tenth Doctor and Martha barely make it into the TARDIS as an energy weapon discharges behind them. After ascertaining that their pursuers had not seen their faces, the Doctor explains that they are being pursued by aliens who have stolen a Time Agent's vortex manipulator and can follow the TARDIS anywhere. He gives her a watch and tells her his life depends on it...

In November 1913, at the Farringham School for Boys, schoolteacher John Smith wakes up from this dream. Martha comes in as his maid to bring him breakfast and addresses him as "Dr John Smith". He explains to her that he sometimes has dreams of being an alien adventurer from another world, and she was with him. He notices the watch on the mantelpiece of his bedroom and Martha looks up eagerly, but he replaces it idly whilst remarking how easily dreams seem to slip away. He does, however, remember that it took place in 2007, but she shows him a paper showing he's in 1913 and he's completely human.

Outside, a column of boys in grey trousers and black coats march in formation to the front of the school, which is an elegant if rather old building, as a hymn is sung by another chorus. Smith, wearing a long black coat and hat, leads them through a history lesson regarding the end of the Napoleonic Wars. Elsewhere, Martha and fellow maid Jenny scrub the floors and are accosted by two particularly unpleasant cadets, one of whom makes a snide remark regarding Martha's skin colour. She doesn't rise to it, though remarks that she'd like to smack him upside the head with her bucket once he's out of earshot, and Jenny notes that in a few years, boys like them will be running the country. Martha, her face sad, responds quietly that with the year being 1913, they might not.

Later, Smith runs into Matron Joan Redfern, the school's nurse, and they chat about the boys. She wonders if he'll be going to the local village dance and he rather awkwardly falls down the stairs. Martha comes to check up on him but Redfern casually dismisses her as a maid, under the assumption she has no medical knowledge. Smith talks about dreaming that he has two hearts but a stethoscope easily shows this is not the case. He shows Joan his journal of his various dreams and the creatures he has seen such as Daleks, Cybermen, and the TARDIS. He also has pictures of Rose, although she disappears from the later entries. Nurse Redfern leaves with the book and when Martha goes after her, she asks how Martha came to be there with Smith.

Meanwhile, a group of John's students are studying in their dormitory room. One of them, Timothy Latimer, is bullied by a fellow student, Hutchinson, who compels him into doing his Latin homework with a daunting deadline—the next morning. He proceeds to bully Latimer further as much for his obvious intelligence as for his uncanny and unsettling ability to know things he shouldn't or couldn't possibly know, like where Hutchinson's father is posted while serving abroad. Another student, Jeremy Baines, tires of teasing Latimer and announces to Hutchinson and the others that he knows the location of a secret stash of beer in the woods. He sneaks out the window to bring some back for the boys to enjoy in secret.

Outside the local pub, Martha is complaining to Jenny that it's not fair that they have to freeze outside just to have a beer. Her modern attitude amuses Jenny, who wonders where she gets such ideas. Martha then notices a green light shooting through the sky. John Smith arrives and greets them, explaining shooting stars to them. Martha doubts the explanation, in this case, being exceptionally careful to protect him. She runs off to investigate with Jenny following her.

Baines has just found the cache of beer, in the woods near the school, when he sees a strange green light land on the field nearby. Curious, he investigates the light source and stumbles across an entrance to an invisible spaceship. Martha and Jenny arrive just moments after the ship briefly becomes visible, but miss seeing it as the cloaking technology turns back on.

Inside the ship, Baines talks with the spacecraft's occupants, whom he can't see. They call themselves the Family. He wonders why he cannot see them, to which the Family ask why he would what to see them. Baines answers that it's because he wants to know what they look like. A raspy female voice explains that it can be easily done, as soon they will look very familiar. Baines screams in terror.

Hutchinson and the other boys are getting impatient back at the dorm when Baines returns, his search for the secret stash of beer apparently being "unsuccessful". He is also behaving unusually, sniffing the air as though he has a cold. His eyes are also open completely, but none of the other boys seem to notice, saying there's another stash somewhere else.

The next morning, Martha rides out on a bike to an old hut. Inside is the TARDIS, on reduced power. She enters and greets the time machine, something that makes her think she is cracking up now. Martha thinks back to how the Doctor warned that their pursuers would never stop following them. He gave her a watch saying it contains "me," and said the Family's life spans were running out so they only needed to hide until they die. She remembers how the Doctor used a chameleon arch to rewrite his biology and transform himself into a human. The TARDIS took care of everything else, creating a new identity for him. She turns on a recording the Doctor made prior to enacting his plan. She reviews it but finds nothing pertaining to the strange sighting. She now worries that she may have to bring the Doctor back if they have found them, as it was the last resort the message said to use in that scenario.

Later, Joan asks John to sketch her in his journal, being surprised at how beautiful she is in his eyes. They kiss as Martha walks in on them by accident. She excuses herself, mumbling that love wasn't on the Doctor's list. She finds refuge in the TARDIS and reviews the instructions again. The instructions are notably lacking one thing: the Doctor did not foresee that his human self might fall in love. Martha is annoyed and depressed that it wasn't her he fell in love with.

Meanwhile, Latimer is summoned to John's office to retrieve a book. While John looks for it, Latimer is drawn to the pocket watch that contains the Tenth Doctor's Time Lord memories and abilities. The boy opens it, briefly seeing the Doctor's world, and strange voices speaking of a "Time Lord," but closes it quickly as he hears Smith approaching. Latimer slips the watch into his pocket and as he touches the book Smith is handing him, he suddenly gets visions of the Doctor on the prowl. Smith notices that Latimer seems a bit off-kilter, but the boy excuses himself and scurries away, unnerved. Also inside the school is Baines, who senses a trace of a Time Lord. He telepathically reports to the others the status of the Doctor's whereabouts and declares that it's time to activate the soldiers.

On nearby Oakham Farm, Mr Clark confronts a scarecrow that has just appeared on his property. He conceives it merely as a practical joke pulled on him by one of the "idiots" at the school. When he pulls the straw out and sticks his hand through the other side, he finds they are just scarecrows. Many more animated scarecrows promptly surround him. He becomes the Family's Father. Meanwhile, another young girl, Lucy Cartwright, is walking down a road when yet another scarecrow picks her up, frightening her. She becomes the Family's Daughter.

Smith is giving weaponry training to the boys when the Rocastle, the school's headmaster arrives and orders firing to cease. Hutchinson tells him they could do "a lot better", as Latimer is being "deliberately shoddy", at least according to him. Latimer denies this, telling the headmaster he is trying his best, to no avail. He also speaks of his discomfort with the targets, which are meant to represent African tribesmen who would stand very little chance against machine guns when all they carry are spears. Dismissing Latimer's 'soft-hearted' beliefs, Rocastle orders for firing to continue. As they continue firing, Latimer is haunted by a vision of the future where he and Hutchinson are under attack in the upcoming war. Hutchinson's patience is getting beyond the limit, and he requests permission to take Latimer off for a "beating". Per Smith's countenance, the boys head back towards the school. Shortly after, Baines sniffs rather loudly, prompting Smith to ask if anything's the matter. He quickly dismisses it, although not in a normal fashion.

Later, during a walk together, Joan informs Smith that he wrote about a war starting the next year, but he dismisses the idea, hoping peace will reign. As he continues talking, he notices a woman and her carriage getting dangerously close to a piano on a rope. Instinctively seeking to save her, John grabs a nearby boy's cricket ball and tosses it to start a chain of events that stop the woman just as the piano comes crashing down just feet away from her. Joan is impressed, but Smith says it was luck. He then asks her to the dance that night. Walking back to the school Joan tells John that she thinks that "the Doctor" is the kind of man he wants to be and his dreams are his subconscious' way of trying to get to be so. They notice a scarecrow askew and John fixes it. Joan asks him where he learned and he reflexively says Gallifrey. However, when questioned about its location, John isn't sure.

Meanwhile, the possessed Baines, Mr Clark and Lucy use their animated scarecrows to capture Jenny, who becomes the Family's Mother. Jenny then returns to the school and engages Martha in conversation. Martha quickly realises something is off about her friend and makes a hasty excuse to leave, barely avoiding a laser that 'Jenny' fires at her from the upstairs window. She runs to Smith, who is with Joan preparing to go to the village dance that evening. She finds that the watch is gone, and tries in vain to restore him to his Time Lord configuration without it. However, Smith assumes Martha is delusional and thinks his fictional stories are real. Annoyed, Martha slaps him, telling him to wake up. Smith, shocked at Martha's behaviour, promptly fires her and leaves for the village dance with Nurse Redfern.

The Family break into Smith's office and search it, as the scent is traced back to him. They find the flyer for the dance and decide to follow. At the same time, Martha has arrived with the sonic screwdriver, prompting Joan to admit she feels something off about Smith. Smith is tired of Martha's "games", but is left speechless when she shows him the device he's seen in his dreams. Latimer is still watching Smith from a distance, curious about him. The Family crashes the dance after vaporising the unfortunate door attendant, to the confusion of the assembled villagers. Mr Chambers, the man in charge of the dance, accosts Mr Clark and asks him what is going on. In response, 'Clark' disintegrates him in front of the horrified villagers. Martha quickly tells Smith to forget everything she just told him as the Family turn their attention to him. However, Lucy/Daughter of Mine has been there the whole time and overheard Martha's attempts to get the Doctor's memory back, telling her Family that the Time Lord is within their grasp.

However, John easily points out that he is human without any memories of the person he was before. Baines/Son of Mine is amused, seeing the Doctor went as far as erasing his memory along with changing his biology. As the Doctor is useless to them like this, they try forcing him to change back by threatening him. Remembering Martha said Joan was important to him, the Family takes both of them hostage and order John to choose which is to die:

"Maid or matron, friend or lover, your choice."

Cast Edit

Crew Edit





References Edit

Culture Edit

The students sing "To Be a Pilgrim".

Hutchinson makes Latimer do his homework on Catullus.

The Doctor Edit

Foods and beverages Edit

Jeremy Baines goes to collect beer.

The Doctor eats a pear.

Martha drinks afternoon tea.

Martha suggests making mutton and gravy, as well as mentioning sardines and jam.

Health Edit

Martha asks if Joan has checked for concussion.

Jenkins has the cold.

History Edit

Individuals Edit

Martha comments about herself being a "Londoner".

Joan's husband, Oliver, was shot and killed at the Battle of Spion Kop.

John says his father was a watchmaker from Nottingham, and his mother was a nurse.

Farringham has a cook as part of its staff.

Locations Edit

The spaceship is located in Cooper's Field.

Tim Latimer's uncle has been to Johannesburg.

Blackdown Woods is situated near the school.

John Smith claims he learned to draw on Gallifrey, which Joan presumes is in Ireland.

Nature Edit

John Smith mistakes the Family's ship for a meteorite.

Objects Edit

John Smith throws a cricket ball, to stop a piano from falling onto a passing woman.

Species Edit

Technology Edit

The Doctor says the biodata module watch has a perception filter on it.

Weapons Edit

The weapons used by the Family are sonic.

Story notes Edit

Ratings Edit

7.1 million (overnight)

7.74 million (UK final) [1]

0.87 million (BBC3 repeat ratings)

Filming locations Edit

Llandaff Cathedral, Llandaff, Cardiff

St Fagans National History Museum, Cardiff

Tredegar House, Newport

Treberfydd House, Llangasty, Brecon

BBC Broadcasting House, Llandaff, Cardiff

Cwm Ifor Farm, Caerphilly

Production errors Edit

narrative problems with this story — like plot holes and things that seem to contradict other stories — please go to this episode's discontinuity discussion. If you'd like to talk aboutproblems with this story — like plot holes and things that seem to contradictstories — please go to

Joan puts her stethoscope in her ears backwards when listening to John Smith's single heart.

During the shooting class outside at 25:28 you can see a bus drive by in the distance

When John Smith throws the cricket ball to stop the baby carriage from reaching where the piano is going to fall, the rope is revealed snapping just seconds after the ball has left his hand. In the wide shot showing the aftermath, the carriage is a good fifteen feet from the crashed piano.

The Dalek in the flashback has an inversed symbol whereas in the actual scene the symbol's written position is different.

During the opening scene, while the Doctor is fiddling with the TARDIS's controls, for a split second footage is used from New Earth, where the console room is noticeably darker in that clip than any of the others before or after it.

Continuity Edit

Home video releases Edit