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The Witchfinders

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Synopsis

The Morax

The Doctor, Ryan, Graham and Yaz arrive in 17th-century Lancashire and become embroiled in a witch trial run by the local landowner.

As fear stalks the land, the arrival of King James I only serves to intensify the witch hunt.

But is there something even more dangerous at work?

Can The Doctor and friends keep the people of Bilehurst Cragg safe from all the forces that are massing in the land?

Source: BBC Website

General Information

Season:

Thirty Seven (New Series 11)

Production Code:

11-8

Story Number:

284 (New Series: 128)

Episode Number:

848 (New Series: 152)

Number of Episodes:

Percentage of Episodes Held:

100%

Working Titles:

"The Witch Finders" and "The Witchhunters"

Production Dates:

Broadcast Date:

25 November 2018

Colour Status:

HD Colour

Studio:

BBC Wales (Roath Lock Studios, Cardiff)

Location:

Writer:

Joy Wilkinson

Director:

Sallie Aprahamian

Series Producer:

Nikki Wilson

Producer:

Alex Mercer

Executive Producers:

Chris Chibnall and Matt Strevens

Co-Executive Producer:

Sam Hoyle

Executive Producer for the BBC:

Ben Irving

Assistant Directors:

Lauren Pate and Sion Eirug

Script Supervisor:

Nicki Coles

Script Editors:

Fiona McAllister and Hannah Mason (Assistant)

Series Script Editor:

Sheena Bucktowonsing

Editors:

Helen Murphy, David S J Davies (Assistant), Hayley Williams (Assistant) and Martyn Western (VFX)

Colourist:

Gareth Spensley

Head of Production:

Radford Neville

Production Executive:

Tracie Simpson

Production Manager:

James DeHaviland

Production Assistant:

Alexandra Bahiyyih Wain

Post Production Supervisor:

Ceres Doyle

Production Designer:

Arwel Wyn Jones

Director of Photography:

Tim Palmer

Casting Director:

Andy Pryor CDG

Line Producer:

Steffan Morris

Costume Designer:

Ray Holman

Make-Up Designer:

Claire Pritchard-Jones

Cameramen:

Cai Stephens (Assistant), Drew Marsden (Assistant), Gethin Williams (Assistant) and Mark McQuoid (Operator)

Visual Effects:

DNEG

Special Effects:

Real SFX

Prosthetics:

Millennium FX

Special Creature Effects:

Millennium FX

Stunt Co-ordinators:

Crispin Layfield and Dani Biernat

Stunt Performers:

Andrew Burford, Belinda McGinley and Claire Hayhurst

Incidental Music:

Segun Akinola

Special Sounds (SFX Editor):

Harry Barnes

Sound Recordist:

Deian Llyr Humphreys

Dubbing Mixer:

Howard Bargroff

Music Recorded By:

Olga Fitzroy

Music Mixed By:

Goetz Botzenhardt

Title Sequence:

Ben Pickles

Title Music:

Ron Grainer and the BBC Radiophonic Workshop. Arranged by Segun Akinola

Number of Doctors:

The Doctor:

Jodie Whittaker (The Thirteenth Doctor)

Number of Companions:

The Companions:

Bradley Walsh (Graham O'Brien), Tosin Cole (Ryan Sinclair) and Mandip Gill (Yasmin Khan)

Additional Cast:

Alan Cumming (King James), Siobhan Finneran (Becka Savage), Tilly Steele (Willa Twiston), Tricia Kelly (Old Mother Twiston), Arthur Kay (Smithy), Stavros Demetraki (Alfonso)

Setting:

Bilehurst Cragg, Pendle Hill, Lancashire (1612)

Villain:

Morax

The Episodes

No.	Episodes	Broadcast (UK)	Duration	Viewers (Millions)	In Archive
848	The Witchfinders	25 November 2018	46'31"	7.0	Yes

Total Duration

47 Minutes

Audience Appreciation

Average Viewers (Millions)

7.0

Doctor Who Magazine Poll (2023)

Position = 11 out of 24

Archives

This story exists and is held in the BBC's Film and Videotape Library.

Notes

This is the eighth story of Season Thirty Seven (New Series 11). It was written by Joy Wilkinson and directed by Sallie Aprahamian.

This story takes place in 17th century Lancashire, where The Doctor and her three travelling companions find themselves in the middle of a witch hunt held by a local land owner.

This story is commonly misnamed as its working title The Witch Finders. This story was also rumoured to be called The Witchhunters, but this was dropped, likely because it is too similar to the title of the BBC Books' The Past Doctors Stories novel "The Witch Hunters" written by Steve Lyons.

The Twelfth Doctor also encountered witch trials in the 17th century in the comic-strip story "Witch Work".

This story is notable for being the first time on screen, the Thirteenth Doctor faces sexism in a past era due to her new gender.

The Doctor is heard to mention having once been a ‘bloke’. She then laments that she used to command more authority. She previously noted that, as a man, she was allowed to go anywhere (see the BBC New Series Adventures novel "The Good Doctor" written by Juno Dawson).

After getting knocked out by the Morax Queen, The Doctor says she has not had a hangover this strong since the Milk Wars of Keston Five.

The Doctor and Graham O'Brien claim to be Witchfinder Generals.

King James thinks The Doctor took her name from the necromancer Doctor Dee.

The Doctor has met James I before. This occurred in the Virgin Books' The Missing Adventures novel "The Plotters" written by Gareth Roberts.

The Tenth Doctor was previously accused of witchcraft by the Sycorax leader after he used excess regeneration energy to regrow his severed hand in the 2005 story "The Christmas Invasion". The Sixth Doctor was called a warlock by the Carrionites in the Big Finish Productions audio story "The Carrionite Curse". The Doctor's granddaughter Susan was also accused of witchcraft during the Salem witch trials in 1692 in the BBC Books' The Past Doctors Stories novel "The Witch Hunters" written by Steve Lyons.

The Doctor uses her respiratory bypass system when she is accused of being a witch (see the 1975 Fourth Doctor story "Pyramids of Mars", the 1982 Fifth Doctor story "Four to Doomsday" and the Big Finish Productions Sixth Doctor audio story "Return of the Krotons").

The Doctor mentions having met Harry Houdini (see the BBC Fifth Doctor audio story "Smoke and Mirrors", the online novel "Houdini and the Space Cuckoos" (made available to download from the Doctor Who website as part of the 2012 Advent Calendar) and the Short Trips story "The Great Escapes" (written by Simon Guerrier and published in the Big Finish Productions book "Short Trips 23: Defining Patterns")).

The Doctor once again is heard calling her friends ‘gang’, ‘team’, and ‘fam’.

Ryan Sinclair is heard to refer to the death of his nan and mum (see "The Woman Who Fell to Earth" and "The Tsuranga Conundrum").

Yasmin Khan refers to another time in her life where prejudice got to her (see "Rosa").

In this story it is revealed that when King James was a baby, his father was killed. James claims that he was murdered by his mother, who was then imprisoned and beheaded. James was therefore raised by regents. He later reveals that his mother left him when he was under a year old, and she was made into a scapegoat.

Bilehurst Cragg is a fictitious village located in the shadow of Pendle Hill which is a real place situated in the east of Lancashire, near the town of Burnley. Pendle Hill is famous for its links to the now notorious witch trials of 1612.

The Doctor discovers a copy of Daemonologie amongst the possessions of Becka Savage. This book was written and published by King James I and its appearance in this story could be seen as a reference to the 1971 Third Doctor story "The Dæmons".

Several Biblical sayings are given in this story. However, some are misattributed: while The Doctor is heard to say ‘Love thy neighbour’ originates from the New Testament, it is actually first said in the Old Testament Book of Leviticus.

The Doctor reminds her friends not to mess with history as she did previously in "Rosa".

James and Becka blame Satan for the local troubles. The Doctor is heard to say that she does not believe in Satan. The Tenth Doctor previously met a Beast who called himself Satan, which The Doctor speculated had inspired many cultures' myths about the Devil, or the Horned Beast (see the 2006 Tenth Doctor story "The Impossible Planet/The Satan Pit").

King James is heard to mention to Ryan that people have tried to blow him up before (see the Virgin Books' The Missing Adventures novel "The Plotters", written by Gareth Roberts, and the computer game "The Gunpowder Plot").

The Doctor is heard to mention Clarke's Law. The Third Doctor and Jo Grant once discussed Clarke's Law, in the 1971 story "The Dæmons", when The Doctor made it appear that his motor car, Bessie, could move on her own, when in reality he had wired the engine with a remote control. The Seventh Doctor also once quoted Clarke's Law to Ace in the 1989 story "Battlefield".

This story was released to Amazon Prime subscribers three days before its BBC One broadcast, when the streaming service accidentally uploaded this story instead of the previous story, "Kerblam!".

First and Last

The Firsts:

The first Doctor Who story to be written by Joy Wilkinson.

The first time on screen, the Thirteenth Doctor faces sexism in a past era due to her new gender.

Story Images

Show Text

The Witch Trial

A Concerned Doctor

Becka Savage

King James

Willa Twiston

Graham

King James on a Witch Hunt

Willa With The Doctor

Mother Twiston Rises From the Dead

Accused of Being a Witch

The Morax

King James Kills Becka

Quote of the Story

'I know, because we're all the same. We want certainty. Security. To believe that people are evil or heroic. But that's not how people are. You want to know the secrets of existence? Start with the mysteries of the heart. I can show you everything if you stop being afraid of what you don't understand, if you trust me.'

The Doctor

Release Information

Format	Title	Release Date (UK)	Code Number	Cover Art	Remarks
DVD	The Complete Eleventh Series Box Set	January 2019	BBCDVD 4296	Photo-montage	DVD boxed set containing 10 stories
Blu-Ray	The Complete Eleventh Series Box Set	January 2019	BBCBD 0437	Photo-montage	Blu-Ray boxed set containing 10 stories
Blu-Ray	The Complete Eleventh Series Box Set (Limited Edition Steelbook)	January 2019	BBCBD 0455	Photo-montage	Limited Edition Blu-Ray Steelbook boxed set containing 10 stories
CD	Original Television Soundtrack - Series 11	January 2019		Photo-montage	Music by Segun Akinola

In Print

Format	Title	Release Date (UK)	Publisher	Author	Cover Art	Remarks
Novel	The Witchfinders	March 2021	BBC Books	Joy Wilkinson	Anthony Dry	Target Collection. ISBN: 978-1-78594-502-1

Doctor Who Magazine - Preview	Issue 532 (Released: Winter 2018/2019)
Doctor Who Magazine - Review	Issue 533 (Released: January 2019)

Photo Gallery

The Doctor and Companions

The Thirteenth Doctor

Graham O'Brien

Ryan Sinclair

Yasmin Khan

On Release

Complete Series DVD Box Set

VIDEO

Complete Series Blu-Ray Box Set

VIDEO

Complete Series Blu-Ray Limited Edition Steelbook Box Set

VIDEO

Original Television Soundtrack Cover

AUDIO

In Print

BBC Books Target Collection Cover

NOVEL

Magazines

Doctor Who Magazine - Preview: Issue 532

Doctor Who Magazine - Review: Issue 533

Who's Who

Who Me

Episodes of the
Thirteenth Doctor

Season 37 (New Series 11)

References

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