The Shakespeare Code
The Doctor and Martha meet Shakespeare in 1599.
The second episode of the third series of the revived *Doctor Who* aired on BBC One on 7 April 2007. It pulled in 7.23 million viewers according to BARB figures, making it the fifth most-watched programme on British television that week. Before broadcast, the episode carried the working title "Love's Labour's Won"; David Tennant also referred to it as "Theatre of Doom" in his video diaries on the Series 3 DVD. The final title was a nod to *The Da Vinci Code*.
In this story, the alien time traveller the Doctor (David Tennant) brings his new companion Martha Jones (Freema Agyeman) on her first journey through time and space. They land in 1599 near the Globe Theatre in Southwark, where they encounter playwright William Shakespeare. Three witch-like Carrionites are enchanting Shakespeare, forcing him to rewrite the ending of his play *Love's Labour's Won* so that its performance will produce the exact words needed to free the rest of their imprisoned race.
The Tenth Doctor, having promised Martha just one trip, takes her to a performance of *Love's Labour's Lost* at the Globe. After the show, Shakespeare announces a sequel, *Love's Labour's Won*. A witch named Lilith uses a voodoo doll to force Shakespeare to declare the new play will premiere the next evening. When Lynley, the Master of the Revels, demands to see the script first, Lilith stabs a voodoo doll made from his hair and plunges it into water; Lynley collapses dead. She then compels Shakespeare to write a strange final paragraph before flying away on a broom.
The next morning, the Doctor, Martha, and Shakespeare go to the Globe, where the Doctor wonders why the theatre has fourteen sides. They visit the architect, Peter Streete, at Bethlem Hospital, finding him catatonic. The Doctor helps him briefly emerge from his trance to reveal that the witches dictated the theatre's tetradecagonal design. The witches—Lilith, Doomfinger, and Bloodtide—watch through their cauldron; Doomfinger teleports to the cell and kills Streete with a touch. The Doctor identifies them as Carrionites, a species whose magic relies on words to manipulate psychic energy. Simply saying "Carrionite" repels her.
The Doctor realises the Carrionites plan to use the powerful words of *Love's Labour's Won* to break their species out of imprisonment.
- Episode
- The Shakespeare Code
- Series
- Doctor Who, Series 3
- Broadcast date
- 7 April 2007
- Viewers (barb)
- 7.23 million
- Weekly rank
- 5th most popular on British television that week
- Original working title
- Love's Labour's Won
- Alternate title (david tennant)
- Theatre of Doom
Lore & Background
In the episode, the alien time traveller the Doctor (David Tennant) takes his new travelling companion Martha Jones (Freema Agyeman) in her first trip in time and space. They arrive in 1599 near the Globe Theatre in Southwark, where they meet the playwright William Shakespeare. Shakespeare is being bewitched by three witch-like Carrionites to rewrite the ending to his play Love's Labour's Won so that the performance will create the right words to free the rest of the Carrionite race from imprisonment. The Doctor identifies the Carrionites as a species whose magic is based on the power of words, allowing them to manipulate psychic energy. The Doctor deduces that the Carrionites intend to use the powerful words of Love's Labour's Won to break their species out of imprisonment. The Doctor confronts Lilith, who explains that the three witches were released from their banishment by Shakespeare's genius words after he lost his son Hamnet. The actors speak the last lines of the play, and a portal opens up, allowing the Carrionites back into the universe. The Doctor tells Shakespeare that only he can find the words to close the portal. Shakespeare improvises a short rhyming stanza but is stuck for a final word until Martha blurts out "Expelliarmus." The Carrionites and all the copies of Love's Labour's Won are sucked back through the closing portal.
Reader's Guide
The episode is significant for introducing Martha Jones to time travel and for its treatment of William Shakespeare, including references to debates about his sexuality and his appearance. It features a running joke where the Doctor inspires Shakespeare to borrow phrases from his own plays, creating an apparent ontological paradox. The episode also contains numerous references to earlier Doctor Who episodes and stories, such as the Carrionites' name deriving from Gareth Roberts' novel Zamper, and a reference to the Time Lord Scintilla imprisoned for conspiring with Carrionites in Douglas Adams' lost adventure Shada. The episode's title was changed to reference The Da Vinci Code. Producer Russell T Davies and screenwriter Gareth Roberts stated they were aware of past references to Shakespeare in Doctor Who but would neither mention nor contradict them. An early draft contained a sly reference to City of Death, but it was removed to avoid confusion.
Did You Know?
- The episode was originally titled 'Love's Labour's Won' and also titled 'Theatre of Doom' by David Tennant during the 'David's Video Diaries 2'.
- The name 'Carrionites' derives from screenwriter Gareth Roberts' own New Adventures novel, Zamper (1995), which refers to a slug-like race known as 'arrionites'.
- The episode features a running joke where the Doctor inspires Shakespeare to borrow phrases from his own plays, such as 'all the world's a stage' and 'the play's the thing'.
- Shakespeare flirts with Martha and later with the Doctor, at which the Doctor observes, 'Fifty-seven academics just punched the air,' a reference to debates about Shakespeare's sexuality.
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