Harriet Jones - Casting and Character Development

Casting and Character Development

The role of Harriet Jones was written specially for Penelope Wilton by the series' lead writer and executive producer Russell T Davies. Wilton was drawn to the role after working with Davies on his show Bob and Rose and being impressed by his writing. Commenting on Jones' role in the two part "Aliens of London"/"World War Three" Wilton characterised her as "straight as a die" and "the kind of caring politician that anyone would like to have." When faced with the deadly Slitheen, Wilton remarks that she demonstrates "tremendous resilience and courage.". At the end of the episode the Doctor predicts that Harriet will one day become Prime Minister. Speaking in April 2005, Wilton expressed interest in returning to the series to explore the character further.."

After Christopher Eccleston's departure from the series' lead role, Davies was eager to include elements of the 2005 season in David Tennant's Christmas Day introductory episode to reassure viewers discomforted by the change of lead actor. To this end he and producer Phil Collinson secured the return of Wilton's character in her capacity as Prime Minister. In the dénouement of "The Christmas Invasion" the character's government is brought down by the new Doctor after she orders Torchwood to shoot down a fleeing alien ship. Davies remarks that as Prime Minister Jones is "out of her depth" and "does the wrong thing"; he intended her downfall to reflect the episode's anti-war message. Producer Julie Gardner felt the end sequence "added so much of another layer" to the episode. Collinson mentioned on the DVD commentary for the episode that he "tried so hard" to get Davies to change the ending; he felt the Doctor would forgive her because "he would understand" her decision. Collinson also felt that Harriet's downfall could be seen as a "hark to Thatcher" as one of Thatcher's aides had reportedly stated her looking tired; Davies acknowledged a parallel with events in Whitehall and felt the script underlined the power of rumours. He also " the fact that I feel sad" because of the character's political demise. In his column in Doctor Who Magazine Davies explains his intention that by the Doctor ending Jones' career early, a "gap" was created in history that the Master (John Simm) was then able to exploit and become Prime Minister. He had originally planned to allude to this in the script, but it was cut when he realised that the Doctor was already burdened by enough guilt.

Davies wrote Harriet Jones into the script for the fourth series finale episode "The Stolen Earth" before Wilton was approached about reprising the role because Julie Gardner and Phil Collinson wished for the character to have a satisfying and redemptive conclusion. Harriet Jones' story arc thus formed a tripartite storyline which consisted of an introduction, animosity towards the Doctor, and redemption. Davies was aware that Wilton was "very hard to book" and restricted her appearance to one scene to make negotiations easier; had Wilton declined, Davies planned to replace her with either Donna, Mr Copper (Clive Swift) from "Voyage of the Damned", or Elton from "Love & Monsters". Wilton accepted unconditionally because she "would do anything for ... Davies" and she wished to act in Phil Collinson's last filming block as producer as her first appearance in "Aliens of London" was filmed in the first production block of the first series. Wilton's scenes in her final episode were filmed in a single day from a cottage in Dinas Powys. Recalling her final episode, Wilton described the filming experience as "fabulous fun" remarking that "I got to sacrifice myself to save the world." Collinson and Davies lamented the character's death: Collinson stated "I can't bear the thought she's dead" and argued that she somehow survived, whilst Davies stated in Doctor Who Magazine issue 397 that "when have to die, it's a genuinely emotional time".