Doctor Who
From the very beginning to the present, reviews, articles, and merchandise reports on all things Doctor Who
All of space and time - where do you want to go?
Reviews
The Classic Series 1963 - 1989 - A mysterious 'Doctor' traps two school teachers in a time and space machine
An Unearthly Child - The very first episode of Doctor Who from November 1963
The Daleks - Daniel Tessier reviews the first two Doctor Who Dalek stories
Inside the Spaceship - The TARDIS is precariously balanced on the edge of destruction, but are there outside forces at work or is someone trying to sabotage the ship? The Doctor, at a loss to know what is causing a series of bizarre occurrences, resorts to making allegations and threats to his earthly travelling companions
Marco Polo - Arguably the most sought-after missing Doctor Who adventure is brought under the spotlight
The Keys of Marinus - One of Doctor Who's lesser-remembered first-season adventures gets a re-evaluation by Daniel Tessier
The Aztecs - The TARDIS materialises inside the burial chamber of a tomb in ancient Mexico. When Barbara is mistaken for the reincarnation of a high priest, she sees an opportunity to change the Aztec society. But she cannot change history - not one line!
The Sensorites - Their immense power – capable of paralyzing humans, manipulating minds, diverting a spaceship – could have made the Sensorites one of Doctor Who’s most terrifying villains. So where did this classic story go wrong?
The Reign of Terror - During one of the bloodiest phases of the French Revolution, Susan and Barbara are sentenced to death by Guillotine...The Doctor embarks on an audacious but perilous plan of rescue by impersonating a Regional Officer of the Provinces
The Time Meddler - Daniel Tessier on why The Time Meddler is a seminal story in the Doctor Who canon
The Ark - Ten million years in the future, the last survivors of the doomed planet Earth are searching for a new home. But when the occupants of the TARDIS arrive, they bring a virus that could wipe out humankind
The Mind Robber - Classic Patrick Troughton story from 1968 featuring possibly the best cliff-hanger of all time
The Invasion - Teaming up with the newly-formed United Nations Intelligence Taskforce under the command of Brigadier Lethbridge-Stewart, The Doctor and his companions must thwart a sinister plot by the CEO of International Electromatics, who is in league with the Cybermen to take over the world
The Krotons - On the unnamed twin-sunned planet of the Gonds, two youngsters, the brightest of their generation, have been selected, like generations before them, to attend the machine of their masters, the Krotons. But legend has it that anyone who enters the machine never leaves
The War Games - The TARDIS arrives in the middle of a battlefield - but it soon becomes apparent that this is no ordinary war, as soldiers from different time periods appear through a mysterious mist. Time is running out for The Doctor and soon he'll have to face his biggest threat yet - his own race...the Time Lords
Doctor Who and the Silurians - The Doctor and Liz investigate power losses at an underground nuclear research centre. Exploring adjacent caves to the centre, the Doctor discovers an intelligent race of bipedal reptiles who have awoken from hibernation to reclaim the Earth
The Daemons - An evil priest, a gruesome gargoyle, a demon and a doctor all turn up at Devil's End! "Chap with the wings there - five rounds rapid!"
The Curse of Peladon - The Doctor encounters the Ice Warriors on an alien world. But when the Doctor jumps to conclusions, is all as it seems to be?
The Three Doctors - Earth, or maybe it's just The Doctor, is under attack - but so too are the Time Lords. A powerful force is draining energy from the universe of matter and transferring it to the universe of anti-matter. One Doctor can't help - but maybe three can!
Terror of the Zygons - Deadly shape-shifting aliens carry out a series of attacks on oilrigs in the gas fields of the North Sea
Genesis of the Daleks - Classic Tom Baker story from 1975 taking us back in time to the birth of The Doctor's deadliest enemy. "A signature story in the Doctor Who canon."
Pyramids of Mars - The TARDIS is infiltrated and, diverted to the right place - but at the wrong time period, the Doctor and Sarah discover an ancient evil that lurks in a gothic Victorian mansion. Sutekh the Destroyer is preparing bringing the gift of death to all who live
The Brain of Morbius - On the planet Karn, an insect-like alien is killed by Condo who takes its head to his master, Solon. However, the head is unsuitable — Solon needs a head from a warm-blooded humanoid. On a storm-lashed night, the Doctor and Sarah arrive at Solon's front door
The Deadly Assassin - The Doctor returns to Gallifrey for the fight of his life
The Key to Time - The sixteenth season of Doctor Who, known collectively as The Key to Time, began on 2 September 1978. In the first of two articles we look at the first three stories; The Ribos Operation, The Pirate Planet and The Stones of Blood
The Key to Time (Part 2) - In the second of two articles we look at the final three stories of the 16th Season of Classic Doctor Who ; The Androids of Tara, The Power of Kroll and The Armageddon Factor
Destiny of the Daleks - On the planet Skaro, The Doctor and a newly regenerated Romana are forced to act as military advisers to white-clad, silver-haired humanoids who are locked in a never-ending battle with the planet's deadly inhabitants
City of Death - Paris 1979: There's a distortion in time and the Doctor and Romana need to investigate. But what does any of this have to do with the theft of the Mona Lisa and an event that happened on Earth 400 million years ago?
State of Decay - The Doctor and Romana encounter 'The Three Who Rule', cruel lords who live in a high tower overlooking a village, where everyone lives in fear. An ancient evil is rising...
Earthshock - Sunday Simmons chooses her favourite adventure from the classic era that saw the return of the Cybermen and the tragic demise of a travelling companion
The Caves of Androzani - With both The Doctor and his companion dying from blood poisoning, it's a race against time to find an antidote - but only one of them can survive...
Vengeance on Varos - The Doctor and Peri find themselves in a dystopian world where prisoners are subject to the severest form of punishment for the entertainment of a watching television audience
The Greatest Show in the Galaxy - The Doctor visits the Psychic Circus, where he finds a group of terrified performers who live in fear of the sinister and creepy Chief Clown
The Happiness Patrol - A classic Doctor Who story that hides serious, intelligent themes beneath its apparent silliness
The Curse of Fenric - An ancient evil force uses the descendants of humanity from the future, the vampiric Haemovores, to attack a wartime naval base in England in order to destroy life on Earth
Tales of the TARDIS - Doctors and former companions reunite to recall previous adventures and reignite old friendships for a BBC iPlayer series celebrating 60 years of Doctor Who
Doctor Who 2005 - Following the Time War, the Doctor, the last survivor of the Time Lords, is left to wander all of time and space. Along the way, he/she picks up some new companions and meets some old enemies
Gridlock - Daniel Tessier reviews his definitive modern Doctor Who story. The Doctor takes Martha Jones to New Earth, where humanity lives on a planet that is stuck in a perpetual gridlock
The Doctor's Wife - Answering a distress call, the TARDIS lands on an asteroid on the outside of the universe. It's a trap - and the Doctor is about to have his most unexpected encounter ever -with possibly his greatest love...
The Day of the Doctor - The Doctor Who 50th Anniversary adventure - The Doctor's actions in the Time War come back to haunt him
The Christmas Specials - A look back on every Christmas Special between 2005 and 2017, rating them for story strength and Chrismassy-ness
Flux - As The Doctor goes looking for answers to her own past, time is beginning to run wild and a maelstrom is sweeping through the cosmos. On a planet that shouldn't exist in the aftermath of an apocalypse, will she discover the truth?
The Star Beast - Doctor Who begins its 60th anniversary adventures with a new Doctor - with a familiar face. He can save the world, but it will probably cost the life of a beloved companion
Wild Blue Yonder - The TARDIS takes the Doctor and Donna to the furthest edge of the universe. To escape, they must face the most desperate fight of their lives...
The Giggle - A puppet from the dawn of television is driving the human race insane, and a terrifying villain has returned to play one last game with The Doctor
The Church on Ruby Road - Long ago on Christmas Eve, a baby was abandoned in the snow. Today, Ruby Sunday meets the Doctor, stolen babies, goblins and perhaps...the secret of her birth
Articles
Genesis - From concept to realisation: Doctor Who stands as a proud and eminently worthy monument to the too often forgotten and unsung individuals who ushered in the birth of a television phenomenon
New Beginnings - One of the reasons Doctor Who has survived for so long on our screens is its unique ability to replace the lead actor. With each new regeneration comes a new body, a new personality, a new Doctor. In this article, Daniel Tessier reviews each debut story from Hartnell to McCoy
New Beginnings 2 - In the second of two articles, Daniel Tessier reviews every debut story from Eccleston to Whittaker. Fantastic!
The Tenth Planet Vs Attack of the Cybermen - We compare two very different Doctor Who stories
Why We Love Jo Grant - As Jo Grant, assistant to the third Doctor, Katy Manning's own bubbly, positive and warm personality gave us one of Doctor Who's most treasured companions
The Colin Baker Era - Colin Baker fan Joshua Nicholson puts forward his argument for reappraising an era of Doctor Who that was one of the most controversial in the classic series’ history
Spin-Offs & Merchandise
The Macra Terror & The Faceless Ones - Two back-to-back 'missing' adventures from the 1960s have been restored using animation
Doctor Who? The '6os Dalek Movies - Doctor Who is not a mysterious, somewhat sinister alien, but a genial old human gent with a passion for invention
K9 and Company - One-off adventure for Doctor Who's robot dog and his former companion Sarah Jane Smith
Torchwood - A top-secret team of investigators led by Captain Jack Harkness, a visitor from another world, use scavenged alien technology to protect the Earth
The Sarah Jane Adventures - Still a journalist, still very forthright, still very go-getting, still very inquisitive. If a character had the mettle to carry a spin-off it was Sarah
Class - Set in and around Coal Hill Academy, Class was aimed at a young adult audience. It was a series where diversity, compassion and young people's voices mattered
Publishing Who - The History of Doctor Who in Print 1963 – 2005
The Missing Adventures: Mangara - A Doctor Who 'Missing Adventure' review
The Dalek Occupation of Winter - Big Finish audio adventure featuring the First Doctor, Steven and Vicki
All I Want for Christmas - Some 'Must Have' Dalek toys of the early 1960s
Biographies
William Hartnell - "I think I represent a cross between the Wizard of Oz and Father Christmas."
Patrick Troughton - "You see, I think acting is like magic. If I tell you all about myself it will spoil it. It's like a conjurer showing you how he does his tricks. If you can see how it's being done it takes away all the magic."
Jon Pertwee - "I'm a great believer in all things being possible. I shouldn't be in the least bit disconcerted if I came face to face with a bug-eyed monster from outer space."
Tom Baker - Called "one of Britain's last great eccentrics", Tom Baker became the quintessential hero to millions of Doctor Who fans in over seventy countries. As he reached the grand old age of eighty six, his association with the serries that bought him adoring fans all around the world shows no sign of dissipating
Sydney Newman - When Sydney Newman came to England from his native Canada in 1958, no one could have predicted that he would become one of the most influential programme makes of the 1960's
Verity Lambert - Described as a "total one-off - a magnificently, madly, inspirationally talented drama producer," Verity Lambert made the television drama genre utterly her own. Her career spanned the eras, from the first episode of Doctor Who through to Jonathan Creek and beyond, her shows were enduring and her talent unique
Ray Cusick - Forever remembered as the creator of the Daleks, Ray talked about his long association with the BBC and his brief flirtation with directing in this exclusive interview with Television Heaven
Jacqueline Hill - From an impoverished and painful beginning she rose to become a hugely talented actress whose resilience, generosity and kindness was much admired by her contemporaries
Peter Hawkins - Peter Hawkins’ face may not have been well known, but to several generations of television watchers, young and old, his voice was as familiar as that of one of our own family
The Time Lord Academy
Terry Nation and the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse - Dr Andrew O'Day on how Terry Nation continually borrowed and reused similar apocalyptic themes across all of his scripted dramas
From Swashbuckling to Sci-Fi (William Russell's Dual Roles) - The Adventures of Sir Lancelot and early 1960s Doctor Who: Andrew O'Day explores William Russell’s dual roles
Behind the Sofa: The Familiar and the Threatening in Doctor Who - Andrew O'Day analyses the familiar and the threatening in the classic Doctor Who adventure Terror of the Autons
History and Fiction: The televised Doctor Who’s of Christopher H. Bidmead - Andrew O’Day and Lewis Baston on the script editor who introduced a more serious, scientific grounding to the stories
Tourism in the Classic Doctor Who Series - The TARDIS has been to many places showing its occupants some of the most exciting sights the universe has to offer. It's a tourist's treat
Sarah Jane's World View - Joshua Nicholson on how The Sarah Jane Adventures tackled real-world problems
The Morality of Yvonne Hartman - Head of the Torchwood Institute base at Canary Wharf, Yvonne Hartman's devotion to Queen and Country "for the good of the British Empire," is central to her ideology. But her principles would ultimately lead to her downfall...
Wilfred Mott - The Nation's Grandad - Bernard Cribbins captured everyone's heart in his portrayal of Wilfred Mott in Doctor Who. The gentle, loving and caring relationship he shared with Catherine Tate's Donna Noble and the respect he earned from The Doctor made him everyone's favourite television grandad
Class Appraisal - Joshua Nicholson reflects on the positives, the negatives, and where it all went wrong for this Doctor Who spin-off, and reappraises the series that dealt with some of the truly difficult topics that other TV programmes would dare not engage with
Doctor Who meets Beverly Hills 90210 - Andrew O'Day takes a new approach to established criticism and compares and contrasts the opening of the 2005 Doctor Who series ‘Rose’ with Beverly Hills 90210