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Josh Hutcherson‘s hosting gig on “SNL” finally took place this past Saturday, and it didn’t go by without picking on his character in the much-awaited “Catching Fire” film that just premiered this past week.
After sharing that the comedic show’s cast had a few, um, die-hard “Hunger Games” fans, the cast
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Cute, huh?
Wait until she kicks off her actual birthday celebration. Now that, we’d love to see!
Photos Via Miley Cyrus‘ Twitter
Not even habitually in-the-know TV desks on national newspapers have much idea as to what lies in store in The Day of the Doctor. No preview copies are available, so only those reviewers with the ability to time-travel will have had the scoop about Doctor Who’s 50th anniversary episode. Aside from the production team, cast and insiders, the rest of us are all subject to the same hazy expectation. But how many, I wonder, will be cowering behind the sofa in a true state of excitement and dread?
OK, so the old “sofa-test” may be a rather worn, frayed and inexact means of measuring the effectiveness of the country’s longest-running sci-fi series. But fade out the drum-beat of hype over the past month or so and can anyone say they heard the nation’s pulse audibly quicken at the approach of Steven Moffat’s latest opus?
As prompted, I “saved the day” but I can’t say I raised my hopes particularly high. Nor has there been much stirring of anticipation in the Cavendish household. Lucas, 12, and Anna, nine, should represent the ideal demographic for the new wave of Who adventures and when the show burst back into view in 2005, I envied them the infinitely more sophisticated special effects their generation was being treated to. But although they’ve grown up along with the revamped series and been intrigued by each reincarnation, they reached a turning-point sometime before this landmark episode. They have become quite take-it-or-leave-it about the whole thing.
READ: How to live like a Time Lord
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23 Nov 2013I don’t particularly blame them, and I suspect they’re far from alone. I haven’t tracked every episode since Christopher Eccleston’s Doctor first emerged from the Tardis to do battle with Autons and his old enemy the Nestene Consciousness in modern-day London. But I’ve watched enough to get a sense of a huge, laudable enterprise gradually losing its way and at points even disappearing up its own fundament. You don’t need to be a theatre critic to observe that the charisma and acting chops of those playing the Time Lord – and his companions – have often helped lend vital credibility and a sense of jeopardy to hectic scenarios too light in dramatic tension and to scripts groaning with backstory and piled-on implausibilities.
Last Christmas, I reviewed The Snowmen – promoted as “the scariest episode over”; the kids barely shuddered. Earlier this year, watching The Rings of Akhaten – in which menace on a bombastic scale was defeated by the production of a single leaf of sentimental value – we all wondered what planet Moffat and his team were on. And I defy people to read the Wikipedia synopsis of the most recent episode, “The Name of the Doctor”, which went out in May, and not find the word ‘gobbledygook’ apt.
As a child of the Seventies, I have a partisan loyalty to the era of Jon Pertwee and Tom Baker. But the resurrection of the Zygons this weekend – another villain from the vaults – inevitably invites a comparison with 1975, when Baker’s scarf-trailing Doctor faced Terror of the Zygons, a gripping yarn set in the Scottish highlands.
Matt Smith and David Tennant in Doctor Who: The Day of the Doctor
Running my eye over some of the episodes from that year – The Sontaran Experiment, Pyramids of Mars, Genesis of the Daleks, The Android Invasion – I don’t think we have yet seen an equivalent run of certifiable classics since producer/writer Russell T Davies successfully engineered the reboot. The best of the good old days remains unsurpassed. Built around weekly cliff-hangers, the episodes dominated Saturday night for months (no longer the case); what they lacked in state-of-the-art effects they made up for with mood, pace, suspense and an open invitation to our hyper-active imaginations.
The most memorable and perturbing episodes of the past eight years, in my view, have harked back to the early lo-tech Whovian virtues of less being more: The Empty Child, Silence in the Library, Midnight. What’s scarier than darkness, absence, the unknown – the threat of being imprisoned, tortured or killed, the stuff of nightmares for adults and children alike? I applaud those who brought Doctor Who back from the dead but it’s still in recovery, and too reliant on a sense of fast, furious, here-today, gone-tomorrow overkill. Looking ahead, those in charge should take a bigger leaf out of their predecessors’ book and be less afraid to, well, give themselves more time.
PICTURE SPECIAL: DOCTOR WHO'S BEST MONSTERS
Doctor WhoUK News »Celebrity news »Culture »Dominic Cavendish »Culture News »In Doctor Who
Last week, Rebecca Adlington, a British Olympic gold medallist in swimming, cried on the reality show, I’m a Celebrity… Get Me Out of Here!, because she felt inferior to another contestant, a model called Amy Willerton.
Ms Adlington is 24, with long, blonde hair, blue eyes and not a spare ounce of flesh on her athletic frame. Yet for years, she said, she has suffered cruel taunts about her looks on Twitter (and in one case, from the comedian Frankie Boyle).
Ms Adlington said she was becoming “very, very insecure” because of past attacks: “For me, I was an athlete. I wasn’t trying to be a model, but pretty much every single week on Twitter I get somebody commenting on the way I look.”
Some might say that Ms Adlington should ignore Twitter (she has temporarily left it before), but it seems strange that the solution should be a woman being forced off social media she enjoys rather than her tormentors learning some basic manners.
She should remember, however, that while few of us would feel at our most attractive next to Miss Willerton, 21, one’s bikini-rating and grooming level is not really the most important thing in life. Otherwise, the world would remember Frida Kahlo as the woman who never met a really good “eyebrow technician”, and Marie Curie as a lady who should have tried a leave-in conditioner.
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22 Nov 2013Even the queen of sex appeal, Marilyn Monroe, once sang that while we all lose our charms in the end, diamonds are a girl’s best friend because “those rocks don’t lose their shape”.
Oh, and nor do gold medals.
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The British Red Cross charity shop in Kensington and Chelsea found itself with an unprecedented number of customers last week, after David and Victoria Beckham did a “shop drop” in aid of the survivors of Typhoon Haiyan in the Philippines (although I’m sure the canny volunteers will be holding some of the items back for “slow release”).
I won’t be making a special visit to that branch, since I suspect that Mrs Beckham’s clobber might come up a little tight on me, but it was a reminder that there is no greater happiness than purchasing your wardrobe from the local charity shop.
It is a pursuit that contains all the elements of ordinary shopping, but without any lingering sense of guilty self-loathing: the fat-free muffin of the retail world. First, there is the thrill of the hunt. Then, the moments of quickly dashed hope: lovely fabric, size 22. And at last, an item that – after the flailing exertions of the invariably tiny changing room – confirms its status as a bargain.
If you should weary of it, it can go back to be resold, and double its earnings for the good cause.
A garment discovered in a charity shop is so much more valuable than one bought in a high-street shop, because it has the enhanced element of happy accident, like your favourite song suddenly playing on the radio.
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It is strange to think that, 50 years after its inauspicious debut on the BBC, Doctor Who is being celebrated around the world. Event TV is a hackneyed term but this special anniversary episode really has inspired the same fervour as a World Cup final or a Royal wedding. The big question, then, was whether The Day of the Doctor would buckle under the weight of expectation. There is nobody as passionately critical as a Doctor Who fan and all eyes were fixed on how writer Steven Moffat would manage to satisfy the show’s disciples, create a love letter to its long, sometimes turbulent history and produce a sparkling piece of drama.
In fact, it didn’t feel like a celebration and Moffat sensibly resisted any desire to make this a self-referential homage. Instead things soon gathered pace and the action unfurled across three different time zones. Matt Smith’s Doctor, hanging from the bottom of the Tardis, was transported across modern-day London to the National Gallery (actually the Tardis would make a great contender for the Fourth Plinth). In the future on Gallifrey (the Time Lord’s home planet), we saw the mysterious Doctor (John Hurt) who fought in the Time War and who we were told, tantalisingly, would “silence the universe”. Then, in 1562, tenth Doctor David Tennant was paying court to Elizabeth I who was actually a shapeshifting Zygon.
It was fascinating to see how Matt Smith and David Tennant interacted. Both fine actors, they are also very different. Tennant is edgy and mercurial, likely to turn on a pin. Smith is gentler, with a boyish eccentricity and other-worldly strangeness. They sparred terrifically with a fair amount of trademark humour. Smith’s Doctor teased Tennant’s about his “sand shoes” and his weight. “Ooh. That is proper skinny. Hello matchstick man!” And yet they were both skilled enough to convince the viewer that they were one and the same person, both sharing a compassion, an acute intelligence and a formidable nose for danger.
John Hurt was a fantastic counterpoint to the physicality of Tennant and Smith. With one withering look, he was able to silence his younger selves. “Am I having a mid-life crisis?” he asked with all the bewilderment of a man who, ironically for an alien, had just been confronted with his own mortality.
As for the assistants, Jenna Coleman’s Clara was touching and Billie Piper (Rose) was transfixing as the “Bad Wolf” Rose. Less impressive was Joanna Page’s Elizabeth I. Perhaps because we have been spoiled by Cate Blanchett, Helen Mirren and Glenda Jackson’s meaty, cerebral performances, Page’s interpretation (complete with slight Welsh accent) felt sketchy and there was no palpable chemistry between her and Tennant. “You’re just a bad copy,” the Doctor told the Virgin Queen and the viewer had to agree.
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24 Nov 2013It was an inspired move to resurrect the Zygons, last seen in 1975. Unlike the majority of monsters from the original series, these extra-terrestrials are a design classic and their shapeshifting ability meant they were used as an effective, terrifying plot device. The Daleks, too, had lost none of their chilling malevolence, although their appearance was remarkably brief.
The main strength of the episode was the way in which the Time Lords had to navigate difficult moral issues – their contemplation of the possibility of genocide was heartrending and the idea that they could save Gallifrey by freezing it in time was breathlessly thrilling.
Tantalisingly, we were also given a surprise debut from new Doctor Peter Capaldi, his eyes flashing before us, that hinted at trouble to come.
But it was the last five minutes as fourth Doctor Tom Baker (minus dangerously long scarf) made his appearance that gave this episode an incredible emotional impact. Baker appeared as a “curator” telling Matt Smith’s Doctor to go and look for Gallifrey. This velvet voice from the past was haunting and the exchange between Baker and Smith was very tender.
The abiding point of The Day of the Doctor was that it was essentially the same show that came to life in grainy monochrome one November evening in 1963. Charming, eccentric and very, very British, it is a unique part of our cultural life, and the Doctor the greatest TV hero that we have ever produced. On the strength of this episode, there is no reason why we won’t be celebrating the Doctor’s umpteenth regeneration in 2063.
Read more Doctor Who coverage from the Telegraph
READ: How to live like a Time Lord
PICTURE SPECIAL: DOCTOR WHO'S BEST MONSTERS
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Sir Mick Jagger is to become a great-grandfather, his family has disclosed. Sir Mick’s granddaughter Assisi, 21, is to give birth in the new year, his daughter and Assisi’s mother Jade, 42, said.
The lead singer of the Rolling Stones, who turned 70 earlier this year, has seven children and four grandchildren.
In an interview with The Sunday Times Style magazine, to be published next week, Jade confirmed that he was now set to become a great-grandfather, saying: “It is true. I am going to be a grandmother.”
However, she suggested that this latest milestone for Sir Mick, whose band has just announced a new show in 2014, was unlikely to slow down the pace of his lifestyle.
“I think making Mick a grandfather obviously had a big impact whereas, now, making him a great-grandfather is no longer particularly fascinating,” she said.
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26 Jul 2013In July Sir Mick celebrated his 70th birthday party with family members and friends at the Loulou private members club in Mayfair.
The celebration followed a series of concerts played by Sir Mick along with Charlie Watts, 72, Keith Richards, 69, and Ronnie Wood, 66, to mark the band’s 50th anniversary.
A show at Hyde Park in London on July 13 was thought to have been the finale of the tour.
But last week the band announced a concert in Australia in March which would continue the “exhilarating celebration” of its five decades.
The disclosure that Sir Mick is to become a great-grandfather comes after his former wife Bianca admitted that the pair’s marriage had been “very challenging”.
In an interview with the Telegraph she warned that she would not waver from her policy not to discuss Sir Mick.
However, asked if she would ever marry again, she replied: “My marriage – it was very challenging.
“I feel very apprehensive about embarking on another serious relationship. It’s not one of my priorities.”
Celebrity newsNews »UK News »Music news »Edward Malnick »In politics
Living in adjoining, inter-connected houses has proved the secret of Helena Bonham Carter’s relationship with Tim Burton, the American film director. Now, the actress’s brother is building on her success.
Mandrake hears that Ed Bonham Carter has bought his next-door neighbour’s multi-million-pound house in Barnes, south-west London. The hedge fund boss, who is a friend of David Cameron, upset other potential purchasers by offering more than the asking price.
“Apparently, he plans to knock them through to make one huge house,” I am told. “Not sure that this is quite the sort of behaviour the Government likes, considering the housing shortage, but no doubt the stamp duty will be welcome.”
Farmer gets marriage bug
Tessa Farmer, the artist known for her works made from insect carcasses and plant roots, has married Matt Welby, a computer engineer.
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24 Nov 2013“I had bugs embroidered on my gown and I created a headdress out of insect taxidermy,” she tells me at the MS Society art auction at the Renaissance hotel. “It was a lovely day: just weird and wonderful.
“I wanted insects to be present. They are a big part of my life. For my fascinator, I kept real bugs, but nothing too elaborate – they were quite fresh and smelled bad, to be honest.”
Being sheriff is an adventure
David Hempleman-Adams was the first person to reach the Geographic and Magnetic North and South Poles, as well as climb the highest peaks in all seven continents. Now, he is to take on a challenge closer to home.
Mandrake learns that the adventurer is to become the High Sheriff of Wiltshire. He has been nominated to be the Queen’s representative in the county in 2016.
Furze has a nice ring to it
Lady Mary Charteris, who raised eyebrows with the semi-transparent white dress that she wore for her marriage to Robbie Furze, of the rock band The Big Pink, has created a jewellery range.
The daughter of the Earl of Wemyss, was wearing a ring from the range, which she made with the jeweller Zara Simon, at the private view of the Isabella Blow exhibition at Somerset House, sponsored by Patrón Tequila.
“It’s is going to be called Furze, after my husband,” she tells me. “The ring is like a set of teeth and you’ll be able to get them set with diamonds.”
Overheard
“Let’s hope they live to see the day.”
Actor Richard E Grant is cautious about the planned stage reunion of the Monty Python troupe, who have a combined age of 358.
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Celebrity newsNews »UK News »Mandrake »In politics
Holly Valance’s father-in-law, Tony Candy, died six weeks before the birth of her first child, but she has made sure that his name will live on.
The former Strictly Come Dancing contestant and her husband, Nick Candy, have given their daughter the name Toni.
“She was born a few days ago,” Candy tells Mandrake at the Wonderland Ball held by the Reuben Foundation to raise money for Great Ormond Street Hospital. “We have decided to call her Luka Violet Toni Candy.”
The property developer says: “Her nickname will be LuLu, but, obviously, if she ever goes into business, LuLu Candy just doesn’t quite work. My father’s nickname was always TC.”
Holly, 30, who starred in the Australian soap opera Neighbours before becoming a pop star and television presenter, did not attend the event at Bridgewater House in Westminster, where guests included Princess Beatrice.
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23 Nov 2013“Holly is at home,” her husband says. “We aren’t having any help at the moment. Holly doesn’t want any; she wants to do it all ourselves at this stage, but that might change – it has only been a few days.”
Candy, 40, adds: “She is a perfect mother. It was a natural birth. She is from a big Australian family, with younger siblings, so she knows exactly what she is doing.
“It is such a shame that dad died six weeks before Luka was born, but I had the best role model possible in him, so, hopefully, if I can be anything like the father he was to me, when it comes to raising Luka, we’ll be onto a winner.”
Read more from Mandrake here
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Celebrity newsNews »Australia »UK News »Mandrake »TV and Radio »In politics
When Sir Tom Jones announced that he was to sing in Israel, he declined to respond to protesters who urged him to boycott the country because of its treatment of Palestinians.
Now that the singer has performed his concerts, he has decided to speak out against the campaign which has seen musicians including Roger Waters, of Pink Floyd, Annie Lennox and Elvis Costello refuse to visit.
“I was in Israel two weeks ago, where a lot of singers won’t go,” says the entertainer, whose hits include It’s Not Unusual, Delilah and The Green, Green Grass of Home. “I don’t agree with that. I think entertainers should entertain. They should go wherever – there shouldn’t be any restrictions. I did two shows in Tel Aviv, and it was fantastic.”
Speaking at the annual dinner of Norwood, a charity supporting vulnerable children, families and people with learning disabilities, Sir Tom tells The Jewish News: “I wanted to go, because the Israeli people asked me. They would like me to sing, and I don’t see any problem in doing that. I don’t see why anyone would mix up the two things – entertainment and politics.”
Earlier this year, Waters called on fellow rock stars to boycott Israel. It came as an increasing number of musicians are refusing to perform there. Costello and Lennox are among the British musicians reported to have said they will no longer play concerts in Israel.
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50. The Doctor’s Wife (2011)
Starring Matt Smith, Karen Gillan, Arthur Darvill, Suranne Jones, Michael Sheen
Suranne Jones and Matt Smith in 'The Doctor's Wife'. Photo:BBC
The TARDIS was revealed to be capable of communication, albeit very cryptically, in the early story The Edge of Destruction (1964). But in his first script for the series, fantasy writer Neil Gaiman gives her – and the TARDIS is most definitely a her – a voice. With the Type 40 machine’s essence transferred into the body of a dotty-seeming Victorian woman named Idris (Suranne Jones), the TARDIS and the Doctor finally get to exchange witty repartee and home truths like an old married couple. The dialogue crackles, and in an interesting addition to the mythos we learn that ‘Sexy’ chose the Doctor as a means of leaving Gallifrey just as much as he chose her.
“You didn't always take me where I wanted to go,” the Doctor complains at one point. “No,” comes the reply, “but I always took you where you needed to go.”
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22 Nov 2013Fear factor: The Doctor’s desperation to meet other Time Lords makes a good motor for the beginning of the tale, and the revelation that they’ve been slaughtered by a sentient asteroid named House (voiced by Michael Sheen) is chilling. But it does lead to this glorious exchange:
House: Fear me! I’ve killed hundreds of Time Lords!
The Doctor: Fear me. I’ve killed all of them.
Fun fact: The 'Junk' Tardis seen in this story was the subject of a Blue Peter competition. The winning design was by 12-year-old Susannah Leah.
49. Carnival of Monsters (1973)
Starring Jon Pertwee, Katy Manning, Andrew Staines, Jenny McCraken, Michael Wisher
The clever, satirical 'Carnival of Monsters'. Photo: BBC
A satire on reality television, even before there was such a thing, Carnival of Monsters is also a postmodern take on Doctor Who itself. The Doctor and Jo find themselves trapped in the Miniscope, a device which puts the inhabitants of various worlds on display for the amusement of the horrendously stratified society of Inter Minor, who are also able to manipulate them. Alongside roaring, carnivorous monsters the Drashigs (‘They’re great favourites with the children!’) we get a view of xenophobia and how it can lead to wrong-headed prejudices
Fear factor: Episode one’s weirdly memorable cliffhanger has a giant hand descending and picking up the TARDIS in front of the Doctor and Jo.
Fun fact: When Carnival of Monsters was repeated in 1981, producer Barry Letts used the opportunity to cut a shorter, alternative ending that disguised an actor's very obvious bald headpiece.
48. Rose (2005)
Starring: Christopher Eccleston, Billie Piper, Camille Coduri, Noel Clarke
Christopher Eccleston as the Doctor in 'Rose'. Photo: BBC
This episode had to be just right. With Doctor Who returning for its first full series in 16 years, and back in its rightful place as a centrepiece of Saturday evening television, it was critical that Russell T Davies did not just provide a fix of nostalgia to those with fond memories of the original series but show that the programme could hold its own in the 21st century. Thankfully, Davies delivered. While giving generous nods to the original series, and plundering Spearhead from Space for the Autons’ attack via killer shop window dummies, Rose confidently strode forward on its own terms. It had emotional truth, convincing special effects, clever use of British landmarks (the London Eye as alien transmitter) and was like nothing else on television. Most importantly, the core of the story was the Doctor and his companion, the titular Rose; Christopher Eccleston and Billie Piper more than delivered.
Fear factor: Often the series was most memorable when mixing the mundane with the alien. Here we not only had the dummies but also a deadly wheelie bin!
Fun fact: A leaked copy of Rose was placed on filesharing sites 20 days before transmission. The person responsible – an employee of a dubbing facility in Toronto – was subsequently fired.
47. Day of the Daleks (1972)
Starring Jon Pertwee, Nicholas Courtney, Richard Franklin, Katy Manning, John Levene
Jon Pertwee in 'Day of the Daleks'. Photo: BBC
The series’ greatest villains make their colour debut, and battle UNIT for the only time in the classic series. Time travel paradoxes are surprisingly rare in Doctor Who, but here assassins from a Dalek-controlled future Earth who believe they are stopping the perpetrator of World War III are the ones who actually set it off. The Daleks’ apelike henchmen, the Ogrons, are well-designed and Jon Pertwee’s Doctor runs the full gamut from one-man wine and cheese society to man of action, to stern authority in his scenes in the 22nd century.
Fear factor: In a scene which would resonate down through the year, the Daleks use their Mind Analysis Machine on the Doctor and bring up images of his previous incarnations.
Fun fact: After the Daleks’ four-and-a-half -year absence, the props department were running short of workable models. In some shots it's painfully obvious that there were only three left.
46. The End of Time (2009/10)
Starring David Tennant, Billie Piper, Catherine Tate, Bernard Cribbins, John Simm
John Simm as The Master. Photo: BBC
David Tennant had proved to be such a great Doctor that he needed to bow out in style, and Russell T Davies, in his swansong as showrunner, provided a suitably epic story for him to do so. The seeds had been sown at the end of Last of the Time Lords for a return of the Master, and back he comes, in an initially more feral form due to his sabotaged resurrection. He soon finds his diabolical mojo, pulling Gallifrey back from the Time War and threatening to knock Earth out of its orbit.
The stakes are raised even higher by the sudden and surprising return of the Time Lords and their founder Rassilon (Timothy Dalton), and the fascinating revelation that the Master was a pawn in his plan to enable the aversion of Gallifrey’s destruction. Davies’s take on their founder lives up to the darker legends ascribed to him in The Five Doctors, but he just about manages to avoid the story disappearing up its own mythological backside in the process. When Tennant said “I don’t want to go” and did just that in apocalyptic fashion, there wasn’t a dry eye in the land.
Fear factor: The scene at the end of part one in which every man, woman, and (most terrifying of all) child on Earth turn into a clone of the Master, is memorably horrific. And a bit like Being John Malkovich.
Fun fact: This story marks Barack Obama’s only guest appearance in the Whoniverse – he’s played by a stand-in, synched to stock audio.
45. Fury from the Deep (1968)
Starring Patrick Troughton, Frazer Hines, Deborah Watling, Victor Maddern
Patrick Troughton and Deborah Watling take a trip to the seaside in 'Fury from the Deep'. Photo: BBC
An object lesson in how a foam machine and amplified heartbeat can form the basis of a genuinely scary story. Of course there’s much more to that with Fury from the Deep as Victor Pemberton transfers his pet story of something nasty emerging from the sea to Doctor Who, and melds it with the then new field of North Sea Gas. Like so many of the stories from this era it is essentially a “base under siege” thriller but succeeds thanks to the sheer style with which it delivers the threat.
Fear factor: The possession of maintenance men Mr Oak and Mr Quill is particularly sinister and too much for the Australian censors to cope with at the time. These censorship cuts are (more or less) all that remains of this lost story.
Fun fact: This story marked the debut of the trusty sonic screwdriver
44. The War Games (1969)
Starring Patrick Troughton, Frazer Hines, Wendy Padbury, David Savile, Jane Sherwin
The Doctor and his assistants face up to the horrors of the Western Front in 'The War Games'. Photo: BBC
Given that this was cobbled together by Terrance Dicks and Malcolm Hulke after several putative stories for that season collapsed, The War Gamesiss a surprisingly well-structured affair which doesn’t lag over its mammoth 10 parts. What starts as a historical story set in World War One soon becomes something very strange as a 1917 ambulance is attacked by a group of Roman soldiers. It is then revealed that the War Lord and his minions are building a universe-conquering army from survivors of various wars through history.
More importantly, this is the story that finally names the alien species the Doctor comes from, and astonishingly the mention of the Time Lords does not come in some great revelation, but as a throwaway line from a War Lord scientist! The War Games is the end of an era. It's the last Troughton story, the last story in black and white and the last story of the Sixties. Perhaps because of this, a genuine sadness surrounds it, and the Doctor saying goodbye to his assistants Jamie and Zoe is very touching, particularly as they have their memories of him removed by the Time Lords.
Fear factor: The Doctor’s trial has a hallucinatory, almost Kafkaesque feel to it.
Fun fact: Episode eight of The War Games is one of the least watched episodes of all time. Ironic, given that this is when the Time Lords are first mentioned.
43. Cold War (2011)
Starring Matt Smith, Jenna-Louise Coleman, Liam Cunningham, David Warner, Tobias Menzies
Matt Smith in action in 'Cold War'. Photo: BBC
Cold War is in some ways a throwback to the Patrick Troughton era of Doctor Who, a claustrophobic base-under-siege scenario featuring the Ice Warriors (their first appearance on the show since 1974). Here, it is the Ice Warrior Skaldak who turns up on a Soviet submarine in 1983, hell-bent on destroying humanity. Dark lighting adds a sense of claustrophobia to the setting and some great dialogue (words rather than action save the day) make for a stylish and well-crafted story.
Fear factor: the slightly modified Ice Warrior design makes the creatures more muscular and therefore more fearsome. The moment when Skaldak reveals himself, eyes flashing, is truly terrifying.
Fun fact: HADS stands for the Tardis's Hostile Action Displacement System. It hadn’t been mentioned since Patrick Troughton story The Krotons in 1969.
42. A Good Man Goes To War (2011)
Starring Matt Smith, Karen Gillan, Arthur Darvill, Alex Kingston, Frances Barber
Frances Barber as Kovarian in 'A Good Man Goes to War'. Photo: BBC
This episode from Matt Smith’s second series presents the Doctor as a mythical being whose impact is felt throughout the universe. Fittingly, then, he isn’t glimpsed until halfway through. Given the pyrotechnics of David Tennant-era Doctor Who finales, this is a surprisingly talkative affair with a series of conversations between the protagonists providing a lot of exposition. Fortunately the quality of Steven Moffat’s writing means that this never became dull and at times proves genuinely gripping, particularly as the Doctor has to confront the anguishing fact that he is a warrior. Matt Smith’s performance has never been as controlled and authoritative as it is here.
Fear factor: The Headless Monks are some of the most frightening monsters ever seen in the show. The eyepatch wearing Frances Barber is the stuff of nightmares, too.
Fun fact: The word ‘override’ is incorrectly spelt ‘overide’ on the label for a door-control button.
41. The Horror of Fang Rock (1977)
Starring Tom Baker, Louise Jameson, John Abbott, Colin Douglas, Ralph Watson
Colin Douglas and Tom Baker in the creepy, atmospheric 'The Horror of Fang Rock'. Photo: BBC
When Graham Williams was appointed producer of the show in 1977, he had a brief to tone down the horror in the series. However Williams’s debut story in the role shows little evidence of this approach, as the programme’s 15th season opened with this grim tale in which only the Doctor and Leela survive the arrival of the jellyfish-like Rutan at a lighthouse in Edwardian times. It might have been a result of budgetary constraints that a number of stories over the years have been set in closed or claustrophobic environments, but often these settings have led to effective and memorable stories. This story, filmed (unusually) at the BBC's Pebble Mill in Birmingham, is no exception.
Colin Douglas and Ralph Watson give nicely nuanced performances as the old lighthouse keeper suspicious of the move to electricity and the green young apprentice. Louise Jameson has, by this time, got Leela to a tee, and her character possesses an almost feral authority here.
Fear factor: While the design of the Rutan is disappointing, the way in which it impersonates its victims does crank up the sense of the sinister.
Fun fact: Leela suffers from ‘pigment dispersal’ in this story and her eyes turns to blue. This was because actress Louise Jameson’s red contact lenses - which she wore to make her eyes look brown - were causing her discomfort.
40. The Ark in Space (1975)
Starring Tom Baker, Elisabeth Sladen and Ian Marter
Tom Baker and Elisabeth Sladen in "The Ark in Space". Photo: BBC
The debut offering from both script editor Robert Holmes and producer Philip Hinchcliffe, this episode signalled a new direction for the series: Gothic horror-inspired, with a more sombre tone, and action scaled back in favour of atmosphere.
As a group of humans who had been cryogenically-preserved to escape Earth’s devastation, wake to find their space ark infested by an insect-like Wirrn, it is down to their leader, Noah – who is infected by and turned into a Wirrn – to sacrifice himself and destroy the enemy.
Designer John Friedlander’s creation of the full-sized adult Wirrn rises to the challenge of Holmes’ first script, as do the cast. Tom Baker is up and running as the Doctor here – his speech extolling the achievements of mankind is one of the great monologues of the series. The episode pulled in a startling 13.4 million viewers, giving the series the highest chart placing it would achieve for the next three decades.
Fear factor: Body horror was the order of the day with the Wirrn Queen consuming a human and laying eggs that infect Noah. The scene where the human hero realises his infection is mutating him had to be cut as it was just too much for Saturday tea-time.
Fun fact: For the first time in the series, two distinct stories were recorded back-to-back, utilising the same set; broadcast three stories later, Revenge of the Cybermen, was also set on Nerva Beacon, albeit considerably earlier in its life.
39. Daleks in Manhattan/Evolution of the Daleks (2007)
Starring David Tennant, Freema Agyeman, Hugh Quarshie, Miranda Raison
"Daleks in Manhattan". Photo: BBC
Renegade Daleks The Cult of Skaro resurface in 1930s Manhattan, having escaped the Battle of Canary Wharf, and plans to fuse Daleks and humans to create a hybrid race. The scheme inspires a mutiny among the Daleks, who use a gamma ray burst to overwrite human DNA with their own. The Doctor attempts to foil the transmission but, by being in contact with the Empire State Building’s mast when the strike hits, accidentally transmits some of his DNA into the mix. In a final confrontation the dalekised humans and most of the Cult of Skaro perish, with only Dalek Caan escaping.
The first story to be written by a woman (script editor Helen Raynor) since the series returned in 2005, it raises an interesting question about the Daleks. For creatures obsessed with genetic purity they have a curious obsession with humankind.
Miranda Raison and Hugh Quarshie both put in good supporting performances, the latter bringing a dignity to his scenes as Solomon. With a well-realised sense of place and time, good performances all round and an interesting development of the series’ greatest monsters to boot, Daleks in Manhattan/Evolution of the Daleks makes for a highly enjoyable watch.
Fear factor: The design of the hybrid Dalek Sec took the familiar body horror trope in the series in a new direction. It's a pity Radio Times had to spoil the cliff-hanger somewhat by putting a picture of it on the front cover!
Fun fact: Due to its 1930s setting there were some rumours circulating at the time that these episodes would feature an art deco dalek. Sadly it was not to be.
38. Planet of Evil (1975)
Starring Tom Baker, Elisabeth Sladen, Frederick Jaeger, Ewen Solon
Tom Baker and Elisabeth Sladen in "Planet of Evil"
Under the aegis of producer Philip Hinchliffe and script editor Robert Holmes, Doctor Who in the mid Seventies was characterised by a love of the Gothic and a need to look for the potential horror of science fiction. Planet of Evil was the first example of this. The Doctor and Sarah arrive on Zeta Minor, a planet at the edge of the universe, where all the members of an expedition from the planet Morestra have been killed save the leader Professor Sorenson, who has been experimenting on anti-matter obtained from the planet. A Morestran military expedition also arrives; the Doctor has to prove his innocence and prevent an anti-matter monster from under the planet from killing the Morestrans.
Fear factor: The jungle set that designer Roger Murray-Leach constructed for this story, particularly the filmed set at Ealing, is one of the creepiest (and most convincing) alien worlds ever seen in the series.
Fun fact: Clive James, critiquing this story, picked out some of its technobabble: “You've reached the point where your tissues are so monstrously hybridized that the next metabolic change could be the final one.” Exactly.
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37. The Tenth Planet (1966)
Starring William Hartnell, Anneke Wills, Michael Craz, Robert Beatty
"The Tenth Planet". Photo: BBC
This story is significant for two reasons. Firstly, the Cybermen, the second most popular monsters in the series’ history, make their debut. Secondly, this is William Hartnell’s final story and paved the way for the show’s future as Hartnell regenerated (although that term was not then used) into Patrick Troughton and ensured Doctor Who’s longevity. Hartnell fell ill during the recording of The Tenth Planet and so his appearances are restricted. However, when he is on screen, you can see him at his authoritative best.
Fear factor: Although their design is rather more crude than later versions, and they are given a curious sing-song voice by Roy Skelton, the Cybermen manage to steal the show, generating a frisson of horror.
Fun fact: The Tenth Planet is set in the far distant future of, er, 1986 when rockets are used for frequent space travel.
36. The Power of the Daleks (1966)
Starring Patrick Troughton, Anneke Wills, Michael Craze, Bernard Archard
Patrick Troughton in "The Horror of the Daleks". Photo: BBC
Wiped from the BBC archives, The Power of the Daleks is the holy grail for Doctor Who fans. A tightly written Dalek story which also marks Patrick Troughton’s debut in the title role. The newly regenerated Doctor arrives with Ben and Polly on the planet Vulcan, and discovers that a scientist, Lesterson, has found a crashed Dalek ship and has brought one back to life. The Dalek pretends to be a servant of the colony so that it can restore power to the ship and create a Dalek army and conquer the planet.
Fear factor: Writer David Whitaker (this was the first Dalek story not to be scripted by their creator Terry Naiton) makes the Daleks more cunning than before, adding a new facet to the perennial baddies – the scene at the end of episode two where one drowns out the Doctor by proclaiming “I am your servant” being particularly chilling.
Fun fact: The planet Vulcan became famous in another science fiction series in 1966 – Star Trek. However, British viewers wouldn’t get to see the exploits of Captain Kirk until 1969.
35. The Unquiet Dead (2005)
Starring Christopher Eccleston, Billie Piper, Simon Callow
The Gelth in "The Unquiet Dead". Photo: BBC
The Doctor takes Rose on her first trip into history, but instead of Naples in 1860 they end up in Cardiff in 1869. Corpses are coming to life, and it emerges that they are being animated by the Gelth, creatures rendered gaseous by the effects of the Time War who have travelled through a rift and see Earth and humanity as an ideal location for colonisation and reclaiming some sort of form. Charles Dickens is also in Cardiff giving a reading, and he assists the Doctor and Rose in defeating the Gelth’s plan. This was Mark Gatiss’s first script for the series and it’s a clever, tightly constructed affair. The fact that Simon Callow played Dickens and is an expert on the 19th-century-author gives the episode a real authority.
Fear factor: The reanimated corpses in this story are terrifying, although they are played with plenty of black humour – no surprise given that Gatiss was a member of the League of Gentlemen.
Fun fact: Eve Myles who plays the luckless servant Gwyneth would later be rewarded with a regular role in spin-off series Torchwood.
34. The Curse of Peladon (1972)
Starring Jon Pertwee, Katy Manning, David Troughton, Geoffrey Toone
Jon Pertwee as the Doctor with various delegates in "The Curse of Peladon". Photo:BBC
Science fiction has often been used as a way of commenting on the present in an allegorical fashion, and here Doctor Who takes the then-topical issue of the UK’s entry into the European Economic Community and gives it its own spin. The Doctor and Jo find themselves on the planet Peladon, just as it is preparing for entry to the Galactic Federation. Not everyone on Peladon is keen on this, and High Priest Hepesh, in league with Federation delegate Arcturus as it turns out, arranges the murder of the Chancellor and attempts to assassinate another of the delegates to ensure it does not join. As old foes the Ice Warriors are among the Federation delegates, the Doctor suspects them of wrongdoing…
Fear factor: this is more of a political story and the Ice Warriors are, for once, not the baddies. That said, the Seventies fasion sense of the Peladonians – thiogh-high boots, two-tone hairstyles – is pretty frightening.
Fun fact: the decision was made to cover monster delegate Alpha Centauri’s body with a cloak as it was too phallic looking. The voice of Alpha Centauri was provided by Ysanne Churchman who had played Grace Archer, the first person to be killed off in the radio soap.
33. The Invasion (1968)
Starring Patrick Troughton, Frazer Hines, Wendy Padbury, Nicholas Courtney, Kevin Stoney
The Cybermen invade London in "The Invasion". Photo: BBC
After avoiding attack on the dark side of the Moon the TARDIS lands on Earth. Deciding to look up old friend Professor Travers the Doctor discovers he is missing. The Doctor’s search takes him to International Electromatics and its manager Tobias Vaughn. Vaughn is working with the Cybermen who are planning an invasion of Earth, which comes to pass. Vaughn discovers he has been double-crossed…
With plans afoot to bring the Doctor to Earth in the Seventies, The Invasion is the precursor of this, introducing UNIT (United Nations Intelligence Taskforce) which would prove a mainstay of the series up to 1976. The Cybermen’s costume undergoes a third redesign, and Bobi Bartlett comes up with the definitive look for the creatures.
At eight episodes this is one of the longest stories Doctor Who ever attempted, and remarkably the extra length works in the story’s favour. There is a feeling of real time waiting for the titular invasion to start, and the sense of mystery and anticipation is gradually ramped up.
Fear factor: Kevin Stoney projects the right icy authority as Tobias Vaughn, the series’ first contemporary supervillain and gives an object lesson in how to portray a megalomaniacal control freak.
Fun fact: This story sees the second appearance of Nicholas Courtney, one of the series’ most enduring characters. He is now promoted to Brigadier and if you look carefully, you will see that his moustache changes size and shape throughout.
32. Frontier in Space (1973)
Starring: Jon Pertwee, Katy Manning, Roger Delgado
The Doctor (Jon Pertwee) is accosted by Draconians. Photo: BBC
The TARDIS lands on a space cargo freighter in 2540 when tension between Earth and Draconia, the two major powers in the Milky Way, is threatening to spill into war. Each side is being blamed for attacks on the other’s vessels, but in reality they are being staged by the Ogrons using a hypnotism device to make them look like humans or Draconians. Victims of such a raid in which the TARDIS is stolen, the Doctor and Jo are forced to return to Earth where they are accused of being spies and imprisoned. The Ogrons are, in fact, working for the Master who is attempting to start a war between Earth and Draconia on behalf of his employers, the Daleks. This was the last time Roger Delgado appeared as the Master before his tragic death in a car crash in Turkey, and an emergency reshoot of the end of the last episode meant that his swansong was rather confused ending.
Fear factor: The Draconians were Jon Pertwee’s favourite monsters because he felt their make-up was realistic and that the Doctor could converse with them properly.
Fun fact: For filming, the production team decided that Earth in 2540 was represented by London’s South Bank Centre. In 1973, it must have seemed pretty dystopian!
31. Bad Wolf/Parting of the Ways (2005)
Starring: Christopher Eccleston, Billie Piper, John Barrowman
Christopher Eccleston as the Doctor in "Bad Wolf". Photo: BBC
The Doctor, Rose and Captain Jack find themselves taken from the TARDIS and placed on the Gamestation in futuristic versions of 21st century television programmes. The Doctor, accompanied by fellow player Lynda, escapes from a version of Big Brother and Captain Jack from What Not to Wear, but they arrive too late to save Rose being apparently disintegrated for having lost The Weakest Link. It emerges that the Gamestation is the successor of Satellite Five which the Doctor freed a hundred years previously, and is being manipulated by the Daleks. The Doctor discovers the Emperor Dalek survived the Time War, is using humanity to rebuild the Daleks, with himself as their God and is launching an attack on Earth. Eccleston’s swansong is also his finest hour and his stirring speech at the cliffhanger of Bad Wolf where he informs the Daleks that he will be coming to rescue Rose and then proceed to wipe out the whole stinking lot of them shows his true power as a performer.
Fear factor: the extermination of reality TV contestants is particularly nasty. Charlie Brooker’s Black Mirror mined similar territory in Fifteen Million Merits.
Fun fact: Anne Robinson, Trinny Woodall and Susannah Constantine all appear as futuristic verisons of themselves.
30. The Curse of Fenric (1989)
Starring Sylvester McCoy, Sophie Aldred
Haemovores in 'The Curse of Fenric'. Photo: BBC
The Doctor takes Ace to an army camp in 1943, home to a booby-trapped Ultima decryption machine that a party of Soviet troops intend for their country. Meanwhile, mysterious runes have been discovered in the local church, and it transpires that all this has been orchestrated by Fenric, an entity defeated hundreds of years ago by the Doctor. It emerges Ace’s hated mother is a baby at the camp, her grandmother working there, and the Doctor is aware that she is a pawn in Fenric’s game. Fenric then brings back from a polluted future the Ancient One, Earth’s last survivor, and awakens the vampire-like Haemovores to attack the camp and church.
The focus on a companion’s backstory – the first time the series had done this - is just one aspect of a story that manages to be complex and dark, despite the stunt casting of Nicholas Parsons as Reverend Wainwright. Although the evil from the dawn of time aspect is a bit hackneyed, it does help give added impetus to the increasing portrayal of the Doctor as an almost Machiavellian arch-manipulator.
Fear factor: the Haemovores, revealed here as the inspiration for Earth’s vampire legends, are truly hideous-looking beasts. Their pustulous features were created by planting seeds in latex, then painting over the growths.
Fun fact: Ace’s baby ‘mother’ was played by the son of the landlord of the Who team’s local pub.
29. The Daleks (1963/4)
Starring William Hartnell, William Russell, Jacqueline Hill, Carole Ann Ford
William Hartnell in 'The Daleks'. Photo: BBC
The TARDIS lands in a petrified forest and the Doctor and his companions explore it, discovering a city at the far end occupied by the Daleks, survivors of a nuclear war on the planet Skaro. The Daleks’ enemies, the Thals, have embraced pacifism; the Doctor and his companions persuade them that they need to fight for their survival and attack the city. A battle ensues.
Daleks creator Terry Nation had originally turned down the commission, but recanted after being sacked by Tony Hancock. Aided by Raymond Cusick’s unique design - for which he was given an ex gratia payment of £100 - and with ring modulated voices created at the BBC’s Radiophonic Workshop, he gave the series a fully-formed master race from the off, and an instant hit. Without them, it is highly likely we would not be celebrating 50 years of Doctor Who.
Fear factor: The Dalek sucker pad’s first appearance as it menaces Barbara provides one of the series’ finest early cliffhangers
Fun fact: The Magneton found in episode 1 is the series’ first ever alien. Producer Verity Lambert found herself bawled out by BBC Head of Drama Sydney Newman for including “bug-eyed monsters” in this serial despite his instructions to avoid using any such thing; the success of the Daleks forced him to back down. Terry Nation originally turned down the offer of writing for the series until he was sacked by Tony Hancock.
28. Ghost Light (1989)
Starring Sylvester McCoy, Sophie Aldred, Frank Windsor
Sylvester McCoy in 'Ghost Light'. Photo: BBC
In what is probably the most dense and complex story the programme had attempted until Steven Moffat took over, the Doctor takes Ace to Gabriel Chase, a house that a century later she would burn down in her teens. Ostensibly the home of Josiah Samuel Smith, he is actually the evolved form of an alien hidden in the basement, who is manipulating explorer Redvers Fenn-Cooper in a plot to assassinate Queen Victoria. Smith came to Earth in a spaceship in the basement, along with Control, a female whose life cycle is in balance with his own and Light, an alien whose had come to Earth to catalogue the planet’s species. Ace inadvertently releases Light, who discovers his catalogue has been made obsolete by evolution, which maddens him to the extent he decides to destroy all life on the planet. The Doctor convinces Light that he too is evolving which drives him to suicide; Fenn-Cooper and an evolved Control leave with a regressed Smith and Nimrod the Neanderthal butler in the spaceship.
In the Nineties, a witty cartoon appeared showing two fans hoping episode 4 would explain everything (this was a three-parter). It had a point. This story needs repeat viewings to make sense, yet it’s an experiment that pays off.
Fear factor: Inspector Mackenzie is turned into soup by Light, prompting one of the blackest jokes in the series’ history – “the cream of Scotland Yard.”
Fun fact: Although broadcast second in the 1989 season, this was the last story to be recorded, and thus the last of the programme’s 26-year run and the last to be made at Television Centre.
27. Remembrance of the Daleks (1988)
Starring Sylvester McCoy, Sophie Aldred, Simon Williams, Pamela Salem, Karen Gledhill
Sylvester McCoy with the Daleks in 'The Remembrance of the Daleks'. Photo: BBC
The Doctor and Ace arrive in Shoreditch in 1963, where a Dalek faction has arrived on Earth to find the Hand of Omega, a stellar manipulator secreted in the area by the First Doctor. The Daleks are in the area, firstly a group of “renegade” Daleks, and then the Imperial Daleks, governed by a disguised Davros, both of which are attempting to claim the Hand for themselves.
Doctor Who is often accused, not without reason, of disappearing up its own backside too often for its own good in the Eighties, with stories laden with what were thought to be fan-pleasing continuity references; Remembrance of the Daleks is positively heaving with them. For starters we go back to the very first episode with scenes shot in 76 Totters Lane and Coal Hill School, and since it's set in November 1963 we even get Ace seeing a television announcing the launch of a new BBC series! This isn’t a story for the casual viewer. However, writer Ben Aaronovitch’s series debut is definitely a crowd pleaser for the fans, with its new-style Dalek (the decidedly lethal Special Weapons Dalek) and the Doctor as manipulator luring the Daleks to Earth for his own purposes. And Andrew Morgan helms the story with quite a bit of flair – for an unloved show with an inadequate budget it does not show in the slightest here.
Fear factor: For the first time a Dalek is seen to go up stairs, in the cliffhanger to episode one.
Fun fact: A whole host of lasts here – Michael Sheard makes his sixth and last appearance as Coal Hill School’s headmaster, John Scott Martin sits inside a Dalek for the fourteenth and last time having first done so in 1965, Cy Town likewise for the eighth and last time, whilst Roy Skelton is a Dalek voice for the seventh and final time (not including the 1999 spoof The Curse of Fatal Death).
26. The Green Death (1973)
Starring Jon Pertwee, Katy Manning Nicholas Courtney with Richard Franklin, John Levene
Mutating maggots in 'The Green Death'. Photo: BBC
UNIT are called in to investigate a miner found bright green in the Welsh village of Llanfairfach, where Jo is using leave visiting the Wholeweal community due to her regard for its founder Professor Clifford Jones. The Global Chemicals plant in the village is found to be pumping toxic waste into the disused mine, causing the death of the miner and mutating maggots to a giant size. Captain Yates is sent to infiltrate Global Chemicals, but is captured and hypnotised by its computer system, BOSS (Bimorphic Organisational Systems Supervisor) which is planning to stage a world takeover by linking itself to all other major computer systems.
If Doctor Who stories had Friends-style episode titles then this would be “the one with the maggots”. They're one of the more memorable Earth-based threats created during the Pertwee era and well-brought to life by the visual effects men (even if their giant fly isn’t anywhere near as good).
This eco-minded story is probably the programme at its most preachy, but to its credit there’s enough action and adventure to make sure the drama isn’t drowned out. And to round it all off we get one of the classic companion departures – as Jo flies the coop the Doctor keenly feels her loss. The scenes of him departing quietly alone in Bessie into the sunset whilst everyone else parties, to Jo’s obvious sadness, still brings a lump to the throat.
Fear factor: The giant maggots are truly hideous, despite being created using inflated condoms.
Fun fact: Jon Pertwee mispronounced “chitinous” during recording and the production office received letters of correction.
25. The Brain of Morbius (1976)
Starring Tom Baker, Elisabeth Sladen, Philip Madoc
Philip Madoc as Dr Mehendri Solon in 'The Brain of Morbius
The TARDIS arrives on the planet of Karn which arouses the suspicions of the Sisterhood of Karn, who suspect the Doctor is there to steal the Elixir of Life. Also on Karn is Dr Mehendri Solon, who has preserved the brain of executed Time Lord criminal Morbius and is building a body from scavenged parts to put it in, and is particularly keen on utilising the Doctor’s head.
The Philip Hinchcliffe/Robert Holmes era is seen as the “Gothic” era of the programme, and no story exemplified this more than The Brain of Morbius, a fairly blatant pastiche of Frankenstein, borrowing heavily from the Hammer horror films for inspiration. Nevertheless, the makers of The Brain of Morbius manages to adapt the story to its own universe with flair and the result is a darkly atmospheric tale.
Fear factor: With its gruesome theme of harvested body parts, The Brain of Morbius did not go down well with Mary Whitehouse. At the time she was reported as saying: “It contains some of the sickest and most horrific material ever seen on children’s television.”
Fun fact: Writer Terrance Dicks originally submitted the script for this with the idea of inverting Frankenstein and having a monster make a man. When Script Editor Holmes flipped the idea back round, Dicks asked him to take his name off the credits.
24. The Sea Devils (1972)
Starring Jon Pertwee, Katy Manning, Roger Delgado, Clive Morton, Donald Sumpter
Sea Devils. Photo:BBC
Not far from the island where the Master is imprisoned, ships have been disappearing and a sea fort appears to be at the centre. Investigating, the Doctor discovers that a colony of Sea Devils, maritime cousins of the Silurians, have been woken and are on the attack, and have allied themselves with the Master who wants to revive the colony. The Doctor allies himself with the local Royal Navy base and attempts to arrange peace between the humans and the Sea Devils, but then a civil servant intervenes...
This is a cracking story with strong characterization and great location filming in Portsmouth (exotic for 1972!). You cannot underestimate the co-operation of the Royal Navy either. It adds a layer of reality which does not always work in Doctor Who.
Fear factor: The Sea Devils are convincingly designed (complete with what look like string vests!), tall and statuesque. The scene in which a group of them emerge from the water is one of the most memorable in the series’ history.
Fun fact: In one scene, the Master is seen watching an episode of The Clangers. “It seems to be rather an interesting extraterrestrial life form,” he says.
23. The Waters of Mars (2009)
Starring David Tennant, Lindsay Duncan
Lindsay Duncan in The Waters of Mars. Photo: BBC/Adrian Rogers
The TARDIS lands on Mars, and the Doctor realises that he has arrived at Bowie Base One on the day it is destroyed. Members of the crew are being infected by an intelligent water-borne virus and despite the crew and the Doctor’s best efforts to counteract it, the base has to be destroyed to prevent it infecting Earth. Although its destruction is a fixed point in time, the Doctor decides to rewrite history and rescue the last three survivors of the crew. Depositing them on Earth, Captain Adelaide Brooke, having discovered the Doctor’s knowledge of the outcome of that day, disagrees with his intervention and shoots herself to preserve history. A shaken Doctor wonders if he has gone too far…
Trailed beforehand as one of the scariest stories in the history of the series, The Waters of Mars does not quite live up to that tag. However it’s still a powerful tale, with Adelaide’s suicide being one of the most shocking scenes of the Russell T Davies era. It shows the danger of the Doctor’s hubris in striking fashion.
It was a fitting swansong for director Graeme Harper, ending a 43-year association with the series that dated back to The Power of the Daleks in 1966.
Fear factor: There is something rather grim about the watery infection in this story. The blackened mouth and cracked skin of the victims and the way in which it is suddenly revealed is spine tingling.
Fun fact: This was originally planned as a Christmas story, and several festive references remain in the final version.
22. The Web of Fear (1968)
Starring Patrick Troughton, Frazer Hines, Deborah Watling, Jack Watling, Nicholas Courtney
The Yeti in Web of Fear. Photo: BBC
The TARDIS is attacked while in transit by a mysterious web, but the Doctor is able to break it free and arrives at Covent Garden Underground station. There he, Jamie and Victoria discover that Professor Travers has reactivated a Yeti control sphere, which brought the Great Intelligence to Earth and has taken control of London through a killer mist, a web-substance and the Yeti.
Classic Doctor Who often featured quite a bit of running up and down tunnels, but in this story they couldn’t really avoid it. Designer David Myerscough-Jones pulls off a remarkable feat on Doctor Who’s limited budget in creating hugely realistic tunnels and stations and gives a sense that a wide section of the Underground is being brought into play. The sheer incongruity of seeing monsters in a familiar Earth setting make for a highly memorable story, and in many aspects a signpost for the way the programme would go in the Seventies.
Fear factor: The fact that this was filmed in black and white is an advantage as it gives a sense of darkness and claustrophobia which permeates the story. There’s also a remorseless foe in the cuddly shape of the Yeti lurking in the dark who are impervious to just about anything the army can throw at them
Fun fact: When the BBC were refused permission to film on the London Underground, new sets were constructed by the design team. London Transport was convinced illicit filming had taken place and threatened to sue the corporation.
21. Earthshock (1982)
Starring Peter Davison, Matthew Waterhouse, Sarah Sutton, Janet Fielding, Beryl Reid, James Warwick
The TARDIS lands in caves in 2526, where an archaeological expedition is being attacked by killer androids guarding a bomb. The Doctor defuses the bomb and traces its signal back to space. He lands on a freighter which has been infiltrated by the Cybermen. They now plan to crash it into Earth as a plan B, and awake a Cyber army to take it over. Despite the Doctor’s efforts to thwart them they gain control and reprogramme the controls before evacuating. The Doctor kills the Cyberleader using Adric’s Gold badge but Adric, kept as a hostage by the Cybermen on the freighter, is trapped on board attempting to crack the Cybermen’s controls. Having travelled through time due to Adric’s tampering, the freighter crashes into Earth in 65million BC, killing the dinosaurs and Adric.
Peter Davison’s first season was unremarkable until Earthshock descended with a mighty thud ten weeks in. Peter Grimwade’s pacy direction keeps the action and tension levels high, and the Cybermen once again come across as a credible menace, backed by some appropriate marching music courtesy of Malcolm Clarke. One of the most memorable stories of Eighties Doctor Who.
Fear factor: Although the Cybermen were an unstoppable, terrifying force, it was their bursting from plastic wrappers that generated complaints to the BBC as worried parents thought their children might suffocate by trying to copy them.
Fun fact: To keep his death a secret from the show’s fans, a cameo role for Adric was put into the following story so that he still appeared in the cast credits in the Radio Times. Episode 4’s closing titles were rolled over an image of his broken badge and there was no theme music. The Cybermen’s return after seven years was also hidden, with closed studios at the BBC and producer John Nathan-Turner turning down the offer of a feature article about their return in the Radio Times.
20. School Reunion (2006)
Starring David Tennant and Billie Piper with Elisabeth Sladen, Noel Clarke, Anthony Head
David Tennant and Elisabeth Sladen in 'School Reunion'. Photo: BBC/Colin Bell
Alerted by Mickey, the Doctor and Rose go undercover to investigate Deffry Vale High School, location of mysterious UFO sightings and disappearing teachers. Also on the case, unbeknownst to them, is former companion Sarah Jane Smith. The school has been taken over by Krillitanes, shape-changing aliens who are using an oil secreted by them to augment the children’s brains with the aim of using them to solve the Skasas Paradigm, a universal theory which would enable control of the building blocks of the universe. This plan is defeated, and K9 Mark III sacrifices himself to ensure the destruction of the Krillitanes.
Very rarely in Doctor Who do we see the effect that meeting him has on the lives of those around him, and never before have we seen the impact on a former companion. Sarah Jane - she and K9 are the only non-villain characters from the original series run to appear in the 21st Century version - is reintroduced beautifully, particularly the scene where Sarah discovers the TARDIS hidden in the school and the Doctor emerges from the shadows (“Hello, Sarah Jane.”)
Rose comes to realise that she is not unique, and there are many before her in the TARDIS, whilst Sarah (the late Elisabeth Sladen looking hardly to have aged) has to realise that the Doctor quickly moved on effectively abandoning her; as Mickey observes, it’s a “missus and the ex” scenario. As Tennant was a fan of the series at a time K9 was a regular character, one wonders just how much acting was required by him when Sarah brings the robotic dog out of the boot.
Fear factor: For many Who fans, the death of K9 is far more terrifying than the bat-like Krillitanes. Thankfully, he’s quickly replaced by a Mark IV model.
Fun fact: The radio-controlled K9 prop is owned by former BBC Special Effects designer Mat Irvine.
19 Dalek (2005)
Starring Christopher Eccleston, Billie Piper
A more 'human' Dalek. Photo: BBC
The TARDIS arrives in an underground facility owned by magnate Henry van Statten, a collector of alien artefacts. One of these has been christened a Metaltron, but the Doctor discovers it is in fact a Dalek which has escaped the Time War. Accidentally revived by Rose, the Dalek goes on the rampage in the base, but it has also absorbed some of Rose’s humanity; realising it is no longer wholly Dalek, it commits suicide.
When the series returned in 2005, the nation began counting the days until its perennial baddies would make their comeback. And Robert Shearman’s only story for the televised series didn’t disappoint. Its power lies in both the Dalek’s merciless killing spree, but also pathos-laden scenes in which we see it experiencing pain and emotions for the first time. Indeed the Doctor comes out as no better in his dealings with his greatest foe (“why don’t you just die?”), and the Dalek’s observation to the Doctor that he would make a good Dalek is all too accurate.
Fear factor: A Dalek using the stairs never fails to chill, even when - as here - it does so with a cry of “Elevate!”
Fun fact: Negotiations with Terry Nation’s estate for the use of a Dalek were very fraught, and Shearman had to prepare a version without them in case permission wasn’t granted.
18 Spearhead from Space (1970)
Starring Jon Pertwee, Nicholas Courtney, Caroline John, Hugh Burden
The newly-regenerated Doctor arrives on Earth in the middle of an apparent meteorite shower. It emerges that the so-called meteorites are alien in origin and part of an attempt by the Nestene Consciousness to colonise the Earth. UNIT are investigating, and the Doctor joins forces with them to defeat the invasion attempt.
So began an entirely new era for the Doctor. It was the first time in colour, plus and a new Doctor and assistant - this was a relaunch much like Rose was in 2005. We even have the same monster, the Autons, and the template for the scene in which shop window dummies come to life and start gunning people down. The Doctor is comatose for much of the first episode, but but once Pertwee dons his frilly cloak and cape he acquires a flamboyant authority; by the end of the story you fully accept that he is the Doctor.
Fear factor: The design of the Autons works well, although their plastic faces aren’t nearly as creepy as Hugh Burden’s Channing, a masterpiece of less is more acting.
Fun fact: Contemporary music makes a rare appearance in episode 2 as Fleetwood Mac’s Oh Well (Part 1) is heard in scenes at the Auto Plastics factory.
17 The Pyramids of Mars (1975)
Starring Tom Baker, Elisabeth Sladen, Bernard Archard, Michael Sheard
Tom Baker in 'The Pyramids of Mars'. Photo: BBC
In Egypt, 1911, Marcus Scarman unearths a tomb of Sutekh, and awakens this malevolent Osirian trapped for centuries by his species. This awakening drags the TARDIS off course and it lands in Scarman’s house. Sutekh animates Scarman’s cadaver as a vehicle to arrange his escape, aided by Servitor Robots looking like Egyptian mummies.
Ten years after the First Doctor visited ancient Egypt whilst being pursued in The Daleks’ Masterplan the series went the whole hog and had an entire story inspired by the mythology and iconography of that country. However it gave a twist on the whole thing in that it was aliens from Phaester Osiris whose internal struggles had brought them to Egypt and inspired the mythology, a concept borrowing from Chariots of the Gods author Erich von Daniken.
Although the mummies are excellent, it is the organic characters who take centre stage, with Baker cementing the increasing alienness of his portrayal of the hero. Pure gold.
Fear factor: When Sutekh rises for the first time, the effect is somewhat spoilt by a production assistant’s hand, clearly visible on a cushion.
Fun fact: Mick Jagger’s house Stargroves was used for the scenes involving UNIT HQ, the Old Priory. Coincidentally, a previous occupant was Lord Carnarvon, the archaeologist who led the dig that ultimately unearthed the tomb of Tutankhamun.
16 Silence in the Library/Forest of the Dead (2008)
Starring David Tennant, Catherine Tate, Alex Kingston
David Tennant and Alex Kingston in 'Silence in the Library'. Photo: BBC/Adrian Rogers
The Doctor takes Donna to the greatest library in the universe, a planet-sized version in the 51st century but which is curiously empty of people. He received a mysterious summons on his psychic paper to go there, and when he and Donna meet a team of archaeologists investigating why the library sealed itself a century ago it emerges that it was one of them, River Song, who sent the paper. She knows the Doctor but he does not know her – future meetings between the pair will be in her past. The library was taken over by the Vashta Nerada, voracious microscopic creatures who lurk in shadows, who claimed it for their own when the books stored there were made from the forests of their home planet.
Steven Moffat seemed to specialise in creepy stories during the Russell T Davies era, and this, his final offering prior to taking over showrunning duties, was no exception. Fear of the dark and what could be lurking in the shadows is one thing; here, your own shadow can kill you. The use of atmospheric lighting (or lack of it) accentuates this overall creepiness, and two tense episodes result.
River Song’s first appearance is suitably intriguing, and add in the mystery of the little girl and Doctor Moon, and what Donna is doing in some fantasy world, and you have a nuanced, multi-layered story which delivers plenty of atmosphere and chills.
Fear factor: The Vashna-Nerada animated skeletons are nightmarishly-realised piece of design.
Fun fact: According to Moffat, The Sun newspaper threatened to publish a leaked copy of the script to Silence in the Library. Moffat told them to feel free: "I'd like to see The Sun publish that many words in a day," he said.
15. The Robots of Death (1977)
Starring Tom Baker, Louise Jameson
The TARDIS arrives on a sandminer where the crew are gradually being murdered. Initially the Doctor and Leela are accused of the murders, but it emerges that they are being carried out by robots reprogrammed by a scientist, Taren Capel.
31 years before the Doctor met Agatha Christie in The Unicorn and the Wasp this story was clearly influenced by the Queen of Crime, particularly Ten Little Indians. By deft characterisation and dialogue Chris Boucher managed to create a credible planetary society, one dependent on robots to an extent that when things go awry they have problems coping.
Furthermore, Kenneth Sharp’s designs take things to another level with an Art Deco look which creates some of the most beautiful-looking robots ever put on television. When script, cast, design and direction come together and intertwine perfectly the result is memorable, and this is certainly the case here in a thrillingly enjoyable murder drama.
Fear factor: The beautiful robots are an implacable, hard-to-defeat foe, creating an interesting juxtaposition of style and horror.
Fun fact: The condition of robophobia, suffered by undercover agent Poul in this story, was given the alternative name Grimwade’s syndrome as an in-joke concerning production assistant Peter Grimwade who complained that the stories he worked on in the series always seemed to feature robots.
14. The Seeds of Doom (1976)
Starring Tom Baker, Elisabeth Sladen, Tony Beckley, John Challis
Tom Baker and Elisabeth Sladen in 'The Seeds of Doom'. Photo: BBC
Alien seed pods are found in the Antarctic. Called in by the World Ecology Bureau the Doctor and Sarah investigate, and the Doctor establishes they are Krynoid seed pods and if they get established on Earth all animal life will be wiped out. Plant fanatic Harrison Chase arranges the theft of one of the pods, and it germinates by infecting his botanical expert Arnold Keeler, who is turned into a Krynoid and starts making plants attack animal life.
This was the last story to be directed by Douglas Camfield, one of the classic series’ greatest directors, and the last time UNIT troops would feature until Battlefield in 1989. Geoffrey Burgon, of Brideshead Revisited fame, provided the second of his two scores of the programme.
The Seeds of Doom is probably the high-water mark of the series as an action-adventure programme, and indeed is the closest it ever got to a Bond movie. Prime human enemy Harrison Chase is straight out of Bond villain mould, even having a bespoke method of killing people in turning them into compost. Interesting concept, good direction, memorable performances, action and adventure, classic Doctor Who doesn’t get much better than this.
Fear factor: The Seeds of Doom’s one drawback is that the realisation of the Krynoid is somewhat erratically done and the waddling attack on the Doctor at the end of episode 4 looks unintentionally humorous to a modern audience. Still, the concept - a monster who can turn plant life on human kind – is a good one and some of the plant attacks this engenders are well-staged (Scorby’s watery demise in particular).
Fun fact: Tony Beckley who played Harrison Chase will forever be remembered as camp Freddie in the 1969 classic caper The Italian Job.
13. The Mind Robber (1968)
Starring Patrick Troughton, Frazer Hines, Wendy Padbury
White robots in 'The Mind Robber'. Photo: BBC
Activating the Emergency Unit to avoid a volcanic eruption, the TARDIS is taken out of time and space, materialising in a white void. Jamie and Zoe are lured out and menaced by white robots, and when the Doctor rescues them and tries to escape in the TARDIS it appears to blow up. The time travellers fall into the Land of Fiction, a world controlled by a computer with a human operator where the inhabitants are fictional characters from Earth across the ages.
Occasionally Doctor Who will come up with something so utterly bonkers that it defies description, and The Mind Robber is the acme of this. One wonders whether hallucinogenics were taken, so off the wall is this story. However, it is a very clever concept to put the regular characters in a world of fictional ones, perhaps even postmodern in that they are fictional to begin with! A dizzying series of images - lifesize clockwork soldiers, a forest of words, Jamie as a cardboard cutout, him and Zoe being trapped in the pages of a giant book – then follows. The Mind Robber wins the prize as the maddest Doctor Who story ever attempted, but its sheer lunacy makes it somehow irresistible.
Fear factor: The children who menace the Doctor are pretty creepy and they include a very young Sylvestra Le Touzel, decades away from her estimable stage career.
Fun fact: When the Doctor speaks to Lemuel Gulliver, the character answers him in direct quotes from Jonathan Swift.
12 Human Nature/The Family of Blood (2007)
Starring David Tennant, Freema Agyeman, Jessica Hynes, Harry Lloyd, Pip Torrens
The Scarecrows in 'Human Nature'. Photo: BBC
The Doctor is being pursued by the Family of Blood who wish to take his life force to prevent themselves from dying; to evade them he uses a “chameleon arch” to make himself human and takes up a schoolmaster’s role at Farringham, a public school, just before the First World War. His Time Lord essence and memories are stored in a fob watch, which is taken by Timmy Latimer, a schoolboy. The Family arrive on Earth and with the help of stolen bodies and animated scarecrows seek the Doctor who has fallen in love with the school nurse.
This two-part story was based upon a 1995 New Adventures novel which featured the Sylvester McCoy incarnation of the Doctor. It is the only televised story to be based on a previously published Doctor Who novel.
Although sundry companions and other characters in the series have had love stories, it is always something the Doctor had stayed aloof from until Russell T Davies’s time as showrunner. The relationship with Rose showed a few chinks in this emotional armour, but now we had the full-blown thing, albeit with a Doctor temporarily turned human. His relationship with Joan lies at the crux of this story, and Tennant and Jessica Hynes deliver pitch-perfect performances.
Fear factor: The scarecrows provide the frights to younger viewers in another example of making the commonplace dangerous which the series has made a trademark over the years.
Fun fact: The Doctor refers to his parents Sydney and Verity. They are named after Sydney Newman, Head of Drama in 1963 who set about creating the show, and Verity Lambert, its first producer.
11 The Daemons (1971)
Starring Jon Pertwee, Katy Manning, Nicholas Courtney, Richard Franklin, John Levene, Roger Delgado, Stephen Thorne
Jon Pertwee in 'The Daemons'. Photo: BBC
An archaeological dig at a barrow near the village of Devil’s End is accompanied by rumours of death and destruction if the central tomb is opened. Also in the village is the Master, posing as the local Vicar, who has created a coven out of villagers. The barrow is the resting place of Azal, a Daemon who has interfered with humanity’s development as an experiment and will now decide whether it is worthy of survival, in which case he will pass on his power, or destruction. The Master wishes to receive Azal’s power, and utilises it to animate a gargoyle, Bok to do his bidding. The dig awakens Azal, who goes to the church’s crypt to make his decision…
Filmed in Aldbourne, Wiltshire, The Daemons was cited as a favourite story by most of the regular cast and prompted a video release, Return to Devil’s End, a documentary where various cast and crew returned to the village.
It’s a story that was very much a product of its time with references to the Age of Aquarius, as well as black magic covens that brought classic Hammer films to mind. The Daemons is also the quintessential Pertwee story, pitting all the UNIT regulars against the Master in dealing with an alien presence in an English village. It may not be one of the greatest stories, but in terms of sheer fun The Daemons is one of the best.
Fear factor: The depiction of Azal is clearly influenced by depictions of the Devil, and the fact he makes even the Master cower at the end of episode 3 shows his true power. Stephen Thorne’s make-up, presence and voice all effectively conjure up this alien being with a long, lingering influence on the history of humanity.
Fun fact: The scene of the church blowing up in the story finale was so realistic that it prompted angry calls to the BBC. It was, however, a model.
10. The Massacre (1966)
Starring William Hartnell, Peter Purves, Leonard Sachs, André Morell
William Hartnell as the Doctor in 'The Massacre'. Photo: BBC
The TARDIS arrives in Paris in 1572, where the Catholics are about to slaughter Huguenot Protestants in the St Bartholomew Day’s Massacre. One of the leading plotters against the Huguenots is the Abbot of Amboise, who is a double of the Doctor. The Doctor reappears in time to extricate Steven from the massacre, but his insistence on leaving the Huguenots to their fate, disgusts Steven to the extent that he walks out of the TARDIS once it has landed again.
Part of the remit of Doctor Who at the time was to be educational, and The Massacre certainly fulfils this – a notorious episode in 16th century French history is something not many viewers then, or now, would be particularly familiar with. And it pulls no punches: the story is more like a standard adult costume drama than Saturday teatime children’s TV. Hartnell’s performance as the Abbot demonstrates how much of his slightly erratic performance as the Doctor was acting and characterisation rather than the effects of the illness that would see him give up the role later that year. The story isn’t quite over though, for Steven’s walkout leads to one of Hartnell’s finest moments in the role, a monologue reflecting on his companions, and his refusal to go back home.
Fear factor: The realisation that most of the sympathetic characters in this story will meet a gruesome end is a shocking conclusion halfway through part 4; contemporary woodcuts overlaid with screams are used to show the Massacre itself.
Fun fact: This was the first Who story to be directed by a woman, Paddy Russell.
9. The Stolen Earth/Journey’s End (2008)
Starring David Tennant, Catherine Tate, Billie Piper, Elisabeth Sladen, John Barrowman, Freema Agyeman, Noel Clarke, Camille Coduri
'The Stolen Earth/Journey’s End'. Photo: BBC
The Earth vanishes from Time and Space, and in trying to establish what has happened the Doctor and Donna go to the Shadow Proclamation where they discover it is one of 27 planetary bodies that have vanished this way. On Earth chaos has broken out, and then the Daleks invade. The barriers between the universes begin to break down, the Doctor is gunned down by a Dalek, The TARDIS and its occupants are captured and taken to the Dalek Crucible, where Davros has developed a means of destroying the multiverse, leaving the Daleks as the only creatures left in reality. And that’s only the half of it.
For the climax of the fourth season of the reborn series Russell T Davies really pulled out all the stops, and produced one of the most epic and cinematic stories the series has ever produced, as well as a superlative cliffhanger. By pulling in a huge number of elements from the series since its return in 2005, as well as both the Torchwood and Sarah Jane Adventures this was a two-parter that ran the risk of trying to do too much. Instead it’s full of wonderful moments, both big and small: look at Captain Jack’s and Sarah Jane Smith’s reactions to the Daleks when their message of “Exterminate” is broadcast to the Earth and they realise just what they are up against. Taking in comedy (thanks to Bernard Cribbens), action, tension (that regeneration cliffhanger), romance (Rose finally gets her man in the shape of the half-human Doctor), and tragedy (Donna having her memory wiped and not being able to remember her time with the Doctor), this is a real rollercoaster ride.
Fear factor: Julian Bleach is the best Davros since Michael Wisher’s estimable portrayal in Genesis of the Daleks, bringing a real presence and malevolence to the role.
Fun fact: Richard Dawkins, who cameos in this episode, is married to former Who star Lalla Ward, who was previously married to Tom Baker.
8. Inferno (1970)
Starring Jon Pertwee, Nicholas Courtney, Caroline John
'Inferno'. Photo: BBC
UNIT is providing security for Project Inferno, which is seeking to drill through the Earth’s crust to access pockets of gas discovered by its director Professor Stahlmann. Coming up the drill pipes is a type of slime which causes those who touch it to repress to primordial apelike beings who thrive on heat and turn violent. The Doctor is using the nuclear power at the project to try and get the TARDIS console working and in one experiment he finds himself transported to a parallel Earth. Here the UK is run by a fascist regime; the project is more advanced and succeeds in breaking through the crust.
Season 7 was arguably the most adult, in terms of themes, concepts and drama, that the series ever got. This tale could have been grimly compelling enough just on this planet, but sending the Doctor to a parallel universe ups the stakes. OK making the parallel counterparts Fascists isn’t the most original of ideas, but the cast rise to their counterparts – Courtney’s thuggish Brigade Leader is a bullying coward whilst Caroline John makes Section Leader Elizabeth Shaw’s journey from paid-up follower of the party line to someone more sympathetic credible.
Fear factor: The scenes as those in the parallel universe discover just what they have unleashed and their reactions to it are as good a piece of apocalyptic drama as anything that there ever has been on British television. The only let-down is the Primords, who are less than convincing.
Fun fact: During rehearsals for the scene in which the Brigade Leader reveals he has an eyepatch, practical joke fan Jon Pertwee arranged for every other actor to be wearing one too when actor Nicholas Courtney spun round.
7. City of Death (1979)
Starring Tom Baker, Lalla Ward
Tom Baker and Lalla Ward in 'City of Death'. Photo: BBC
The Doctor and Romana notice fractures in time whilst in Paris in 1979. These are being caused by experiments funded by Count Scarlioni, who is in fact part of Scaroth, last of the Jagaroth, who was splintered through time when his ship exploded on Earth 4 billion years ago. Another of his splinters, Captain Tancredi, is in Renaissance Italy making Leonardo da Vinci paint seven versions of the Mona Lisa; these Scarlioni will sell to collectors once he has stolen the version on display in The Louvre to fund the time experiments so that he can return in time and prevent his ship from exploding. Teaming up with private detective Duggan, the Doctor and Romana discover Scaroth's plan but are unable to stop him travelling back in time.
The programme's 17th season, with Douglas Adams in the script editor's chair and Tom Baker out of control in the lead, was the one of the funniest. For once a story set outside the UK is actually filmed there, the Parisian setting adding a Pink Panther-ish touch of glamour. It’s no surprise that this story is often cited as the one best to show non-fans as an example of how good the show can be. The John Cleese cameo certainly helps.
Fear factor: Ian Scoones' model work of the Jagaroth spaceship and the design of the one-eyed Scaroth are both at the more impressive end of the original series effects.
Fun fact: Episode 4 was the most-watched episode in the series, with 16.1 million viewers tuning in. Admittedly, ITV was on strike ...
6. The Deadly Assassin (1976)
Starring Tom Baker, Peter Pratt, Angus MacKay
The Deadly Assassin. Photo: BBC
En route to Gallifrey to attend the Presidential changeover, the Doctor has a premonition that the outgoing President as to be assassinated. On landing, the Doctor tries to shot the assassin. The gun has been tampered with, the President is killed, and the Doctor stands accused. The only way for him to avoid a precipitate execution is to stand for President against the presumed successor Chancellor Goth, and the period of grace this gives him enables him to discover that the Master is on Gallifrey and clearly in league with somebody on the planet.
Amid all the Gothic horror and wholesale plundering of films of the Hinchcliffe/Holmes era comes a political thriller with more than a touch of The Manchurian Candidate about it, and a dramatic reimagining of the Time Lords. No longer an awesome, all-powerful race, Robert Holmes casts them as a finicky, bureaucratic, fossilised lot – no wonder the Doctor wanted to get away from them. What really lifts this story to dizzying heights is the sudden swing as the end of episode 2, when the Doctor enters the Matrix and embarks on a surreal duel with Goth in a virtual world where willpower can cause reality to seemingly change. So much of the series’ later mythology – the various appurtenances of Rassilon, the Matrix and all it can do, the corruption of Time Lord society and the effects on them, comes from Robert Holmes’s ground-breaking, radical story.
Fear factor: Peter Pratt’s corpse-like incarnation of The Master is enough to put anyone off their supper.
Fun fact: The ending of episode three, with the Doctor’s head under water, had to be cut from the master tape after complaints, most notably by Mary Whitehouse.
5. The Empty Child/The Doctor Dances (2005)
Starring Christopher Eccleston, Billie Piper, John Barrowman, Richard Wilson, Florence Hoath
'The Empty Child/The Doctor Dances'. Photo: BBC
The Doctor and Rose chase a mysterious metal cylinder through the Time Vortex which lands in London in 1941. While searching for it the Doctor meets up with a girl called Nancy who leads a group of children who eat dinners left standing during air raids. Meanwhile Rose gets entangled in the ropes of a barrage balloon and drifts across London before being saved by a former Time Agent calling himself Captain Jack Harkness. Captain Jack is using the cylinder as part of a scam with the Doctor and Rose the intended targets. Wandering the streets of London is a boy in a gas mask who is repeatedly asking the question “Are you my mummy?” Nancy warns the Doctor he is an “empty child” and he seems to be the source of an infection through which people’s faces become combined with gas masks
This story saw the first appearance of Captain Jack and was the first written by Steven Moffat (excluding the 1998 Comic Relief spoof). It has been a trope since the series started that part of its aim is to scare, and if there were any doubts that its 21st century incarnation might not follow in this vein, this two-parter would have put them firmly to rest. Cannily using a night-time setting to add a layer of eeriness, the simple image of a boy in a gas mask asking a repeated question leads to a generally scary couple of episodes. It is another example of how in the right hands the seemingly mundane can be transformed by Doctor Who into something unsettling, and by the device of making him speak through a variety of media (including an external phone on the Tardis police box) it gives him a genuinely unsettling ability.
However there is more to this story than simple chills as Moffat gives it a number of layers as well. For the first time in this life the Doctor has something of a rival in Captain Jack, and their interaction adds something new to Eccleston’s portrayal (the lovely scene where he justifies his sonic device as compared with Jack’s is an example). Florence Hoath shines as the Faginesque Nancy and Richard Wilson may not be seen much but steals the show whenever he is on screen. Chilling, gripping and emotionally truthful, this two-parter was the crowning glory of the first series of the reborn show.
Fear factor: Steven Moffat is known for his ability to terrify and this story is no exception. The boy in the gas mask surely prompted ghoulish imitations up and down the land.
Fun fact: This was only the second time in the history of the series that the Doctor’s name was used in the story title (the first was Doctor Who and the Silurians in 1970).
4. The Caves of Androzani (1984)
Starring Peter Davison, Nicola Bryant, Christopher Gable, Robert Glenister
Peter Davison and Nicola Bryant in 'The Caves of Androzani'. Photo: BBC
Landing on Androzani Minor, the Doctor and Peri become caught up in the conflict between Trau Morgus and Sharaz Jek. They are captured by General Chellak, whose government-backed army is seeking to stop Jek and his android army, accused of being gun-runners and sentenced to execution. Later, having come into contact with a ball of the raw drug spectrox, the Doctor and Peri start to suffer from toxaemia.
The Peter Davison era of the programme had been generally solid rather than spectacular but this explosive finale saw it go out with a considerable bang. The Caves of Androzani is a tale of duplicity and revenge: Sharaz Jek may at first seem like a bad guy, but his actions are perfectly understandable given what had happened to him. He is an interesting, nuanced character, well played by former ballet dancer Christopher Gable.
Indeed, characterisation is a strong point, with hardly a dud turn from the major characters, and the outgoing Peter Davison, perhaps realising it is his last chance to shine, responds accordingly with his finest performance. However, what lifts this story into the stratosphere is Graeme Harper’s direction, a truly astonishing debut in the directorial chair which barely lets the tension slip.
Fear factor: Peter Davison’s swansong is a gruesome bloodbath in which only two characters survive. Strangely, it is the story’s two female characters who live to fight another day.
Fun fact: Robert Glenister who plays Salateen had previously starred as Peter Davison’s brother in the now-forgotten sitcom Sink or Swim.
3. Genesis of the Daleks (1975)
Starring Tom Baker, Elisabeth Sladen, Ian Marter, Michael Wisher
Tom Baker in the 'Genesis of the Daleks'. Photo: BBC
The Time Lords send the Doctor, Sarah and Harry to Skaro before the Daleks were created and charge the Doctor with preventing their development. On Skaro, the Kaleds and Thals have been at war for a millennium, and caught up in a Thal attack the Doctor and Harry are taken prisoner by the Kaleds whilst Sarah is lost in a no-man's-land. There, she witnesses the testing of a Dalek, before being captured by the Thals to work on their rocket. Later, the Doctor and Harry encounter the Kaleds' scientific corps, led by Davros, a crippled scientist artificially kept alive. Davros has developed the ultimate mutation of the Kaleds, removed humanising emotions and housed it in a “Mark III travel machine” which he christens a Dalek …
Having felt that Terry Nation's offering for the 1975 series was a retread of old ground, Terrance Dicks suggested that he explore the creation of the Daleks, and he hit the jackpot. You do wonder how much of the final version was Terry Nation and how much was script editor Robert Holmes, though, as there is a depth to this tale which hadn't been evident in Nation's work since his original tale in 1963. Take the Doctor and Davros's philosophical discussion about whether to release a killer virus and the Doctor's "have I the right" scene over whether to commit genocide on the early Daleks. It’s powerful, thought-provoking stuff.
Although Harry is made a bit redundant and some of Davros's rejected experiments aren't terribly convincing, these are only minor glitches in a gripping story which displays the brutality of war in a way rarely matched in the series. It also gives the Doctor only a partial victory, but there again he could hardly succeed and eliminate the Daleks from history, could he?
Fear factor: The creation of Davros adds new depth to Dalek history, and he is magnificently brought to life by Michael Wisher, aided by a superb piece of mask making by John Friedlander, definitely an unsung hero of Seventies Who. The planet Skaro is truly a place of nightmares, from the wastelands of no-man's-land to mutation-infested caves, and the planet is well brought to life by director David Maloney.
Fun fact: Guy Siner and Hilary Minster, who appear here on opposing sides, would go on to play German officers in ’Allo ’Allo. In fact, Siner’s character in this story has distinctly Nazi overtones.
2. Blink (2007)
Starring David Tennant, Carey Mulligan, Freema Agyeman
Carey Mulligan and Lucy Gaskell as Sally and Kathy in 'Blink'. Photo: BBC
Sally Sparrow enters an abandoned house looking for photographic ideas but discovers messages to her from the Doctor behind wallpaper. Returning with a friend the next day who disappears and finds herself in the Twenties. Sally receives a letter from her friend's grandson explaining what had happened to her and requesting that Sally tell her brother Larry why she has disappeared. When she reports it to the local police station, the detective also disappears and Sally then receives a call from him on his deathbed in hospital in 1969. Through a series of DVDs, Sally discovers a series of messages from the Doctor saying that the statues in the house are Weeping Angels who have transported him back to the past and want the Tardis for its potential power. Telling Sally not to blink when Angels are around, she suddenly realises there is an Angel in the room …
Blink is a simply astonishing story, yet amazingly due to the decision to have one "Doctor-lite" story each season, our hero is barely in it. Step forward a pre-Hollywood Carey Mulligan who excels as Sally Sparrow, the woman who circumstances have placed as the saviour of the day. The fact the viewer discovers what's going on at the same time as Sally allows a neat development of the compelling plot. Much as the performances are of good quality, and the story is beautifully directed by Hettie MacDonald. Quite rightly, Blink’s writer Steven Moffat received a Bafta for the episode.
Fear factor: Rarely have there been monsters with a time element to them, and having the Weeping Angles sending people into the past in order to feed off what might have been is a rather nightmarish one. However it is the fact that they appear as statues, and only move when you don't look at them that makes them such a memorable and impressive foe. Later stories featuring them lack the shock of the new which they have here.
Fun fact: When Sally’s friend Larry tries to keep the Angel at bay and not blink, Finlay Robertson, the actor playing him, actually blinks. It seems that this is an editing error.
1. The Talons of Weng-Chiang (1977)
Starring Tom Baker, Louise Jameson, John Bennett, Christopher Benjamin, Trevor Baxter
'The Talons of Weng-Chiang'. Photo: BBC
The Doctor and Leela arrive in Victorian London. There has been a spate of disappearances of young women around a music hall where the star is Li H'sen Chang, a Chinese magician assisted by Mr Sin, a ventriloquist's dummy. The Doctor allies himself with police pathologist Professor Lightfoot and Henry Gordon Jago, manager of the Palace Theatre. It turns out that Chang is in the service of Magnus Greel, a war criminal from the 51st century who fled in an experimental time capsule and landed in 1850s China. Green was left deformed and with a decaying body and the missing women have had their life essence drained to keep him alive. The Doctor finds Greel's lair, which the latter has abandoned, along with Chang. Chang escapes arrest by fleeing into the sewers, where he is mauled by a giant rat, one of Greel's experiments.
This was Philip Hinchcliffe's last story as producer, and the eighth and last to be directed by David Maloney (six of which made this top 50).
It also brings to an end the halcyon era of mid-Seventies Doctor Who which saw the plundering of ideas previously created in literature and film mixed with horror. The Victorian London visited by the Doctor and Leela is the one established in films and books, a fog-laden city populated by bluff policemen and the lower classes enjoying a night out at the music hall. The Doctor even dresses like Sherlock Holmes for the occasion, with Professor Litefoot clearly in the Doctor Watson mould (even his housekeeper is called Mrs Hudson!). The Basil Rathbone/Nigel Bruce films featuring the pair are a clear inspiration as are the Fu Manchu novels, the Whitechapel Murders and The Phantom of the Opera. It is a tribute to the skill of Robert Holmes that he is able to create something apparently so derivative yet make it fresh and appropriate for the world of Doctor Who. Add to this the top-notch characterisation and the sheer conviction displayed by all concerned and you get the headiest brew the series ever concocted. Pure class.
Fear factor: The giant rat is sadly less than convincing and the only weak point of this magnificent story. However, murderous dwarf Mr Sin is seriously sinister.
Fun fact: Tom Baker went on to play Sherlock Holmes in a 1982 adaptation of The Hound of the Baskervilles for the BBC. Ironically he is more convincing in The Talons of Weng Chiang.
Gavin Fuller was Mastermind's youngest-ever champion in 1993. His winning specialist subject was Doctor Who.
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