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List of Doctor Who serials

Doctor Who is a British science fiction television programme produced by the BBC. As of 30 April 2011, 772 individual episodes, including one television movie of Doctor Who, have been aired, encompassing 214 stories. Additionally, four charity specials and two animated serials have been aired, and two short sequences—-"A Fix with Sontarans" and "Attack of the Graske"—-were produced and involved the interaction of a viewer; the former was a segment of Jim'll Fix It and latter was a fully-interactive adventure. The show's high episode count resulted in Doctor Who holding the world record for the highest number of episodes for a science-fiction programme. For comparison, the Guinness World Record holder for the highest number of consecutive episodes, Stargate SG-1, aired 214 episodes.

Each story in the original series (1963–1989) is a multi-episode serial, with two exceptions: the 1965 cutaway episode "Mission to the Unknown" and the 20th anniversary story The Five Doctors. The characters in the column after the serial titles indicate the code used by the production team to designate the serial, where applicable, and are followed either by the titles of the individual episodes where given or by the number of episodes otherwise. Unless otherwise noted, episodes in this period are 25 minutes long. During the early seasons of the programme most serials were linked together and one would usually lead directly into the next. Starting with the 2005 revival, the production team abandoned the traditional serial format for a largely self-contained episodic format with occasional multi-part stories and loose story arcs. Unless otherwise noted, the new episodes are 45 minutes long.

Additionally, some other subsets of serials and episodes exist. Some are unmade: they were proposed for a variety of reasons, some even reaching post-production, but not broadcast. Some episodes from the 1960s are missing due to the BBC's 1970s junking policy, and thus their serials are incomplete. In the first two seasons and most of the third, each episode of a serial had an individual title; no serial had an overall on-screen title until The Savages. The serial titles given below are the most common title for the serials as a whole, used in sources such as the Doctor Who Reference Guide and the BBC's classic episode guide, and are generally those used for commercial release. The practice of individually titled episodes resurfaced with the show's 2005 revival, when Doctor Who's serial nature was abandoned in favour of an episodic format.

The three-digit story numbers are not official designations but are merely to serve as a guide to where the story stands in the overall context of the programme. There is some dispute about, for example, whether to count Season 23's The Trial of a Time Lord as one or four serials, and whether the uncompleted Shada should be included. The numbering scheme used here reflects the current internal practice of describing "Planet of the Dead" (2009) as the 200th story, used in the official magazine's 407th issue. Other sources, such as the Region 1 DVDs of classic Doctor Who serials, use different numbering schemes which diverge after the 108th story, The Horns of Nimon (1979–1980).

First Doctor

The first incarnation of The Doctor was portrayed by William Hartnell. During Hartnell's tenure, the Doctor visited a mixture of stories set in the future and in historical events that had no extraterrestrial influence, such as fifteenth century Mesoamerica. In his last story, The Tenth Planet, the Doctor gradually grew weaker to the point of collapsing at the end of the fourth episode, leading to his regeneration.

Season 1 (1963–1964)

Verity Lambert was producer with David Whitaker serving as script editor.

Season 2 (1964–1965)

Dennis Spooner replaced David Whitaker as script editor after The Dalek Invasion of Earth, and edited the remainder of the season apart from The Time Meddler, which was edited by Donald Tosh.

Season 3 (1965–1966)

John Wiles replaced Verity Lambert as producer after Mission to the Unknown. Innes Lloyd, in turn, replaced Wiles after The Ark. Donald Tosh continued as script editor until The Massacre of St Bartholomew's Eve, which was also script-edited by his replacement, Gerry Davis. The practice of giving each individual episode a different title was abandoned after The Gunfighters, near the end of the season.

Season 4 (1966–67)

Second Doctor

The Second Doctor was portrayed by Patrick Troughton, whose serials were more action-oriented than those of his predecessor. He retained the role until the last episode of The War Games when members of the Doctor's race, the Time Lords, put him on trial for breaking the laws of time and forced him to regenerate.

Season 4 (1966–67) continued

Peter Bryant joined as associate producer for The Faceless Ones, and replaced Gerry Davis as script editor for the last four episodes of The Evil of the Daleks.

Season 5 (1967–68)

Victor Pemberton was script editor for The Tomb of the Cybermen, with Peter Bryant as producer. After this, Bryant resumed the role of script editor, with Innes Lloyd returning as producer, until The Web of Fear when Bryant took over from Lloyd as producer. Derrick Sherwin replaced Bryant as script editor at the same time.

Season 6 (1968–69)

Terrance Dicks took over from Derrick Sherwin as script editor from The Invasion, with Sherwin resuming the role for The Space Pirates. Derrick Sherwin took over as producer from Peter Bryant for The War Games.

Third Doctor

The Third Doctor was portrayed by Jon Pertwee. Sentenced to exile on Earth and forcibly regenerated at the end of The War Games, the Doctor spends his time working for UNIT. After The Three Doctors, the Time Lords repeal his exile; however, the Doctor still worked closely with UNIT from time to time. The Third Doctor regenerated into his fourth incarnation as a result of radiation poisoning in the last moments of Planet of the Spiders.

Season 7 (1970)

Barry Letts took over as producer from Derrick Sherwin after Spearhead from Space. From this season onwards the programme was produced in colour, although some episodes now exist only in black and white. To accommodate the new production methods the number of episodes in a season was cut: season 6 has 44 episodes; season 7 has 25 episodes. The seasons would continue to have between 20 and 26 episodes until season 22.

Season 8 (1971)

This season forms a loose arc with the introduction of the Master, the villain in each of the season's storylines, and introduces the companion Jo Grant.

Season 9 (1972)

Season 10 (1972–1973)

Season 11 (1973–74)

This season contains the last episode in which no copies currently exist in colour (Invasion of the Dinosaurs episode 1) and introduces the companion Sarah Jane Smith.

Fourth Doctor

The Fourth Doctor was portrayed by Tom Baker, and is to date the longest-serving Doctor, having held the role for seven seasons.

Season 12 (1974–75)

Barry Letts served as producer for Robot, after which he was succeeded by Philip Hinchcliffe. Robert Holmes took over from Terrance Dicks as script editor. All serials in this season continue directly one after the other, tracing one single problematic voyage of the TARDIS crew. Despite the continuity, each serial is considered its own standalone story.

Season 13 (1975–76)

Season 14 (1976–77)

Season 15 (1977–78)

Graham Williams took over as producer from Philip Hinchcliffe. Robert Holmes was replaced as script editor by Anthony Read, during The Sun Makers.

Season 16 (1978–79)

Douglas Adams took over as script editor from Anthony Read for The Armageddon Factor. Season 16 consists of one long story arc encompassing six separate, linked stories. This season is referred to by the umbrella title The Key to Time and has been released on DVD under this title.

Season 17 (1979–1980)

Season 18 (1980–81)

John Nathan-Turner replaced Graham Williams as producer. Barry Letts returned, as executive producer, for just this season. Christopher H. Bidmead replaced Douglas Adams as script editor. In a return to the format of early seasons, virtually all serials from Seasons 18 through 20 are linked together, often running directly into each other.

Season 18 forms a loose story arc dealing with the theme of entropy. Full Circle, State of Decay, and Warriors' Gate trace the Doctor's adventures in E-Space; they were released as VHS and DVDs set with the umbrella title The E-Space Trilogy.

Fifth Doctor

The Fifth Doctor was portrayed by Peter Davison.

Season 19 (1982)

Antony Root took over from Bidmead as script editor for Four to Doomsday and The Visitation, after which he was replaced by Eric Saward. The show moved from its traditional once-weekly Saturday broadcast to being broadcast twice-weekly primarily on Monday and Tuesday, although there were regional variations to the schedule.

Castrovalva, together with the previous two serials, The Keeper of Traken and Logopolis, form a trilogy involving the return of the Master. They were released on DVD under the banner title New Beginnings.

Season 20 (1983)

To commemorate the twentieth season, the stories in this season involve the return of previous villains. Mawdryn Undead, Terminus and Enlightenment involve the Black Guardian's plot to kill the Doctor; they were released individually on VHS as parts of The Black Guardian Trilogy. This season was broadcast twice weekly on Tuesday and Wednesday evenings on BBC1.

Special (1983)

Season 21 (1984)

Episodes were broadcast twice weekly on Thursday and Friday evenings, with 'Resurrection of the Daleks' broadcast on two consecutive Wednesday nights.

Sixth Doctor

The Sixth Doctor was portrayed by Colin Baker.

Season 21 (1984) continued

Season 22 (1985)

The series moved back to once-weekly Saturday broadcasts. All episodes were 45 minutes long, though they also exist in 25-minute versions. Although there were now only 13 episodes in the season, the total running time remained approximately the same as in previous seasons since the episodes were almost twice as long.

Season 23 (1986)

After an 18-month production hiatus, the series returned. Eric Saward was script editor up to part eight, when Nathan-Turner unofficially took over script editing the remainder of the season because of Saward's departure. The whole season is titled as The Trial of a Time Lord, and is split into four segments. The segments are commonly referred to by their working titles (listed below) but the season was broadcast as one fourteen-part story and the working titles did not appear on screen. Episode length returned to 25 minutes, but with only fourteen episodes in the season, making the total running time of this season (and subsequent seasons) just over half of the previous seasons, going back to season 7.

Seventh Doctor

The Seventh Doctor was portrayed by Sylvester McCoy.

Season 24 (1987)

Andrew Cartmel took over as script editor. This season is moved to a Monday schedule.

Season 25 (1988–1989)

The series is moved to Wednesdays.

Season 26 (1989)

The final season continued to push the series towards a darker approach, focusing this time more on Ace's personal life as well as The Doctor's past and manipulations. This season sets the tone for the Virgin New Adventures novels that follow.

Eighth Doctor

The Eighth Doctor was portrayed by Paul McGann. The movie is the only television appearance of this Doctor. The only production title held by this story was Doctor Who. However, producer Philip Segal later suggested Enemy Within as an alternative title. Lacking any other specific name, many fans have adopted this to refer to the movie. Fan groups have also used other informal titles. The DVD release is titled Doctor Who: The Movie.

Television movie (1996)

Ninth Doctor

In 2005, the BBC relaunched Doctor Who after a 16-year absence from episodic television, with Russell T Davies, Julie Gardner and Mal Young as executive producers, Phil Collinson as producer, and Christopher Eccleston taking the lead role of the Ninth Doctor.

The revival adheres to the original continuity. The new series is formatted to a 16:9 widescreen display ratio, and a standard episode length of 45 minutes. For the first time since the 1965–66 season, each episode has an individual title even though some stories span more than one episode. The show also returned to its traditional Saturday evening slot.

Series 1 (2005)

The 2005 series constitutes a loose story arc, dealing with the consequences of the Time War and the mysterious Bad Wolf.

Tenth Doctor

The Tenth Doctor was portrayed by David Tennant, who was cast before the first series aired. Mal Young vacated his position as Executive Producer when he departed the BBC after Series 1. He was not replaced in that capacity.

Specials (2005)

Series 2 (2006)

The back-story for the spin-off series Torchwood is "seeded" in various episodes in the 2006 series. Each episode also has an accompanying online TARDISODE.

Special (2006)

Series 3 (2007)

This series introduces Martha Jones and deals with the Face of Boe's final message, the mysterious Mr Saxon, and the Doctor dealing with the loss of Rose Tyler. Susie Liggat was the producer for "Human Nature" and "The Family of Blood," with Phil Collinson credited as executive producer for those episodes.

Specials (2007)

Series 4 (2008)

This series explores the coincidences binding the Doctor and Donna together. Susie Liggat was the producer for "Planet of the Ood," "The Sontaran Stratagem," "The Poison Sky," "The Unicorn and the Wasp" and "Turn Left," with Phil Collinson credited as executive producer for those episodes. Phil Collinson left the position of producer at the end of the series.

Specials (2008–2010)

Starting with "Planet of the Dead," all episodes were filmed in HD. For practical reasons, these specials continued to use Series 4 production codes.

Eleventh Doctor

The Eleventh Doctor is portrayed by Matt Smith. Steven Moffat took over as head writer and executive producer after Russell T Davies stepped down. Julie Gardner also stepped down as executive producer and was replaced by Piers Wenger. Beth Willis joined as executive producer.

Series 5 (2010)

Specials (2010–2011)

Series 6 (2011)

Series 6 premiered 23 April 2011 on BBC One in the United Kingdom, on BBC America in the United States and on Space Channel in Canada. Matt Smith, Karen Gillan and Arthur Darvill all reprise their roles.

The first seven episodes of the series will be broadcast in the spring and the final six in the autumn, with a mid-season finale.

Footnotes

References

Sources

External links

BBC Classic Series Episode Guide
Doctor Who Reference Guide - detailed descriptions of all televised episodes, plus spin-off audio, video, and literary works.
Doctor Who (1963–1989) at the Internet Movie Database
Doctor Who (1996) at the Internet Movie Database
Doctor Who (2005–) at the Internet Movie Database

Retrieved from : http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Doctor_Who_serials#Series_6_.282011.29

2011-05-06

A Good Man Goes to War