September 29, 2023

Gabbing Geek

Your online community for all things geeky.

Doctor Who

A time-traveling alien, with the power to assume a new body and personality with each incarnation, has adventures going back decades.  Yes, I went through The Simpsons and decided to give Doctor Who a try.  Let’s see how far I get in this show…

The First Doctor

William Hartnell was the First Doctor, when the show was largely meant to be educational or something along those lines.  He’s pompous and superior in a way that makes him the most interesting character on the show.

An Unearthly Child

  1. An Unearthly Child
  2. The Cave of Skulls
  3. Forrest of Fear
  4. The Firemaker

The Daleks

  1. The Dead Planet
  2. The Survivors
  3. The Escape
  4. The Ambush
  5. The Expedition
  6. The Rescue

The Edge of Destruction

  1. The Edge of Destruction
  2. The Brink of Disaster

The Keys of Marinus

  1. The Sea of Death
  2. The Velvet Web
  3. The Screaming Jungle
  4. The Snows of Terror
  5. Sentence of Death
  6. The Keys of Marinus

The Aztecs

  1. The Temple of Evil
  2. The Warriors of Death
  3. The Bride of Sacrifice
  4. The Day of Darkness

The Reign of Terror

  1. A Land of Fear
  2. Guests of Madame Guillotine
  3. A Change of Identity
  4. The Tyrant of France
  5. A Bargain of Necessity
  6. Prisoners of Conciergie

The Sensorites

  1. Strangers in Space
  2. The Unwilling Warriors
  3. Hidden Danger
  4. A Race Against Death
  5. Kidnap
  6. A Desperate Venture

Planet of Giants

  1. Planet of Giants
  2. Dangerous Journey
  3. Crisis

The Dalek Invasion of Earth

  1. World’s End
  2. The Daleks
  3. Day of Reckoning
  4. The End of Tomorrow
  5. The Waking Ally
  6. Flashpoint

The Rescue

  1. The Powerful Enemy
  2. Desperate Measures

The Romans

  1. The Slave Traders
  2. All Roads Lead to Rome
  3. Conspiracy
  4. Inferno

The Web Planet

  1. The Web Planet
  2. The Zarbi
  3. Escape to Danger
  4. Crater of Needles
  5. Invasion
  6. The Centre

The Space Museum

  1. The Space Museum
  2. The Dimensions of Time
  3. The Search
  4. The Final Phase

The Chase

  1. The Executioners
  2. The Death of Time
  3. Flight Through Eternity
  4. Journey into Terror
  5. The Death of Doctor Who 
  6. The Planet of Decision

The Time Meddler

  1. The Watcher
  2. The Meddling Monk
  3. A Battle of Wits
  4. Checkmate

Galaxy 4

  1. Four Hundred Dawns
  2. Trap of Steel
  3. Air Lock
  4. The Exploding Planet

Mission to the Unknown (one part recreation)

The Ark

  1. The Steel Sky
  2. The Plague
  3. The Return 
  4. The Bomb

The Gunfighters

  1. A Holiday for the Doctor
  2. Don’t Shoot the Pianist
  3. Johnny Ringo
  4. The OK Corral

The War Machines

The Second Doctor

Patrick Troughton took over the role of the Doctor in 1966, leading to a different version of the character than had been played by William Hartnell.  This Doctor was more childishly comical, but much smarter than he lets on when he needed to be.  Troughton arguably was the most important Doctor in the show’s history as his work made the concept of recasting the Doctor every so many years plausible.

The Power of the Daleks

The Underwater Menace

The Moonbase

The Macra Terror (animated)

The Faceless Ones

The Evil of the Daleks (animated)

The Tomb of the Cybermen

The Abominable Snowmen (animated)

The Ice Warriors

The Enemy of the World

The Web of Fear

Fury from the Deep

The Wheel in Space

The Dominators

The Mind Robber

The Invasion

The Krotons

The Seeds of Death

The War Games

Big Finish Second Doctor Companion Chronicles

The Third Doctor

Jon Pertwee’s time as the Doctor caused some drastic changes.  The show shifted to color, produced less episodes per season, largely kept the Doctor stuck on Earth as an associate adviser to UNIT to save some money, and took on a more action-adventure theme over the broader comedy of the Second Doctor’s era.

Spearhead from Space

Doctor Who and the Silurians

The Ambassadors of Death

Inferno

Terror of the Autons

The Mind of Evil

The Claws of Axos

Colony in Space

The Daemons

Day of the Daleks

The Curse of Peladon

The Sea Devils

The Mutants

The Time Monster

The Three Doctors

Carnival of Monsters

Frontier in Space

Planet of the Daleks

The Green Death

The Time Warrior

Invasion of the Dinosaurs

Death to the Daleks

The Monster of Peladon

Planet of the Spiders

Heralds of Destruction (comic)

The Rise of the New Humans (Big Finish)

The Tyrants of Logic (Big Finish)

 

The Fourth Doctor

The Fourth Doctor is probably the guy everybody who isn’t a big fan of the show pictures if they have any idea what the Doctor looks like.  Really long scarf, floppy hat, mass of curly hair, all on a tall dude.  Yeah, that’s Tom Baker’s longest-running Doctor.

Robot

The Ark in Space

The Sontaran Experiment

Genesis of the Daleks

Revenge of the Cybermen

Terror of the Zygons

Planet of Evil

Pyramids of Mars

The Android Invasion

The Brain of Morbius

The Seeds of Doom

The Masque of Mandragora

The Hand of Fear

The Deadly Assassin

The Face of Evil

The Robots of Death

The Talons of Weng-Chiang

Horror of Fang Rock

The Invisible Enemy

Image of the Fendahl

The Sun Makers

Underworld

The Invasion of Time

The Ribos Operation

The Pirate Planet

The Stones of Blood

The Androids of Tara

The Power of Kroll

The Armageddon Factor

Destiny of the Daleks

City of Death

The Creature from the Pit

Nightmare of Eden

The Horns of Nimon

The Leisure Hive

Meglos

Full Circle

State of Decay

Warriors’ Gate

The Keeper of Traken

Logopolis

The Renaissance Man (Big Finish Audio Drama)

The Trouble with Drax (Big Finish)

Wave of Destruction (Big Finish)

The Gaze of the Medusa (comic)

Doctor Who Classics (comics)

The Fifth Doctor

Fifth Doctor Peter Davison was the youngest Doctor at the time he was cast, and the first who was already a well-known TV actor.  His Doctor comes across as basically a nice young man with some upper class manners.

Castrovalva

Four to Doomsday

Kinda

The Visitation

Black Orchid

Earthshock

Time-Flight

Arc of Infinity

Snakedance

Mawdryn Undead

Terminus

Enlgihtenment

The King’s Demons

The Five Doctors

Warriors of the Deep

The Awakening

Frontios

Resurrection of the Daleks

Planet of Fire

The Caves of Androzani

Psychodrome (Big Finish)

Iterations of I (Big Finish)

The Sixth Doctor

Colin Baker’s Sixth Doctor was probably the opposite of his immediate predecessor in every way possible.  Vain, arrogant even by the standards of the Doctor, and a know-it-all, this Doctor may have been one of the least popular when he first appeared, and his tenure was among the shortest, but Baker never gave it less than his all and it shows.  If only his stories were better written…

The Twin Dilemma

Attack of the Cybermen

Vengeance on Varos

The Mark of the Rani

The Two Doctors

Timelash

Revelation of the Daleks

The Trial of a Time Lord

Power Play (Big Finish audio play)

Quicksilver (Big Finish)

The Sixth Doctor and Peri (Big Finish)

Doctor Who Classics (comics)

The Seventh Doctor

At the end of the original run, Sylvester McCoy took on the role of the Doctor, here a character who was alternately a bit silly or very Machiavellian.  Or sometimes both at once.

Time and the Rani

Paradise Towers

Delta and the Bannermen

Dragonfire

Remembrance of the Daleks

The Happiness Patrol

Silver Nemesis

The Greatest Show in the Galaxy

Battlefield

Ghost Light

The Curse of Fenric

Survival

Operation Volcano (comic)

The Two Masters (Big Finish Audio)

Doctor Who Classics (Comics)

The Eighth Doctor

Eighth Doctor Paul McGann made one TV movie, but thanks to Big Finish, is actually the longest running Doctor.

The Legacy of Time

This was a Big Finish anthology, told with multiple Doctors over multiple stories, but it started with Paul McGann’s Eighth, so I am listing it here.

 

The Ninth Doctor

Christopher Eccleston’s run as the Ninth Doctor may have been cut short due to behind-the-scenes drama and other issues, but he did help revive the popular franchise for a modern era.

The Tenth Doctor

Would the new Doctor Who have taken off the way it did without fan-favorite Tenth Doctor David Tennant stepping into the role?  I don’t know.  He’s the only actor to really rival Tom Baker in terms of popularity when it comes to actors who’ve played the Doctor, and he’s a big time fan himself, so that helped.

The Eleventh Doctor

Matt Smith, to date the youngest actor to play the role, is often seen as playing the character as an eccentric old man in a young man’s body.  And as he will tell you, bowties are cool.

And here was a special something for the show’s 50th anniversary.

An Adventure in Space and Time (plus The Five(ish) Doctors Reboot)

 

The Twelfth Doctor

After one of the younger-looking Doctors, an older one appeared in the form of Peter Capaldi, who initially seems to be a cranky Scotsman who saves the day without any sort of people skills whatsoever.

The Lost Dimension

A pair of comics trades that features all the Doctors up until that time, though most of the focus was on the Ninth, Tenth, Eleventh, and Twelfth.

The Thirteenth Doctor

After years of being a man, the Doctor returned in the form of Jodie Whittaker’s Thirteenth Doctor, a fast-talking, socially awkward woman who just enjoys discovery, staying light even as the series seems to get darker.

Torchwood

Modern Doctor Who managed to get a spin-off or two, the first of which was Torchwood.  Set in Cardiff, Wales, it followed the adventures of Captain Jack Harkness, the immortal con man, as he and his crew worked to keep an eye on the Cardiff Rift and retrieve alien artifacts before they could cause trouble.  A more adult show set in the Doctor Who Universe, it had a lot more sex, profanity, and violence.

Series One

  1. Everything Changes
  2. Day One
  3. Ghost Machine
  4. Cyberwoman
  5. Small Worlds
  6. Countrycide
  7. Greeks Bearing Gifts
  8. They Keep KIlling Susie
  9. Random Shoes
  10. Out of Time
  11. Combat
  12. Captain Jack Harkness
  13. End of Days

Series Two

  1. Kiss Kiss, Bang Bang
  2. Sleeper
  3. To the Last Man
  4. Meat
  5. Adam
  6. Reset
  7. Dead Man Walking
  8. A Day in the Death
  9. Something Borrowed
  10. From Out of the Rain
  11. Adrift
  12. Fragments
  13. Exit Wounds

Children of Earth

Miracle Day

  1. The New World
  2. Rendition
  3. Dead of Night
  4. Escape to L.A.
  5. The Categories of Life
  6. The Middle Men
  7. Immortal Sins
  8. End of the Road
  9. The Gathering
  10. The Blood Line

The Sarah Jane Adventures

And then on the opposite end of the spectrum from Torchwood was another spin-off series, this one a rather charming show aimed at a much younger audience featuring fan favorite Classic Doctor Who companion Sarah Jane Smith as she protects people from alien threats with the help of neighborhood kids.

Series One

  1. Invasion of the Bane
  2. Revenge of the Slitheen Part 1
  3. Revenge of the Slitheen Part 2
  4. Eye of the Gorgon Part 1
  5. Eye of the Gorgon Part 2
  6. Warriors of Kudlak Part 1
  7. Warriors of Kudlak Part 2
  8. Whatever Happened to Sarah Jane? Part 1
  9. Whatever Happened to Sarah Jane? Part 2
  10. The Lost Boy Part 1
  11. The Lost Boy Part 2

Series Two

  1. The Last Sontaran Part 1
  2. The Last Sontaran Part 2
  3. The Day of the Clown Part 1
  4. The Day of the Clown Part 2
  5. Secrets of the Stars Part 1
  6. Secrets of the Stars Part 2
  7. The Mark of the Berserker Part 1
  8. The Mark of the Berserker Part 2
  9. The Temptation of Sarah Jane Smith Part 1
  10. The Temptation of Sarah Jane Smith Part 2
  11. Enemy of the Bane Part 1
  12. Enemy of the Bane Part 2

Series Three

  1. Prisoner of the Judoon Part 1
  2. Prisoner of the Judoon Part 2
  3. The Mad Woman in the Attic Part 1
  4. The Mad Woman in the Attic Part 2
  5. The Wedding of Sarah Jane Smith Part 1
  6. The Wedding of Sarah Jane Smith Part 2
  7. The Eternity Trap Part 1
  8. The Eternity Trap Part 2
  9. Mona Lisa’s Revenge Part 1
  10. Mona Lisa’s Revenge Part 2
  11. The Gift Part 1
  12. The Gift Part 2

Series Four

  1. The Nightmare Man Part 1
  2. The Nightmare Man Part 2
  3. The Vault of Secrets Part 1
  4. The Vault of Secrets Part 2
  5. Death of the Doctor Part 1
  6. Death of the Doctor Part 2
  7. The Empty Planet Part 1
  8. The Empty Planet Part 2
  9. Lost in Time Part 1
  10. Lost in Time Part 2
  11. Goodbye, Sarah Jane Smith Part 1
  12. Goodbye, Sarah Jane Smith Part 2

Series Five

  1. Sky Part 1
  2. Sky Part 2
  3. The Curse of Clyde Langer Part 1
  4. The Curse of Clyde Langer Part 2
  5. The Man Who Never Was Part 1
  6. The Man Who Never Was Part 2

Missy

Big Finish did a few audio plays about Missy, the Master in her female incarnation, and the delightful Michelle Gomez is along for the ride.

The War Master

Derek Jacobi played the Master very briefly on the TV show, but Big Finish got him in as the Master for the Time War, AKA the War Master.

 

The Diary of River Song

Hey, Big Finish did some stuff with the Doctor’s wife River Song, too.

 

Class

The Peter Capaldi-era also had a spin-off of its own, the short-lived Class.  Here, a group of students and one reluctant teacher watch over a space-time rift in their school.  Too mature for families and not mature enough for an adults-only audience, this one was an eight-episode oddity that was actually a pretty good piece of entertainment despite the short shelf life.

  1. For Tonight We Must Die
  2. The Coach with the Dragon Tattoo
  3. Nightvisiting
  4. Co-Owner of a Lonely Heart
  5. Brave-ish Heart
  6. Detained
  7. The Metaphysical Engine, or What Quill Did
  8. The Lost

K9

Yeah, K9 the dog got some time on his own.  One was a pilot for a promising-looking enough show that never went beyond that first episode, and the other is a barely-related Australian kids show that I only covered because I didn’t want to run out too quickly with the Thirteenth Doctor.

K9

  1. Regeneration
  2. Liberation
  3. The Korven
  4. The Bounty Hunter
  5. Sirens of Ceres
  6. Fear Itself
  7. The Fall of the House of Gryffen
  8. Jaws of Orthrus
  9. Dream-Eaters
  10. Curse of Anubis
  11. Oroborus
  12. Alien Avatar
  13. Aeolian
  14. The Last Oak Tree
  15. Black Hunger
  16. The Cambridge Spy
  17. Lost Library of Ukko
  18. Mutant Copper
  19. The Custodians
  20. Taphony and the Time Loop
  21. Robot Gladiators
  22. Mind Snap
  23. Angel of the North
  24. The Last Precinct
  25. Hound of the Korven
  26. The Eclipse of the Korven

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