“He’s like fire and ice and rage. He’s like the night, and the storm at the heart of the sun... He’s ancient and forever. He burns at the centre of time and he can see the turn of the universe... And he’s wonderful.” – from 'The Family of Blood'

'Doctor Who' is the longest-running science fiction television series in the world. From its humble beginnings on BBC1 on Saturday November 23rd, 1963, the show has appeared on television, radio, cinema, stage, books, comics, records, CDs, and even on the internet.

The series chronicles the adventures of the Doctor, an enigmatic Time Lord from the planet Gallifrey who has two hearts, a brilliant, if somewhat eccentric, mind, and an insatiable curiosity to explore the universe. Travelling in the TARDIS (Time and Relative Dimension in Space), a time-and-space machine that looks just like a battered old London Police Telephone Box, the Doctor and his host of loyal companions fight evil in all its monstrous shapes and forms – including the ruthless mutant Daleks in their armoured travel machines; the emotionless Cybermen from Earth's sister planet, Mondas; the Sontarans, a squat race of warrior clones; and the deadly Ice Warriors from Mars...

’Doctor Who’s appeal is its almost limitless scope for stories, as the Doctor’s amazing adventures take him across all of space and time. Another innovative concept is the Time Lord’s ability to regenerate into a completely different physical form when mortally injured, which enables the production team to recast the leading role with ease; to date, there have been eleven television incarnations of the Doctor, played by William Hartnell, Patrick Troughton, Jon Pertwee, Tom Baker, Peter Davison, Colin Baker, Sylvester McCoy, Paul McGann, Christopher Eccleston, David Tennant and Matt Smith; Peter Cushing played 'Dr Who' in two 1960s movies, Trevor Martin took on the role in a 1970s stage play, and there have been many other actors in countless spoofs and sketches shown across the years.

The ‘original’ series of ‘Doctor Who’ ran for twenty-six seasons of highly entertaining adventures, before the Seventh Doctor’s travels finally ended in 1989. But the show’s story didn’t end there: the Doctor’s travels continued in Virgin Book’s ‘New Adventures’; a TV Movie co-produced with America was shown in 1996, with Paul McGann taking over the title role as the Eighth Doctor; the BBC released the first of their ‘Doctor Who’ novels (which the Guinness Book of Records acknowledges as the longest running book series in the world); and Big Finish Productions began producing new audio adventures, which still continue to this day.

Then, in 2005, the BBC announced that ‘Doctor Who’ would return in a brand-new series, produced by one of television’s most successful and proficient writers, Russell T Davies, and starring Christopher Eccleston as the Ninth Doctor. The show was a massive success, and caused ‘Doctor Who’ to rocket back into the public’s hearts to become one of the BBC’s biggest flagship programmes. The show continued to go from strength to strength, and when actor David Tennant took over to title role, his portrayal of the Tenth Doctor was so popular that viewers voted him as the best Doctor ever!

As well as all that, ‘Doctor Who’ has also produced a number of spin-off series, featuring former companions of the Doctor: 'Torchwood', with Captain Jack Harkness and his team defending the Earth from their secret base in Cardiff; and 'The Sarah Jane Adventures', featuring reporter Sarah Jane Smith and her gang of young adventurers; filming is also underway in Australia on a new, non-BBC, series called 'K9', which is expected to air on Australia's Network Ten and UK digital channel Jetix/Disney XD in the autumn; it remains to be seen if this show is canonical - let's hope not, as so far, all trailers look terrible...

In the final moments of the last of four television specials, the Doctor regenerated into his Eleventh incarnation, as played by Matt Smith – and a new season of adventures will begin in Spring 2010…

The Stories:

'The Classic Series'

The First Doctor - Pre Season 1
The First Doctor - Seasons 1-4
The Second Doctor - Seasons 4-6a
The Third Doctor - Seasons 7-11
The Fourth Doctor - Seasons 12-18
The Fifth Doctor - Seasons 19-21
The Sixth Doctor - Seasons 21-23a
The Seventh Doctor - Seasons 24-26a
The Seventh Doctor - 'The New Adventures' Seasons 1-8
The Eighth Doctor - The Television Movie
The Eighth Doctor - Big Finish Audio Adventures Seasons 1-9
'The Eighth Doctor Adventures' - Seasons 1-9

'The New Series'

The Ninth Doctor - Season 27
The Tenth Doctor - Seasons 28-30 / Specials
The Eleventh Doctor - Season 31

Miscellaneous:

Future Doctor Stories
Miscellaneous Stories (Films, Stageplays, Alternate Doctors, Companions, etc.)
BBC VT Christmas Tape: 'Doctor Who - Edits of Evil'

'Torchwood' Episode Guide

'The Sarah Jane Adventures' Episode Guide

My visit to BBC Cardiff in June 2007...

Back to the Databanks Main Page -
where you'll find guides to some of the best cult and classic science fiction and telefantasy programmes ever transmitted!


(Key to Stories:)
Stories are grouped under each Doctor, and then listed in seasons. Stories that fall outside of established seasons have been grouped under amended season codes (eg 6a, 23a, etc.). Executive Producer / writer Russell T. Davies has stated that the new series began with 'Season 1' as shown on BBC paperwork; however, to avoid confusion, I am continuing with 'Season 27', so that this follows on from previous televised stories.

(Key to Eps:)
Denotes the number of episodes in a television or audio story.

(Key to Format:)
Describes the medium in which the story was originally presented, using the following descriptions:

BBC TX (All stories were originally shown on BBC1, and given a story code for internal reference) BBC Radio TX (BBC Radio transmission) BBC Webcast (Downloadable episode from the offical BBC website) BBC Record (Released originally on vinyl and cassette by Argo Records) ‘Big Finish Audio Adventures’ (Story released on CD by Big Finish Productions) ‘Out of the Darkness’ (Story anthology released on CD and cassette by BBC Audio) ‘Earth and Beyond’ (Story anthology released on CD and cassette by BBC Audio) Target Books (Novelisation released by Target Books) ‘Missing Adventures’ (Novel released by Virgin Books) ‘New Adventures’ (Novel released by Virgin Books) ‘Decalog’, ‘Decalog 2’, ‘Decalog 3’, ‘Decalog 5’ (Anthology released by Virgin Books) ‘Past Doctor Adventures’ (Novel released by BBC Books) ‘Eighth Doctor Adventures’ (Novel released by BBC Books) ‘Ninth Doctor Adventures’ (Novel released by BBC Books) ‘Tenth Doctor Adventures’ (Novel released by BBC Books) ‘Radio Times’ (Comic strip featured in ‘The Radio Times’ BBC Publication) ‘Short Stories’ (Anthology released by BBC Books) ‘More Short Stories’ (Anthology released by BBC Books) ‘Short Trips and Side Steps’ (Anthology released by BBC Books) ‘Short Trips...’ (Anthology released by Big Finish) ‘Bernice Summerfield Adventures’ (Novel released by Virgin Books / Big Finish Books) Stage Play (Theatrical production)

(Notes on Canon:)
Not included are unofficial or non-canon stories, such as the comic strips published in ‘TV21’, ‘TV Comic’, ‘Countdown’, ‘Doctor Who Weekly’, ‘Doctor Who Monthly’, ‘The Doctor Who Magazine’ and ‘The Incredible Hulk Presents’; the comic strips published in various annuals, yearbooks, storybooks and specials; the charity publications ‘Missing Pieces’, ‘Perfect Timing’ and ‘Perfect Timing 2’; 'Decalogs' 4-5; the first six ‘Bernice Summerfield’ Big Finish Audio releases (which are apocryphal in relation to the original books they dramatise); the Script Books that present BBC-rejected scripts; the many fan-produced videos, including ‘Wartime’, ‘P.R.o.B.e.’ and the ‘monster stories’ produced by BBV; the 'Faction Paradox' novels and audios; any and all fan-produced novels; and the ‘Downtime’ and ‘Shakedown’ video releases, (which are instead represented by the Virgin novels).

I have included the following as canon: the BBC radio plays 'Exploration Earth' and 'Slipback'; the webcast of 'Death Comes to Time' (even though it doesn't fit into continuity!); 'A Fix With Sontarans' (although viewed as non-canon, it is referred to in the 'Fixing a Hole' short story, which is canon); ‘The Pescatons’ released by Argo Records; the ‘Radio Times’ comic strips (because they were published in a BBC publication); the BBC Novel ‘Mission Impractical’ and the Big Finish Audios ‘The Holy Terror’, and 'The Maltese Penguin' (which all feature Frobisher - a character from the ‘Doctor Who Monthly’ comic strips which, despite not being canon, are still regarded as an important part of 'Doctor Who' mythos); the Big Finish Audio 'The Ratings War' (featuring Beep the Meep from the 'Doctor Who Weekly' comic strip 'Star Beast'); both 1960s Dalek movies; the stageplays 'Curse of the Daleks', 'Seven Keys to Doomsday', 'Recall U.N.I.T.'; and 'The Ultimate Adventure'; 'Disney Time' (which fits inbetween seasons 12 and 13); 'Search Out Science'; the Comic Relief parody 'The Curse of Fatal Death' (not canon, but noted anyway cos it's fun!); 'The Ultimate Adventure' stageplay (which, despite featuring the Third and Sixth Doctors - as well as a future incarnation - can't be called canon either!).

Canon is always a hotly-debated subject, and these distinctions are my own opinion, as are any comments made on this site!

Legal Bit: 'Doctor Who' is a registered trademark of BBC Worldwide. The 'Doctor Who' logo and all images from the television series are copyright BBC unless otherwise stated; no copyright infringement is intended. All specially created images and text are copyright © Clive Banks 2003 – 2010; please do not use these without my permission. All rights reserved. No profit is made from this website, and any revenue made from using the banner-links featured goes straight back into the costs of maintaining it, which comes out of my own pocket in the first place. No profit advertising is accepted. This website was created purely to entertain and amuse, and any references to persons living, dead, comatose, in suspended animation, regenerated, not born yet, or a figment of someone's imagination is purely coincidental. All opinions expressed are my own, so there...

You can buy DVDs, VHSs, books, toys and much more on 'Doctor Who', 'Torchwood' and other classic shows at:

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Other cool sites out there include:

The BBC's Official 'Doctor Who' website

Outpost Gallifrey's 'Doctor Who' News Page

doctorwhotoys.net

doctor-who-toys.com

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