The Robots of Death

(Series 14, Episodes 17-20)

Summary: What a box of treats!  Creepy blank face robots with red eye, fabulous outfits and eyeliner, and deliciously bitchy dialogue.  Although Leela fails the ‘don’t let him out of your sight’ test, she and the Doctor help solve a murder mystery inside a big drilling machine a la And Then There Were None, with a dash of robophobia and robophilia dolloped on top.

Watch it because: Weirdly lovable D84.

Original Air Date: 29 January – 19 February 1977.

Doctor: Tom Baker.

Companions: Leela (Louise Jameson)

Writer: Chris Boucher.

Director: Michael E. Briant.

Producer: Philip Hinchcliffe.

The Face of Evil

(Series 14, Episodes 13-16)

Summary: The Doctor lands in a jungle and encounters the Sevateem, a tribe who make innovative use of space junk, show a lot of thigh and seem to think he’s the Evil One who has imprisoned their God Xoanon.  There’s a North by Northwest moment with Tom Baker’s giant face and a crazy computer is defeated by a meltdown.  As the dust settles, Leela forces her way into the Tardis and presses something she shouldn’t…

Watch it because: “They say the evil one eats babies!”

Original Air Date: 1 – 22 January 1977.

Doctor: Tom Baker.

Companions: Leela (Louise Jameson)

Writer: Chris Boucher.

Director: Pennant Roberts.

Producer: Philip Hinchcliffe.

The Deadly Assassin

(Series 14, Episodes 9-12)

Summary: The Doctor arrives on Gallifrey just in time to witness the assassination of the retiring President and find himself framed for the crime.  He enlists the support of two friendly officials to help him investigate, though I have to confess I didn’t really know what was going on for a long period in the middle which seemed to be channelling a movie about the Vietnam War.  Anyway, it turns out that old dastardly Master is behind it all.  (Personally, I preferred the goatee to the new crusty look.)

Watch it because: Further Gallifreyan mythology is revealed.

Original Air Date: 30 October – 20 November 1976.

Doctor: Tom Baker.

Companions: None, for the first time!

Writer: Robert Holmes.

Director: David Maloney.

Producer: Philip Hinchcliffe.

The Hand of Fear

(Series 14, Episodes 5-8)

Summary: Nutjob Eldrad is sentenced to obliteration but their hand ends up in a quarry on Earth, where it is found 150 million years later by one Sarah Jane Smith.  After absorbing radiation from a nuclear power plant, Eldrad regenerates into an androgynous bejewelled trickster who wins the Doctor’s sympathy.  The Doctor is sorely disappointed when he returns Eldrad to Kastria and they promptly morph into a lumpy, ranting man, so he concocts a cunning plan involving his scarf.  Sarah gets inexplicably narky with the Doctor and then regrets it when he gets a call from the Time Lords…

Watch it because: Until we meet again, Sarah.

Original Air Date: 2 – 23 October 1976.

Doctor: Tom Baker.

Companions: Sarah Jane Smith (Elisabeth Sladen).

Writer: Bob Baker & Dave Martin.

Director: Lennie Mayne.

Producer: Philip Hinchcliffe.

The Masque of Mandragora

(Series 14, Episodes 1-4)

Summary: After giving Sarah a tour of the TARDIS, the Doctor follows the trippy Mandragora helix all the way back to Italy in the dark ages, where he encounters bromantic couple Giuilano and Marco who are embroiled in a Hamlet-esque tussle over the Dukedom of San Martino.  Science takes on superstition as a ball of light tries to take over the world.  Amid sacrifices, sword-fighting, catacombs and cults, the Doctor saves the day with a cheeky bit of impersonation.

Watch it because: The reveal at the masque…

Original Air Date: 4 – 25 September 1976.

Doctor: Tom Baker.

Companions: Sarah Jane Smith (Elisabeth Sladen).

Writer: Louis Marks.

Director: Rodney Bennett.

Producer: Philip Hinchcliffe.

The Seeds of Doom

(Series 13, Episodes 21-26)

Summary: Not to be confused with The Seeds of Death; these are seeds of doooooom, where Doctor Who meets Tarantino and people are minced alive into compost. Crazy botanist Chase, a composer who just wants to be a plant (he would’ve enjoyed Dance and Movement at my primary school), really doesn’t like bonsai.  The Doctor and Sarah turn into a crack hand-to-hand combat team, UNIT-lite turns up and people pop back and forth from Antarctica as if they’re just nipping to the shops.

Watch it because: An impressively fiery finale.

Original Air Date: 31 January – 6 March 1976.

Doctor: Tom Baker.

Companions: Sarah Jane Smith (Elisabeth Sladen).

Writer: Robert Banks Stewart.

Director: Douglas Camfield.

Producer: Philip Hinchcliffe.

The Brain of Morbius

(Series 13, Episodes 17-20)

Summary: Hands down, creepiest and most disturbing episode of Doctor Who yet, where the law of goatees = evil is proved yet again.  The Sisterhood of Karn are bitches to begin with, but they come through in the end.  Sarah gets a new admirer who meets a grizzly end, the Doctor’s head is widely fondled and admired and deranged Time Lord Morbius really doesn’t care what his new body looks like (is that a Macra claw?).  Beware green wine…

Watch it because: Oops, your brain slipped…

Original Air Date: 3 – 24 January 1976.

Doctor: Tom Baker.

Companions: Sarah Jane Smith (Elisabeth Sladen).

Writer: “Robin Bland” (Terrance Dicks & Robert Holmes).

Director: Christopher Barry.

Producer: Philip Hinchcliffe.