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.

The Android Invasion

(Series 13, Episodes 13-16)

Summary: The Doctor and Sarah arrive in a village where they don’t like strangers.  So far, so cliché.  However, the Doctor gets suspicious when even Benton doesn’t seem to recognise him.  Turns out, a manned mission to Jupiter has gone awry and the Kraals are trying to take over the Earth (probably for the oak trees).  It pays to know whether or not your friends like drinking ginger beer, although I’ll be honest, I lost track of who was real towards the end.

Watch it because: Mr Benton, I have loved you well.  Enjoy that Chinese with your sister.  (Does she know your first name?)

Original Air Date: 22 November – 13 December 1975.

Doctor: Tom Baker.

Companions: Sarah Jane Smith (Elisabeth Sladen).

Writer: Terry Nation.

Director: Barry Letts.

Producer: Philip Hinchcliffe.

Pyramids of Mars

(Series 13, Episodes 9-12)

Summary: Sarah inherits Victoria’s dress, but thankfully not her screaming, and turns out to be an excellent shot.  The Doctor gets angsty about job satisfaction whilst battling busty mummies and makes a new buddy who gets benched and then killed.  The bottom fondling chair makes its infamous debut and although the plot doesn’t make a whole lot of sense if you think about it too hard, it does look great (though really, why is there a priest hole in a Victorian gothic folly?).

Watch it because: The gorgeous Egyptian imagery.

Original Air Date: 25 October – 15 November 1975.

Doctor: Tom Baker.

Companions: Sarah Jane Smith (Elisabeth Sladen).

Writer: “Stephen Harris” (Robert Homes & Lewis Greifer).

Director: Paddy Russell.

Producer: Philip Hinchcliffe.

Planet of Evil

(Series 13, Episodes 5-8)

Summary: At the edge of the universe, Doctor Who plays fast and loose with theoretical physics, as the Doctor and Sarah are menaced by a pencil scribble.  An investigative team in low-cut spacesuits with a penchant for orderly interrogations, arrive to rescue obsessive scientist Sorensen, only to find that anti-matter causes excess hair growth.  Commander Salamar must be terribly fit, what with all the conclusions he keeps jumping to, and the model work is excellent.

Watch it because: Reassuringly reasonable Vishinksy.

Original Air Date: 27 September – 18 October 1975.

Doctor: Tom Baker.

Companions: Sarah Jane Smith (Elisabeth Sladen).

Writer: Louis Marks.

Director: David Maloney.

Producer: Philip Hinchcliffe.

Terror of the Zygons

(Series 13, Episodes 1-4)

Summary: The Doctor & Co take a trip to the strangely flat Scottish Highlands, where there’s something a wee bit fishy in Loch Ness (which has alarmingly shrunk to the size of a small pond).  The imperialistic, sucker-suited Zygons want to take over the Earth, although they probably should have picked another planet as they need to melt the ice caps to make it habitable.  Lessons to take away from this episode: never leave a journalist investigating alone in the room with the secret door to your spaceship.  Also, you’ll never look at a nurse the same way again…

Watch it because: Goodbye Harry.  Fun while you lasted.

Original Air Date: 30 August – 20 September 1975.

Doctor: Tom Baker.

Companions: Sarah Jane Smith (Elisabeth Sladen) and Harry Sullivan (Ian Marter).

Writer: Gerry Davis.

Director: Michael E. Briant.

Producer: Philip Hinchcliffe.

Revenge of the Cybermen

(Series 12, Episodes 17-20)

Summary: Curiously, the Cybermen can be found here displaying the distinctly human need for revenge, in a story of Vogan infighting and the lust for gold.  The TARDIS crew discover that travel by time ring is not so reliable and deadly diseases can be cured by a transmat.  Essentially, everybody wants gold for one reason or another (just whose side is Kellman on?), but the Doctor manages to escape the buckle of doom and spoil the Cyber fun.

Watch it because: Harry the Buffoon.

Original Air Date: 19 April – 10 May 1975.

Doctor: Tom Baker.

Companions: Sarah Jane Smith (Elisabeth Sladen) and Harry Sullivan (Ian Marter).

Writer: Gerry Davis.

Director: Michael E. Briant.

Producer: Philip Hinchcliffe.

Genesis of the Daleks

(Series 12, Episodes 11-16)

Summary: The Time Lords hypocritically send the Doctor back into the history of Skaro to try and prevent the creation of the Daleks.  On Skaro, the Kaleds are jackbooted and sinister and even the Thals aren’t quite as nice as they were when they had hexagons in their trousers.  Sarah befriends a mutant, Harry continues to be posh and the Doctor is given fancy jewellery by the Time Lords, only to promptly lose it and spend the whole serial looking for it.  The story is creepy, atmospheric and multi-layered, the high point being the Doctor's mesmerising "Do I have the right?" speech.  In the end, Davros shoots himself in the foot (well, if he had a foot, he would have) and amoral sidekick Nyder gets his well-deserved comeuppance.

Watch it because: Davros Begins.

Original Air Date: 8 March – 12 April 1975.

Doctor: Tom Baker.

Companions: Sarah Jane Smith (Elisabeth Sladen) and Harry Sullivan (Ian Marter).

Writer: Terry Nation.

Director: David Maloney.

Producer: Philip Hinchcliffe.

The Sontaran Experiment

(Series 12, Episodes 9-10)

Summary: Interestingly, Earth devastated by solar flares looks an awful lot like Dartmoor, where some astronauts have gone native and are sharing the wilderness with a particularly nasty Sontaran, who implements some rather disturbing torture for a teatime show.  Sarah makes an interesting wardrobe choice and the Doctor misses several opportunities to whop Styre on the probic vent.  Styre has to be careful, though, to avoid Harry bally well knocking his head off.

Watch it because: Dartmoor National Park: Bringing atmosphere to stories since 1901.

Original Air Date: 22 February – 1 March 1975.

Doctor: Tom Baker.

Companions: Sarah Jane Smith (Elisabeth Sladen) and Harry Sullivan (Ian Marter).

Writer: Bob Baker and Dave Martin.

Director: Rodney Bennett.

Producer: Philip Hinchcliffe.

The Ark in Space

(Series 12, Episodes 5-8)

Summary: Harry ‘Sideburns’ Sullivan is posh and a tiny bit sexist, the Doctor starts a habit of offering jelly babies and Sarah gets stuck in a ventilation shaft.  It’s the 30^th century, solar flares have destroyed the Earth and people in green sleeping bags are menacing a colony ship, but it’s good to see humanity are still using microfilm to store records. The fashion, however, is spot on as everyone wears rather lovely white suits.  In other news, yet more newly-awoken bug eyed monsters try to re-claim the Earth.

Watch it because: Noah’s transformation of Shakespearean intensity.

Original Air Date: 25 January – 15 February 1975.

Doctor: Tom Baker.

Companions: Sarah Jane Smith (Elisabeth Sladen) and Harry Sullivan (Ian Marter).

Writer: Robert Holmes, from a story by John Lucarotti.

Director: Rodney Bennett.

Producer: Philip Hinchcliffe.

Robot

(Series 12, Episodes 1-4)

Summary: Tom Baker makes his debut in an episode featuring a robot with daddy issues.  The special effects department outdo themselves with bubble wrap on the camera lens, Benton is sergeant no longer and for some reason Sarah is dressed like a character from an Agatha Christie adaptation.  Dr Sullivan finally makes an appearance and is promptly kidnapped in the TARDIS in a throwback to the Doctor’s preferred method of acquiring human companions.

Watch it because: Debut of an iconic Doctor.

Original Air Date: 28 December 1974 – 18 January 1975.

Doctor: Tom Baker.

Companions: Sarah Jane Smith (Elisabeth Sladen) and Harry Sullivan (Ian Marter).

Writer: Terrence Dicks.

Director: Christopher Barry.

Producer: Barry Letts.

Planet of the Spiders

(Series 11, Episodes 21-26)

Summary: Yates atones for his sins in a Buddhist monastery with dissatisfied middle-aged men and some yellow-face Buddhist monks.  The Doctor receives a letter from Jo Grant and the blue crystal from Metebelis Three finally gets a call-back.  The villains of the piece are talking spiders and the Doctor has a touching reunion with his old hermit pal (he of the flowers on the mountain fame).  Unfortunately, returning the crystal burns the Doctor out…

Watch it because: “A tear, Sarah Jane?  No, don’t cry.  Where there’s life, there’s…”

Original Air Date: 4 May – 8 June 1974.

Doctor: Jon Pertwee.

Companions: Sarah Jane Smith (Elisabeth Sladen).

Writer: Robert Sloman.

Director: Barry Letts.

Producer: Barry Letts.

The Monster of Peladon

(Series 11, Episodes 15-20)

Summary: The Doctor pops back to visit his old pal King Peladon, but gets the date wrong by 50 years.  Alpha Centuri, who is essentially a one-eyed green cock in a curtain, is still hanging around, but there’s a Queen of Peladon now.  The Doctor cracks out his Venusian lullaby again, Sarah introduces women’s lib and the Ice Warriors battle miners with badger stripe dos.  Side note: beware a man in leather – he’s usually a villain.

Watch it because: Co-operation makes it happen!

Original Air Date: 23 March – 27 April 1974.

Doctor: Jon Pertwee.

Companions: Sarah Jane Smith (Elisabeth Sladen).

Writer: Brian Hayles.

Director: Lennie Mayne.

Producer: Barry Letts.

Death to the Daleks

(Series 11, Episodes 11-14)

Summary: The Doctor channels my grandfather in telling Sarah to “put some more clothes on” until a power failure and a space plague leads to an unlikely (unholy?) alliance between the Doctor, the Daleks and some future humans.  But those Daleks really are duplicitous bastards.  (They may have a new outfit Doctor, but that’s no reason to trust them).  The Doctor makes a crusty new friend who accompanies him on an Indiana Jones-style quest to the centre of the Exxilon city and Sarah pulls off a sneaky switcheroo with some bags of sand to save the day.

Watch it because: Bellal – the companion who never was.

Original Air Date: 23 February – 16 March 1974.

Doctor: Jon Pertwee.

Companions: Sarah Jane Smith (Elisabeth Sladen).

Writer: Terry Nation.

Director: Michael E. Briant.

Producer: Barry Letts.

Invasion of the Dinosaurs

(Series 11, Episodes 5-10)

Summary: Yates turns bad, Benton kicks ass and the Brigadier remains the Dana Scully of Doctor Who, as the show continues its 70s’ obsession with environmentalism.  A hostage situation is defused by the timely arrival of tea and Sarah continues to be awesome in the face of a convoluted plan involving nostalgic nutters and dinosaurs (clips straight outta Jurassic Park). 

Watch it because: Totally convincing dinosaur model work.

Original Air Date: 12 January – 16 February 1974.

Doctor: Jon Pertwee.

Companions: Sarah Jane Smith (Elisabeth Sladen).

Writer: Malcolm Hulke.

Director: Paddy Russell.

Producer: Barry Letts.

The Time Warrior

(Series 11, Episodes 1-4)

Summary: You have to admire Sarah’s determination to find a telephone despite the overwhelming evidence that she is, in fact, in the Middle Ages.  When she does finally accept this, she throws herself into the spirit of things with great gusto, as we meet our first Sontaran and the Doctor ensures that mankind does not discover muskets a few centuries too early.

Watch it because: “I’m a journalist.  Sarah Jane Smith.”

Original Air Date: 15 December 1973 – 5 January 1974.

Doctor: Jon Pertwee.

Companions: Sarah Jane Smith (Elisabeth Sladen).

Writer: Robert Holmes.

Director: Alan Bromley.

Producer: Barry Letts.

The Green Death

(Series 10, Episodes 19-24)

Summary: Alongside some fabulous green screen filming, Welsh stereotypes and whimsical computer BOSS, we meet Professor Cliff Jones (good at fungi – bad at proposals) and some pretty icky giant maggots.  The Doctor tries – and ultimately fails – to be a massive cock block, but has to say goodbye to Jo anyway.  Whilst it’s good to have Benton and Yates back, the real mystery is what exactly is up with the Brigadier’s hair.

Watch it because: There are no words to describe the scene below.

Original Air Date: 19 May – 23 June 1973.

Doctor: Jon Pertwee.

Companions: Jo Grant (Katy Manning).

Writer: Robert Sloman.

Director: Michael E. Briant.

Producer: Barry Letts.

Planet of the Daleks

(Series 10, Episodes 13-18)

Summary: Tell me, is that genuine Muppet fur?  Oh Tezza Nation, how we’ve missed your wacky Dalek hi-jinks.  Once again the Doctor finds himself uniting with the Thals against the Daleks and once again a Thal takes a liking to the Doctor’s companion.  No snogging this time, though.  The Daleks are trying to perfect invisibility but after a molten ice volcano (nope, don’t know either) destroys their fleet they are left shaking their fists (plungers?) at a departing TARDIS.

Watch it because: It’s a nice bit of continuity from the show’s earliest days.

Original Air Date: 7 April – 12 May 1973.

Doctor: Jon Pertwee.

Companions: Jo Grant (Katy Manning).

Writer: Terry Nation.

Director: David Maloney.

Producer: Barry Letts.

The Frontier in Space

(Series 10, Episodes 9-12)

Summary: Doctor Who meets Star Trek…with a little bit of Thunderbirds thrown in.  Draconia and Earth are teetering on the brink of war, provoked by that proverbial bad penny the Master, who’s employed the services of the Ogrons…or has he?  Jo digs herself out of a cell with a spoon and the Doctor twice forgets to tether himself during EVA.  And poor old Roger Delgado gets a very underwhelming exit.

Watch it because: The Draconians have some shit-hot prosthetics.

Original Air Date: 24 February – 31 March 1973.

Doctor: Jon Pertwee.

Companions: Jo Grant (Katy Manning).

Writer: Malcolm Hulke.

Director: Paul Bernard.

Producer: Barry Letts.

Carnival of Monsters

(Series 10, Episodes 5-8)

Summary: Groundhog Day on a 1920s ship.  It’s all a bit UKIP, with the pretentious, OCD-ridden inhabitants of Inter Minor refusing entry to immigrants.  Said immigrants are circus folk in crazy neon outfits, who have accidentally trapped the Doctor and Jo inside their miniscope with a bunch of slavering monsters, who are totally on the same bit of film.  Eventually, the attempts at sabotage are foiled and the Phase 2 switch is finally thrown.

Watch it because: It’s fun, if nothing else.

Original Air Date: 27 January – 17 February 1973.

Doctor: Jon Pertwee.

Companions: Jo Grant (Katy Manning).

Writer: Robert Holmes.

Director: Barry Letts.

Producer: Barry Letts.

The Three Doctors

(Series 10, Episodes 1-4)

Summary: Oh my giddy aunt, there are three of them!  The Time Lords are under attack and due to budget cuts and a personnel crisis, the only man they have available is the Doctor – all three incarnations.  Two and Three bicker constantly and are transported to the planet of the jelly beans, Jo comes up with her first Plan and One sorts them all out.  Whilst Benton is so very chill about TARDIS travel, the Brigadier, conversely, reaches unprecedented apoplexy levels.

Watch it because: “So you’re my replacements, are you?  A dandy and a clown.”  Who cares about the story, it’s just so good to have them back.

Original Air Date: 30 December 1972 – 20 January 1973.

Doctor: Jon Pertwee, Patrick Troughton and William Hartnell.

Companions: Jo Grant (Katy Manning).

Writer: Bob Baker & Dave Martin.

Director: Lennie Mayne.

Producer: Barry Letts.

The Time Monster

(Series 9, Episodes 21-26)

Summary: The Master rides in on his hovercraft and now he’s craving control over time itself, with the help of the Ancient Greeks.  He engages in a disturbing seduction of the Queen of Atlantis, whilst Jo shows some cleavage and Hippias shows a lot of thigh.  The Doctor gets all existential and merciful in his attempt to stop the Master but suffers an odd bout of Atlantis-related amnesia.  The Brigadier displays a touching concern for Yates, Dr Ingram’s trying to be a feminist but she hasn’t read the manual and Sergeant Benton becomes the butt of everyone’s joke.  Quite literally.

Watch it because:  Science!  With clipboards and labcoats and wires and tea cups!  Must have been fun making the props for this one…

Original Air Date: 20 May – 24 June 1972.

Doctor: Jon Pertwee.

Companions: Jo Grant (Katy Manning).

Writer: Robert Sloman.

Director: Paul Bernard.

Producer: Barry Letts.

The Mutants

(Series 9, Episodes 15-20)

Summary: The Time Lords continue to use the Doctor as their intergalactic yo-yo for freeing oppressed races.  This time it’s the people of Solos, who are being turned into insectoid mutants who like to hang out in psychedelic caves.  Or so it seems…  The Doctor invents an inside-outy machine whilst Jo teams up with a pair of guards-with-a-conscience and a local native.  Marshal Podgy McPorker is eventually defeated by Ky and his Technicolour Dream-Robes and everyone lives happily ever after.

Watch it because: Alas, poor Stubbsy – I knew him once.

Original Air Date: 8 April – 13 May 1972.

Doctor: Jon Pertwee.

Companions: Jo Grant (Katy Manning).

Writer: Bob Baker and Dave Martin.

Director: Christopher Barry.

Producer: Barry Letts.

The Sea Devils

(Series 9, Episodes 9-14)

Summary: The Doctor and Jo pay a visit to the Master in prison and soon become embroiled in his plot to make an alliance with the Silurians’ aquatic cousins, who really put the fish into fish net.  The prison commander has an unhealthy obsession with golf before meeting an untimely end and the Master is a fan of the Clangers, who appear to have provided the soundtrack.  Jo and Captain Hart make a nifty team, the Parliamentary Undersecretary is the worst person ever and the Doctor reverses the polarity of the neutron flow.

Watch it because: The impressive range of maritime getaway vehicles, including the Master’s audacious exit in a hovercraft.

Original Air Date: 26 February – 1 April 1972.

Doctor: Jon Pertwee.

Companions: Jo Grant (Katy Manning).

Writer: Malcolm Hulke.

Director: Michael E. Briant.

Producer: Barry Letts.

The Curse of Peladon

(Series 9, Episodes 5-8)

Summary: The Time Lords whisk the Doctor and Jo off to Peladon, to represent Earth at a conference on the admission of Peladon to the Galactic Federation.  Other delegates include two reformed Ice Warriors, the suspiciously Dalekian Arcturus and Alpha Centauri, who appears to have wandered in from a bad Cbeebies show.  King Peladon channels David Bowie, or, as Jo puts it, a wet fish, the Doctor practices his Venusian lullabies and Jo refuses to take anything lying down.  Oh, and apparently the Ice Warriors really dig bling-tastic travelling cases.

Watch it because: Plucky Princess Josephine.

Original Air Date: 29 January – 19 February 1972.

Doctor: Jon Pertwee.

Companions: Jo Grant (Katy Manning).

Writer: Brian Hayles.

Director: Lennie Mayne.

Producer: Barry Letts.

Day of the Daleks

(Series 9, Episodes 1-4)

Summary: “We’re back!”  The Daleks are not quite so obliterated as the Doctor had hoped, and now they’ve enlisted the jackbooted, grunting Ogrons to help them.  The Doctor becomes a wine and cheese connoisseur, Jo is gullible, Yates pulls ranks and the Brigadier shouts a lot whilst dealing with unreasonable diplomats.  Everyone gets stuck in a cyclical argument and you may want to count the Daleks…

Watch it because: The Blinovitch Limitation Effect.

Original Air Date: 1 – 22 January 1972.

Doctor: Jon Pertwee.

Companions: Jo Grant (Katy Manning).

Writer: Louis Marks.

Director: Paul Bernard.

Producer: Barry Letts.

The Daemons

(Series 8, Episodes 22-26)

Summary: Magic versus science in a Generic English Village, populated by a collection of rural stereotypes with accents from Yorkshire to Devon.  The Master goes all out with his tarts and vicars costume, Jo is frequently belittled and the Doctor designs a neutron flow polarity reversing machine.  Benton is courted by a plummy witch and the Brigadier suggests five rounds rapid might defeat a flatfooted gargoyle, but in the end it’s confusion that wins the day. The Master is clapped in irons and, in one of the more surreal conclusions to an episode of Doctor Who, everyone indulges in a spot of maypole dancing.

Watch it because: Yates and Benton the Double Act.

Original Air Date: 22 May – 19 June 1971.

Doctor: Jon Pertwee.

Companions: Jo Grant (Katy Manning).

Writer: Barry Letts & Robert Sloman.

Director: Christopher Barry.

Producer: Barry Letts.

Colony in Space

(Series 8, Episodes 16-21)

Summary: Doctor Who gets back to what it does best – quarries in Wales…er, sorry, alien planets.  It’s the 25^th Century, and sadistic commercialists in silly costumes are attempting to exploit a planet and scare off the humans trying to colonise it.  The natives aren’t happy about either party being there, but everyone’s plans are thwarted when a suspiciously motivated adjudicator arrives.  Jo explores different ways to be taken hostage, the Doctor shows off his mad combat skillz and everyone is a tiny bit Xenophobic.

Watch it because: Complex Caldwell.

Original Air Date: 10 April – 15 May 1971.

Doctor: Jon Pertwee.

Companions: Jo Grant (Katy Manning).

Writer: Malcolm Hulke.

Director: Michael E. Briant.

Producer: Barry Letts.

The Claws of Axos

(Series 8, Episodes 12-15)

Summary: The gold-plated/orange-tentacled Axons land in a leg of lamb and recruit the Master to help them take over the Earth.  Classic Who continues its obsession with cyclotrons and spectrographs, Yanks are courageous and Brits are pompous.  The Doctor and the Master bicker in a manner that can only fuel certain fanfiction writers, Jo is mostly imprisoned or screaming and the Brigadier gets snarkier by the minute.  School children take note: mental arithmetic can save your life.

Watch it because: The tragic fate of the overacting tramp.

Original Air Date: 13 March – 3 April 1971.

Doctor: Jon Pertwee.

Companions: Jo Grant (Katy Manning).

Writer: Bob Baker & Dave Martin.

Director: Michael Ferguson.

Producer: Barry Letts.

Available on DVD? Yes.

The Mind of Evil

(Series 8, Episodes 5-11)

Summary: Doctor Who meets Porridge, with a body count higher than the villages of Midsomer.  The Master cultivates his maniacal laugh, the Doctor battles a machine that feeds on evil and Jo’s main function is to Be Compassionate.  Poor old Sergeant Benton feels the sting of the Brigadier’s ever-so-slightly misogynistic sarcasm, whilst UNIT play fast and loose with missile security.  And the award for Most Enthusiastic Bit Part goes to Patrick Godfrey as Major Cosworth.

Watch it because: The Master’s worst fear is revealed…

Original Air Date: 30 January – 6 March 1971.

Doctor: Jon Pertwee.

Companions: Jo Grant (Katy Manning).

Writer: Don Houghton.

Director: Timothy Combe.

Producer: Barry Letts.

Available on DVD? Yes.

Terror of the Autons

(Series 8, Episodes 1-4)

Summary: “I am your master! You will obey me!”  Power trip, much?  Liz is put on a bus and we meet perky new assistant Jo Grant, who is somehow impossible not to like, despite her well-meaning blundering.  The Master’s in league with the Nestene Conciousness, so beware killer chairs, fake flowers and troll dolls.  I defy you not to wee yourself a little when the police officer turns around.

Watch it because: Everyone needs a nemesis…

Original Air Date: 2 – 23 January 1971.

Doctor: Jon Pertwee.

Companions: Jo Grant (Katy Manning).

Writer: Robert Holmes.

Director: Barry Letts.

Producer: Barry Letts.

Available on DVD? Yes.

Inferno

(Series 7, Episodes 19-25)

Summary: The Earth sicks up green goo that turns anyone who touches it into slathering zombie, the Doctor takes a trip to an Orwellian parallel universe of bad wigs and missing facial hair and everyone says penetration a lot.  In an episode all about a very big drill.

Watch it because: Parallel Eyepatch Brigadier is a gloriously shouty fascist.

Original Air Date: 9 May – 20 June 1970.

Doctor: Jon Pertwee.

Companions: Liz Shaw (Caroline John).

Writer: Don Houghton.

Director: Douglas Camfield.

Producer: Barry Letts.

Available on DVD? Yes.

The Ambassadors of Death

(Series 7, Episodes 12-18)

Summary: Doctor Who in 1970 was charmingly optimistic about manned space flight, launching rockets to Mars from Britain with the ease of setting off a firework.  Liz sits around doing nothing, the Doctor rocks a spacesuit, unapologetically bad villain Regan is chillingly ruthless for a teatime show and Ambassadors of Death turns out to be a somewhat misleading title.  And in case you’d forgotten what decade we’re in, there’s a prog rock soundtrack.

Watch it because: Joanna Ross – Control Room Assistant.  This is not just a control room assistant; this is an M&S control room assistant.

Original Air Date: 21 March – 2 May 1970.

Doctor: Jon Pertwee.

Companions: Liz Shaw (Caroline John).

Writer: David Whitaker.

Director: Michael Ferguson.

Producer: Barry Letts.

Available on DVD? Yes, although most of the original colour recordings were destroyed, so it flits between colour and black and white.

Doctor Who and the Silurians

(Series 7, Episodes 5-11)

Summary: Oh, Doctor Who, how far you’ve come: from wobbly cardboard sets to colour and extensive location filming with helicopters.  And yet, and yet, and yet.  Liz spends most of the story hanging around like a spare part, being patronised by men and hampered by her lady parts.  Officious shouty men take on aliens in frogsuits and lose their capacities when confronted by an exhibit from the Natural History Museum.  Amongst all the bellicosity, the Doctor attempts to play peacemaker.

Watch it because: The Doctor and the Brig’s newfound snarky bantz.

Original Air Date: 31 January – 14 March 1970.

Doctor: Jon Pertwee.

Companions: Liz Shaw (Caroline John).

Writer: Malcolm Hulke.

Director: Timothy Combe.

Producer: Barry Letts.

Available on DVD? Yes.

Spearhead from Space

(Series 7, Episodes 1-4)

Summary: Oh, my eyes – all this colour!  Exiled to Earth by the Time Lords, Jon Pertwee’s Third Doctor starts a trend in stealing clothes from hospitals and brings us Doctor Who’s very first steamy shower scene.  The newly minted Third Doctor is also a shoe fetishist and enjoys a good flirt with his eyebrows.  He’s got some competition from the Brigadier, though his flirting is conducted with a considerably stiffer upper lip.  The object of their amour is new companion Liz Shaw, a brilliantly sarcastic and sceptical scientist, brought in by UNIT to investigate some strange plastic meteorites that have fallen from the sky.  Life in plastic – it’s fantastic.

Watch it because: There’s always been something terrifying about shop window dummies…

Original Air Date: 3 – 24 January 1970.

Doctor: Jon Pertwee.

Companions: Liz Shaw (Caroline John).

Writer: Robert Holmes.

Director: Derek Martinus.

Producer: Derrick Sherwin.

Available on DVD? Yes.