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.