Doctor Who At 60 Review – The Whoniverse

For the final part of my trilogy celebrating the 60th anniversary of Doctor Who – following on from my reviews of the specials and radio shows – I’m diving into The Whoniverse on BBC iPlayer.

This treasure trove of televised time-travelling treats came as quite the surprise when it was launched by the BBC at the beginning of November. At its heart are over 800 episodes from the series, accompanied by several spin-offs, documentaries, other programmes and accessibility features, all for free (well, with no subscription required on top of your TV licence anyway).

So there’s a lot on offer, and I hope you enjoy my trawl through the various special programmes I’ve been watching. As always, none of this is sponsored by or affiliated with the BBC or anyone else connected with Doctor Who, and all opinions are my own.

Contents

Initial Thoughts

It’s incredible that so much of the Doctor Who franchise has finally been brought together in one place like this, it’s long overdue. Sure, there are plenty of things missing, including some episodes from the Classic era that are lost or can’t be licensed, and a myriad of other possible goodies, so it can never be totally and utterly complete. But what we have got is still a substantial selection that we can be extremely grateful for. And the fact that it’s constantly growing is very exciting. There will undoubtedly be periods when nothing new is added for a little while, but hopefully we’ll continue to get some new stuff every so often, particularly around the launch of a new series or specials, or just whenever they feel like it.

I also love the fact that audio description (AD), subtitles and sign language have been added for the main episodes and the various spin-off series. The extra features have subtitles too, and some even have AD as well. It’s wonderful that they’ve put so much effort into the accessibility of the show, especially as they haven’t done so with all of the Blu-ray releases. AD was available from Series 1 on the DVDs (plus audio navigation from Series 2), but those features only started from Series 6 on the Blu-rays for some reason (although I am aware that the new box set of Series 1-4 & the Specials does now restore AD for the 9th & 10th Doctors). All the releases have subtitles of course.

The layout of the Whoniverse collection on iPlayer isn’t perfectly logical, with the 60th anniversary material, spin-offs, documentaries, concerts, etc jumbled up a little bit, although it has improved slightly in the weeks since its launch. It would be nice if they had subsections for the different categories of programmes really, as that might make it a bit tidier. At the moment you have to look through the whole list to find what you want, and you can’t easily spot if something new has been posted, as it just gets bundled in amongst everything else. Therefore if they keep adding stuff, it could get very messy if they’re not careful.

It was also a surprise to learn that the 2023 specials onwards have been designated as a new third era of the show, with the numbering being reset to Season 1 for Ncuti Gatwa’s debut series, as confirmed by the title of the new teaser trailer. This has mainly been done to satisfy Disney+, who are investing a lot in the show in return for the global streaming rights – but only for the new episodes going forward, so presumably they don’t want to confuse or alienate their customers by starting at Series 14. Yet to UK viewers like myself, it does confuse things a bit, especially as the 60th anniversary specials directly link back to Series 4, as well as containing many other references to the show’s history.

On the other hand, the specials have actually made it feel like we’re entering a major new era of the show, with the return of Russell T Davies and other key personnel, the more ambitious stories and effects that have resulted from the clearly increased budget, the greater awareness of diversity and inclusion, and the happy ending they gave to David Tennant’s 14th Doctor that allowed the character to feel emotionally refreshed with Ncuti’s debut.

So while I would rather see it continue from Series 14 for consistency, I can live with it if the numbering is reset. Certainly Ncuti Gatwa’s series will be a perfect jumping on point for newbies, and the 60th anniversary specials preceding it will give them a good taste of the show’s history. Hopefully all of that will tempt them to find ways of watching the earlier series of New Who from 2005 onwards (which I highly recommend and have started posting reviews for, as they still hold up extremely well), and also the Classic era before that (which I only have minimal experience with but would like to see more of).

In any case, irrespective of how things are numbered or arranged, I am truly thrilled that so much material is being provided for free in this way. The Whoniverse really is Tardis-like, with a seemingly endless variety of exciting treasures to be found, and great possibilities for the future, so it’s well worth digging into it.

60th Anniversary Documentaries

Doctor Who Unleashed

This new series, which has audio description available, takes us behind the scenes of every new episode of Doctor Who, rather like Doctor Who: Confidential did from 2005-2011. It begins with a 10-minute special for the Children In Need sketch, and then there are half-hour episodes relating to each of the 60th anniversary specials – which are included in full in the Blu-ray release, making a nice change from the cut-down edits of Confidential we used to get. It’ll be interesting to see if we still get the full editions for Ncuti Gatwa’s first series though.

Hosted by Steffan Powell, these episodes are fun and interesting, with lots of interviews and making of material. He also gets to have a bit of work experience in each episode, by trying out the jobs of various members of the crew who we don’t normally get to meet, and I do appreciate their very clear spoiler warnings when they’re about to show previews of the next episode. So I’m very glad we’ve got a series like this again, as it’s only right for the people who put so much effort into the show to be celebrated, and the work they do is fascinating.

Talking Doctor Who

This very interesting and enjoyable hour-long programme has audio description available. It’s hosted by David Tennant, who takes us on a journey through the Classic era, with a wide selection of clips from various episodes, interview footage with the first 8 Doctors (plus a few other important people), and some rare behind the scenes material. For me, as someone with little experience of that period of the show, I felt it was a nice way of summarising the styles of the different Doctors, the variety of stories, and the approaches taken by each of the actors to their roles. David also gives his thoughts on watching the show as a youngster and reacts to some bits of rare footage that he’s presented with.

Highlights along the way include the only surviving interview with a slightly grumpy William Hartnell, Jon Pertwee demonstrating his Whomobile and a foldaway caravan, an interview with Daleks creator Terry Nation, recollections by Elisabeth Sladen including a prank that was pulled on her, K9 on Blue Peter, behind the scenes footage showing how fiddly it was to film Tom Baker’s regeneration, a look at Michael Grade’s controversial decisions to pause the show for 18 months and replace Colin Baker with a new Doctor, Sylvester McCoy’s audition tape, the Doctor and Ace saying farewell in the final episode of the Classic series in 1989, and a brief chat with Paul McGann about the movie. So it’s a nice mixture that gives a good overview of the Classic period.

imagine… Russell T Davies: The Doctor and Me

This 75-minute programme was broadcast in the gap between the 60th anniversary and Christmas specials, and comes with both audio description and sign language.

It centres around interviews conducted in the new Tardis set and at Russell’s home by Alan Yentob, but also features interviews with Doctor Who stars David Tennant, Catherine Tate, Ncuti Gatwa and his fellow executive producers of the series, along with several other people who have played a big part in Russell’s wider career.

So there’s naturally a lot of discussion about Doctor Who as the title implies, as we learn how much of a fan he’s been since childhood, how it inspired him to write his first TV drama Dark Season (starring a young Kate Winslet), how he got involved with the 2005 relaunch, casting the Doctors, the significance of the Midnight episode, why he left the series, how he was brought back recently thanks to David & Catherine, and why he wrote the bi-generation. He also gives Alan a little tour of the Bad Wolf Studios and a secret props store, we see some of the Doctor Who paraphernalia he has scattered around his house, and he provides some teasing hints about the future of the series.

There’s also a concentrated focus on his writing process and sexuality, and how those facets of his life combined in a way that enabled him to create hugely successful shows like Queer As Folk and It’s A Sin, increasing the depictions of gay and lesbian characters on the small screen, while dealing with the inevitable backlash from the media and others. And he talks about his late partner Andrew lovingly, for whom he put his career on hold to look after when Andrew was diagnosed with a brain tumour.

Plus there’s talk about other shows he’s made, from children’s programme Why Don’t You? to sci-fi drama Years And Years. He’s had a really extensive and successful career, with very good reason, and it’s fascinating to learn more about it here, so it’s well worth watching if you’re a fan of his work. I haven’t watched his other shows outside of the Doctor Who franchise, but I may look at some of them one day out of curiosity, as he is an excellent writer.

60 Years Of Secrets & Scandals (Channel 5)

This is available on My5 rather than iPlayer, as it’s not a BBC show and thus not part of the Whoniverse collection. I tend to avoid Channel 5 documentaries about shows I’m already a big fan of, as they often feel a bit sensationalised (like the TV equivalent of a tabloid newspaper), they tend to be padded out with talking heads who don’t contribute much or anything of substance, and they don’t tell me anything exciting or new. But as I only have somewhat basic knowledge of the Classic era of Doctor Who, which this programme mainly focuses on, I figured there would be quite a lot here that I didn’t know. And they did have access to a few stars and crew members from the series, though none of the Doctors themselves. So it did prove to be quite interesting.

The documentary lasts for 90 minutes (with adverts), and includes interviews with stars Sophie Aldred (who played Ace), Nicola Bryant (Peri Brown), Mark Strickson (Vislor Turlough), David Banks (Cyber Leader) and stuntman Stuart Fell, along with a few others who worked on the programme, plus other people including Richard Latto (a TV expert who worked on the excellent Young Ones Blu-ray in 2022 and the more recent Blackadder release that I’ll be reviewing soon). There are also a few fleeting clips from the series here and there, including glimpses behind the scenes, although they’re clearly severely limited in how much they can use, being an unofficial non-BBC production.

Topics covered include complaints that were made against the show (by the infamously interfering Mary Whitehouse as well as the police and a psychiatrist), accidents that occurred during filming, the creation and design of the Daleks (and the disputes over the rights when the show was revived), fan films made during the show’s absence from TV that featured original cast members, kissing in the show, Patrick Troughton having 2 families with a girlfriend and a wife, the original actress who was cast as Sarah Jane (April Walker) before she was vetoed by Jon Pertwee, the use of pretty female companions to attract men to watch the show (and the upset of those men at the casting of a female Doctor), the deeply impassioned feelings, knowledge and behaviour of the fanbase, the complaints and allegations made against producer John Nathan-Turner, the filming of the very first episode, Verity Lambert (including an interview with director Waris Hussein about working with her), the missing episodes, the show being put on hiatus by Michael Grade (with the ensuing single Doctor In Distress and the programme’s return with Sylvester McCoy), and its ultimate cancellation that ended the Classic era.

I’m assuming that none of the material in the show is new to diehard fans of the Classic era, and knowing Channel 5 they’ve probably talked up some of the issues to sound more major than they actually were at the time. I did get the impression that the voiceover lady was attempting to do that, as she was a bit irritating sometimes. But on the whole I did find it interesting, and I’m glad that a few of the companions and others were involved so that we had some first-hand accounts.

Doctor Who Confidential

This fascinating and comprehensive behind-the-scenes show explores the making of every episode from Series 1-6 of the modern era (sadly it was cancelled after that). For the first couple of series, each edition was half an hour long, while later episodes were 40-45 minutes, or an hour for certain specials.

However, with a few exceptions (Music & Monsters and the 2008-10 specials), most of the Confidential episodes were edited down to around 10-15 minutes for the DVD & Blu-ray releases, so they could all fit on a single disc for each series. They’re still nice to watch in their cut-down format, as they cover at least some of the main points, but it is a shame that so much great material is missing. The other extra features on the Blu-ray sets go some way to making up for the shortfall, but there’s still a huge amount of stuff in Confidential that isn’t replicated anywhere else.

I’m therefore delighted that they’ve uploaded the full episodes to iPlayer at long last, so I’ve gone through and watched all of the episodes from Series 1-4 (then I’ll do Series 5 & 6 when I rewatch Matt Smith in the role soon). Sure, I’ve only recently seen the cut-down versions again, on the box sets that I’ve been reviewing, but I haven’t watched the complete editions since they were originally broadcast, so a lot of the behind the scenes material feels new to me after all this time, and it really is fascinating.

Series 1

For the first series, as well as lots of details and interviews about how each episode was made, every edition also explores a different aspect or theme of the show, such as the Doctor, his companions, the Tardis, his close connections with our planet, the Daleks, evil geniuses, special effects, etc. As a result, they sometimes look back at the making of certain scenes in earlier episodes when appropriate, not just the main story they’re accompanying. So to get the fullest insights it’s important to watch the whole series. It’s all very logically put together, and is nicely narrated by Simon Pegg, who played the editor in the episode The Long Game.

They also dive back into the Classic era at regular intervals, to make comparisons and put things into a wider context, showing a variety of clips and talking to some of the actors who played the Doctor, his companions and other characters. As someone who has barely watched any of the old shows, it’s really useful and interesting to be guided through Doctor Who’s past like that, and indeed those segments were included for the benefit of the new generation of fans like myself.

Along the way there are also some enlightening contributions from notable fans who know the series inside out, particularly Doctor Who Magazine editor Clayton Hickman who pops up several times, and the critic and broadcaster Andrew Collins, who appears less often. We hear a bit about the fanbase themselves as well, and how they kept the show alive during its lengthy absence from TV, including the launch of the Big Finish audiobooks that are still going strong (and which I hope to find the time to listen to one day), the wide variety of merchandise, and the continued popularity of conventions that are often attended by stars of the programme. I’d love to go to a convention at some point, it’s just not the sort of thing I’d do on my own, as it would be very busy and overwhelming to navigate and get involved with something like that when you can’t see properly.

Series 2

Series 2 of Confidential, narrated by Mark Gatiss, still mentions the Classic era sometimes, with clips when there are connections worth highlighting. But it doesn’t do it quite as heavily as before, and it doesn’t have interviews with former stars of the show – apart from Elisabeth Sladen (Sarah Jane) and John Leeson (voice of K9) of course, who feature because of their return in School Reunion, and there’s still useful input from Clayton Hickman and Andrew Collins. Towards the end of the series there’s also a brief look at the interactive adventure Attack Of The Graske, and an extensive preview of the Torchwood spin-off.

Series 3 & 4

Series 3 & 4 of Confidential are both narrated by Anthony Head, who played Mr Finch in School Reunion, and the episodes are expanded from half an hour to around 40-45 minutes in length. They focus pretty much exclusively on the modern series, allowing them to go into much greater detail about the ideas, preparations and production secrets behind each of the stories, which is great. But there are still a few episodes that briefly mention the Classic era when it’s most relevant – most notably the finale of Series 4, when there’s a lovely interview with Raymond Cusick, the designer of the Daleks, and he comes on set to see the latest iteration of the monsters for himself.

There are also a couple of episodes that deviate from the format a bit. For the episode about Blink in Series 3, David Tennant takes over and interviews some of the writers, producers, crew members and others about their love of the show. And the Midnight episode in Series 4 highlights the work of the sound team, as their role in that story is particularly vital. The 2008 episode accompanying The Doctor’s Daughter in Series 4 also briefly goes behind the scenes of the Time Crash special from 2007 with Peter Davison, because he’s the father of Georgia Moffett (who plays the Doctor’s daughter Jenny and later married David Tennant in 2011).

One disappointment from Series 3 is that we don’t get a proper episode about the Christmas special The Runaway Bride. There was however some behind the scenes material for it in a separate programme, also made by the Confidential team, called On Show: Designs On Doctor Who, which was narrated by Tom Baker and looked at the work of production designer Edward Thomas and his team. But that’s not on the DVDs, Blu-rays or iPlayer sadly, so an unofficial Youtube copy is all we have for the time being.

2008-10 Specials

For David’s final specials, the Confidential episodes were extended further to be an hour long, and followed the lead of the main series by switching to High Definition. They’re also the only Confidential episodes (other than Music & Monsters for the 2006 concert) that are included in full on the DVD & Blu-ray releases. Again, references to the Classic era are kept to a minimum, but they still occur occasionally.

The 2008 Christmas episode includes an enjoyable section looking at many of the parodies, comedy sketches and other shows that have referenced Doctor Who over the years. And that’s followed by The Eleventh Doctor, which isn’t on the DVD & Blu-ray releases, where Matt Smith is revealed as the next actor to take on the lead role, after a look back at all the previous Doctors, while David Tennant gives his thoughts on leaving the show.

I guess Anthony Head wasn’t available to do the voiceover for the Planet Of The Dead episode, because Noel Clarke narrates that one instead, but Anthony returns for the others. And the episode looking at The End Of Time: Part 2 naturally gets emotional around David’s final scenes – although, strangely, it’s only 40 minutes on the iPlayer, whereas the Blu-ray has the full hour-long episode. So I watched the latter for that one instead, and I haven’t watched the iPlayer version to compare it to see what’s been cut. But 40 minutes is still a decent length for those only watching online.

Series 5 & 6

Series 5 is then narrated by Alex Price and Series 6 by Russell Tovey, with episodes still around 40-45 minutes (or an hour for the 2010 Christmas special), but I’ll watch all of those when I go through Matt Smith’s era again in the months ahead. They were sadly the last series of Confidential to be made. There continued to be some behind the scenes extras on the DVD & Blu-ray releases for later series, and also online, but they generally haven’t been as lengthy or comprehensive. Hence I’m very pleased that we now have Unleashed as Confidential’s successor for the latest specials and the series ahead.

Other Documentaries

Whose Doctor Who

This 50-minute documentary, with both audio description and sign language available, is from a series called The Lively Arts in 1977, and is hosted by Melvyn Bragg. It’s significant for being the first in-depth documentary about Doctor Who, and is an extra feature on the Collection Season 14 Blu-ray as well as previous DVDs containing the story The Talons of Weng-Chiang.

It’s noted on sites like Wikipedia and the Tardis Wiki that this was actually an hour long originally, so I don’t know what’s been cut for the iPlayer release, as I’ve never watched it before. But I found it very interesting as an insight into the earlier years of the Classic series and the hard work of some of the people who helped to make it.

Alongside clips from the series, the programme has extracts from an interview with Tom Baker (part of which is repeated in the Talking Doctor Who show above), a look at the music and sound elements, insights into the visual effects, a meeting of the script writers, discussions about the Doctor’s key character traits (including his intelligence and morality), and the opinions of fans of the show (including adorable children, thoughtful students and a group of intensive care workers). And there’s an amusing post-credits clip of William Hartnell inside a Dalek from the Space Museum story.

The Science Of Doctor Who

This entertaining hour-long lecture by Brian Cox, in front of a live audience at the Royal Institution, has sign language available. It doesn’t have audio description as well, but Brian explains things clearly as he goes along.

It was originally broadcast in 2013 as part of Doctor Who’s 50th anniversary celebrations, and is on the corresponding DVD & Blu-ray box sets, so I’ve already watched it in the past, but it’s fun to watch it again anyway. It’s divided into 3 parts, bookended and interspersed with a few amusing scenes of Brian meeting Matt Smith’s Doctor in the Tardis:

  • Time Travel – Brian looks at whether we could ever actually travel through time, by making reference to the works of Michael Faraday, Albert Einstein, John Harrison and James Clerk Maxwell, and conducting experiments by Faraday and Einstein with the help of actor Dallas Campbell and physics professor Jim Al-Khalili.
  • Aliens – Brian examines the likelihood of life on distant planets by talking about the Fermi paradox and how astronomers can look for heat and chemical signals from the far reaches of space, demonstrating the latter with the help of actor Charles Dance.
  • History – Following on from the first part, Brian looks more closely at whether the doors to the past are firmly locked, by discussing the speed of light, our future and past light cones, and black holes. His illustrative experiment for this section involves sending comedian Rufus Hound to his doom with a big clock on his back.

Ultimately, it’s both fun and interesting, and Brian proves that we’re all time travellers, sort of, who have touched alien worlds in some small way.

Delia Derbyshire: The Myths and the Legendary Tapes

This 90-minute film made in 2020 has been shown at festivals and was broadcast as part of the BBC’s Arena documentary series. It also has audio description and sign language available.

It celebrates the life of composer and musician Delia Derbyshire, an inspirational pioneer of electronic music who is best known for her arrangement of the Doctor Who theme tune during her time at the BBC Radiophonic Workshop. And it was inspired by the discovery of 267 tape recordings of her work along with other items after her death.

It’s not a standard documentary however. It’s a very artistic film, mixing old interview footage of Delia with dramatic reconstructions of her life, unusual visuals, and a soundtrack by Cosey Fanni Tutti that incorporates some of Delia’s recordings. And instead of a narrator, there’s text that appears on screen to specify locations, dates and other information, meaning audio description is pretty vital.

I therefore didn’t watch it all, as even with AD I found it difficult to follow and I didn’t feel a strong connection to it. I’d rather see a normal documentary about her, and if I were to do so then this film might appeal to me more as a result. There’s no doubting that it’s very well made, and that she did lead a very interesting life, but it’s not really the best entry point for someone like me who doesn’t know much about her beyond the Doctor Who stuff.

60th Anniversary Children’s Specials

These are short features made for a younger audience, featuring David Tennant as the new 14th Doctor, although sadly they’re not included on the Blu-ray release. Audio description and sign language are available on the iPlayer version of the Children In Need sketch.

Children In Need – Destination: Skaro

Written by Russell T Davies, this 5-minute sketch is also available on Youtube. It sees the Doctor inadvertently landing at the genesis of the Daleks, where he meets scientist Mr Castavillian (Mawaan Rizwan), who is an assistant of Davros (played again by Julian Bleach as in 2008 & 2015). As well as creating a paradox by giving Castavillian the name and catchphrase of his greatest enemy, the Doctor also takes the multi-functional claw that the Tardis ripped off the new Dalek creation, and replaces it with a plunger. So it’s quite amusing to think that the Doctor had an unintended hand in the design of his greatest enemy, and indeed the whole sketch is very light-hearted in tone.

Unlike his previous appearances in the series, Davros is presented here as upright and mobile instead of being in a wheelchair, and he doesn’t have a scarred face. It’s caused some division amongst fans online but, in the 10-minute episode of Doctor Who Unleashed that accompanies this special, Russell explains that the decision was made because the team were keen not to associate disability with evil, as has been a common trope in fiction for a very long time. Which is admirable and I understand the intent, but I think they’ve been over-cautious and it wasn’t really necessary in this instance. I’ve never been aware of disabled people having a problem with Davros, and the show’s already balanced things out by introducing an important wheelchair user who isn’t evil in the 60th anniversary specials (UNIT’s scientific advisor Shirley Bingham, played brilliantly by real-life wheelchair user Ruth Madeley), Still, I can live with it, it’s not the end of the world. It’s been done with the right intentions and respect for disabled people, while it’s also plausible that Davros has an accident later in this timeline and that the Daleks then find a way to repair him in the future if need be.

And incidentally, talking of charity telethons, there was a spoof regeneration of Lenny Henry into David Tennant at the start of Comic Relief earlier in 2023, which was quite fun. It wasn’t Lenny’s first involvement with Doctor Who though, as he had previously played the Doctor in a 1985 sketch in his comedy show, which has been officially released on the DVD of Mindwarp and the Blu-ray of Season 22.

CBeebies Bedtime Story – The Way Back Home

With the aid of illustrations, the Doctor reads a short story by Oliver Jeffers called The Way Back Home, about a boy who travels to space in an aeroplane and gets stuck on the moon with a Martian. It’s a cute little tale for kids to enjoy, and it’s a nice way to introduce them to the friendly Doctor in the process. This is also available on Youtube.

Blue Peter

This isn’t part of the Whoniverse on iPlayer, but is worth mentioning anyway while we’re talking about younger fans of Doctor Who.

The classic children’s show Blue Peter recently held a competition, announced by David Tennant himself, for children to produce their own Doctor Who fan art. The winner got to go behind the scenes at Bad Wolf Studios, as shown on Blue Peter’s Doctor Who Takeover episode, meeting Ncuti Gatwa, MIllie Gibson, Russell T Davies and others who work on the show, as well as exploring the new Tardis.

There’s also a Takeover section of the Blue Peter website celebrating the show’s previous encounters with the iconic Time Lord. I did of course get 10 out of 10 in their simple Whovian Quiz. And according to their Personality Quiz, me and my best friend are most like the Ninth Doctor and Rose Tyler:

“You and your best friend are a fantastic duo, just like the Ninth Doctor and Rose Tyler! You’re brave and intelligent, confident in any situation and capable of doing great things together! You know the right questions to ask in a tricky situation, you can keep your frustrations in check, and above all your caring nature helps you to keep each other safe. You’re probably the kind of people who’d love to time travel to the extreme and then do something totally normal afterwards – like getting chips after watching the end of the world! Your key characteristics: Intelligent, casual, determined, curious and fantastic!”

Can’t argue with that, they were my first Doctor and companion after all!

Classic Era Revisited

Tales Of The Tardis

This is a 6-part series of feature-length episodes, over 90 minutes in length, with audio description and sign language available. They present omnibus editions of stories from the Classic era, bookended by newly-shot scenes in a special Tardis, where former Doctors and companions return to reminisce about old adventures. So having never properly explored the Classic era, I figured this would be a nice way to get a taste of some of the earlier Doctors and companions, in what are apparently some of the most popular stories.

Of course, they don’t excite me as much as the current era, and I wasn’t expecting them to. Inevitably they feel a bit dated given the modern sets, effects, music, etc that I’m used to. And as I’m effectively dipping in mid-series in each case, I haven’t had the benefit of getting to know the characters and forming a connection with them over previous episodes. The discussions in the new Tardis scenes also include references to some people and events I’m not familiar with. And some of the stories would probably work better in their original serial format with shorter episodes and cliffhangers, along with their original opening titles and closing credits, as they can feel a bit too long here.

All that said however, and credit where it’s due, they do hold up pretty well, as there are some interesting stories, great performances, engaging action scenes and amusing moments. So they were worth watching, and I still hope to check out the Classic era a bit more in the future.

The stories are as follows:

The Time Meddler

Companions Vicki (Maureen O’Brien) and Steven (Peter Purves) are reunited to recall their adventure with the First Doctor (William Hartnell), where they land on a village in 1066 and discover a time-travelling monk (Peter Butterworth) who has a plan to change the outcome of the Battle of Hastings. And there are Vikings and Saxons they have to contend with as well.

I found it a bit slow-going on the whole, but it does get more intriguing and eventful in the later stages as the truth about the monk comes to light and the Doctor gains the upper hand. Vicki strikes me as a nice companion as well, and I like how it takes a while for Steven to believe that they have actually time travelled.

The Mind Robber

Companions Jamie (Frazer Hines) and Zoe (Wendy Padbury) look back at one of their most bizarre adventures with the Second Doctor (Patrick Troughton). And it’s fairly good, especially once they get to the main location where the bulk of the adventure takes place, and because the Doctor and his companions make a nice little trio.

They’re basically thrown out of known reality, and out of the Tardis when it breaks apart, and they end up in a strange world full of characters from fantasy and myth – including a unicorn, a minotaur, Gulliver, Musketeer D’Artagnan, Medusa, Cyrano de Bergerac, Blackbeard, Rapunzel and a comic strip superhero called Karkus. It then turns out that they’re being tested by someone who is trying to brainwash them into believing that such fictional beings are real, and who has a plan for the Doctor in particular. So it is interesting to see how they progress through the world and how it all gets resolved in the end.

The Three Doctors

Companion Jo Gant (Katy Manning) runs into Clyde (Daniel Anthony) again, having met him on the modern spin-off The Sarah Jane Adventures, and she tells him about her involvement in the first ever multi-Doctor adventure, starring the First, Second & Third Doctors (William Hartnell, Patrick Troughton & Jon Pertwee).

I really enjoyed this story, and I’d say it’s my favourite from this collection, because it’s interesting with good pacing, and there’s a lot of humour, especially between the Second & Third Doctors. Hartnell’s poor health meant he could only appear on a monitor for a few brief scenes, in his last ever acting role, but he still makes them count (especially his “dandy and the clown” line). The Brigadier (Nicholas Courtney) is very good as well, as are Jo and scientist Dr. Tyler (Rex Robinson).

The story is basically about people disappearing from Earth, which the Doctor works with UNIT to investigate, while the Time Lords are in dire straits from a black hole draining their energy, so they’re forced to summon the previous two Doctors to help the latest incarnation. The Third Doctor, Jo and Dr. Tyler are then captured and transported to an impossible antimatter world in the black hole, run by a vengeance-seeking Time Lord called Omega (Stephen Thorne) who has been trapped there. And it’s not long before the Second Doctor, the Brigadier and UNIT HQ end up there as well.

So the Doctors face a foe who is as clever as they are, and it does get quite dramatic, including a slow-motion fight between the Third Doctor and Omega, before everyone is saved by the most unlikely of items tucked away in the Tardis. So it’s good fun. The new bookend scenes also pay a nice tribute to Clifford Jones, who Jo was getting married to in her final Classic era story, because actor Stewart Bevan passed away in 2022.

Earthshock

The Fifth Doctor (Peter Davison) and companion Tegan (Janet Fielding) recall meeting the Cybermen, who are trying to destroy the Earth. The story takes place in a network of caves and then on a space freighter, and also features Nyssa (Sarah Sutton) and Adric (Matthew Waterhouse), the latter seeming a bit arrogant to me, but I guess he must have had some appeal during the series given his plot line here. The Cybermen are very different and inferior to their modern incarnations, yet they still feel like a major threat.

So while the story takes a little while to get going initially, it does become quite tense as it’s not clear how the Doctor’s going to save the planet, and indeed it takes a major sacrifice to prevent the decimation of humanity in the end. Tegan has also appeared in the modern series, as she made a guest appearance in the BBC Centenary special The Power Of The Doctor in 2022.

Vengeance On Varos

The Sixth Doctor (Colin Baker) and companion Peri (Nicola Bryant) meet up again to look back at their visit to Varos. They have to go there as it’s the only source of Zeiton-7, a critical element needed to power the Tardis. What they discover, however, is a regime that publicly tortures and executes anyone who disobeys, while the governor is being pressured into doing a deal with a disgusting-looking alien creature.

So after encountering tests and hallucinatory tricks while exploring the Punishment Dome, the Doctor and Peri are inevitably captured, with the Doctor having to escape from an acid bath (a scene that led to complaints from the public and critics like Mary Whitehouse), and Peri having to endure a cell mutation experiment that changes her appearance. But of course the Doctor saves everyone and brings an end to the barbarity.

For me it was another story that felt rather slow to begin with, but it picks up in the second half as the stakes are raised and things look bleak for Peri. So it is one of the weaker adventures of this series for me, but it’s still alright, it has some good moments.

The Curse Of Fenric

The Seventh Doctor (Sylvester McCoy) and companion Ace (Sophie Aldred) look back at one of their final adventures together, where they land on a British naval base during World War II and discover Russian soldiers trying to steal a supercomputer, mysteries among Viking treasures, and evil vampire-like creatures led by an ancient monster.

So it’s a busy story with lots of strands that come together well, in which I was pleasantly surprised to see Nicholas Parsons playing Reverend Wainwright. And even though I don’t know Ace’s full story arc (as this is part of an important trilogy for her), the big revelation she’s hit with still feels impactful, as does the harsh way the Doctor is forced to treat her. So there are great performances by the two leads here, who are able to demonstrate their acting range.

The Daleks In Colour

This is a newly colourised 75-minute edit of the very first Dalek story from 1963, including new sound and music score, and like all the Classic era episodes it has audio description and sign language available on iPlayer. And while I did see Genesis, Resurrection, Revelation & Remembrance Of The Daleks many moons ago when they were on Netflix (which I’ve long since forgotten anyway), I’ve never previously watched their inaugural screen appearance. So this was a good opportunity to get a flavour for it to celebrate the 60th anniversary. It is also being released in Blu-ray steelbook, standard Blu-ray and DVD formats, but I’m not going to buy it, I was just curious to watch it.

The story features the First Doctor (William Hartnell), whose eagerness to explore a city on an unfamiliar planet leads to him being imprisoned by the Daleks, along with companions Susan (Carole Ann Ford), Ian (William Russell) and Barbara (Jacqueline Hill). Plus they discover they’re suffering from radiation poisoning, for which the only cure is available from another race on the planet called the Thals, who the Daleks had previously engaged in a nuclear war with. So the adventure is all about the Doctor and his friends attempting to escape, acquire the drugs and persuade the now peace-loving Thals to help them defeat the Daleks, who want to release more radiation into the atmosphere.

And I quite enjoyed it, as there’s a good amount of action, plenty of tension, and the colourisation is really nicely done. It’s also fascinating to see the Daleks in a relatively early stage of their evolution, as they’re still learning about the best ways to survive, yet it’s also apparent that they really haven’t changed in appearance much over the years, compared to some other monsters like the Cybermen who have had more radical redesigns.

The new music does get a bit overbearing in some of the action scenes, making it hard to hear the dialogue or the tempo just feels a bit too quick relative to the action on screen. And I can tell it’s been trimmed down from the original 3-hour story (even though I’ve never seen it), because of the way it suddenly jumps ahead sometimes. But I still found it easy and enjoyable to follow what was going on, and it has got a good pace to it because it’s been shortened so much.

I do appreciate that some fans of the old version are unhappy with it, but at least they still have the original serial available on iPlayer and physical media, so they haven’t lost that. It’s just a shame it hasn’t all been colourised, retaining the original audio elements, for their benefit too. That would have been a nice treat for all those people who have loyally been with the show from the outset.

Anyway, I haven’t watched the original version to make a comparison, because I don’t feel the need to. This anniversary edition, along with Tales Of The Tardis above, has just been a toes-in-the-water viewing of the Classic era to mark the anniversary. But I’ll admit the water does feel inviting, and I hope to find the time to dive in more fully in the future.

Other Programmes

As well as the old Classic episodes of Doctor Who, these are the other shows in the Whoniverse so far that I haven’t mentioned above. Titles are marked (AD) or (SL) if they have audio description or sign language available.

BBC Archives

In addition to everything else, the BBC have also shared a wealth of material from their archives, exploring the history and popularity of the show, to mark the anniversary. There are several articles of information that incorporate a lot of video footage, audio clips, documents and images, so it’s basically an online Doctor Who museum. I haven’t looked through it all yet, and some of the old documents are too difficult for me to read because of the print quality or handwriting, but what I have explored so far is really interesting. So if you still need even more of a Doctor Who fix, that’s well worth digging into.

Conclusion

So that concludes my trilogy celebrating the 60th anniversary of one of my all-time favourite TV shows, and I hope you enjoyed reading through it. When the anniversary was approaching, I had no idea there would be so much to look through, so I’ve been very impressed and delighted. Russell T Davies has given the franchise another huge shot in the arm, and the BBC have been incredibly generous in sharing so much with us, so I’m really looking forward to seeing what comes next!

Certainly Ncuti Gatwa’s first season looks set to be a lot of fun. And once I’ve caught up on a few other things that Doctor Who has distracted me from over the past couple of months, I’ll be resuming my reviews of the modern era a bit later in the year, when I look at the Sarah Jane and Torchwood spin-offs, and Matt Smith’s adventures as the 11th Doctor. I had to get David Tennant’s original era done before his return last year, but I can take things at a more leisurely pace now. So I’ll see you again for more Doctor Who posts soon, but I’ll be writing about plenty of other things in the meantime!

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Author: Glen

Love London, love a laugh, love life. Visually impaired blogger, culture vulture & accessibility advocate, with aniridia & nystagmus, posting about my experiences & adventures.

4 thoughts on “Doctor Who At 60 Review – The Whoniverse”

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