A Matter of Time: Doctor Who and the Silurians

(31/01/1970)

DESCRIPTION: ‘Doctor Who and the Silurians’ was the second story of Season 7 of Doctor Who, and starred Jon Pertwee as the Third Doctor.

FACT: The unusual and often comical music in this story was conducted by Carey Blyton, and features clarinets, recorders, cellos and horns.

A Matter of Time: To the Last Man

(30/01/2008)

DESCRIPTION: ‘To the Last Man’ was the third story in the second series of Torchwood, and starred John Barrowman as Captain Jack Harkness.

FACT: The episode establishes that military conflict is taking place in Iraq in the Doctor Who Universe as well as in our real world.

A Matter of Time: The Robots of Death

(29/01/1977)

DESCRIPTION: ‘The Robots of Death’ was the fifth story of Season 14 of Doctor Who, and starred Tom Baker as the Fourth Doctor.

FACT: The fear of robots is referred to as ‘Grimwade’s syndrome’, an in-joke reference to the production assistant Peter Grimwade.

A Matter of Time: Christopher Coll

(28/01/1938)

DESCRIPTION: Christopher Coll played the characters of Phipps in ‘The Seeds of Death’ and Stubbs in ‘The Mutants’.

FACT: The character Phipps was a maintenance crewmember of the T-Mat Moonbase, who warned the Earth about the Ice Warriors’ invasion.

A Matter of Time: Carnival of Monsters

(27/01/1973)

DESCRIPTION: ‘Carnival of Monsters’ was the second story of Season 10 of Doctor Who, and starred Jon Pertwee as the Third Doctor.

FACT: This story features a guest appearance of Ian Marter, who would go on to play the Fourth Doctor’s companion Harry Sullivan.

A Matter of Time: Four to Doomsday

(26/01/1982)

DESCRIPTION: ‘Four to Doomsday’ was the second story of Season 19 of Doctor Who, and starred Peter Davison as the Fifth Doctor.

FACT: This was the first Fifth Doctor story to be filmed as the script for Peter Davison’s intended opening story had to be rewritten.

A Matter of Time: The Ark in Space

(25/01/1975)

DESCRIPTION: ‘The Ark in Space’ was the second story of Season 12 of Doctor Who, and starred Tom Baker as the Fourth Doctor.

FACT: The title sequence of Part One was tinted pink and green as an experiment, making it appear brown rather than blue.

A Matter of Time: Warriors’ Gate

(24/01/1981)

DESCRIPTION: ‘Warriors’ Gate’ was the fifth story of Season 18 of Doctor Who, and starred Tom Baker as the Fourth Doctor.

FACT: Tom Baker was particularly grumpy during the filming of this story due to his ongoing illness and the departure of Lalla Ward from the series.

A Matter of Time: The Romans

(23/01/1965)

DESCRIPTION: ‘The Romans’ was the fourth story of Season 2 of Doctor Who, and starred William Hartnell as the First Doctor.

FACT: The camera on the boat is hit by falling wood during the storm scene, causing a wide white line to cross the screen.

A Matter of Time: The Face of Evil

(22/01/1977)

DESCRIPTION: ‘The Face of Evil’ was the fourth story of Season 14 of Doctor Who, and starred Tom Baker as the Fourth Doctor.

FACT: Leela appears to hit the Doctor with a ray gun in Part Four, as the ray gun effect is not entirely correctly positioned with the actors.

A Matter of Time: David Blake Kelly

(17/02/1916 – 21//01/1993)

DESCRIPTION: David Blake Kelly played the characters of Benjamin Briggs in ‘The Chase’ and Jacob Kewper in ‘The Smugglers’.

FACT: The character Jacob Kewper was an innkeeper in a small Cornish village, and a member of Squire Edwards’ smuggling ring.

A Matter of Time: Tom Baker

(20/01/1934)

DESCRIPTION: Tom Baker played the character of the extremely popular Fourth Doctor between ‘Robot’ and ‘Logopolis’.

FACT: Baker played the Doctor for seven consecutive seasons over a seven-year period, making him the longest-serving actor in the part of the Doctor.

A Matter of Time: Vengeance on Varos

(19/01/1985)

DESCRIPTION: ‘Vengeance on Varos’ was the second story of Season 22 of Doctor Who, and starred Colin Baker as the Sixth Doctor.

FACT: This was one of the stories cited by critics who complained that the series had become too dark and violent, as it involves many scenes of tortures.

A Matter of Time: Robot

(18/01/1975)

DESCRIPTION: ‘Robot’ was the first story of Season 12 of Doctor Who, and starred Tom Baker as the Fourth Doctor.

FACT: The giant Robot’s legs keep vanishing due to reflections in the studio affecting the Colour Separation Overlay effect.

A Matter of Time: Spearhead from Space

(17/01/1970)

DESCRIPTION: ‘Spearhead from Space’ was the first story of Season 7 of Doctor Who, and starred Jon Pertwee as the Third Doctor.

FACT: This story is the first to establish that the Doctor has two hearts, whereas before this it was suggested that he had only one.

A Matter of Time: Kiss Kiss, Bang Bang

(16/01/2008)

DESCRIPTION: ‘Kiss Kiss, Bang Bang’ was the first story in the second series of Torchwood, and starred John Barrowman as Captain Jack Harkness.

FACT: John Hart lists ‘Excalibur’ as a team name possibility, which was the original name devised by Russell T Davies before ‘Torchwood’.

A Matter of Time: Day of the Daleks

(15/01/1972)

DESCRIPTION: ‘Day of the Daleks’ was the first story of Season 9 of Doctor Who, and starred Jon Pertwee as the Third Doctor.

FACT: A section of the closing title sequence appears in the background on the screen of the Daleks’ mind analysis machine in Episode Three.

A Matter of Time: The Underwater Menace

(14/01/1967)

DESCRIPTION: ‘The Underwater Menace’ was the fifth story of Season 4 of Doctor Who, and starred Patrick Troughton as the Second Doctor.

FACT: During the underwater scenes in Episode 3, the Kirby wires holding up the fish people are clearly visible.

A Matter of Time: The Enemy of the World

(13/01/1968)

DESCRIPTION: ‘The Enemy of the World’ was the fourth story of Season 5 of Doctor Who, and starred Patrick Troughton as the Second Doctor.

FACT: The story had such a small budget that Denes is kept prisoner in a corridor, so that a prison set was not needed to be constructed.

A Matter of Time: Invasion of the Dinosaurs

(12/01/1974)

DESCRIPTION: ‘Invasion of the Dinosaurs’ was the second story of Season 11 of Doctor Who, and starred Jon Pertwee as the Third Doctor.

FACT: There are several inaccuracies concerning the dinosaurs, including the T Rex only having two fingers rather than three.