A Matter of Time: Silver Nemesis

(30/11/1988)

DESCRIPTION: ‘Silver Nemesis’ was the third story of Season 25 of Doctor Who, and starred Sylvester McCoy as the Seventh Doctor.

FACT: Prince Edward was asked to appear in this story by John Nathan Turner, but the Royal Family wrote a letter back declaring that it would be inappropriate.

A Matter of Time: Joseph Fürst

(13/02/1916 – 29/11/2005)

DESCRIPTION: Joseph Fürst played the character of Professor Zaroff in the Patrick Troughton story ‘The Underwater Menace’.

FACT: Professor Zaroff was a scientist and leader in the field of producing food from the sea, and drowned when his laboratory flooded.

A Matter of Time: The Dalek Invasion of Earth

(28/11/1964)

DESCRIPTION: ‘The Dalek Invasion of Earth’ was the second story of Season 2 of Doctor Who, and starred William Hartnell as the First Doctor.

FACT: William Hartnell does not appear in ‘The End of Tomorrow’ due to an injury, although his stand-in Edmund Warwick does.

A Matter of Time: The Daleks’ Master Plan

(27/11/1965)

DESCRIPTION: ‘The Daleks’ Master Plan’ was the fourth story of Season 3 of Doctor Who, and starred William Hartnell as the First Doctor.

FACT: During the Christmas-themed seventh episode, the Doctor turns to the camera and says: “Oh and incidentally, a happy Christmas to all of you at home.”

A Matter of Time: Greeks Bearing Gifts

(26/11/2006)

DESCRIPTION: ‘Greeks Bearing Gifts’ was the seventh story in the first series of Torchwood, and starred John Barrowman as Captain Jack Harkness.

FACT: When Jack is studying the alien device, he mentions that it has nanogenes technology, which was first mentioned in The Empty Child.

A Matter of Time: The Five Doctors

(25/11/1983)

DESCRIPTION: ‘The Five Doctors’ was a special story to celebrate the twentieth anniversary of Doctor Who, and starred Peter Davison as the Fifth Doctor.

FACT: The story was initially titled ‘The Six Doctors’ as a robot impostor of the First Doctor was to be included, and it was planned for Robert Holmes to write this.

A Matter of Time: Nightmare of Eden

(24/11/1979)

DESCRIPTION: ‘Nightmare of Eden’ was the fourth story of Season 17 of Doctor Who, and starred Tom Baker as the Fourth Doctor.

FACT: When Della gets shot in the face in episode four, the actress Jennifer Lonsdale clutches her stomach instead.

Doctor Who Day: Forty-Seventh Anniversary

Today is the forty-seventh anniversary of Doctor Who, which began in 1963 with William Hartnell as the First Doctor. Although the show has changed a lot since the early days, the main themes and concepts have remained the same, which has ensured that the programme continues to be loved by new generations.

As well as celebrating the past of the show on this Doctor Who Day, we should also look forward to the future of the programme, with the broadcast of the Christmas Special now just over a month away.

Wherever you are today, I set you the challenge of watching at least one Doctor Who story. It can be from any era of the show, and can star any of the eleven actors to have played the role. My personal choice of the day will be a cracking story to get myself in the festive spirit, ‘The Unquiet Dead’.

Happy Doctor Who Day!

A Matter of Time: An Unearthly Child

(23/11/1963)

DESCRIPTION: ‘An Unearthly Child’ was the first ever story of Doctor Who, and starred William Hartnell as the First Doctor.

FACT: The original airing received very few viewers due to the assassination of John F. Kennedy the day before, so it was repeated before the second episode.

A Matter of Time: Verity Lambert

(27/11/1935 – 22/11/2007)

DESCRIPTION: Verity Lambert was the first Producer of Doctor Who, and served from ‘An Unearthly Child’ to ‘Mission to the Unknown’.

FACT: The 2007 Christmas special, Voyage of the Damned, ends with an on-screen dedication to Lambert who had died a month earlier.

A Matter of Time: Dreamland

(21/11/2009)

DESCRIPTION: ‘Dreamland’ was an exclusive online Doctor Who story, and starred David Tennant as the voice of the Tenth Doctor.

FACT: The spaceship and controls seen in this story are the same as the ship in ‘Prisoner of the Judoon’, where Androvax was said to have replicated it.

A Matter of Time: The Deadly Assassin

(20/11/1976)

DESCRIPTION: ‘The Deadly Assassin’ was the third story of Season 14 of Doctor Who, and starred Tom Baker as the Fourth Doctor.

FACT: The Time Lord guard that the Master kills in Episode One is seen alive and well in Episode Two, due to a lack of supporting actors.

A Matter of Time: Countrycide

(19/11/2006)

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

FACT: This is the first non-science fictional storyline taking place within the televised Doctor Who universe since ‘Black Orchid’ in 1982.

A Matter of Time: The Stones of Blood

(18/11/1978)

DESCRIPTION: ‘The Stones of Blood’ was the third story of Season 16 of Doctor Who, and starred Tom Baker as the Fourth Doctor.

FACT: Baker was seen by onlookers to be doing the Times Crossword puzzle with K9, as the voice artist John Leeson was talking to him via a radio to the location.

A Matter of Time: The Creature from the Pit

(17/11/1979)

DESCRIPTION: ‘The Creature from the Pit’ was the third story of Season 17 of Doctor Who, and starred Tom Baker as the Fourth Doctor.

FACT: The shapeless creature known as Erato is considered to be one of the worst monsters ever in Doctor Who, due to its similarities to a certain male body part.

A Matter of Time: Time Crash

(16/11/2007)

DESCRIPTION: ‘Time Crash’ was an exclusive story for Children in Need, and starred David Tennant and Peter Davison as the Tenth and Fifth Doctors.

FACT: Incidental music from the Fifth Doctor’s era is used as part of the background music, as well as the traditional cloister bell sound effect.

A Matter of Time: The Waters of Mars

(15/11/2009)

DESCRIPTION: ‘The Waters of Mars’ was the second story of the 2009 Doctor Who Specials, and starred David Tennant as the Tenth Doctor.

FACT: This story was initially written as a Christmas special entitled ‘Red Christmas’, with several festive references remaining in the finished episode.

A Matter of Time: Paul McGann

(14/11/1959)

DESCRIPTION: Paul McGann played the character of the Eighth Doctor in the TV Movie, which originally aired on 14th May 1996.

FACT: His tenure as the Doctor is considered to be either the longest or shortest, depending on whether the non-television stories are included as canon.

A Matter of Time: Scream of the Shalka

(13/11/2003)

DESCRIPTION: ‘Scream of the Shalka’ was a flash-animated Doctor Who story, and starred Richard E. Grant as the voice of an alternative Ninth Doctor.

FACT: This story was produced to coincide with the 40th Anniversary of Doctor Who, and was originally intended to be an official continuation of the series.

A Matter of Time: Image of the Fendahl

(12/11/1977)

DESCRIPTION: ‘Image of the Fendahl’ was the third story of Season 15 of Doctor Who, and starred Tom Baker as the Fourth Doctor.

FACT: K9 appears only briefly in this story as the script had been written before it was known that K9 would be joining the series on a regular basis.