Graham and Ryan have left Doctor Who, and it was sad/joyous/on telly (delete as applicable), but where do their departures rank on the all-time list?
The question of “Who counts as a companion?” is a tricky one. Overall it’s an ad hoc combination of different criteria, with allowances made for the exceptions that are intended to fulfil the companion role on a one-off basis. The ranking system is based on whether the departure makes sense for that character, how well it’s built up to, and what it says about Doctor Who in a larger sense. The article only covers TV stories because I value what remains of my sanity.
That’s all the exposition. Please enjoy this non-linear history of production compromises.
47. Peri
Peri spends almost her entire time on Doctor Who being miserable, scared and under threat (even Big Finish doing a timey-wimey farce with...
The question of “Who counts as a companion?” is a tricky one. Overall it’s an ad hoc combination of different criteria, with allowances made for the exceptions that are intended to fulfil the companion role on a one-off basis. The ranking system is based on whether the departure makes sense for that character, how well it’s built up to, and what it says about Doctor Who in a larger sense. The article only covers TV stories because I value what remains of my sanity.
That’s all the exposition. Please enjoy this non-linear history of production compromises.
47. Peri
Peri spends almost her entire time on Doctor Who being miserable, scared and under threat (even Big Finish doing a timey-wimey farce with...
- 1/7/2021
- by Louisa Mellor
- Den of Geek
To be abundantly clear: the first Doctor Who Christmas Special was ‘The Christmas Invasion‘ in 2005. However, the first time the show was broadcast on Christmas Day was in 1965, the seventh episode of ‘The Dalek Master Plan’. The previous two years also had also seen Dalek stories at Christmas, with the first ever Dalek story starting broadcast in December 1963 and the final episode of ‘The Dalek Invasion of Earth’ arriving on Boxing Day 1964, because Christmas wouldn’t be Christmas without a volcanic eruption by the Home Counties.
‘The Dalek Invasion of Earth’ capitalised on the initial success of the first Dalek story, and boosted the show’s ratings. The plan for the following series was to capitalise on that and so another six-parter was scheduled for the same time of year. As Season 2’s ‘Planet of the Giants‘ had been edited down to three episodes from four the BBC gave the...
‘The Dalek Invasion of Earth’ capitalised on the initial success of the first Dalek story, and boosted the show’s ratings. The plan for the following series was to capitalise on that and so another six-parter was scheduled for the same time of year. As Season 2’s ‘Planet of the Giants‘ had been edited down to three episodes from four the BBC gave the...
- 12/2/2020
- by Louisa Mellor
- Den of Geek
Feature Cliff Chapman 11 Feb 2014 - 07:00
Cliff takes us through ten Doctor Who stories still lost, from Marco Polo to Fury From The Deep...
Doctor Who was for the first twenty six years a series of serials, so episodes make up stories or serials, e.g. Power of the Daleks is a story or serial made up of six episodes, rather than ‘an episode’. Around 250 weekly instalments of Doctor Who were shown between 1963 and 1969. As of January 2014, 97 of these are not held by the BBC, or known to survive, and cannot be viewed - although they can be experienced in a number of ways. Although recent returns have massively helped in evening up the scores, you’ll note that there’s a slight bias towards Hartnell against Troughton for completely missing stories. Troughton still fares worse, however as he has fewer fully existing stories, seven complete stories versus Hartnell’s fifteen.
Cliff takes us through ten Doctor Who stories still lost, from Marco Polo to Fury From The Deep...
Doctor Who was for the first twenty six years a series of serials, so episodes make up stories or serials, e.g. Power of the Daleks is a story or serial made up of six episodes, rather than ‘an episode’. Around 250 weekly instalments of Doctor Who were shown between 1963 and 1969. As of January 2014, 97 of these are not held by the BBC, or known to survive, and cannot be viewed - although they can be experienced in a number of ways. Although recent returns have massively helped in evening up the scores, you’ll note that there’s a slight bias towards Hartnell against Troughton for completely missing stories. Troughton still fares worse, however as he has fewer fully existing stories, seven complete stories versus Hartnell’s fifteen.
- 2/10/2014
- by louisamellor
- Den of Geek
When watching An Adventure In Space And Time, I noticed one feeling dominated all others. It wasn’t excitement at seeing early Doctor Who recreated in high definition colour. It wasn’t admiration in the playing of the lead actors (all wonderful), nor even some fannish desire for accuracy (I let several anachronisms of speech and behaviour slip by, suspending my disbelief in the spirit of the piece).
The overwhelming feeling I had was one of protectiveness. I felt protective towards Verity Lambert, Waris Hussein, even Sydney Newman, the old so-and-so. But I felt especially protective towards William Hartnell. As an actor his reputation is pretty much intact, despite a few swipes at his memory from those too ignorant to know better. But as a man I felt that he had been much maligned, and An Adventure In Space And Time could either support the myths, or set the record straight.
The overwhelming feeling I had was one of protectiveness. I felt protective towards Verity Lambert, Waris Hussein, even Sydney Newman, the old so-and-so. But I felt especially protective towards William Hartnell. As an actor his reputation is pretty much intact, despite a few swipes at his memory from those too ignorant to know better. But as a man I felt that he had been much maligned, and An Adventure In Space And Time could either support the myths, or set the record straight.
- 11/24/2013
- by David Martin Farmbrough
- Obsessed with Film
If you've ever seen the classic 1973 Christmas Special of The Goodies (called The Goodies And The Beanstalk), then you'll probably remember that bit at the end when the down and out trio come across an abandoned lamp in the street. As soon as they rub the lamp – bingo! A puff of smoke and then John Cleese in a turban. Cleese then bellows “Kids' Show!” after the Goodies tell him to clear off.
I suppose that some people regarded The Goodies as the crazy younger brother of the more adult Monty Python's Flying Circus – on the surface, with its speeded-up action sequences, giant kittens, Dougals and Zebedees, I suppose you could say it's a show that's targeted towards younger ones. But then how do you explain the satirical swipes at the Royals, advertising commercialism, talent shows or apartheid?
Which neatly brings me on to Doctor Who. I was wondering this the...
I suppose that some people regarded The Goodies as the crazy younger brother of the more adult Monty Python's Flying Circus – on the surface, with its speeded-up action sequences, giant kittens, Dougals and Zebedees, I suppose you could say it's a show that's targeted towards younger ones. But then how do you explain the satirical swipes at the Royals, advertising commercialism, talent shows or apartheid?
Which neatly brings me on to Doctor Who. I was wondering this the...
- 8/14/2012
- Shadowlocked
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