List of Doctor Who episodes (2005–present)

This article is about the episodes starting from 2005. For the 1963–1989 episodes and 1996 film, see List of Doctor Who episodes (1963–1989).

Doctor Who is a British science fiction television programme produced by the BBC. As of 17 April 2022, 878 episodes of Doctor Who have aired, concluding the thirteenth series. This includes one television movie and multiple specials, and encompasses 307 stories over 39 seasons, starting in 1963. Additionally, four charity specials and two animated serials have also been aired. The programme's high episode count has resulted in Doctor Who holding the world record for the highest number of episodes of a science-fiction programme. In May 2017, it was announced that BBC Worldwide sold the right of refusal on future series of the programme until and including series 15 in China.

Doctor Who ceased production in 1989, then resumed in 2005. The original series (1963–1989), generally consists of multi-episode serials. The 2005 revival trades the earlier serial format for a run of self-contained episodes, interspersed with occasional multi-part stories and structured into loose story arcs.

The story numbers below are meant as a guide to placement in the overall context of the programme. There is some dispute, for instance, about whether to count Season 23's The Trial of a Time Lord as one or as four serials, and whether the unfinished serial Shada should be included. The numbering scheme in this list follows the official website's episode guide. Other sources, such as the Region 1 classic Doctor Who DVD releases, use different numbering schemes, which diverge after the 108th story, The Horns of Nimon (1979–1980).

Series overview

The following table dictates the season or series in question for the programme as a whole.

Regular seasons

Season / Series	Doctor	Episodes		Serials	Originally aired		Average viewers (millions)	Average AI
					First aired	Last aired
Classic era
Season 1	First Doctor	42		8	23 November 1963 (1963-11-23)	12 September 1964 (1964-09-12)	8.08	59
Season 2		39		9	31 October 1964 (1964-10-31)	24 July 1965 (1965-07-24)	10.46	54
Season 3		45		10	11 September 1965 (1965-09-11)	16 July 1966 (1966-07-16)	7.65	49
Season 4	Second Doctor	43		9	10 September 1966 (1966-09-10)	1 July 1967 (1967-07-01)	7.10	49
Season 5		40		7	2 September 1967 (1967-09-02)	1 June 1968 (1968-06-01)	7.23	53
Season 6		44		7	10 August 1968 (1968-08-10)	21 June 1969 (1969-06-21)	6.38	54
Season 7	Third Doctor	25		4	3 January 1970 (1970-01-03)	20 June 1970 (1970-06-20)	7.17	59
Season 8		25		5	2 January 1971 (1971-01-02)	19 June 1971 (1971-06-19)	7.96	–
Season 9		26		5	1 January 1972 (1972-01-01)	24 June 1972 (1972-06-24)	8.30	–
Season 10		26		5	30 December 1972 (1972-12-30)	23 June 1973 (1973-06-23)	8.87	–
Season 11		26		5	15 December 1973 (1973-12-15)	8 June 1974 (1974-06-08)	8.78	60
Season 12	Fourth Doctor	20		5	28 December 1974 (1974-12-28)	10 May 1975 (1975-05-10)	10.00	56
Season 13		26		6	30 August 1975 (1975-08-30)	6 March 1976 (1976-03-06)	10.14	57
Season 14		26		6	4 September 1976 (1976-09-04)	2 April 1977 (1977-04-02)	11.08	59
Season 15		26		6	3 September 1977 (1977-09-03)	11 March 1978 (1978-03-11)	8.98	62
Season 16		26		6	2 September 1978 (1978-09-02)	24 February 1979 (1979-02-24)	8.61	64
Season 17		20		5	1 September 1979 (1979-09-01)	12 January 1980 (1980-01-12)	11.21	65
Season 18		28		7	30 August 1980 (1980-08-30)	21 March 1981 (1981-03-21)	5.82	63
Season 19	Fifth Doctor	26		7	4 January 1982 (1982-01-04)	30 March 1982 (1982-03-30)	9.24	–
Season 20		22		6	3 January 1983 (1983-01-03)	16 March 1983 (1983-03-16)	7.03	67
Season 21		24		7	5 January 1984 (1984-01-05)	30 March 1984 (1984-03-30)	7.14	65
Season 22	Sixth Doctor	13		6	5 January 1985 (1985-01-05)	30 March 1985 (1985-03-30)	7.12	64
Season 23		14		1	6 September 1986 (1986-09-06)	6 December 1986 (1986-12-06)	4.81	69
Season 24	Seventh Doctor	14		4	7 September 1987 (1987-09-07)	7 December 1987 (1987-12-07)	4.94	60
Season 25		14		4	5 October 1988 (1988-10-05)	4 January 1989 (1989-01-04)	5.34	68
Season 26		14		4	6 September 1989 (1989-09-06)	6 December 1989 (1989-12-06)	4.15	68
Revived era
Series 1	Ninth Doctor	13		10	26 March 2005 (2005-03-26)	18 June 2005 (2005-06-18)	7.95	82
Series 2	Tenth Doctor	13		10	15 April 2006 (2006-04-15)	8 July 2006 (2006-07-08)	7.71	84
Series 3		13		9	31 March 2007 (2007-03-31)	30 June 2007 (2007-06-30)	7.55	86
Series 4		13		10	5 April 2008 (2008-04-05)	5 July 2008 (2008-07-05)	8.05	88
Series 5	Eleventh Doctor	13		10	3 April 2010 (2010-04-03)	26 June 2010 (2010-06-26)	7.73	86
Series 6		13		11	23 April 2011 (2011-04-23)	1 October 2011 (2011-10-01)	7.52	86
Series 7		13		13	1 September 2012 (2012-09-01)	18 May 2013 (2013-05-18)	7.44	86
Series 8	Twelfth Doctor	12		11	23 August 2014 (2014-08-23)	8 November 2014 (2014-11-08)	7.26	83
Series 9		12		9	19 September 2015 (2015-09-19)	5 December 2015 (2015-12-05)	6.03	82
Series 10		12		11	15 April 2017 (2017-04-15)	1 July 2017 (2017-07-01)	5.46	83
Series 11	Thirteenth Doctor	10		10	7 October 2018 (2018-10-07)	9 December 2018 (2018-12-09)	7.96	81
Series 12		10		8	1 January 2020 (2020-01-01)	1 March 2020 (2020-03-01)	5.40	80
Series 13		6		1	31 October 2021 (2021-10-31)	5 December 2021 (2021-12-05)	4.95	77

Specials

Special	Doctor	Episodes		Originally aired
20th anniversary	Fifth Doctor	1		25 November 1983 (1983-11-25)
Television movie	Eighth Doctor	1		12 May 1996 (1996-05-12)
2005 Christmas	Tenth Doctor	1		25 December 2005 (2005-12-25)
2006 Christmas		1		25 December 2006 (2006-12-25)
2007 Christmas		1		25 December 2007 (2007-12-25)
2008–2010 specials		5		25 December 2008 – 1 January 2010 (2008-12-25 – 2010-01-01)
2010 Christmas	Eleventh Doctor	1		25 December 2010 (2010-12-25)
2011 Christmas		1		25 December 2011 (2011-12-25)
2012 Christmas		1		25 December 2012 (2012-12-25)
2013 specials		2		23 November – 25 December 2013 (2013-11-23 – 2013-12-25)
2014 Christmas	Twelfth Doctor	1		25 December 2014 (2014-12-25)
2015 Christmas		1		25 December 2015 (2015-12-25)
2016 Christmas		1		25 December 2016 (2016-12-25)
2017 Christmas		1		25 December 2017 (2017-12-25)
2019 New Year	Thirteenth Doctor	1		1 January 2019 (2019-01-01)
2020 New Year		–		1 January 2020 (2020-01-01)
2021 New Year		1		1 January 2021 (2021-01-01)
2022 specials		3		1 January 2022 (2022-01-01) – October 2022

Episodes

Ninth Doctor

In 2005, the BBC relaunched Doctor Who after a 15-year absence from episodic television, with Russell T Davies, Julie Gardner, and Mal Young as executive producers, Phil Collinson as producer, and Christopher Eccleston taking the lead role of the Ninth Doctor.

The revival is a continuation of the original series. The new series is formatted to a 16:9 widescreen display ratio, and a standard episode length of 45 minutes. For the first time since the 1965–1966 season, each episode has a title, and most stand alone as complete stories. The show also returned to its traditional Saturday evening slot.

Series 1 (2005)

Main article: Doctor Who (series 1)

The 2005 series constitutes a loose story arc, dealing with the consequences of the Time War and the mystery of the seemingly omnipresent phrase 'Bad Wolf'.

This article is about the 2005 series. For the 1963–1964 season, see Doctor Who season 1. For the 2024 series marketed as "season 1", see Doctor Who series 14.

List of Doctor Who episodes
DVD box set cover art
Showrunner	Russell T Davies
Starring	Christopher Eccleston Billie Piper
No. of episodes	13
Release
Original network	BBC One
Original release	26 March (2005-03-26) – 18 June 2005 (2005-06-18)
Season chronology

The first series of the 2005 revival of the British science fiction programme Doctor Who began on 26 March 2005 with the episode "Rose". This marked the end of the programme's 16-year absence from episodic television following its cancellation in 1989, and was the first new televised Doctor Who story since the broadcast of the television movie starring Paul McGann in 1996. The finale episode, "The Parting of the Ways", was broadcast on 18 June 2005. The show was revived by longtime Doctor Who fan Russell T Davies, who had been lobbying the BBC since the late 1990s to bring the show back. The first series comprised 13 episodes, eight of which Davies wrote. Davies, Julie Gardner and Mal Young served as executive producers, Phil Collinson as producer.

The show depicts the adventures of a mysterious and eccentric Time Lord known as the Doctor, who travels through time and space in his time machine, the TARDIS, which normally appears from the exterior to be a blue 1950s British police box. With his companions, he explores time and space, faces a variety of foes and saves civilizations, helping people and righting wrongs.

The first series features Christopher Eccleston as the ninth incarnation of the Doctor, his only series in the role, accompanied by Billie Piper, as his first and main companion Rose Tyler, whom he plucks from obscurity on planet Earth, and to whom he grows increasingly attached. He also travels briefly with unruly boy-genius Adam Mitchell, played by Bruno Langley, and with 51st-century con man and former "Time Agent" Captain Jack Harkness, portrayed by John Barrowman. Episodes in the series form a loose story arc, based upon the recurring phrase "Bad Wolf", the significance of which goes unexplained until the two-part series finale. Alongside the "Bad Wolf" arc, the revived era re-introduces the Doctor as the sole survivor of an event known as the Time War, which the Doctor claims wiped out all of the Time Lords and the Daleks.

The series premiere was watched by 10.81 million viewers, and four days after the premiere episode was broadcast, Doctor Who was renewed for a Christmas special as well as a second series. The series was well received by both critics and fans, winning a BAFTA Award for the first time in Doctor Who's history. The approval from Michael Grade, who had previously forced an 18-month hiatus on the show in 1985, and had postponed Doctor Who out of personal dislike on several occasions, was cited as a factor in the show's resurgence. The show's popularity ultimately led to a resurgence in family-orientated Saturday night drama.

Episodes

Unlike the classic era of the series that ended in 1989, the plan with the new series was to have each episode as a standalone story, with no serials. Of the thirteen episodes in the series, seven of them followed this format; the remaining six were grouped together into three two-part stories. Also, for the first time since The Gunfighters in the third season, each episode was given an individual title, which was the case with the standalone and two-part stories.

No. story	No. in series	Title	Directed by	Written by	Original air date	Prod. code	UK viewers (millions)	AI
157	1	"Rose"	Keith Boak	Russell T Davies	26 March 2005 (2005-03-26)	1.1	10.81	76
158	2	"The End of the World"	Euros Lyn	Russell T Davies	2 April 2005 (2005-04-02)	1.2	7.97	76
159	3	"The Unquiet Dead"	Euros Lyn	Mark Gatiss	9 April 2005 (2005-04-09)	1.3	8.86	80
160a	4	"Aliens of London"	Keith Boak	Russell T Davies	16 April 2005 (2005-04-16)	1.4	7.63	82
160b	5	"World War Three"	Keith Boak	Russell T Davies	23 April 2005 (2005-04-23)	1.5	7.98	81
161	6	"Dalek"	Joe Ahearne	Robert Shearman	30 April 2005 (2005-04-30)	1.6	8.63	84
162	7	"The Long Game"	Brian Grant	Russell T Davies	7 May 2005 (2005-05-07)	1.7	8.01	81
163	8	"Father's Day"	Joe Ahearne	Paul Cornell	14 May 2005 (2005-05-14)	1.8	8.06	83
164a	9	"The Empty Child"	James Hawes	Steven Moffat	21 May 2005 (2005-05-21)	1.9	7.11	84
164b	10	"The Doctor Dances"	James Hawes	Steven Moffat	28 May 2005 (2005-05-28)	1.10	6.86	85
165	11	"Boom Town"	Joe Ahearne	Russell T Davies	4 June 2005 (2005-06-04)	1.11	7.68	82
166a	12	"Bad Wolf"	Joe Ahearne	Russell T Davies	11 June 2005 (2005-06-11)	1.12	6.81	86
166b	13	"The Parting of the Ways"	Joe Ahearne	Russell T Davies	18 June 2005 (2005-06-18)	1.13	6.91	89

Cast

See also: List of Doctor Who cast members

Main cast

The production team was tasked with finding a suitable actor for the role of the Doctor. Most notably, they approached film stars Hugh Grant and Rowan Atkinson for the role. By the time Mal Young had suggested actor Christopher Eccleston to Davies, Eccleston was one of only three left in the running for the role: the other two candidates are rumoured in the industry to have been Alan Davies and Bill Nighy. His involvement in the programme was announced on 20 March 2004 following months of speculation. In the April 2004 issue of Doctor Who Magazine, Davies announced that Eccleston's Doctor would indeed be the Ninth Doctor, relegating Richard E. Grant's Shalka Doctor to non-official status. Russell T Davies revealed that Eccleston asked for the role in an e-mail.

Billie Piper, who portrays Rose Tyler, was welcomed by fans.

After the announcement that the show would be returning, Davies revealed that the new companion would "probably" be called Rose Tyler in an edition of Doctor Who Magazine published in November 2003. This name was confirmed in March 2004, and it was announced at the same time that former pop star Billie Piper was being considered for the role. Piper was announced as portraying Rose Tyler on 24 May, a character which fulfilled the role of permanent companion during the series, and was welcomed by fans of the show. Actress Georgia Moffett, daughter of Fifth Doctor actor Peter Davison and who would later appear as the title role in the fourth series episode "The Doctor's Daughter", also auditioned for the role. The original conception of Tyler was slightly different. Paul Abbott was scheduled to write an episode for the series which would have revealed that Rose's entire life had been manipulated by the Doctor in order to mould her into an ideal companion. Davies eventually wrote "Boom Town" to replace it when Abbott, after months of development, realised he was too busy to work on the script.

The first series was Christopher Eccleston's only series in the role of the Doctor. Eccleston's contract was for a single year because at the time it was uncertain whether the show would continue beyond a single revival series. Eccleston's intent to leave was revealed on 30 March 2005, shortly after the broadcast of the first episode. The BBC released a statement, attributed to Eccleston, saying that he had decided to leave because he feared becoming typecast. On 4 April, the BBC revealed that Eccleston's "statement" was falsely attributed and released without his consent. The BBC admitted that they had broken an agreement made in January not to disclose publicly that he only intended to do one season. In a 2010 interview, Eccleston revealed that he left the show because he "didn't enjoy the environment and the culture that [they], the cast and crew, had to work in", but that he was proud of having played the role.

Recurring and guest cast

The character of Adam Mitchell was first conceived, along with Henry van Statten, during Davies' pitch to the BBC, in a story heavily based on Robert Shearman's audio play Jubilee called "Return of the Daleks". The production team had always intended for Adam to join the TARDIS after Rose developed a liking for him. To play this role, Bruno Langley was chosen, previously known for his role on Coronation Street as Todd Grimshaw. It was never intended for Adam to be a long-term companion, Davies wanted to show that not everyone is suitable to join the TARDIS crew and dubbed him "The Companion That Couldn't", he "always wanted to do a show with someone who was a rubbish companion".

John Barrowman appears as Captain Jack Harkness, a character introduced in "The Empty Child", where he joined the TARDIS crew for the final five episodes of the series. In naming the character, Davies drew inspiration from the Marvel Comics character Agatha Harkness. Jack's appearances were conceived with the intention of forming a character arc in which Jack is transformed from a coward to a hero, and Barrowman consciously minded this in his portrayal of the character. Following on that arc, the character's debut episode would leave his morality as ambiguous, publicity materials asking, "is he a force for good or ill?" Barrowman himself was a key factor in the conception of Captain Jack. Barrowman says that at the time of his initial casting, Davies and co-executive producer, Julie Gardner had explained to him that they "basically wrote the character around [John]". On meeting him, Barrowman tried out the character using his native Scottish accent, his normal American accent, and an English accent; Davies decided it "made it bigger if it was an American accent". Barrowman recounts Davies as having been searching for an actor with a "matinée idol quality", telling him that "the only one in the whole of Britain who could do it was you".

David Tennant had been offered the role of the Doctor when he was watching a pre-transmission copy of Casanova with Davies and Gardner. Tennant initially believed the offer was a joke, but after he realised they were serious, he accepted the role and first appeared in the series finale "The Parting of the Ways". Tennant was announced as Eccleston's replacement on 16 April 2005. Other recurring characters for the series included Camille Coduri as Rose's mother Jackie Tyler, and Noel Clarke as Rose's boyfriend Mickey Smith. Other actors and television presenters who appeared in the series included Mark Benton, Zoë Wanamaker, Simon Callow, Eve Myles, Penelope Wilton, Annette Badland, David Verrey, Matt Baker, Andrew Marr, Corey Johnson, Simon Pegg, Anna Maxwell-Martin, Tamsin Greig, Shaun Dingwall, Florence Hoath, Richard Wilson, Jo Joyner, Davina McCall, Paterson Joseph, Anne Robinson, Trinny Woodall, and Susannah Constantine.

Production

Development

During the late-90s, Davies, a lifelong Doctor Who fan, lobbied the BBC to revive the show from its hiatus and reached the discussion stages in late 1998 and early 2002. His proposals would update the show to be better suited for a 21st-century audience, including the transition from videotape to film, doubling the length of each episode from twenty-five minutes to fifty, keeping the Doctor primarily on Earth in the style of the Third Doctor UNIT episodes, and removing "excess baggage" such as Gallifrey and the Time Lords. His pitch competed against three others: Dan Freedman's fantasy retelling, Matthew Graham's Gothic-styled pitch, and Mark Gatiss, Clayton Hickman and Gareth Roberts' reboot, which would make the Doctor the audience surrogate character, instead of his companions.

In August 2003, the BBC had resolved the issues regarding production rights that had surfaced as a result of the jointly produced Universal Studios–BBC–Fox 1996 Doctor Who film, leading the Controller of BBC One Lorraine Heggessey and Controller of Drama Commissioning Jane Tranter to approach Gardner and Davies to create a revival of the series to air in a primetime slot on Saturday nights, as part of the BBC's plan to devolve production to its regional bases. By mid-September, they accepted the deal to produce the series alongside Casanova.

We were told that bringing it back would be impossible, that we would never capture this generation of children. But we did it.

— Russell T Davies, 2006 BAFTAs

Following Scream of the Shalka, an animated episode which was shown on the Doctor Who website, the 'real' return of Doctor Who was announced on 26 September 2003 in a press release from the BBC.

Davies voluntarily wrote a pitch for the series, the first time he had done so; he previously chose to jump straight to writing pilot episodes because he felt that a pitch would "feel like [he's] killing the work". The fifteen-page pitch outlined a Doctor who was "your best friend; someone you want to be with all the time"; the eighteen-year-old Rose Tyler as a "perfect match" for the new Doctor; avoidance of the forty-year back story "except for the good bits"; the retention of the TARDIS, sonic screwdriver, and Daleks; removal of the Time Lords; and also a greater focus on humanity. His pitch was submitted for the first production meeting in December 2003, with a series of thirteen episodes obtained by pressure from BBC Worldwide and a workable budget from Julie Gardner.

By early 2004, the show had settled into a regular production cycle. Davies, Gardner, and BBC Controller of Drama Mal Young took posts as executive producers, although Young vacated the role at the end of the series. Phil Collinson, an old colleague from Granada, took the role of producer. Keith Boak, Euros Lyn, Joe Ahearne, Brian Grant and James Hawes directed the series. Davies' official role as head writer and executive producer, or "showrunner", consisted of laying a skeletal plot for the entire series, holding "tone meetings" to correctly identify the tone of an episode, often being described in one word—for example, the "tone word" for Moffat's "The Empty Child" was "romantic"—and overseeing all aspects of production. During early production the word "Torchwood", an anagram of "Doctor Who", was used as a title ruse for the series while filming its first few episodes and on the daily rushes to ensure they were not intercepted. The word "Torchwood" was later seeded in Doctor Who and became the name of the spin-off series Torchwood.

Davies was interested in making an episode that would serve as a crossover with Star Trek: Enterprise, and involve the TARDIS landing on board the NX-01. The idea was officially discussed, but the plans were abandoned following the cancellation of Enterprise in February 2005.

Writing

Russell T Davies tried to revive the show since the late-90s and wrote the scripts for eight of the 13 episodes in the first series.

The first series of Doctor Who featured eight scripts by Davies, the remainder being allocated to experienced drama writers and previous writers for the show's ancillary releases: Steven Moffat penned a two-episode story, while Mark Gatiss, Robert Shearman, and Paul Cornell each wrote one script. Davies also approached his friend Paul Abbott and Harry Potter author J. K. Rowling to write for the series, but both declined due to existing commitments. Shortly after securing writers for the show, Davies stated that he had no intention to approach writers for the old series; the only writer he would have wished to work with was Robert Holmes, who died in May 1986, halfway through writing his contribution to The Trial of a Time Lord.

Elwen Rowlands and Helen Raynor served as script editors for the series. They were hired simultaneous, marking the first time Doctor Who had female script editors. Rowlands left after the first series for Life on Mars. Compared to the original series the role of the script editors was significantly diminished, with the head writer taking most of those responsibilities. Unlike the original series they do not have the power to commission scripts. Instead, they act as liaisons between the production staff and the screenwriter, before passing their joint work to the head writer for a "final polish". Raynor said that the job is not a creative one, "you are a part of it, but you aren't driving it."

Under producer Davies, the new series had a faster pace than those of the classic series. Rather than four to six-part serials of 25-minute episodes, most of the Ninth Doctor's stories consisted of individual 45-minute episodes, with only three stories out of ten being two-parters. The thirteen episodes were, however, loosely connected in a series-long story arc which brought their disparate threads together in the series finale. Davies took cues from American fantasy television series such as Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Smallville, most notably Buffy's concepts of series-long story arcs and the "Big Bad". Also, like the original series, stories often flowed directly into one another or were linked together in some way. Notably, in common only with the seventh and twenty-sixth seasons of the original series, every story of the season takes place on or near Earth. This fact is directly addressed in the original novel The Monsters Inside, in which Rose and the Doctor joke about the fact that all their adventures to date have taken place on Earth or on neighbouring space stations.

The stories of the series varied quite significantly in tone, with the production team showcasing the various genres inhabited by Doctor Who over the years. Examples include the "pseudo-historical" story "The Unquiet Dead"; the far-future whodunnit of "The End of the World"; Earthbound alien invasion stories in "Rose" and "Aliens of London"/"World War Three"; "base under siege" in "Dalek"; and horror in "The Empty Child". Even the spin-off media were represented, with "Dalek" taking elements from writer Rob Shearman's own audio play Jubilee and the emotional content of Paul Cornell's "Father's Day" drawing on the tone of Cornell's novels in the Virgin New Adventures line. Davies had asked both Shearman and Cornell to write their scripts with those respective styles in mind. The episode "Boom Town" included a reference to the novel The Monsters Inside, becoming the first episode to acknowledge (albeit in a subtle way) spin-off fiction.

Music

Murray Gold composed the music for this series, which was entirely synthesised.

Filming

Principal photography for the series began on 18 July 2004 on location in Cardiff for "Rose". The series was filmed across South East Wales, mostly in or around Cardiff. Each episode took about two weeks to film. The start of filming created stress among the production team because of unseen circumstances: several scenes from the first block had to be re-shot because the original footage was unusable; the Slitheen prosthetics for "Aliens of London", "World War Three", and "Boom Town" were noticeably different from their computer-generated counterparts; and, most notably, the BBC came to a gridlock with the Terry Nation estate to secure the Daleks for the sixth episode of the series, to be written by Rob Shearman. After the first production block, which Davies described as "hitting a brick wall", the show's production was markedly eased as the crew familiarised themselves. Filming concluded on 23 March 2005. David Tennant, who was cast as Eccleston's replacement, recorded his appearance at the end of "The Parting of the Ways" on 21 April 2005 with a skeleton crew. Production blocks were arranged as follows:

Block	Episode(s)	Director	Writer(s)	Producer	Code
1	Episode 1: "Rose"	Keith Boak	Russell T Davies	Phil Collinson	1.1
	Episode 4: "Aliens of London"				1.4
	Episode 5: "World War Three"				1.5
2	Episode 2: "The End of the World"	Euros Lyn			1.2
	Episode 3: "The Unquiet Dead"		Mark Gatiss		1.3
3	Episode 6: "Dalek"	Joe Ahearne	Robert Shearman		1.6
	Episode 8: "Father's Day"		Paul Cornell		1.8
4	Episode 7: "The Long Game"	Brian Grant	Russell T Davies		1.7
5	Episode 9: "The Empty Child"	James Hawes	Steven Moffat		1.9
	Episode 10: "The Doctor Dances"				1.10
6	Episode 11: "Boom Town"	Joe Ahearne	Russell T Davies		1.11
	Episode 12: "Bad Wolf"				1.12
	Episode 13: "The Parting of the Ways"				1.13

Release

Promotion

The new logo was revealed on the BBC website on 18 October 2004. The first official trailer was released as part of BBC One's Winter Highlights presentation on 2 December 2004 and subsequently posted on the Internet by the BBC. A media blitz including billboards and posters across the UK started early March 2005. Television trailers started showing up on 5 March and radio advertisements started two weeks before the series premiere and ran till the second episode aired. The official Doctor Who website was launched with exclusive content such as games and new Ninth Doctor information.

Leak

An early edit of the premiere was leaked onto the Internet three weeks before the scheduled series premiere. This attracted much media attention and discussion amongst fans, and caused interest in the show to skyrocket. The BBC released a statement that the source of the leak appeared to be connected to the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, which responded by stating that they "are looking into it. That's all I can say at this point because we don't know exactly what happened. It certainly wasn't done intentionally." Asa Bailey, founder of the Viral Advertising Association, said that the BBC hired them for viral marketing strategies, and that he told them "they should release things before their time", to create a "cool factor". Both the BBC and CBC denied any involvement, but Bailey believes that to be disingenuous, saying that it is "the best viral advert they could have done". The leak was ultimately traced to a third-party company in Canada which had a legitimate preview copy. The employee responsible was fired by the company.

Broadcast

"Rose" finally saw transmission on schedule on 26 March 2005 at 7 pm on BBC One, the first regular episode of Doctor Who since Part Three of Survival on 6 December 1989. To complement the series, BBC Wales also produced Doctor Who Confidential, a 13-part documentary series with each episode broadcast on BBC Three immediately after the end of the weekly instalment on BBC One. Both the series and documentary aired for 13 consecutive weeks, with the finale episode, "The Parting of the Ways", airing on 18 June 2005 along with its documentary counterpart. Davies had requested that the two first episodes be broadcast back-to-back, but the request was given to the BBC just two weeks before transmission, at which point everything was already set. In some regions, the first few minutes of the original BBC broadcast of "Rose" on 26 March were marred by the accidental mixing of a few seconds of sound from Graham Norton hosting Strictly Dance Fever.

In the United States, the Sci Fi Channel originally passed on the new series as it found it lacking and believed it did not fit in its schedule, but the network later changed its mind. After it was announced that the first series would start in March 2006, Sci Fi Channel executive vice president Thomas Vitale called Doctor Who "a true sci-fi classic", with creative storytelling and colorful history, and was excited to add it to its line up. The network also took an option on the second series. Candace Carlisle from BBC Worldwide found the Sci Fi Channel the perfect home for Doctor Who. Doctor Who finally debuted in the U.S. on the Sci Fi Channel on 17 March 2006 with the first two episodes airing back-to-back, one year after the Canadian and UK showings. The series concluded its initial U.S. broadcast on 9 June 2006.

Home media

See also: List of Doctor Who home video releases and List of other Doctor Who home video releases

DVD and Blu-ray releases

The series was first released in volumes; the first volume, containing the first three episodes, was released in Region 2 on 16 May 2005. The second, with "Aliens of London", "World War Three", and "Dalek", followed on 13 June 2005. "The Long Game", "Father's Day", "The Empty Child", and "The Doctor Dances" were released in the third volume on 1 August 2005 and the final three episodes were released in the fourth volume on 5 September 2005.

The entire series was then released in a boxset on 21 November 2005 in Region 2. Aside from the 13 episodes it included commentaries on every episode, a video diary from Davies during the first week of filming, as well as other featurettes. The boxset was released in Region 1 on 4 July 2006.

All releases are for DVD unless otherwise indicated:

• ^(D) indicates a DVD release for a specific date
• ^(B) indicates a Blu-ray release

Series	Story no.	Episode name	Number and duration of episodes	R2 release date	R4 release date	R1 release date
1	157–159	Doctor Who : Volume 1 "Rose" – "The Unquiet Dead"	3 × 45 min.	16 May 2005	17 June 2005	7 November 2006
	160–161	Doctor Who : Volume 2 "Aliens of London" – "Dalek"	3 × 45 min.	13 June 2005	3 August 2005	7 November 2006
	162–164	Doctor Who : Volume 3 "The Long Game" – "The Doctor Dances"	4 × 45 min.	1 August 2005	31 August 2005	7 November 2006
	165–166	Doctor Who : Volume 4 "Boom Town" – "The Parting of the Ways"	3 × 45 min.	5 September 2005	6 October 2005	7 November 2006
	157–166	Doctor Who : The Complete First Series	13 × 45 min.	21 November 2005 (D) 4 November 2013 (B) 31 August 2015 (B)	8 December 2005 (D) 4 December 2013 (B)	14 February 2006 (D) 5 November 2013 (B) 21 June 2016 (B)

UMD releases

Season	Story no.	Serial name	Number and duration of episodes	UK release date	Australia release date	USA/Canada release date
1	157–159	"Rose" "End of the World" "The Unquiet Dead"	3 × 45 min.	12 December 2005	4 July 2006	—
	160–161	"Aliens of London" "World War Three" "Dalek"	3 × 45 min.	17 October 2005	4 July 2006	—
	162–164	"The Long Game" "Father's Day" "The Empty Child" "The Doctor Dances"	4 × 45 min.	26 December 2005	4 July 2006	—
	165–166	"Boom Town" "Bad Wolf" "The Parting of the Ways"	3 × 45 min.	26 December 2005	4 July 2006	—

In print

See also: List of Doctor Who novelisations

Series	Story no.	Novelisation title	Author	Hardcover release date	Paperback release date	Audiobook release date
1	157	Rose	Russell T Davies	23 November 2023	5 April 2018	3 May 2018
	161	Dalek	Robert Shearman	—	11 March 2021	11 March 2021

Reception

Ratings

Final ratings for the first series.

"Rose" received average overnight ratings of 9.9 million viewers, peaking at 10.5 million, respectively 43.2% and 44.3% of all viewers at that time. The final figure for the episode, including video recordings watched within a week of transmission, was 10.81 million, making it the third highest for BBC One that week and seventh across all channels. The opening episode was the highest rated episode of the first series. The penultimate episode, "Bad Wolf", received the lowest viewers of the series with just 6.81 million viewers. The series also garnered the highest audience Appreciation Index of any non-soap drama on television. Besides the second episode, "The End of the World", which garnered a 79% rating, the lowest of the series, all episodes received an AI above 80%. The series finale "The Parting of the Ways" was the highest rated episode with an AI of 89%. The success of the launch saw the BBC's Head of Drama Jane Tranter confirming on 30 March that the series would return both for a Christmas Special in December 2005 and a full second series in 2006.

The initial Sci Fi Channel broadcasts of the series attained an average Nielsen Rating of 1.3, representing 1.5 million viewers in total. Although these ratings were less than those reached by Sci Fi's original series Battlestar Galactica, Stargate SG-1 and Stargate Atlantis, they reflect a 44% increase in ratings and a 56% increase in viewership over the same timeslot in the second quarter of 2005, as well as increases of 56% and 57% in two key demographics.

Critical reception

The title card for the series of Doctor Who features the new logo, which some fans disliked so much they sent hate mail to the production team.

Review aggregation website Rotten Tomatoes offers an 83% approval from 12 critic reviews, and an average rating of 8.6/10.

In April 2004, Michael Grade returned to the BBC, this time as the Chairman of the Board of Governors, although this position does not involve any commissioning or editorial responsibilities. Although he had previously disliked the show and imposed an eighteen-month hiatus on it during the Sixth Doctor era, he eventually wrote an e-mail to the Director-General of the BBC Mark Thompson in June 2005, after the successful new first series, voicing approval for its popularity. He also declared, "[I] never dreamed I would ever write this. I must be going soft!" The revival also impressed former Doctor Sylvester McCoy, who praised Eccleston and Piper as well as their characters, and the pacing of the first episode. His only criticism was about the new TARDIS interior, though he did comment that he was "also a bit dismayed that more wasn't made of the show's incidental music, which seemed fairly anonymous in the background".

Robin Oliver of The Sydney Morning Herald praised Davies for taking "an adult approach to one of television's most famous characters" that children would appreciate, and that he reinvented it in a way that would be "competitive in a high-tech market". Oliver also wrote that older viewers would find Eccleston "easily the best time lord since Tom Baker". Reviewing the first episode, The Stage's Harry Venning hailed it as a "fabulous, imaginative, funny and sometimes frightening reinvention" and particularly praised Rose for being an improvement upon previous female companions who were "fit only to scream or be captured". However, he found Eccleston to be "the show's biggest disappointment" as he looked "uncomfortable playing fantasy". Digital Spy's Dek Hogan found the final episode anticlimactic, but overall said that the series was "excellent Saturday night telly of the kind that many of us thought the BBC had forgotten how to make". He praised Eccleston's performance and named "The Empty Child" and "The Doctor Dances" as the best episodes. Arnold T Blumburg of Now Playing gave the series a grade of A−, praising its variety. However, he was critical of Davies' "annoying tendency to play to the lowest common denominator with toilet humor", but felt that from "Dalek" on the series was more dramatic and sophisticated.

DVD Talk's John Sinnott rated the first series four and a half out of five stars, writing that it "keeps a lot of the charm and excitement of the original (as well as the premise), while making the series easily accessible for new viewers". Sinnott praised the faster pace and the design changes that made it feel "fresh", as well as Eccleston's Doctor. However, he felt that Piper only did a "credible" job as Eccleston eclipsed her, and said that the writing was "uneven" with many of the episodes "just slightly flawed". Looking back on the series in 2011, Stephen Kelly of The Guardian wrote, "Eccleston's Doctor may have had many faults – looking like an EastEnders extra and bellowing "FANTASTIC!" at every opportunity being two of them – but he was merely a reflection of a show that, at the time, still didn't know what it wanted to be. The first series of the revived Doctor Who – which featured farting aliens – was a world away from the intelligent, populist science-fiction we know it as now. But then, it is thanks to Eccleston that it got this far at all – a big, respectable name who laid the foundations for Tennant to swag away with the show."

However, not everyone was pleased with the new production. Some fans criticised the new logo and perceived changes to the TARDIS model. According to various news sources, members of the production team even received hate mail and death threats. "The Unquiet Dead" was criticised by parents, who felt that the episode was "too scary" for their young children; the BBC dismissed the complaints, saying that it had never been intended for the youngest of children.

Awards and nominations

See also: List of awards and nominations received by Doctor Who

Year	Award	Category	Nominee(s)	Result	Ref(s)
2005	BBC 2005 TV Moments	Golden Moment	"The Doctor Dances"	Won
	BBC.co.uk	Best of Drama	Doctor Who	Won
		Best Actor	Christopher Eccleston	Won
		Best Actress	Billie Piper	Won
		Most Desirable Star	Billie Piper	Won
		Best Drama Website	Doctor Who website	Won
		1st Favourite Moment	"Dalek"	Won
		Best Villain	Daleks	Won
	National Television Awards	Most Popular Drama	Doctor Who	Won
		Most Popular Actor	Christopher Eccleston	Won
		Most Popular Actress	Billie Piper	Won
	TV Choice	Best Actor	Christopher Eccleston	Won
	TV Quick	Best Actor	Christopher Eccleston	Won
2006	British Academy Television Awards	Best Drama Series	Doctor Who	Won
		Pioneer Award	Doctor Who	Won
	BAFTA Craft Awards	Writer	Russell T Davies	Nominated
		Director	Joe Ahearne	Nominated
		Breakthrough Talent	Edward Thomas	Nominated
	BAFTA Cymru	Best Drama Series	Doctor Who	Won
		Drama Director	James Hawes	Won
		Costume, Make-up and Photography Direction	Doctor Who	Won
	Broadcast Magazine	Award for Best Drama	Doctor Who	Won
	Broadcasting Press Guild	Best Drama	Doctor Who	Nominated
		Best Actor	Christopher Eccleston	Nominated
		Best Actress	Billie Piper	Nominated
		Best Writer	Russell T Davies	Nominated
	Dennis Potter	Outstanding Writing for Television	Russell T Davies	Won
	Hugo Awards	Hugo Award for Best Dramatic Presentation, Short Form	"Dalek"	Nominated
			"Father's Day"	Nominated
			"The Empty Child" / "The Doctor Dances"	Won
	Royal Television Society	Best Drama Series	Doctor Who	Nominated
	Siân Phillips	Outstanding Contribution to Network Television	Russell T Davies	Won
	South Bank Show	Breakthrough Award For Rising British Talent	Billie Piper	Won

Soundtrack

Doctor Who: Original Television Soundtrack
Soundtrack album by Murray Gold
Released	4 December 2006
Recorded	2005–2006
Genre	Soundtrack, incidental
Length	75:54
Label	Silva Screen Records
Producer	Murray Gold
Doctor Who soundtrack chronology
Doctor Who: Devils' Planets – The Music of Tristram Cary (2003) Doctor Who: Original Television Soundtrack (2006) Doctor Who: Series 3 (2007)

Selected pieces of score from the first series, second series, and "The Runaway Bride", as composed by Murray Gold, were released on 4 December 2006 by Silva Screen Records. The cues from the first series were re-recorded by the BBC National Orchestra of Wales, the original music having been created using orchestral samples.

Gold's arrangement of the main theme featured samples from the 1963 original with further elements added: an orchestral sound of low horns, strings and percussion and part of the Dalek ray-gun and TARDIS materialisation sound effects. Included on the album are two versions of the theme: the 44-second opening version, as arranged by Gold, and a longer arrangement that includes the middle eight, after Gold omitted the "middle eight" from both the opening and closing credits. Gold has said that his interpretation was driven by the title visual sequence he was given to work around. Often erroneously cited as being the same as the end credits version, this second version is in fact a new arrangement and recording.

No.	Title	Episode	Length
1.	"Doctor Who Theme (TV version)"	Various episodes	0:40
2.	"Westminster Bridge"	"Rose", "The Christmas Invasion"	2:10
3.	"The Doctor's Theme"	"Rose"	1:20
4.	"Cassandra's Waltz"	"The End of the World", "New Earth"	3:10
5.	"Slitheen"	"Aliens of London" / "World War Three", "Boom Town", "Love & Monsters"	1:24
6.	"Father's Day"	"Father's Day"	1:57
7.	"Rose in Peril"	"Bad Wolf" / "The Parting of the Ways"	1:41
8.	"Boom Town Suite"	"Boom Town"	3:04
9.	"I'm Coming to Get You"	"Bad Wolf"	1:14
10.	"Hologram"	"The Parting of the Ways"	2:17
11.	"Rose Defeats the Daleks"	"The Parting of the Ways"	2:33
12.	"Clockwork TARDIS"	"The End of the World"	1:20
13.	"Harriet Jones, Prime Minister"	"World War Three", "The Christmas Invasion"	2:15
14.	"Rose's Theme"	"The End of the World"	2:16
15.	"Song for Ten (performed by Neil Hannon)"	"The Christmas Invasion"	3:29
16.	"The Face of Boe"	"New Earth"	1:18
17.	"UNIT"	"The Christmas Invasion"	1:46
18.	"Seeking The Doctor"	"Rose", "Love & Monsters"	0:43
19.	"Madame de Pompadour"	"The Girl in the Fireplace"	3:46
20.	"Tooth and Claw"	"Tooth and Claw"	3:52
21.	"The Lone Dalek"	"Dalek", "The Satan Pit", "Doomsday"	5:01
22.	"New Adventures"	"Boom Town", "The Parting of the Ways", "The Christmas Invasion"	2:21
23.	"Finding Jackie"	"The Parting of the Ways", "Love & Monsters"	0:54
24.	"Monster Bossa"	"Boom Town", "Love & Monsters"	1:39
25.	"The Daleks"	"Bad Wolf"	3:03
26.	"The Cybermen"	"Rise of the Cybermen" / "The Age of Steel"	4:34
27.	"Doomsday"	"Doomsday"	5:11
28.	"The Impossible Planet"	"The Impossible Planet"	3:13
29.	"Sycorax Encounter"	"The Christmas Invasion"	1:13
30.	"Love Don't Roam (performed by Neil Hannon)"	"The Runaway Bride"	3:59
31.	"Doctor Who Theme (album version)"		2:31
Total length:			75:54

References

Bibliography

• Aldridge, Mark; Murray, Andy (30 November 2008). T is for Television: The Small Screen Adventures of Russell T Davies. Reynolds & Hearn Ltd. ISBN 978-1-905287-84-0.
• Russell, Gary (2006). Doctor Who: The Inside Story. London: BBC Books. ISBN 978-0-563-48649-7.

External links

• Official website
• Doctor Who at IMDb
• Doctor Who at epguides.com

Tenth Doctor

The Tenth Doctor was portrayed by David Tennant, who was cast before the first series aired.

Series 2 (2006)

Main article: Doctor Who (series 2)

The back-story for the spin-off series Torchwood is "seeded" in various episodes in the 2006 series. Each episode also has an accompanying online Tardisode.

No. story	No. in series	Title	Directed by	Written by	Original air date	Prod. code	UK viewers (millions)	AI
Special
167	–	"The Christmas Invasion"	James Hawes	Russell T Davies	25 December 2005 (2005-12-25)	2X	9.84	84
Series
168	1	"New Earth"	James Hawes	Russell T Davies	15 April 2006 (2006-04-15)	2.1	8.62	85
169	2	"Tooth and Claw"	Euros Lyn	Russell T Davies	22 April 2006 (2006-04-22)	2.2	9.24	83
170	3	"School Reunion"	James Hawes	Toby Whithouse	29 April 2006 (2006-04-29)	2.3	8.31	85
171	4	"The Girl in the Fireplace"	Euros Lyn	Steven Moffat	6 May 2006 (2006-05-06)	2.4	7.90	84
172a	5	"Rise of the Cybermen"	Graeme Harper	Tom MacRae	13 May 2006 (2006-05-13)	2.5	9.22	86
172b	6	"The Age of Steel"	Graeme Harper	Tom MacRae	20 May 2006 (2006-05-20)	2.6	7.63	86
173	7	"The Idiot's Lantern"	Euros Lyn	Mark Gatiss	27 May 2006 (2006-05-27)	2.7	6.76	84
174a	8	"The Impossible Planet"	James Strong	Matt Jones	3 June 2006 (2006-06-03)	2.8	6.32	85
174b	9	"The Satan Pit"	James Strong	Matt Jones	10 June 2006 (2006-06-10)	2.9	6.08	86
175	10	"Love & Monsters"	Dan Zeff	Russell T Davies	17 June 2006 (2006-06-17)	2.10	6.66	76
176	11	"Fear Her"	Euros Lyn	Matthew Graham	24 June 2006 (2006-06-24)	2.11	7.14	83
177a	12	"Army of Ghosts"	Graeme Harper	Russell T Davies	1 July 2006 (2006-07-01)	2.12	8.19	86
177b	13	"Doomsday"	Graeme Harper	Russell T Davies	8 July 2006 (2006-07-08)	2.13	8.22	89

Series 3 (2007)

Main article: Doctor Who (series 3)

This series introduces Martha Jones and deals with the Face of Boe's final message, the mysterious Mr. Saxon, and the Doctor dealing with the loss of Rose Tyler.

No. story	No. in series	Title	Directed by	Written by	Original air date	Prod. code	UK viewers (millions)	AI
Special
178	–	"The Runaway Bride"	Euros Lyn	Russell T Davies	25 December 2006 (2006-12-25)	3X	9.35	84
Series
179	1	"Smith and Jones"	Charles Palmer	Russell T Davies	31 March 2007 (2007-03-31)	3.1	8.71	88
180	2	"The Shakespeare Code"	Charles Palmer	Gareth Roberts	7 April 2007 (2007-04-07)	3.2	7.23	87
181	3	"Gridlock"	Richard Clark	Russell T Davies	14 April 2007 (2007-04-14)	3.3	8.41	85
182a	4	"Daleks in Manhattan"	James Strong	Helen Raynor	21 April 2007 (2007-04-21)	3.4	6.69	86
182b	5	"Evolution of the Daleks"	James Strong	Helen Raynor	28 April 2007 (2007-04-28)	3.5	6.97	85
183	6	"The Lazarus Experiment"	Richard Clark	Stephen Greenhorn	5 May 2007 (2007-05-05)	3.6	7.19	86
184	7	"42"	Graeme Harper	Chris Chibnall	19 May 2007 (2007-05-19)	3.7	7.41	85
185a	8	"Human Nature"	Charles Palmer	Paul Cornell	26 May 2007 (2007-05-26)	3.8	7.74	86
185b	9	"The Family of Blood"	Charles Palmer	Paul Cornell	2 June 2007 (2007-06-02)	3.9	7.21	86
186	10	"Blink"	Hettie MacDonald	Steven Moffat	9 June 2007 (2007-06-09)	3.10	6.62	87
187a	11	"Utopia"	Graeme Harper	Russell T Davies	16 June 2007 (2007-06-16)	3.11	7.84	87
187b	12	"The Sound of Drums"	Colin Teague	Russell T Davies	23 June 2007 (2007-06-23)	3.12	7.51	87
187c	13	"Last of the Time Lords"	Colin Teague	Russell T Davies	30 June 2007 (2007-06-30)	3.13	8.61	88

Series 4 (2008)

Main article: Doctor Who (series 4)

This series explores the coincidences binding the Doctor and Donna together. There is also the loose story arc of the planets disappearing and bees also disappearing.

No. story	No. in series	Title	Directed by	Written by	Original air date	Prod. code	UK viewers (millions)	AI
Special
188	–	"Voyage of the Damned"	James Strong	Russell T Davies	25 December 2007 (2007-12-25)	4X	13.31	86
Series
189	1	"Partners in Crime"	James Strong	Russell T Davies	5 April 2008 (2008-04-05)	4.1	9.14	88
190	2	"The Fires of Pompeii"	Colin Teague	James Moran	12 April 2008 (2008-04-12)	4.3	9.04	87
191	3	"Planet of the Ood"	Graeme Harper	Keith Temple	19 April 2008 (2008-04-19)	4.2	7.50	87
192a	4	"The Sontaran Stratagem"	Douglas Mackinnon	Helen Raynor	26 April 2008 (2008-04-26)	4.4	7.06	87
192b	5	"The Poison Sky"	Douglas Mackinnon	Helen Raynor	3 May 2008 (2008-05-03)	4.5	6.53	88
193	6	"The Doctor's Daughter"	Alice Troughton	Stephen Greenhorn	10 May 2008 (2008-05-10)	4.6	7.33	88
194	7	"The Unicorn and the Wasp"	Graeme Harper	Gareth Roberts	17 May 2008 (2008-05-17)	4.7	8.41	86
195a	8	"Silence in the Library"	Euros Lyn	Steven Moffat	31 May 2008 (2008-05-31)	4.9	6.27	89
195b	9	"Forest of the Dead"	Euros Lyn	Steven Moffat	7 June 2008 (2008-06-07)	4.10	7.84	89
196	10	"Midnight"	Alice Troughton	Russell T Davies	14 June 2008 (2008-06-14)	4.8	8.05	86
197	11	"Turn Left"	Graeme Harper	Russell T Davies	21 June 2008 (2008-06-21)	4.11	8.09	88
198a	12	"The Stolen Earth"	Graeme Harper	Russell T Davies	28 June 2008 (2008-06-28)	4.12	8.78	91
198b	13	"Journey's End"	Graeme Harper	Russell T Davies	5 July 2008 (2008-07-05)	4.13	10.57	91

Specials (2008–2010)

Main article: Doctor Who (2008–2010 specials)

The specials focus on the "four knocks" and the death of the Tenth Doctor. From "Planet of the Dead", episodes were filmed in HD.

No. story	No. special	Title	Directed by	Written by	Original air date	Prod. code	UK viewers (millions)	AI
199	1	"The Next Doctor"	Andy Goddard	Russell T Davies	25 December 2008 (2008-12-25)	4.14	13.10	86
200	2	"Planet of the Dead"	James Strong	Russell T Davies & Gareth Roberts	11 April 2009 (2009-04-11)	4.15	9.75	88
201	3	"The Waters of Mars"	Graeme Harper	Russell T Davies & Phil Ford	15 November 2009 (2009-11-15)	4.16	10.32	88
202a	4	"The End of Time – Part One"	Euros Lyn	Russell T Davies	25 December 2009 (2009-12-25)	4.17	12.04	87
202b	5	"The End of Time – Part Two"	Euros Lyn	Russell T Davies	1 January 2010 (2010-01-01)	4.18	12.27	89

Eleventh Doctor

The Eleventh Doctor was portrayed by Matt Smith. Steven Moffat took over as showrunner from the fifth series.

Series 5 (2010)

Main article: Doctor Who (series 5)

This series deals with cracks spreading throughout time, the Pandorica and the Silence which is mentioned in various episodes.

No. story	No. in series	Title	Directed by	Written by	Original air date	Prod. code	UK viewers (millions)	AI
203	1	"The Eleventh Hour"	Adam Smith	Steven Moffat	3 April 2010 (2010-04-03)	1.1	10.09	86
204	2	"The Beast Below"	Andrew Gunn	Steven Moffat	10 April 2010 (2010-04-10)	1.2	8.42	86
205	3	"Victory of the Daleks"	Andrew Gunn	Mark Gatiss	17 April 2010 (2010-04-17)	1.3	8.21	84
206a	4	"The Time of Angels"	Adam Smith	Steven Moffat	24 April 2010 (2010-04-24)	1.4	8.59	87
206b	5	"Flesh and Stone"	Adam Smith	Steven Moffat	1 May 2010 (2010-05-01)	1.5	8.50	86
207	6	"The Vampires of Venice"	Jonny Campbell	Toby Whithouse	8 May 2010 (2010-05-08)	1.6	7.68	86
208	7	"Amy's Choice"	Catherine Morshead	Simon Nye	15 May 2010 (2010-05-15)	1.7	7.55	84
209a	8	"The Hungry Earth"	Ashley Way	Chris Chibnall	22 May 2010 (2010-05-22)	1.8	6.49	86
209b	9	"Cold Blood"	Ashley Way	Chris Chibnall	29 May 2010 (2010-05-29)	1.9	7.49	85
210	10	"Vincent and the Doctor"	Jonny Campbell	Richard Curtis	5 June 2010 (2010-06-05)	1.10	6.76	86
211	11	"The Lodger"	Catherine Morshead	Gareth Roberts	12 June 2010 (2010-06-12)	1.11	6.44	87
212a	12	"The Pandorica Opens"	Toby Haynes	Steven Moffat	19 June 2010 (2010-06-19)	1.12	7.57	88
212b	13	"The Big Bang"	Toby Haynes	Steven Moffat	26 June 2010 (2010-06-26)	1.13	6.70	89

Series 6 (2011)

Main article: Doctor Who (series 6)

The series centres on River Song's relation to the Doctor, the Doctor's "death" and discovering what the Silence is. The original transmission of series 6 was split into two parts, with the first seven episodes airing April to June 2011 and the final six from late August to October 2011.

No. story	No. in series	Title	Directed by	Written by	Original air date	Prod. code	UK viewers (millions)	AI
Special
213	–	"A Christmas Carol"	Toby Haynes	Steven Moffat	25 December 2010 (2010-12-25)	2.X	12.11	83
Part 1
214a	1	"The Impossible Astronaut"	Toby Haynes	Steven Moffat	23 April 2011 (2011-04-23)	2.1	8.86	88
214b	2	"Day of the Moon"	Toby Haynes	Steven Moffat	30 April 2011 (2011-04-30)	2.2	7.30	87
215	3	"The Curse of the Black Spot"	Jeremy Webb	Stephen Thompson	7 May 2011 (2011-05-07)	2.9	7.85	86
216	4	"The Doctor's Wife"	Richard Clark	Neil Gaiman	14 May 2011 (2011-05-14)	2.3	7.97	87
217a	5	"The Rebel Flesh"	Julian Simpson	Matthew Graham	21 May 2011 (2011-05-21)	2.5	7.35	85
217b	6	"The Almost People"	Julian Simpson	Matthew Graham	28 May 2011 (2011-05-28)	2.6	6.72	86
218	7	"A Good Man Goes to War"	Peter Hoar	Steven Moffat	4 June 2011 (2011-06-04)	2.7	7.51	88
Part 2
219	8	"Let's Kill Hitler"	Richard Senior	Steven Moffat	27 August 2011 (2011-08-27)	2.8	8.10	85
220	9	"Night Terrors"	Richard Clark	Mark Gatiss	3 September 2011 (2011-09-03)	2.4	7.07	86
221	10	"The Girl Who Waited"	Nick Hurran	Tom MacRae	10 September 2011 (2011-09-10)	2.10	7.60	85
222	11	"The God Complex"	Nick Hurran	Toby Whithouse	17 September 2011 (2011-09-17)	2.11	6.77	86
223	12	"Closing Time"	Steve Hughes	Gareth Roberts	24 September 2011 (2011-09-24)	2.12	6.93	86
224	13	"The Wedding of River Song"	Jeremy Webb	Steven Moffat	1 October 2011 (2011-10-01)	2.13	7.67	86

Series 7 (2012–2013)

Main article: Doctor Who (series 7)

Series 7 started with five episodes and a Christmas special in late 2012, followed by eight episodes in 2013. The series dealt with the exit of the Ponds, the Great Intelligence and the mystery of Clara Oswald, the impossible girl.

No. story	No. in series	Title	Directed by	Written by	Original air date	UK viewers (millions)	AI
Special (2011)
225	–	"The Doctor, the Widow and the Wardrobe"	Farren Blackburn	Steven Moffat	25 December 2011 (2011-12-25)	10.77	84
Part 1
226	1	"Asylum of the Daleks"	Nick Hurran	Steven Moffat	1 September 2012 (2012-09-01)	8.33	89
227	2	"Dinosaurs on a Spaceship"	Saul Metzstein	Chris Chibnall	8 September 2012 (2012-09-08)	7.57	87
228	3	"A Town Called Mercy"	Saul Metzstein	Toby Whithouse	15 September 2012 (2012-09-15)	8.42	85
229	4	"The Power of Three"	Douglas Mackinnon	Chris Chibnall	22 September 2012 (2012-09-22)	7.67	87
230	5	"The Angels Take Manhattan"	Nick Hurran	Steven Moffat	29 September 2012 (2012-09-29)	7.82	88
Special (2012)
231	–	"The Snowmen"	Saul Metzstein	Steven Moffat	25 December 2012 (2012-12-25)	9.87	87
Part 2
232	6	"The Bells of Saint John"	Colm McCarthy	Steven Moffat	30 March 2013 (2013-03-30)	8.44	87
233	7	"The Rings of Akhaten"	Farren Blackburn	Neil Cross	6 April 2013 (2013-04-06)	7.45	84
234	8	"Cold War"	Douglas Mackinnon	Mark Gatiss	13 April 2013 (2013-04-13)	7.37	84
235	9	"Hide"	Jamie Payne	Neil Cross	20 April 2013 (2013-04-20)	6.61	85
236	10	"Journey to the Centre of the TARDIS"	Mat King	Stephen Thompson	27 April 2013 (2013-04-27)	6.50	85
237	11	"The Crimson Horror"	Saul Metzstein	Mark Gatiss	4 May 2013 (2013-05-04)	6.47	85
238	12	"Nightmare in Silver"	Stephen Woolfenden	Neil Gaiman	11 May 2013 (2013-05-11)	6.64	84
239	13	"The Name of the Doctor"	Saul Metzstein	Steven Moffat	18 May 2013 (2013-05-18)	7.45	88

Specials (2013)

Main article: Doctor Who (2013 specials)

The specials focus on various incarnations of the Doctor, including the return of the Tenth Doctor and the reveal of the War Doctor and his actions during the Time War.

No. story	No. special	Title	Directed by	Written by	Original air date	UK viewers (millions)	AI
240	1	"The Day of the Doctor"	Nick Hurran	Steven Moffat	23 November 2013 (2013-11-23)	12.80	88
241	2	"The Time of the Doctor"	Jamie Payne	Steven Moffat	25 December 2013 (2013-12-25)	11.14	83

Twelfth Doctor

The Twelfth Doctor was portrayed by Peter Capaldi.

Series 8 (2014)

Main article: Doctor Who (series 8)

For series 8 to 10, the episode count was reduced from thirteen to twelve. This series dealt with the mystery identity of the character "Missy" and the mystery around "The Promised Land".

No. story	No. in series	Title	Directed by	Written by	Original air date	UK viewers (millions)	AI
242	1	"Deep Breath"	Ben Wheatley	Steven Moffat	23 August 2014 (2014-08-23)	9.17	82
243	2	"Into the Dalek"	Ben Wheatley	Phil Ford and Steven Moffat	30 August 2014 (2014-08-30)	7.29	84
244	3	"Robot of Sherwood"	Paul Murphy	Mark Gatiss	6 September 2014 (2014-09-06)	7.28	82
245	4	"Listen"	Douglas Mackinnon	Steven Moffat	13 September 2014 (2014-09-13)	7.01	82
246	5	"Time Heist"	Douglas Mackinnon	Stephen Thompson and Steven Moffat	20 September 2014 (2014-09-20)	6.99	84
247	6	"The Caretaker"	Paul Murphy	Gareth Roberts and Steven Moffat	27 September 2014 (2014-09-27)	6.82	83
248	7	"Kill the Moon"	Paul Wilmshurst	Peter Harness	4 October 2014 (2014-10-04)	6.91	82
249	8	"Mummy on the Orient Express"	Paul Wilmshurst	Jamie Mathieson	11 October 2014 (2014-10-11)	7.11	85
250	9	"Flatline"	Douglas Mackinnon	Jamie Mathieson	18 October 2014 (2014-10-18)	6.71	85
251	10	"In the Forest of the Night"	Sheree Folkson	Frank Cottrell-Boyce	25 October 2014 (2014-10-25)	6.92	83
252a	11	"Dark Water"	Rachel Talalay	Steven Moffat	1 November 2014 (2014-11-01)	7.34	85
252b	12	"Death in Heaven"	Rachel Talalay	Steven Moffat	8 November 2014 (2014-11-08)	7.60	83

Series 9 (2015)

Main article: Doctor Who (series 9)

This series dealt with the consequences of the Doctor and Clara's relationship, and the Doctor's confession about the Hybrid.

No. story	No. in series	Title	Directed by	Written by	Original air date	UK viewers (millions)	AI
Special (2014)
253	–	"Last Christmas"	Paul Wilmshurst	Steven Moffat	25 December 2014 (2014-12-25)	8.28	82
Series
254a	1	"The Magician's Apprentice"	Hettie MacDonald	Steven Moffat	19 September 2015 (2015-09-19)	6.54	84
254b	2	"The Witch's Familiar"	Hettie MacDonald	Steven Moffat	26 September 2015 (2015-09-26)	5.71	83
255a	3	"Under the Lake"	Daniel O'Hara	Toby Whithouse	3 October 2015 (2015-10-03)	5.63	84
255b	4	"Before the Flood"	Daniel O'Hara	Toby Whithouse	10 October 2015 (2015-10-10)	6.05	83
256	5	"The Girl Who Died"	Ed Bazalgette	Jamie Mathieson and Steven Moffat	17 October 2015 (2015-10-17)	6.56	82
257	6	"The Woman Who Lived"	Ed Bazalgette	Catherine Tregenna	24 October 2015 (2015-10-24)	6.11	81
258a	7	"The Zygon Invasion"	Daniel Nettheim	Peter Harness	31 October 2015 (2015-10-31)	5.76	82
258b	8	"The Zygon Inversion"	Daniel Nettheim	Peter Harness and Steven Moffat	7 November 2015 (2015-11-07)	6.03	84
259	9	"Sleep No More"	Justin Molotnikov	Mark Gatiss	14 November 2015 (2015-11-14)	5.61	78
260	10	"Face the Raven"	Justin Molotnikov	Sarah Dollard	21 November 2015 (2015-11-21)	6.05	84
261	11	"Heaven Sent"	Rachel Talalay	Steven Moffat	28 November 2015 (2015-11-28)	6.19	80
262	12	"Hell Bent"	Rachel Talalay	Steven Moffat	5 December 2015 (2015-12-05)	6.17	82
Special (2015)
263	–	"The Husbands of River Song"	Douglas Mackinnon	Steven Moffat	25 December 2015 (2015-12-25)	7.69	82

Series 10 (2017)

Main article: Doctor Who (series 10)

This series dealt with the mystery of the vault and the Doctor's oath, later exploring the Doctor and Missy's relationship, and the possibility of Missy "turning good". This season introduces Bill Potts (Pearl Mackie) and Nardole (Matt Lucas) as the Doctor's companions.

No. story	No. in series	Title	Directed by	Written by	Original air date	UK viewers (millions)	AI
Special (2016)
264	–	"The Return of Doctor Mysterio"	Ed Bazalgette	Steven Moffat	25 December 2016 (2016-12-25)	7.83	82
Series
265	1	"The Pilot"	Lawrence Gough	Steven Moffat	15 April 2017 (2017-04-15)	6.68	83
266	2	"Smile"	Lawrence Gough	Frank Cottrell-Boyce	22 April 2017 (2017-04-22)	5.98	83
267	3	"Thin Ice"	Bill Anderson	Sarah Dollard	29 April 2017 (2017-04-29)	5.61	84
268	4	"Knock Knock"	Bill Anderson	Mike Bartlett	6 May 2017 (2017-05-06)	5.73	83
269	5	"Oxygen"	Charles Palmer	Jamie Mathieson	13 May 2017 (2017-05-13)	5.27	83
270	6	"Extremis"	Daniel Nettheim	Steven Moffat	20 May 2017 (2017-05-20)	5.53	82
271	7	"The Pyramid at the End of the World"	Daniel Nettheim	Peter Harness and Steven Moffat	27 May 2017 (2017-05-27)	5.79	82
272	8	"The Lie of the Land"	Wayne Yip	Toby Whithouse	3 June 2017 (2017-06-03)	4.82	82
273	9	"Empress of Mars"	Wayne Yip	Mark Gatiss	10 June 2017 (2017-06-10)	5.02	83
274	10	"The Eaters of Light"	Charles Palmer	Rona Munro	17 June 2017 (2017-06-17)	4.73	81
275a	11	"World Enough and Time"	Rachel Talalay	Steven Moffat	24 June 2017 (2017-06-24)	5.00	85
275b	12	"The Doctor Falls"	Rachel Talalay	Steven Moffat	1 July 2017 (2017-07-01)	5.30	83
Special (2017)
276	–	"Twice Upon a Time"	Rachel Talalay	Steven Moffat	25 December 2017 (2017-12-25)	7.92	81

Thirteenth Doctor

The Thirteenth Doctor is portrayed by Jodie Whittaker. Chris Chibnall took over as showrunner from the eleventh series.

Series 11 (2018)

Main article: Doctor Who (series 11)

For series 11, the episode count was reduced from twelve to ten with each episode having a ten minute increase in run time. The Thirteenth Doctor initially searches for her lost TARDIS, inadvertently bringing her companions with her on her travels, who contemplate returning to their lives but decide to continue travelling. The series also deals with grief. This series also saw the time slot change to Sunday.

No. story	No. in series	Title	Directed by	Written by	Original air date	UK viewers (millions)	AI
277	1	"The Woman Who Fell to Earth"	Jamie Childs	Chris Chibnall	7 October 2018 (2018-10-07)	10.96	83
278	2	"The Ghost Monument"	Mark Tonderai	Chris Chibnall	14 October 2018 (2018-10-14)	9.00	82
279	3	"Rosa"	Mark Tonderai	Malorie Blackman and Chris Chibnall	21 October 2018 (2018-10-21)	8.41	83
280	4	"Arachnids in the UK"	Sallie Aprahamian	Chris Chibnall	28 October 2018 (2018-10-28)	8.22	83
281	5	"The Tsuranga Conundrum"	Jennifer Perrott	Chris Chibnall	4 November 2018 (2018-11-04)	7.76	79
282	6	"Demons of the Punjab"	Jamie Childs	Vinay Patel	11 November 2018 (2018-11-11)	7.48	80
283	7	"Kerblam!"	Jennifer Perrott	Pete McTighe	18 November 2018 (2018-11-18)	7.46	81
284	8	"The Witchfinders"	Sallie Aprahamian	Joy Wilkinson	25 November 2018 (2018-11-25)	7.21	81
285	9	"It Takes You Away"	Jamie Childs	Ed Hime	2 December 2018 (2018-12-02)	6.42	80
286	10	"The Battle of Ranskoor Av Kolos"	Jamie Childs	Chris Chibnall	9 December 2018 (2018-12-09)	6.65	79
Special
287	–	"Resolution"	Wayne Yip	Chris Chibnall	1 January 2019 (2019-01-01)	7.13	80

Series 12 (2020)

Main article: Doctor Who (series 12)

This series deals with a new incarnation of the Master, the return of Jack Harkness, the appearance of an unknown incarnation of the Doctor who existed at some point before the Time War, and the "lone Cyberman", while following the destruction of Gallifrey and the secret of the Timeless Child. The special marked the last regular appearance of Graham and Ryan.

No. story	No. in series	Title	Directed by	Written by	Original air date	UK viewers (millions)	AI
288a	1	"Spyfall, Part 1"	Jamie Magnus Stone	Chris Chibnall	1 January 2020 (2020-01-01)	6.89	82
288b	2	"Spyfall, Part 2"	Lee Haven Jones	Chris Chibnall	5 January 2020 (2020-01-05)	6.07	82
289	3	"Orphan 55"	Lee Haven Jones	Ed Hime	12 January 2020 (2020-01-12)	5.38	77
290	4	"Nikola Tesla's Night of Terror"	Nida Manzoor	Nina Metivier	19 January 2020 (2020-01-19)	5.20	79
291	5	"Fugitive of the Judoon"	Nida Manzoor	Vinay Patel and Chris Chibnall	26 January 2020 (2020-01-26)	5.57	83
292	6	"Praxeus"	Jamie Magnus Stone	Pete McTighe and Chris Chibnall	2 February 2020 (2020-02-02)	5.22	78
293	7	"Can You Hear Me?"	Emma Sullivan	Charlene James and Chris Chibnall	9 February 2020 (2020-02-09)	4.90	78
294	8	"The Haunting of Villa Diodati"	Emma Sullivan	Maxine Alderton	16 February 2020 (2020-02-16)	5.07	80
295a	9	"Ascension of the Cybermen"	Jamie Magnus Stone	Chris Chibnall	23 February 2020 (2020-02-23)	4.99	81
295b	10	"The Timeless Children"	Jamie Magnus Stone	Chris Chibnall	1 March 2020 (2020-03-01)	4.69	82
Special
296	–	"Revolution of the Daleks"	Lee Haven Jones	Chris Chibnall	1 January 2021 (2021-01-01)	6.36	79

Series 13 (2021)

Main article: Doctor Who (series 13)

Entitled Flux, this series, which consists of a single story arc, deals with a universe-ending anomaly called the "Flux", which brings several enemies together in an attempt to take over Earth, while also featuring the Division that was introduced in the twelfth series. It introduces Dan Lewis (John Bishop) as a new companion.

No. story	No. in series	Title	Directed by	Written by	Original air date	UK viewers (millions)	AI
297a	1	"The Halloween Apocalypse"	Jamie Magnus Stone	Chris Chibnall	31 October 2021 (2021-10-31)	5.81	76
297b	2	"War of the Sontarans"	Jamie Magnus Stone	Chris Chibnall	7 November 2021 (2021-11-07)	5.13	77
297c	3	"Once, Upon Time"	Azhur Saleem	Chris Chibnall	14 November 2021 (2021-11-14)	4.70	75
297d	4	"Village of the Angels"	Jamie Magnus Stone	Chris Chibnall and Maxine Alderton	21 November 2021 (2021-11-21)	4.57	79
297e	5	"Survivors of the Flux"	Azhur Saleem	Chris Chibnall	28 November 2021 (2021-11-28)	4.83	77
297f	6	"The Vanquishers"	Azhur Saleem	Chris Chibnall	5 December 2021 (2021-12-05)	4.64	76

Specials (2022)

Main article: Doctor Who (2022 specials)

Series 13 is followed by three specials in 2022, the first of which was broadcast on New Year's Day, with another airing Easter Sunday. Whittaker's final feature-length special, where the Thirteenth Doctor will regenerate, will transmit in October 2022 as part of the BBC's Centenary celebrations. The specials loosely continue from Flux, and deal with Yaz and the Doctor's relationship.

No. story	No. special	Title	Directed by	Written by	Original air date	UK viewers (millions)	AI
298	1	"Eve of the Daleks"	Annetta Laufer	Chris Chibnall	1 January 2022 (2022-01-01)	4.40	77
299	2	"Legend of the Sea Devils"	Haolu Wang	Ella Road and Chris Chibnall	17 April 2022 (2022-04-17)	3.47	76
300	3	"The Power of the Doctor"	Jamie Magnus Stone	Chris Chibnall	23 October 2022 (2022-10-23)	5.30	82

Fourteenth Doctor

The Fourteenth Doctor is set to be portrayed by Ncuti Gatwa. Russell T Davies is set to return as showrunner, partnering with Bad Wolf, and will take over to celebrate the 60th anniversary and "series beyond". The first of Davies' episodes are set to be broadcast from November 2023. David Tennant and Catherine Tate as part of the 60th anniversary. Yasmin Finney is set to appear in the 60th anniversary special as Rose. Bernard Cribbins is also set to return as Wilfred Mott.

See also

• Doctor Who missing episodes
• List of Doctor Who Christmas and New Year's specials
• List of unmade Doctor Who serials and films
• List of Doctor Who audio releases
• List of Doctor Who home video releases
• List of Doctor Who audio plays by Big Finish
• List of Doctor Who radio stories
• List of supplementary Doctor Who episodes
• Doctor Who spin-offs

References

General websites

• "Episode Guide". Doctor Who Classic series. BBC.
• Shaun Lyon, David Hancock; et al. "The Canon Keeper's Guide to Doctor Who". Outpost Gallifrey. Archived from the original on 8 July 2009.
• Shaun Lyon; et al. "Doctor Who episode guide". Outpost Gallifrey. Archived from the original on 8 July 2009.
• Boies, Dominique. "Doctor Who reference guide". Archived from the original on 5 February 2015.

External links

• BBC Classic Series Episode Guide
• BBC Episode Guide (Classic and New Series)
• Doctor Who Reference Guide – detailed descriptions of all televised episodes, plus spin-off audio, video, and literary works.
• Doctor Who (1963–1989) at IMDb
• Doctor Who (1996) at IMDb
• Doctor Who (2005–) at IMDb