Beginning in November 1963, Doctor Who is the longest-running science fiction TV series in the world, spanning 26 consecutive years in its original form. It revolves around the adventures of a traveller in time and space generally known as 'The Doctor'. He is accompanied on his travels by a number of companions (also known as 'assistants') and faces alien monsters, historical villains and misguided maniacs all over the galaxy, but he often admits that Earth is by far his favourite planet.

This project divides the stories into 'seasons'; each season covers all of the episodes shown within one transmitted block of episodes. The project is divided into entries by decade, 1960s, 1970s, 1980s, 1990s and a separate entry for the 'reboot' series that began in 2005. Links to other decades can be found at the end of this entry.

Season Seven

'Spearhead From Space' (4 episodes)

• Broadcast: 3 January - 24 January, 1970
• Writer: Robert Holmes
• Director: Derek Martinus
• Incidental Music: Dudley Simpson

When a report reaches the Brigadier that a man has been found unconscious near a police box in a remote woodland, he knows it's his old friend the Doctor. However, the man waiting for him in a nearby hospital is a complete stranger to him, although the man himself seems to know the Brigadier very well. Meanwhile, a shower of meteors had come down over South-East England. But this is no random event - they form the spearhead for an invasion by the Nestene Consciousness, an entity with an affinity for plastic. It's a talent that the Nestene makes good use of when it gains control of a factory that makes shop window dummies...

Note: This story introduces Jon Pertwee as the third Doctor and Caroline John as new companion Liz Shaw. From this story until 'Robot', the Brigadier is a part of the regular cast of characters. The Nestene's plastic army, the Autons, later appeared in 'Terror of the Autons' in 1971, and in 'Rose' the first episode of the 2005 series.

'Doctor Who and the Silurians' (7 episodes)

• Broadcast: 31 January - 14 March, 1970
• Writer: Malcolm Hulke
• Director: Timothy Combe
• Incidental Music: Carey Blyton

A spate of intense nervous breakdowns has struck the staff at a power station in the hills of Derbyshire. Deep below the complex lies a network of caves where an ancient reptilian race have awakened to reclaim the planet Earth as their own. Can the Doctor and his new assistant Liz prevent the outbreak of war between mankind and the intelligent, civilised reptiles?

'The Ambassadors of Death' (7 episodes)

• Broadcast: 21 March - 2 May, 1970
• Writers: David Whitaker (with Malcolm Hulke and Trevor Ray)
• Director: Michael Ferguson
• Incidental Music: Dudley Simpson

When the British Space programme's Mars Probe goes missing, the Doctor is sent to investigate. But it soon becomes clear that somebody doesn't want the Mars Probe - or its inhabitants - to be found. As the conspiracy widens, Liz learns of the presence of a group of aliens, ambassadors from Mars who are being forced into acting as hired assassins for an unknown power...

'Inferno' (7 episodes)

• Broadcast: 9 May - 20 June, 1970
• Writer: Don Houghton
• Director: Douglas Camfield
• Incidental Music: None (Some sound effects by Delia Derbyshire)

The Doctor has transported the central console from his Tardis to a power station in an attempt to rediscover the secrets that the Time Lords have wiped from his memory. His work has been hampered by the interference of Professor Stahlman, head of a drilling project intent on tapping the energies from the Earth's core. As the Doctor continues his own experiments, he is catapulted sideways into a parallel world that gives the Doctor a terrifying vision of the outcome of Stahlman's project; a world that on the verge of destruction...

Note: This was Caroline John's final appearance as Liz Shaw.

Season Eight

'Terror of the Autons' (4 episodes)

• Broadcast: 2 - 23 January, 1971
• Writer: Robert Holmes
• Director: Barry Letts
• Incidental Music: Dudley Simpson

An alien artefact left over from the Auton invasion is stolen from a museum; two scientists go missing from a radio telescope; a renegade Time Lord called the Master arrives on Earth to engage the Doctor in a game of one-upmanship; and the Doctor is given an enthusiastic new assistant by the Brigadier.

Note: This story introduced Katy Manning as Jo Grant, Richard Franklin as Captain Mike Yates and Roger Delgado as the Doctor's nemesis The Master.

'The Mind of Evil' (6 episodes)

• Broadcast: 30 January - 6 March, 1971
• Writer: Don Houghton
• Director: Timothy Combe
• Incidental Music: Dudley Simpson

The Doctor and Jo are invited to a demonstration of a new machine that promises to remove evil thoughts from the minds of criminals. Soon though, they are caught up in a prison riot, while the Brigadier tries to avert war with the Chinese after a nuclear missile is stolen. What - or who - could possibly be behind all of these seemingly unlinked events?

'The Claws of Axos' (4 episodes)

• Broadcast: 13 March - 3 April, 1971
• Writers: Bob Baker and Dave Martin
• Director: Michael Ferguson
• Incidental Music: Dudley Simpson

A crippled spacecraft lands on Earth and its inhabitants, a family of beautiful golden people called the Axons, announce that they have come to present the people of Earth with a gift. They reveal a new substance - Axonite - that could eliminate starvation, poverty and low energy reserves forever. But the golden forms of the Axons disguise both their real faces and their true intentions. For Axos is a parasite that has begin to dig its claws deep into the Earth's soil, and it won't be sated until it has drained the planet of life.

'Colony in Space' (6 episodes)

• Broadcast: 10 April - 15 May, 1971
• Writer: Malcolm Hulke
• Director: Michael Briant
• Incidental Music: Dudley Simpson

The Doctor is surprised to learn that his Tardis appears to be working again and he wastes no time in taking Jo on her first intergalactic journey. They land in a period when the people of Earth are colonising other worlds. One colony on the planet Uxarieus is in crisis as their crops have failed. The IMC Mining Corporation are trying to force the colonists off the planet and their homes are under attack from a giant lizard. While the Doctor tries to broker peace between the miners and the colonists, an Adjudicator arrives from Earth to preside over an investigation into the dispute. But the Adjudicator is none other than the Master...

'The Dæmons' (5 episodes)

• Broadcast: 22 May - 19 June, 1971
• Writer: Guy Leopold (A pseudonym for Robert Sloman and Barry Letts)
• Director: Christopher Barry
• Incidental Music: Dudley Simpson

Despite the Doctor's claim that there is no such thing as magic, he and Jo soon find themselves drawn to the village of Devil's End, where an archaeology dig is about to open an ancient barrow. There might not be magic there, but there are devil worshippers led by the Master, a white witch, a killer gargoyle... and a very large dæmon.

Season Nine

'Day of the Daleks' (4 episodes)

• Broadcast: 1 - 22 January, 1972
• Writer: Louis Marks
• Director: Paul Bernard
• Incidental Music: Dudley Simpson

An assassination attempt on Sir Reginald Styles, a prominent diplomat, brings the Doctor, Jo and UNIT to a country house. When the assassins return, they find the Doctor waiting for them. Believing the Doctor is Sir Reginald, they threaten to kill him for causing the Third World War and causing the horrific future that they have come from. As the Doctor tries to reason with the group, Jo accidentally activates the device that enables them to travel through time and finds herself in the 22nd Century. She is soon befriended by the Controller, a man who seems only too willing to make her comfortable. But the Controller is also making sure that Jo doesn't learn of the conditions his people live in, of the slave gangs, the cruel alien guards and their masters... the Daleks.

'The Curse of Peladon' (4 episodes)

• Broadcast: 29 January - 19 February, 1972
• Writer: Brian Hayles
• Director: Lennie Mayne
• Incidental Music: Dudley Simpson

The planet Peladon is at the brink of joining the Galactic Federation and allowing its resources to be shared with other planets. When the Doctor and Jo allow themselves to be mistaken for the delegates from Earth, they decide to help King Peladon make the right choice. But some are keen for King Peladon to turn the aliens away and stay true to the old ways and their worship of the fearsome beast Aggedor. Could it be the Martian Ice Warriors, who the Doctor knows of old, or could there be another being responsible for the mysterious deaths that have plagued the conference?

'The Sea Devils' (6 episodes)

• Broadcast: 26 February - 1 April, 1972
• Writer: Malcolm Hulke
• Director: Michael Briant
• Incidental Music: Malcolm Clarke

Colonel Trenchard is the governor of a prison with just one inmate. The Master has spent some time now at Her Majesty's Pleasure, playing at being the model prisoner whenever anyone comes to check up on him. But Trenchard is his puppet and the Master has already began work on his next diabolical scheme, to reawaken a branch of intelligent reptiles that once ruled the seas like the Silurians ruled the land...

'The Mutants' (6 episodes)

• Broadcast: 8 April - 13 May, 1972
• Writer: Bob Baker and Dave Martin
• Director: Christopher Barry
• Incidental Music: Tristram Cary

When a multi-faceted box from the Time Lords arrives on the Doctor's laboratory bench, he learns that the box will only open for one man on another world. Dutifully, the Doctor and Jo travel to Skybase One, a space station orbiting the planet Solos. Solos has been a colony in the Earth Empire for some time, but now the Earth authorities have decided that it should gain its independence - a decision that does not go down well with the Marshal, whose sadistic rule of Solos has maintained an oppressive hold on the native population. When certain Solonians begin to display signs of mutation, the Marshal has them killed, unaware that the mutations are just one part in the unique natural life-cycle of the Solonians. Can the Doctor stop him from committing genocide and ensure that the message box reaches the right man in time?

Note: This story was partly filmed on location at Chislehurst Caves, Bromley, UK.

'The Time Monster' (6 episodes)

• Broadcast: 20 May - 24 June, 1972
• Writer: Robert Sloman
• Director: Paul Bernard
• Incidental Music: Dudley Simpson

A dream involving a mocking Master and a crystal trident leaves the Doctor puzzled. The dream will lead him to an investigation into a time machine with a very unfortunate acronym, a trip to Atlantis, a meeting with the Minotaur, Sergeant Benton regressed back to the age of a baby, and an encounter with Kronos - a being that literally devours time.

Season Ten

'The Three Doctors' (4 episodes)

• Broadcast: 30 December, 1972 - 20 January, 1973
• Writer: Bob Baker and Dave Martin
• Director: Lennie Mayne
• Incidental Music: Dudley Simpson

A blob of anti-matter is terrorising UNIT headquarters. Meanwhile, a black hole is draining the energy of the Time Lords. In desperation, they decide to break one of their most fundamental rules and allow the Doctor to join forces with his previous incarnations and enter the Black Hole. There, the Doctors meet a legend from their own history books: Omega - a stellar engineer, long believed dead, whose sacrifice gave the Time Lords their immense powers. But Omega did not die. He continued to exist for eternity, waiting for the day when he might return home. The Doctors realise that that day will never come - but how can they tell that to a God?

'Carnival of Monsters' (4 episodes)

• Broadcast: 27 January - 17 February, 1973
• Writer: Robert Holmes
• Director: Barry Letts
• Incidental Music: Dudley Simpson

With his Tardis repaired and his knowledge of time travel restored by the Time Lords, the Doctor takes Jo on a trip to another world, except they instead land on a ship sailing the Indian Ocean in the 1920s. Meanwhile, on the planet Inter Minor, two entertainers exhibit their Miniscope, a device that shows images of life on other worlds. But these are no slides - the other worlds are actually inside the Scope and the exhibits include a colony of gnashing Drashigs, a Cyberman - and a ship crossing the Indian Ocean, circa 1926...

'Frontier in Space' (6 episodes)

• Broadcast: 24 February - 31 March, 1973
• Writer: Malcolm Hulke
• Director: Paul Bernard
• Incidental Music: Dudley Simpson

Note: This was Roger Delgado's final appearance as the Master - the character would next reappear in 'The Deadly Assassin' in 1976.

'Planet of the Daleks' (6 episodes)

• Broadcast: 7 April - 12 May, 1973
• Writer: Terry Nation
• Director: David Maloney
• Incidental Music: Dudley Simpson

Wounded by a gunshot during their escape from the planet of the Ogrons, the Doctor fights for his life. He manages to send a message to the Time Lords before falling into a coma. When the Tardis comes to a stop on the deadly jungle planet Spiridon, Jo has no choice but to explore in the hope of finding help for her stricken friend. Spiridon is littered with venom-spitting plants, ferocious animals - and, deep within the frozen heart of the planet, ten thousand Daleks.

'The Green Death' (6 episodes)

• Broadcast: 19 May - 23 June, 1973
• Writer: Robert Sloman
• Director: Michael Briant
• Incidental Music: Dudley Simpson

On the borders of Llanfairfach lies Global Chemicals. When Jo visits a commune of environmentalists protesting against the factory's pollutants, she discovers that the area has become infected with enormous maggots and a deadly green slime. The Doctor decides to tackle the problem head on and pays a visit to the factory's boss. But the Boss is not quite what the Doctor had expected.

Note: Katy Manning made her final appearance as Jo Grant at the end of this story.

Season 11

'The Time Warrior' (4 episodes)

• Broadcast: 15 December, 1973 - 5 January, 1974
• Writer: Robert Holmes
• Director: Alan Bromly
• Incidental Music: Dudley Simpson

When scientists begin disappearing from a local research institute, the Doctor uncovers a disruption in time dating back to the Middle Ages. Using the Tardis to investigate further, he discovers that the cause of the problem is a Sontaran, a member of a race of warriors locked in a never-ending war with the Rutans. But the Doctor is unaware that his Tardis brought two people to this time period; investigative journalist Sarah-Jane Smith stowed aboard and is struggling to work out why a historical pageant should be quite so realistically brutal...

Elisabeth Sladen was introduced here as new companion Sarah-Jane Smith. The story also introduced the Sontarans and marked the first time that the Doctor's home planet, Gallifrey, was named on screen.

'Invasion of the Dinosaurs' (6 episodes)

• Broadcast: 12 January - 16 February, 1974
• Writer: Malcolm Hulke
• Director: Paddy Russell
• Incidental Music: Dudley Simpson

The Doctor and Sarah-Jane return to present-day London only to find the capital deserted. When the Doctor is attacked by a prehistoric beast that died out millions of years ago, he realises something is amiss. Someone is dragging dinosaurs to present-day Earth. But for what reason? And is it linked to a space ship containing humanity's elite?

'Death to the Daleks' (4 episodes)

• Broadcast: 23 February - 16 March, 1974
• Writer: Terry Nation
• Director: Michael Briant
• Incidental Music: Carey Blyton, played by The London Saxophone Quartet

The planet Exxilon boasts one of the great wonders of the known universe - a living, thinking city. But when the Tardis, an Earth space ship on an emergency mission and a Dalek saucer are drawn down onto the planet's surface, all three parties are forced into an uneasy alliance to break into the city. All they have to do is get past the arrows of the savage Exxilon warriors, bypass the metallic roots that snake around the caverns beneath the city and survive a series of deadly traps...

'The Monster of Peladon' (6 episodes)

• Broadcast: 23 March - 27 April, 1974
• Writer: Brian Hayles
• Director: Lennie Mayne
• Incidental Music: Dudley Simpson

When the Doctor pays his second visit to Peladon, he meets the young queen Thalira, daughter of King Peladon, who struggles to maintain order. Her own advisers believe she is ill-equipped to rule and the miners of Peladon are constantly on the brink of revolution in protest at the way their resources are being exploited by aliens. Once again, traitors are plotting against the Galactic Federation and using the volatile situation on Peladon to achieve their aims. When the Ice Warriors arrive to enforce Martial Law on the planet, the Doctor realises that he alone must try to find a solution to Peladon's problems.

'Planet of the Spiders' (6 episodes)

• Broadcast: 4 May - 8 June, 1974
• Writer: Robert Sloman
• Director: Barry Letts
• Incidental Music: Dudley Simpson

Some time ago, the Doctor braved the ferocious jungles of Metabelis III to fetch an exquisite blue crystal. Now, one inhabitant of Metabelis wants the crystal back and will stop at nothing to get it. The Doctor must face his fears if he is to defeat the Great One, leader of the giant spiders the Doctor knows he will lose...

Note: Jon Pertwee made his final regular appearance as the Doctor when Tom Baker took over in the final seconds of episode 6. Also making his final appearance in the series was Richard Franklin as former UNIT Captain Mike Yates.

Season 12

'Robot' (4 episodes)

• Broadcast: 28 December, 1974 - 18 January, 1975
• Writer: Terrance Dicks
• Director: Christopher Barry
• Incidental Music: Dudley Simpson

The newly-regenerated Doctor barely has time to decide upon a suitable new outfit before he and his friends from UNIT - including new boy Harry Sullivan - are confronted by a series of break-ins at high-security scientific research establishments. Who (or what?) is behind the robberies? What are they stealing? And could these events all be linked to a plan to bring about the end of the world?

Note: Ian Marter made his first appearance as Lt Harry Sullivan.

'The Ark in Space' (4 episodes)

• Broadcast: 25 January - 15 February, 1975
• Writer: Robert Holmes
• Director: Rodney Bennett
• Incidental Music: Dudley Simpson

In the far future, the Doctor, Sarah and Harry arrive on a gigantic space station called Nerva. In deep hibernation on board Nerva are the carefully hand-picked last survivors of the human race, fleeing from solar flares about to wipe out the Earth. However, the humans on board the 'Ark' are in deadly danger from an insectoid alien called the Wirrn, a creature that's discovered that hibernating human bodies are the ideal hosts to lay its eggs in...

'The Sontaran Experiment' (2 episodes)

• Broadcast: 22 February - 1 March, 1975
• Writers: Bob Baker and Dave Martin
• Director: Rodney Bennett
• Incidental Music: Dudley Simpson

Travelling by transmat from Nerva, the Doctor and his companions arrive on the desolate wasteland of post-solar flare Earth, to see if the planet is habitable enough for the Nerva humans to begin repopulating. However, Earth is not completely empty - a group of human colonists are already on the planet, where they are being subjected to a series of horrific experiments by a lone Sontaran Field-Major called Styre.

'Genesis of the Daleks' (6 episodes)

• Broadcast: 8 March - 12 April, 1975
• Writers: Terry Nation
• Director: David Maloney
• Incidental Music: Dudley Simpson

The Time Lords intercept the Nerva transmit beam and send the Doctor, Sarah and Harry to the planet Skaro, where they instruct him to change history and do everything he can to try to prevent the creation of the dreaded Daleks - or at the very least, change their genetic make-up so they become less of a threat to the Universe. But crippled Kaled scientist Davros, a twisted genius confined to a motorised wheelchair, is determined to press on with his plans to create the 'Mark III Travel Machine' to house the mutated future form that the Kaleds will evolve into...

Note: Davros, creator of the Daleks, made his first appearance in this story, played for the only time by Michael Wisher.

'Revenge of the Cybermen' (4 episodes)

• Broadcast: 19 April - 10 May, 1975
• Writer: Gerry Davis
• Director: Michael E. Briant
• Incidental Music: Carey Blyton

The Tardis crew finally arrive back on Nerva Station, but at a point in history thousands of years before they left. At this point in time, Nerva is acting like a space lighthouse, warning starships away from a new asteroid that's arrived in the solar system near to Jupiter. However, the asteroid isn't actually an asteroid - it's the remains of Voga, the fabled planet of gold, destroyed by the Cybermen during the last great Cyberwar. And now, the last surviving Cybermen want to finish the job...

Season 13

'Terror of the Zygons' (4 episodes)

• Broadcast: 30 August - 20 September, 1975
• Writer: Robert Banks Stewart
• Director: Douglas Camfield
• Incidental Music: Geoffrey Burgon

Summoned back to Earth by the Brigadier, the Doctor investigates the sudden and mysterious destruction of several North Sea oil rigs. What creature could possibly be big enough to chew through the legs of an oil rig? The Doctor discovers that the answers to this mystery lie at the bottom of the cold, dark waters of Loch Ness - where the last survivors of the Zygons are lurking - and that everyone he meets isn't necessarily who they appear to be...

Terror of the Zygons marks the final regular appearance of Ian Marter as Harry Sullivan. This story also marks the final regular appearance of Nicholas Courtney as the Brigadier - he would make his return to the series in 1983's 'Mawdryn Undead'.

'Planet of Evil' (4 episodes)

• Broadcast: 27 September - 18 October, 1975
• Writer: Louis Marks
• Director: David Maloney
• Incidental Music: Dudley Simpson

On the very edge of the Universe lies the planet of Zeta Minor. A geological expedition from the planet Morestra has been attacked by a mysterious presence and only the team leader, Professor Sorenson, survives long enough for a rescue ship to arrive. Sarah and the Doctor are initially suspected of being the killers, but when Professor Sorenson begins to transform into a rampaging beast and a gigantic red anti-matter monster appears, the truth begins to unfold.

'Pyramids of Mars' (4 episodes)

• Broadcast: 25 October - 15 November, 1975
• Writer: Stephen Harris (Pseudonym for Robert Holmes and Lewis Griefer)
• Director: Paddy Russell
• Incidental Music: Dudley Simpson

England, 1911: Egyptologist Marcus Scarman returns from his latest expedition looking decidedly peaky. In fact, Marcus is dead and his corpse has been reanimated by the mental energies of the evil god-like alien Sutekh. Trapped by his own people inside a pyramid on Mars, Sutekh plans to use his robotic mummy servants to free him from his prison - can the Doctor, Sarah and Marcus' brother Laurence stop Sutekh before he embarks on a universe-wide campaign of destruction?

'The Android Invasion' (4 episodes)

• Broadcast: 22 November - 13 December, 1975
• Writer: Terry Nation
• Director: Barry Letts
• Incidental Music: Dudley Simpson

The Doctor and Sarah arrive at the tranquil English village of Devesham, not far from the HQ of the UK's space exploration missions. However, things aren't quite what they seem - helmeted figures with lethal gun-firing fingers roam the countryside, the trees in the woods aren't real, and the villagers are all acting very strangely indeed. Soon Sarah and the Doctor discover that a race of alien conquerors called the Kraals are using this replica Earth to rehearse their real invasion...

Note: Ian Marter (Harry Sullivan) and John Levene (Benton) both make their final (guest) appearances in this story.

'The Brain of Morbius' (4 episodes)

• Broadcast: 3 - 24 January, 1976
• Writer: Robin Bland (Terrance Dicks and Robert Holmes)
• Director: Christopher Barry
• Incidental Music: Dudley Simpson

When the Tardis lands on the barren planet of Karn, the Doctor angrily realises that the Time Lords have once again sent him on a mission. At first he can't work out why - but when he meets renowned surgeon Mehendri Solon the terrible truth dawns. Solon was one of the followers of the infamous renegade Time Lord called Morbius, who was executed for his crimes. However, Solon has been keeping Morbius' brain in a jar and has built a new body for Morbius to inhabit. All Solon needs now is a Time Lord-sized head...

'The Seeds of Doom' (6 episodes)

• Broadcast: 26 February - 2 April, 1976
• Writer: Robert Banks Stewart
• Director: Douglas Camfield
• Incidental Music: Geoffrey Burgon

An Antarctic survey team discover two large vegetable seed pods buried deep in the permafrost. When the pod defrosts, it germinates and infects one of the survey team. Rapidly, the unfortunate man mutates into a rampaging alien plant-form called a Krynoid. The creature is destroyed in an explosion that wipes out the Antarctic base - but unfortunately for humanity, the other pod is taken back to England by agents working for crazed millionaire botanist Harrison Chase.

Season 14

'The Masque of Mandragora' (4 episodes)

• Broadcast: 4 - 25 September, 1976
• Writer: Louis Marks
• Director: Rodney Bennett
• Incidental Music: Dudley Simpson

Sarah and the Doctor arrive in renaissance Italy where they rapidly become involved in the political machinations and double-dealings of the corrupt Count Federico's attempts to seize power from his nephew Duke Guiliano. However, the Tardis acquired a 'stowaway' on its journey to Italy - malign energy from the Mandragora Helix. Count Federico's astrologer Heironymous is possessed by the energy, enabling the Helix to attempt an invasion of the planet...

'The Hand of Fear' (4 episodes)

• Broadcast: 2 - 23 October, 1976
• Writer: Bob Barker and Dave Martin
• Director: Lennie Mayne
• Incidental Music: Dudley Simpson

Sarah is accidentally buried by rocks when she and the Doctor stroll into the middle of a blasting in a quarry. She grabs hold of a fossilised hand that had been buried for millions of years and is possessed by the urge to carry the disembodied hand into the middle of a nuclear reactor. The hand absorbs the energy of the nuclear explosion and regenerates the rest of the body of the silicon-based lifeform called Eldrad. But what does Eldrad want? And will the Doctor help her to find her way home?

Note: Elisabeth Sladen made her final regular appearance as Sarah-Jane Smith in this story. She would return for the special, K-9 and Company, the 1983 anniversary episode 'The Five Doctors' and an episode of the 2006 series.

'The Deadly Assassin' (4 episodes)

• Broadcast: 30 October - 20 November, 1976
• Writer: Robert Holmes
• Director: David Maloney
• Incidental Music: Dudley Simpson

Forced to leave Sarah behind on Earth, the Doctor returns to his home planet of Gallifrey, plagued by visions of the assassination of the Lord President. Racing in a doomed attempt to save the President's life, the Doctor suddenly finds himself framed for his murder. But who is the real culprit? Could the assassin be another member of the High Council? Or is there somebody else, lurking in the shadows beneath the Capitol, who has a much more personal reason for wanting the Doctor dead...?

Note: This is the only story in the history of 'Doctor Who' in which the Doctor isn't helped by a regular companion/assistant.

'The Face of Evil' (4 episodes)

• Broadcast: 1 - 22 January, 1977
• Writer: Chris Boucher
• Director: Pennant Roberts
• Incidental Music: Dudley Simpson

On a remote jungle planet, the Doctor encounters a tribe of primitive humans called the Sevateem. His curiosity about their origins is piqued when he realises that the tribe's holy artefacts are in fact pieces of high technology from a space exploration expedition. With the aid of Leela, a young woman cast out from the rest of the tribe for blasphemy, the Doctor tries to discover the secret behind the tribe's God Xoanon, and why the Sevateem believe that he is 'The Evil One'.

Note: This story introduced Louise Jameson as Leela.

'The Robots of Death' (4 episodes)

• Broadcast: 29 January - 19 February, 1977
• Writer: Chris Boucher
• Director: Michael E. Briant
• Incidental Music: Dudley Simpson

Leela and the Doctor arrive on board a gigantic travelling sand-miner, trawling the deserts of an alien world for precious metals hidden beneath the surface. Most of the work onboard the miner is carried out by a staff of identical, beautiful and efficient robots. When the few human crew-members begin to turn up dead, suspicion initially falls on the time-travellers - after all, robots are programmed to never hurt humans... aren't they?

'The Talons of Weng-Chiang' (6 episodes)

• Broadcast: 26 February - 2 April, 1977
• Writer: Robert Holmes
• Director: David Maloney
• Incidental Music: Dudley Simpson

In the foggy streets of Victorian London, mysterious events are afoot - young girls disappearing, half-eaten corpses washing up in the Thames... The Doctor discovers that all of these bizarre happenings are linked to the Palace Theatre, where oriental magician Li H'Sen Chang is in residence. Soon the Doctor realises that the future of the whole planet is at risk from a criminal from the future and his dummy-sized robot with the brain of a pig.

Season 15

'Horror of Fang Rock' (4 episodes)

• Broadcast: 3 - 24 September, 1977
• Writer: Terrance Dicks
• Director: Paddy Russell
• Incidental Music: Dudley Simpson

The Doctor and Leela arrive at Fang Rock lighthouse in the early years of the 20th Century. The lighthouse crew are shocked to discover that one of their number has been killed, but soon numbers at the lighthouse are swollen when a ship runs aground nearby. The survivors huddle for warmth in the lighthouse, but soon they come to realise that the building is no haven - for an alien shape-changing lifeform is inside too...

'The Invisible Enemy' (4 episodes)

• Broadcast: 1 - 22 October, 1977
• Writers: Bob Baker and Dave Martin
• Director: Derrick Goodwin
• Incidental Music: Dudley Simpson

The Doctor is infected by an intelligent space-borne virus. Leela just about manages to programme the Tardis to take them to the Bi-Al Foundation, a research centre specialising in intergalactic infections. Aided by the station's director, Professor Marius (and his pet robotic dog, K-9), miniaturised clones of the Doctor and Leela are injected into the Doctor's body in an attempt to track down and destroy the nucleus of the virus lurking inside his brain.

Note: The robot dog K-9 was introduced for this story, voiced by John Leeson.

'Image of the Fendahl' (4 episodes)

• Broadcast: 29 October - 19 November, 1977
• Writer: Chris Boucher
• Director: George Spenton-Foster
• Incidental Music: Dudley Simpson

A group of research scientists working in a remote English mansion house discover evidence that homo sapiens is actually more than 12 million years old, contradicting all previous archaeological findings. The evidence - a skull with a pentagram marked on it - begins displaying otherworldly properties, and Thea, one of the scientists, falls under its influence. The Doctor realises to his horror that the skull is in fact part of an ancient alien creature called the Fendahl, a creature that is 'death itself'.

'The Sun Makers' (4 episodes)

• Broadcast: 26 November - 17 December, 1977
• Writer: Robert Holmes
• Director: Pennant Roberts
• Incidental Music: Dudley Simpson

Arriving on the planet Pluto, the Doctor is amazed to discover vast cities of humans living there, with artificial suns keeping the planet habitable. However, life in Megropolis One isn't very pleasant for the population (or 'work units'), being taxed for the air they breathe, the water they drink, even for simply dying. Leela joins with a band of rebels fighting back against the regime, whilst the Doctor discovers the true nature of The Collector, the money-hungry being in charge of Pluto and its suns.

'Underworld' (4 episodes)

• Broadcast: 7 - 28 January, 1978
• Writers: Bob Baker and Dave Martin
• Director: Norman Stewart
• Incidental Music: Dudley Simpson

The Tardis lands on board a Minyan spaceship travelling the universe in search of another long-lost vessel, the P7E. The Minyans - the last survivors of the race after a huge war, caused in part by interference by the Time Lords - carry with them gene banks to restart their civilisation. The P7E is eventually tracked down, located within the heart of a newly-formed planet. Inside the planet's core, the Doctor discovers a huge network of tunnels, an oppressed population and an insane computer called The Oracle.

'The Invasion of Time' (6 episodes)

• Broadcast: 4 February - 11 March, 1978
• Writer: David Agnew (Pseudonym for Anthony Read and Graham Williams)
• Director: Gerald Blake
• Incidental Music: Dudley Simpson

The Doctor returns to Gallifrey once again to take his rightful role as President of the High Council. However, his behaviour is increasingly erratic, banishing Leela from the Capitol and using K-9 to destroy Gallifrey's protective force-fields. A race of aliens called the Vardans invade the Capitol and for a while the Doctor seems delighted at this turn of events. However it's all an elaborate sting by the Doctor to trap and defeat the Vardans. A pity then, that there's another menace to Gallifrey just waiting in the wings...

Note: This adventure saw Louise Jameson's final appearance as Leela.

Season 16

'The Ribos Operation' (4 episodes)

• Broadcast: 2 - 23 September, 1978
• Writer: Robert Holmes
• Director: George Spenton-Foster
• Incidental Music: Dudley Simpson

The Doctor and K-9 are sent on a quest by the super-powerful White Guardian to recover the six segments of the Key To Time, an artefact that, when reassembled, will enable the White Guardian to restore peace and harmony to the Universe. However, the White Guardian warns the Doctor that the evil Black Guardian will also be sending agents to track down the hidden segments... In order to assist him in his quest, the White Guardian assigns the Doctor a new companion, the snooty (although quite inexperienced) Time Lord Romanadvoratrelundar - Romana for short.

The location of the first segment is narrowed down to the snowy planet of Ribos, where intergalactic conmen Garron and Unstoffe are trying one of the oldest tricks in the book - selling something that doesn't belong to them. In their case, they are trying to convince dethroned despot The Graff Vynda-K to buy the entire planet of Ribos - but when The Graff gets wind of this treachery, the political shenanigans take a decidedly deadlier turn...

Note: Mary Tamm arrived in this story to play new companion Romana.

'The Pirate Planet' (4 episodes)

• Broadcast: 30 September - 21 October, 1978
• Writer: Douglas Adams
• Director: Graham Williams
• Incidental Music: Dudley Simpson

Romana and the Doctor track down the second segment of the Key To Time on the planet Calufrax - but are then shocked when the Tardis materialises on the planet Zanak instead. Zanak is ruled by the blustering, bad-tempered half-man, half-robotic Captain. Zanak itself is a gigantic hollow world that leaps through space via powerful engines, materialises around its target planet and then mines the world dry. The time-travellers have to locate the second segment and thwart the Captain's plans before he can 'mine' the Earth...

'The Stones of Blood' (4 episodes)

• Broadcast: 28 October - 18 November, 1978
• Written by David Fisher
• Director: Darrol Blake
• Incidental Music: Dudley Simpson

The third segment of the Key To Time appears to be on present-day Earth and linked somehow to an ancient stone circle called the Nine Travellers. However, these old stones are in fact alien creatures called the Ogri, blood-drinking rocks brought to Earth by a war criminal called Cessair of Diplos. With the help of elderly archaeologist Amelia Rumford, the Doctor, Romana and K-9 must deal with the Ogri, druidic priestess the Cailleach, and a pair of twittering justice machines called the Megara.

'The Androids of Tara' (4 episodes)

• Broadcast: 25 November - 16 December, 1978
• Writer: David Fisher
• Director: Michael Hayes
• Incidental Music: Dudley Simpson

Romana finds the fourth segment of the Key To Time very quickly after the Tardis lands on the pretty planet of Tara. However, getting away isn't easy when Romana finds herself drawn into a web of political intrigue - she's an identical double of the Princess Strella, who is being held captive by wicked Count Grendel. The Doctor allies himself with Prince Reynart, rightful heir to the throne of Tara - and chief target of Grendel's machinations. But is that the real Prince Reynart? And can the Doctor tell Strella, Romana, and their robot doubles apart?

'The Power of Kroll' (4 episodes)

• Broadcast: 23 December, 1978 - 13 January, 1979
• Writer: Robert Holmes
• Director: Norman Stewart
• Incidental Music: Dudley Simpson

The search for the fifth segment takes the Doctor and Romana to the swamp planet of Delta Magna. There he discovers a refinery towering above the swamp that's processing methane for the nearby industrialised planet of Delta Major. However, the local indigenous population (nicknamed 'Swampies' by the refinery workers) aren't happy with the presence of the refinery and plan to make a sacrifice to their god, Kroll. The refinery workers don't believe that Kroll is real - in which case, what's causing the huge radar signal at the bottom of the swamp?

'The Armageddon Factor' (6 episodes)

• Broadcast: 20 January - 24 February, 1979
• Writer: Bob Baker and Dave Martin
• Director: Michael Hayes
• Incidental Music: Dudley Simpson

The Key To Time is nearly complete - all that's needed is to locate the sixth and final segment, which is somewhere on the war-torn planet of Atrios, locked for years in a deadly conflict with neighbouring world Zeos. Lurking behind the scenes of the conflict is the Shadow, an agent of the evil Black Guardian, who's determined to track down the sixth segment and steal the other five. However, the true nature of the sixth segment comes as a shock to everyone, and leads the Doctor into a showdown with the Black Guardian himself.

Note: This was Mary Tamm's final appearance as Romana.

Season 17

'Destiny of the Daleks' (4 episodes)

• Broadcast: 1 - 22 September, 1979
• Writer: Terry Nation
• Director: Ken Grieve
• Incidental Music: Dudley Simpson

Exploring a ruined city on a planet soaked in radiation, the Doctor finds himself trapped beneath some rubble. While the newly regenerated Romana returns to the Tardis to fetch K-9, the Doctor is rescued by a race of beautiful aliens, the Movellans. Aboard the Movellan ship, the Doctor learns that the planet they call D 5 Gamma Z Alpha is actually Skaro, the original home of his - and their - deadliest enemies, the Daleks. Deep below the planet's surface lies something the Daleks desperately want that will help them in their war against the Movellans who, like the Daleks, are slaves to logic. The Doctor fears he knows what they seek. But surely, centuries after the Daleks themselves killed him, their creator Davros can be of no use to them?

Note: This story saw Lalla Ward take on the role of the second Romana. David Gooderson sat in as the second actor to play Davros.

'City of Death' (4 episodes)

• Broadcast: 29 September - 20 October, 1979
• Writer: David Agnew (Pseudonym for Douglas Adams and Graham Williams)
• Director: Michael Hayes
• Incidental Music: Dudley Simpson

A ripple in the time continuum spoils a perfect holiday in France for the Doctor and Romana. As they try to find the source of the disturbance they encounter an inept detective, closely followed by a wonderfully violent henchman who takes the trio to the home of Count Scarlioni and his wife. The Count has an exquisite collection of art and antiques that he could never have acquired through legitimate means. Indeed, he is currently engaged in a plan to steal the Mona Lisa, even though he already possesses a number of very genuine copies. The Doctor decides to pop back in time to discuss the matter with Leonardo Da Vinci only to meet Da Vinci's sponsor, Captain Tancredi, who not only looks exactly like Scarlioni but seems to know the Doctor. Scarlioni, Tancredi and many other men through history are all linked - shattered pieces of Scaroth, last of the Jagaroth, whose quest to be whole again threaten not only every person listed in the Paris phone book, but the very existence of human history.

'The Creature From the Pit' (4 episodes)

• Broadcast: 27 October - 17 November, 1979
• Writer: David Fisher
• Director: Christopher Barry
• Incidental Music: Dudley Simpson

The planet Chloris is rich in vegetation but low in minerals, particularly metals. The greatest collection of metal on the planet is owned by the Lady Adrasta, who also keeps a huge, shapeless creature in a place she calls.... The Pit. When the Doctor and Romana land on Chloris with their newly repaired metal dog, K-9, they soon come to some conclusions about an object in Adrasta's gardens that looks suspiciously like a giant egg. Having incurred the fury of Adrasta, the Doctor decides to take a drastic step - down into the Pit to face the Creature...

Note: David Brierley took over from John Leeson as the voice of K-9.

'Nightmare of Eden' (4 episodes)

• Broadcast: 24 November - 15 December, 1979
• Writer: Bob Baker
• Director: Alan Bromly
• Incidental Music: Dudley Simpson

A collision on the brink of Hyperspace can be a very dangerous thing, especially when the two space craft become lodged together. As an investigation into the crash begins, it looks as though it might have something to do with one of the pilots being addicted to the drug Vraxoin. But where did it come from? And how is it linked to a Continual Event Transmuter, a machine that projects perfect 3D images of planets such as Eden, home to the ferocious Mandrels?

'The Horns of Nimon' (4 episodes)

• Broadcast: 22 December, 1979 - 12 January, 1980
• Writer: Anthony Read
• Director: Kenny McBain
• Incidental Music: Dudley Simpson

When the Doctor and Romana come to the assistance of a spaceship, the pilot is less than grateful. The ship contains human tributes destined for Skonnos and its bull-headed ruler, Lord Nimon, who lives deep inside the labyrinthine Power Complex. Though the people of Skonnos already fear the Nimon, they have no idea that he is just one of a number of Nimon who lay waste to planets as part of their Great Journey of Life...

'Shada

Professor Chronotis is absent-minded and prone to the odd malapropism. But then, when you're a retired Time Lord you can be forgiven for the odd eccentricity. When the Doctor and Romana pay a visit to his study in Cambridge, they have no idea that it will lead to a search for one of the ancient artefacts of Gallifrey that Chronotis has somehow mislaid. It's a mistake that could prove unfortunate, as the criminal Skagra is also looking for the book, along with his mind-stealing sphere.

Note: Due to a strike at the BBC at the time, 'Shada' was never completed, although a clip was later used in 'The Five Doctors' and a compilation tape of the existing footage was released on BBC Home Video in 1992. This would have been David Brierley's final story as the voice of K-9.

h2g2's Doctor Who Episode Guide

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