NOTE: This guide may be freely distributed provided the credit remains intact.
Once upon a time I thought that it would be a good idea to compile a complete guide to the 26 years of television which make up DOCTOR WHO, primarily for my own reference. That was in the Summer of 1991, and I eventually finished the first edition and rushed it out immediately. Since then I have had a long time to look at that original version, and I took the decision to return to it and produce an improved version - the occasional gremlin which appeared back then has now been ironed out, and this edition also benefits from being much more detailed; it now includes (virtually) full ratings and transmission times as well as many more extras.
Originally the main inspiration for this episode guide came from an idea to deal with DOCTOR WHO in a more episodic way, rather than story by story as many such publications do. The main result of this is that the guide gives details of which cast members (and occasionally production team members as well) are involved in each episode, as most actors do not appear throughout a story. Of course the exception to this is the uncredited extras where it is often difficult to establish who appeared in precisely which episode. Uncannily, since I first started to deal with DOCTOR WHO in this way, many other guides have started doing it too!
The entry format is as follows. Following the title and production code, the writer, director and designer are given, followed by, where appropriate fight arrangers and any unusual credits, together with the incidental musician. Following is the transmission dates episode by episode, giving the Hartnell episode titles where appropriate, and the times of transmission (to the nearest five minutes) and ratings - actual number of viewers, position in chart and the audience appreciation index expressed as a percentage where such a figure is available. For some of the black and white story entries, some episodes are in capitals; these are those that do not currently reside in any form in the BBC archives. Following this, where relevant, are any repeats for the story, with date and time of transmission. In both of these sections the day of the week is often given - it is given only when the day changes for the run of original transmissions, or in the repeat of a particular story.
Then the cast for each story is given - detailing who is in each episode - with many entries for extras. In this section I have given the full name and title of each character, according to the television story (I have attempted to ignore any inventions of the novelisations. Any uncredited cast members are then given. Finally any working titles (or alternate titles for debatable Hartnell stories) are given and most have section of notes, detailing any trivia or important facts concerning the story. The notes section also includes details of the archive situation for some Pertwee stories as follows; unless stated all colour episodes are held as UK standard PAL 625 line copies. Those episodes which are not held like this are held as 16mm film recordings, which can be transmitted in the UK but are black and white, or as colour NTSC 525 line copies which are not suitable for UK transmission. Such episodes can be converted for UK transmission or video release. We now have status for episodes which have been "restored" by combining the film recordings and off-air video recordings to produce UK transmittable color copies.
Following the notes are novelisation details where appropriate, giving the author, year of first publication and its number in the WH Allen/Virgin range, together with the title of the novel. If no title is given the novelisation just shares the title of the story, but with a DOCTOR WHO prefix. Reprints since 1990 have been dropping the "Doctor Who and" prefix used on many novels; only if the actual title has changed is any new information noted. If two years of publication are listed, then the first gives the hardback edition, the second the paperback. If there is only one date, either both editions were published in the same year, or from number 134 onwards, the book was only published as a paperback. The illustrator of the novel is given where relevant, although these interior illustration have often been removed from more recent editions. The cover artist is not given since these change often change.
Producers and script or story editors are only billed when they join and it can be assumed that they remain in that post until another name is credited in that position. Regulars are only credited like this from the first whole story that they appear in. One result of this is that Katarina, Sara Kingdom and Kamelion, all often considered as companions, are never given here as regulars. Details of departures are given in the notes section of the relevant story.
All the stories and episodes are numbered, purely for trivia and reference purposes, so if you always wanted to know what the 123rd story or 579th episode is you've found the place :). Actually, my story numbering may seem controversial to some, so here is my criteria for classing a story. Where possible I go by on-screen credits - hence The Trial of a Time Lord being classed as one story, as opposed to three or four. However, most Hartnell stories do not have on-screen story titles, so here I count each story by production code - hence An Unearthly Child is one story, not two.
Finally note that I have not given any synopses of the stories, as these are generally well-known and detailed descriptions are easily available elsewhere.
Following on from the main section is the appendices. The first details any other professional productions related with DOCTOR WHO, including films, stage plays, audio plays and other television material. The second is a list of DOCTOR WHO video and audio releases.
My main source of information has been the programme itself, together with the Radio Times. Other reference works are given. This is also certainly not a solo publication; many people have gone a long way towards helping me make this guide as complete and correct as possible, and I express my sincere thanks to all of them.
Matthew Newton September 1993
This electronic version has been submitted by popular demand. The original title, The Ultimate Doctor Who Episode Guide, has been changed to prevent confusion with another "ultimate" guide currently in circulation.
If you spot any factual errors, please notify me at maueg@csv.warwick.ac.uk BEFORE 4th July 1994. Please do not bother with any typos, as the speed which I am typing, there is probably going to be rather a lot!
After almost two years on rec.arts.drwho, I will soon be losing computer access, so please regard this as a farewell gift!
Matthew Newton June 1994
Thanks to all of the following people for their help with this guide:
Radio Times, various issues (London and Midland editions); The Birmingham Evening Mail, August 1981; Doctor Who Monthly/Magazine, various issues; CMS Space and Time/In-Vision, various issues; DWB, various issues, The Systems Files Robert Holmes Special; Think Tank, issues 16/17; Proteus issue 3; The Encyclopedia of the Worlds of Doctor Who Volumes 1-3 by David Saunders; The WH Allen/Virgin Doctor Who novelisation range; The Doctor Who Programme Guide by Jean-Marc L'Officier (original version Volumes 1-2 and first updated edition); The Terrestrial Index by Jean-Marc L'Officier; Cybermen by David Banks; The Encyclopedia of TV Science-Fiction by Roger Fulton; Doctor Who - The Unfolding Text by John Tulloch and Manuel Alvarado; The Doctor Who Script Books, edited by John McElroy; Private Who, various issues; Time Screen, revised issue 5; The Stage and Television Today, various issues; DWAS Season Guides, seasons 19-22; The 30th Anniversary Calender by Visions Publications; The Sixties by David J Howe, Mark Stammers ad Stephen James Walker, The Doctor Who Handbooks by David J Howe, Mark Stammers and Stephen James Walker.