John-Nathan Turner, Doctor Who producer, dies
The man who could arguably be considered the most high-profile (and controversial) producer of 20th century Doctor Who dies at the age of 54. John Nathan-Turner took over the reins of the Doctor’s adventures in 1980, drastically revamping the show’s look, sound, and feel, and forever altering its course by replacing Tom Baker as the lead actor in 1981; Nathan-Turner personally selected each of the following Doctors – Peter Davison, Colin Baker and Sylvester McCoy – for the remainder of the show’s tenure on BBC-TV. Always a staunch champion for the series at a point when its support among the BBC brass was at an all-time low, John Nathan-Turner attracted both attention and criticism for getting well-known performers to do guest stints on the show. It was under JN-T’s reign that Doctor Who was put on an 18-month “hiatus” (originally a full-scale cancellation), and eventually was dropped altogether.
Transmat Dalek
Welsh toy company Dapol announces the release of a Doctor Who Transmat Dalek action figure. Essentially the same mold and tooling as with their existing Dalek action figures, these toys are to be molded in clear plastic with a colorful “mutant” inside.
Doctor Who Early Daleks Playset
Welsh toy company Dapol announces the release of a box set of “early” Daleks depicted in various 1960s Doctor Who episodes. The set, containing four uniquely modified Dalek action figures, is a limited run of 2,000 units.
Doctor Who figures, wave 4
Dapol, the makers of Doctor Who action figures, release a fourth wave of 3 3/4″ toys from the long-running series, including two varieties of Sontarans and the calcified Melkur from season 18’s The Keeper of Traken. Though not the last action figure release from Dapol, it will prove to be the last non-Dalek-related wave of Doctor Who figures before the Welsh toymaker loses the Doctor Who license.
Millennium Daleks
Welsh toy company Dapol announces the release of a series of limited edition Doctor Who “Millennium Daleks”. Essentially the same mold and tooling as with their existing Dalek action figures, these Daleks have an assortment of glittery, colorful paint jobs (not matching anything seen on television).
Missing Doctor Who episode recovered
Part one of the classic William Hartnell-era Doctor Who four-parter The Crusade is recovered by the BBC, thanks to a fan who obtained it cheaply from a film collectors’ sale. The film is handed over to BBC’s unofficial Doctor Who Restoration Team. There’s initially no word on any possible video release of this segment of The Crusade, since parts two and four are still missing.
Doctor Who action figures, wave 3
Welsh toy company Dapol announces the release of the first wave of new Doctor Who action figures since the late 1980s, this group including the third Doctor, the Master, a Sea Devil, two different Silurians, and four variants on a “Gallifrey High Councillor”.
Doctor Who: The Movie
After a seven-year gap since the BBC cancelled the original series, Fox premieres Doctor Who: The Movie as its Tuesday Night Movie (and, if ratings prove to be a success story, a backdoor pilot for a series). Depicting the seventh Doctor’s regeneration into the eighth (Paul McGann), this is effectively the 698th episode of Doctor Who, and guest stars Yee Jee Tso and Eric Roberts as the Master. US ratings ultimately prove to be a disappointment, and this remains the only televised adventure of the eighth Doctor (though this incarnation of the Time Lord is carried forward in novels, comics and audio stories). Doctor Who does not make a full return to TV until 2005.
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The draft of time
Star Trek VI co-writer Denny Martin Flinn completes a screenplay draft for Doctor Who: The Movie, which is at this stage a big-screen reboot of the original series stuck in development hell. A British studio, Lumiere Pictures, has assigned several writers to write successive drafts of a movie version of the BBC series, often choosing to reboot the story rather than pick up where it left off. Eventually the series’ revival falls to a one-night-only TV movie being developed seperately by producer Philip Segal.
Missing Cybermen Tomb unearthed
In what is hailed as the biggest missing episode find in the history of fans’ attempts to recover lost segments of Doctor Who, the complete four-part story The Tomb Of The Cybermen, completely missing from the BBC’s archives, is located in near-pristine condition in the archives of a Hong Kong broadcaster. Since the tapes’ audio is the original English soundtrack and the video requires little significant clean-up or restoration, the BBC’s home video department fast-tracks Tomb for a VHS release in May 1992. As of this find, only 110 half-hour episodes of black & white Doctor Who remain missing.
Doctor Who: Survival, Part 3
The 697th episode of Doctor Who airs on BBC1. Julian Holloway guest stars; Anthony Ainley makes his final appearance as the Master in the original series. This is the final episode of the original Doctor Who series, as the BBC quietly keeps the show off the schedule without making an announcement of the series’ cancellation. Doctor Who returns – with Sylvester McCoy briefly reprising his role – as a one-off TV movie in 1996, and then goes dormant again until revived in 2005.
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Doctor Who: Survival, Part 2
The 696th episode of Doctor Who airs on BBC1. Julian Holloway guest stars; Anthony Ainley makes his final appearance as the Master in the original series.
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Doctor Who: Survival, Part 1
The 695th episode of Doctor Who airs on BBC1. Julian Holloway guest stars; Anthony Ainley makes his final appearance as the Master in the original series.
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Doctor Who: The Curse Of Fenric, Part 4
The 694th episode of Doctor Who airs on BBC1. Dinsdale Landen, Alfred Lynch and game show host Nicholas Parsons (in a rare dramatic role) guest star.
This is the final Doctor Who television story to use the show’s traditional format of four 25-minute episodes.
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Doctor Who: The Curse Of Fenric, Part 3
The 693rd episode of Doctor Who airs on BBC1. Dinsdale Landen, Alfred Lynch and game show host Nicholas Parsons (in a rare dramatic role) guest star.
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Doctor Who: The Curse Of Fenric, Part 2
The 692nd episode of Doctor Who airs on BBC1. Dinsdale Landen, Alfred Lynch and game show host Nicholas Parsons (in a rare dramatic role) guest star.
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Doctor Who: The Curse Of Fenric, Part 1
The 691st episode of Doctor Who airs on BBC1. Dinsdale Landen, Alfred Lynch and game show host Nicholas Parsons (in a rare dramatic role) guest star.
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Doctor Who: Ghost Light, Part 3
The 688th episode of Doctor Who airs on BBC1. Ian Hogg and Sylvia Sims guest star. This is the last story filmed for the original series, though it’s broadcast as the second story of the season.
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Doctor Who: Ghost Light, Part 2
The 688th episode of Doctor Who airs on BBC1. Ian Hogg and Sylvia Sims guest star. This is the last story filmed for the original series, though it’s broadcast as the second story of the season.
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Doctor Who: Ghost Light, Part 1
The 688th episode of Doctor Who airs on BBC1. Ian Hogg and Sylvia Sims guest star. This is the last story filmed for the original series, though it’s broadcast as the second story of the season.
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Doctor Who: Battlefield, Part 4
The 687th episode of Doctor Who airs on BBC1. Jean Marsh guest stars, and Nicholas Courtney makes his final original series appearance as Brigadier Lethbridge-Stewart. This story opens the 26th and final season of the original Doctor Who series.
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Doctor Who: Battlefield, Part 3
The 686th episode of Doctor Who airs on BBC1. Jean Marsh guest stars, and Nicholas Courtney makes his final original series appearance as Brigadier Lethbridge-Stewart. This story opens the 26th and final season of the original Doctor Who series.
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Doctor Who: Battlefield, Part 2
The 685th episode of Doctor Who airs on BBC1. Jean Marsh guest stars, and Nicholas Courtney makes his final original series appearance as Brigadier Lethbridge-Stewart. This story opens the 26th and final season of the original Doctor Who series.
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Doctor Who: Battlefield, Part 1
The 684th episode of Doctor Who airs on BBC1. Jean Marsh guest stars, and Nicholas Courtney makes his final original series appearance as Brigadier Lethbridge-Stewart. This story opens the 26th and final season of the original Doctor Who series.
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Doctor Who: Greatest Show in the Galaxy 4
The 683rd episode of Doctor Who airs on BBC1. T.P. McKenna and Jessica Martin guest star in the final story of season 25.
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Doctor Who: Greatest Show in the Galaxy 3
The 682nd episode of Doctor Who airs on BBC1. T.P. McKenna and Jessica Martin guest star in the final story of season 25.
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Doctor Who: Greatest Show in the Galaxy 2
The 681st episode of Doctor Who airs on BBC1. T.P. McKenna and Jessica Martin guest star in the final story of season 25.
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Doctor Who: Greatest Show in the Galaxy 1
The 680th episode of Doctor Who airs on BBC1. T.P. McKenna and Jessica Martin guest star in the final story of season 25.
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Doctor Who: Silver Nemesis, Part 3
The 679th episode of Doctor Who airs on BBC1. This story, guest starring Anton Diffring and Fiona Walker, is the final original series Cybermen episode. Jazz great Courtney Pine and his band make a cameo appearance.
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Doctor Who: Silver Nemesis, Part 2
The 678th episode of Doctor Who airs on BBC1. This story, guest starring Anton Diffring and Fiona Walker, is the final original series Cybermen episode.
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