Doctor Who legend Tom Baker’s best 7 moments as the Fourth Doctor ranked
Tom Baker appeared in 172 episodes of Doctor Who, holding the role of the Doctor for seven consecutive years from 1974 to 1981. His Doctor’s iconic look has become as ingrained in popular culture as the Daleks and the TARDIS itself. Having recently collected his MBE, now is the perfect time to look back at some of the most significant moments from one of the most recognisable Time Lords. Without further ado, here are our picks for Tom Baker's best 7 moments as the Doctor! Did your favourite make the list? 7. A new wardrobe for a new Doctor (from Robot – 1974) View oEmbed on the source website "There's no point in being grown-up if you can't be childish sometimes." Choosing a trademark outfit is something of a rite of passage for all new Doctors, and it was Tom Baker’s Doctor that took this process to new heights, parading a variety of eccentric looks for the approval of Harry Sullivan and Brigadier Lethbridge-Stewart. First up was a Viking warrior, followed by the Jack straight from a deck of playing cards. The Doctor then presented himself as a Pierrot clown before finally settling on the hat and coat paired with the world-famous autumnal striped scarf. Costume designer James Acheson was inspired by the Toulouse-Lautrec poster Ambassadeur to design a bold new look for the new Doctor. He instructed Begonia Pope to knit a long flowing scarf in the style of the painting. Famously misunderstanding how much wool to use, she ended up using every ball she was given, resulting in the scarf’s impressive length. This scene put a much more jovial angle on the Doctor’s post-regeneration confusion. As ever, Doctor Who was going through a period of significant change at this time, moving away from the UNIT focused adventures of Jon Pertwee’s tenure. In Tom Baker’s debut episode, Robot, the stage was set for an altogether more unpredictable Doctor, a wide-eyed maverick with a twinkle in his eye. 6. The Doctor regenerates (from Logopolis – 1981) “It’s the end, but the moment has been prepared for." Tom Baker saw Doctor Who through some of its most significant milestones, and in that time the Doctor had his fair share of companions: Sarah Jane Smith, Harry Sullivan, Leela, K9, and two Romanas. In his final season, the Fourth Doctor also met three characters who would later become prominent companions of the Fifth Doctor: Adric, Nyssa, and Tegan. It was all change in season 18, as new producer John Nathan-Turner brought a radical new approach to the show’s direction, even bringing in a new wardrobe for Tom (under Nathan-Turner, question marks on every Doctor’s outfit became customary). But how do you say goodbye to arguably the most iconic Doctor? In a deadly confrontation with the Master, of course. There was nothing especially complicated about the Fourth Doctor’s cause of regeneration: he plummeted to his death from the Pharos Project radio telescope control tower remembering all the times his foes had wished him ill, before finding himself on the ground being comforted by the memories of all his former companions who had such faith in him. This moving moment set a precedent for future regenerations, giving the Doctor and the viewers at home a chance to pause and reflect. Logopolis was a fitting and somewhat understated regeneration story, showcasing (as all of season 18 did) a more vulnerable side to the Fourth Doctor. 5. The battle against Sutekh (From Pyramids of Mars 1975) View oEmbed on the source website “Kneel before the might of Sutekh!" Pyramids of Mars became one of the defining stories of the Philip Hinchcliffe era. He was the producer of Doctor Who from 1974-1977, famously bringing gothic horror to the show. This story introduced Sutekh the Destroyer, last of the Osirans. Sutekh was a villain who brought the Doctor to his knees as he tortured and possessed him in a fight for his freedom, proving to be one of the most formidable opponents the Doctor had ever faced. A firm fan-favourite for a reason, Pyramids of Mars sees the Fourth Doctor at his most burdened and perhaps most alien, solemnly telling Sarah Jane (Elisabeth Sladen) at the start of the story: “The Earth isn't my home, Sarah. I'm a Time Lord, I walk in eternity.'" 4. Leela meets the Doctor (The Face of Evil 1977) “Would you like a jelly baby?” The Doctor is at his most whimsical, but also most commanding as he meets his new companion, Leela (Louise Jameson) in The Face of Evil. The first thing Leela sees of him as she falls before his feet is that famous scarf. He promptly apologises for startling her and offers her a jelly baby. Shortly after, he is mistaken for the “Evil One” by members of the Sevateem tribe, who have him surrounded, angrily pointing their crossbows at him. ‘Now drop your weapons,’ says the Doctor as he makes a feeble attempt to hold one of the tribe hostage, ‘or I’ll kill him with this deadly jelly baby.’ ‘Kill him then,’ remarks one of his assailants. ‘I don’t take orders from anyone,’ the Doctor retorts coldly, whilst munching on the offending jelly baby. Offering people jelly babies became a trademark of Tom Baker’s Fourth Doctor, but surprisingly, this quirky gesture was actually introduced by Patrick Troughton’s Second Doctor. The idea may have originated as a tip of the hat to Troughton, as Tom Baker is a well-known fan of his interpretation of the character. But whoever came up with the idea in the first place, it’s fair to say that nobody has ever eaten a jelly baby with more deadpan savagery than Tom Baker did in this scene. 3. Goodbye Sarah Jane and onwards to Gallifrey (The Hand of Fear and The Deadly Assassin – 1976) "Until we meet again, Sarah." A farewell that endures in the minds of many a classic Doctor Who fan, the end of the story, The Hand of Fear, saw the Doctor bid farewell to his beloved Sarah Jane with all the bravado we had come to expect from the Fourth Doctor. Only a hint of heartbreak was allowed to creep in. “Look, it’s too late apologising now, everything is packed, I’ve got to go,” Sarah Jane announces. "How did you know?" the Doctor asks, telling her that he has been summoned to his home planet and that he can’t take her with him to find out what awaits on Gallifrey. And what awaited the Doctor was a groundbreaking adventure that took the show to new depths of darkness rarely seen in any iteration of Doctor Who. The Deadly Assassin was considered so scary that Mary Whitehouse notoriously complained about the cliffhanger featuring the Doctor’s face being held underwater. The story was also considered daring because it saw the Master (Peter Pratt) in his most terrifying and lethal form as he grappled violently with the Doctor in an intense fight during the finale. Robert Holmes’s script set out huge parts of Gallifreyan lore that are now embedded into Doctor Who’s core mythos. The Deadly Assassin saw Tom Baker strike out on his own in his most intense and perhaps most brilliant performance in the role. 2. The Doctor meets Count Scarlioni (City of Death – 1979) “I say, what a wonderful butler, he's so violent!” And now for something completely different… This 1979 classic comedic adventure, City of Death which even featured John Cleese in a cameo appearance, was made possible because Python super-fan and hot-new writing talent, Douglas Adams (fresh from the success of The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy) had just become script editor for Doctor Who's 17th season. Tom Baker’s Doctor is best-known for his almost Shakespearean witticisms and self-professed child-like optimism in the face of the evils of the universe. So, who better to encapsulate that unique voice than Douglas Adams? He gave the Doctor some of his best lines and comedic set-pieces in this four-part serial, famously re-drafted from an abandoned script in just one weekend. “Three waters, make them doubles” In City of Death there’s a delicate balance between the humour and the drama, the light and the dark. What gives the story true gravitas are the scenes between Julian Glover (Count Scarlioni) and Tom Baker – it’s like watching a play and the actors give it the level of performance that the script deserves. It’s no surprise that this role was instrumental in Julian Glover’s casting as Kristatos in the 1981 James Bond film, For Your Eyes Only. Steven Moffat called the entire story "one of the perfect, not only Doctor Who scripts, but television scripts. It’s a wonderful piece of work". It is also Doctor Who’s highest-rated story – part four attracted an impressive 16.1 million viewers. 1. The dilemma at the heart of Doctor Who (Genesis of the Daleks – 1975) View oEmbed on the source website “Do I have the right?” It seems the secret to any great Doctor’s success is to appear cool and flippant on the surface, but underneath it all, when push comes to shove, we know that it matters and they really do care. And this is true of both the character of the Doctor and the actor who plays them. There can be little doubt how much this scene mattered to Tom Baker in the classic serial, Genesis of the Daleks. It was the story that introduced not only Davros, but also a very significant moral dilemma. The Doctor holds two separate wires in his hands. If connected, they would detonate explosives to wipe out the Daleks at their moment of creation. He hesitates and asks, “Do I have the Right?”. Some call it the most important scene in the history of Doctor Who because it perfectly captures the Doctor’s never-ending battle with his own morality and the burden of absolute power. He would save millions of lives if he let the wires touch, but would this act of genocide make him as bad as the Daleks? Arguing with Sarah Jane, he says: “But the final responsibility is mine, and mine alone. Listen, if someone who knew the future pointed out a child to you and told you that that child would grow up totally evil, to be a ruthless dictator who would destroy millions of lives, could you then kill that child?” It’s bleak and there’s no time for gags here. Still, this speech, scripted by the creator of the Daleks, Terry Nation, has become the Fourth Doctor’s defining moment. It laid bare Doctor Who’s roots as a thought-provoking, sci-fi show that could be fun and silly at times, but would never forget to be serious. Tom Baker’s interpretation of the character created a generation of loyal Doctor Who fans and cemented the show as an icon of British television. The Fourth Doctor is placed at the very heart of Doctor Who, with the character fittingly taking his place as the Curator in the 50th anniversary special. This profound speech was Tom Baker’s big moment, and one that will always be integral to the legacy of Doctor Who. Now that that’s settled, would you like a jelly baby? Missing Doctor Who? Register now for Radio Times's Doctor Who Insiders club for exclusive interviews with Doctor Who legends every month. Doctor Who is available to stream on BBC iPlayer. Check out more of our Sci-fi coverage or visit our TV Guide and Streaming Guide to find out what's on. For more TV recommendations and reviews, listen to The Radio Times Podcast.
Doctor Who's 5 most sought-after missing episodes – and how they could be found
It’s almost hard to imagine how something as culturally significant as an episode of Doctor Who could go missing. How could anybody hold a piece of television history in their hands and throw it in a skip? Well, it isn’t quite as straightforward as that – even though this dramatic “junking” may have been the fate of many episodes; in fact, there are 97 episodes still missing from both William Hartnell and Patrick Troughton’s years as the Doctor. How did this happen? To find out we have to understand a little about how the show was made and distributed. In the early years Doctor Who was recorded on 2-inch quadruplex videotape in-studio (on location it was recorded in 16mm film and model shots were sometimes recorded in 35mm film – these would then be recorded, or telecined, onto the 2-inch videotape). The BBC often looked to sell Doctor Who overseas, and as such it had to make a few copies to ship out to countries such as Australia, New Zealand, Singapore and Sierra Leone. But the countries and the number of copies made varied from story to story. The copies were created via a process called telerecording. Essentially, the videotape would be played back through a (CRT) monitor and a film camera would record the playback onto 16mm film. These copies would then be shipped around the world with a label attached showing the copyright expiry date, instructing them when the film should be destroyed, or returned to the BBC. Meanwhile, the 2-inch videotape itself would be stored for a short period of time before finally being wiped to be used again. The BBC changed its archiving policy in 1978, but before this, there was a lack of clarity between departments when it came to cataloguing programmes. It’s possible that some sections of the BBC might have believed that, via this process of telerecording, copies of Doctor Who were being kept for posterity somewhere in the BBC archive. However, there were other contributing factors at play, such as union agreements limiting repeats and a lack of storage space. Whatever the case, the fact remains that most episodes weren’t kept, and due to the BBC’s need to reuse tapes, every single black-and-white episode of Doctor Who that was broadcast via its original 2-inch videotape master was wiped. The film copies survived by luck, often returned to the BBC by the countries they were originally shipped out to. But again, most were not preserved. Their fate? Either thrown into the dreaded skip of oblivion, or perhaps they still sit in TV stations scattered across the globe. It was in a television relay station in Nigeria that Philip Morris discovered The Enemy of the World and The Web of Fear (more on that in a moment). This global treasure hunt is the only way that these stories can return in their full glory. Thanks to organisations such as Film is Fabulous! (which recently teased an upcoming update about a missing episode that may have been found) more BBC archive material is being discovered all the time, recovered from private collections and TV stations all around the world. Although the footage of most of the 97 episodes remains lost, there are other ways that they have been preserved. Some very dedicated fans made reel-to-reel tape recordings at the time of broadcast, meaning that every single episode of Doctor Who survives via audio. Unfortunately, it wasn’t common practice for home viewers to make their own video recordings in the 1960s. However, some fans did manage to capture short clips and the episodes have been reconstructed via on-set photographs and telesnaps (essentially the original screenshot technology created by John Cura). There are also many animations that have used every available resource to lovingly recreate the most important pieces of Doctor Who history... but there’s no substitute for the real thing. Here are five Doctor Who stories featuring some of the most wanted missing episodes. 5. The Celestial Toymaker by Brian Hayles (Originally broadcast in four parts in 1966 from 2nd - 23rd April) The surreal nature of The Celestial Toymaker was groundbreaking and unlike anything Doctor Who had attempted before. The story exists in another realm, the domain of the sadistic Toymaker (played by Michael Gough). This world is inhabited by a strange array of disturbing Alice in Wonderland-style characters, all of whom are puppets of the Toymaker forcing Steven (Peter Purves) and Dodo (Jackie Lane) to join in with their childish games. The Doctor literally becomes invisible for most of the story owing to William Hartnell being away at the time of recording. We only occasionally hear his disembodied voice in episodes 2 and 3, which has led some fans to consider these missing parts of Doctor Who history less important than others. However, the character of the Toymaker came back around as the centrepiece of the 60th anniversary specials, leaving many people wanting to find out more about his TV debut. Just one episode exists in its entirety, The Final Test – legend has it that the episode survived in Australia because it was mistakenly considered to be footage of an important cricket match. The remaining three missing episodes were animated and released in 2024. (There are no surviving telesnaps from the missing episodes.) Fortunately, the surviving episode is the most exciting part of the story, featuring a dramatic showdown between the Toymaker and the First Doctor, who is finally rendered visible and is forced to complete the Toymaker’s Trilogic Game. Intriguingly, this could have been William Hartnell’s original exit storyline if his contract hadn’t been renewed. This final episode was returned from Australia, who are believed to have junked their remaining copies in 1976. New Zealand passed their copies onto Singapore in 1972, whilst Sierra Leone returned theirs to the BBC in 1974. The fate of the rest of the film copies remains unknown, but it’s thought that both Barbados and Zambia could potentially hold episodes. 4. The Evil of the Daleks by David Whitaker (Originally broadcast in seven parts in 1967 from 20th May - 1st July) The Daleks concoct an elaborate plan – they claim they want to study “The Human Factor”. In order to do this, they drag the Second Doctor (Patrick Troughton) into collaborating with them, which tests the faith of his loyal companion, Jamie (Frazer Hines) to its limits. This seven-part story was billed as the end of the Daleks, introducing the concept of a Dalek Emperor (but not Davros) and new companion, Victoria Waterfield (played by Deborah Watling). Unfortunately, only one episode survives, episode 2. Which is believed to have been returned to the BBC via Australia. New Zealand junked their copies in 1974 and the fate of the Singapore and Hong Kong copies remains unclear. Terry Nation (creator of the Daleks) was eyeing up a Dalek spin-off at this time. As a result, the Doctor Who team essentially wrote them out of the programme, giving Patrick Troughton the last line of the story, “The final end!”, said as he glances back at the remaining chaos of the Dalek civil war. However, Sydney Newman wanted to leave a slight hint that the Daleks might have survived, leaving one final lingering shot of a single twitching Dalek. Telesnaps exist of the story and all six missing episodes were animated in 2021. However, The Evil of the Daleks is a very visual story, especially in its grand finale. Fans are desperate to see the original footage of the Second Doctor setting foot on Skaro (the Daleks’ home planet) as well as the epic fall-out between Jamie and the Doctor. 3. The Web of Fear by Mervyn Haisman and Henry Lincoln View oEmbed on the source website (Originally broadcast in six parts in 1968 from 3rd February - 9th March) The Web of Fear is a sequel to another largely missing serial, The Abominable Snowman – a Tibetan adventure featuring an intriguing duo of enemies, the robotic Yeti and the mysterious Great Intelligence. In this story both return alongside another important character from that story, Professor Travers (Jack Watling). This time the action takes place in the heart of the London Underground system and it’s up to the Second Doctor, Jamie and Victoria to stop the Yetis and find out who is being controlled by the Great Intelligence. Of the six episodes, only one is currently missing. It isn’t clear how many international prints were created of the story. However, we do know that Australia returned their copies to the BBC in 1975. New Zealand junked theirs in 1974, whilst Hong Kong passed their copies onto Singapore, who passed those along to Nigeria and this was where Philip Morris discovered every episode. Sadly, just before shipment to the BBC, episode 3 mysteriously went missing. Morris believed it was sold privately as it was a noteworthy episode, famous for featuring the first appearance of the Brigadier (then Colonel Lethbridge-Stewart) played by Nicholas Courtney. As it stands the episode may still be held in a private collection. It was animated in 2021 to complete the story. The Web of Fear is a beautifully shot horror-noir, peppered with the wonderful dry humour that became a hallmark of the Troughton era. It is famed for its tight script and claustrophobic London Underground setting, which was so convincing that London Transport officials allegedly complained, believing that the Doctor Who team must have filmed there without their permission. 2. The Tenth Planet by Kit Pedler and Gerry Davis (Originally broadcast in four parts in 1966 from 8th - 29th of October) The Tenth Planet is William Hartnell’s regeneration story (then referred to as the “renewal”). It also marked the first appearance of the Cybermen, more specifically the Mondasian Cybermen. Only one episode is missing of this four-part farewell to the first Doctor. It is thought that just two copies were made of the serial. Australia returned theirs to the BBC in 1975, whilst the New Zealand copies were passed onto Singapore where their fate is unknown. A full set of telesnaps exist. Unfortunately, the missing episode is the most vital one - the last episode. Although it was beautifully animated in 2013 (and updated in 2022) there’s a subtle tragedy to the Doctor’s goodbye to his two companions Ben (Michael Craze) and Polly (Anneke Wills) that really needs to be seen. The image of the ailing first Doctor standing in the snow has become iconic and this is largely due to the regeneration story of the Twelfth Doctor (Peter Capaldi). Twice Upon a Time is a 2017 Christmas special that revisits the first Doctor during the events of this missing episode (David Bradley takes on William Hartnell’s role as the first Doctor). The First Doctor’s original regeneration was preserved via a short clip supplied to Blue Peter. The effect was created by Shirley Coward; she used a malfunctioning mixing desk to achieve the blended shot. Instead of mixing the shot normally, this machine overexposed the image creating a white blur– the regeneration effect was born! 1) The Power of the Daleks by David Whitaker and Dennis Spooner (Originally broadcast in six parts in 1966 from 5th November - 10th December) Our number one pick for the most sought-after Doctor Who story is not only Patrick Troughton’s debut as the Doctor, it is also one of the finest and quite possibly darkest Dalek stories ever broadcast. Landing on the planet Vulcan, the new Doctor witnesses the murder of an examiner and assumes his identity in order to find out exactly what is happening on this colonised planet. Accompanied by Ben and Polly, the Doctor finds that a scientist, Lesterton (Robert James), has reactivated three Daleks found in a crash site. However, he assures the Doctor that he needn’t be alarmed, these Daleks are very helpful. Tragically, not one episode of the six-part saga survives. Australia returned their copies to the BBC in 1975. New Zealand passed their prints onto Singapore in 1972 where their fate remains uncertain. Some clips have survived, as well as a full set of telesnaps. An animation was produced in 2016 and then updated with a special release in 2020. The acting was of such a high-standard that through the audio and animation alone we can still feel the power of both Patrick Troughton’s groundbreaking take on the Doctor and Robert James’s incredible performance as Lesterson. The Doctor wanders about in his post-regeneration haze, taking to practising his recorder instead of explaining himself, much to the complete despair of both Ben and Polly, who aren’t even sure if this man is still the Doctor. This first scene survives in bits and pieces, but the clips are of poor quality and can only offer a tantalising glimpse into what might have been. As a result, this missing story is considered the holy grail for Doctor Who fans. Everybody wants to see the immediate aftermath of the first ever regeneration. But not only that, The Power of the Daleks consistently ranks as one of the greatest Doctor Who stories ever, regardless of its historical significance. For the legacy of Doctor Who there can only be one choice for the most wanted story – let’s hope that one day, we find it. Missing Doctor Who? Register now for Radio Times' Doctor Who Insiders club for exclusive interviews with Doctor Who legends every month. Doctor Who is available to stream on BBC iPlayer. Check out more of our Sci-fi coverage or visit our TV Guide and Streaming Guide to find out what's on. For more TV recommendations and reviews, listen to The Radio Times Podcast.
Doctor Who needs to do the Rani justice by not forgetting her most important quality
With the sensational reveal that Doctor Who's Mrs Flood (Anita Dobson) is actually an age-old adversary of the Doctor comes a big question: how is the show going to do the character justice? After more than a year of speculation, it was finally confirmed at the end of The Interstellar Song Contest that Mrs Flood (Anita Dobson) is, in fact, the Rani, or rather “a Rani" - one half of the newly bi-generated duo. She emerged from this bi-generation immediately subservient to an apparently more dominant version of herself, who announced that she is the definitive article, the Rani (played by Archie Panjabi). Up until now, the Rani had appeared exclusively in classic Doctor Who. She made her debut in the 1985 Sixth Doctor (Colin Baker) story, The Mark of the Rani and had only been portrayed on-screen by one actress, Dynasty legend, Kate O’Mara. The return of this character has been long awaited. Ever since the revival of Doctor Who in 2005, every time a mysterious female character appeared there was the inevitable chorus from fans of: ‘It’s the Rani!’ But now, as has been widely remarked, the Rani is just like a bus, you wait forever for one and then two of them turn up at once. So, we now have a brand-new pair of Ranis primed and ready to cause devastation in the big finale, announcing during last week’s tantalising mid-credits scene: “As for the Doctor... I will bring him absolute terror!” <img src="https://images.immediate.co.uk/production/volatile/sites/3/2025/05/520878-1550a15.jpg" width="4743" height="3162" alt="Archie Panjabi as the Rani in Doctor Who. She stands in a rustic wooden cabin, lit by shafts of moody natural light. Wearing a deep red Victorian-style dress under a dark cape, she stares intensely at the camera, flanked by hanging tools and animal pelts." title="Archie Panjabi as the Rani in Doctor Who" /> This is where the show faces a dilemma - because the Rani is not just another villain set on taking over the world. It’s important to keep in mind that she was originally a unique, slightly subtler villain than she may have appeared at first glance. When the Rani made her debut, we hadn’t seen many Time Lord contemporaries take on the Doctor who didn’t turn out to be the Master, and audiences had rarely seen such a strong female adversary to the Doctor. The classic era’s Missy is the simplest way to describe the Rani (despite lacking that intriguing redemption arc). But more than just becoming a female version of the Master, the Rani was portrayed as a scientist first and foremost, carrying out experiments that the Time Lords deemed too barbaric. She cared little for the collateral damage that lay in her wake, and her callousness apparently earned her a spot just below the Master on the Time Lord’s most wanted list. This brings us to the crux of the matter: the Rani really shouldn’t be a villain motivated solely by a hatred of the Doctor. In The Mark of the Rani, she was explicit in the fact that she considers the Master’s rivalry with the Doctor to be beneath her. In a conversation with Anthony Ainley’s incarnation of the Master, the Rani informed him that she had seen the Doctor and stated: “I am not interested in your pathetic vendetta one way or the other. Now clear off and let me get on with my work.” In that story she formed an uneasy alliance with the Master, disguising herself as an old woman in order to continue with her scheme. It was a plan that involved harvesting chemicals from human brains to fix a problem she had caused with her own experiments on the planet she ruled, Miasimia Goria. The character was created by husband and wife writing duo, Pip and Jane Baker. The producer of Doctor Who at the time, John Nathan-Turner, proposed bringing in a Time Lord adversary in addition to the Master. It was Pip and Jane who suggested that this should be a female character. Perhaps the Rani was teamed up with the Master in her debut in order to clearly differentiate her particular brand of villainy. To the Rani, the Doctor was merely an irritant and that was made especially clear in her second appearance in classic Doctor Who, Sylvester McCoy’s debut as the Seventh Doctor, Time and the Rani. In this serial she played him for a fool in his post regeneration haze by dressing as his companion, Mel Bush (Bonnie Langford). It was a farce of Shakespearean proportions. The Rani helped the Doctor pick out his new outfit before rolling her eyes as her patience grew increasingly thin with his antics. That she felt superior to everyone around her to the point of apathy was the Rani’s core personality trait. The character made her final appearance in the classic era in the 1993 Children in Need special, Dimensions in Time, where she terrorised the residents of Albert Square. That’s right, Dimensions in Time was a Doctor Who/EastEnders cross-over. Perhaps the casting of Anita Dobson (who played iconic EastEnders landlady Angie Watts) really was the ultimate clue to Mrs Flood’s true identity. Back in the '80s, the Rani may have looked like your classic femme fatale, all shoulder pads and high camp. However, beyond the light-heartedness of the Rani’s final appearances, the character actually represented a serious female adversary to the Doctor and like a great many elements of Doctor Who from 1985 onwards, the Rani perhaps wasn’t fully appreciated at the time for the groundbreaking character that she was. That this maligned period in the show’s history is finally getting some much-needed mainstream celebration is a wonderful thing, but whatever the outcome for our two Ranis, in the midst of the upcoming character-filled, villain-heavy finale, we mustn’t lose the heart of the character. In order to preserve the true personality of the 1980s Rani, she must remain a cold-blooded scientist with a thirst for knowledge who views the Doctor as completely beneath her contempt, rather than an arch-nemesis that must be destroyed at all costs. Doctor Who continues on Saturday 24th May, with new episodes available from 8am on Saturdays on BBC iPlayer in the UK and later the same day on BBC One. The series is available on Disney+ outside of the UK. Dive into our Doctor Who story guide: reviews of every episode since 1963, plus cast & crew listings, production trivia, and exclusive material from the Radio Times archive. Check out more of our Sci-Fi coverage or visit our TV Guide and Streaming Guide to find out what's on. For more from the biggest stars in TV, listen to The Radio Times Podcast.
Doctor Who's Lucky Day proves why the Doctor can't lose his dark side
Ncuti Gatwa did his predecessors proud in Lucky Day.
The latest episode of Doctor Who, Lucky Day, gave us something that we rarely see – a brief glimpse into the dark side of the Doctor. It was in the low light of the TARDIS that Ncuti Gatwa’s Fifteenth Doctor gave the Doctor super-fan turned social media super-villain Conrad Clark (played by Jonah Hauer-King) a dressing down with a level of towering malice that we’ve rarely witnessed throughout the entire history of Doctor Who. The Fifteenth Doctor was introduced as the fun-loving carefree Doctor – he came to us apparently healed from his millennia of emotional trauma. Yet here he went out of his way to make an extraordinary intervention, materialising the TARDIS around Conrad as he sat in his jail cell. We can only presume that the Doctor had been preparing for this meeting for some time: “You want spoilers?” he asks in a flame of fury. “I’ll tell you your future. You die in a prison cell, boiling in anger and poison until your heart packs in age 49.” The chilling change in the Doctor's demeanour reminded me of one iconic scene in classic Doctor Who - the Seventh Doctor’s famous speech to one last remaining Dalek outside of Coal Hill School in the iconic 1988 serial Remembrance of the Daleks, where the Doctor calmly talks the creature into an act of self-extermination: “You’re trapped, a trillion miles and a thousand years from a disintegrated home. I have defeated you; you no longer serve any purpose.” Remembrance of the Daleks came off the back of a fairly light-hearted series of Doctor Who stories which had been produced following a period of uncertainty over the show’s future, and while Lucky Day doesn’t hit the heights of that iconic serial, it does for Ncuti Gatwa’s Fifteenth Doctor what Remembrance of the Daleks did for Sylvester McCoy’s Seventh, in that it gives him, if not his defining moment as the Doctor, then certainly his big turning point. The Fifteenth Doctor’s final scene in Lucky Day wasn’t your standard Doctor Who speech, it was something much more. It’s one of the moments that could define this Doctor for decades to come. Ncuti Gatwa looks assured and all-powerful, he’s the most commanding that he has ever been in the role as he taunts Conrad, telling him that he is alone and unloved: “The world carries on, the world gets better, you aren’t even a footnote, just ashes on the wind.” Casual viewers would say that the Doctor is one core character who is routinely played by a different actor. Your space hero fighting aliens with a trusty companion by their side. But look a bit closer and you’ll see something more. Delve into the show’s history and the deeper you go, the more you find the layers and the many facets to the different incarnations of this Time Lord. Sometimes people call Patrick Troughton’s Second Doctor a “clown” or a “cosmic hobo”, but underneath that cheerful, carefree persona, was he actually seeking out injustices, taking bolder actions than future Doctors would? What about Tom Baker’s Fourth Doctor? He was considered the traveller, the nonchalant bohemian – was he merely stumbling into trouble, trying hard not to meddle too much in the affairs of the universe? Or was there something more? Colin Baker’s Sixth Doctor once came face-to-face with the Valeyard, a personification of the evil within the Doctor. And whilst David Tennant’s Tenth Doctor was still nursing scars from the Time War, we were repeatedly privy to a darkness inside of him, highlighted in Donna Noble’s first adventure with the Doctor, The Runaway Bride. But it is the Seventh Doctor who has repeatedly drawn direct comparisons with Ncuti Gatwa’s current incarnation, and not just because Fifteen is the 'Seventh Doctor' of NuWho. Both are intrinsically linked to Mel Bush (played by Bonnie Langford), they both wage a war with the Gods, they both emotionally destroyed a companion in order to save them. Oh, and they both have a bit of an over-reliance on the power of spoons. The Fifteenth Doctor’s speech inside the TARDIS was the Doctor at his most confrontational, his most enraged. It was enough to shock you out of your seat and make you wonder if this Doctor had stepped over the line. The Seventh Doctor once said to Davros: “I am far more than just another Time Lord.” This was because his Doctor was being pushed towards a Godlike status – and it’s an argument that has waged between fans for decades: how should the Doctor be characterised? As the lonely traveller or the burdened God? As a Godlike entity, the character of the Doctor can divide fans, but in many respects, it was this darker interpretation of the character that paved the way for the future of Doctor Who, creating a level of emotional drama seldom seen in the show’s history. Classic Doctor Who may have ended during McCoy’s tenure, but what it ultimately inspired was a grittier look at the character when the Doctor finally returned to our screens. Whatever the future holds for Doctor Who, let’s hope that the Fifteenth Doctor continues to flourish and that his time isn’t cut short, so that we can explore the Doctor’s darker side to its fullest extent. Doctor Who is available to stream on BBC iPlayer. New episodes release weekly on Saturdays. Dive into our Doctor Who story guide: reviews of every episode since 1963, plus cast & crew listings, production trivia, and exclusive material from the Radio Times archive. Check out more of our Sci-Fi coverage or visit our TV Guide and Streaming Guide to find out what's on. For more from the biggest stars in TV, listen to The Radio Times Podcast.
Doctor Who will gain more than it loses by remastering The War Games - don't underestimate it
The epic serial is being colourised and cut to 90 minutes.
Doctor Who's The War Games is a stone-cold classic, a brutal final bow for Patrick Troughton's Second Doctor and his two companions, the ever-loyal Scot, Jamie McCrimmon, played by Frazer Hines, and the resourceful Zoe Herriot, Wendy Padbury’s 21st-century astrophysicist. It was the Doctor Who serial that broke new ground back in 1969 - it introduced the Time Lords, affirmed the concept of regeneration and cemented the Doctor's place in Time Lord society as a fugitive on the run from his own people. But perhaps most significantly of all, it revealed a level of darkness hitherto unseen of a show that was still loosely being dubbed a "children's programme". The 10-part epic sees the TARDIS materialise in no man's land. Wondering where on earth they've turned up, the Doctor, Jamie and Zoe promptly find themselves apprehended and consequently separated from their TARDIS. At first, it appears that they've landed at some point during the First World War. However, things are far from how they appear - dark forces are operating from the sidelines. To stop them, the Doctor will be locked in a battle of wits against the mysterious War Lord (Philip Madoc). With emotional stakes at its heart, The War Games is a classy high-brow thriller of Shakespearean proportions. View oEmbed on the source website In short, it's perfect. There's just one thing that's holding it back: The War Games is long - really long. In fact, it's historically, infamously, notoriously long. It was initially broadcast from 19th April to 21st June, seasons changed, spring turned to summer, and still The War Games went on. Its full runtime clocks in at an impressive four hours and 10 minutes. But it was actually never really intended to be an epic of Lord of the Rings’ towering scale. A number of factors contributed to its length: several scripts for other serials either fell through or were scrapped altogether before the team essentially ran out of time and The War Games was hastily given the green light on 23rd December 1968. Its two writers, Doctor Who legend Terrance Dicks and his former mentor (the man who gave Dicks his first big break in television) Malcolm Hulke, got to work straight away, churning out episodes every two or three days to be in time for an early February deadline. At one point, they found themselves struggling to such an extent that they moved on to the ending, and actually handed the finale’s script in at the same time as episode 5. Dicks reportedly said that they knew how it would start and they knew how it would finish, but they found it difficult to sustain the momentum in the middle episodes. But this Christmas, 55 years on from its initial broadcast, The War Games is getting a 21st-century makeover, with a new colourisation and an edit that will attempt to condense over four hours’ worth of storytelling into 90 minutes. We will also see an entirely new regeneration scene as the Second Doctor becomes the Third. However, should this classic really be reconfigured to such an extent? Some fans say that it's heresy, others just want to see Jamie screaming "Creag an tuire!" in vibrant HD. Whatever the case, it's fair to say that early Doctor Who suffers from a problem - that of accessibility for the casual viewer. This is largely because so many episodes are missing, especially from Patrick Troughton's tenure. Vital stories, such as the handover from the First Doctor to the Second and all of the serials that introduced his companions, were wiped after initial broadcast (although they still exist via audio recordings and some have been animated). This only serves to hamper the most pivotal era in the show's rich history. Of the 119 episodes starring the Second Doctor, 53 are missing. That The War Games survives at all (and in its full majesty) is a blessing. It's a beautifully directed story by David Maloney, an Orwellian tale, one full of dark corners and a foreboding tension that builds to the serial's climax (a Blackadder Goes Forth style ending – but decades before Blackadder existed). Our heroes are in a desperate struggle to get away, advancing in slow-motion towards the TARDIS. Surely, they will escape? The Doctor will think of something at the last moment... won't he? There's no doubt that audiences of 1969 would have been shocked by just how dark the story got. But that's what Doctor Who does best: it takes risks, it pushes the boundaries. That The War Games is causing controversy 55 years on seems only right. And while there's no doubt that something will be lost by not seeing the Time Lords standing before the Doctor in a palette of deathly grey, we know that something will be gained by seeing the blue of the Doctor's eyes as he grapples in a battle of wits against Philip Madoc’s fantastically menacing War Lord (the actor was yet to make history in Dad’s Army’s iconic "Don’t tell him, Pike!" moment). While many fans have said that this colourisation and hefty edit should not be happening, I say that if it makes just one person reconsider, who might never have given the early years of Doctor Who a chance, then it is more than worth it. This 23rd December, make it your destiny to watch one of the greatest actors ever to play the Doctor starring in his own definitive blockbuster - a landmark moment in sci-fi fantasy history, but as we've never seen it before. The War Games' special edition will air on 23rd December 2024 on BBC Four and BBC iPlayer. Doctor Who is available to watch on BBC iPlayer. Check out more of our Sci-Fi coverage or visit our TV Guide and Streaming Guide to see what's on tonight. For more from the biggest stars in TV, listen to The Radio Times Podcast.
Doctor Who's Sutekh is the perfect classic villain return
"He is hidden in the howling void. He is hidden within the tempest."
"The one who waits, waits no more." In this moment, Doctor Who became the scariest show on television once again. The last few minutes of The Legend of Ruby Sunday were filled with out-and-out horror. The image of the crumbling Susan Triad (played by Susan Twist), a character so heavily speculated over these past few months, omnipresent and then transformed in an instant into a mummified puppet by the almighty God of Death. That is his infinite power, Sutekh’s time is now. But, why is it now? Some are asking why not Omega? Or the Trickster? Or Fenric? Or a brand new big bad?! To find out why it had to be this adversary above all others, we go back, almost 50 years, to 1975. It was Doctor Who’s 13th season and Tom Baker’s second as the Doctor. With the iconic Sarah Jane Smith (played by the late, great Elisabeth Sladen) at his side, the Fourth Doctor (intending to travel to UNIT’s base) is thrown off course by a projection that has infiltrated the TARDIS itself. Sarah Jane sees the apparition of a Typhonian Beast, foreshadowing the arrival of an Egyptian god. Trapped beneath a pyramid and powerless to move, imprisoned by the ancient god Horus, Sutekh lies in wait. The Doctor and Sarah Jane find themselves pulled into a race against time to stop Sutekh from freeing himself from his prison and destroying the entire world. Sutekh, once the last of the Osirans and now part of the Pantheon of Discord (that includes Maestro and the Toymaker), lived in fear of any and all life forms that could challenge him, so he simply set out to destroy them. For his crimes, he was imprisoned in a tomb on Earth, one that was uncovered by the unfortunate archaeologist Marcus Scarman (Bernard Archard). Voiced by Gabriel Woolf (who now returns to the character aged 91), Sutekh’s timbre drips with malice and all are powerless to his sway. Despite the fact that many think of the famous "Do I Have the right?" speech from Genesis of the Daleks as Tom Baker’s defining moment as the Doctor, the Fourth Doctor’s resolute character was defined in his fearless confrontation with Sutekh the Destroyer. Baker is at his best and most dramatic in a performance that brings gravitas to the Time Lord - making it all the more shocking when he’s ruthlessly tortured and brought to his knees by this fallen god. The Tom Baker years were vast, moving from the light-hearted hijinks of the Douglas Adams classic City of Death to the ominous debut of the Cloister Bell in Baker’s final story as the Doctor, Logopolis. There was no tone too ambitious for the Fourth Doctor, and Pyramids of Mars was one of the first stories to lay that claim. For a villain only ever seen in one television serial, Sutekh is perhaps the one with the richest backstory. Penned by series script editor Robert Holmes and writer Lewis Greifer (using the joint pseudonym Stephen Harris), their tight script, inspired by 1932 film The Mummy, neatly fused real Egyptian mythology with an ingenious use of time travel. The intricate nature of this story is a testament to the classic era, with stories often running for four weeks or longer, Doctor Who serials could build highly complex worlds worthy of elaborate novels. This story is a perfect jumping-on point for anyone unfamiliar with Doctor Who, opening with something of an introduction to the Doctor himself. What better story to return to at a time when Doctor Who is being introduced to new audiences around the world? "The Earth isn’t my home, Sarah, I’m a Time Lord," he tells Sarah Jane, and when she teases him, he rebukes her seriously. "You don’t understand the implications. I’m not a human being, I walk in eternity." Sarah Jane, perhaps the first companion to challenge the Doctor directly in his choices, asks a question that others might not have asked, but one which we at home might: "Why don’t you just tune up 1980 and we can… well, leave?" The Doctor eventually relents, "Alright, if we leave now, let’s see what the world will look like in 1980." He opens the doors inside the TARDIS to reveal a desolate planet circling a dead Sun - Sutekh can and will destroy the future. View oEmbed on the source website We should have known that he would be back - all the clues were there. During The Devil’s Chord, Ncuti Gatwa’s Fifteenth Doctor opened the TARDIS doors to reveal to Ruby Sunday a decimated London. And we’ve all seen the image that greets us on the front page of BBC iPlayer, a distinctive kaleidoscope of bright lights frames the Doctor and Ruby - these are the lights signifying the return of the God of Death. Some fans say: "Why bring back a one-off classic villain? Won’t that confuse new audiences?" But were new viewers really all that confused the first time they saw the Sontarans or the Sea Devils as opposed to the more familiar Daleks and Cybermen? With Doctor Who’s rich tapestry of enemies now well represented, it is finally time to turn to something that has always been present and lurking in the shadows (especially during Sylvester McCoy’s tenure) - a fight with the mythical Elder Gods. As we turn the page on Doctor Who, we find that Sutekh was the right villain brought back at the right time. He’s a universal foe, the familiarity of an Egyptian god made unfamiliar and alien, first appearing during a time that defines the classic era as we know it. The full horror of Sutekh was realised on a tight budget in 1975, but now, in 2024, it can be realised on a whole new level. In cinemas up and down the country, people will experience Sutekh in all his high-definition terror. It’s a dream that Russell T Davies perhaps always held, inserting a clip from Pyramids of Mars into his Channel 4 series Queer as Folk back in 1999. That is the gift of Doctor Who: everybody has their own favourite adversary, favourite story and their own Doctor. The 60th anniversary offered us a chance to love all aspects of the series in a way never quite seen before. With every episode now available at the press of a button, there’s only one question - after Pyramids of Mars, where will you go next? Doctor Who continues on Saturday 22nd June on BBC iPlayer and BBC One. Previous seasons are available to stream on BBC iPlayer with episodes of the classic series also available on BritBox – you can sign up for a 7-day free trial here. Check out more of our Sci-Fi coverage or visit our TV Guide and Streaming Guide to see what's on tonight. For more from the biggest stars in TV, listen to The Radio Times Podcast.