Doctor Who: The Three Doctors (1972-73)

Doctor Who: The Three Doctors (1972-73)

Dir. Lennie Mayne | 4 episodes, approx 25 mins each.

I don't plan to do all of the Classic Era Doctor Who serials — partly because I don't own them all, and partly because there's too damn many, even if I was lucky enough to have the full set — but I'll do some of the more notable ones, which should mean I can feature each of the seven actors at least once.

The Three Doctors, as the name implies, gets me three of them in one post. It's technically a Third Doctor (Jon Pertwee) serial celebrating DW's tenth anniversary, but it has the First (William Hartnell) and Second Doctor (Patrick Troughton), too.

First Broadcast in weekly intervals from 30th December 1972 to 20th January 1973, it was the first story in Pertwee's fourth season and is a significant serial for a number of reasons.

In addition to being the first televised adventure to feature multiple versions of the titular Time Lord, it was, sadly, Hartnell's last time playing the role - he died two years later, aged 67.

The story itself isn't one of the franchise's best, but nor is it the very worst of them. A mysterious blackhole causes a problem for the Time Lords. Elsewhere, including at UNIT's own HQ, a couple of people have disappeared. Are the two events connected? Of course they are.

It falls to the Doctor(s) to fix things. If they can quit squabbling like children for a minute or three, they might just be able to stop Mr Derpy Helmet from realising his nefarious plan.

Episode 01 is primarily led by the velvet-jacketed and frilly-cuffed Third Doctor, who ponders events in his own semi-arrogant way. On-screen time in Episodes 02-04 is split pretty evenly between he and the recorder-playing Second Doctor. It's a shame the First Doctor has much less time and is limited in other ways, but it seems to be respectful of Hartnell's failing health, as opposed to any kind of writer preferences. Still, it's nice to see him in colour.

NOTE: if you like your Doctor Who in book form, the story was adapted into a novel of the same name by Terrance Dicks. Published by Target Books in 1975, it's #64 in their Doctor Who Library series. Page Count: 192. (The 2012 version is a reprint with text that's exactly as it was before, including some awkward grammar that would give a modern editor worry lines.)