History Recap / DoctorWho

!!!Series 14/Season 40 (8 episodes; 11 May 2024 --)

In conjunction with the 60th Anniversary specials, Russell T Davies' second tenure as showrunner allowed the Fifteenth Doctor era to start right after the short-lived Fourteenth Doctor era, with the 2023 Christmas special. Ncuti Gatwa takes the role of the Doctor, and is joined by Millie Gibson who plays Fifteenth's first companion, Ruby Sunday. In addition, Davies has stated that the series will undergo a soft reboot much like the start of the revival series as well as the start of Steven Moffat's tenure (Series 5) and the start of Chris Chibnall's tenure (Series 11). On Disney Plus, this Series has been branded as "Season 1".

In a first for the series, the first two episodes make their UK premiere on BBC [=iPlayer=] at midnight on Saturday 11 May, before airing on BBC One that Saturday evening. Outside the UK, Disney Plus begins streaming the show at 7pm Eastern Time on Friday 10 May, simultaneous with the [=iPlayer=] release. Following the premiere, each episode will be released weekly on [=iPlayer=] at midnight on Saturday, before airing on BBC One on Saturday evening.

[[folder:Series 8 (23 August -- 8 November 2014)]]

[[folder:Series 9 (25 December 2014 -- 25 December 2015)]]

!!!Christmas Special (25 December 2014)
* "[[Recap/DoctorWho2014CSLastChristmas Last Christmas]]" [-(60 minutes)-]

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%%[[folder: Series 14/Season 1 (11 May 2024 --)]]
%%!!!Series 14/Season 40 (8 episodes; 11 May 2024 --)
%%Creator/RussellTDavies revealed in ''Magazine/DoctorWhoMagazine'' #585 that the Fifteenth Doctor's first full season would be eight episodes long, plus a Christmas special.
%%
%%In a first for the series, the first two episodes make their UK premiere on BBC [=iPlayer=] at midnight on Saturday 11 May, before airing on BBC One that Saturday evening. Outside the UK, Disney Plus begins streaming the show at 7pm Eastern Time on Friday 10 May, simultaneous with the [=iPlayer=] release. Following the premiere, each episode will be released weekly on [=iPlayer=] at midnight on Saturday, before airing on BBC One on Saturday evening.
%%
%%!!!Series 14 (May 2024)
%%# "[[Recap/DoctorWhoS40E2TheDevilsChord The Devil's Chord]]"
%%[[/folder]]

The "Classic Series" (1963-1989, plus [[Recap/DoctorWhoTVMTheTVMovie the 1996 TV movie]]) was done in 25-minute long episodes where every story (except for "[[Recap/DoctorWhoS3E2MissionToTheUnknown Mission to the Unknown]]" and "[[Recap/DoctorWho20thASTheFiveDoctors The Five Doctors]]") was a multi-episode serial; typically these ranged from four to six episodes, but on rare occasions could go from as little as a single episode to as many as twelve (fourteen if you count Season 23, ''The Trial of a Time Lord'', as one serial[[note]]to make a long story short, Season 23 was produced as four different but interlinked serials in an overarching story arc, but the whole season was billed as a single serial when it aired as a marketing tactic[[/note]]). Season 22 stood out as an exception, with serials comprising two or three 45-minute long episodes each, but it was still in the serial format. When the series began airing in the US in the early 70s, the individual episodes for each serial were combined into full-length "movies"; because of this, most fans consider each episode part of a much larger story, aided by the fact that serials quickly switched to using overarching titles in season 3. Consequently, fan discussions about the Classic Series will typically refer to serials rather than individual episodes unless the latter becomes absolutely necessary (e.g. production differences between individual episodes).

When the Master was blown to smithereens by some Daleks that imprisoned him on Skaro, the Seventh Doctor was tasked to scatter the Master's remains all over Gallifrey. Unfortunately, the Master manages to escape from the TARDIS, and the Doctor is then gunned down to near-death by a street gang upon landing in San Francisco-- on New Year's Eve of 1999, no less. And if that weren't enough, he ends up ''dying'' at the hands of some American surgeons, with Dr. Grace Holloway being one of them. After the Doctor undergoes a new regeneration, on top of the Master assimilating himself a brand new body, it's a race against the clock as the younger, hotter and [[LargeHam hammier]] Eighth Doctor teams up with his new companion Grace so they can put an end to the Master once and for all, before the new millennium arrives.

Chibnall becoming showrunner also caused a change to the format followed since the birth of [=NewWho=], with the show now consisting of 50-minute episodes airing on Sundays, with the post-series special moved from Christmas to New Year's Day. In addition, there were three more year-plus gaps between series, with Series 12 not airing until January 2020, Series 13 not airing until October 2021 due to the UsefulNotes/COVID19Pandemic, and a two-year plus gap until Series 14, the first of Creator/RussellTDavies' second tenure, all of which were relieved by various specials.

%%[[folder: Series 14/Season 1]]
%%!!!Series 14/Season 40 (8 episodes)

Creator/ColinBaker's era is notable for starting at the tail end of Creator/PeterDavison's final season, and for experimenting with the show's format. However, due to troubled production values, criticisms and ExecutiveMeddling, Season 23 was placed on hiatus, had its runtime drastically reduced and retooled into a large story arc, causing several planned stories featuring him to be dropped entirely. Baker's time on the TV series ended just as roughly as it began, with severely reduced ratings, general public and executive apathy towards the show, and Baker himself being unceremoniously fired after Season 23's conclusion, marking the only time an actor was outright axed from the role of the Doctor during the show's run. Love it or hate it, the Sixth Doctor's tenure on TV would be the foundation for Big Finish to give Baker the proper continuation he deserves, although that wouldn't happen until almost ''15 years'' after he left the show. You can find all of his (audio-only) adventures taking place in-between Seasons 22 & 23 (which includes the lost stories from the originally planned Season 23), as well as every adventure he had beyond Season 23 (including his [[Recap/BigFinishDoctorWhoSpecialTheLastAdventure regeneration story]]) right over [[Recap/BigFinishDoctorWho here]].

Creator/ColinBaker's era is notable for starting at the tail end of Creator/PeterDavison's final season, and for experimenting with the show's format. However, due to troubled production values, criticisms and ExecutiveMeddling, Season 23 was placed on hiatus, had its runtime drastically reduced and retooled into a large story arc, causing several planned stories featuring him to be dropped entirely. Baker's time on the TV series ended just as roughly as it began, with severely reduced ratings, general public and executive apathy towards the show, and Baker himself being unceremoniously fired after Season 23's conclusion, marking the only time an actor was outright axed from the role of the Doctor during the show's run. Love it or hate it, the Sixth Doctor's tenure on TV would be the foundation for Big Finish to give Baker the proper continuation he deserves, although that wouldn't happen until almost ''15 years'' after he left the show. You can find all of his (audio-only) adventures taking place in-between Seasons 22 & 23, as well as the adventures he had beyond Season 23 (including his regeneration story) over [[Recap/BigFinishDoctorWho here]].

Creator/ColinBaker's era is notable for starting at the tail end of Creator/PeterDavison's final season, and for experimenting with the show's format. However, due to troubled production values, criticisms and ExecutiveMeddling, Season 23 was placed on hiatus, had its runtime drastically reduced and retooled into a large story arc, causing several planned stories featuring him to be dropped entirely; you can find the missing pieces of this Doctor's existence [[Recap/BigFinishDoctorWho here]]. Baker's era on TV ended just as roughly as it began, with severely reduced ratings, general public and executive apathy towards the show, and Baker himself being unceremoniously fired after Season 23's conclusion, marking the only time an actor was outright axed from the role of the Doctor during the show's run. Love it or hate it, the Sixth Doctor's tenure on TV would be the foundation for Big Finish to give Baker the proper continuation he deserves (via audio dramas), although that wouldn't happen until almost ''15 years'' after he left the show.

Creator/ColinBaker's era is notable for starting at the tail end of Creator/PeterDavison's final season, and for experimenting with the show's format. However, due to troubled production values, criticisms and ExecutiveMeddling, Season 23 was placed on hiatus, had its runtime drastically reduced and retooled into a large story arc, causing several planned stories featuring him to be dropped entirely; you can find the missing pieces of this Doctor's existence [[Recap/BigFinishDoctorWho here]]. Baker's era ended just as roughly as it began, with severely reduced ratings, general public and executive apathy towards the show, and Baker himself being unceremoniously fired after Season 23's conclusion, marking the only time an actor was outright axed from the role of the Doctor during the show's run.

From this point onwards, no episodes were ever junked, so all episodes survive. Furthermore, from Season 16 on, no episodes were ever in danger of being junked, as it was in 1978 that the BBC ended its junking policy. A twelve-regeneration (thirteen incarnations) limit was also put into practice during Creator/TomBaker's tenure for the sake of explaining the return of an old villain, and as a way of bringing a definite end to the series if the need arose, back during the days when its future was in doubt.

[[folder:Season 4 (5 November 1966 -- 1 July 1967) ]]https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/download_22_31.jpeg]

# "[[Recap/DoctorWhoS15EBTheFinalBattle The Final Battle]]" [Bonus feature for the season 15 Boxset]

At this point in the timeline, the spin-offs ''Series/{{Torchwood}}'' and ''Series/TheSarahJaneAdventures'' launched, the former commencing immediately after the end of Series 2, while the later would proceed airing after that first series finished, allowing for a healthy cycle of year-round ''Doctor Who'' material as each show cycled in and out of production.

In conjunction with the 60th Anniversary specials, Russell T Davies' second tenure as showrunner allowed the Fifteenth Doctor era to start right after the short-lived Fourteenth Doctor era, starting with the 2023 Christmas special. Ncuti Gatwa takes the role of the Doctor, and is joined by Millie Gibson who plays Fifteenth's first companion, Ruby Sunday. In addition, Davies has stated that the series will undergo a soft reboot much like the start of the revival series as well as the start of Steven Moffat's tenure (Series 5) and the start of Chris Chibnall's tenure (Series 11). On Disney Plus, this Series has been branded as "Season 1".

[[caption-width-right:300:''"I made my choice a long time ago. I'm never gonna leave you."'']]

%%[[folder: Series 14]]

In conjunction with the 60th Anniversary specials, Russell T Davies' second tenure as showrunner allowed the Fifteenth Doctor era to start right after the short-lived Fourteenth Doctor era, starting with the 2023 Christmas special. Ncuti Gatwa takes the role of the Doctor, and is joined by Millie Gibson who plays Fifteenth's first companion, Ruby Sunday. In addition, Davies has stated that the series will undergo a soft reboot much like the start of the revival series as well as the start of Steven Moffat's tenure (Series 5) and the start of Chris Chibnall's tenure (Series 11). On Disney Plus, this Series has been branded as “Season 1”.

In conjunction with the 60th Anniversary specials, Russell T Davies' second tenure as showrunner allowed the Fifteenth Doctor era to start right after the short-lived Fourteenth Doctor era, starting with the 2023 Christmas special. Ncuti Gatwa takes the role of the Doctor, and is joined by Millie Gibson who plays Fifteenth's first companion, Ruby Sunday. In addition, Davies has stated that the series will undergo a soft reboot much like the start of the revival series as well as the start of Steven Moffat's tenure (Series 5) and the start of Chris Chibnall's tenure (Series 11).