This Week In DOCTOR WHO History: Dec 26th to Dec 31st - Warped Factor - Words in the Key of Geek.

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This Week In DOCTOR WHO History: Dec 26th to Dec 31st

Ready yourself for a bumper week in Doctor Who history as the Fourth Doctor's era gets underway, the first multi-Doctor adventure begins, the first ever Who spin-off airs and we say a sad goodbye to Susan. Phew...


Click on any red text to read our full retrospectives/reviews for that episode. All dates and viewing figures are for UK premier broadcasts unless otherwise stated.

December 26th
We kick off this special Boxing Day edition of This Week In Doctor Who History with the final episode of The Dalek Invasion of Earth, entitled Flashpoint, broadcast at 5:58pm on this day in 1964. 12.4 million viewers tuned in to watch the First Doctor bid adieu to his granddaughter, as Susan became the first member of the original cast to leave the series.

December 27th
It's a festive day-off for Doctor Who, but back in 2009 David Tennant was the guest on BBC Radio 4's Desert Island Discs, and if you'd like to hear his choices then you can download the episode here.



December 28th
Now this is more like it! The first proper appearance of the Daleks took place on this day in 1963 during episode 2 of The Daleks (entitled The Survivors). 6.0 million viewers watched the pepper-pots shuffle onto screen and begin their assault on 1960s British culture. Five years later and 9 million people tuned in to see the Second Doctor beginning a new adventure with The Krotons.

Tom Baker was briefly seen at the end of Planet Of The Spiders, but his time as the Fourth Doctor began for real on this day in 1974 when 10.8 million viewers tuned in to part one of Robot. One more classic Doctor Who story from this day, and it comes from the Seventh Doctor. Part three of The Greatest Show in the Galaxy, the penultimate episode of season 25, was broadcast in 1988 and watched by 4.8 million viewers.

Also on this day in 1981 the first ever Doctor Who spin-off appeared on British TV. After axing the robot dog from the main series John Nathan-Turner threw him a bone in the shape of  K-9 and Company. The single episode called A Girl's Best Friend attracted a healthy audience of 8.4 million viewers before the whole idea was quietly put to sleep.


December 29th
Part three of The Time Warrior was broadcast this day in 1973 and watched by 6.6 million viewers. The Fourth Doctor added 2.2 million more to that figure when part two of The Horns of Nimon was broadcast 6 years later.


December 30th
On this day in 1967 7.6 million people were watching Patrick Troughton working overtime portraying duel roles in The Enemy of the World. Also on this day episode one of the story that everyone wrongly believes to be a Tenth Anniversary Special arrived 11 months before that momentous date - The Three Doctors united for an audience of 9.6 million viewers. Finally, on this day in 1978 part two of the Fourth Doctor adventure The Power of Kroll was broadcast to a mighty impressive 12.4 million viewers.


December 31st
Just one episode broadcast on this day to date and it's from a story that is sadly missing, presumed wiped. The Second Doctor saw the New Year in with young Jamie McCrimmon when The Highlanders episode 3 was broadcast in 1966 to a welcoming audience of 7.4 million viewers.

So did you watch any of these adventures live? When you've sobered up from the Christmas festivities we'd love to hear your memories about any of them. Why not tell us in the comments below?

Until next Sunday...

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