This Week In DOCTOR WHO History: March 5th to March 11th - Warped Factor - Words in the Key of Geek.

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This Week In DOCTOR WHO History: March 5th to March 11th

Dodo bumps into Sia this week in Doctor Who history.


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.

March 5th
It's the start of another journey into the Doctor Who archives, and we find ourselves back in 1966 when on this day 5.5 million people were possibly wishing this Dodo was extinct! It's the opening episode of the First Doctor story The Ark (entitled The Steel Sky) and it was broadcast at 5.15pm.

Twelve years later, in 1977, 9.8 million scarf loving people tuned in to part two of The Talons of Weng-Chiang.  

Also on this day, we're off to Cardiff for some Torchwood. Something Borrowed was broadcast in 2008 at 9:50pm and watched by 0.98 million viewers.


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.

March 6th 
On this day in 1965, 13 million wonderful viewers tuned in to catch Barbara and Vrestin attempt to recreate that scene from Titanic, even though that scene wouldn't be conceived for another 30 plus years - timey wimey, indeed! It was all part of episode four of The Web Planet (entitled Crater of Needles) of course.

Two regenerations and 6 years later, the Third Doctor faced The Mind Of Evil, episode six had an audience of 7.3 million. Finally for this day in 1976 part six of The Seeds Of Doom draw an audience of 11.5 million


March 7th
March 7th 1964 saw the third episode of Marco Polo (entitled Five Hundred Eyes) broadcast at 5.16pm and watched by 9.4 million viewers. Six years later episode 6 of Doctor Who And The Silurians was watched by 7.2 million viewers. And then, in 1981, it was nearly the end, but the moment was being prepared for - part two of Logopolis, the Fourth Doctor's swansong, was watched by 7.7 million viewers. 



March 8th
March 8th is largely a day of new beginnings in the history of Doctor Who. Back in 1969 the Second Doctor began a new adventure with The Space Pirates, he bought 5.8 million along for the ride. Moving on to 1975 and in only his fourth on screen adventure the Fourth Doctor discovered the Genesis of the Daleks, routinely voted the number one Doctor Who story of all time. Did the 10.7 million people tuning in know they were witnessing the start of a genuine classic?

Another very highly regarded story began on this day in 1982, the Fifth Doctor's Cyber encounter Earthshock. 9.1 million Adric lovers were glued to their TV sets (Shall I tell them, or will you?). Taking a break from new beginnings, part three of Enlightenment was broadcast on this day in 1983, with 6.2 million people tuning in.

The following year the Fifth Doctor began his final adventure, and it's another story that often features in the top three of any Doctor Who poll. Part one of The Caves of Androzani drew an audience of 6.9 million. Change was coming, and if you believe Colin Baker it was not a moment too soon...


March 9th
On this day in 1968 8.3 million people were watching the Second Doctor in episode six of The Web of Fear. Six years later part three of the Third Doctor adventure Death to the Daleks was watched by a 8.8 million viewers. Then on Tuesday March 2nd 1982 the second part of Earthshock saw the Adric fan club out in full force - all 8.8 million of them enjoying him whilst they can (Seriously, shall I tell them?).

If you were tuned into BBC1 at 6.46pm on Wednesday March 9nd 1983 then you were joined by 7.3 million others, all watching part four of Enlightenment. The following year, part two of The Caves of Androzani drew an audience of 6.6 million. One regeneration later, part one of the Sixth Doctor adventure Timelash was watched by 6.7 million viewers. 


March 10th 
In 1973 home cinema was just something we could dream of, so imagine watching episode three of Frontier In Space on a 120" Plasma screen along with the 7.5 million other viewers. Jon Pertwee's nose would've been the size of a small European country!


March 11th 
It's a big day for Doctor Who related birthdays, as John Barrowman, Alex Kingston, Douglas Adams and Graeme Harper were all born on March 11th. Happy birthday to them all.

But on with the show, and back to 1967 as the Second Doctor faced the opening episode of The Macra Terror, which was broadcast at 5.15pm to an audience of 8 million viewers. Moving on to 1972 the third part of the Third Doctor story The Sea Devils was watched by an audience of 8.3 million.

And as we say goodbye for another week, so does the Fourth Doctor, as on this day in 1978 he parted ways with Leela in the sixth and final installment of The Invasion Of Time. 9.8 Million viewers waved her off. 

That's it for this week, but did you watch any of these adventures live? We'd love to hear your memories about any of them. Tell us in the comments below.

Until next Sunday...

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