This Week In DOCTOR WHO History: Aug 25th to Aug 31st - Warped Factor - Words in the Key of Geek.

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This Week In DOCTOR WHO History: Aug 25th to Aug 31st

Oh John, what have we done...


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.
 
August 25th 
OK, look, I'm the first to admit if we take something too far, but really John, last week's column was just a joke. Honestly. We love your versatility as an all round entertainer, and the fact that we can rely upon you for annual soundbites stating how you'd love to come back to Doctor Who but those pesky people at the BBC keep vetoing it. So let's leave it there and have no more mention of it, eh?

Instead, let's get on with business and take a look back in the archives for our weekly round-up of the episodes broadcasts, the birthdays celebrated and the special events that happened this week in Doctor Who history, and with Summer drawing to an end we actually (finally) have quite a lot to mention this week.

And we'll kick off with the seventh episode of Torchwood: Miracle Day, titled Immortal Sins, which is, of course, where the screengrab from the top of the page comes from. The episode received its UK premiere on this day in 2011 and was watched by 4.48 million viewers.

36 years previously though...



A Doctor Who related broadcast for you from this day in 1975. Yep, that's Tom Baker in character as the Fourth Doctor hosting the Bank Holiday edition of Disney Time, where he introduced clips from Disney films.

We can include that, right?


August 26th
As just about everyone visiting this page will likely know. Doctor Who began on November 23rd 1963 with the broadcast of An Unearthly Child. However the episode broadcast that Saturday in November was not the one originally shot.

The original unbroadcast pilot was recorded on Friday 27th September 1963 in Lime Grove D studio, it was rejected by the BBC who ordered a re-shoot and so the 16mm film was shelved for almost 30 years until 26th August, Bank Holiday Monday, 1991, when at 2:15pm in the afternoon on BBC2, 1.7 million viewers tuned in to it's delightful wobblyness.

Also on this day, if you were living Stateside in 2011 then you could've watched the eighth episode of Torchwood: Miracle Day, titled End of the Road. We'll get to that in next week's column as the UK had to wait another six days for it. Pah!



August 27th
In 1993 the first part of the Third Doctor radio adventure The Paradise Of Death was broadcast from 6:32pm on BBC Radio 5. Then in 2011 Series 6 resumed with Let's Kill Hitler, 8.1 million tuning in for the Eleventh Doctor story.

Also on this day, its minisode time! 'Cos they also count, right? Pond Life acted as a prequel to Asylum of the Daleks, and the first chunk of the 5-part mini-adventure was available to view on the BBC's red button service from this day in 2011, with the remaining 4 parts following daily. Above you can watch the whole thing. I know, we spoil you.

And, if you were lucky enough to be living in Edinborough in 2015 then you may have secured a pair of tickets to the world premiere showing of The Magician's Apprentice. It wouldn't debut on TV until September 19th of that year but this special showing of Peter Capaldi's second series opener was followed by a Q&A with Executive Producers Stephen Moffatt and Brian Minchin.


August 29th
We do have to skip a day now, but it's probably wise to have a bit of a rest before we join old Firsty on a booze cruise to France. You don't wanna mess with him after he's had a tipple! They don't call him The Tyrant of France for nothing you know?

In fact, they don't call him that at all, as that's actually the title for part 4 of the pure historical adventure The Reign Of Terror, which was broadcast on this day in 1964 at 5:15pm to an audience of 6.4 million viewers.


August 30th
Ah, look! The bescarfed one and his chums are relaxing in the Summer sun. But before he and the misses can enjoy a weekend in Brighton with the dog, we've got part one of Terror of the Zygons kicking off series 13 back in 1975 to watch. 8.4 million viewers tuned into that adventure, which was 2.5 million more than the opening episode of The Leisure Hive achieved in 1980. I blame the seaside shenanigans!

Then, moving forward to 2002 and the fifth episode of the Doctor Who webcast Real Time was available to watch from 12:00pm. Starring Colin Baker as the Sixth Doctor, and featuring the Cybermen, you can view the whole thing here.

But wait, we're not done yet, as the Twelfth Doctor had to venture Into The Dalek, and 7.29 million of you witnessed it! It's a good job we watched him do that back in 2014 as I think you can get arrested for that type of voyeurism now.


August 31st
On this day in 1991 we sadly said farewell to Cyberman co-creator Gerry Davis. He was also working as script-writer at the start of the Patrick Troughton's tenure as the Doctor, and indeed the Second does feature in our last Who episode for this week. It's episode 4 of The Dominators, the sole Doctor Who adventure broadcast on this day throughout the show's long history. It premiered in 1968 at 5:14pm, and was watched by 7.5 million viewers.

Did you watch any of these adventures live? We'd love to hear your memories of them. Let us know in the comments below.

Until next Sunday when we have a veritable Fourth Doctor smorgasbord for you... 

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