Alex Skerratt

What led to the departure of the Sixth Doctor Colin Baker in 1987? The Sixth Doctor's regeneration was mired in controversy. In the mid 1980s, Doctor Who was in turmoil after the BBC had attempted to cancel it. The backlash had been such that fans had threatened to picket the Houses of Parliament with Daleks unless the Corporation back-peddled. And their voices were … [Read more...] about The story behind the Sixth Doctor’s regeneration

With the current era of Doctor Who coming to a close, we look back at the most popular Thirteenth Doctor episodes to date, as determined by their AI scores. AI - in case you didn't know - is the Audience Appreciation Index, and is a measure of how much people enjoyed a particular programme. Generally, anything below 60 is considered poor, whilst anything above 80 is … [Read more...] about Which are the most popular Thirteenth Doctor episodes?

Doctor Who viewing figures have always been the subject of intense scrutiny. But how much do they really matter in today's world? When Doctor Who first started in 1963, viewing figures were quite important. Indeed, in the early 60s there were only two TV channels in the UK - the BBC and ITV - so it was genuinely a head-to-head competition for people's eyeballs. As such, … [Read more...] about Doctor Who viewing figures: Do they really matter?

What led to the Fifth Doctor Who regeneration in 1984? Spectrox toxaemia, of course. In 'The Caves of Androzani,' the Doctor is exposed to unrefined spectrox - a substance that has the ability to prolong a person's life. So it's ironic, in a way, that the Fifth Doctor Who regeneration was triggered by this very substance. And even though the Doctor had the opportunity to … [Read more...] about The story behind the Fifth Doctor Who regeneration

Since 1966, clones of the famous Time Lord have been mysteriously appearing in Doctor Who stories. What is the explanation for their uncanny resemblance to the Doctor? You may think that the presence of 'clones' in Doctor Who stories is just a by-product of casting. As in, sometimes an actor is given a part in Doctor Who and then years later they end up becoming the … [Read more...] about Doctor Who stories: The mystery of the Doctor’s doubles