Some of the Time Lord’s adventures have been so popular they’ve left fans clamouring for more. So which are the greatest Doctor Who sequels of all time?
The Dalek Invasion of Earth
It’s no secret that the Daleks were integral to Doctor Who‘s early success in the 1960s. They made their first appearance in the 1963 story ‘The Daleks,’ which entrenched the metal mutants, and the TARDIS, into the zeitgeist of British culture. And despite the fact that these monsters were seemingly wiped out in the story’s final episode, viewers were chomping at the bit to see more of Terry Nation’s creations.
They finally got their wish in 1964’s ‘The Dalek Invasion of Earth’ – the first Doctor Who sequel of all time. This was very different from the preceding story, though; this time, the metal mutants had taken over the whole planet, and were planning to replace the earth’s core with an engine that would allow them to pilot the planet anywhere in the universe.
It might be an unconventional premise for a Doctor Who sequel, but it was immensely popular, regularly pulling in viewers in excess of 10 million. In fact, this Doctor Who sequel was so popular that it was turned into a big budget movie starring Peter Cushing, retitled Daleks: Invasion Earth 2150AD.
And whilst the adventure was unashamedly high octane, it is perhaps best remembered for the departure of the Doctor’s granddaughter Susan, who fell in love with a human and left the TARDIS in the last episode.
The Sea Devils
In Jon Pertwee’s first season, Macolm Hulke had written a successful adventure titled ‘Doctor Who and the Silurians,’ which was about a race of cave-dwelling creatures who predated humanity. They had awoken, and wanted to reclaim the planet for themselves.
The story was written in response to Hulke’s own assertion that Doctor Who‘s new format (in which the Time Lord had been exiled to Earth, without the use of his TARDIS) only allowed for two types of story: ‘mad scientist’ or ‘alien invasion.’ But ‘The Silurians’ is neither of these; the ‘aliens’ are already here!
The story was so well-received that the production team immediately started bouncing ideas around for a sequel, and the end result came two years later with ‘The Sea Devils.’ This Doctor Who sequel involved a new race of creatures, who were distantly related to the Silurians. And as you may have guessed, the eponymous Sea Devils lived under the sea, and had similar aspirations to reclaim planet Earth. This time, though, the Doctor also had to contend with his old enemy the Master, who was helping the reptilians in their mission.
And despite having aired over 50 years ago, the influence of this Doctor Who sequel is still being felt to this day. It was recently re-edited into a special movie-length edition as a precursor to the spin-off series The War Between the Land and the Sea which – essentially – acted as a 21st century retelling of ‘The Sea Devils.’
Gridlock
‘Gridlock’ is a Doctor Who sequel that no one saw coming. In this obscure adventure from 2007, the Tenth Doctor found himself in a traffic jam on New Earth that had (literally) lasted for years. The cars’ occupants had taken to living in their vehicles, in a constant state of fear; some mysterious entity was lurking in the undercity, picking off cars that veered too close.
The entity in question was the Macra – a whole race of Macra, in fact. Now, these crab-like monsters wouldn’t have meant much to the viewer of 2007, but to classic Doctor Who fans, their return was a welcome surprise. These lesser-known monsters had only been seen once in a four part Patrick Troughton story, which is currently missing from the archives.
And in this unexpected Doctor Who sequel, the Macra have devolved in the belly of New New York, surviving on car fumes and passing motors. Their appearance is brief but dramatic, and it makes ‘Gridlock’ one of the standout stories of Doctor Who‘s third series.
The Time of Angels / Flesh and Stone
Also in the 2007 series, Steven Moffat wrote a Doctor Who story called ‘Blink’ which has gone on to be regarded as one of the greatest of all time. It involved the Weeping Angels – ‘silent assassins’ that could only move when they weren’t being observed.
Surprisingly, fans had to wait some three years to get a follow-up to his adventure. The 2010 story ‘The Time of Angels’ and ‘Flesh and Stone’ came during the Eleventh Doctor’s first series, and indeed it was the first adventure Matt Smith filmed. This Doctor Who sequel concerns the wreck of a crashed spaceship known as the Byzantium; there is a Weeping Angel buried somewhere in its wreck, and it’s up to the Time Lord (along with Amy Pond and River Song) to recover it.
This Doctor Who sequel was more action-packed than its predecessor. For a start, the Doctor is accompanied by a group of gun-wielding soldiers, and for another, the Angels are more vicious. The story also expanded on the lore of Steven Moffat’s creations, and it was here that viewers learnt for the first time that the image of an Angel could become an Angel.
But the one thing that this Doctor Who sequel is most famous for is the cliff-hanger to its opening part. The Doctor delivers an impassioned speech about “there’s one thing you never put into a trap, if you are smart…” etc., before shooting his gun in defiance. But upon its original transmission, the drama of this moment was somewhat undermined by a cartoon of Graham Norton, who danced across the screen to advertise his upcoming show Over the Rainbow.
Overall, though, this Doctor Who sequel was considered a worthy successor to ‘Blink,’ with some 8.6 million people tuning in, and an Audience Appreciation score of 87.
Tell us, reader: which is your favourite of these Doctor Who sequels? And are there any others that you would add to this list? Let us know in the comments below.
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