Doctor Who is a British science fiction television programme produced by the BBC. The show has been a large influence in the media since its inception in 1963. Running parallel to its parenting seasons and series' lie miscellaneous television broadcasts, home video "exclusive" releases, web broadcasts and theatrical films. These could be animations, mini-episodes, promotional scenes or charity specials.
This list only includes televised, online or home released episodes that are official or officially licensed by the BBC. Therefore audio, video game or stay plays are not included. Though games with live action scenes are allowed. The Doctor cameoing in other shows such as Extras or Family Guy are excluded, however mini-episodes airing in telethons or factual shows are included. Sketches with actors playing themselves are also excluded for better accuracy.
Doctor Who supplementary stories
There have been several special Doctor Who episodes and serials that are produced by the BBC. Below they are separated into the four periods of the show; the classic era, the wilderness era, the revival era and the Bad Wolf era.
Classic era (1963–1989)
Many Doctor Who supplementary episodes existed during the classic era of the show. These include mini-episodes and films.
A special scene aired after The Enemy of the World episode six. It starred Patrick Troughton as the Doctor. Only the audio survives, but the scene was reconstructed with animation by the BBC in 2021.
Season 13
"Disney Time special"
1 episode
N/A
Unknown
25 August 1975 (1975-08-25)
Special crossover episode featuring Tom Baker as the Doctor that aired during Disney Time. These links would have been aired between films. The ending of the story features the Doctor being urgently called away to respond to a call from the Brigadier which leads straight into Terror of the Zygons.
Season 16
"Dr. Who for Keep Australia Beautiful"
4 scenes
N/A
N/A
February 1979 (1979-02)
Tom Baker plays the Doctor in four mini-episodes. They were broadcast exclusively to raise awareness of keeping Australia's streets tidy.
Tom Baker features in a promotional mini-scene, in place of a usual trailer, made to promote Season 17. It lead directly into Destiny of the Daleks. It also attempted to fit into the main narrative. After a voice told the Doctor the Daleks are back, it then erased the Doctor’s mind to avoid continuity issues with the next serial.
"Step into the 80s!"
2 parts
N/A
Tom Baker
January 1979 (1979-01)
Tom Baker and Lalla Ward star as the Doctor and Romana in two promotional mini-episodes made to promote Prime Computer. They were set in or around the TARDIS.
Season 18
"On Through the 80s!"
2 parts
N/A
Tom Baker
April 1981 (1981-04)
Tom Baker and Lalla Ward star as the Doctor, now with his burgundy outfit, and Romana in two more promotional mini-episodes made to promote Prime Computer. They were set in or around the TARDIS.
Special mini-episode featuring Colin Baker as the Doctor. Made for a young fan, however the story is now absent from new pressings of The Two Doctors DVD due to the crimes of presenter Jimmy Savile. The story was released on the Season 22 blu-ray release, but with the end outro cut and featured a new scene recorded by Colin Baker.
Doctor Who supplementary stories existed during the wilderness era of the show where regular broadcast episodes didn’t exist. These include mini-episodes, animated stories and charity specials. They were broadcast sporadically through the 14 year period, but often featured actors from the classic era reprising their roles.
Title
Episodes
Directed by
Written by
Original release date
"Search Out Space"
1 episode, 20 minutes
Berry-Anne Billingsley
Lambros Atteshlis and Berry-Anne Billingsley
21 November 1990 (1990-11-21)
A one-off piece of fiction broadcast on BBC2 with the usually non-fiction children's education programme Search Out Science. It was a Doctor Who crossover featuring Sylvester McCoy as the Doctor, Sophie Aldred as Ace, Stephen Johnson as Cedric and John Leeson as K-9.
Tom Baker returns to the role of the Doctor in a set of scenes aired to promote New Zealand superannuation. The scenes featured a new especially built TARDIS interior and sonic screwdriver.
Special broadcast featuring new scenes with Tom Baker as a future incarnation of the Doctor. An idea that'd be reused for the 2013 anniversary special "The Day of the Doctor". It also bookended new features and sketches.
13 July 2001 (2001-07-13) - 3 May 2002 (2002-05-03)
Animated serial released on the Doctor Who website, it starred Sylvester McCoy as the Seventh Doctor, Sophie Aldred as Ace and Stephen Fry as the Minister of Chance.
2 May 2003 (2003-05-02) - 6 June 2003 (2003-06-06)
Another special webcast featuring Paul McGann as the Eighth Doctor and Lalla Ward as Romana with John Leeson as K9. It was renamed from Shada to The Return to Shada on the 2017 blu-ray.
13 November 2003 (2003-11-13) - 18 December 2003 (2003-12-18)
A fully animated special webcast featuring Richard E. Grant as the Doctor and Derek Jacobi as the Master. It celebrated the fortieth anniversary of Doctor Who and was an attempt at reviving the series properly.
Revival era (2005–present)
Standalone
Many standalone Doctor Who supplementary episodes existed during the revived era of the show. These include mini-episodes, animated stories and charity specials. They are all usually released as supplementary to a series.
Additionally throughout the sixth and seventh series several prequels were released online, which acted as openers for their accompanying episodes. All "prequels" were usually released ahead of their accompanying episodes. The concept is similar to that of the second series, in which each episode had an accompanying Tardisode.
The stories are segmented into the series they were released with.
The episode, set during the last scene of the previous episode "Last of the Time Lords", depicts a humorous encounter between the Doctor's fifth and tenth incarnations, played by Peter Davison and David Tennant respectively.
Released as the Comic Relief special 2011 the episodes form a two-part story, set entirely within the TARDIS, starring Matt Smith as The Doctor, Karen Gillan as Amy Pond and Arthur Darvill as Rory Williams, and were written by the programme's head writer Steven Moffat.
Four additional scenes written and produced for "The Complete Sixth Series" boxset. The episodes are titled "Bad Night", "Good Night", "First Night" and "Last Night" with the prequel "Up All Night" attached.
27–31 August 2012 (2012-08-31)(webcast) 1 September 2012 (2012-09-01)(BBC Red Button)
Five part mini-adventure premiering on the BBC's Doctor Who website. An omnibus version was shown on 1 September 2012 on the BBC Red Button service. Amy and Rory's life is seen throughout the year after the Doctor reunited with them at Christmas. Several times, they receive the Doctor's calls, learning of many ridiculous things he's up to. Other times, he shows up at the wrong time due to the TARDIS malfunctioning. He even accidentally leaves an Ood with them for a short while. When the Doctor calls again, he finds no one is home; he deletes his call. Unknown to him, Amy has kicked Rory out and is wishing the Doctor will come.
An additional scene written and produced for "The Complete Seventh Series" boxset. While credited to Steven Moffat, the mini-episode was actually written by Neil Gaiman.[6]
"Clara and the TARDIS"
1 episode, 2 minutes
N/A
Steven Moffat
24 September 2013 (2013-09-24)
An additional scene written and produced for "The Complete Seventh Series" boxset.
A scene aired during Wimbledon to announce Jodie Whittaker as the Thirteenth Doctor. The scene shows the Thirteenth Doctor using the TARDIS key to summon the TARDIS.
"Breaking the Glass Ceiling"
1 scene, 30 seconds
N/A
N/A
7 September 2018 (2018-09-07)
The Thirteenth Doctor breaks the glass ceiling by existing.
"'Twas the Night Before Christmas"
1 scene, 1 minute
N/A
N/A
18 December 2018 (2018-12-18)
Bradley Walsh narrates a Christmas animation with the Thirteenth Doctor and Santa.
Since 2019 special mini-episodes have been released to coincide with the blu-ray release of classic seasons. These mini-episodes often feature the return of past companions and enemies as well as a Doctor on one occasion. They range from 3-10 minutes in length. This list only documents the in character mini-episodes.
Katy Manning returns to the role of Jo Jones and Stewart Bevan returns as her husband Cliff Jones in this special mini-episode to coincide with the release of the series' tenth season on blu-ray. The special also features the return of the giant maggots from The Green Death and the Doctor’s car Bessie.
Sophie Aldred returns to the role of Ace in this special mini-episode to coincide with the release of the series' twenty-sixth season on blu-ray. Ace is seen running A Charitable Earth as mentioned in The Sarah Jane Adventures.
Katy Manning returns to the role of Jo Jones and Stewart Bevan returns as her husband Cliff Jones in this special mini-episode to coincide with the release of the series' eighth season on blu-ray. They had previously done so for "Hello Boys!" for the tenth season blu-ray release.
Sylvester McCoy returns to the role of the Seventh Doctor in this special mini-episode to coincide with the release of the series' twenty-fourth season on blu-ray. This is the first time McCoy had officially portrayed the Doctor in a live-action story since The Movie in 1996. It is also the first time Bonnie Langford played Mel Bush since the 1993 special Dimensions in Time.
Nicola Bryant returns to the role of Peri in a special mini-episode to coincide with the release of the series' twenty-second season on blu-ray. It delved into the events of Peri’s fate after leaving the series. Colin Baker also voiced a line as the Doctor.
Maureen O'Brien returns to the role of Vicki, for the first time on screen since the series’s third season, in this special mini-episode to coincide with the release of the series' second season on blu-ray.
Katy Manning’s third mini-episode in The Collection series, as Jo Jones, this time to coincide with the release of the series' ninth season on blu-ray. The Sea Devils also appeared.
Janet Fielding returns as Tegan, in her "The Power of the Doctor" coat, and Sarah Sutton returns as Nyssa in a mini-episode to coincide with the release of the series' twentieth season on blu-ray. The mini-episode also features the return of Fifth Doctor era villain the Mara.
Louise Jameson returns as Leela in a mini-episode to coincide with the release of the series' fifteenth season on blu-ray. The mini-episode is set during the Time War on Gallifrey. It features a score by Murray Gold.
Jodie Whittaker plays the Doctor in a short scene talking about the coronavirus. Specially released by the BBC to help children who were worried about the pandemic seek comfort in the character.
"United We Stand, 2m Apart"
1 scene, 2 minutes
Jodie Whittaker
Chris Chibnall
8 April 2020 (2020-04-08)
Jodie Whittaker plays the Doctor in a second short scene talking about the coronavirus.
A special episode celebrating the character Sarah Jane Smith and showing the events after her death. Luke, Clyde and Rani all return alongside Gita, Ace and Jo.
All incarnations of the Doctor, voiced by impressionists, team-up in a one-off animated special. David Bradley reprises his role as the first incarnation of the Doctor.
"The Best of Days"
1 episode, 5 minutes
N/A
Steven Moffat
7 June 2020 (2020-06-07)
Follows on from "The Doctor Falls" with the lives of Bill Potts, played by Pearl Mackie and Nardole, played by Matt Lucas, explored. Steven Moffat returns to write the story.
12 November 2020 (2020-11-12)–10 December 2020 (2020-12-10)
Promoted as "Doctor Who – Time Lord Victorious – Daleks!, this five-part animated serial was released weekly as a YouTube exclusive series. It starred Nicholas Briggs and Joe Sugg.
^Richard Senior, interviewee (2011). Doctor Who Confidential:The Nights' Tale (DVD and Blu-ray). 2 Entertain. Event occurs at 40 seconds. Documentary included on the Doctor Who: Complete Series 6 DVD/BD release. Richard Senior interviewed about directing the shorts and named as director in caption.{{cite AV media}}: CS1 maint: postscript (link)