The Doctor Who Years: The Seventies (documentary)

The Doctor Who Years: The Seventies
Subject:	Seasons 7-17
Release date:	8 April 2005
Runtime:	35'23"
Key crew
Producer:	Ed Stradling
The Doctor Who Years
← Previous	The Doctor Who Years: The Sixties
Next →	The Doctor Who Years: The Eighties

The Doctor Who Years: The Seventies was the second episode of The Doctor Who Years, a three-part musical documentary series charting the history of the "Classic Series" of Doctor Who.

It was released on the Doctor Who website on 8 April 2005.

The style and format of the documentary was based on the BBC television series The Rock 'n' Roll Years (1984-94). It featured clips and images from every Doctor Who story, in chronological order, as well as various promotional appearances, merchandise and newspaper clippings, accompanied with tongue-in-cheek captions and scored with pop music from the UK Singles Chart at the time.

Initially it was only available to stream in RealPlayer (.ram) format, then on 6 July 2005 it was made avalable in a second format, Windows Media Video (.wmv), after a website visitor survey in which RealPlayer was heavily criticised.

Lost episodes

Black-and-white clips from The Ambassadors of Death, The Mind of Evil & Invasion of the Dinosaurs were especially colourised for this documentary, whilst production photos were used to illustrate Shada.

Other material featured

Other clips featured were:

• BBC1 ident (1972).
• Blue Peter, TX: 25 October 1971 & TX: 5 November 1973.
• Looking In: Behind the Scenes, TX: 7 November 1972.
• Nationwide, TX: 22 June 1973, TX: 31 December 1976 & TX: 22 November 1978.
• Pebble Mill at One, TX: 21 December 1973 & TX: 31 March 1977.
• Billy Smart's Children's Circus, TX: 6 January 1974.
• BBC Points West, TX: 21 November 1974.
• Swap Shop, TX: 2 October 1976.
• The Lively Arts: Whose Doctor Who, TX: 3 April 1977.
• Top of the Pops, TX: 31 December 1978.

Press clippings featured were:

• "Who's the girl? She's the doctor's...", c.26-27 June 1973.
• "Who girl bows out", Daily Mirror, 23 October 1976.
• "I'll wear the trousers - Dr Who's new girl", c.2 September 1978.
• Radio Times covers:
  • 3-9 January 1970.
  • 2-8 January 1971.
  • 1-7 January 1972.
  • 30 December 1972-5 January 1973.
  • 15-21 December 1973.

Images of the following pieces of merchandise:

• The Making of Doctor Who.
• TV Action No. 71 (24 June 1972).
• The first three Target Books: Doctor Who and the Daleks, Doctor Who and the Zarbi & Doctor Who and the Crusaders.
• Radio Times Doctor Who Special.

Captions

• Doctor Who bursts onto UK television screens in colour for the first time
• although 90% of viewers are still watching in black & white.

1970

• Jon Pertwee is the Doctor!
• Does this scene look familiar?
• 35 years before they terrorized Billie Piper, the Autons did the same to residents of Ealing Broadway!
• Caroline John has also joined the series as new companion Liz Shaw.
• This story, "The Ambassadors of Death", was unknowingly topical
• being broadcast as the world held its breath over the Apollo 13 mission.
• The new Doctor is an expert in Venusian Aikido!

1971

• "Terror of the Autons" opens the 1971 series with a new companion
• and a new arch enemy!
• The Autons are back, terrifying the nation's children again.
• The BBC is inundated with complaints and the matter is raised in Parliament!
• The Master appears in every story of the show's 8th season.
• The Brigadier & UNIT are also regulars in Earthbound adventures aplenty.
• The Doctor does escape briefly to the far off world of Uxarieus.
• Coincidentally, so does the Master.
• They interrupt a bunch of Colonists rehearsing for future Soap auditions.
• No, it's not "Doctor Who Confidential".
• It's "The Dæmons"!!
• The series is regularly featured on "Blue Peter", presented here by former companion Peter Purves.

1972

• "The Curse of Peladon" parodies our deliberation over entry into the EEC.
• David Troughton, Patrick's son, appears as King Peladon...
• ...while the Ice Warriors reappear – as goodies this time!
• Viewers' enjoyment is spoiled as the Miners' strike blacks out TV screens in many parts of the UK.
• The first "behind the scenes" Dr Who book is published.
• A Sea Devil emerging from the water becomes one of the most iconic moments in Dr Who history.
• The TARDIS interior gets a refit in "The Time Monster".

1973

• The Three Doctors are united to celebrate the programme's 10th series.
• They face the wrath of Omega, the first of the Time Lords.
• Hero or God, the Doctors beat him. By putting a flute in a box.
• Producer Barry Letts also directed this story.
• That's him on the left.
• They're not chickens.
• They're Drashigs.
• Future companion Ian Marter talks a good fight.
• Target Books publish the first three of a hugely successful series of novelisations.
• Jo Grant falls in love with some bloke she's only just met
• and immediately agrees to let him take her up the Amazon.
• Roger Delgado, alias The Master, is killed in a road accident in Turkey.
• New titles for Season 11

1974

• along with a new companion – enter Elisabeth Sladen as Sarah Jane.
• "The Time Warrior" brings a new monster too – a Sontaran Warrior.
• Nice looking bloke.
• We also learn the name of the Doctor's home planet for the first time.
• As Jon Pertwee announces he will leave at the end of the series, the viewers are treated to Dr * Who's staple diets...
• Daleks....
• ........and quarries!
• The Ice Warriors are back to their villainous selves in another political parody on Peladon.
• Pertwee reaches the end of the line.
• His replacement is little known actor Tom Baker, destined not to be little known for much longer.

1975

• Believe it or not, in 1975, Bubble-wrap was new.
• And scary.
• Ian Marter joins the new Doctor on his travels as companion Harry Sullivan.
• This is Davros
• He created this lot.
• Producer Phillip Hinchcliffe and Script Editor Robert Holmes begin to tailor the stories for an older audience.
• The Cybermen return after taking a time-out during Pertwee's era.
• After struggling with illness for some time, William Hartnell dies, aged 67.
• The TARDIS crew start the new Autumn Season in the Scottish Highlands
• where the Zygons are waiting for them
• and so is the Loch Ness Monster.
• The new team's change of emphasis is a great success and the ratings rocket past the 10 million mark.
• The new production team decide to phase out the Earthbound UNIT stories
• and "The Android Invasion" is the last until 1989.

1976

• The Doctor begins the New Year grappling with "The Brain of Morbius"
• and sees his past lives flash before him.
• The first three you know about. They're the ones on the right.
• The ones on the left bear an uncanny resemblance to members of the production team.
• As the 13th season closes out, the Doctor comes under fire from an enemy
• more deadly than any he has faced on the screen...
• ...in the form of outspoken TV watchdog, Mary Whitehouse.
• Whitehouse is not the only one to complain about the frightening content in "The Seeds of Doom".
• Baker and Sladen appear in the first edition of "Swap Shop" to promote the new series.
• Elisabeth Sladen leaves after 3 years, breaking hearts all over the country.
• Tom Baker successfully lobbies for a story without a companion.
• Writer Robert Holmes takes him back to Gallifrey to shoot the President!
• The Master returns
• in dire need of moisturiser.
• The Doctor drowning in this cliff-hanger is the last straw for Mary Whitehouse.

1977

• The new companion is Louise Jameson, playing a scantily-clad savage, Leela.
• Producer Philip Hinchcliffe departs after 3 hugely successful years at the helm.
• He defends the show publicly against allegations of excessive violence.
• The "Lively Arts" documentary series devotes an edition to Dr Who.
• New Producer Graham Williams is under orders to tone down the violence.
• But in his very first story, every single guest character is brutally murdered.
• K9 is an immediate hit with younger viewers.
• Leela mirrors their enthusiasm and the mechanical dog joins the TARDIS crew.
• The production emphasis changes from horror to humour over the course of the season.

1978

• The show now has a new enemy to fight – spiralling inflation!
• With budgets fixed well in advance, money is even tighter than usual.
• So in this adventure, they decide to make do with paintings instead of sets.
• The Doctor returns to Gallifrey for a well earned Presidency
• but stumbles upon a Sontaran invasion.
• Louise Jameson leaves the series.
• Leela stays on Gallifrey after falling in love with a bloke she's only just met.
• Mary Tamm is the new companion, playing haughty Time Lady Romana.
• She joins the Doctor in a season-long quest to find the Key to Time.
• "The Pirate Planet" is the first contribution from budding writer Douglas Adams.
• Its UK transmission coincides with the series' very first broadcast in the USA.
• "The Stones of Blood" is broadcast during the series' 15th anniversary.
• It is also the 100th Doctor Who adventure.
• Tom Baker makes a celebratory appearance on Nationwide.
• Mankind reach no. 25 in the charts with their disco version of the Dr Who theme
• which has the TOTP studio audience giving it plenty on the dance floor...
• ...apart from Billy NoMates in the middle.

1979

• John Lesson, usually the voice of K9, makes a guest appearance in the flesh
• in a compelling story about green painted men and a giant octopus.
• As the Doctor closes in on the sixth segment of the Key to Time,
• Mary Tamm decides to leave the show after just one season.
• Lalla Ward lets herself in for an interesting few years as Romana II.
• The Daleks are back.
• So is Davros.
• The cast & crew film abroad for the first time.
• Tom & Lalla fall for each other during the production of "City of Death".
• Douglas Adams, who is now Script Editor, ends up writing most of the story.
• Adams persuades John Cleese to make a cameo appearance.
• Baker's Doctor is becoming more and more comedic.
• Producer Graham Williams leaves after three years which have seen the show change direction completely.
• The programme remains popular with the public and children in particular
• but is coming under fire from fans for its excessively comical approach,
• an approach typified by the season's finalé, "The Horns of Nimon".
• Williams' reign ends on a low as "Shada", the last scheduled story of the season
• is abandoned as a result of industrial action within the BBC.

Music list

• "Love Grows (Where My Rosemary Goes)" by Edison Lighthouse
• "Come and Get It" by Badfinger
• "Don’t Cry Daddy" by Elvis Presley
• "Bridge over Troubled Water" by Simon & Garfunkle
• "Spirit in the Sky" by Norman Greenbaum
• "The Pushbike Song" by The Mixtures
• "No Matter What" by Badfinger
• "Rose Garden" by Lynn Anderson
• "Brown Sugar" by The Rolling Stones
• "Another Day" by Paul McCartney
• "Soley, Soley" by Middle of the Road
• "I’d Like to Teach the World to Sing (in Perfect Harmony)" by The New Seekers
• "Son of My Father" by Chicory Chip
• "Meet Me on the Corner" by Lindisfarne
• "Without You" by Nilsson
• "Metal Guru" by T. Rex
• "One and One Is One" by Medicine Head
• "Blockbuster" by The Sweet
• "Part of the Union" by The Strawbs
• "Power to All Our Friends" by Cliff Richard
• "See My Baby Jive" by Wizzard
• "Giving It All Away" by Roger Daltrey
• "Daydreamer" by David Cassidy
• "The Ballroom Blitz" by The Sweet
• "Dyna-Mite" by Mud
• "Roll Away the Stone" by Mott the Hoople
• "Devil Gate Drive" by Suzi Quatro
• "The Air That I Breathe" by The Hollies
• "Spiders & Snakes" by Jim Stafford
• "Gonna Make You a Star" by David Essex
• "Down Down" by Status Quo
• "Never Turn Your Back on Mother Earth" by Sparks
• "Now I’m Here" by Queen
• "Make Me Smile (Come Up & See Me)" by Steve Harley & Cockney Rebel
• "Bye, Bye Baby" by Bay City Rollers
• "The Last Farewell" by Roger Whittaker
• "S.O.S." by ABBA
• "Love Is the Drug" by Roxy Music
• "Golden Years" by David Bowie
• "Bohemian Rhapsody" by Queen
• "No Regrets" by The Walker Brothers
• "Don’t Go Breaking My Heart" by Elton John & Kiki Dee
• "Under the Moon of Love" by Showaddywaddy
• "Living Next Door to Alice" by Smokie
• "Couldn’t Get It Right" by Climax Blues Band
• "Don’t Leave Me This Way" by Harold Melvin & The Blue Notes
• "When I Need You" by Leo Sayer
• "Rockaria!" by Electric Light Orchestra
• "2-4-6-8 Motorway" by The Tom Robinson Band
• "Show You the Way to Go" by The Jacksons
• "How Deep Is Your Love?" by Bee Gees
• "Daddy Cool" by Darts
• "Nobody Does It Better" by Carly Simon
• "Baker Street" by Gerry Rafferty
• "Figaro" by Brotherhood of Man
• "Wuthering Heights" by Kate Bush
• "The Rivers of Babylon" by Boney M
• "Summer Nights" by John Travolta & Olivia Newton-John
• "I Lost My Heart to a Starship Trooper" by Sarah Brightman & Hot Gossip
• "Dr Who" by Mankind
• "Oliver’s Army" by Elvis Costello & The Attractions
• "Don't Stop Me Now" by Queen
• "Video Killed the Radio Star" by Buggles
• "Are 'Friends' Electric?" by Tubeway Army
• "Message in a Bottle" by The Police
• "Since You’ve Been Gone" by Rainbow
• "I Only Want to Be with You" by The Tourists
• "Another Brick in the Wall" by Pink Floyd
• "I Don’t Like Mondays" by The Boomtown Rats

External links

• The Doctor Who Years: The Seventies (archived)