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A disputed story title is one which has generated controversy amongst fans who are knowledgeable of the production history of Doctor Who. The overwhelming majority belong to serials of the William Hartnell era of Doctor Who, although a few come from later stories.
Background
Disputed story titles are overwhelmingly found in Hartnell era serials. Until The Savages — late into his career as the First Doctor — stories were broadcast not under a serial title, but rather as a series of individually-titled episodes. Thus, when there eventually arose a need to talk of these stories in the context of later serials which only had serial title, they had to be given a retroactive serial title they had never publicly had before. Two particular impetuses for this process were the publications of the first lists of serials, such as The Doctor Who Programme Guide, and the initial BBC Enterprises release of the serials to home video.
This process has caused difficulty in two ways. First, internal BBC documents have subsequently come to light which have revealed that the official BBC Enterprises title does not match what appears to have been the original name under which the story was commissioned and/or produced. Second, some titles are at variance with the earliest name under which the story was sold to overseas buyers or housed within the BBC's archives.
Because all serials have always been released under the same name to home video, however, the average fan of Doctor Who will not easily recognize that a naming controversy even exists. Thus, this problem is is largely one which exists in the minds of fans conversant who are conversant with the early production history of Doctor Who.
In addition to the Hartnell serials, there have been a few later stories which have suffered from naming controversies arising from other, unique causes.
Disputed Stories
An Unearthly Child
An Unearthly Child is the title used on every home video release of the first four episodes of the programme: "An Unearthly Child", "The Cave of Skulls", "The Forest of Fear" and "The Firemaker". Because of this consistent usage on home video, most are perfectly happy to accept the BBC DVD title.
However, the final title used by the production team at the time of original transmission was 100,000 BC, while the working title was The Tribe of Gum. (REF: The First Doctor Handbook) Because it can be established that the intent of Verity Lambert and her team was to call the story 100,000 BC, and because that is a name which better describes the bulk of the episodes than An Unearthly Child, some fans vigorously dispute "Unearthly" as anything other than the title of episode 1. However, The Tribe of Gum also has its supporters, because it was used as the title of the four-part script when it was published by Titan Books as a part of their Doctor Who: The Scripts series. Some feel that this name comes closest to the intent of the scriptwriter, Anthony Coburn.
The Daleks
The second story of the first season is commonly known as The Daleks and comprises the following episodes: The Dead Planet, The Survivors, The Escape, The Ambush, The Expedition, The Ordeal, The Rescue.
This story has also been known as The Mutants; however, so as not to confuse it with the Jon Pertwee story (also called The Mutants), it is better known as The Daleks.
When this story has been released on BBC Video and DVD, it has been released as The Daleks.
The earliest documents for this story credit as The Survivors. Reference works have also attributed the title The Dead Planet to the serial, taking the title of the first episode. It is of note that neither title The Mutants nor The Daleks is actually used on screen for this serial. In fact The Daleks is the on-screen title of the second episode of the second Dalek serial, The Dalek Invasion of Earth.
The Edge of Destruction
This is the third story of the first season, comprising The Edge of Destruction and The Brink of Disaster.
This story sometimes has been wrongly referred to as Beyond the Sun, which was actually a working titled use for The Daleks.
This story was also known as Inside the Spaceship. The Target Books novelisation uses the title The Edge of Destruction. The Television Companion by David Howe and Stephen James Walker puts forward the case that Inside the Spaceship is the official BBC production title for the serial.
When this story has been released on BBC Video and DVD, it has been released as The Edge of Destruction.
The Massacre of St Bartholomew's Eve
This story is sometimes known as The Massacre of St Bartholomew's Eve, whilst in other media (including the Target Books novelisation) it is simply known as The Massacre. BBC documents concerning overseas broadcast of Doctor Who erroneously referred to it as The Massacre of St Bartholomew.
The BBC Radio Collection releases use both names.
Mission to the Unknown
This single-episode story, although it carries the on-screen title Mission to the Unknown was also known officially by the BBC as Dalek Cutaway, and has been listed as such in some reference works. Its status as a prologue to the 12-episode The Daleks' Master Plan has led to some references considering this to be part of that overall storyline; indeed, the first of the two volumes of the Target novelisation of The Daleks' Master Plan also places it under this umbrella.
Doctor Who and the Silurians
This Jon Pertwee story suffers from an unusual problem. The name Doctor Who and the Silurians is always the one under which the story has been known publicly. It even can be argued that it is the name under which the production team usually referred to it in internal documents. However, it is not the name under which the production team wanted it released. Until this point, the production team had routinely prefaced each story title with the phrase Doctor Who and the ... However the BBC credits department, responsible for physically putting the credits into the opening and closing sequences, had always followed the instruction to omit the preface. On this occasion, they included the preface, and the error was not noticed until broadcast. Producer Barry Letts has consistently opined that the true title of the story is simply The Silurians, but he is technically not supported by documentary and on-screen evidence. Many fans agree with Letts' position that the title appears to imply – erroneously – that the titular character's name is "Doctor Who".
Doctor Who (1996)
This story never had an 'official' story title on-screen or off, other than the overall title, Doctor Who.
There has been some suggestion that the story title is The Enemy Within (which was a working title for The Invisible Enemy). This title is attributed to the film's producer, Philip Segal, who suggested it at a science fiction convention, though it was never officially used as a title. Coincidentally, another Fox made-for-TV film reviving an old TV series, Alien Nation: The Enemy Within, used the title, which is also familiar as an episode title from the original Star Trek series.
For the BBC DVD release it was simply entitled Doctor Who: The Movie, whereas the TARDIS Index File Wikia entitles it Doctor Who (1996) to avoid confusion with the two Theatrical movies.
Another unofficial subtitle Out of the Ashes has been used in several sources, including the A Brief History of Time (Travel) website[1] and it was also used to refer to the TV Movie during a 2005 online documentary produced by the CBC in Canada for its website promoting the revived series. There is no indication this title was ever used by the BBC or Fox. The origin of this title is unknown.
Children in Need Special
In 2005, a special 7-minute mini-episode of Doctor Who was produced for the Children in Need appeal. Discounting the TV Movie, this was the first (and to date only) televised Doctor Who story to not display any episode title. The most common title applied to the episode is Children in Need Special or simply Children in Need, however the special is also known by the title Pudsey Cutaway (a reference to the charity's mascot). When the BBC released the story to DVD, the title Children in Need Special was applied to it. The 2009 licensed reference book Doctor Who: Companions and Allies applied the title Born Again to the mini-episode, which was disputed by a review of the book in Doctor Who Magazine and there's been no indication this title has ever been used in an official capacity.