1969 (production)

Sonic screwdrivers can't create pages instantly.

This article about a list is currently under construction. It's likely to be a bit messy.

1969 in

---

the DWU • production history • vital statistics • releases

1969 was a year in which a number of events important to the production of Doctor Who and its spin-offs occurred.

January

• 3 January - Episode one of The Seeds of Death was recorded at Lime Grove Studios D. (TCH 14)
• 7 January - The BBC announced to the press that Patrick Troughton was to leave the role of the Second Doctor. It was also announced on the same day that Frazer Hines would be leaving the show too.
• 10 January - Episode two of The Seeds of Death was recorded at Lime Grove Studios D. (TCH 14)
• 17 January - Episode three of The Seeds of Death was recorded at Lime Grove Studios D. (TCH 14)
• 24 January - Episode four of The Seeds of Death was recorded at Lime Grove Studios D. (TCH 14)
• 31 January - Episode five of The Seeds of Death was recorded at Lime Grove Studios D. (TCH 14)

February

• 7 February - Episode six of The Seeds of Death was recorded at Lime Grove Studios D. (TCH 14)
• 21 February - Episode one of The Space Pirates was recorded at Lime Grove Studios D. This was the last time Studio D was used by the Doctor Who production team. (TCH 14)
• 28 February - Episode two of The Space Pirates was recorded at BBC Television Centre Studio 4. (TCH 14)

March

• 7 March - Episode three of The Space Pirates was recorded at BBC Television Centre Studio 4. (TCH 14)
• 14 March - Episode four of The Space Pirates was recorded at BBC Television Centre Studio 6. (TCH 14)
• 21 March - Episode five of The Space Pirates was recorded at BBC Television Centre Studio 6. (TCH 14)
• 25 March - Location filming for The War Games continued at Sheepcote Valley Rubbish Tip. (TCH 14)
• 28 March - Episode six of The Space Pirates was recorded at BBC Television Centre Studio 4. (TCH 14)

April

• 11 April - Episode one of The War Games was recorded at BBC Television Centre Studio 4. (TCH 14)
• 18 April - Episode two of The War Games was recorded at BBC Television Centre Studio 4. (TCH 14)
• 25 April - Episode three of The War Games was recorded at BBC Television Centre Studio 4. (TCH 14)

May

• 1 May - Episode four of The War Games was recorded at BBC Television Centre Studio 4. (TCH 14)
• 8 May - Episode five of The War Games was recorded at BBC Television Centre Studio 4. (TCH 14)
• 15 May - Episode six of The War Games was recorded at BBC Television Centre Studio 8. (TCH 14)
• 21 May - Jon Pertwee was cast as the Third Doctor.
• 22 May - Episode seven of The War Games was recorded at BBC Television Centre Studio 8. (TCH 14)
• 29 May - Episode eight of The War Games was recorded at BBC Television Centre Studio 8. (TCH 14)

June

• 3 June - Robert Holmes was commissioned by Terrance Dicks to write a full script for the serial then known as Facsimile. The serial was, by mid-September, renamed Spearhead from Space.
• 12 June - Final taping session for The War Games took place, marking the end of Patrick Troughton's regular involvement with the programme. It was also the last black and white taping session before the conversion to colour production.
• 17 June - Jon Pertwee was introduced to the press as the Third Doctor in a special photo call at the BBC Pictorial Publicity building. He wore what he later described as his grandfather's old clothes: a velvet smoking jacket, a frilly shirt and an Inverness cape. He was accompanied by a Yeti. While Pertwee would maintain that this total accident inspired Christine Rawlins to create his iconic costume, Rawlins herself said that she was already inspired to do the same thing from observing the title character of Adam Adamant Lives!.
• 25 June - A full script was requested from David Whitaker for The Carriers of Death. He submitted two in July.

August

• 11 August - The Monsters was given a new name — The Silurians — and an extra seventh episode.
• 11 August - On the same day, assistant script editor Trevor Ray sent a revised version of episode one of The Carriers of Death to script editor Derrick Sherwin, who was displeased with David Whitaker's work. A meeting was held two days later to discuss the serial.
• 13 August - A meeting was held to discuss the first two and unfinished third episodes of the serial then known as The Carriers of Death, two days after a revised first episode was submitted.

September

• 13-19 September - Location filming for Spearhead from Space took place. (REF: Doctor Who The Handbook: The Third Doctor)

October

• 8-10, 12-17, 20-23 and 29-31 October - Location filming for Spearhead from Space took place. (REF: Doctor Who The Handbook: The Third Doctor)

November

• 3-7 and 22 November - Location filming for Spearhead from Space took place. (REF: Doctor Who The Handbook: The Third Doctor)
• 10 November - A storyline The Shadow People was submitted by Charlotte and Dennis Plimmer to the Doctor Who production team to replace the hole in the production schedule created when The Mists of Madness was cancelled.
• 12-14, 17-20 and 24 November - Location filming for Doctor Who and the Silurians took place. (REF: Doctor Who The Handbook: The Third Doctor)
• 27 November - Terrance Dicks commissioned Don Houghton to write a storyline for The Mo-Hole Project, later renamed Inferno.

December

• 8 December - Studio filming for Doctor Who and the Silurians took place at BBC Television Centre 3. (REF: Doctor Who The Handbook: The Third Doctor)
• 15, 21 and 22 December - Studio filming for Doctor Who and the Silurians took place at BBC Television Centre 1. (REF: Doctor Who The Handbook: The Third Doctor)