I'm delighted to announce that I've joined the podcast team at Toby Hadoke's Time Travels. I'll be writing the Too Much Information series, each installment of which takes a deep dive into the making of a Doctor Who episode -- that's episode, mind you, not story -- in order from the very start in 1963. The podcasts will continue to be presented by the inestimable Toby Hadoke. Toby's own scripts cover episodes up to the end of Marco Polo, almost all of which are now available on Spotify, iTunes, and elsewhere. My first two scripts, for the opening episodes of The Keys Of Marinus, have been released exclusively on Patreon, with the wider releases following in the coming months. If you'd like to explore the early days of Doctor Who in much more detail than I cover here on A Brief History Of Time (Travel), please check out Too Much Information!

17th April 2024: I rarely permit advertising on the site, but I'm making an exception for an exceptional (see what I did there?) new publication that will be out shortly from Telos Publishing. The Doctor Who Production Diary: The Hartnell Years is written by David Brunt, and covers the making of the programme between 1963 and 1966 in tremendous detail. Most impressively, its 668 pages boast a wealth of new research, including access to BBC paperwork never before consulted by Doctor Who historians. Of course, some of that information will eventually make its way into a future A Brief History update, once a suitable gap in time has elapsed since publication. In the meantime, please support David's excellent work if you have the means to do so, to help ensure that the series will continue into the Troughton era and beyond!

13th April 2024: A biography has been added for Varada Sethu.

12th April 2024: Ending months of speculation, the BBC have confirmed a new addition to the regular cast for Season Forty-One.

31st March 2024: The titles have been announced for episodes one, three, four, five, six, seven and eight of Season Forty.

28th March 2024: Updated Horror Of Fang Rock and The Invisible Enemy to incorporate new information provided by Paul Scoones' P.S.: The Myth Of Fang Rock. The 28-day viewing figure for The Church On Ruby Road has been posted.

19th March 2024: It's been announced that Steven Moffat is returning to Doctor Who to write for Season Forty.

15th March 2024: It has been announced that the episodes of Season Forty will premiere on BBC iPlayer at midnight on Saturday mornings, and simultaneously around the world on Disney Plus. A linear broadcast will then follow on BBC One later that evening. The first two episodes will air on May 11th, with a new episode then premiering each of the following six weeks.

18th February 2024: The rumoured identity of the fifth director for 2025's Season Forty-One has been noted.

5th February 2024: Twenty-eight-day viewing figures have been added for The Star Beast, Wild Blue Yonder and The Giggle. The biography of Michael Jayston has been updated to reflect the sad news of his passing.

2nd February 2024: The episodes being made as part of the second and third recording blocks for 2025's Season Forty-One have been revealed. A biography has been added for Amanda Brotchie, whose involvement as a Season Forty-One director has now been confirmed.

22nd January 2024: And now a rumoured -- but also as-yet-unconfirmed -- fourth director for 2025's Season Forty-One has been noted.

10th January 2024: A rumoured -- but as-yet-unconfirmed -- third director for 2025's Season Forty-One has been noted.

8th January 2024: The seven-day viewing figure and more accurate start time for The Church On Ruby Road have been updated.

6th January 2024: Belatedly added a note about the novelisation of Planet Of The Ood to Keith Temple's biography.

4th January 2024: Happy New Year! The appreciation index figure for The Church On Ruby Road has been added.

27th December 2023: A short biography of Julian Bleach has been added.

25th December 2023: Basic information for The Church On Ruby Road has been added, along with the month during which Season Forty will air in 2024, and an additional returning castmember. The biography of Richard Franklin has been updated to reflect the sad news of his passing.

20th December 2023: A short biography of Karl Collins has been added.

18th December 2023: The seven-day viewing figure and more accurate start time for The Giggle have been updated. More guest cast for The Church On Ruby Road has been added. The title of the second episode of Season Forty has been updated, along with the identity of the episode co-written by Kate Herron and Briony Redman.

12th December 2023: The seven-day viewing figure and more accurate start time for Wild Blue Yonder have been updated.

11th December 2023: The appreciation index figure for The Giggle has been added.

9th December 2023: Basic information for The Giggle has been added. If you haven't seen it, this means that there are now major spoilers littered throughout the site!

5th December 2023: The seven-day viewing figure and more accurate start time for The Star Beast have been updated. The scheduled start time for The Church On Ruby Road has been added, alongside a synopsis and additional guest cast.

4th December 2023: The appreciation index figure for Wild Blue Yonder has been added.

2nd December 2023: Basic information for Wild Blue Yonder has been added. The long-missing 28-day viewing figure for The Power Of The Doctor has also been posted.

30th November 2023: Guest cast have been added to The Church On Ruby Road.

28th November 2023: The appreciation index figure for The Star Beast has been added.

25th November 2023: Basic information for The Star Beast has been added. A synopsis for The Giggle has been sourced from the BBC.

24th November 2023: An additional guest castmember has been added to Wild Blue Yonder, and a synopsis has been sourced from the BBC.

23rd November 2023: Happy Doctor Who Day! The entry for An Adventure In Space And Time has been updated to reflect a recent development in its repeat broadcasts. It's also been confirmed that Season Forty-One will air in the Spring of 2025.

22nd November 2023: The transmission time for The Giggle has been confirmed. A more detailed synopsis for The Star Beast has been sourced from the BBC.

18th November 2023: Information has been added concerning the first two directors for the Fifteenth Doctor's second block of episodes: Alex Pillai and Peter Hoar.

17th November 2023: Basic information for Children In Need Special (2023) has been added.

16th November 2023: The transmission time for Wild Blue Yonder has been confirmed. Additional guest cast has been added to The Star Beast, and a synopsis has been sourced from the Radio Times.

13th November 2023: The BBC has announced a new mini-episode, Children In Need Special (2023), which will air on November 17th; the biography page for director Jamie Donoughue has also been updated. Separately, a page has also been added for the 2024 Christmas special.

10th November 2023: The transmission time for The Star Beast has been confirmed.

9th November 2023: Additional confirmed castmembers have been added for The Star Beast and The Giggle.

6th November 2023: The title and airdate of the 2023 Christmas special have been revealed.

30th October 2023: The announcement of Tales Of The TARDIS on BBC iPlayer has provoked updates to the biographies for Maureen O'Brien, Peter Purves, Frazer Hines, Wendy Padbury, Katy Manning, Janet Fielding, Peter Davison, Nicola Bryant, Colin Baker, Sylvester McCoy, Sophie Aldred, Daniel Anthony, Phil Ford and Pete McTighe. I've also made small updates to the biographies for Sarah Sutton and Bonnie Langford, since I had overlooked their in-character appearances in the Blu-ray trailers.

25th October 2023: The broadcast dates have been announced for the three specials featuring the Fourteenth Doctor.

24th October 2023: Added short biographies for newly-announced Season Forty writers Kate Herron and Briony Redman.

23rd October 2023: Added confirmation that production has begun on Season Forty-One and the 2024 Christmas special.

16th October 2023: Removed erroneous information about Joe Ahearne's birth date.

6th October 2023: Added a note to David Whitaker's profile about a forthcoming biography written by Simon Guerrier.

23rd September 2023: An additional returning castmember has been revealed to be appearing alongside the Fourteenth Doctor, and the identity of Neil Patrick Harris' villain in the same specials has been confirmed. Also, corrected an error in the locations map for Robot, with thanks to John Bowman.