It is famously larger on the within, however a single TARDIS was by no means going to be sufficient to accommodate an enormous and increasing Whoniverse. New Sea Satan drama “The Conflict Between the Land and the Sea” is simply the newest in a protracted line of “Physician Who” spin-offs, exploring completely different corners of time and house.
With the intention to maintain issues manageable, we have steered away from the huge assortment of Gallifrey-adjacent books, comics, and audio dramas as a result of, properly, even a Time Lord would wrestle to get by them of their lifetime. We have got an honorable mentions part on the backside of the checklist to acknowledge a few of the greatest of those, although.
‘Physician Who’ spin-offs ranked
9. Okay-9
Tin canine Okay-9 grew to become a famous person throughout Tom Baker’s TARDIS tenure, and an earlier spin-off — “Okay-9 and Firm”, co-starring Elisabeth Sladen as Sarah Jane Smith — even made it to pilot in 1981. (You’ll be able to take a look at the very ’80s opening titles on YouTube.)
However past John Leeson’s attribute voice, this short-lived 2009 present shares little DNA with “Physician Who” as a result of, not like each different present on this checklist, “Okay-9” is just not a BBC manufacturing.
Having co-created the eponymous pooch, author Bob Baker retained a few of the rights to the character, however crucially to not the design or his connections to a sure Time Lord — therefore the intensive makeover and the shortage of references to the steel mutt’s adventures in house and time. The result’s a generic, fairly forgettable youngsters’ present, through which the robotic hero helps a bunch of kids battle off the alien Jixen in a futuristic London.
The place to look at: At present unavailable within the UK; Roku (US)
8. Daleks!
Even unhealthy guys could be the heroes in their very own tales… In “Daleks!”, “Physician Who”‘s most well-known villains get busy eye(stalk)ing up the Archive of Islos, a futuristic library boasting huge portions of data and its very personal customer middle. However even with out the standard Time Lord interference, the pepperpots’ common plans for taking up the universe aren’t fairly going in response to plan.
A part of the multi-platform, multi-Physician Time Lord Victorious “occasion”, that is one for Dalek completists relatively than informal followers. Whereas it is at all times enjoyable to look at Davros’s progeny scheming and exterminating (“Physician Who” common Nicholas Briggs is again on voice duties), the story is undeniably slight. The CG animation can also be disappointingly rudimentary.
The place to look at: Physician Who YouTube channel
7. The Curse of Deadly Loss of life
1999 was a darkish time to be a “Physician Who” fan — the TV sequence had been off-air for a decade, the 1996 TV film had did not resurrect the franchise, and Russell T Davies’s reboot was nonetheless one other six years away. Fortunately, charity telethon Comedian Reduction got here to the rescue with this one-off skit, a broad, 20-minute comedy that performs a bit like “Carry On Physician (Who)”.
Rowan Atkinson performs a Ninth Physician prepared to hold up his TARDIS keys and marry his companion (Julia Sawalha), when the Grasp (a scenery-chewing Jonathan Pryce) and the Daleks throw a spanner within the works.
The script (from future showrunner Steven Moffat) has loads of laughs at “Who” clichés — at one level the Physician complains about “all these limitless gravel quarries” — whereas sidestepping the necessity for exposition with its recurring “I will clarify later…” catchphrase. It is an innuendo-filled, hit-and-miss affair, nevertheless it does rattle by 4 regenerations — together with Hugh Grant, and Joanna Lumley because the first-ever feminine Physician.
The place to look at: Comedian Reduction YouTube channel
6. Tales of the TARDIS
Retired Time Lords have been returning to the TARDIS ever since 1973’s “The Three Docs”, however the passage of time in the true world can restrict a former “Who” actor’s window of alternative. This enjoyable sequence — launched for the present’s sixtieth anniversary — will get round that drawback by reuniting Docs and companions of the previous within the Reminiscence TARDIS, a plot gadget that will later flip up within the Fifteenth Physician episode “Empire of Loss of life“.
In fact, the reminiscences are little greater than bookends for truncated variations of basic “Who” tales like “Earthshock”, “The Thoughts Robber”, and “The Curse of Fenric”. Even so, followers of the basic sequence will get the warm-and-fuzzies seeing the Fifth Physician (Peter Davison) getting nostalgic with Tegan (Janet Fielding) and the Seventh Physician (Sylvester McCoy) with Ace (Sophie Aldred). Most significantly of all, the Sixth Physician (Colin Baker) is — in the end — given a classy different to his abomination of an outfit.
The place to look at: BBC iPlayer (UK); In the stores on Apple (US)
5. Class
The Whoniverse bought smaller after “Torchwood” and “The Sarah Jane Adventures” ended, as “Physician Who” showrunner Steven Moffat opted to concentrate on the principle present. There was one notable companion piece, nevertheless, because the franchise opened the doorways to the varsity the place the whole lot began in 1963.
Coal Hill first appeared within the very first “Physician Who” story, “An Unearthly Youngster”, when a pair of academics took an curiosity within the Physician’s gifted granddaughter, Susan. YA sequence “Class” (co-created by Patrick Ness) brings issues proper updated, following the lives, loves, and shut encounters of the varsity’s college students and academics — suppose “Buffy the Vampire Slayer” or “Roswell” in London.
The present’s daring tone and progressive storytelling marked new territory for the franchise, and — very like “Firefly” — “Class” may have turn into one thing nice if it hadn’t been cancelled after a single season.
The place to look at: BBC iPlayer (UK); In the stores on Apple and Amazon (US)
4. An Journey in Area and Time
This one-off, made for the present’s fiftieth birthday, proves that the origins of “Physician Who” are simply as noteworthy as these of its eponymous time-travelling hero. “An Journey in Area and Time” dramatizes the present’s early days, when BBC drama boss Sydney Newman (“Succession” star Brian Cox) conceived a groundbreaking new sci-fi present for Saturday evenings.
The focal factors of the story, nevertheless, are producer Verity Lambert (Jessica Raine), director Waris Hussein (future Grasp Sacha Dhawan), and main man William Hartnell (David Bradley).
Common “Who” author Mark Gatiss turns actual life right into a poignant love letter to the present he adores, as Bradley (who’s since performed the First Physician within the mother or father present) faucets into Hartnell’s delight at changing into a star in his late ’50s, earlier than unwell well being prompts the powers-that-be to provoke the present’s first ever regeneration.
The place to look at: BBC iPlayer (UK); Britbox (US)
3. The 5(ish) Docs Reboot
Whereas Tom Baker had a scene-stealing cameo in official fiftieth anniversary episode “The Day of the Physician”, the Fifth, Sixth, and Seventh Docs (Peter Davison, Colin Baker, and Sylvester McCoy) solely appeared in archive footage. They took middle stage, nevertheless, on this entertaining, unashamedly meta one-off birthday particular, written and directed by Davison.
It is a hilarious, self-aware celebration of the present, because the three leads play fictionalized variations of themselves angling for a job within the anniversary particular — they will function Daleks in the event that they must.
The spectacular roster of visitor stars contains ex-Docs David Tennant and Paul McGann, quite a few former “Physician Who” companions, showrunners Steven Moffat and Russell T Davies, and even Peter Jackson — the “The Lord of the Rings” director and long-time Whovian has made no secret of his need to direct an episode at some point.
The place to look at: BBC.co.uk (UK); At present unavailable within the US
2. Torchwood
The large success of the 2005 “Physician Who” reboot paved the best way for govt producer Russell T Davies to craft a fancy shared universe, years earlier than the Marvel Cinematic Universe bought in on the act. First out of the spin-off blocks was “Torchwood”, an adult-focused, monster-of-the-week drama sequence concerning the eponymous (however not-so-secret) group, an alien-hunting company given licence to function exterior the legislation. “Physician Who” graduate John Barrowman was given star billing because the immortal Captain Jack Harkness, in a present that relished the chance to go to darker locations than the mother or father present ever may.
“Torchwood” takes some time to search out its toes, however look previous the tonal inconsistency, and there are gems to be present in each of the primary two seasons — no one may ever fault “Torchwood” for an absence of ambition. However it’s the format-smashing third season, “Youngsters of Earth”, that actually earns the present its silver medal on this checklist of “Physician Who” spin-offs — it is arguably the very best factor ever to come back out of the Whoniverse.
The place to look at: BBC iPlayer (UK); In the stores on Apple and Amazon (US)
1. The Sarah Jane Adventures
“Physician Who” was initially conceived for youngsters however, even in its early days, it not often let that concept constrain its imaginative and prescient or ambition. ’00s spin-off “The Sarah Jane Adventures” was minimize from related fabric, a kid-friendly reply to “Torchwood” that additionally had loads for the core viewers’s dad and mom (and different “Who” followers) to take pleasure in.
Davies’s choice to middle the sequence on beloved former companion Sarah Jane Smith (the late Elisabeth Sladen) proves a genius transfer, as a personality steeped in “Who” lore takes on a management function within the Physician’s absence.
Armed with little greater than a Sonic Lipstick and a supercomputer named Mr Smith (voiced by “Pointless” host Alexander Armstrong), she groups up with a bunch of teenagers (and infrequently Okay-9) to battle family-appropriate alien threats in London. Joyous and creative whereas treating its viewers with respect, that is the very best “Physician Who” spin-off of all of them.
The place to look at: BBC iPlayer (UK); In the stores on Apple and Amazon (US)
Honorable mentions
Tv is simply the tip of the iceberg relating to “Physician Who” spin-offs. Virgin Books’ “New Adventures” sequence informed all-new Time Lord tales within the ’90s, and was extensively credited with conserving the TARDIS flame alive through the present’s decade-and-a-half away from TV. It will definitely spawned a sequence of novels headlined by companion Bernice Summerfield.
Summerfield has since gone on to star in quite a few audio dramas produced by Large End. Alongside quite a few Physician-centric tales, the corporate has additionally produced spin-offs centered on — amongst others — UNIT, the Paternoster Gang (led by the Silurian Madame Vastra), and Jago & Litefoot, a pair of Victorian investigators who first appeared in Fourth Physician story “The Talons of Weng-Chiang”.
It is also argued that the 2 Peter Cushing “Dr Who” motion pictures from the Nineteen Sixties are spin-offs, seeing as they exist in their very own continuity — Cushing’s Physician might not even be an alien.
We selected to not embody David Tennant-starring animated serials “The Infinite Quest” (2007) and “Dreamland” (2009), as they’re successfully episodes of the principle TV present that simply occur to be in a special medium. The thirtieth anniversary cartoon “Scream of the Shalka” (2003) has undeniably turn into extra notable in recent times, nevertheless, after the Physician performed by Richard E Grant grew to become canon in 2024’s “Rogue“.
