City of Death

Directed by

UK Viewers

12.4 million

Synopsis

Paris, 1979. The Doctor and Romana are here on holiday, but something is disturbing the flow of time. Could the time travel experiments of Count Scarlioni be to blame?

Part Two

First aired

Saturday, October 6, 1979

Runtime

25 minutes

Written by

Directed by

UK Viewers

14.1 million

Appreciation Index

Synopsis

Captured by the Count, the Doctor and Romana uncover an elaborate plan to steal the Mona Lisa. But there is more to Scarlioni's plans than a simple theft.

Part Three

First aired

Saturday, October 13, 1979

Runtime

25 minutes

Written by

Directed by

UK Viewers

15.4 million

Synopsis

The Doctor and Romana unwrap an intricate plot involving aliens, time travel and the Mona Lisa. How is Count Scarlioni living in two times at once? And what does he want?

Part Four

First aired

Saturday, October 20, 1979

Runtime

25 minutes

Written by

Directed by

UK Viewers

16.1 million

Appreciation Index

Synopsis

Scaroth is determined to go back 400 million years in time to prevent a mistake. But the Doctor must stop him – because the consequences would be disastrous.

Characters

Fourth Doctor

Tom Baker

Romana II

Lalla Ward

How to watch City of Death:

Watch on iPlayer

Blu-Ray

The Collection – Season 17

DVD

City of Death

VHS

City of Death (VHS) (1st edition)

VHS

City of Death (VHS) (2nd edition)

Reviews
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11 reviews

I want duggan to be a companion so f**king bad

Rock_Angel

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Review last edited on 7-06-25

Doctor, how very nice to see you again. Seems like only 474 years since we last met.

Probably one of the Fourth Doctor's best stories, it serves as both a cerebral exercise and a very fun romp. Most people probably know this as a Douglas Adams vehice but this one also has the presence of the very underrated writer David Fisher within it (if only because Fisher wrote the kernel called A Gamble with Time that eventually grew into this serial). All of the actors in this are also quite good.

ankarstian

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Review last edited on 28-03-25

absolutely adorable, perfect chemistry between the doctor and romana, a memorable villiain in a memorable setting, Paris, and some brilliant characters like the countess and duggan. it also features some if the best charming and witty dialogue that has ever come out of doctor who. this is THE classic dr who story and i love it. no notes. perfect.

timewyrm1997

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Review last edited on 10-03-25

This review contains spoilers!

If someone said this was the greatest story in Doctor Who history, how could I disagree? In a season that I think is too over the top absolutely everything goes perfectly right here. It's exciting, riotously funny in obvious and sometimes very subtle ways, and has Tom Baker and Lalla Ward at the height of their powers. If anybody tried to make City of Death again, they'd fail. Everything from the on-location filming in Paris to the beginning of Earth looking like the background of a painting is pitch-perfect. Incredible story.

Guardax

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Review last edited on 9-03-25

This review contains spoilers!

We have one of Doctor Who’s ultimate high points with City of Death, often being near the top of many official best episodes rankings for the show but mostly due to this story holding the highest viewing figures in Doctor Who history with part four drawing over 16 million viewers. A feat that not even the 50th anniversary special achieved! Of course, part of the reason why was down to the fact that at the time there were only three channels and one of which was on strike. Plus, there were no video or repeats back then so tuning in was essential for fans. But even with all the technical reasons, City of Death is well deserving of its place in Doctor Who history as it’s Douglas Adams style sci-fi comedy at its best!

Another notable accolade for City of Death is being the first story filmed outside of the UK, taking place in Paris and it made for some great location filming as the Doctor and his Time Lady companion Romana work alongside a bumbling private eye to solve the mystery behind Count Scarlioni as to how he plans to steal the Mona Lisa, why it ties in to his experiments with time travel and why if he succeeds it could lead to the erasure of the entire human race.

The script for this is just a perfect mix of clever sci-fi and witty humour that only Douglas Adams can pull off. He briefly worked as script editor for the show between his work on Monty Python and writing Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy. He was a much welcome addition to the Graham Williams era and helped bring that balance of light-hearted humour after such a clunky tonal shift from the Hinchcliffe era when Graham Williams initially took over as showrunner.

The guest cast is one of the show’s finest, with a quick but funny cameo from John Cleese and a fantastic performance by Julian Glover as the villain. You’re probably more familiar with him as Maester Pycelle from Game of Thrones but previously Glover had appeared in the First Doctor episode The Crusades as King Richard the Lionheart and in a bizarre coincidence would later play the villain of Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade.

This story is one of the most enjoyable episodes you’ll find in the classic show and a huge factor in that is the incredible chemistry between Tom Baker and Lalla Ward, Paris is often known as the city of love and in this case that couldn’t be a truer statement as the two began to blossom a relationship that would go one to be the only marriage between a Doctor and companion actors, albeit a very short-lived marriage. Baker himself gives one of his finest performances as the Doctor as he’s bursting with energy and charisma with some great one-liners.

If you’re new to Classic Who and are looking for a fun story to ease yourself in, I can’t think of a better starting point recommendation than this.

DanDunn

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Review last edited on 12-02-25