Stories Television Doctor Who Season 10 Serial: 1 2 3 4 5 The Three Doctors Original Story Tales of the TARDIS Original Story Tales of the TARDIS 1 image Overview Episodes Characters How to Watch Reviews 15 Statistics Related Stories Quotes 6 Transcript Overview First aired Saturday, December 30, 1972 Production Code RRR Written by Bob Baker, Dave Martin Directed by Lennie Mayne Runtime 100 minutes Story Type Anniversary Special, New TARDIS interior, Multi-Doctor, Special Time Travel Present Tropes (Potential Spoilers!) Corridors, Black Hole, It's bigger on the inside, Stranded on Earth, Time Eddy, Time Travel Pivotal Story Arc (Potential Spoilers!) Exile on Earth, Working for UNIT Inventory (Potential Spoilers!) Bessie, Recorder, Sonic Screwdriver Location (Potential Spoilers!) Anti-matter universe, Earth, England, UNIT HQ Synopsis Time itself is in peril! The Time Lords find themselves besieged by a mysterious enemy. Vital cosmic energy is draining into a black hole, and the Doctor is their only hope. Trapped in the TARDIS, however, he's powerless. The only way out is to break the First Law of Time to let the Doctor help himself — literally... Watch Watched Favourite Favourited Add Review Edit Review Log a repeat Skip Skipped Unowned Owned Owned Save to my list Saved Edit date completed Custom Date Release Date Archive (no date) Save 4 Episodes Episode One First aired Saturday, December 30, 1972 Runtime 25 minutes Written by Bob Baker Dave Martin Directed by Lennie Mayne UK Viewers 9.6 million Synopsis England, the near future. A strange anti-matter creature arrives on Earth and attacks UNIT HQ. It seems to be specifically seeking the Doctor out - but why? With the Time Lords themselves unable to help, it seems the only person who can help the Doctor is himself - or selves... Episode Two First aired Saturday, January 6, 1973 Runtime 25 minutes Written by Bob Baker Dave Martin Directed by Lennie Mayne UK Viewers 10.8 million Synopsis The third Doctor and Jo find themselves on an artificial world inside the black hole while the second Doctor tries to find a way to control the organism. Episode Three First aired Saturday, January 13, 1973 Runtime 25 minutes Written by Bob Baker Dave Martin Directed by Lennie Mayne UK Viewers 8.8 million Synopsis The Time Lord Omega reveals himself to the third Doctor along with plans for vengeance against his own kind. Episode Four First aired Saturday, January 20, 1973 Runtime 25 minutes Written by Bob Baker Dave Martin Directed by Lennie Mayne UK Viewers 11.9 million Synopsis Omega reveals the purpose behind bringing the Doctor to his antimatter world, but the Doctor(s) discover a startling fact about Omega that he didn't know himself and eventually strike a bargain. Show All Episodes Characters Third Doctor Jon Pertwee Jo Grant Katy Manning The Brigadier Nicholas Courtney Second Doctor Patrick Troughton First Doctor William Hartnell Omega First Appearance Spoiler!Click to reveal 👀 John Benton John Levene UNIT Pandad IV Socra Show All Characters (10) How to watch The Three Doctors: Watch on iPlayer Blu-Ray The Collection – Season 10 DVD Revisitations 3 (The Tomb of the Cybermen, The Three Doctors & The Robots of Death) DVD The Third Doctor Collection DVD The Three Doctors DVD The Three Doctors (Limited Edition) VHS The Three Doctors (VHS) VHS The Time Lord Collection (VHS) Reviews Add Review Edit Review Sort: Date (Newest First) Date (Oldest First) Likes (High-Low) Likes (Low-High) Rating (High-Low) Rating (Low-High) Word count (High-Low) Word count (Low-High) Username (A-Z) Username (Z-A) Spoilers First Spoilers Last 15 reviews 6 June 2025 · 61 words Review by ErickSoares3 I found it a quite fun crossover, while the timeline of the Second Doctor left me confused with his "recorder", I really enjoyed it all (specially with the insider joke of the Second having a great respect for the First opinions, considering that Patrick Troughton was chosen by Hartnell himself! The pacing was great, and I was engaged all the way! ErickSoares3 View profile Like Liked 0 2 June 2025 · 324 words Review by Newt5996 This past weekend when the latest finale of Doctor Who aired I was worried that it would retroactively weaken The Three Doctors as a story, luckily it doesn’t. This is the best of the anniversary stories because at its heart it is a story. People like to say that the original series didn’t do character arcs, but this is yet another example of why they are wrong. For Jon Pertwee as the Doctor this is the moment where his arc completely turns back to the willing hero once again. The end of this serial sees the Doctor freed from his exile to Earth and able to travel among the stars again, Katy Manning as Jo getting this amazing single moment of sadness that the Doctor might be leaving her which of course would never happen. The story itself is one that has fairly large stakes: Gallifrey (unnamed for another year) is having its energy drained and anti-matter is seeping into Earth, all the work of our first mythic Time Lord, Omega, a legendary figure who travelled through the black hole to give Gallifrey the ability to time travel. Future stories would flesh out the mythology but writers Bob Baker and Dave Martin give another script with complete ambition and intrigue. At the center of it all are the first three Doctors United with Pertwee and Patrick Troughton having this amazing dynamic of utter hatred of one another. Nicholas Courtney and John Levene also make a great double act and there are two significant outsider supporting characters that have a role to play. Future anniversaries would lose so much of this element which is what makes The Three Doctors work. Lennie Mayne’s direction is slick, the performances just bounce off each other (Stephen Thorne gets his one Doctor Who role where he can give depth to the character), and the only thing holding it back are the occasional laughable effect. It’s a stone cold classic. Newt5996 View profile Like Liked 0 30 May 2025 · 20 words Review by InterstellarCas Such a fun serial! Two and Three have a great dynamic here. And Omega is so campy, I love him. InterstellarCas View profile Like Liked 0 25 May 2025 · 68 words Review by kawaii2234 1 what an incredible serial. the fact the doctors can barely get along for 2 seconds is hilarious. Troughton was at his best in this serial, really embodying the trickster role that made him a great character. seeing the differences between how two and three operate is genuinely a joy to watch. seeing two in colour was genuinely weird after exclusively seeing him in black and white for so long. kawaii2234 View profile Like Liked 1 25 May 2025 · 28 words Review by joeymapes21 Omega is just brilliant as a villain, with such great presence and motivations. And a brilliant Doctor dynamics between Two and Three also adds joy to the story! joeymapes21 View profile Like Liked 0 Show All Reviews (15) Open in new window Statistics AVG. Rating673 members 4.20 / 5 Member Statistics Watched 1161 Favourited 222 Reviewed 15 Saved 8 Skipped 2 Related Stories Tales of the TARDIS (Minisode) The Three Doctors (TOTT Minisode) Rating: 3.94 Story Skipped Minisode Reviews(3) More Actions View Sets Close Related Sets Set of Stories: Tales of the TARDIS Add Review Edit Review Skip Skipped Unowned Owned Save to my list Saved Main Range • Episode 47 Omega Rating: 3.88 Story Skipped Audio Drama Reviews(14) More Actions View Sets Close Related Sets Set of Stories: Big Finish Main Range Set of Stories: Big Finish Main Range 1-50 Set of Stories: Main Range: Fifth Doctor Add Review Edit Review Skip Skipped Unowned Owned Save to my list Saved Omega Vengeance Rating: 3.64 Story Skipped Comic Reviews(2) More Actions Add Review Edit Review Skip Skipped Unowned Owned Save to my list Saved Vengeance (Omega) Rating: ??? Story Skipped Audio Drama Reviews(2) More Actions Add Review Edit Review Skip Skipped Unowned Owned Save to my list Saved Doctor Who Magazine The Legacy of Gallifrey Rating: 3.36 Story Skipped Short Story Reviews(2) More Actions View Sets Close Related Sets Set of Stories: Doctor Who Magazine Short Stories Add Review Edit Review Skip Skipped Unowned Owned Save to my list Saved Other adaptations of this story: We define an adaptation as a recreation of a similar story but on a different medium or with different characters. Target Collection Doctor Who and the Three Doctors Rating: 3.93 Story Skipped Book Reviews(1) More Actions View Sets Close Related Sets Set of Stories: Target Collection Add Review Edit Review Skip Skipped Unowned Owned Save to my list Saved Other variations of this story We define a variation as another way of experiencing the exact same story - like an autiobook, a reconstruction or an omnibus edition. Tales of the TARDIS • Episode 4 The Three Doctors (TOTT version) Rating: 3.95 Story Skipped Television Reviews(2) More Actions View Sets Close Related Sets Set of Stories: Tales of the TARDIS Add Review Edit Review Skip Skipped Unowned Owned Save to my list Saved Quotes Add Quote Link to Quote Favourite JO: Who is he and how did he get in here? THIRD DOCTOR: Well it's a bit difficult to explain, Jo. JO: He's not one of them, is he? THIRD DOCTOR:: Well, not so much one of them as one of us. One of me to be precise. SECOND DOCTOR: Oh no, no, no, no. I'm sorry, my dear, I hate to be contrary but I can see he's a little bit confused, poor old chap, and I do feel you should have the correct explanation. You don't mind, do you. THIRD DOCTOR:: Yes. SECOND DOCTOR: I didn't think you would. You see, Jo. I may call you Jo, mayn't I? You see, he is one of me. JO: Oh, I see. You're both Time Lords. SECOND DOCTOR: Well quite. Well, not quite. JO: Oh. SECOND DOCTOR: Not, not just Time Lords. We're the same Time Lord. THIRD DOCTOR:: Now please, you're only confusing my assistant. Jo, it's all quite simple. I am he and he is me. JO: "And we are all together, goo goo ga joob?" — The Three Doctors Show All Quotes (6) Open in new window Transcript Needs checking Episode One [Outside the Lodge] (A long, silver weather balloon has brought its payload to earth by the edge of a lake, and a man carrying a shotgun finds it. Meanwhile, a Land Rover comes over the bridge at the entrance to the Minsbridge Wild Life Sanctuary and heads for the warden's lodge. A woman comes out to meet it.) MRS OLLIS: Doctor Tyler, is it?TYLER: Yeah. Sorry to be a trouble. Thanks very much for calling.MRS OLLIS: Arthur's keeping an eye on it, down by the lake. He hasn't touched it.TYLER: Oh good.MRS OLLIS: It's not chemicals, is it? Only the birds, you see.TYLER: No, you'll be all right. Nothing to worry about. [Lake side] Show Full Transcript Open in new window
