Doctor Who (season 8)

Doctor Who season 8
Country of origin	United Kingdom
No. of episodes	25, 5 serials
Broadcast
Original channel	BBC One
Original run	2 January 1971 (1971-01-02) – 19 June 1971 (1971-06-19)
Series chronology
← Previous Season 7 Next → Season 9
List of Doctor Who serials

The 8th season of British science fiction television series Doctor Who began on 2 January 1971 with Terror of the Autons and ended with The Dæmons.

Casting

Main characters

Jon Pertwee continues his role as The Third Doctor. Katy Manning makes her first appearance as companion Jo Grant in Terror of the Autons.

Guest stars

Roger Delgado makes his first appearance as The Master in Terror of the Autons and continues to make appearances in each of the five serials.

Nicholas Courtney continues his role of Brigadier Lethbridge-Stewart.

Episodes

Story No.	Serial	Title	Directed by	Written by	UK viewers (million)	Original air date	Production code
055	1	"Terror of the Autons"	Barry Letts	Robert Holmes	8.0[1]	2-23 January 1971	EEE
The Master arrives on Earth and makes an alliance with the Autons to conquer the planet.
056	2	"The Mind of Evil"	Timothy Combe	Don Houghton	7.6 [2]	30 January - 6 March 1971	FFF
The Master creates the Keller Machine, a device that appears to rehabilitate prisoners, but instead kills them.
057	3	"The Claws of Axos"	Michael Ferguson	Bob Baker and Dave Martin	7.4[3]	13 March - 3 April 1971	GGG
The Axons land on Earth supposedly peacefully, even offering a new energy source. However, that is not their real purpose.
058	4	"Colony in Space"	Michael E. Briant	Malcolm Hulke	8.5[4]	10 April - 15 May 1971	HHH
On his first trip to another planet since his regeneration, the Doctor and Jo travel to Uxaerius, where they find that its colonists are struggling to survive.
059	5	"The Dæmons"	Christopher Barry	Robert Sloman and Barry Letts	8.3 [5]	22 May – 19 June 1971	JJJ
The Master summons Azal to assist him in an incident that happened at an archaeological dig at Devil's End.

Broadcast

DVD releases

Three serials of season 8 have been released on DVD, individually or in multi-serial box sets.

References

1. ^ "Doctor Who Ratings Audience Viewing Figures". Themindrobber.co.uk. http://www.themindrobber.co.uk/ratings.html. Retrieved 2011-11-11. 
2. ^ "Doctor Who Ratings Audience Viewing Figures". Themindrobber.co.uk. http://www.themindrobber.co.uk/ratings.html. Retrieved 2011-11-11. 
3. ^ "Doctor Who Ratings Audience Viewing Figures". Themindrobber.co.uk. http://www.themindrobber.co.uk/ratings.html. Retrieved 2011-11-11. 
4. ^ "Doctor Who Ratings Audience Viewing Figures". Themindrobber.co.uk. http://www.themindrobber.co.uk/ratings.html. Retrieved 2011-11-11. 
5. ^ "Doctor Who Ratings Audience Viewing Figures". Themindrobber.co.uk. http://www.themindrobber.co.uk/ratings.html. Retrieved 2011-11-11.