Neil Cross (writer of The Rings of Akhaten and Hide, 2013)
It could be watching Planet of the Spiders at my Nan’s house, wrapped up in her fake fur coat, or my sister and me screaming in joyous terror as the Cyber Army awakens in Earthshock, or just lying in bed, half-excited and half-terrified to imagine the fearsome grinding of the Tardis’s time rotor outside my bedroom window. I didn’t want to watch the revival, but I caught Dalek on TV in 2005, and showed it to my sons. We sat together and watched it, the four of us huddled on one sofa in case it got too scary. If I had a time machine, that’s where I’d go.
Dylan Holmes Williams (director of episodes featuring the Fifteenth Doctor, 2024)
We were filming an exterior scene in Newport and only had five minutes to get the final shot before the sun went down. We thought we were going to make it until we saw two paparazzi standing in the middle of the shot who refused to leave unless we promised them a private photoshoot – the cheek! I ran over and begged them to leave, which they reluctantly did. We got the shot in the nick of time.
Rona Munro (writer of Survival and The Eaters of Life, 1989-2017)
During lockdown I shared a Zoom conversation for a Whovian podcast with Sophie Aldred, Lisa Bowerman and Sakuntala Ramanee, respectively Ace, Karra and Shreela from my story, Survival. Those were the last episodes to be broadcast before the original series ended after 26 series in 1989. I was humbled and delighted to understand how much that story had meant to them, too. It was ahead of its time, we had a lesbian subtext and, I believe, the first appearance in Doctor Who of a south Asian actor as a main character. It was an incredibly moving conversation. We all felt like we’d survived.
Segun Akinola (composer for the Thirteenth Doctor, 2018-2022)
For me, the most significant moment is the entire episode Demons of the Punjab in series 11 . Its importance goes far beyond “just ” being an episode. It was brave, bold and challenging. It shed light on a part of history that many viewers may have known little about, myself included. I’m incredibly grateful to have been a part of it.
Neve McIntosh (played Silurians, including Madame Vastra, 2010-2014)
The episode A Good Man Goes to War was so special because they’d killed me off twice before and I was amazed to be asked back, as a goodie not a baddie, with Catrin Stewart as my fabulous kick-ass wife and brand new friend and stunt potato Dan Starkey! The best bit was filming the dematerialisation. The director cries “freeze!”. We are still as statues, two guys from the art department run out and flat-pack the Tardis, then, “action!”, and we all react to the Doctor disappearing off to a new adventure! Of course Madame Vastra is blase about it all but inside I was bursting with delight!
Ella Road (writer of Legend of the Sea Devils, 2022)
I had a Zoom call with the amazing VFX team, where some of the crazy ideas I’d had for sea monsters were workshopped before my eyes as CGI images. The team is so talented and imaginative. I also received some lovely letters from fans after my episode aired, some saying how much they enjoyed the delicate exploration of Yaz and the Doctor’s relationship. One guy said his queer teenage daughter was over the moon to see the complexity of queer love and ambiguous female friendship explored on screen in a mainstream show. That was such a nice message to receive.
Jessica Carney (granddaughter and biographer of William Hartnell)
I was six when Doctor Who started, so I watched it right from the beginning. Because Carole Ann Ford played the Doctor’s granddaughter in the show, people have often merged us together. But when I was seven I came to Riverside Studios, and I remember wandering around on my own and going into a dressing room and being fascinated by watching my grandfather put on his wig and makeup. Then I went into the studio where they were filming The Web Planet, and somebody picked up a fibreglass Zarbi head and put it over me. I did think the Menoptera were rather ridiculous though!”
Charlie Craggs (plays Cleo Proctor in the Doctor Who: Redacted audio series, 2022 onwards)
My favourite Doctor Who moment is me. Not in a big-headed way – it was my first ever acting gig and I could definitely do better now – but in a way beyond me, the importance and impact of a trans character played by a trans woman, written by a trans woman in something mainstream. There’s hardly any representation of this sort of storyline, and even less representation of it in a positive light that’s not wrapped in trauma. To be a part of the legacy of this moment, and part of the legacy of Doctor Who, means so much to me.
Beth Willis (executive producer, 2010-2011)
In Vincent and the Doctor, when the Doctor and Amy take Vincent van Gogh (played by Tony Curran) in the Tardis to the Musée D’Orsay. It’s almost an afterthought. The “What if?” of that ending – “What if Vincent could know, in his lifetime, how loved he really was? Would it ease his depression? Would he still kill himself?” – is the point of the episode. Amy thinks it will change everything, but of course it doesn’t. As the Doctor says, “The good things don’t always soften the bad things, but vice versa, the bad things don’t always spoil the good things or make them unimportant.”
David Bradley (played William Hartnell in An Adventure in Space and Time, and later the First Doctor, 2013 onwards)
Peter Capaldi’s final episode as the Doctor was Twice Upon a Time, in which I was invited to reprise my First Doctor as William Hartnell from An Adventure in Space and Time. This episode, written by Steven Moffat, was due out at Christmas 2017, and we were shooting a scene set on a first world war battlefield with British and German soldiers coming out of the trenches, exchanging gifts and playing football together on Christmas Day. It had a sad beauty about it, which left Peter and I on the verge of a blub, but thankfully we kept it together.
Elizabeth Parker (composer and member of the BBC Radiophonic Workshop, 1978-1998)
The Stones of Blood was momentous for me. Back in 1977 it was unbelievably difficult to get into the Radiophonic Workshop, but I managed to get a three-month attachment there when everyone was away, including Dick Mills who always did the special sound for Doctor Who. I was stuck in a studio over an unbelievably hot week, creating the sound of giant stones oozing blood as they shuffled along. I started with guttural vocal sounds from myself which I slowed down, put on loops of tape stretched around the studio, and overlaid. It was a huge challenge but it launched my career.”
Ella Watts (producer and director of Doctor Who: Redacted)
Jodie Whittaker as the Thirteenth Doctor in The Woman Who Fell to Earth. “Because we’re all capable of the most incredible change. We can evolve while still staying true to who we are. We can honour who we’ve been and choose who we want to be next.” This felt like a reflection on not only Doctor Who, but the world in the 21st century. Jodie becoming the Doctor was an indescribable moment of hope for me – a moment where I truly felt it might be possible for someone like me to become a meaningful part of the story. I’m so excited for Ncuti Gatwa to do the same.
