The idea of time travel is a crucial staple of Doctor Who.
But often the stories don’t tend be about time travel so much as simply include time travel.
Here are five stories that have a stronger focus on time travel than most and provide some interesting uses of it along the way…
‘The Ark’ (1966)
In this four-part William Hartnell story, the Doctor, Steven and Dodo arrive on a spaceship containing the last of humanity. They are travelling to a planet called Refusis to start a new life. Dodo has a cold and infects some of the people on board (they don’t have the correct antibodies to fight the infection).
The Doctor cures everyone and they head back to the TARDIS, only to return to the ship at the end of Episode 2, several hundred years later and witness the result of their interference.
‘The Trial of a Time Lord’ (1986)
In this season-long epic 14-part story, the Doctor is put on trial by the Time Lords, charged with interference.
The prosecutor, the Valeyard, uses a past adventure of the Doctor’s and the adventure he was in when they snatched him out of time as evidence against the Doctor. In response, the Doctor uses an adventure from his own personal future as a rebuttal. It takes inspiration from Charles Dickens’ A Christmas Carol in its “past, present and future” structure. Not the last time that story would inspire the series.
‘Utopia’ / ‘The Sound of Drums’ / ‘Last of the Time Lords’ (2007)
There are several cool uses of time travel in these three episodes.
Firstly, the Master steals the Doctor’s TARDIS and uses it to cement himself into modern British politics. Secondly, he then uses the TARDIS as a paradox machine, allowing the Toclafane from the future to invade the past. And finally, Captain Jack destroys the paradox machine, erasing the year that the Master ruled the Earth.
There’s also the use of Jack’s vortex manipulator and the Master altering the Doctor’s age.
‘A Christmas Carol’ (2010)
In the 2010 Christmas special, the Doctor has to save his companions Amy and Rory from crashing on a spaceship by removing the clouds that are obscuring their vision.
The clouds are controlled by a man named Kazran Sardick who is old and grumpy and hates Christmas. The Doctor uses the TARDIS to alter Kazran’s past, rewriting his personality to turn him into a nicer man.
‘Time Heist’ (2014)
The Doctor and Clara are enlisted to help break into the highest security bank in the universe.
They are up against the Teller, a creature who can read your thoughts and sense illegal intent. However, the clue to the resolution is in the title, as it turns out the person who sent them on the mission is the owner of the bank as an old woman.
Which is your favourite Doctor Who story with an ingenious use of time travel? Let us know below…