In 1963, three years before Star Trek: The Original Series hit the airwaves and 14 years before Star Wars: A New Hope took the world by storm, Doctor Who, another heavyweight of the sci-fi genre, began its historic run. The show’s original era lasted for nearly three decades, and following more than a decade and a half of being away from television screens (minus one movie), the show returned in 2005 and has stuck around ever since. But, considering how long Doctor Who’s been around, it may feel daunting trying to start watching the show, especially considering how many actors have played the title Time Lord over the years. Don’t worry, we have you covered.
We'll explain how to watch Doctor Who in order, with options on where to watch all episodes, below.
Doctor Who's Classic Era (1963-1989)
Doctor Who premiered on November 23, 1963, with William Hartnell being cast as The Doctor, a mysterious man who lived in the TARDIS, a machine capable of traveling through time and space that’s bigger on the inside and disguised from the outside as a blue police telephone box. When Hartnell’s health started declining, it was decided to have a new actor take over the role, so the concept of regeneration, where a Time Lord changes appearance and personality upon dying, was thought up. Patrick Troughton was cast as The Second Doctor, and the rest is history. Here’s how the classic Doctor Who eras break down.
- First Doctor (William Hartnell), 1963-1966
- Second Doctor (Patrick Troughton), 1966-1969
- Third Doctor (Jon Pertwee), 1970-1974
- Fourth Doctor (Tom Baker), 1974-1981
- Fifth Doctor (Peter Davison), 1982-1984
- Sixth Doctor (Colin Baker), 1984-1986
- Seventh Doctor (Sylvester McCoy), 1987-1989
When it comes to starting points in the Classic Era, you should be ok beginning with any of the first seven Doctors, although going from the Third Doctor onwards keeps you firmly in color TV territory.
More importantly, many episodes from the early days were deleted as part of BBC clearing out archive programming between 1967 to 1978. As a result, if you’re going through Doctor Who’s classic years, there’s no way you’ll be able to do a full rewatch. Fortunately though, some of these stories have been recreated thanks to salvaged audio paired with new animation that recreates the original movements of the actors as closely as possible.
The Doctor Who TV Movie (1996)
In 1996, seven years after Doctor Who was cancelled, BBC Worldwide and Universal Studios partnered up for the Doctor Who TV movie, which was intended to both revive the property on the small screen and make it more appealing to an American audience. Paul McGann starred as the Eighth Doctor, and while the movie performed decently in the United Kingdom, the ratings stateside were disappointing, resulting in cancelled plans for an American-produced series.
Fortunately for McGann, he continued to voice the Eighth Doctor in many Big Finish audio productions, and later reprised the character onscreen in the 2013 minisode “Night of The Doctor” and the 2022 episode “The Power of The Doctor.”
Doctor Who's Revival Era (2005-2022)
The second attempt at reviving Doctor Who succeeded in 2005, with Christopher Eccleston’s Ninth Doctor launching this new era. While the original series certainly wasn’t unknown outside of the United Kingdom, the relaunch resulted in this franchise achieving true global popularity. Here are the actors who starred during this era:
- Ninth Doctor (Christopher Eccleston), 2005
- Tenth Doctor (David Tennant), 2005-2010
- Eleventh Doctor (Matt Smith), 2010-2013
- Twelfth Doctor (Peter Capaldi), 2014-2017
- Thirteenth Doctor (Jodie Whittaker), 2018-2022
In addition to the above, this era of Doctor Who also featured John Hurt’s War Doctor and Jo Martin’s Fugitive Doctor. The former was a previously-unknown incarnation resting between the Eighth and Ninth Doctors who fought in The Time War and teamed up with the Tenth and Eleventh Doctors in the 50th anniversary special “The Day of The Doctor.” The latter was one of many incarnations who existed prior to the First Doctor, with the Thirteenth Doctor meeting this younger version of themself and learning that this life and many others had been erased from their memory.
Speaking of The First Doctor, 2017’s “The Doctor Falls” and “Twice Upon a Time” featured David Bradley portraying the First Doctor. He’s the third actor to inhabit the role onscreen, following Richard Hurndall, who played the character in the 20th anniversary special “The Five Doctors” from 1983.
A lot of people are likely to check out the Doctor Who revival first rather start with the Classic era. If that’s the case, your best bets are starting with the Ninth Doctor, Eleventh Doctor or Thirteenth Doctor. The Ninth would be your absolute best bet, though, as it establishes major lore, specifically the Time War, that continues to be referenced in the years to follow.
Also keep in mind as you’re going through Doctor Who from 2005 onwards, there are various specials that come with the full seasons, many of which are Christmas/holiday-themed. Don’t miss out on these stories, as most of them tell integral stories to the mythology.
Doctor Who's Disney+ Era (2023-present)
With Doctor Who moving to Disney+ around the world except in the United Kingdom, which we’ll talk more about later, came the show’s current era. It breaks down as follows:
- Fourteenth Doctor (David Tennant), 2023
- Fifteenth Doctor (Ncuti Gatwa), 2023-present
In a first for Doctor Who, 2022’s “The Power of The Doctor” saw the Thirteenth Doctor regenerating into the Fourteenth Doctor, who looked just like the Tenth Doctor. David Tennant starred as this version of the Time Lord in the three 60th anniversary specials. Then in another first, the last of these specials, “The Giggle,” the Fourteenth Doctor did not undergo a normal regeneration after being mortally injured by The Toymaker, but rather bi-generated. Meaning, Ncuti Gatwa’s Fifteenth Doctor split off from the Fourteenth Doctor, resulting in the two existing simultaneously.
There are no plans to bring back the Fourteenth Doctor, which makes sense, as the Fifteenth Doctor is now the face of the franchise. The Fifteenth Doctor’s adventures are also a good starting point for Doctor Who newcomers, so much so that even though this is technically Season/Series 14 of the revival, it’s referred to in marketing as Season 1. The show returns on Christmas Day with the special "Joy to the World," and Season 2 will premiere sometime in 2025.
Watch All Doctor Who Episodes In Order
The UK is probably the best served for watching most – if not all – Doctor Who content, with pretty much all of it sitting in one place on BBC iPlayer.
Other than Doctor Who's first ever story (compromising four episodes), "An Unearthly Child," all episodes of Doctor Who were made available on BBC iPlayer to stream in November 2023 ahead of the show's 60th Anniversary.
You can find pretty much the entirety of the Whoniverse right here, including spin-off shows Torchwood and The Sarah Jane Adventures.
BBC iPlayer is available on a number of devices and it’s absolutely FREE to watch. To create a BBC account, all you need is an email address and a UK postcode (e.g. W1A 1AA), in addition to a valid TV licence.
Abroad? Use a VPN using the instructions below to access BBC iPlayer like you would at home.
How To Watch Doctor Who In Order From Anywhere
If you're a UK citizen on vacation or working overseas, you can still watch Doctor Who just like you would at home.
While BBC iPlayer is for licence fee-paying Brits and blocks access from IP addresses outside of the UK, there's a handy piece of software called a VPN which can change your IP address to make it look like you're accessing streaming services from any country in the world.
For example, UK citizens in the States can subscribe to a VPN, join a UK based server and tune into all the programmes on BBC iPlayer from anywhere in the world, just like you would back home.
How To Use A VPN To Unblock Streaming Services:
1. Choose your ideal VPN and install - our go-to recommendation for unblocking is NordVPN, costing from just $3.69 a month with its 2-year plan
2. Connect to a server - for BBC iPlayer, for example, you'll want to connect to a server located in the UK
3. Stream away! - login to your streaming service – BBC iPlayer in this instance – and stream like you were in your home country
How To Watch Doctor Who In The US
Whovians in the US can watch all new episodes from the 60th Anniversary Specials onwards with a Disney Plus subscription, including "The Star Beast", "Wild Blue Yonder", and "The Giggle", as well as the Christmas Special "The Church on Ruby Road". This is also where the new season will land with Ncuti Gatwa from May 2024, making it a great time to get yourself the Disney Plus bundle.
Otherwise, you can find all Classic Doctor Who episodes from 1963-1996 on the free ad-supported platform Tubi, with its catalog categorized across the first seven Doctors.
For the revival era (2005-2022), you'll need a Max subscription to watch from Christopher Eccleston's portrayal of the Ninth Doctor, all the way up to Jodie Whittaker's Thirteenth Doctor.
A Brit abroad in the States? Use a VPN to access BBC iPlayer for free from abroad.
How To Watch Doctor Who Online In Canada
Similarly, in Canada, you'll find a lot of content is spread across streaming services. In fact, viewing options are pretty much the same as they are for their southern neighbors in the States.
From the 60th Anniversary episodes onwards, including Ncuti Gatwa's debut, will be made available on Disney Plus.
Classic 1963-1996 episodes, as well as the 1996 TV movie, are on Tubi, with all 26 seasons available to stream for free. You'll also find two seasons on Britbox (2) and one season on PlutoTV.
For the later seasons, PlutoTV offers the most expansive catalog for Whovians with nine seasons available to stream. Those with an Amazon Prime subscription can get seven seasons with their membership. BritBox also appears to have a rogue season.
How To Watch Doctor Who In Australia
Foxtel has the monopoly on Doctor Who episodes Down Under. You'll find all 13 seasons of the 2005-2022 Whoniverse there, although there are also 10 on Stan if you fancy making the most of its free trial. There are also six seasons available on Prime.
For Classic Who, Aussies aren't quite as well served, with just one season available on Foxtel with the remaining 25 from the 1963-1996 period nowhere to be seen (or, rather, streamed).
As with the US, Canada, and basically anywhere outside of the UK, episodes from 2023 onwards will be dropping on Disney Plus.
Away from home? Use a VPN to access BBC iPlayer for free from abroad.
So there you have it! That’s all the eras of Doctor Who laid out if you’re looking to watch this long-running saga in order and where you can find the episodes, depending on where you live. Keep in mind, though, that because there are many adventures featuring multiple Doctors, it’s pretty much impossible to truly watch Doctor Who chronologically, but that comes with the territory when you’re dealing with timey-wimeyness.
