The best Doctor Who shows that aren’t Doctor Who

While we’re all sat about waiting to see how many of the recently found Doctor Who episodes the BBC is going to release, we might as well fill our time with a massive Doctor Who TV marathon.

Except, if you’ve already done that because you’re a complete Doctor Who nerd, you might need to top up with some extra Timelord facetime in a totally different TV dimension.

[Update: Despite rumours of 100 episodes being found in Ethiopia, it was actually nine episodes found in Nigeria by someone who says that other people describe him as the Indiana Jones of the film world.]

So without further deranged ado, here’s my guide to the best TV shows starring Doctor Who that aren’t Doctor Who.

The Third Doctor, Jon Pertwee

Worzel Gummidge

Looking back, I’m surprised we didn’t all suffer nightmares from the horror that is Worzel Gummidge.

In a nutshell: A walking scarecrow with a selection of removable heads gurns his way through every scene while a life-sized, prim-faced ragdoll looks on in disgust. Harrowing.

The Fifth Doctor, Peter Davison

All Creatures Great and Small

Before Downton Abbey, Lark Rise to Candleford, Cranford, Monarch of the Glen, Hamish MacBeth, and all the other cosy Sunday night dramas set in the past, Scotland or the North, All Creatures Great and Small was our weekly televisual happy place.

In a nutshell: Tristan (Davison) gets into hilarious scrapes and James Herriot goes armpit deep up a cow’s bottom; Siegfried tuts. A simpler time.

The Ninth Doctor, Christopher Eccleston

Our Friends in the North

Hawt

Made the careers of a Doctor and a Bond, this gritty northern drama starred Eccleston and Daniel Craig and was one of those event TV shows that the whole nation watches. Shame I missed it.

In a nutshell: It’s grim up north.

The Tenth Doctor, David Tennant

Casanova

ohyescasanova

Russell T Davies had already made me fall in love with Tennant before the Tenth Doctor bounced onto our screen thanks to this giddy, gleeful and actually quite heartbreaking retelling of Casanova.

In a nutshell: Tennant has acrobatic sex and mugs at the camera while a wistful, tragic Peter O Toole looks and sounds precisely nothing like him.

The Eleventh Doctor, Matt Smith

Christopher and his Kind

Christopher Isherwood travels to Berlin to hang out with WH Auden and enjoy the gay nightlife.

In a nutshell: A gay time was had by all until the Nazis spoilt everyone’s fun. Total bummer.

What’s your favourite TV show starring Doctor Who that isn’t Doctor Who?

Katie Lee

Dork Adore's Editor! Katie started out life as a tech journalist and blog obsessive, launching the UK's first and biggest blog publishing network, Shiny Media. Favourite dork things: knitting, crochet, Press Gang, Buffy, Battlestar, Doctor Who and lifehacks.