Doctor Who (season 8)
The eighth season of British science fiction television series Doctor Who began on 2 January 1971 with Terror of the Autons and ended with The Dæmons featuring Jon Pertwee as the Third Doctor.
Casting
Main cast
- Jon Pertwee as the Third Doctor
- Katy Manning as Jo Grant
Recurring cast
- Nicholas Courtney as Brigadier Lethbridge-Stewart
- John Levene as Sergeant Benton
- Richard Franklin as Mike Yates
- Roger Delgado as The Master
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.
Guest stars
makes appearances in The Mind of Evil and The Claws of Axos as Corporal Bell.Serials
The season marks the first appearance of the Master who goes on to make further appearances through the season in every serial as the main antagonist who is finally captured at the end of the season. Colony in Space was the first serial set away from Earth since The War Games at the end of Season 6, and came about as a result of producer Barry Letts' feeling that the Earthbound stories of the Doctor's exile were too limiting in terms of potential plotting.Broadcast
The entire season was broadcast from 2 January to 19 June 1971.Home media
VHS releases
DVD and Blu-ray releases
In print
| Serial name | Novelisation title | Author | First published |
| Terror of the Autons | Doctor Who and the Terror of the Autons | Terrance Dicks | 15 May 1975 |
| The Mind of Evil | The Mind of Evil | Terrance Dicks | 21 March 1985 |
| The Claws of Axos | Doctor Who and the Claws of Axos | Terrance Dicks | 21 April 1977 |
| Colony in Space | Doctor Who and the Doomsday Weapon | Malcolm Hulke | 27 March 1974 |
| The Dæmons | Doctor Who and the Dæmons | Barry Letts | 17 October 1974 |