‘We didn’t even realise it was a Doctor Who episode’
We were living in France when Doctor Who was resurrected with Christopher Eccleston, so we missed it. I wasn’t too bothered, since I was a huge Tom Baker fan and very defensive of my childhood programme. We moved back to the UK when our kids were six and three. My husband and I ended up watching it when they were in bed. A woman was roaming around a deserted house. She peeled back the wallpaper find a message – addressed to her. Then the statues in the garden started getting closer. It was the weeping angel episode. David Tennant played the Doctor then, but at this point we didn’t even realise it was a Doctor Who episode. We were shocked – that’s way too scary for kids! Of course, we forget just how scary it was back in the 70s and 80s, with huge spiders crawling over people and monsters walking out of the sea. Eventually we let our daughter watch a couple of episodes with us and she was hooked. David Tennant is her Doctor. We’ve since watched all episodes from Christopher Eccleston to Jodie Whittaker and are huge fans. Lisa Valentine, 51, Wiltshire
‘William Hartnell’s speech to Susan’
I grew up watching Doctor Who and I now enjoy watching all of it with my sons. We have had the chance to meet several of the actors over the years. The speech by William Hartnell at the end of the Dalek Invasion of Earth, addressed to Susan. “One day, I shall come back ...” While the show could have easily ended at his exit, the spirit of his performance gave life to a character that has evolved with endless potential. We look forward to everything it becomes. Diana Wagner, 48, Texas, USA
‘When Van Gogh saw his paintings on exhibition’
The most moving moment ever was when Vincent Van Gogh looked up and saw all his paintings on exhibition, and saw the crowds of his adoring fans adoring his paintings. A heart-stopping, emotional, unforgettable moment. That’s what a time machine is for. Derekk Ross, Cornwall
‘A passing thought’
The Doctor (Tom Baker) and his assistant are travelling through the Doctor’s own brain when a bright flashing ball whizzes past them. “What was that?!” exclaimed his assistant. “Oh,” the Doctor replies nonchalantly, “just a passing thought.” Paul, 65, Australia
‘The Sea Devils’
We got “free” BBC in Ireland in the 1970s as its Welsh transmitter overlapped into our eastern coast. So, aged seven, I watched Jon Pertwee every Saturday. The Sea Devils episodes, from February 1972, had me hiding under the coffee table – the opening scenes on the lonely lighthouse as the two keepers are silently pursued by the reptilian Devils stay with me still. I went on to work with the BBC One team that brought back Doctor Who. In 2002, I was channel executive to controller Lorraine Heggessey. My speaking Dalek toy (“EX-TER-MIN-ATE”) was played every morning in an irritating attempt to get her to recommission the series. It worked! Helen O’Rahilly, Dublin, Ireland
‘A giant maggot creeping towards Jo Grant’
I remember the sheer terror as I watched a giant maggot slowly creeping towards Jo Grant at the end of an episode of The Green Death in the Pertwee era. There are always mentions of “hiding behind the sofa”, but I literally did. I was so terrified that my mum, another Who fan, tried to explain that the maggot would probably turn out to just want to have a talk with Jo. I have no idea why this made any sense to me, but it did help calm me down. My second favourite moment was when Christopher Eccleston regenerated into David Tennant. The first series of the new Who was a shared experience with my eldest daughter and turned her into a lifelong fan. At the end of this episode, she fled the room in tears crying out “but I don’t want him to go!” We still watch together, but reply via chat. Doctor Who brings three generations of my family together and keeps them connected over a silly show about a blue box. Andrew Stephens, Swindon
‘Flying Daleks, whatever next?’
I was only six years old in 1988 and yet I have the most vivid memory of watching a Dalek hover up a flight of stairs (from the spectacular 25th anniversary story Remembrance of the Daleks). I don’t think at that age I had any clue I was watching history in the making. Flying Daleks, whatever next? (Quite a lot as it would turn out). David, 41, Shropshire
‘I sobbed like a baby’
The one moment that stands out for me is the farewell between the Tenth Doctor and Rose Tyler at Darlig Ulv Stranden (Bad Wolf Bay) at the end of the episode Doomsday in 2006. God, how I sobbed like a baby when I first watched that scene; I was literally inconsolable for about 20 minutes afterwards. The unfairness of their separation, the end of joyous and thrilling adventures together and the unspoken words that almost were finally shared between the Doctor and Rose, until their link was cruelly and suddenly severed (as we thought at the time). I cannot wait to see what Russell T Davies brings to this next iteration of my favourite TV show; I just hope I don’t end up a blubbing mess again. Paul Nethercott, 56, Manchester
‘The very first episode’
I remember the very first episode which I watched with my brother on a small Bush television. Our neighbour Pip would watch it with us eating his tea on a tray as we had the only TV in the road. From the first opening music to the end, the three of us were gripped and I don’t think we missed an episode after. I remember hiding behind the settee when the Cybermen came – they were the most scary. It provided endless opportunities for reenactments. Years later, I trained to be a camerawoman and worked on Doctor Who in 1980 with Tom Baker and Peter Davison. Being part of the production, even in a tiny role, was a thrill. Sara, 65, East Sussex
