The Ties that Bind Us (documentary)

The Ties that Bind Us was a documentary that examined the continuity links that were mentioned in the TV: The Five Doctors. It was narrated by Paul McGann. The documentary was included on the DVD release of TV: The Five Doctors 25th Anniversary Edition.

The links
Below is a list of the continuity references that were made in TV: The Five Doctors and the stories that related to the references.


 * The speech by William Hartnell at the end of TV: The Dalek Invasion of Earth.
 * Both anniversary stories, TV: The Three Doctors and The Five Doctors, introduced a new TARDIS console room.
 * The reference as the TARDIS being more than a machine:
 * TV: Planet of the Spiders
 * TV: The Invasion of Time
 * TV: The Ribos Operation
 * Hitting the console, to get it to work:
 * TV: The Hand of Fear
 * TV: Image of the Fendahl
 * TV: The Visitation
 * TV: Doctor Who (1996)
 * The Eye of Orion has been mentioned in:
 * TV: The King's Demons
 * TV: Timelash
 * The return of actor David Savile, who first appeared with Patrick Troughton in TV: The War Games; they shared a scene in TV: The Five Doctors.
 * The Brigadier's line, "Wonderful chap. All of them", a reference to the fact that the Brigadier has met the first five incarnations of the Doctor.
 * The Terrible Zodin was mentioned first in TV: The Five Doctors and later in TV: Attack of the Cybermen. It was also mentioned in TV: The Mad Woman in the Attic.
 * Patrick Troughton's coat is identical to the one he wore in TV: The Abominable Snowmen. The Yeti from that same story also appeared.
 * Patrick Troughton's line, "You've had this place redecorated, haven't you? I don't like it", was a reference to TV: The Three Doctors.
 * Jon Pertwee driving Bessie - the car first appeared in TV: Doctor Who and the Silurians and was used throughout his tenure as the Doctor and in Tom Baker's first story.
 * Sarah Jane Smith and K9 - although having not met in the stories but were featured in a spin off story K9 and Company.
 * Paul Jerricho returns as the Castellan and the line, "...its a lie. The Doctor wants revenge", is a reference to TV: Arc of Infinity.
 * The appearance of Borusa - he has been seen before:
 * TV: The Deadly Assassin
 * TV: The Invasion of Time
 * TV: Arc of Infinity
 * is offered a new life cycle - it was established in TV: The Deadly Assassin that he was in his final incarnation.
 * The recall signal was first mentioned/seen in TV: The Hand of Fear and TV: Arc of Infinity.
 * Rassilon and his items have been mentioned before in TV: The Deadly Assassin and TV: The Invasion of Time. The Seal of Rassilon was also seen again; it was seen in the mentioned stories and in TV: Revenge of the Cybermen.
 * Gallifrey was the setting for the story; it has been mentioned before in past stories.
 * The return of Carole Ann Ford as the Doctor's granddaughter and companion Susan Foreman; she last appeared in TV: The Dalek Invasion of Earth.
 * Former companions Liz Shaw, Mike Yates, Jamie McCrimmon and Zoe Herriot make an appearance.
 * The Doctor's academic years have been mentioned before:
 * TV: The Time Monster
 * TV: The Ribos Operation
 * Jon Pertwee's line, "I've reversed the polarity of the neutron flow", has been heard in:
 * TV: The Dæmons
 * TV: The Sea Devils
 * TV: City of Death
 * TV: Castrovalva
 * TV: Mawdryn Undead
 * The Fifth Doctor passing the office of President to Flavia, and mentioned to his companions, "...that's how it all started".

The documentary ends with a montage of clips from the past 20 years, which included companions, the TARDIS, enemies, alien worlds, regeneration and tea.