The Ties that Bind Us (documentary)

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

The links
Below is a list of the continuity references that were made in 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.