1972 (releases)


 * 1 January - TV: Day of the Daleks Episode 1 was first broadcast, launching Season 9, and marking the first major appearance of the Daleks since TV: The Evil of the Daleks in 1967.
 * 1 - Actor Neve McIntosh was born.
 * 8 January - TV: Day of the Daleks Episode 2 was first broadcast.
 * 08 - Actor Hamilton Dyce died.
 * 15 January - TV: Day of the Daleks Episode 3 was first broadcast.
 * 22 January - TV: Day of the Daleks Episode 4 was first broadcast.
 * 25 January - An up-and-coming named Tom Baker made his American TV debut with an appearance on The Tonight Show with Johnny Carson, promoting his film Nicholas and Alexandra. In retrospect, this was the first known appearance of any Doctor actor on a major American TV programme (discounting appearances on UK-produced shows like The Avengers and Danger Man that aired in the US).
 * 29 January - TV: The Curse of Peladon Episode 1 was first broadcast. A notable member of the cast was David Troughton, son of Second Doctor actor Patrick Troughton; the younger Troughton continued his involvement in the franchise into the 21st century.
 * 5 February - TV: The Curse of Peladon Episode 2 was first broadcast.
 * 12 February - TV: The Curse of Peladon Episode 3 was first broadcast.
 * 19 February - TV: The Curse of Peladon Episode 4 was first broadcast.
 * 26 February - TV: The Sea Devils Episode 1 was first broadcast.
 * 4 March - TV: The Sea Devils Episode 2 was first broadcast.
 * 6 March - Director Julian Simpson was born.
 * 11 March - TV: The Sea Devils Episode 3 was first broadcast.
 * 14 March - Actor Ben Jones was born.
 * 18 March - TV: The Sea Devils Episode 4 was first broadcast.
 * 25 March - TV: The Sea Devils Episode 5 was first broadcast.
 * 1 April - TV: The Sea Devils Episode 6 was first broadcast.
 * 8 April - TV: The Mutants Episode 1 was first broadcast.
 * 14 April - Actor Alan Ruscoe was born.
 * 15 April - TV: The Mutants Episode 2 was first broadcast.
 * 20 April - The first edition of REF: The Making of Doctor Who was first published by Piccolo Books. Written by Terrance Dicks and Malcolm Hulke, this was the first nonfiction work about the series, and predated Dicks' and Hulke's later contributions to the Target Books line. The book was later published in a revised edition by Target in 1976.
 * 22 April - TV: The Mutants Episode 3 was first broadcast.
 * 29 April - TV: The Mutants Episode 4 was first broadcast.
 * 6 May - TV: The Mutants Episode 5 was first broadcast.
 * 7 May - Writer Jonathan Blum was born.
 * 9 May - Actor Anna-Louise Plowman was born.
 * 13 May - TV: The Mutants Episode 6 was first broadcast.
 * 20 May - TV: The Time Monster Episode 1 was first broadcast.
 * 27 May - TV: The Time Monster Episode 2 was first broadcast.
 * 28 May - Actor Kate Ashfield was born.
 * 3 June - TV: The Time Monster Episode 3 was first broadcast.
 * 10 June - TV: The Time Monster Episode 4 was first broadcast.
 * 17 June - TV: The Time Monster Episode 5 was first broadcast.
 * 17 - Actor Antonio D. Charity was born.
 * 24 June - TV: The Time Monster Episode 6 was first broadcast, concluding the 9th season.
 * 5 July - Actor Nia Roberts was born.
 * 10 July - Actor Emrys Jones died.
 * 26 July - Actor Spencer Wilding was born.
 * After missing the 1972 edition, World Distributors published Doctor Who Annual 1973. Beginning this year each book included the year in the title (always the year after publication).
 * 17 September - Actor Peter Stephens died.
 * 24 September - Actor Kate Fleetwood was born.
 * 4 October - Actor Colin Gordon died.
 * 22 October - Actor Jack Melford died.
 * 30 October - Actor Jessica Hynes was born.
 * 10 November - Incidental music composer Francis Chagrin died.
 * "Who is the Doctor?", a rock version of the Doctor Who theme with spoken lyrics performed by Jon Pertwee, was first released on Purple Records in the UK.
 * 30 December - TV: The Three Doctors Episode 1 was first broadcast, launching Doctor Who's 10th season. Patrick Troughton as the Second Doctor and (in a much-reduced role due to ill-health) William Hartnell as the First Doctor returned for this story, which celebrated the tenth anniversary of Doctor Who.

Unknown dates

 * Actor Shaun Dingwall was born.