Disputed story titles

A disputed story title is one which has generated controversy amongst fans who are knowledgeable of the production history of Doctor Who. The overwhelming majority belong to serials of the William Hartnell era of Doctor Who, although a few come from later periods.

Background
Disputed story titles are overwhelmingly found in Hartnell era serials. Until The Savages — late into his career as the First Doctor — stories were broadcast not under a serial title, but rather as a series of individually-titled episodes. Thus, when there eventually arose a need to talk of these stories in the context of later serials which only had serial title, they had to be given a retroactive serial title they had never publicly had before. Two particular impetuses for this process were the publications of the first lists of serials, such as The Doctor Who Programme Guide, and the initial BBC Enterprises release of the serials to home video.

This process has caused difficulty in two ways. First, internal BBC documents have subsequently come to light which have revealed that the official "BBC Enterprises" name does not match what appears to have been the original title under which the story was commissioned and/or produced. Second, some titles are at variance with the earliest name under which the story was sold to overseas buyers or housed within the BBC's archives.

Because all serials have always been released under the same name to home video, however, the average fan of Doctor Who will not easily recognize that a naming controversy even exists. Thus, this problem is is largely one which exists in the minds of fans conversant who are conversant with the early production history of Doctor Who.

In addition to the Hartnell serials, there have been a few later stories which have suffered from naming controversies arising from other, unique causes.

An Unearthly Child
An Unearthly Child is the title of the first episode of the first set of episodes which are: An Unearthly Child, The Cave of Skulls, The Forest of Fear and The Firemaker.

The story is also sometimes known as 100,000 BC and The Tribe of Gum.

The story was published in script form by Titan Books in 1988 as part of their Doctor Who: The Scripts series, with the title The Tribe of Gum.

When this story has been released on BBC Video and DVD, it has been released as An Unearthly Child.

The Daleks
The second story of the first season is commonly known as The Daleks and comprises the following episodes: The Dead Planet, The Survivors, The Escape, The Ambush, The Expedition, The Ordeal, The Rescue.

This story has also been known as The Mutants; however, so as not to confuse it with the Jon Pertwee story (also called The Mutants), it is better known as The Daleks.

When this story has been released on BBC Video and DVD, it has been released as The Daleks.

The earliest documents for this story credit as The Survivors. Reference works have also attributed the title The Dead Planet to the serial, taking the title of the first episode. It is of note that neither title The Mutants nor The Daleks is actually used on screen for this serial. In fact "The Daleks" is the on-screen title of the second episode of the second Daleks serial, The Dalek Invasion of Earth.

The Edge of Destruction
This is the third story of the first season, comprising The Edge of Destruction and The Brink of Disaster.

This story sometimes has been wrongly referred to as Beyond the Sun, which was actually a working titled use for The Daleks.

This story was also known as Inside the Spaceship. The Target Books novelisation uses the title The Edge of Destruction. The Television Companion by David Howe and Stephen James Walker puts forward the case that Inside the Spaceship is the official BBC production title for the serial.

When this story has been released on BBC Video and DVD, it has been released as The Edge of Destruction.

The Massacre of St Bartholomew's Eve
This story is sometimes known as The Massacre of St Bartholomew's Eve, whilst in other media (including the Target Books novelisation) it is simply known as The Massacre.

The BBC Radio Collection releases use both names.

Mission to the Unknown
This single-episode story, although it carries the on-screen title Mission to the Unknown was also known officially by the BBC as Dalek Cutaway, and has been listed as such in some reference works. Its status as a prologue to the 12-episode The Daleks' Master Plan has led to some references considering this to be part of that overall storyline; indeed, the Target novelisation of The Daleks' Master Plan also places it under this umbrella.

Doctor Who (1996)
This story never had an 'official' story title on-screen or off, other than the overall title, Doctor Who.

There has been some suggestion that the story title is The Enemy Within (which was a working title for The Invisible Enemy). This title is attributed to the film's producer, Philip Segal, who suggested it at a science fiction convention, though it was never officially used as a title. Coincidentally, another Fox made-for-TV film reviving an old TV series, Alien Nation: The Enemy Within, used the title, which is also familiar as an episode title from the original Star Trek series.

For the BBC DVD release it was simply entitled Doctor Who: The Movie, whereas the TARDIS Index File Wikia entitles it Doctor Who (1996) to avoid confusion with the two Theatrical movies.

Another unofficial subtitle Out of the Ashes has been used in several sources, including the A Brief History of Time (Travel) website and it was also used to refer to the movie during a 2005 online documentary produced by the CBC in Canada for its website promoting the revived series. There is no indication this title was ever used by the BBC or Fox. The origin of this title is unknown.

Children in Need Special
In 2005, a special 7-minute mini-episode of Doctor Who was produced for the Children in Need appeal. Discounting the TV Movie, this was the first (and to date only) televised Doctor Who story to not display any episode title. The most common title applied to the episode is Children in Need Special or simply Children in Need, however the special is also known by the title Pudsey Cutaway (a reference to the charity's mascot). When the BBC released the story to DVD, the title Children in Need Special was applied to it. The 2009 licensed reference book Companions and Allies applied the title Born Again to the mini-episode, which was disputed by a review of the book in Doctor Who Magazine and there's been no indication this title has ever been used in an official capacity.