A HOLIDAY FOR THE DOCTOR

 A HOLIDAY FOR THE DOCTOR

Due to the nature of year-round filming it was common for lead actors to take leave during production, thus necessitating the story to include a character being absent for that week. Usually a writer would know in advance if an actor would be taking a planned vacation, but occasionally sudden illness had to be taken into account at the last moment. By the time of the Jon Pertwee era, seasons were limited to 26 weeks or less so actors taking leave from a live serial became uncommon (Jon Pertwee was the first actor playing the Doctor to star in all of his episodes). Below is a list of episodes were members of the main cast were absent for various reasons.

TITLE	CODE	EP#	ON-SCREEN TITLE	CHARACTER	ON SCREEN REASON	REAL LIFE REASON
The Keys of Marinus	E	3	The Screaming Jungle	The Doctor	The Doctor travels to Millennius alone whilst the others search for the remaining keys by themselves.	William Hartnell was on holiday when the episodes were filmed.
		4	The Snows of Terror
The Aztecs	F	2	The Warriors of Death	Susan	Susan disturbs a sacrifice and despite Tlotoxl demanding punishment, she is instead sent to a seminary to become educated on local customs.	Carole Ann Ford was on holiday when the episodes were filmed but appears in pre-filmed sequences.
		3	The Bride of Sacrifice
The Sensorites	G	4	A Race Against Death	Barbara	Barbara elects to remain on the ship as the others travel down to the Sense Sphere.	Jacqueline Hill was on holiday when the episodes were filmed.
		5	Kidnap
The Reign of Terror	H	2	Guests of Madame Guillotine	Ian	Ian is separated from the women once they arrive in a Parisian prison.	William Russell was on holiday when the episodes were filmed but appears in pre-filmed sequences.
		3	A Change of Identity
The Dalek Invasion of Earth	K	4	The End of Tomorrow	The Doctor	The Doctor faints under the stress of the constant pursuit by the Daleks.	Whilst filming scenes for Episode 3, the ramp of the Dalek saucer collapsed, and William Hartnell suffered a back injury. He was given a few days off to recover, and thus missed the filming of Episode 4. Edmund Warwick stood in for him as a body double.
The Web Planet	N	3	Escape to Danger	Barbara	Barbara is taken to the Crater of Needles as a slave.	Jacqueline Hill was on holiday when the episode was filmed. Her name was removed from the end credits prior to broadcast, leading to her complaining and asking her name be reinstated for overseas sales, but this wasn’t acted upon.
The Crusade	P	3	The Wheel of Fortune	Ian	Ian is trying to find Barbara, but ultimately is captured.	William Russell was on holiday when the episode was filmed but appears in pre-filmed sequences.
The Space Museum	Q	3	The Search	The Doctor	The Doctor is captured by Lobos and is being ‘prepared’ to be turned into an exhibit.	William Hartnell was away when the episode was filmed but appears in the reprise at the start of the episode only.
The Time Meddler	S	2	The Meddling Monk	The Doctor	The Doctor is imprisoned by the Monk.	William Hartnell was on holiday when this episode was filmed but appears in the reprise at the start of the episode and a pre-recorded voice-over.
Mission to the Unknown	T/A	1	Mission to the Unknown	All main cast members	The story follows Marc Cory and his crew trapped on Kembel; the Tardis crew don’t appear at all.	The episode was created following the removal of an earlier episode (Planet of Giants 4) from the second production block, and so an additional episode was granted. The production team opted to use the single episode as a teaser for The Daleks Master Plan rather than tack an additional episode to an existing serial. William Hartnell is credited on screen as per his contract however.
The Massacre of St Bartholomew's Eve	W	2	The Sea Beggar	The Doctor	The Doctor is away visiting Charles Preslin.	William Hartnell was on holiday when the episode was filmed and the character of the Doctor doesn’t appear. He does however appear in film inserts, in the role of the Abbot of Amboise.
The Celestial Toymaker	Y	2	The Hall of Dolls	The Doctor	The Doctor has been rendered invisible by the Celestial Toymaker while he plays the Trilogic Game.	William Hartnell was on holiday while the episodes were filmed, instead appearing in pre-filmed sequences and audio inserts. Hartnell’s contract was due to expire at the end of this serial and it was producer John Wiles’ desire to replace him with someone else when he became ‘visible’ again. This was vetoed by management and Hartnell’s contract was extended.
		3	The Dancing Floor
The Tenth Planet	DD	3	Episode 3	The Doctor	The Doctor is losing strength as Mondas continues to drain Earth’s energy, and falls unconscious	William Hartnell was unwell and did not attend filming. His dialogue was distributed between other characters.
The Power of the Daleks	EE	4	Episode Four	Polly	Polly is kidnapped by the rebels	Anneke Wills was on holiday when the episode was filmed.
		5	Episode Five	Ben	Ben is kidnapped by the rebels	Michael Craze was on holiday when the episode was filmed.
The Evil of the Daleks	LL	4	Episode 4	The Doctor & Victoria	The Doctor and Victoria have limited screen time, with the episode mainly focusing on Jamie and Kemel.	Patrick Troughton and Deborah Watling were on holiday when this episode was filmed but appears in pre-filmed sequences. Watling’s absence is odd as she had only been in Doctor Who for two episodes, though likely had a planned holiday prior to getting the role of Victoria.
The Enemy of the World	PP	4	Episode 4	Jamie & Victoria	Having been captured at the end of Episode 3, Jamie and Victoria are transferred back to Australia for interrogation.	Frazer Hines and Deborah Watling were on holiday when this episode was filmed.
The Web of Fear	QQ	2	Episode 2	The Doctor	The Doctor is apparently caught in the explosion from the first episode and is missing.	Patrick Troughton was on holiday when this episode was filmed.
The Wheel in Space	SS	2	Episode 2	The Doctor	The Doctor is injured after the Servo robot attack from the first episode.	Patrick Troughton was on holiday when this episode was filmed. A body double is used for scenes that required his physical presence.
The Mind Robber	UU	2	Episode 2	Jamie	The Doctor finds Jamie as a cardboard cut-out with a blank face, so tries to fix him but gets it wrong, leaving Jamie appearing physically different.	Frazer Hines contracted chicken pox and was ordered to be quarantined; actor Hamish Wilson temporarily replaced Frazer as Jamie (and at the start of episode 3), although Frazer does appear in some pre-filmed sequences.
The Invasion	VV	3	Episode Three	Zoe	Zoe has been detained by Vaughn.	Wendy Padbury was on holiday when the episode was filmed.
		8	Episode Eight	Jamie	Jamie is shot in the leg in Episode 7 and ordered by the Doctor to rest.	Frazer Hines was on holiday when the episode was filmed but appears in pre-filmed sequences.
The Seeds of Death	XX	4	Episode Four	The Doctor	The Doctor has been overcome by the fumes of one of the Ice Warrior’s seeds.	Patrick Troughton was on holiday when this episode was filmed. A body double is used for scenes that required his physical presence.

Episodes not mentioned in the table:

William Hartnell (the Doctor) in Marco Polo 2 – Hartnell was ill during the rehearsal of this episode, and despite being present when the episode was filmed, his role was heavily reduced.

Adrienne Hill (Katarina) in The Myth Makers 1 2 3 – Katarina isn’t introduced until Episode 4

Adrienne Hill (Katarina) in The Daleks Master Plan 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 – The production team determined early on that the character of Katarina was unsuitable as a companion and thus Terry Nation was asked to remove her from the story as soon as possible. Katarina is killed off in Episode 4 of the serial, though due to the filming schedule her death scene was actually the first footage Adrienne Hill filmed for Doctor Who.

Jackie Lane (Dodo) in The War Machines 3 4 – Jackie Lane’s contract expired at the conclusion of Episode 2 and thus does not appear in the rest of the serial. Dodo is unique in that her character doesn’t get a proper goodbye scene at the end of Episode 4, instead said to be recovering in the countryside after her encounter with WOTAN.

Michael Craze (Ben) and Anneke Wills (Polly) in The Faceless Ones 3 4 5 6 – Michael Craze and Anneke Wills’ contracts expired at the conclusion of episode two, and thus do not appear in the rest of the serial. Unlike the previous departure of Dodo, both actors were given the chance to ‘say goodbye’ via a pre-filmed sequence at the conclusion of Episode 6, when the Doctor negotiates a truce with the Chameleons but Ben and Polly elect to remain in present day London.

Deborah Watling (Victoria) in The Evil of the Daleks 1 – The 1866 storyline and thus Victoria’s introduction does not occur until Episode 2

Patrick Troughton (the Doctor), Frazer Hines (Jamie McCrimmon) and Deborah Watling (Victoria Waterfield) in The Space Pirates 6 - Despite all three appearing in the final episode, they were not present for the studio recording scenes. Troughton, Frazer and Watling were away filming on location for The War Games and so only appear in pre-filmed inserts. This is the only other time in the 1960s that the regular cast weren't present for studio sessions; the other being Mission to the Unknown.

William Hartnell also had limited screentime in The Daleks Master Plan 11 and The Savages 3 for various reasons.