40th Birthday Special was a series of special images depicting Tom Baker as the Fourth Doctor, Peter Davison as the Fifth Doctor, Colin Baker as the Sixth Doctor and Sylvester McCoy as the Seventh Doctor that were published in the 22 - 28 November 2003 edition of Radio Times to coincide with the series' fortieth anniversary.

Four editions of the 22 - 28 November 2003 issue were published each with a different variant cover. Each variant depicted a unique scene with a Doctor, however when all four variants were placed side by side they'd create a bigger single image.

A further image of the Fourth Doctor sat in a wicker chair was also included in the issue as well as other images of the Fourth Doctor. Tom Baker by far had the most coverage in these scenes.

Featured[]

• Fourth Doctor - Tom Baker
• Fifth Doctor - Peter Davison
• Sixth Doctor - Colin Baker
• Seventh Doctor - Sylvester McCoy

Crew[]

• Costume designer - June Hudson
• Photographer - Andy Earl^[1]

Notes[]

• Models of K9, the Doctor's TARDIS, a Neomorph Cyberman, Daleks and a Sea Devil feature.
• Each actor's name is credited with their main era's timespan.
  • Tom Baker (1974-81)
  • Peter Davison (1982-84)
  • Colin Baker (1984-86)
  • Sylvester McCoy (1987-89)
    • This of course doesn't take into account continuations of his tenure in the 90s: Dimensions in Time and The Movie.
• June Hudson designed a reimagined autumn take on the Fourth Doctor's Season 18 outfit that she had designed decades earlier. His trademark scarf had been completely reimagined.
  • Hudson had previously returned to design a new outfit for an older Tom Baker Doctor in Doctor Who Night Introduction to the Night.
  • In an interview Hudson said: “I wanted to use the same rich colours of the original costume I designed for Tom. It’s a question of evolution. Tom’s stature on Doctor Who has matured and come to fruition and I’ve introduced an autumnal feel to reflect that.”^[2]
• Like the Fourth Doctor, the Fifth Doctor also had a new outfit in the form of a cream suit. He did wear the same style of hat he previously wore.^[3]
• The Sixth Doctor wore his usual outfit from his tenure.
• The Seventh Doctor wore his cream jacket outfit from Season 24.
• The BBC News website would publish an article about rumours Anthony Head might be the Ninth Doctor. In the article they included a paragraph about the 40th Birthday Special and an image of the full image of the Sixth Doctor and Seventh Doctor.^[4]
• The Fourth Doctor seems to be sitting in the same chair the White Guardian seen in during TV: The Ribos Operation.

The full scene.

Footnotes[]