10 Times Doctor Who Appeared In Other TV Shows

6. Chelmsford 123

Chelmsford 123 Doctor Who TARDIS
Channel 4

Obscure British comedy series Chelmsford 123 has mostly been forgotten about over the years, although the fact that it has a terrific Doctor Who gag means that it'll always exist in the back of some fans' minds.

In the episode Arrivederci Roma - the show's first outing, aired in March 1988 - a totally random moment occurs when two men are pulling a cart through a field. It starts off when we hear one of the most iconic sound effects in pop-culture, before the bloody TARDIS just materialises in the background of the shot.

The doors then swing open, and out steps the Doctor - hidden in silhouette, but clearly meant to be Tom Baker's Fourth - who looks around for a few seconds, steps back inside, and dematerialises, with the two men completely oblivious to what just happened.

Quite how a Channel 4 show managed to get away with this is anyone's guess, but no matter how this TARDIS gag came to be, it's probably the best moment in Chelmsford 123's entire run.

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Danny has been with WhatCulture for over ten years, and is currently Doctor Who Editor and WhoCulture Channel Manager, overseeing all of WhatCulture's Whoniverse coverage. In 2022, he took charge of WhoCulture and has grown it into the biggest Doctor Who channel on YouTube, and one of the biggest Doctor Who communities on the web full-stop. He has been writing and video editing since his early teens, and first got a taste for content creation after making his own Doctor Who trailers, off the back of a burning obsession with the Matt Smith era of the show. Like many his age, he first got into Doctor Who with the 2005 revival, but has since gone back and fallen in love with the classic years too. If you need someone to recite every Doctor Who episode in order, or to give you a random factoid about the making of Gridlock, Danny is the person to ask!