How to Find Doctor Who Full Episodes for Free Using a VPN

It’s not the easiest show to find mainly because despite it’s age – it still has a lot of commercial value. people even today will buy copies of the original show which is over fifty years old today. Many episodes will be available on platforms like YouTube, however these will mostly be removed very quickly. The BBC has become much more aggressive in defending it’s copyrighted material in later years. You’ll still get a few decent episodes though that seem to be flying under the radar !

Teaser Trailer of New Doctor Who

It’s coming soon, the new series of Doctor Who and the last one for the current Doctor – Jodie Whittaker. She’s been the thirteenth Doctor and of course the first female to play the role. No-one is entirely sure of the identity of the new doctor but should be revealed in the Christmas specials at the end of the season.

Here’s the trailer for Season 13 – which is called Flux.

Looks pretty exciting !

Classic Era of Old Dr Who

Doctor Who first ran for 26 seasons on BBC One, starting on November 23, 1963 and ending on December 6th, 1989. Each week, there was a new episode during the show’s original run. During this time there were eight different doctors –

• William Hartnell First Doctor 1963–66
• Patrick Houghton Second Doctor 1966–69
• Jon Pertwee Third Doctor 1970–74
• Tom Baker Fourth Doctor 1974–81
• Peter Davison Fifth Doctor 1982–84
• Colin Baker Sixth Doctor 1984–86
• Sylvester McCoy Seventh Doctor 1987–89
• Paul McGann Eighth Doctor 1996

Paul McGann didn’t actually appear in a full series but starred in the Dr Who film called rather unimaginatively Dr Who: The Movie released in 1996.

Classic Dr. Who episodes used to be available for streaming on BBC iPlayer however in 2021 this is not the case. Currently all the classic episodes have been moved to BritBox, a new streaming service run by the UK’s largest TV channels. BritBox is basically a huge archive of classic UK television and some newer programmes.

It’s available for a small subscription fee in the following countries –  United Kingdom, United States, Canada, Australia, and South Africa. It’s believed that this will be extended to other locations in the future.

Classic Dr Who Full Episodes – Plus Lots of Science Fiction on BritBox

There’s no doubt that if you want to watch the classic, older Dr Who episodes then BritBox is the place to watch them. Sure you can find pirated copies floating around on various video streaming platforms but the quality can be very variable. Remember some of these programmes were filmed almost 60 years ago so bad copies are very poor quality.

If you like British TV and live in one of the catchment areas then BritBox is certainly with the investment. there’s usually a trial period for free although he subscription cost is pretty low anyway. There’s literally thousands of great UK TV shows on this platform spread across the main UK TV platforms. It’s incredible value if you enjoy UK television and includes many classic Science fiction shows too.

Here’s a few of the all time classics but there’s loads more –

• Blakes Seven – All English-language seasons and all 52 episodes of the cult British sci-fi show from the mind of Terry Nation are now available to watch.
• Doctor Who – All the classic episodes, plus the two big-screen spinoffs from the television series featuring the infamous Daleks and starring Peter Cushing as Doctor Who.
• Red Dwarf –  Three million years out into deep space, with the unlikeliest crew you could find. And bizarre and funny things just keep happening. It’s very funny, all episodes available.
• The Prisoner -All 17 episodes of the pioneering, groundbreaking TV drama created by and starring Patrick McGoohan is available to watch on BritBox.
• The Avengers – Britbox has the complete surviving episodes of the first season, plus, classic seasons of Emma Peel and Tara King, starring Patrick Macnee, Diana Rigg and Linda Thorney in their inimitable roles as the ingenious spy pair.
• Sapphire and Steel – The complete collection of seasons and episodes from the 1980s sci-fi classic, starring Joanna Lumley and David McCallum.
• Space 1999 – Every episode of another sci-fi cult classic set in 1999 !
• Thunderbirds – All episodes of the animated classic plus the revival episodes. You can also watch 32 episodes of Captain Scarlett and the Mysterons.

There’s lots more and even loads of classic science fiction films although you can usually find these in other places. Remember though for Doctor Who you’ll only be able to find the older classic shows, there are none of the Revival shows currently on BritBox. Like all this information this could change though so it’s worth checking out the latest situation before you subscribe.

Where to Find Doctor Who Episodes

As mentioned there are lots of copies floating around of Doctor Who episodes but we’re going to focus on the official legitimate sources which are available online.

Dr Who Box Sets

You can find every single full episode of Dr Who on one of the many box sets available on DVD and BluRay. there’s loads of different combinations but most are released per season. They can get very expensive if you buy them all new but they can also be found in second hand shops and sites like eBay.

If you wanted to buy them all you’re looking at a significant investment but arguably a worthwhile one. Most Dr Who fans will happily watch their favorite episodes over and over again.

Dr Who on BBC America

BBC America is a United States cable channel that broadcasts several shows created by the BBC, such as Doctor Who. In 2009, it acquired US broadcast rights for the revived Doctor Who; it held those rights until 2011 when Starz took them over.

BBC America is a British TV network that broadcasts primarily in the U.S. because it is not run by the BBC proper and has to pay for its content like any other American broadcaster.

Currently BBC America has Season 12 available to stream on their site. They also have exclusive US rights to show Season 13 when it’s released on October 31st. This will be broadcast on the same date as it’s released on the BBC iPlayer in the UK.

Dr Who on BBC iPlayer

So if you’re looking for the best source for finding Doctor Who full episodes online then there’s currently no competition – it’s obviously on the BBC’s own site. Not only will the BBC be broadcasting the new series live from October 31st, 2021 but there’s lots more Dr Who episodes on there too!  Imagine 168 episodes all available to stream from BBC iPlayer to your TV for free!

In fact as I write this, every single Dr Who episode made from the revival in 2005 is accessible on there. Now this could change at any time, most of the episodes are listed as available for two months but this is usually renewed. Again whenever you read this it’s worth checking the current situation on the BBC’s Dr Who page.

The BBC iPlayer is completely free however there are some restrictions – basically you must have a UK TV license and be located in the United Kingdom to watch this. As you can’t actually purchase a UK TV licence from outside the UK there is no completely legitimate way to watch the BBC live abroad. However millions of people do just that by using a simple, inexpensive tool called a VPN which we’ll explain in the next section.

Using a VPN to Watch Dr Who on BBC iPlayer

As explained many Dr Who fans get completely cut out of online access because of their location. It’s a shame because there really is a global fan base for one of the most loved science fiction shows of all time.

If you’re in France for example you can’t get BBC America, BritBox or BBC iPlayer online. Indeed most of the population of the world outside a few location have no other option but pirate copies or paying for expensive DVDs and BluRays.

However as you probably have heard there is an option for watching full episodes of Dr Who online irrespective of where you’re located by using something called a VPN.

What is a VPN ?

A virtual private network is a service that provides users with an encrypted connection to a remote server, which allows them to bypass a firewall or other geo-location restrictions. VPNs are often used by people who want to use the internet privately or access services that are only available in another country.

What that means is that you can simply hide your real location, pretend you’re in the UK and watch the new series live on Doctor Who wherever you’re located.

Here’s how anyone can access Doctor Who episodes on the BBC iPlayer (video demonstrates from Canada but works in the same way everywhere!).  Here we’re using NordVPN because it’s a) cheap and b) works.

Discount Page for NordVPN 

Which VPN is Best for BBC iPlayer ?

In theory you could choose any VPN service you like to access BBC iPlayer. As long as it had a UK server you could connect through then this should be enough. This however is no longer the case, mainly because the BBC like most large media companies have started to try and block VPN connections from streaming video from their sites.

The VPN Problem with Media Sites

Although none of these sites are able to directly detect a VPN connection, they can identify them from their usage patterns. The problem is that most VPN services share individual IP addresses with lots of people in order to keep costs down. For most sites it doesn’t really matter, as even when an IP address is being shared with thousands it’s unlikely many will visit the same sites. However media sites like the BBC iPlayer are very, very popular and literally millions use VPNs to access the BBC specifically.

What happens is that the BBC is able to detect hundreds or thousands of people originating from the exact same IP address. People don’t generally share IP addresses to this extent so it’s highly likely that it’s a shared connection like a proxy or VPN. It actually works most of the time any highly shared IP addresses are from VPN services being used to bypass their geo-blocks s they just block them.  The other popular UK TV site – ITV Hub is also doing something similar too.

Some VPNs Still Work with BBC iPlayer/Media Sites

the fix is to ensure that not too many people share the same IP addresses when connecting to the BBC. This is actually quite difficult to do ! You either need to heavily reduce the ratio of users to IP addresses or switch them around frequently. Lowering the ratio sounds simple but increases costs significantly for the VPN service. Monitoring and switching also takes time and effort which also costs money.

Lots of VPN services have basically given up supporting access to the main media sites like BBC iPlayer, Netflix, HBO and similar. Often they’ll pretend and hope that everything still works and their IP addresses aren’t filtered by the media servers. Some fortunately still work and if you find the right companies then you can watch Dr Who on BBC iPlayer as much as you like.

Generally there are two categories of VPN services that still work – the larger ones who have lots of IP addresses and server to switch users around. Or the smaller, specialised companies who are not quite as popular and don’t have the number of users one each server anyway.

Try NordVPN for Watching Dr Who Online

We’ve been using NordVPN for a few years now to watch Dr Who on the BBC when outside the UK. They’ve adopted a unique approach by just recommending a few specific servers for accessing the BBC iPlayer. This means they can monitor connections and add or rotate IP addresses when needed.

You have to use these specific servers though and not rely on the auto-connect feature of NordVPN. These are currently as listed below although it’s worth double checking with their support people.

These are the best NordVPN servers to use for BBC access.

UK# 1840-1847, 1850-1863, 1865, 1869, 1873, 1875-1878, 1880-1881, 1900-1901, 1903-1904, 1911, 1913, 1917, 1919-1920.

Instead of clicking on the country just connect to any of these servers directly. If you find it works well for you clicking on the heart icon will add to your favourites so you can switch and select from list in future.

NordVPN is also one of the cheapest VPNs on the market if you buy a longer subscription. The price changes quite often, but the latest discount deals are on the link below. The two or three year subscriptions are very reasonable and you can enjoy Doctor Who full episodes free of charge then!

VPN for BritBox/Classic Dr Who Episodes

For those of us who enjoyed the original series of Doctor Who then BritBox is a cracking investment. It’s available in United Kingdom, United States, Canada, Australia, and South Africa for a small subscription – currently about £6 in the UK.

For anyone outside those countries be careful if people suggest that you use a VPN as it’s not quite that simple. Although a VPN will allow you to access an active BritBox subscription by connecting to a VPN server in one of the supported countries. It won’t however let you pay for a subscription unless you have a valid form of payment linked with one of those countries.

So for example you could use an active BritBox subscription in France but you couldn’t start a subscription with only French payment methods. This catches a lot of people out as spoofing the origin of a credit/debit card is much harder than hiding your IP address.

If you are really determined – you should investigate pre-paid cards which you can get from various institutions. There are quite a few US pre-paid debit cards which will work as a US form of payment.

Dr Who – BBC iPlayer FAQ

How to watch doctor who online?

The easiest way is to watch on BBC iPlayer, which is free if you’re in the UK. This will currently give you access to all the new series of Dr Who i.e seasons 1-13. The older classic shows are all on BritBox.

What streaming sites have full episodes of Doctor Who?

BBC iPlayer has the ‘revival’ of Dr Who from 2005 on wards. BritBox has the classic Dr Who from 1963-1996.

Is Doctor Who on any countries Netflix?

Not any more, the licensing deal appears to have run out with Netflix.

Why can’t I find Doctor Who on Netflix?

Their broadcasting rights expired and don’t seem to have been renewed.

How do I watch a specific episode on Amazon Prime?

Just search from it withing Amazon Prime and you should be able to buy each individual episodes or an entire series.

Why can’t I watch Doctor Who on Amazon Prime?

You can buy it on demand but it’s not available for free anymore as their licensing rights expired.

Any other options for Dr Who full episodes free of charge?

Well the safest are all listed below, but you can always try downloading from P2P sites or Newsgroups.  It’s not something I do anymore as it can take ages and you end up downloading all sorts of rubbish – but it is free.  Try searching for a ‘Bit Torrent Client’ for P2P or you’ll need a Usenet client like NZB Get for downloading from Newsgroups.  These are not recommendations just a starting point if you want to go down this route for downloading older Dr Who episodes for free.