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At what point in the series did it stop being an educational type series and just go straight into whacky Sci-Fi adventures.

It was never conceived entirely as that. I think the first out-and-out sci-fi story was the second story of the very first series, featuring a race of cyborg beings known as... now what was it... the Daleks!

Back in those days the universe ran on mercury switches and static electricity. The Daleks could only travel on static-charged metal floors; even not getting up stairs was a crazy dream.

Extract from Wikipedia:

"The programme was intended to be educational and for family viewing on the early Saturday evening schedule. Initially, it alternated stories set in the past, which taught younger audience members about history, with stories set either in the future or in outer space to teach them about science. This was also reflected in the Doctor's original companions, one of whom was a science teacher and another a history teacher.

However, science fiction stories came to dominate the programme and the "historicals", which were not popular with the production team, were dropped after The Highlanders (1967). While the show continued to use historical settings, they were generally used as a backdrop for science fiction tales, with one exception: Black Orchid set in 1920s UK."

While Wikipedia isn't known for its accuracy, I believe this is broadly correct. I'm old enough to remember the early shows and there were definitely educational elements after the Daleks. In fact, there was at least one combining the Daleks with history - they were responsible for the Mary Celeste mystery!

Barry

and now he just hits things with a hammer...