Doctor Who (season 23)

The twenty-third season of British science fiction television series Doctor Who, known collectively as The Trial of a Time Lord, aired in weekly episodes from 6 September to 6 December 1986. It contains four adventures: The Mysterious Planet, Mindwarp, Terror of the Vervoids and The Ultimate Foe. The season marks Colin Baker's final regular appearance as the Sixth Doctor.

Doctor Who
Season 23
Cover art of the Blu-ray release for the complete season
Starring
Country of originUnited Kingdom
No. of episodes14
Release
Original networkBBC1
Original release6 September (1986-09-06) –
6 December 1986 (1986-12-06)
Season chronology

The idea for the serial stemmed from several production changes to Doctor Who, such as reduced screen time for the season and an instruction from BBC1 controller Michael Grade that the series needed to contain less violence and more humour.[1] Several problems occurred during production, including the death of scriptwriter Robert Holmes and the resignation of script editor Eric Saward. When it ended, Baker was dismissed from the role on the orders of Grade.[2][3]

Synopsis

In the serial, the Sixth Doctor is tried by the High Council of Time Lords for breaking several of the laws of Gallifrey, the Time Lords' home world, including interference with outside worlds and genocide. A mysterious character called the Valeyard acts as prosecutor. In the first two chapters (The Mysterious Planet and Mindwarp) events from the Doctor's past and present are submitted as evidence of his guilt. The third chapter (Terror of the Vervoids) presents future events in the Doctor's defence. In the concluding chapter (The Ultimate Foe) the Doctor's trial is halted, and the Doctor confronts the Valeyard and his old rival, the Master, in order to clear his name and to save the High Council.

Casting
See also: List of Doctor Who cast members

Main cast

Colin Baker makes his final appearance as the Doctor in this longest-running serial before being fired by the BBC.[2] Nicola Bryant departs as Peri Brown in Mindwarp. Bonnie Langford makes her debut as the Doctor's future companion Melanie Bush in Terror of the Vervoids.

Recurring stars

Michael Jayston and Lynda Bellingham both appeared throughout the whole serial, the former as the Valeyard and the latter as the Inquisitor. Tony Selby appears as Glitz in The Mysterious Planet and The Ultimate Foe. Anthony Ainley returns as the Master in The Ultimate Foe.

Serials
See also: List of Doctor Who episodes (1963–1989)

The series remained at once-weekly Saturday broadcasts. All episodes were 25 minutes long, with the exception of Part 14, which ran for 28 minutes. This unique running time was the result of a plea by John Nathan-Turner to his superiors at the BBC that the serial's final episode needed the additional three minutes to conclude the story properly. Although there were now 14 episodes in the season, the total running time was significantly reduced since the episodes were just over half as long.

StorySerialSerial titleEpisode titlesDirected byWritten byOriginal air dateProd.
code		UK viewers
(millions) [4]		AI [4]
143a1The Mysterious Planet"Part One"Nicholas MallettRobert Holmes6 September 1986 (1986-09-06)7A4.972
"Part Two"Nicholas MallettRobert Holmes13 September 1986 (1986-09-13)7A4.969
"Part Three"Nicholas MallettRobert Holmes20 September 1986 (1986-09-20)7A3.970
"Part Four"Nicholas MallettRobert Holmes27 September 1986 (1986-09-27)7A3.772
143b2Mindwarp"Part Five"Ron JonesPhilip Martin4 October 1986 (1986-10-04)7B4.871
"Part Six"Ron JonesPhilip Martin11 October 1986 (1986-10-11)7B4.669
"Part Seven"Ron JonesPhilip Martin18 October 1986 (1986-10-18)7B5.166
"Part Eight"Ron JonesPhilip Martin25 October 1986 (1986-10-25)7B5.072
143c3Terror of the Vervoids"Part Nine"Chris CloughPip and Jane Baker1 November 1986 (1986-11-01)7C5.266
"Part Ten"Chris CloughPip and Jane Baker8 November 1986 (1986-11-08)7C4.669
"Part Eleven"Chris CloughPip and Jane Baker15 November 1986 (1986-11-15)7C5.369
"Part Twelve"Chris CloughPip and Jane Baker22 November 1986 (1986-11-22)7C5.369
143d4The Ultimate Foe"Part Thirteen"Chris CloughRobert Holmes29 November 1986 (1986-11-29)7C4.469
"Part Fourteen"Chris CloughPip and Jane Baker6 December 1986 (1986-12-06)7C5.669

Preproduction

Original Season 23
See also: List of unmade Doctor Who serials and films § The originally planned season 23

The change of format that Doctor Who had undergone in Season 22 (45-minute episodes, moving back to one episode per week on Saturday evenings) had been reasonably successful, with ratings around the 6–8 million mark. As such, the production team began preparations for Season 23 in the same format, with a total of 13 episodes spread over six stories, with five 2-episode serials and one of 3 episodes. A number of storylines were submitted, with six eventually being commissioned between September 1984 and February 1985. However, in February 1985, the BBC announced that, as a cost-cutting measure owing to the costs of several large projects (not least of which was the launch of EastEnders), Season 23 was being put back from its planned transmission in January 1986 to the following September, which would be a different financial year.

Planned serials
Story number No of Episodes Title Written by
12The Nightmare FairGraham Williams
Written by former producer Graham Williams, this two-part story was commissioned on 25 September 1984 as Arcade[5] and was planned to open the original 23rd series.[6] Nathan-Turner hoped to have Matthew Robinson direct the adventure.[7] Williams wrote a novelisation of the script which was published by Target Books in May 1989. It was later adapted by John Ainsworth for Big Finish Productions as part of their The Lost Stories series in November 2009.
22The Ultimate EvilWally K. Daly
Written by Wally K. Daly, this two-part story was planned to be the second story in the original 23rd series.[6] Nathan-Turner hoped to have Fiona Cumming direct the adventure.[7] Daly novelised the script which was published by Target Books in August 1989. An audiobook of this novelisation, read by Daly himself, was released by the RNIB in March 2010. It was later adapted by Daly for Big Finish as part of their The Lost Stories series, to be released in November 2019.[8]
32Mission to MagnusPhilip Martin
Written by Philip Martin, this two-part story was planned to be the third story in the original 23rd series.[9] Nathan-Turner hoped to have Ron Jones direct the adventure.[7] Martin wrote a novelisation of the script which was published by Target Books in July 1990. It was later adapted by Martin for Big Finish as part of their The Lost Stories series in December 2009.
43Yellow Fever and How to Cure ItRobert Holmes
Yellow Fever and How to Cure It was a three-part story by Robert Holmes that would have taken place in Singapore and featured the Autons as the monsters, with either the Rani or the Master appearing.[9] The first episode was commissioned on 26 October 1984, before being put on hold.[9] The entire story was subsequently commissioned on 6 February 1985,[9] only a couple of weeks before news of the planned hiatus broke. Nathan-Turner hoped to have Graeme Harper direct the adventure.[7] After the news of the hiatus, Holmes was asked by the production team to continue with the story but as six 25-minute episodes,[9] this version seeing the removal of the Master from the plot.[10] Holmes reportedly only completed a story outline before the planned Series 23 was completely cancelled.[11]
52In the Hollows of TimeChristopher H. Bidmead
Commissioned as a two-part story from ex-script editor Christopher H. Bidmead on 21 November 1984.[9] After the news of the hiatus, Bidmead was asked by the production team to continue with the story but as four 25-minute episodes.[9] It was later adapted as The Hollows of Time by Bidmead for Big Finish as part of their The Lost Stories series in June 2010.
62The Children of JanuaryMichael Feeney Callan
Written by Michael Feeney Callan, this story was commissioned on 5 February 1985.[12] After the news of the hiatus, Callan was asked by the production team to continue with the story but as four 25-minute episodes.[9] It had been planned that an adaptation of this story would appear as part of Big Finish's The Lost Stories range, but fell through due to the author's commitments and was replaced by The Macros.[13]

Revised Season 23
Title card as used in this season

Although Doctor Who had been recommissioned, it yet again underwent a format change, with episodes reduced in length back to 25 minutes, and the full season running to only 14 episodes (a total of 350 minutes' running time), which worked out at almost half the total of Season 22. As a consequence, the production team were forced to abandon the various serials that had been commissioned for the original Season 23, and instead come up with something new. John Nathan-Turner and Eric Saward eventually came up with the idea of having the various serials linked with an overarching narrative—this led to the conception of a trial story with a Christmas Carol-inspired "past, present, and future" storyline,[1] thereby stretching the length of the season. The planned 14-part serial was intended to be divided into a pair of 4-part stories followed by a 6-part one. By July 1985, the characters of the Valeyard, the Inquisitor and Mel were conceived.

Production

Robert Holmes was commissioned to write the first and final chapters of the serial. His draft of the first chapter, The Mysterious Planet, was criticised by BBC Head of Series and Serials Jonathan Powell for its comedic content, contradicting the BBC controller's request for a more humorous series – which took away confidence from Holmes.

The second chapter, Mindwarp, was written by Philip Martin. Martin's character Sil, introduced in Vengeance on Varos, was popular among the production team, who asked Martin to feature the character in the cancelled Mission to Magnus. Nathan-Turner asked Martin to include Sil in his chapter, and asked confidentially for Peri to be killed in accordance with Nicola Bryant's wishes to leave the show with a bang.

The third chapter was originally to be interlinked with the fourth. Holmes was originally asked to write it, but declined, citing a dislike of six-part serials. After rejecting submissions by Christopher H. Bidmead and PJ Hammond,[1] Nathan-Turner approached husband-and-wife writing team Pip and Jane Baker to write a studio-based serial, Terror of the Vervoids.[14]

Holmes was unable to finish writing the fourth chapter, originally called Time Inc., before his death from a liver illness and Hepatitis B on 24 May 1986, aged 59.[14] Pip and Jane Baker were commissioned by Nathan-Turner at short notice to write a new version of the episode, after script editor Eric Saward withdrew his permission for his original version of part fourteen to be used: the original ending would have featured a fight to the death in a time vent with both the Doctor and the Valeyard as part of a cliffhanger ending to the season, which horrified Nathan-Turner, as he feared that to use such a downbeat ending would have provided an excuse for the BBC management to cancel the show. Subsequently the title was later changed to The Ultimate Foe.[14]

Filming of the serial began on 7 April 1986 and ended on 14 August 1986. For the opening sequence, Nathan-Turner commissioned a 45-second model shot that cost over GB£8,000, which at that time was the highest amount of money spent on a single special-effects sequence in the history of the series. The outdoor sequences in The Mysterious Planet were filmed in mid-April in Queen Elizabeth Country Park, and studio work followed on 24 April and 10 May. Studio work for Mindwarp took place from 27–29 May and 11–13 June, and location shots were filmed in Brighton from 15–16 June. Terror of the Vervoids and The Ultimate Foe were produced simultaneously; production began with location filming for the latter in late June, before returning to the studio to film scenes for both chapters on 16–17 July. Terror of the Vervoids was the last chapter to be completed, with studio work taking place from 30 July–1 August and from 12–14 August.

Reception and analysis

Public reaction to the season was mixed. Although the Audience Appreciation figures had improved since the previous season—the lowest figure was 66% for parts seven and nine and the highest was 72% for parts one, four and eight.— the viewing figures were lower.

Reviews

The serial received mixed reviews from Doctor Who critics. Paul Cornell, Martin Day and Keith Topping, co-authors of The Discontinuity Guide, wrote that as a whole, the serial's plot "hangs together remarkably well".[15] David J. Howe and Stephen James Walker, authors of Doctor Who: The Television Companion, disagreed, arguing that the serial was a "monumental wasted opportunity".[16] They disapproved of the trial storyline, being unconvinced that a prosecutor "in any reasonable legal system" would be allowed to modify charges and court proceedings mid-trial.[17] They did find the meta-humour of "the Doctor effectively sitting down to watch Doctor Who for fourteen weeks" amusing if repetitive however, and praised Baker's acting.[18] Both reviews found that the trial scenes detracted from the chapter story arcs.[19][20]

Reviews of the individual chapters were also mixed. Although appreciative of Brian Blessed's acting, Cornell, Day and Topping argued that the script for Mindwarp lacked focus, "[trying] to be comic, grotesque, straight, and farcical all at the same time".[21] Howe and Walker were more favourable towards the script, citing Sil's re-appearance as positive, and hailing Peri's death as "one of the most dramatic and impressive moments of the entire season" and Bryant's best scene since The Caves of Androzani.[22] Both reviews judged Terror of the Vervoids to be a well-written story, although Cornell, Day and Topping criticised the dialogue, and Howe and Walker were unimpressed by Bonnie Langford's performance.[19][20]

Commercial releases

The Trial of a Time Lord was broadcast from 6 September to 6 December 1986.

Home media
See also: List of Doctor Who VHS releases and List of Doctor Who home video releases

VHS releases
Season Story no. Serial name Number and duration
of episodes		 R2 release date R4 release date R1 release date
23 143 The Trial of a Time Lord 14 x 25 mins October 1993
3 x VHS		 October 1993
3 x VHS		 October 1993
3 x VHS

DVD and Blu-ray releases
Season Story no. Serial name Number and duration
of episodes		 R2 release date R4 release date R1 release date
23 143 The Trial of a Time Lord:
The Mysterious Planet
Mindwarp
Terror of the Vervoids
The Ultimate Foe		 13 × 25 min.[lower-alpha 1]
1 × 30 min.		 29 September 2008[23] 5 February 2009[24] 7 October 2008[25]
Complete Season 23[lower-alpha 2] 13 × 25 min.[lower-alpha 3]
1 × 30 min.		 7 October 2019 (B) [26] 3 December 2019 (B)
  1. Each serial in this season comprises four episodes, with the exception of The Ultimate Foe, which was made up of two episodes.
  2. Released as Doctor Who: The Collection – Season 23 in Region B. Released as Doctor Who – Colin Baker: Complete Season Two in Region A.
  3. Each serial in this season comprises four episodes, with the exception of The Ultimate Foe, which was made up of two episodes.

In print
Main article: List of Doctor Who novelisations

"The Missing Episodes"
Serial name Novelisation title Author First published
The Nightmare Fair The Nightmare Fair Graham Williams 18 May 1989
The Ultimate Evil The Ultimate Evil Wally K. Daly 17 August 1989
Mission to Magnus Mission to Magnus Philip Martin 19 July 1990

The Trial of a Time Lord
Serial name Novelisation title Author First published
Parts 1–4 The Mysterious Planet Terrance Dicks 19 November 1987
Parts 5–8 Mindwarp Philip Martin 15 June 1989
Parts 9–12 Terror of the Vervoids Pip and Jane Baker 17 September 1987
Parts 13–14 The Ultimate Foe Pip and Jane Baker 21 April 1988

Notes
  • ^a Although the following serial Time and the Rani was the Sixth Doctor's final appearance, Baker declined an offer to return either for the entire story (as originally offered) or solely for a regeneration scene, and the part was instead portrayed by Sylvester McCoy wearing a blond wig.[2]
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References
  1. "Doctor Who Classic Episode Guide - Season 23". BBC. 24 September 2014. Retrieved 18 July 2019.
  2. Howe, David J.; Stammers, Mark; Walker, Stephen James (1996). Doctor Who: The Eighties. London: Doctor Who Books. p. 94. ISBN 1-85227-680-0.
  3. Hewett, Richard. "Baker, Colin (1943-)". BFI Screenonline. Retrieved 19 October 2019.
  4. "Ratings Guide". Doctor Who News. Retrieved 27 December 2014.
  5. Pixley 2003b, p. 19
  6. Howe, Stammers & Walker 1996, p. 83.
  7. Pixley 2003, p. 20.
  8. "Lost Doctor Who stories return on audio" (Press release). Maidenhead: Big Finish Productions. 29 May 2019. Retrieved 29 May 2019.
  9. Howe, Stammers & Walker 1996, p. 84.
  10. Pixley 2003c, p. 44.
  11. Howe, Stammers & Walker 1993, pp. 207–208
  12. Pixley 2003c, p. 39.
  13. Berry 2010, p. 18
  14. Pixley, Andrew (1992). "Archive Feature Serial 7C The Ultimate Foe". Doctor Who Magazine. London: Marvel UK (Winter Special 1992): 43–49. ISSN 0957-9818.
  15. Cornell, Paul; Day, Martin; Topping, Keith (1995). "The Trial of a Time Lord 4". The Discontinuity Guide (reprinted on BBC Doctor Who website). London: Virgin Books. p. 332. ISBN 0-426-20442-5. Retrieved 20 April 2009.
  16. Howe, David J.; Walker, Stephen James (1998). "The Trial of a Time Lord 4". Doctor Who: The Television Companion (reprinted on BBC Doctor Who website) (1st ed.). London: BBC Books. p. 497. ISBN 0-563-40588-0. Retrieved 20 April 2009.
  17. Howe, David J.; Walker, Stephen James (1998). "The Trial of a Time Lord 1". Doctor Who: The Television Companion (reprinted on BBC Doctor Who website) (1st ed.). London: BBC Books. p. 492. ISBN 0-563-40588-0. Retrieved 20 April 2009.
  18. Howe, David J.; Walker, Stephen James (1998). "The Trial of a Time Lord 1". Doctor Who: The Television Companion (reprinted on BBC Doctor Who website) (1st ed.). London: BBC Books. p. 493. ISBN 0-563-40588-0. Retrieved 20 April 2009.
  19. Cornell, Paul; Day, Martin; Topping, Keith (1995). "The Trial of a Time Lord 3". The Discontinuity Guide (reprinted on BBC Doctor Who website). London: Virgin Books. p. 328. ISBN 0-426-20442-5. Retrieved 20 April 2009.
  20. Howe, David J.; Walker, Stephen James (1998). "The Trial of a Time Lord 3". Doctor Who: The Television Companion (reprinted on BBC Doctor Who website) (1st ed.). London: BBC Books. p. 496. ISBN 0-563-40588-0. Retrieved 20 April 2009.
  21. Cornell, Paul; Day, Martin; Topping, Keith (1995). "The Trial of a Time Lord 2". The Discontinuity Guide (reprinted on BBC Doctor Who website). London: Virgin Books. pp. 325–326. ISBN 0-426-20442-5. Retrieved 20 April 2009.
  22. Howe, David J.; Walker, Stephen James (1998). "The Trial of a Time Lord 2". Doctor Who: The Television Companion (reprinted on BBC Doctor Who website) (1st ed.). London: BBC Books. pp. 495–496. ISBN 0-563-40588-0. Retrieved 20 April 2009.
  23. "Doctor Who - The Trial Of A Time Lord". 29 September 2008. Retrieved 9 June 2017 – via Amazon.
  24. "Doctor Who by Roadshow Entertainment - Shop Online for Movies, DVDs in Australia". FishPond. Retrieved 9 June 2017.
  25. "Doctor Who: The Trial of a Time Lord". 7 October 2008. Retrieved 9 June 2017 – via Amazon.
  26. Doctor Who - The Collection - Season 23, BBC, 7 October 2019, retrieved 16 January 2020
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