Doctor Who (season 6)

The sixth season of British science fiction television series Doctor Who began on 10 August 1968 with the first story of season 6 The Dominators and ended Patrick Troughton's reign as the Doctor with its final story The War Games. Only 37 out of 44 episodes are held in the BBC archives; 7 remain missing. As a result, 2 serials are incomplete.

This article is about the 1968/69 season. For the 2011 series, see Doctor Who (series 6).

Doctor Who
Season 6
Cover art of the Region 2 DVD release for first serial of the season
Starring	Patrick Troughton Frazer Hines Wendy Padbury
Country of origin	United Kingdom
No. of stories	7
No. of episodes	44 (7 missing)
Release
Original network	BBC1
Original release	10 August 1968 (1968-08-10) – 21 June 1969 (1969-06-21)
Season chronology

Casting

See also: List of Doctor Who cast members

Main cast

• Patrick Troughton as the Second Doctor
• Frazer Hines as Jamie McCrimmon
• Wendy Padbury as Zoe Heriot

Patrick Troughton, Frazer Hines and Wendy Padbury make their final appearances as the Second Doctor, Jamie McCrimmon and Zoe Heriot respectively. Troughton and his fellow actors collectively decided that the workload of Doctor Who was exhausting them, and that they would soon depart from the show. From Season 7 onwards the show would never have such a high number of episodes again. The three actors remained with the show until the conclusion of the final season six serial The War Games.

Guest stars

Nicholas Courtney reappears as Brigadier Lethbridge-Stewart in The Invasion, last seen (as a Colonel) in The Web of Fear. He would soon make regular appearances in the program beginning with season 7's Spearhead from Space.

John Levene makes his first appearance as Corporal Benton in The Invasion. He would continue to make regular appearances, with the character promoted to sergeant, from season 7 until season 13.

Alan Bennion makes his first of three appearances in the series playing an Ice Warrior. In this, his first appearance, he portrays Lord Slaar in The Seeds of Death.

Serials

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

Terrance Dicks took over from Derrick Sherwin as script editor from The Invasion, with Sherwin resuming the role for The Space Pirates. Derrick Sherwin took over as producer from Peter Bryant for The War Games.

Season 6 is the most complete of all the Second Doctor's seasons, with only seven episodes missing (compared with twenty-eight from Season 4 and eighteen from Season 5), none of the season's stories missing in their entirety and only two stories (The Invasion and The Space Pirates) incomplete. This compares to the first two seasons of the Second Doctor from which only two complete serials (The Tomb of the Cybermen and The Enemy of the World) survive. The missing two episodes of The Invasion have since been reconstructed using animation and released on DVD.

The War Games, which was the final serial of the season, and the last of Patrick Troughton's tenure as the Doctor, was also the second longest serial up to that point, spanning 10 episodes – only the 12-part serial The Daleks' Master Plan from Season 3 was longer.

The Dominators and The Mind Robber were both produced at the end of the fifth recording block and held over to Season 6.

Story	Serial	Serial title	Episode titles	Directed by	Written by	Original air date	Prod. code	UK viewers (millions) [1]	AI [1]
44	1	The Dominators	"Episode 1"	Morris Barry	Norman Ashby (Mervyn Haisman and Henry Lincoln)	10 August 1968 (1968-08-10)	TT	6.1	52
			"Episode 2"	Morris Barry	Norman Ashby (Mervyn Haisman and Henry Lincoln)	17 August 1968 (1968-08-17)	TT	5.9	55
			[Episode 3][note 1]	Morris Barry	Norman Ashby (Mervyn Haisman and Henry Lincoln)	24 August 1968 (1968-08-24)	TT	5.4	55
			"Episode 4"	Morris Barry	Norman Ashby (Mervyn Haisman and Henry Lincoln)	31 August 1968 (1968-08-31)	TT	7.5	51
			"Episode 5"	Morris Barry	Norman Ashby (Mervyn Haisman and Henry Lincoln)	7 September 1968 (1968-09-07)	TT	5.9	53
Arriving on an irradiated island, The Doctor, Jamie and new companion Zoe Heriot find an alien craft bearing the imperious and ruthless Dominators.
45	2	The Mind Robber	"Episode 1"	David Maloney	Derrick Sherwin	14 September 1968 (1968-09-14)	UU	6.6	51
			"Episode 2"	David Maloney	Peter Ling	21 September 1968 (1968-09-21)	UU	6.5	49
			"Episode 3"	David Maloney	Peter Ling	28 September 1968 (1968-09-28)	UU	7.2	53
			"Episode 4"	David Maloney	Peter Ling	5 October 1968 (1968-10-05)	UU	7.3	56
			"Episode 5"	David Maloney	Peter Ling	12 October 1968 (1968-10-12)	UU	6.7	49
By blowing a fluid link, the Doctor is forced to use the emergency unit to take the TARDIS away from danger and indeed out of reality itself: to the Land of Fiction. Here, he meets fictional characters, such as Rapunzel, Lemuel Gulliver and Medusa.
46	3	The Invasion	"Episode One"^†	Douglas Camfield	Derrick Sherwin and Kit Pedler (story)	2 November 1968 (1968-11-02)	VV	7.3	55
			"Episode "Two"	Douglas Camfield	Derrick Sherwin and Kit Pedler (story)	9 November 1968 (1968-11-09)	VV	7.1	53
			"Episode Three"	Douglas Camfield	Derrick Sherwin and Kit Pedler (story)	16 November 1968 (1968-11-16)	VV	7.1	54
			"Episode Four"^†	Douglas Camfield	Derrick Sherwin and Kit Pedler (story)	23 November 1968 (1968-11-23)	VV	6.4	51
			"Episode Five"	Douglas Camfield	Derrick Sherwin and Kit Pedler (story)	30 November 1968 (1968-11-30)	VV	6.7	52
			"Episode Six"	Douglas Camfield	Derrick Sherwin and Kit Pedler (story)	7 December 1968 (1968-12-07)	VV	6.5	56
			"Episode Seven"	Douglas Camfield	Derrick Sherwin and Kit Pedler (story)	14 December 1968 (1968-12-14)	VV	7.2	55
			"Episode Eight"	Douglas Camfield	Derrick Sherwin and Kit Pedler (story)	21 December 1968 (1968-12-21)	VV	7.0	53
After becoming invisible, the TARDIS arrives in England. While looking for a missing scientist at an electronics company, the TARDIS crew find out that the Cybermen are hidden within London's sewers and are planning an invasion.
47	4	The Krotons	"Episode One"	David Maloney	Robert Holmes	28 December 1968 (1968-12-28)	WW	9.0	59
			"Episode Two"	David Maloney	Robert Holmes	4 January 1969 (1969-01-04)	WW	8.4	57
			"Episode Three"	David Maloney	Robert Holmes	11 January 1969 (1969-01-11)	WW	7.5	56
			"Episode Four"	David Maloney	Robert Holmes	18 January 1969 (1969-01-18)	WW	7.1	55
On an unnamed planet, a race called the Gonds are subject to the mysterious Krotons, unseen beings to whom they provide their brightest members as "companions".
48	5	The Seeds of Death	"Episode One"	Michael Ferguson	Brian Hayles	25 January 1969 (1969-01-25)	XX	6.6	57
			"Episode Two"	Michael Ferguson	Brian Hayles	1 February 1969 (1969-02-01)	XX	6.8	59
			"Episode Three"	Michael Ferguson	Brian Hayles and Terrance Dicks (uncredited)	8 February 1969 (1969-02-08)	XX	7.5	55
			"Episode Four"	Michael Ferguson	Brian Hayles and Terrance Dicks (uncredited)	15 February 1969 (1969-02-15)	XX	7.1	55
			"Episode Five"	Michael Ferguson	Brian Hayles and Terrance Dicks (uncredited)	22 February 1969 (1969-02-22)	XX	7.6	57
			"Episode Six"	Michael Ferguson	Brian Hayles and Terrance Dicks (uncredited)	1 March 1969 (1969-03-01)	XX	7.7	59
The Ice Warriors plan to destroy every living thing on Earth by making Earth more habitable for them.
49	6	The Space Pirates	"Episode One"^†	Michael Hart	Robert Holmes	8 March 1969 (1969-03-08)	YY	5.8	57
			"Episode Two"	Michael Hart	Robert Holmes	15 March 1969 (1969-03-15)	YY	6.8	52
			"Episode Three"^†	Michael Hart	Robert Holmes	22 March 1969 (1969-03-22)	YY	6.4	55
			"Episode Four"^†	Michael Hart	Robert Holmes	29 March 1969 (1969-03-29)	YY	5.8	53
			"Episode Five"^†	Michael Hart	Robert Holmes	5 April 1969 (1969-04-05)	YY	5.5	56
			"Episode Six"^†	Michael Hart	Robert Holmes	12 April 1969 (1969-04-12)	YY	5.3	52
Space beacons on the space lanes are being blown up and plundered for precious argonite by a gang of space pirates led by Caven and his associate Dervish.
50	7	The War Games	"Episode One"	David Maloney	Terrance Dicks and Malcolm Hulke	19 April 1969 (1969-04-19)	ZZ	5.5	55
			"Episode Two"	David Maloney	Terrance Dicks and Malcolm Hulke	26 April 1969 (1969-04-26)	ZZ	6.3	54
			"Episode Three"	David Maloney	Terrance Dicks and Malcolm Hulke	3 May 1969 (1969-05-03)	ZZ	5.1	53
			"Episode Four"	David Maloney	Terrance Dicks and Malcolm Hulke	10 May 1969 (1969-05-10)	ZZ	5.7	50
			"Episode Five"	David Maloney	Terrance Dicks and Malcolm Hulke	17 May 1969 (1969-05-17)	ZZ	5.1	53
			"Episode Six"	David Maloney	Terrance Dicks and Malcolm Hulke	24 May 1969 (1969-05-24)	ZZ	4.2	53
			"Episode Seven"	David Maloney	Terrance Dicks and Malcolm Hulke	31 May 1969 (1969-05-31)	ZZ	4.9	53
			"Episode Eight"	David Maloney	Terrance Dicks and Malcolm Hulke	7 June 1969 (1969-06-07)	ZZ	3.5	53
			"Episode Nine"	David Maloney	Terrance Dicks and Malcolm Hulke	14 June 1969 (1969-06-14)	ZZ	4.1	57
			"Episode Ten"	David Maloney	Terrance Dicks and Malcolm Hulke	21 June 1969 (1969-06-21)	ZZ	5.0	58
Brainwashed soldiers are being abducted from Earth by aliens and forced to fight in simulated environments, reflecting the periods in history whence they were taken. The aliens' aim is to produce a super army from the survivors. The Doctor is forced to make a choice that will change who he is.

^† : Episode is missing

Missing episodes

See also: Doctor Who missing episodes

• The Invasion – Episodes 1 & 4 (of 8 total) (Animated recreations exist)
• The Space Pirates – Episodes 1, 3 – 6 (of 6 total)

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
6	044	The Dominators	5 × 25 min.	September 1990[3][4]	February 1991[4]	August 1994[4]
	045	The Mind Robber	5 × 25 min.	May 1990[5][6]	September 1990[6]	February 1994[6]
	046	The Invasion	6 × 25 min.	June 1993[7][8] (2 x VHS)	October 1993[8]	June 1995[8]
	047	The Krotons	4 × 25 min.	February 1991[9][10]	July 1991[10]	August 1994[10]
	048	The Seeds of Death	1 × 150 min.	July 1985[11][12]	December 1987[12]	March 1990[12]
	050	The War Games	10 × 25 min.	February 1990[13][14]	June 1990[14]	January 1992[14]

DVD and Blu-ray releases

Season	Story no.	Serial name	Number and duration of episodes	R2 release date	R4 release date	R1 release date
6	044	The Dominators	5 × 25 min.	12 July 2010[15][16]	2 September 2010[17]	11 January 2011[18]
	045	The Mind Robber	5 × 20 min.	7 March 2005[19]	5 May 2005[20]	6 September 2005[21]
	046	The Invasion[lower-alpha 1]	8 × 25 min.	6 November 2006[22][23]	3 January 2007[24]	6 March 2007[25]
	047	The Krotons	4 × 25 min.	2 July 2012[26][27]	2 August 2012[28]	10 July 2012[29]
	048	The Seeds of Death	6 × 25 min.	17 February 2003[30]	5 May 2003[31]	2 March 2004[32]
		The Seeds of Death (Special Edition)[lower-alpha 2]	6 × 25 min.	28 March 2011[33][34]	5 May 2011[35]	12 June 2012[36]
	050	The War Games[lower-alpha 3]	10 × 25 min.	6 July 2009[37][38]	3 September 2009[39]	3 November 2009[40]
Lost in Time, Volume 2
4–6	032	The Underwater Menace[lower-alpha 4]	12 × 25 min. (+ 2 × 25 min. audio)[lower-alpha 5]	1 November 2004[41][42]	2 December 2004[lower-alpha 6][43] 1 July 2010[lower-alpha 7][44]	2 November 2004[45]
	033	The Moonbase[lower-alpha 8]
	035	The Faceless Ones[lower-alpha 9]
	036	The Evil of the Daleks[lower-alpha 10]
	038	The Abominable Snowmen[lower-alpha 11]
	040	The Enemy of the World[lower-alpha 12]
	041	The Web of Fear[lower-alpha 13]
	043	The Wheel in Space[lower-alpha 14]
	049	The Space Pirates[lower-alpha 15]

1. Episodes 2–3 and 5–8 of 8, animation of 1 and 4.
2. Only available as part of the Revisitations 2 box set in Regions 2 and 4. Only available individually in Region 1.
3. Available individually or in the Regeneration box set in Region 2.
   Only available individually in Regions 1 and 4.
4. Episode 3 of 4.
5. Also includes surviving clips from The Power of the Daleks, The Highlanders,
   The Macra Terror and Fury from the Deep.
6. Original release.
7. Re-release.
8. Episodes 2 and 4 of 4; soundtracks of 1 and 3.
9. Episodes 1 and 3 of 6.
10. Episode 2 of 7.
11. Episode 2 of 6.
12. Episode 3 of 6.
13. Episode 1 of 6.
14. Episodes 3 and 6 of 6.
15. Episode 2 of 6.

In print

Main article: List of Doctor Who novelisations

Serial name	Novelisation title	Author	First published
The Dominators	The Dominators	Ian Marter	19 April 1984
The Mind Robber	The Mind Robber	Peter Ling	20 November 1986
The Invasion	The Invasion	Ian Marter	16 May 1985
The Krotons	The Krotons	Terrance Dicks	13 June 1985
The Seeds of Death	The Seeds of Death	Terrance Dicks	17 July 1986
The Space Pirates	The Space Pirates	Terrance Dicks	15 March 1990
The War Games	Doctor Who and the War Games	Malcolm Hulke	25 September 1979

Notes

1. This episode has no on-screen episode title[2]

References

1. "Ratings Guide". Doctor Who News. Retrieved 27 December 2014.
2. "BBC – Doctor Who Classic Episode Guide – The Dominators – Details". bbc.co.uk.
3. "DOCTOR WHO - THE DOMINATORS". bbfc.co.uk.
4. "The Dominators (VHS)". timelash.com.
5. "DOCTOR WHO - THE MIND ROBBER". bbfc.co.uk.
6. "The Mind Robber (VHS)". timelash.com.
7. "DOCTOR WHO - THE INVASION". bbfc.co.uk.
8. "The Invasion (VHS)". timelash.com.
9. "DOCTOR WHO - THE KROTONS". bbfc.co.uk.
10. "The Krotons (VHS)". timelash.com. Archived from the original on 22 December 2015.
11. "DOCTOR WHO - THE SEEDS OF DEATH". bbfc.co.uk.
12. "The Krotons (VHS)". timelash.com.
13. "DOCTOR WHO - THE WAR GAMES". bbfc.co.uk.
14. "The War Games (VHS)". timelash.com.
15. "Doctor Who: The Dominators (DVD)". BBC. Retrieved 2 August 2013.
16. "Doctor Who: The Dominators". British Video Association. Retrieved 2 August 2013.
17. "Doctor Who: The Dominators 2 DVD Set". BBC. Retrieved 3 August 2013.
18. "Doctor Who - Story #044: The Dominators". TVShowsOnDVD.com. Archived from the original on 14 November 2013. Retrieved 3 August 2013.
19. "Doctor Who: Mind Robber (DVD)". BBC. Retrieved 2 August 2013.
20. "Doctor Who The Mind Robber". Roadshow Entertainment. Retrieved 3 August 2013.
21. "Doctor Who - Story #045: Mind Robber". TVShowsOnDVD.com. Archived from the original on 14 November 2013. Retrieved 3 August 2013.
22. "Doctor Who: The Invasion (DVD)". BBC. Retrieved 2 August 2013.
23. "Doctor Who: The Invasion". British Video Association. Retrieved 2 August 2013.
24. "Dr Who The Invasion". Roadshow Entertainment. Retrieved 3 August 2013.
25. "Doctor Who - Story #046: The Invasion". TVShowsOnDVD.com. Archived from the original on 14 November 2013. Retrieved 3 August 2013.
26. "Doctor Who: The Krotons (DVD)". BBC. Retrieved 2 August 2013.
27. "Doctor Who: The Krotons". British Video Association. Retrieved 2 August 2013.
28. "Doctor Who The Krotons DVD". BBC. Retrieved 3 August 2013.
29. "Doctor Who - Story #047: The Krotons". TVShowsOnDVD.com. Archived from the original on 14 November 2013. Retrieved 3 August 2013.
30. "Doctor Who: The Seeds of Death". 17 February 2003. Retrieved 9 June 2017 – via Amazon.
31. "Dr. Who - Seeds Of Death [2 Discs] by Roadshow Entertainment - Shop Online for Movies, DVDs in Australia". www.fishpond.com.au. Archived from the original on 23 October 2017. Retrieved 9 June 2017.
32. "Doctor Who - Story #048: Seeds Of Death". TVShowsOnDVD.com. Archived from the original on 14 November 2013. Retrieved 3 August 2013.
33. "Doctor Who: Revisitation Boxset Volume 2 (DVD)". BBC. Retrieved 2 August 2013.
34. "Doctor Who: Revisitations 2". British Video Association. Retrieved 2 August 2013.
35. "Doctor Who Revisitations 2 (6 DVD Set)". BBC. Retrieved 3 August 2013.
36. "Doctor Who - Story #048: Seeds Of Death: Special Edition". TVShowsOnDVD.com. Archived from the original on 14 November 2013. Retrieved 3 August 2013.
37. "Doctor Who: War Games (DVD)". BBC. Retrieved 2 August 2013.
38. "Doctor Who: War Games". British Video Association. Retrieved 2 August 2013.
39. "Doctor Who The War Games". Roadshow Entertainment. Retrieved 3 August 2013.
40. "Doctor Who - Story #050: War Games". TVShowsOnDVD.com. Archived from the original on 14 November 2013. Retrieved 3 August 2013.
41. "Doctor Who: Lost In Time (DVD)". BBC. Retrieved 29 July 2013.
42. "Doctor Who: Lost in Time". British Video Association. Retrieved 29 July 2013.
43. "Lost in Time". timelash.com. Retrieved 31 July 2013.
44. "Doctor Who - Lost In Time". Australian Broadcasting Corporation. Retrieved 29 July 2013.
45. "Doctor Who - Story #032, 033, 035, 036, 038, 040, 041, 043, 049: Lost In Time: Patrick Troughton Years". TVShowsOnDVD.com. Archived from the original on 14 November 2013. Retrieved 3 August 2013.