The twenty-third season of

British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies. * British national identity, the characteristics of British people and culture ...

science fiction television Science fiction first appeared in television programming in the late 1930s, during what is called the Golden Age of Science Fiction. Special effects and other production techniques allow creators to present a living visual image of an imaginary ...

series ''

Doctor Who ''Doctor Who'' is a British science fiction television series broadcast by the BBC since 1963. The series, created by Sydney Newman, C. E. Webber and Donald Wilson (writer and producer), Donald Wilson, depicts the adventures of an extraterre ...

'', known collectively as ''The Trial of a Time Lord'', aired in weekly episodes from 6 September to 6 December 1986. It contained four adventures: '' The Mysterious Planet'', ''

Mindwarp ''Mindwarp'' is the second serial of the larger narrative known as '' The Trial of a Time Lord'' which encompasses the whole of the 23rd season of the British science fiction television series ''Doctor Who''. It was first broadcast in four wee ...

'', ''

Terror of the Vervoids ''Terror of the Vervoids'' is the third serial of the larger narrative known as '' The Trial of a Time Lord'' which encompasses the whole of the 23rd season of the British science fiction television series ''Doctor Who''. It was first broadcast ...

'' and ''

The Ultimate Foe ''The Ultimate Foe'' is the fourth and final serial of the larger narrative known as '' The Trial of a Time Lord'' which encompasses the whole of the 23rd season of the British science fiction television series ''Doctor Who''. It was first broadc ...

''; the season also marked the final regular appearance of

Colin Baker Colin Charles Baker (born 8 June 1943) is an English actor. He played Paul Merroney in the BBC television drama series ''The Brothers (1972 TV series), The Brothers'' from 1974 to 1976 and the Sixth Doctor, sixth incarnation of The Doctor (Do ...

as the

Sixth Doctor The Sixth Doctor is an incarnation of The Doctor (Doctor Who), the Doctor, the protagonist of the British Science fiction on television, science fiction television series ''Doctor Who''. He is portrayed by Colin Baker. Although his televisual t ...

. 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 BBC One is a British free-to-air public broadcast television channel owned and operated by the BBC. It is the corporation's oldest and Flagship (broadcasting), flagship channel, and is known for broadcasting mainstream programming, which includ ...

controller

Michael Grade Michael Ian Grade, Baron Grade of Yarmouth (born 8 March 1943) is an English Media proprietor, television executive and businessman. He has held a number of senior roles in television, including controller of BBC1 (1984–1986), chief executive ...

that the series needed to contain less violence and more humour. Several problems occurred during production, including the death of scriptwriter Robert Holmes and the resignation of script editor

Eric Saward Eric Saward (; born 9 December 1944) is a British radio scriptwriter who worked as a screenwriter and script editor on the BBC's science fiction television series ''Doctor Who'' from 1982 to 1986. He wrote the stories '' The Visitation'' (1982), ...

. When it ended, Baker was dismissed from the role, according to some sources on the orders of Grade, although he has denied this.

John Nathan-Turner John Turner (12 August 1947 – 1 May 2002), known professionally as John Nathan-Turner, was an English television producer. He was the ninth producer of the long-running BBC science fiction series ''Doctor Who'' and the final producer of the ...

produced the series.

Synopsis

In the serial, the

is tried by the High Council of Time Lords for breaking several of the laws of

Gallifrey The Time Lords are a fictional ancient race of extraterrestrial people in the British science fiction television series ''Doctor Who''. Time Lords are so named for their command of time travel technology and their non-linear perception of t ...

, the Time Lords' home world, including interference with outside worlds and

genocide Genocide is violence that targets individuals because of their membership of a group and aims at the destruction of a people. Raphael Lemkin, who first coined the term, defined genocide as "the destruction of a nation or of an ethnic group" by ...

. 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 Master, master's or masters may refer to: Ranks or titles In education: *Master (college), head of a college *Master's degree, a postgraduate or sometimes undergraduate degree in the specified discipline *Schoolmaster or master, presiding office ...

, in order to clear his name and to save the High Council.

Casting

Main cast

as the

* Nicola Bryant as

Peri Brown Perpugilliam "Peri" Brown is a fictional character played by Nicola Bryant in the long-running British science fiction television series ''Doctor Who''. An American botany major from Fell's Point in Baltimore, Maryland, Peri is a companion of ...

Bonnie Langford Bonita Melody Lysette Langford (born 22 July 1964) is an English actress, dancer and singer. She came to prominence as a child star in the 1970s, when she had a notable role in the TV series '' Just William''. In the 1980s, she played companio ...

as Melanie Bush

makes his final appearance as the

Doctor Doctor, Doctors, The Doctor or The Doctors may refer to: Titles and occupations * Physician, a medical practitioner * Doctor (title), an academic title for the holder of a doctoral-level degree ** Doctorate ** List of doctoral degrees awarded b ...

in this longest-running serial before being dismissed from the role by the

BBC The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is a British public service broadcaster headquartered at Broadcasting House in London, England. Originally established in 1922 as the British Broadcasting Company, it evolved into its current sta ...

. Nicola Bryant departs as

in ''

''.

makes her debut as the Doctor's future companion Melanie Bush in ''

''.

Recurring stars

Michael Jayston Michael A. James (29 October 1935 – 5 February 2024), known professionally as Michael Jayston, was an English actor. He played Nicholas II of Russia in the film '' Nicholas and Alexandra'' (1971). He also made many television appearances, whi ...

as the Valeyard *

Lynda Bellingham Lynda Bellingham ( ; 31 May 194819 October 2014) was an English actress, broadcaster and author. She acted in television series such as ''All Creatures Great and Small (1978 TV series), All Creatures Great and Small'', ''Doctor Who'', ''Second Tho ...

as the Inquisitor * Anthony Ainley as The Master *

Tony Selby Anthony Samuel Selby (26 February 1938 – 5 September 2021) was an English actor. With a career that spanned 71 years, he was known for his roles as Corporal Percy Marsh in the ITV (TV network), ITV British sitcom, sitcom ''Get Some In!'' (1975� ...

as Sabalom Glitz

and

both appeared throughout the whole serial.

appeared in '' The Mysterious Planet'' and ''

'', while Anthony Ainley returned as the

in ''

''.

Serials

The series remained at once-weekly Saturday broadcasts. All episodes were 25 minutes long, with the exception of Part 14, which ran for just under 30 minutes. This 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 overall reduced since the episodes were just over half as long.

Preproduction

Original 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 three episodes. A number of storylines were submitted, with six eventually being commissioned between September 1984 and February 1985. However, in the latter month, 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 ''EastEnders'' is a British television soap opera created by Julia Smith (producer), Julia Smith and Tony Holland which has been broadcast on BBC One since February 1985. Set in the fictional borough of Walford in the East End of London, the ...

''), Season 23 was being put back from its planned transmission in January 1986 to the following September, which would be a different

financial year A fiscal year (also known as a financial year, or sometimes budget year) is used in government accounting, which varies between countries, and for budget purposes. It is also used for financial reporting by businesses and other organizations. La ...

Planned serials

Revised Season 23

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 ''A Christmas Carol. In Prose. Being a Ghost Story of Christmas'', commonly known as ''A Christmas Carol'', is a novella by Charles Dickens, first published in London by Chapman & Hall in 1843 and illustrated by John Leech. It recounts the ...

''-inspired "past, present, and future" storyline, 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. The main villain of the serial was Sil, introduced in '' Vengeance on Varos'' (1985). Sil was selected due to his popularity among the production team who asked Martin to feature the character in the ultimately-cancelled story ''Mission to Magnus''. Nathan-Turner asked Martin to include Sil in his chapter, and asked confidentially for Peri to be killed in accordance with 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, Nathan-Turner approached husband-and-wife writing team Pip and Jane Baker to write a studio-based serial, ''Terror of the Vervoids''. 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. The Bakers 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 14 to be used: the original ending would have featured a fight to the death in a time vent, between the Doctor and the Valeyard, as part of a cliff-hanger 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 series altogether. Subsequently, the title was later changed to ''The Ultimate Foe''. Filming of the serial began on 7 April 1986 and ended on 14 August that year. For the opening sequence, Nathan-Turner commissioned a 45-second model shot that cost over , 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 to 29 May and 11–13 June, and location shots were filmed in

Brighton Brighton ( ) is a seaside resort in the city status in the United Kingdom, city of Brighton and Hove, East Sussex, England, south of London. Archaeological evidence of settlement in the area dates back to the Bronze Age Britain, Bronze Age, R ...

from 15 to 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 to 14 August.

Reception and analysis

Public reaction to ''The Trial of a Time Lord'' 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 Trial of a Time Lord'' received mixed reviews from ''Doctor Who'' critics.

Paul Cornell Paul Douglas Cornell (born 18 July 1967) is a British writer. He has worked in television drama and ''Doctor Who'' fiction, being the creator of one of the Doctor's spin-off companions, Bernice Summerfield. Other British television dramas f ...

, Martin Day and

Keith Topping Keith Andrew Topping (born 26 October 1963 in Walker, Tyneside) is an author, journalist and broadcaster. He is most well known for his work relating to the BBC Television series ''Doctor Who'' and for writing numerous official and unofficial ...

, co-authors of '' The Discontinuity Guide'', wrote that as a whole, the serial's plot "hangs together remarkably well". David J. Howe and Stephen James Walker, authors of ''Doctor Who: The Television Companion'', disagreed, arguing that the serial was a "monumental wasted opportunity". 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. However, they did find the meta-humour of "the Doctor effectively sitting down to watch ''Doctor Who'' for fourteen weeks" amusing if repetitive, and praised Baker's acting. Both reviews found that the trial scenes detracted from the chapter story arcs. Reviews of the individual chapters were also mixed. Although appreciative of the acting of Brian Blessed in ''Mindwarp'', Cornell, Day and Topping argued that the script lacked focus, " ryingto be comic, grotesque, straight, and farcical all at the same time". Howe and Walker were more favourable towards the script, citing the re-appearance of Sil as positive, and hailing Peri's off-screen death as "one of the most dramatic and impressive moments of the entire season" and Bryant's best scene since '' The Caves of Androzani''. 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

in her performance as Melanie Bush.

Broadcast

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

Home media

VHS releases

DVD and Blu-ray releases

In print

Notes

* Although the following serial ''

Time and the Rani ''Time and the Rani'' is the first serial of the 24th season of the British science fiction television series ''Doctor Who'', which was first broadcast in four weekly parts from 7 to 28 September 1987. It was the first to feature Sylvester McC ...

'' 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 Percy James Patrick Kent-Smith (born 20 August 1943), known professionally as Sylvester McCoy, is a Scottish actor. Gaining prominence as a physical comedian, he became best known for playing the seventh incarnation of the Doctor in the long ...

wearing a blond wig.

References

Bibliography

* * . * . * . * . *

External links

* {{Sixth Doctor stories, selected=Television 1986 British television seasons 1986 British television episodes Season 23 Season 23 23 Fiction with unreliable narrators Television courtroom dramas