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| Previous: The Fourth Doctor | Next: The Sixth Doctor |
| The Fifth Doctor (1982-1984) | |
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Season Nineteen:
Mortal Reminders Adric is the first long-running companion to die. |
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Season Twenty:
Old Ghosts First appearances of Turlough and Kamelion. |
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1983 Special:
Many Happy Returns The twentieth-anniversary telefilm. |
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Season
Twenty-One: Violent Times First appearance of Peri. |
| Season Nineteen: Mortal Reminders |
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The Fifth Doctor was far more human in his demeanour than any of his previous regenerations. This was not a Doctor who was prone to peculiar mannerisms -- instead, he often behaved just like a regular man, even in his less paternal, more turbulent and argumentative relationship with his companions. Enthusiastic and spritely, this Doctor demonstrated a notably more fallible outlook than in the past: he could make mistakes, and sometimes the cost of these errors was very high indeed. The years were beginning to tell upon the Fifth Doctor, as they had during the latter days of his fourth incarnation; he was being who had seen and endured much, both good and bad. Despite his boyish appearance, there could be little doubt that, at his core, the Fifth Doctor was a very old man. Peter Davison played the Doctor from Logopolis in March 1981 to The Caves Of Androzani in March 1984. He returned for Dimensions In Time in November 1993. |
| The Production Team |
| When Christopher Bidmead left Doctor Who at the end of its eighteenth season, there was no one immediately available to replace him on a permanent basis. Antony Root was brought into the position on a temporary three-month basis, but it was not until John Nathan-Turner started searching for scripts that an ideal replacement came in the form of new scriptwriter Eric Saward, who had already been commissioned for the upcoming season. After a three-month trial period, Saward became Doctor Who's permanent script editor. |
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Castrovalva by Christopher H Bidmead,
directed by Fiona Cumming
While the Doctor retreats to the TARDIS Zero Room to recover from his
regeneration, the Master kidnaps Adric and sends the TARDIS hurtling
back in time to the Big Bang, where it will be torn apart. Tegan and
Nyssa manage to save the time machine, and soon find themselves arriving
on Castrovalva, a place legendary for its serene atmosphere. There they
hope that the Doctor will be able to recuperate from his recent trauma.
But the Master is lurking on Castrovalva, and it soon becomes clear that
he has drawn the time travellers into a trap from which there may be no
escape.
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Four To Doomsday by Terence Dudley,
directed by John Black
Trying to get Tegan home, the Doctor instead lands the TARDIS on a
spaceship heading towards Earth. Its owner, the frog-like Monarch, has
visited Earth four times in the past, kidnapping specimens of human
culture on each occasion. His true goal, however, is to find a way to
travel faster than light, thereby going back to the beginning of time
where he hopes to meet God, whom he believes is actually himself. In
pursuit of this aim, he has exhausted the resources of his home planet,
Urbanka. Now he intends to transplant the Urbankans to Earth -- and
eradicate humanity to make room for his people.
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Kinda by Christopher Bailey, directed by
Peter Grimwade
The TARDIS brings the Doctor, Adric, Nyssa and Tegan to the idyllic
jungle world of Deva Loka, which is being surveyed for possible Earth
colonisation. Deva Loka is already home to a race of apparent savages,
however: a mysterious people with strange powers which have mentally
unbalanced the members of the expedition. To make matters worse, an
ancient enemy of the natives -- a serpentine being called the Mara --
still lurks on Deva Loka. The Mara is intent upon revenge, and latches
onto Tegan's mind as its bridgehead to victory.
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The Visitation by Eric Saward, directed
by Peter Moffatt
It is the year 1666, and the Great Plague is rampant throughout England.
The Doctor, Adric, Nyssa and Tegan discover that aliens -- the
Terileptils -- are operating in a small village. They have taken control
of much of the local population and are driving away the rest using an
android disguised as the Grim Reaper. With the help of unemployed
thespian Richard Mace, the Doctor learns that the Terileptils intend to
rid the Earth of humanity, and have amassed an army of plague-carrying
rats to help them finish the deed.
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Black Orchid by Terence Dudley, directed
by Ron Jones
The Doctor, Adric, Nyssa and Tegan find themselves in 1925 England, where
through a case of mistaken identity they become involved in a charity
cricket match at Cranleigh Halt. There, Nyssa discovers that Charles
Cranleigh's fiancee, Ann Talbot, is her exact double. The Cranleighs
harbour a dark family secret, however: a hideous monster hidden in a
secret wing of their house. Fixated on Ann, it breaks out during a costume
ball and attempts to kidnap her... but takes Nyssa by mistake.
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Earthshock by Eric Saward, directed
by Peter Grimwade
In the 26th century, the Doctor, Adric, Nyssa and Tegan come to the aid
of a platoon of soldiers, which is investigating the murder of a
scientific team in a cave complex on Earth. The Doctor discovers that
the killers are actually androids serving the Cybermen, and are guarding
a bomb intended to destroy the planet. The Doctor disarms the explosive
but by tracing the detonation signal, he learns that the greatest danger
is yet to come. The Cybermen have secreted themselves on board a
freighter heading for Earth, which will unknowingly serve as the
bridgehead for a massive invasion.
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Time-Flight by Peter Grimwade, directed
by Ron Jones
When a Concorde disappears, the Doctor discovers that it has been
hijacked back through time to the Pleistocene Era. Arriving there, he,
Nyssa and Tegan find that Concorde's crew and passengers have been
enslaved by the sinister Kalid, who is forcing them to excavate a
sanctum within a mysterious citadel. Entombed within is the
consciousness of a gestalt race called the Xeraphin, who possess
devastating mental powers. The Doctor learns that Kalid is really the
Master, who plans to harness the evil side of the Xeraphin in order to
wreak havoc throughout the cosmos.
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| Making History |
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For the first time ever, Doctor Who was moved out of its
traditional Saturday evening timeslot and aired instead twice-weekly -- on
both Tuesday and Wednesday nights -- during Season Nineteen. This move was
prompted by a drastic drop in ratings the previous year, an erosion which
saw significant reversal with the new scheduling and the new Doctor.
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| Season Twenty: Old Ghosts |
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Vizlor Turlough was an enigma. His history was never made clear until the end of his time with the Doctor, and his motivations were always his own. Generally speaking, Turlough served himself first and foremost and his companions only when it was to his mutual advantage. But during his travels, he began to learn the value of friendship and cooperation -- it was a far wiser, less selfish Turlough who eventually left the TARDIS. A resourceful person, it would not be beyond Turlough to go to any lengths to accomplish his goals. He possessed a keen instinct for survival and a sharp intellect, which as often as not aided his friends as much as himself. Mark Strickson played Turlough from Mawdryn Undead in February 1983 to Planet Of Fire in March 1984. He returned as a regenerative image for The Caves Of Androzani in March 1984. |
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Like K-9 before it, Kamelion was an artificial intelligence. A robot able to shift shapes at the whim of its controlling master, Kamelion's default form was humanoid. Its personality was equally malleable. Despite some indication of self-awareness and a desire to assist the Doctor, Kamelion sadly proved so weak-willed as to be susceptible to any nearby dominant personality. Forever a pawn and never a player, Kamelion could never hope to be as helpful to the Doctor as its mechanical predecessor. Kamelion appeared in The King's Demons in March 1983 and Planet Of Fire in February and March 1984, and as a regenerative image in The Caves Of Androzani in March 1984. Its default voice was provided by Gerald Flood. |
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Arc Of Infinity by Johnny Byrne,
directed by Ron Jones
The Doctor's bio-data extract is stolen from the Matrix on Gallifrey.
Soon after, a being from an anti-matter universe begins to genetically
bond with the Doctor. He and Nyssa return to Gallifrey, only for the
High Council to order his execution -- while on Earth, unbeknownst to
her friends, Tegan's search for her missing cousin in Amsterdam is
somehow tied into the events as well. It is left to Nyssa to uncover the
identity of a traitor on the High Council, and to unveil the enemy
manipulating the Doctor -- an entity who has long thirsted for revenge
against both the Doctor and the Time Lords themselves.
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Snakedance by Christopher Bailey,
directed by Fiona Cumming
The Mara once again takes control of Tegan's mind and compels her to
direct the TARDIS to Manussa, seat of its once-mighty empire. Generations
earlier, the Mara was driven off Manussa with the use of the Great
Crystal, a device which enhances its users' mental abilities. Now, the
Mara intends to use the Crystal to return to power. It is up to the Doctor
to unearth the terrible origins of the Mara, and seek out the one man who
can show him how to defeat the Mara in psychic combat.
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Mawdryn Undead by Peter Grimwade,
directed by Peter Moffatt
An alien named Turlough lives in secret amongst boys at an English
boarding school where the Brigadier is now teaching maths. He is
contacted by the Black Guardian, who wants him to kill the Doctor. The
TARDIS, meanwhile, has brought the Doctor, Nyssa and Tegan to a space
station trapped in a warp ellipse. It serves as a prison for a team of
scientists led by Mawdryn, who tried to steal the secrets of the Time
Lords and were placed in a state of perpetual regeneration as
retribution. It is up to the Doctor to find some way to help Mawdryn,
but doing so may cost him his remaining regenerations.
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Terminus by Steve Gallagher, directed by
Mary Ridge
Turlough's sabotage causes the TARDIS to make an emergency landing on a
space station called Terminus, where victims of the horrible, virulent
Lazar disease go to die. The Doctor discovers that Terminus is powered by
two enormous engines, one of which exploded long ago, an event which
instigated the Big Bang and the creation of the universe. Now the other
engine is on the brink of detonating as well -- an event which will have
cataclysmic consequences for the cosmos.
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Enlightenment by Barbara Clegg, directed
by Fiona Cumming
Under the failing influence of the White Guardian, the TARDIS
materialises on what appears to be an Edwardian racing yacht. It is soon
revealed to be a cleverly disguised spacecraft, competing in an
interplanetary race. The competitors are Eternals, immortal beings
incapable of imagination or creative thought, while the crew are
mortals, upon whose minds the Eternals draw for inspiration. The prize
in the race is Enlightenment, offered up by the Black and White
Guardians. One of the Eternals, the vicious Captain Wrack, is in league
with the Black Guardian, however, and will stop at nothing to win.
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The King's Demons by Terence Dudley,
directed by Tony Virgo
The Doctor, Tegan and Turlough find themselves in 1215 England. They
arrive at the castle of Ranulf Fitzwilliam, and are astounded to find King
John there too, especially since he is supposed to be in London at the
same time, involved in the events which will lead to the signing of the
Magna Carta. The time travellers discover that the King is not who he
claims -- in fact, he is a shapechanging robot named Kamelion under the
influence of the Master, who is trying to irreversibly pervert the
course of Earth's history.
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| Making History |
| Each story of Season Twenty sees the return of an element of Doctor Who's past, a coincidence noticed by Ian Levine -- who was then acting as the programme's unofficial fan adviser -- and used for publicity purposes by John Nathan-Turner. Characters brought back from previous years included Omega, the Mara, the Brigadier (whose role in Mawdryn Undead was originally written for Ian Chesterton and then Harry Sullivan), the Black and White Guardians, the Master and -- before industrial action forced the postponement of the story until Season Twenty-One -- the Daleks. |
| 1983 Special: Many Happy Returns |
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The Five Doctors by Terrance Dicks,
directed by Peter Moffatt
While the Fourth Doctor and Romana are trapped in a time eddy, the
First, Second, Third and Fifth Doctors -- together with many of their
companions -- are lured by a mysterious figure to the forbidden Death
Zone on Gallifrey. There they make their way towards the Dark Tower in
which Rassilon is entombed, encountering a number of their deadliest
foes en route. When the Fifth Doctor finds a way to teleport himself to
the Capitol, however, he uncovers evidence of a traitor on the High
Council. All are embroiled in the Game of Rassilon, whose prize is
immortality itself.
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| Making History |
| Celebrating Doctor Who's twentieth anniversary, The Five Doctors was screened as a telefilm independently of the series' regular seasons, eight months after the conclusion of Season Twenty. The special episode featured all five Doctors (although Tom Baker appeared only in clips from Shada and the late William Hartnell in a clip from The Dalek Invasion Of Earth, his role in the story proper taken over by Richard Hurndall), eleven companions (Susan, the Brigadier, Jamie, Zoe, Mike Yates, Liz, Sarah Jane, the Second Romana -- also in Shada clips) -- K-9 Mark III, Tegan and Turlough) and four old villains (the Master, the Cybermen, a Dalek, a Yeti), plus of course the Time Lords themselves. |
| Season Twenty-One: Violent Times |
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American Perpugilliam Brown, or "Peri" for short, was ostensibly a botany student, although she rarely showed any interest in the subject. Making up for her lack of maturity with a surfeit of stubbornness, it is little wonder that she and the equally obstinate Sixth Doctor had such a hard time getting along. Nevertheless, Peri also proved to be a tender and charismatic individual, and the evolution of her relationship with the Doctor, from its acrimonious beginnings to a mixture of knowing sarcasm and genuine respect, demonstrated that she was well on her way to becoming a mature and well-rounded adult. Nicola Bryant played Peri from Planet Of Fire in February 1984 to The Trial Of A Time Lord in October 1986. She returned for Dimensions In Time in November 1993. |
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Warriors Of The Deep by Johnny Byrne,
directed by Pennant Roberts
The TARDIS materialises in a seabase in the year 2084. Earth in the late
21st century is divided between two power blocs waging a bitter cold war,
forever threatening to escalate into violent conflict. Mysterious
accidents have been occurring on the seabase, including the deaths of key
personnel. Investigating, the Doctor, Tegan and Turlough discover that not
only have double agents infiltrated the seabase, but the Doctor's old
foes, the Silurians and Sea Devils, are plotting to use the seabase to set
off a war which will decimate humanity.
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The Awakening by Eric Pringle, directed
by Michael Owen Morris
The Doctor takes Tegan to the village of Little Hodcombe to visit her
grandfather. The villagers, led by Sir George Hutchinson, are reenacting
events from the English Civil War, including skirmishes which took place
near the town. But the recreations have revived the Malus, an alien
entity buried beneath a ruined church which feeds on the passions
inflamed by war and death. Time is becoming distorted while Hutchinson
-- who has fallen under the Malus' influence -- works to set the
creature free, putting Tegan's life at risk in the process.
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Frontios by Christopher H Bidmead,
directed by Ron Jones
The TARDIS arrives on the planet Frontios in the far future, where the
last vestiges of humanity crashlanded years earlier. The struggling
colony is beset by disasters, including deadly meteorite showers and the
disappearance of several prominent colonists who have been sucked down
beneath the ground. The Doctor, Tegan and Turlough discover that the
culprits are the Gravis and his Tractators, giant insects with
incredible powers over gravity. The Gravis intends to transform Frontios
into an enormous spaceship, and spread the terror of the Tractators
across the galaxy.
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Resurrection Of The Daleks by Eric
Saward, directed by Matthew Robinson
The Doctor, Tegan and Turlough are nearly torn apart in a Dalek time
corridor which connects a warehouse on modern-day Earth with a
spacecraft in the future. The Daleks have lost the war with the
Movellans due to a virus which affects only their kind. Now, with the
help of the mercenary Lytton, they intend to free the imprisoned Davros
and force him to create an antidote. Once successful, the Daleks will at
last be in a position to destroy the Movellans and rampage across the
cosmos.
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Planet Of Fire by Peter Grimwade,
directed by Fiona Cumming
Turlough rescues a drowning botany student named Peri Brown and returns
her to the TARDIS to recuperate. Before she can bid her farewell,
Kamelion -- once again under the Master's control -- takes the TARDIS to
the planet Sarn. There, his mission is to find the Master, who has been
diminished to just inches in height following an accident with his tissue
compression eliminator, and restore the evil Time Lord using the healing
properties of Sarn's miraculous numismaton flames. But Sarn has mysterious
connections to Turlough's past -- connections which may prove to be the
catalyst in the Master's scheme.
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The Caves Of Androzani by Robert Holmes,
directed by Graeme Harper
After landing on the planet Androzani Minor, the Doctor and Peri develop
lethal spectrox toxaemia poisoning. As the two search for a cure before it
is too late, they become enmeshed in a decades-old feud between the
disfigured roboticist Sharaz Jek and businessman Morgus. Jek falls in love
with Peri, but the situation only degenerates when the girl rebuffs his
affections. Between threats from mire beasts and gun runners, it quickly
becomes apparent that the Doctor will never find a cure in time to save
both himself and his companion.
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| Making History |
| After a period of relative stability, Doctor Who saw a complete turnaround in its cast over the three-story period ranging from Resurrection Of The Daleks to The Caves Of Androzani, with Janet Fielding, Mark Strickson and Peter Davison all leaving the show. The Kamelion robot was also hastily written out when the death of its inventor -- the only person who really knew how to operate the machine -- meant that its continued use in Doctor Who was unfeasible. Davison had always intended to stay for just three seasons, but the quality of scripts for Season Twenty-One prompted him to reconsider. This change of heart came too late, however; the Sixth Doctor had already been cast, and Doctor Who would be reinvented once again. |
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