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| Previous: The Fifth Doctor | Next: The Seventh Doctor |
| The Sixth Doctor (1984-1986) | |
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Season
Twenty-One: Change, My Dear For the first time, a new Doctor is introduced at the end of a season. |
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Season
Twenty-Two: Instabilities First appearances of Sil and the Rani. |
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Season
Twenty-Three: On Trial First appearances of Mel, the Valeyard and Sabalom Glitz. |
| Season Twenty-One: Change, My Dear |
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The Sixth Doctor was unpredictable in every sense of the word. Arrogant and self-absorbed, stubborn and childish, argumentative and tasteless, he could often be seen as unlikeable or even loathesome. This was a Doctor who did not suffer fools gladly; he sometimes seemed to endure his companion's presence far more than he actually appreciated it, and held himself as superior to almost anyone he encountered. But the new incarnation's brash exterior hid the fact that this was a Doctor more determined than ever to defeat the evil he encountered. He was possessed of a tenacity and a thirst to do what was right that was far more visible than ever before. Despite his often unstable demeanour, he was always quick to act when the situation called for it, and very little -- even his companions -- could hope to get in his way. Colin Baker played the Doctor from The Caves Of Androzani in March 1984 to The Trial Of A Time Lord in December 1986. He returned for Dimensions In Time in November 1993. Baker also portrayed Maxil in Arc Of Infinity in January 1983. |
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The Twin Dilemma by Anthony Steven,
directed by Peter Moffatt
The Doctor experiences serious regenerative instability, causing him to
attack Peri and then decide to live as a hermit on the barren moon of
Titan. There he stumbles upon a plot by his old friend, the Time Lord
Azmael, who has kidnapped twin mathematical geniuses named Romulus and
Remus. Azmael's adopted planet, Joconda, has been taken over by the
sluglike Mestor and his Gastropods, forcing the Time Lord to do Mestor's
bidding. But even Azmael is unaware of Mestor's true plan -- to destroy
Joconda's sun, and thereby scatter Gastropod eggs throughout the galaxy.
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| Making History |
| The idea behind the Sixth Doctor was to create a character who, in sharp contrast to his generally more amiable predecessors, would initially be a source of suspicion for the audience. Consequently, the Sixth Doctor would appear to be erratic and untrustworthy -- but, in principle at least, would eventually earn the viewer's faith and respect. |
| Season Twenty-Two: Instabilities |
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Attack Of The Cybermen by Paula Moore,
directed by Matthew Robinson
The TARDIS is commandeered by the mercenary Lytton and a group of
Cybermen, who are using another captured time machine to travel back to
1985. There, the Cybermen intend to use Halley's Comet to obliterate the
Earth, thus preventing the destruction of their home planet Mondas in
1986 and perverting the course of history. Taken prisoner on Telos, the
Doctor and Peri escape and ally themselves with the native Cryons. But
in order to stop the Cyber plot, they may have to rely on none other
than Lytton, whose motivations remain a mystery to all.
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Vengeance On Varos by Philip Martin,
directed by Ron Jones
When the TARDIS runs out of vital Zyton-7 ore, the Doctor makes an
emergency landing on the planet Varos, which is rich in the mineral.
Varos is a former penal colony whose residents now derive pleasure
purely from the televised tortures which perpetually pass across their
screens. The Governor of Varos is engaged in negotiations with the
ruthless sluglike businessman Sil, who is trying to cheat the Varosians
out of their rightful profit on Zyton-7. It is up to the Doctor and Peri
to stop Sil's plans, and break the natives of Varos out of their daily
cycle of video nasties.
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The Mark Of The Rani by Pip and Jane
Baker, directed by Sarah Hellings
The TARDIS is drawn to Earth during the Luddite Uprisings. There, the
Master is once again trying to alter the planet's history, while an evil
Time Lady called the Rani is also present, extracting chemicals from the
brains of local workers for her own use. As a result of the Rani's
experiments, rioting amongst the workers is intensifying, threatening
the work of famed engineer George Stephenson. It falls to the Doctor and
Peri to foil the uneasy partnership between the two villains and restore
Earth's history to its proper course.
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The Two Doctors by Robert Holmes,
directed by Peter Moffatt
The Time Lords send the Second Doctor and Jamie to Space Station Camera,
to put an end to temporal experiments being conducted by Dastari, an old
friend of the Doctor's. Dastari has genetically augmented a savage
Androgum named Chessene, who has forged an alliance with the Sontarans.
They kidnap the Doctor and take him to Seville, where they plan to
isolate the Rassilon Imprimature: the genetic code which allows Time
Lords to travel through the vortex. The Sixth Doctor and Peri rescue
Jamie and follow the others to Seville, in a race against time with the
Doctor's past and future at stake.
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Timelash by Glen McCoy, directed by
Pennant Roberts
The Doctor and Peri arrive on Karfel, which is ruled by an enigmatic
tyrant known as the Borad who wields the power of a space-time tunnel
called the Timelash. Investigating, the Doctor learns that the Timelash
connects Karfel to nineteenth-century Scotland, where a young HG Wells
becomes embroiled in the Borad's schemes. Meanwhile, the Borad stokes
the fires of war with Karfel's neighbours, the Bandrils. He plans to use
the conflict to repopulate Karfel with beings such as himself: a
hideously mutated cross between a human and a reptilian Morlox. And Peri
will be but the first...
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Revelation Of The Daleks by Eric Saward,
directed by Graeme Harper
The Doctor and Peri go to Necros to attend the funeral of an old friend of
the Doctor's. There they discover that Davros is posing as the Great
Healer of Tranquil Repose, a famed institution where the terminally ill
can be placed in suspended animation until a cure for their ailment is
found. Davros is experimenting on the comatose bodies to produce a new
race of Daleks loyal to himself. To defeat his old foe, the Doctor may
have no choice but to ally himself with the original Daleks on Skaro.
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| Making History |
| Season Twenty-Two saw something old and something new for Doctor Who as the show returned to its old Saturday evening timeslot but was expanded to forty-five minute episodes rather than the traditional twenty-five minute length. Despite this, things did not fare well for the programme; ratings were down slightly on recent years and there were renewed calls that Doctor Who was becoming too violent. Combined with the general lack of funds at the BBC in the mid-Eighties and a disregard for Doctor Who by certain administrators, this prompted BBC management to put the programme on hiatus until September 1986, resulting in the cancellation of the stories originally planned for Season Twenty-Three. Furthermore, it was made clear that, when it did return, Doctor Who would have to justify its existence, or be removed from the schedules again -- permanently. |
| Season Twenty-Three: On Trial |
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Melanie Bush, or Mel as she preferred to be called, was a computer programmer from Earth gifted with an eidetic memory. Bubbly, exuberant and quick-thinking, she was also the type of person to rush into things before considering the consequences. Mel's warm and friendly personality, and her inquisitive and energetic nature, meant that she was well-suited to exploring the galaxy -- but, perhaps, less so to doing it in the dangerous environments to which the TARDIS inevitably brought her. Bonnie Langford played Mel from The Trial Of A Time Lord in November 1986 to Dragonfire in December 1987. She returned for Dimensions In Time in November 1993. |
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| The Production Team |
| In the midst of all the turmoil of Season Twenty-Three, the disagreements which had been brewing for years between John Nathan-Turner and Eric Saward finally came to a head following the death of Robert Holmes, to whom Saward had become quite close. Fed up, Saward quit the programme, forcing Nathan-Turner to assume the dual roles of producer and script editor for the concluding episodes of the season. |
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The Trial Of A Time Lord (Segment One)
by Robert Holmes, directed by Nicholas Mallett
The TARDIS is summoned by the Time Lords to a space station. There, the
Doctor, suffering from amnesia and unable to remember what happened to
Peri, is put on trial again for interfering with other cultures. The
Doctor elects to act as his own defense attorney; his prosecutor is a grim
figure who calls himself the Valeyard. Using the Matrix, the Valeyard
shows the court an adventure of the Doctor and Peri on Ravolox in the far
future. The surface of Ravolox was supposed to have been destroyed by a
solar flare, but instead the time travellers find it perfectly habitable
and home to the barbaric Tribe of the Free, led by the warlike Queen
Katryca. The companions soon discover that Ravolox is actually Earth,
having somehow been moved light years across space, and that a second race
of people lives underground, governed by the robot Drathro. Also on the
planet are two conmen, Glitz and Dibber, who have come to steal Drathro's
secrets. But Drathro is dying, and his passing will set into motion a
chain of events which will tear Ravolox apart.
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The Trial Of A Time Lord (Segment Two)
by Philip Martin, directed by Ron Jones
At the Doctor's trial by the Time Lords for interference, the Valeyard
presents the Doctor and Peri's most recent adventure. The dying words of a
Thordon warlord send the pair to Thoros Alpha, home of the Mentors --
including their old foe, Sil. The Mentor leader, Kiv, has had his
intelligence enhanced by the human geneticist Crozier, but now his brain
is outgrowing his skull. Crozier sets his eyes on Peri as the new host for
Kiv's brain. But when the Doctor appears to turn evil under the effects of
one of Crozier's devices, it is left to the berserk warlord King Yrcanos
to save his companion.
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The Trial Of A Time Lord (Segment
Three) by Pip and Jane Baker, directed by Chris Clough
It is the Doctor's turn to argue his case against the Time Lord's
accusations of meddling at his trial. He presents an adventure from his
future when he is travelling with an Earth computer programmer named Mel.
Summoned for help by his old friend Captain Travers, it is up to the
Doctor to solve a series of murders happening on board Travers' ship.
Amidst a web of genetic manipulation and political maneuvering, the Doctor
discovers that the botanical experiments of a scientific team on the ship
has resulted in the creation of a new race of monsters, the Vervoids, who
will stop at nothing to destroy all non-plant life.
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The Trial Of A Time Lord (Segment
Four) by Robert Holmes and Pip and Jane Baker, directed by Chris
Clough
As the Doctor's trial by the Time Lords for interfering in galactic
affairs nears its conclusion, the Master appears in the courtroom,
speaking from within the Matrix. He reveals that the entire trial is the
result of a conspiracy by the corrupt High Council. Drathro's creators had
stolen Matrix secrets and fled to Earth; in revenge, the High Council
ravaged the Earth, rechristened it Ravolox, and changed its position in
space to cover up their deeds. More importantly, the Valeyard is not who
he seems -- he is actually the Doctor, or more precisely the distillation
of the Doctor's evil side between his twelfth and final regeneration. The
Doctor and Mel, brought to the trial by the Master, pursue the Valeyard
into the Matrix and discover he is plotting to destroy the High Council.
The Master has also summoned Glitz, however, and allies himself with the
crook in his own bid for power.
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| Making History |
| When Doctor Who finally returned from its hiatus, restored to standard twenty-five minute episodes, John Nathan-Turner was given explicit orders to tidy the show up or see it cancelled. Consequently, the Trial concept was formulated to parallel Doctor Who's own plight. Ratings after the hiatus were not good, however, amounting to even less than what Season Twenty-Two had attracted. Blaming Colin Baker's portrayal of the Doctor, BBC management fired the actor at the season's conclusion, but decided to renew Doctor Who for one more year. The programme was not out of hot water yet by any means... |
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