Change was the order of the day in the twenty-first season of Doctor Who, during which Peter Davison handed the role off to Colin Baker, who debuted with a complete story rather than just a brief cameo. Companions Tegan and Turlough both left as well, replaced by a buxom American called Peri. The Daleks and their vile creator also returned to renew their enmity with the Doctor, as did the Silurians and the Sea Devils, the aquatic menaces from the third Doctor’s era. Naturally, the Master put in an appearance, too.
From “Warriors of the Deep”
On the way to show Tegan Jovanka a little bit of Earth’s future, the TARDIS materializes further into the future than the Doctor intended, due to “a slight hiccup in our time zones.” The three travelers find themselves on an undersea military base in 2084 which comes under attack by Silurian forces. Regretting the outcome of their last encounter, in 1970, the Doctor tries to once again broker peace between the human and Silurian armies, without success. In the end, only the Doctor, Tegan, and Turlough are left alive.
Preston: What happened?
The Doctor: Hexachromite. It does that to all reptile life.
Preston: Then use it on the invaders!
The Doctor: And kill them?
Preston: Why not? They’re about to start a war that will kill everyone on Earth!
The Doctor: I sometimes wonder why I like the people of this miserable planet so much! The Silurians and Sea Devils are noble races! They have skills and talents you pathetic humans can only dream about!
From “The Awakening”
The Doctor and Turlough are still working to eliminate the time distortion from the new main console when the TARDIS materializes in England in 1984 for Tegan to visit her grandfather, who happens to be mixed up in the attempts of a lunatic to access an evil alien psychic force. When the force projects itself into the TARDIS, the Doctor attempts to use the signal conversion unit to disrupt its power.
From “Frontios”
While the Doctor is in a manic tidying fit, an alarm on the console sounds, the display reading “time parameters exceeded.”
Turlough: Doctor, something’s happening to the controls!
The Doctor: Ah, we must be on the outer limits. The TARDIS has drifted too far into the future. We’ll just slip into hover mode a while.
Tegan: We’re in the Veruna system, wherever that is.
The Doctor: I had no idea we were so far out. Veruna -- that’s irony for you.
Tegan: What is?
The Doctor: Veruna is where one of the last surviving groups of mankind took shelter when the Great -- yes, well, I suppose you’ve got all that to look forward to, haven’t you?
Tegan: The Great what, Doctor?
The Doctor: All civilisations have their ups and downs...
Turlough: “Fleeing from the imminence of a catastrophic collision with the sun, a group of refugees from the doomed planet Earth -- ”
The Doctor: Yes, that’s enough, Turlough.
Tegan: You mean some of the last surviving humans are on this planet?
The Doctor: Yes.
Tegan: Can we land? Can we visit them?
The Doctor: Laws of time.
Tegan: Since when has that ever stopped you?
The Doctor: Now, we mustn’t interfere. The colony’s too new, one generation at the most. The future hangs in the balance.
As it happens, the TARDIS is forced down, and the Doctor very reluctantly helps the colonists, though he keeps insisting he is there unofficially and is not allowed to give them much assistance or make any material difference to the development of the colony, which has fallen prey to marauding Tractators. During a meteorite shower, the TARDIS is apparently disintegrated, leaving only a pile of rubble and the hat stand. Actually, its sections are scattered about Frontios’ subterranean caverns until pulled back together by the gravitational energy of the Tractator leader.
Plantagenet: Frontios is honored, Doctor. But surely you’ll stay awhile longer and enjoy some of the new colony we’re building.
The Doctor: Oh, no, no. Far too much repair work of my own to be done. Besides, time and the time laws don’t permit it. There’s an etiquette about these things which we’ve rather overlooked, I’m afraid.
However, after dematerialization, the TARDIS goes haywire.
From “Resurrection of the Daleks”
The TARDIS has, in fact, collided with a time corridor, which pulls them back to 1984 England. The time corridor is operated by the Daleks, trying to liberate Davros from imprisonment by the future Earth government. Dalek agent Commander Lytton informs Davros that the Daleks lost their war with the robotic Movellans and sustained heavy casualties due to germ warfare. The Daleks release Davros from ninety years in suspended animation in search of a cure for the Movellan virus. Realizing that Davros is tying to take control of his creations, the Supreme Dalek orders him executed, dividing the Daleks into two factions. Davros releases the samples of Movellan virus in retaliation, only to find he also is susceptible to its effects. The Dalek spaceship and the prison satellite are both destroyed. Lytton is left stranded on Earth after abandoning the fight. Sickened by the carnage, Tegan decides to part company with the Doctor and remain on Earth.
From “Planet of Fire”
Having been hidden away aboard the TARDIS all season, Kamelion turns up again, still under the control of the Master. He takes control of the ship, sending it first briefly back to Earth to retrieve a certain artifact, then on to the planet Sarn. The Master is trying to recover from an accident with his tissue-compression eliminator which has left him miniaturized. Like Earth, Sarn is a world to which exiles from Turlough’s home planet of Trion are sent. Turlough discovers that his father’s ship crashed there and the Sarn’s “Chosen One” is his brother, who was an infant found in the wreckage. The planet crumbling, Turlough is forced to contact Trion and request a rescue ship. When it arrives, however, he learns the new government has released all political prisoners and he is a free man. Turlough elects to part company with the Doctor and return to Trion with his brother. In foiling the Master’s scheme, the Doctor is forced to destroy Kamelion, and the Master appears to be burned to death in the volcanic control room.
During their brief time on Earth, Turlough rescues a drowning girl and takes her aboard the TARDIS. She is Perpugillian Brown, an American college student vacationing with her mother and step-father in Europe. Her step-father, Professor Howard Foster, stranded Peri alone aboard their boat to prevent her from going off to Morocco with friends. Peri tries to swim ashore, and is floundering when Turlough saves her. The TARDIS is already on its way to Sarn before the Doctor realizes she’s aboard. At the conclusion of the adventure, Peri asks permission to travel with the Doctor until her summer vacation is over. Rather than go on alone, the Doctor accepts the arrangement. Of course, Peri never makes it back to Earth, but ends up living on Krontep with King Yrcanos after apparently being abandoned by the Doctor. Presumably, Professor Foster would believe Peri drowned trying to swim ashore, although no body would ever be found. He would undoubtedly blame himself for her death. Her American passport and collection of alien flora are presumably still somewhere aboard the TARDIS.
From “The Caves of Androzani”
Sharaz Jek: I have missed so much of life these last lonely years. But your arrival has changed all that. We shall become the best of companions!
The Doctor: What do you say, Peri? We can go on nature walks, have picnics, and jolly evenings round the campfire.
Sharaz Jek: Don’t mock me, Doctor! Beauty I must have, but you are dispensable.
The Doctor: Thank you.
Sharaz Jek: You have the mouth of a prattling jackanapes... but your eyes, they tell a different story.
Lethal poisoning by spectrox toxæmia induces a regeneration in the Doctor as he lies on the floor of the TARDIS. He says it “feels different this time” before beginning to hallucinate. Images of his recent companions give way to the gloating face of the Master, which perhaps gives the Doctor the will to survive. It will prove to be a troubled regeneration, however.
From “The Twin Dilemma”
Burning out the spectrox toxæmia has interfered with the Doctor’s regeneration, leaving him susceptible to periodic fits of mental imbalance, such as adopting a ridiculous costume, accusing Peri of being a spy, and then becoming convinced he must become a hermit. Seeking a proper hermitage, the Doctor stumbles into a kidnapping scheme involving his old friend and mentor, Azmael, whom he last saw during his fourth incarnation. Azmael is a Time Lord in his final incarnation who apparently left Gallifrey to rule the planet Joconda. Azmael dies in the Doctor’s arms while saving his planet from destruction. Back in the TARDIS, the Doctor assures Peri that his mental state has completely stabilized.
Next Season
Tuesday
Monday
Doctor Who Notes - "The Five Doctors"
“The Five Doctors” was a 90-minute special episode of Doctor Who broadcast in November 1983 to mark the program’s twentieth anniversary. The ambitious story brought together, in one way or another, the Doctor’s first five incarnations, as well as several of his past and present companions, to battle Daleks, Cybermen, the Master, robots, and monsters while trying to unravel a mystery from the Time Lords’ own history. The set for the TARDIS control room was also given a major update in honor of the occasion.
While on holiday at the Eye of Orion, the fifth Doctor rebuilds the main console of the TARDIS, perhaps using data on the Master’s ship stored within Kamelion’s databank, since the new console is identical to the one later seen in the Master’s TARDIS. After working out a few bugs, this console seems to finally give the Doctor the means to steer the ship properly, since he more and more arrives places intentionally rather than by chance.
Tegan: Finished?
The Doctor: Yes. Looks rather splendid, doesn’t it?
Tegan: But will the TARDIS work properly?
The Doctor: Of course, once everything’s running.
Tegan: Didn’t you repair anything?
The Doctor: Well, the TARDIS is more than a machine, Tegan. It’s like a person. It needs coaxing, persuading, encouraging.
Tegan: You mean it’s just as unreliable.
The Doctor: You have little faith, Tegan.
Tegan: Do you blame me?
The second Doctor turns up at UNIT headquarters to hear Brigadier Lethbridge-Stewart’s speech at the reunion celebration. They reminisce about yeti, Cybermen, Omega, and the Doctor mentions Zodin, though the Brigadier is oblivious.
The Doctor: And who is this?
The Brigadier: That’s Colonel Creighton, my replacement.
The Doctor: Mine was pretty unpromising, too.
Members of the High Council of the Time Lords including Lord President Borusa, Chancellor Flavia, and the Castellan bring the Master to Gallifrey to offer him a complete set of 12 regenerations, a new life-cycle, if he agrees to rescue the Doctor from the Death Zone, “the dark secret at the heart of the Time Lord’s paradise,” which has recently become reactivated. It is draining energy from the Eye of Harmony to such an extent so as to threaten all Gallifrey. When the Master asks if they want him because he is disposable, the Castellan says, “Not at all. You would be useless to us dead.”
The first Doctor and Susan escape from a Dalek only to discover they are not on Skaro, but have both been brought back to Gallifrey and deposited in the Death Zone. Sensing the answer lies in the Dark Tower, they set off to reach it, as do the second Doctor with the Brigadier and the third Doctor with Sarah Jane Smith. Crossing the Death Zone, the first Doctor and Susan find the TARDIS and the fifth Doctor, Tegan, and Turlough within. The fifth Doctor seems pleased to see Susan again. She seems some years older than when he left her on twenty-second century Earth to marry David Campbell. Since she has not regenerated yet, it is likely she is still Susan Campbell.
The second Doctor explains their predicament to the Brigadier.
The Doctor: It’s just as I feared. We’re on Gallifrey, in the Death Zone.
The Brigadier: You know this place?
The Doctor: To my shame. Yes, mine, Brigadier, and that of every other Time Lord. In the days before Rassilon, my ancestors had tremendous powers which they misused disgracefully. They set up this place, the Death Zone, and walled it around with an impenetrable force field. And then they kidnapped other beings and set them down here.
The Brigadier: But what for?
The Doctor: I’ll explain as we go.
The Brigadier: Where are we going?
The Doctor: To the tower -- to Rassilon, the greatest single figure in Time Lord history.
The Brigadier: Is that where he lives?
The Doctor: Not exactly, Brigadier. It’s his tomb.
The Doctor: I wonder. Could Rassilon himself have brought us here?
The Brigadier: Hang on a minute, Doctor. You said this chap Rassilon was dead. You did say that was his tomb.
The Doctor: Oh, it is. But no one really knows how extensive his powers were.
The Brigadier: He could still be alive?
The Doctor: Watching us at this very moment.
The Brigadier: Didn’t you say he was supposed to be rather a good type?
The Doctor: So the official history says. But there are many rumors and legends to the contrary. Some say his fellow Time Lords rebelled against his cruelty and locked him in the tower in eternal sleep!
Driving toward the Dark Tower in Bessie, the third Doctor and Sarah Jane encounter the Master.
The Doctor: Jehosaphat! It really is you. Yes, well, I should have known you’d be behind all this.
Sarah Jane: Doctor, who is it?
The Doctor: It’s my best enemy. He likes to be known as the Master. Don’t you? My, my, my, but you’ve changed. Another regeneration?
The Master: Not exactly.
The Doctor: I take it you are responsible for our being in the Death Zone.
The Master: For once, I’m innocent. Here at the High Council’s request to help you and your other selves.
The Doctor: You sent here by the Time Lords to help me? I’ve never heard such arrant nonsense.
After transmatting to the council chamber, the fifth Doctor mentions to the High Council that even in the ancient times, the Cybermen were prohibited from playing the Game of Rassilon because they played too well. A search of the Castellan’s quarters produces a box containing the Black Scrolls of Rassilon, which contain forbidden knowledge from the dark time. Attempting to escape, the Castellan is shot dead. The Doctor is certain, however, that the Castellan is innocent and was framed, and that the real traitor is still at large.
Trying to bypass the death traps within the tower, the first Doctor and Tegan run into the Master.
The Master: Our ancestors had such a wonderful sense of humor.
The Doctor: Do I know you, young man?
The Master: Believe it or not, we were at the academy together.
Tegan: What do you want?
The Master: To help.
After parting, the Doctor exclaims, “What an extraordinary fellow!” As the various parties near the Tomb of Rassilon, they encounter a psychic field that causes feelings of intense fear and anxiety. They also meet phantoms from the past who warn them away. When the second Doctor sees Jamie McCrimmon and Zoe Heriot, he recognizes them immediately. He seems to know what happened to them after his exile to earth, but how he could possibly know that is not explained. Bypassing the defenses, the first three Doctors reach the tomb, where they translate an ancient inscription on a small obelisk written in Old High Gallifreyan, the ancient language of the Time Lords. The inscription promises immortality to whomever puts on the ring from Rassilon’s finger.
Meanwhile, the fifth Doctor discovers the secret lair of the traitor, who turns out to be Borusa, Lord President of the High Council of the Time Lords. Borusa has decided he wants to rule Gallifrey for the rest of eternity, and found the answer in the legends of Rassilon, who left behind him coded instructions which Borusa believes he has solved. He wants the Doctor as his servant.
The Doctor: I will not serve you.
Borusa: You have no choice, Doctor. I wear the Coronet of Rassilon.
The Doctor: And very fetching it is, too.
Borusa: It emphasizes my will and allows me to control the minds of others.
Transmatting directly to the Tomb of Rassilon, Borusa activates an image of Rassilon which appears over Rassilon’s body and offers him immortality. As Borusa places the ring on his finger, his life force is absorbed into the tomb itself, granting him the worst kind of immortality imaginable, a fitting punishment for his greed. After congratulating the Doctor, the image of Rassilon fades.
The fifth Doctor: Did you know what would happen?
The first Doctor: I’m so sorry. I suddenly realised what the old proverb meant. “To lose is to win, and he who wins shall lose.” It was all part of Rassilon’s trap to find who wanted immortality and put him out of the way. He knew very well immortality was a curse, not a blessing.
The fifth Doctor: Well, now it seems we must part, just as I was getting to know me.
The second Doctor: So, you’re the latest model?
The fifth Doctor: Yes, and the most agreeable.
The second Doctor: Certainly the most impudent.
The third Doctor: And our dress sense hasn’t improved much, has it?
The first Doctor: Neither our manners. Well, good bye, my boy. You did quite well, quite well. It’s reassuring to know my future is in safe hands. Come along, Susan.
Susan: Good bye, everybody.
The fifth Doctor: Good bye.
The third Doctor: Good bye, Susan.
The second Doctor: Good bye. Time to go, Brigadier. Well, good bye.
The fifth Doctor: Good bye.
The second Doctor: Good bye, fancy pants.
The third Doctor: Scarecrow.
The Brigadier: Doctor, don’t you want your coat?
The second Doctor: Bring it along, would you, Brigadier?
The Brigadier: Certainly. Good bye, Doctor -- Doctors.
The third Doctor: Brigadier.
The Brigadier: Splendid fellows, all of you.
The third Doctor: Well, good bye, my dear chap. I must say, I’ve had the time of my lives. Haven’t we, Sarah Jane?
Sarah Jane: Have we? Well, I only have one life, and I think I’ve had too much already. Good bye. It was really nice meeting you.
The third Doctor: Thank you, Sarah Jane. It was nice meeting you, too.
Sarah Jane: What?
The third Doctor: I’ll explain later.
The fifth Doctor: I’m definitely not the man I was. Thank goodness.
Arriving with members of the guard, Chancellor Flavia informs the Doctor that the full council has exercised its emergency powers and appointed him Lord President. The Doctor grants her full deputy powers until he returns and then beats a hasty retreat into the TARDIS. Despite incurring the wrath of the Time Lords, the Doctor has no intention of being president of anything, and he, Tegan, and Turlough continue on their travels. The Doctor makes use of the title on occasion until he is eventually dismissed from office due to dereliction of duty. It is apparently Borusa who was behind the scheme to move the Earth across the galaxy to prevent the Andromedans from gaining the secrets of the Matrix, and presumably Flavia was running the High Council when they were all deposed following the revelation of this conspiracy. Nothing is known of the new Time Lord government formed following that scandal, only that revolt swept Gallifrey. It is also unknown what was done with the Tomb of Rassilon or the Time-Scoop after the resolution of Borusa’s final scheme. The Doctor insisted it would have to be sealed again, but he left everything in Flavia’s hands. It’s a little uncertain from what point in history each of the Doctors came from. It was evidently after “The Three Doctors” for the first three, and after the third Doctor met Sarah Jane. But the second Doctor displays some rather problematic knowledge, since he regenerated immediately after his trial.
Next Season
While on holiday at the Eye of Orion, the fifth Doctor rebuilds the main console of the TARDIS, perhaps using data on the Master’s ship stored within Kamelion’s databank, since the new console is identical to the one later seen in the Master’s TARDIS. After working out a few bugs, this console seems to finally give the Doctor the means to steer the ship properly, since he more and more arrives places intentionally rather than by chance.
Tegan: Finished?
The Doctor: Yes. Looks rather splendid, doesn’t it?
Tegan: But will the TARDIS work properly?
The Doctor: Of course, once everything’s running.
Tegan: Didn’t you repair anything?
The Doctor: Well, the TARDIS is more than a machine, Tegan. It’s like a person. It needs coaxing, persuading, encouraging.
Tegan: You mean it’s just as unreliable.
The Doctor: You have little faith, Tegan.
Tegan: Do you blame me?
The second Doctor turns up at UNIT headquarters to hear Brigadier Lethbridge-Stewart’s speech at the reunion celebration. They reminisce about yeti, Cybermen, Omega, and the Doctor mentions Zodin, though the Brigadier is oblivious.
The Doctor: And who is this?
The Brigadier: That’s Colonel Creighton, my replacement.
The Doctor: Mine was pretty unpromising, too.
Members of the High Council of the Time Lords including Lord President Borusa, Chancellor Flavia, and the Castellan bring the Master to Gallifrey to offer him a complete set of 12 regenerations, a new life-cycle, if he agrees to rescue the Doctor from the Death Zone, “the dark secret at the heart of the Time Lord’s paradise,” which has recently become reactivated. It is draining energy from the Eye of Harmony to such an extent so as to threaten all Gallifrey. When the Master asks if they want him because he is disposable, the Castellan says, “Not at all. You would be useless to us dead.”
The first Doctor and Susan escape from a Dalek only to discover they are not on Skaro, but have both been brought back to Gallifrey and deposited in the Death Zone. Sensing the answer lies in the Dark Tower, they set off to reach it, as do the second Doctor with the Brigadier and the third Doctor with Sarah Jane Smith. Crossing the Death Zone, the first Doctor and Susan find the TARDIS and the fifth Doctor, Tegan, and Turlough within. The fifth Doctor seems pleased to see Susan again. She seems some years older than when he left her on twenty-second century Earth to marry David Campbell. Since she has not regenerated yet, it is likely she is still Susan Campbell.
The second Doctor explains their predicament to the Brigadier.
The Doctor: It’s just as I feared. We’re on Gallifrey, in the Death Zone.
The Brigadier: You know this place?
The Doctor: To my shame. Yes, mine, Brigadier, and that of every other Time Lord. In the days before Rassilon, my ancestors had tremendous powers which they misused disgracefully. They set up this place, the Death Zone, and walled it around with an impenetrable force field. And then they kidnapped other beings and set them down here.
The Brigadier: But what for?
The Doctor: I’ll explain as we go.
The Brigadier: Where are we going?
The Doctor: To the tower -- to Rassilon, the greatest single figure in Time Lord history.
The Brigadier: Is that where he lives?
The Doctor: Not exactly, Brigadier. It’s his tomb.
* * *
The Doctor: I wonder. Could Rassilon himself have brought us here?
The Brigadier: Hang on a minute, Doctor. You said this chap Rassilon was dead. You did say that was his tomb.
The Doctor: Oh, it is. But no one really knows how extensive his powers were.
The Brigadier: He could still be alive?
The Doctor: Watching us at this very moment.
The Brigadier: Didn’t you say he was supposed to be rather a good type?
The Doctor: So the official history says. But there are many rumors and legends to the contrary. Some say his fellow Time Lords rebelled against his cruelty and locked him in the tower in eternal sleep!
Driving toward the Dark Tower in Bessie, the third Doctor and Sarah Jane encounter the Master.
The Doctor: Jehosaphat! It really is you. Yes, well, I should have known you’d be behind all this.
Sarah Jane: Doctor, who is it?
The Doctor: It’s my best enemy. He likes to be known as the Master. Don’t you? My, my, my, but you’ve changed. Another regeneration?
The Master: Not exactly.
The Doctor: I take it you are responsible for our being in the Death Zone.
The Master: For once, I’m innocent. Here at the High Council’s request to help you and your other selves.
The Doctor: You sent here by the Time Lords to help me? I’ve never heard such arrant nonsense.
After transmatting to the council chamber, the fifth Doctor mentions to the High Council that even in the ancient times, the Cybermen were prohibited from playing the Game of Rassilon because they played too well. A search of the Castellan’s quarters produces a box containing the Black Scrolls of Rassilon, which contain forbidden knowledge from the dark time. Attempting to escape, the Castellan is shot dead. The Doctor is certain, however, that the Castellan is innocent and was framed, and that the real traitor is still at large.
Trying to bypass the death traps within the tower, the first Doctor and Tegan run into the Master.
The Master: Our ancestors had such a wonderful sense of humor.
The Doctor: Do I know you, young man?
The Master: Believe it or not, we were at the academy together.
Tegan: What do you want?
The Master: To help.
After parting, the Doctor exclaims, “What an extraordinary fellow!” As the various parties near the Tomb of Rassilon, they encounter a psychic field that causes feelings of intense fear and anxiety. They also meet phantoms from the past who warn them away. When the second Doctor sees Jamie McCrimmon and Zoe Heriot, he recognizes them immediately. He seems to know what happened to them after his exile to earth, but how he could possibly know that is not explained. Bypassing the defenses, the first three Doctors reach the tomb, where they translate an ancient inscription on a small obelisk written in Old High Gallifreyan, the ancient language of the Time Lords. The inscription promises immortality to whomever puts on the ring from Rassilon’s finger.
Meanwhile, the fifth Doctor discovers the secret lair of the traitor, who turns out to be Borusa, Lord President of the High Council of the Time Lords. Borusa has decided he wants to rule Gallifrey for the rest of eternity, and found the answer in the legends of Rassilon, who left behind him coded instructions which Borusa believes he has solved. He wants the Doctor as his servant.
The Doctor: I will not serve you.
Borusa: You have no choice, Doctor. I wear the Coronet of Rassilon.
The Doctor: And very fetching it is, too.
Borusa: It emphasizes my will and allows me to control the minds of others.
Transmatting directly to the Tomb of Rassilon, Borusa activates an image of Rassilon which appears over Rassilon’s body and offers him immortality. As Borusa places the ring on his finger, his life force is absorbed into the tomb itself, granting him the worst kind of immortality imaginable, a fitting punishment for his greed. After congratulating the Doctor, the image of Rassilon fades.
The fifth Doctor: Did you know what would happen?
The first Doctor: I’m so sorry. I suddenly realised what the old proverb meant. “To lose is to win, and he who wins shall lose.” It was all part of Rassilon’s trap to find who wanted immortality and put him out of the way. He knew very well immortality was a curse, not a blessing.
The fifth Doctor: Well, now it seems we must part, just as I was getting to know me.
The second Doctor: So, you’re the latest model?
The fifth Doctor: Yes, and the most agreeable.
The second Doctor: Certainly the most impudent.
The third Doctor: And our dress sense hasn’t improved much, has it?
The first Doctor: Neither our manners. Well, good bye, my boy. You did quite well, quite well. It’s reassuring to know my future is in safe hands. Come along, Susan.
Susan: Good bye, everybody.
The fifth Doctor: Good bye.
The third Doctor: Good bye, Susan.
The second Doctor: Good bye. Time to go, Brigadier. Well, good bye.
The fifth Doctor: Good bye.
The second Doctor: Good bye, fancy pants.
The third Doctor: Scarecrow.
The Brigadier: Doctor, don’t you want your coat?
The second Doctor: Bring it along, would you, Brigadier?
The Brigadier: Certainly. Good bye, Doctor -- Doctors.
The third Doctor: Brigadier.
The Brigadier: Splendid fellows, all of you.
The third Doctor: Well, good bye, my dear chap. I must say, I’ve had the time of my lives. Haven’t we, Sarah Jane?
Sarah Jane: Have we? Well, I only have one life, and I think I’ve had too much already. Good bye. It was really nice meeting you.
The third Doctor: Thank you, Sarah Jane. It was nice meeting you, too.
Sarah Jane: What?
The third Doctor: I’ll explain later.
The fifth Doctor: I’m definitely not the man I was. Thank goodness.
Arriving with members of the guard, Chancellor Flavia informs the Doctor that the full council has exercised its emergency powers and appointed him Lord President. The Doctor grants her full deputy powers until he returns and then beats a hasty retreat into the TARDIS. Despite incurring the wrath of the Time Lords, the Doctor has no intention of being president of anything, and he, Tegan, and Turlough continue on their travels. The Doctor makes use of the title on occasion until he is eventually dismissed from office due to dereliction of duty. It is apparently Borusa who was behind the scheme to move the Earth across the galaxy to prevent the Andromedans from gaining the secrets of the Matrix, and presumably Flavia was running the High Council when they were all deposed following the revelation of this conspiracy. Nothing is known of the new Time Lord government formed following that scandal, only that revolt swept Gallifrey. It is also unknown what was done with the Tomb of Rassilon or the Time-Scoop after the resolution of Borusa’s final scheme. The Doctor insisted it would have to be sealed again, but he left everything in Flavia’s hands. It’s a little uncertain from what point in history each of the Doctors came from. It was evidently after “The Three Doctors” for the first three, and after the third Doctor met Sarah Jane. But the second Doctor displays some rather problematic knowledge, since he regenerated immediately after his trial.
Next Season
Friday
Doctor Who Notes 20
The twentieth season of Doctor Who celebrates the program’s past by drawing upon various elements of the “Doctor Who Universe.” First, there is a return to Gallifrey to deal once and for all with the threat of Omega, in a sequel to season ten’s “The Three Doctors.” Then, the Mara returns from the previous season to meet its final fate. Brigadier Lethbridge-Stewart returns after several years for a time-bending adventure. The Black Guardian finally seeks revenge on the Doctor for thwarting his earlier scheme to possess the Key to Time, and the Master turns up as well for another round with his arch-enemy. The series was followed, several months later, by a special anniversary episode featuring numerous characters from the show’s two decades.
From “Arc of Infinity”
While attempting some repairs to the TARDIS, the Doctor and Nyssa encounter an antimatter creature that is trying to cross the dimensional boundary. However, they escape with the process only half completed.
Nyssa: So if this creature can’t bond with you, it can have no real existence in this universe?
The Doctor: Right.
Nyssa: But to do that, it would have to have detailed biological information about you.
The Doctor: Which in my case exists only in the Matrix on Gallifrey.
Nyssa: So someone there passed it on!
From “Arc of Infinity”
While attempting some repairs to the TARDIS, the Doctor and Nyssa encounter an antimatter creature that is trying to cross the dimensional boundary. However, they escape with the process only half completed.
Nyssa: So if this creature can’t bond with you, it can have no real existence in this universe?
The Doctor: Right.
Nyssa: But to do that, it would have to have detailed biological information about you.
The Doctor: Which in my case exists only in the Matrix on Gallifrey.
Nyssa: So someone there passed it on!
* * *
Nyssa: Doctor, we’ve changed course!
The Doctor: The High Council of Time Lords -- we’re being taken back to Gallifrey!
Nyssa: Why?
The Doctor: I don’t know! It must be urgent -- only twice before in our history has the recall circuit been used!
The Doctor fears he has been brought back to Gallifrey to be executed, thereby preventing the creature from ever crossing the dimensional boundary. They are brought before the High Council, where Lord President Borusa notes that the Doctor, too, has regenerated. He also somehow recognizes Nyssa.
Borusa: The space-time parameters of the Matrix have been invaded by a creature from the antimatter world. We know its composition and how unstable is the magnetism that shields it. The creature must be expelled immediately if we are to avert disaster.
The Doctor: Without knowing its purpose here?
Borusa: Its presence here must be our first concern. Antimatter cannot coexist in harmony in our universe.
The Doctor: Lord President, this creature is here now because it bonded with me. To do so it needed something very special, full and precise details of my biological make-up. Now, I didn’t pass this information on. Somebody did. The question is who.
Castellan: We considered this, Doctor, but the implications are quite preposterous.
The Doctor: Chancellor, can bonding occur without the full imprint of a so-called bio scan?
Thalia: Not to my knowledge. But the power of this creature is outside the limits of what we know, Doctor.
The creature is really Omega, the stellar engineer who gave the Gallifreyans mastery over time. He has convinced Councilor Hedin, an old friend of the Doctor’s, to help him leave the antimatter universe and return to Gallifrey. Believing he is working in the best interests of Time Lord society, Hedin engineers an elaborate conspiracy to give Omega control of the Matrix. When the plot is revealed, however, Hedin sacrifices himself to save the Doctor from the Castellan’s blaster. Hedin apparently believed that the Time Lords owed more to Omega than to leave him in the antimatter universe, although Omega demonstrates his insanity when he seeks to induce a cataclysmic matter-antimatter explosion on the Earth. However, at first, he seems overwhelmed by the simple pleasure of existing, before his body begins to rapidly decay. Exactly what happened to him when his corporeal form disintegrated remains a mystery. He is apparently destroyed just in time, but the Doctor fears he may one day return yet again.
The Doctor: I warned you this would happen, Omega.
Omega: Things could have been different. The power and greatness of Omega could have been yours. But no! Your hatred of me --
The Doctor: We didn’t hate you, Omega. Why couldn’t you be content to survive as you were? Why?
Omega: Time to come home, Doctor. Time for rest, to find peace. But it’s over now. All must die.
After Omega takes control of Gallifrey, the Doctor is able to escape to Earth with the help of the High Council and another of his old friends, Damon, who works in the Citadel communications center. Little is revealed about their relationship, though Damon proves very loyal to the Doctor, helping him escape from Commander Maxil and the Citadel Guards and to expose the conspiracy. Cardinal Zorac complains that whenever the Doctor returns to Gallifrey, there is violence, and the Castellan and his guards do seem to relish the intrigue. Undoubtedly, life in the Citadel is generally calm, and the guards enjoy the opportunity to strut their stuff perhaps a bit overzealously.
It is unclear how much time has elapsed for Tegan Jovanka since she last saw the Doctor and Nyssa. She has gotten a haircut and also lost her job as an air hostess, which prompted her to go to Amsterdam to meet up with her cousin Colin Fraser. It is there that she stumbles onto Omega’s secret base and is taken prisoner. They are soon rescued by the Doctor, and once Omega is defeated and Colin is safe, Tegan decides to rejoin the Doctor on his travels.
From “Snakedance”
When Tegan misreads the TARDIS coordinates, taking them to the planet Manussa, the Doctor suspects that she is still possessed by the Mara, an artificially created psychic force which they encountered earlier on Deva Loka. The Mara has brought them to its home planet in hopes of forming a body for itself so as to return to physical existence. It exerts a powerful influence over Tegan’s mind until taking her over completely. The Doctor tries to figure out the Mara’s plan by examining archaeological remains, though the local authorities think he is an apocalyptic lunatic. In the end, the Mara is destroyed.
From “Mawdryn Undead”
After retiring from UNIT in 1976, Brigadier Lethbridge-Stewart took a position at a boys school teaching mathematics. A year later, he meets a young woman named Tegan Jovanka, who is traveling with the Doctor. On returning to the TARDIS, he meets another young woman named Nyssa and a strange-looking man claiming to be the Doctor, although experiencing a mutated regeneration due to an accident with a transmat capsule. Tegan is unconvinced that the man isn’t an impostor. The TARDIS travels to a spaceship and the man disembarks. While searching for him, the Brigadier spots seven similar aliens. He then meets a boy named Turlough, whom Tegan had mentioned. Turlough tells him he’ll take him to the Doctor, but instead traps him in a small room. However, he soon escapes and meets the aliens, who attempt to return him to Earth, but the capsule can’t leave the ship. The Brigadier pockets a homing device from the console and returns to the ship in search of the Doctor. Hearing strange noises, the Brigadier goes through a doorway into a laboratory where he meets himself. There is a blinding flash, and when he comes to, he is back at the school, seeing the TARDIS dematerialize. The experience is deeply disturbing and the Brigadier soon suffers a nervous breakdown, during which he blocks all memory of the Doctor from his mind.
Six years later, in 1983, the Brigadier’s classic car is wrecked by two students, Turlough and Ibertson. When Ibertson reports that Turlough has vanished, the Brigadier finds him up the hill with an eccentric young man who follows him back to the school and mentions UNIT, much to the Brigadier’s surprise. Only after talking with the stranger for a while does the Brigadier’s memory begin to return and he recognizes the Doctor. When the Doctor mentions Tegan, the Brigadier remembers her. This helps the Doctor figure out what happened to his lost TARDIS. Slowly, the Brigadier remembers more details of their previous encounter, though it is still hazy. They return to the transmat capsule where they find Turlough inside. The Doctor is concerned that if the Brigadier should meet himself aboard the ship, it would short out the time differential, causing a temporal catastrophe. The capsule has broken down, but the Brigadier remembers the homing device he’s had in a box for six years. Headstrong as ever, the Brigadier insists on going with them to the spaceship, wanting to find out what caused his memory loss. They discover a laboratory containing a metamorphic symbiosis regenerator, a device used by Time Lords in cases of acute regenerative crisis, which has been stolen from Gallifrey. Hearing a voice, the Brigadier goes to investigate. When he returns, it seems the Doctor has been mutilated, but once hooked up to the device, the man admits his name is Mawdryn. The Doctor returns with Nyssa, where they learn the aliens stole the machine in an attempt to become Time Lords. But the experiment caused a perpetual mutation, so they were banished to the ship and placed within a warp ellipse. The Doctor is unwilling to sacrifice himself to help them until he realizes it is the only way to cure Nyssa and Tegan of a virus created by the mutation. Just as the Brigadier is about to activate the device, his younger self enters the laboratory and there is a blinding flash. The energy from the time differential shorting out saves the Doctor, Tegan, and Nyssa, and allows the aliens to finally die. The Doctor returns the Brigadier to the school in 1983, where they say good-bye.
Turlough is not really an English schoolboy, but is Vislor Turlough, a political prisoner exiled from his home planet of Trion. He is contacted by the Black Guardian, who wishes to use him to assassinate the Doctor. The Black Guardian promises to free Turlough from his imprisonment if he agrees. Turlough makes several attempts but cannot bring himself to kill the Doctor. From the knowledge he displays, it is certainly clear to the Doctor that Turlough does not belong on Earth in 1983, and he agrees to allow him to join the TARDIS crew. The Doctor eventually learns of the Black Guardian’s plot and defeats him, freeing Turlough from his influence. Although the Doctor is hesitant to trust him completely, they travel together until Turlough finds his long-lost brother on Sarn and learns that his exile has been rescinded, at which time he returns home to Trion.
From “Terminus”
Following the Black Guardian’s instructions, Turlough attempts to sabotage the TARDIS. His actions cause a temporal instability wave to sweep through part of the ship, including Nyssa’s room, where she is working on some experiments synthesizing enzymes. The Doctor flips a switch on the main console, causing the wall of Nyssa’s room to phase into another ship. Nyssa goes through the doorway and disappears.
Tegan: Where did the other spacecraft come from?
The Doctor: The TARDIS found it. There’s a failsafe. On impending breakup, it seeks out and locks onto the nearest spacecraft.
Tegan: You never mentioned it before!
The Doctor: Well, it never worked before.
The ship soon docks at a gigantic space station called Terminus, where people infected with Lazar’s Disease are sent to die. Terminus is located at the exact center of the known universe, and the Doctor speculates that the pilot had once jettisoned an enormous amount of unstable fuel into a void, causing the explosion that led to the formation of the universe. The ship time-jumped to escape the blast, but was caught in the shock wave and pushed billions of years into the future. Nyssa becomes infected with the disease, but is cured in the automated treatment center. Realizing that her skills could turn the station from a death ship into a proper hospital, Nyssa decides to stay. Facing a perilous and uncertain future, she wishes the Doctor and Tegan a tearful farewell.
From “Enlightenment”
The White Guardian attempts to contact the Doctor to warn him of some danger. He relays a set of coordinates, but is cut off by an appearance of the Black Guardian, who threatens the Doctor’s life. After the TARDIS materializes and the Doctor and Turlough go out to investigate, the White Guardian relays another cryptic message to Tegan. They discover they are on a ship run by beings that exist outside of time called Eternals, who are in a race through the solar system in an attempt to alleviate boredom. During a reception, the Doctor takes a fresh celery stalk for his lapel. Turlough discovers one of the Eternals is in league with the Black Guardian and insinuates himself aboard her ship, where he helps the Doctor commandeer the ship and win the race. The prize is enlightenment, granted jointly by the White Guardian and the Black Guardian.
White Guardian: Let the victor receive his prize! You will never destroy the light.
Black Guardian: Others shall do it for me.
White Guardian: Destroy the light and you destroy yourself. Dark cannot exist without knowledge of light.
Black Guardian: Nor light without dark. Your powers are waning.
White Guardian: Others will recharge them for me.
Black Guardian: These creatures have no knowledge of good and evil. Enlightenment will give them power. They will invade time itself! Chaos will come again and the universe will dissolve! Where is the captain of this ship? Where is the captain to receive the prize?
The Doctor: I’m afraid the captain can’t be with us. She met with a rather unfortunate accident. Both the captain and the first mate fell overboard. I brought the ship into harbour... with some assistance.
Black Guardian: You lie!
The Doctor: I leave the lies and deception to you.
Black Guardian: Take care, Doctor. You have not defeated me, you have merely won a minor skirmish. The war still goes on.
White Guardian: It seems enlightenment is yours, Doctor.
The Doctor: I’m not ready for it. I don’t think anyone is, especially Eternals.
Tegan: Doctor, I thought --
The Doctor: Yes, not now, Tegan.
White Guardian: You’re right, Doctor. Let the Eternals return to the place from which they came.
Marriner: No! I want to stay!
White Guardian: Back to your echoing void! Back to the vastness of eternity!
Marriner: Tegan, help me!
Tegan: I can’t.
Marriner: I need you!
Tegan: Doctor?
The Doctor: There’s nothing we can do.
White Guardian: You were right, Doctor, in judging no one is fit to claim all enlightenment. I can, however, allocate a share to you, Turlough.
Turlough: Me?
White Guardian: You assisted in bringing the ship to harbour.
Turlough: It’s a diamond! The size -- it could buy a galaxy! I can have that?
White Guardian: Yes.
Black Guardian: I would point out that under our agreement, it is mine. Unless, of course, you wish to surrender something else in its place. The Doctor is in your debt for his life. Give me the Doctor and you can have this, the TARDIS, whatever you wish.
White Guardian: Consider, Turlough. Which will you give him? The Doctor -- or this? The choice is yours.
Turlough: Here, take it!
White Guardian: Light destroys the dark. I think you will find your contract terminated.
Turlough: I never wanted the agreement in the first place.
The Doctor: I believe you.
Tegan: You’re mad!
Turlough: What I said is true!
Tegan: You believe him because he gave up enlightenment for your sake!
The Doctor: You’re missing the point. Enlightenment was not the diamond -- enlightenment was the choice.
White Guardian: Be vigilant, Doctor. Once, you denied him the Key to Time. Now, you have thwarted him again. He will be waiting for the third encounter. His power does not diminish.
Turlough: But the Black Guardian is destroyed!
White Guardian: While I exist, he exists also, until we are no longer needed.
From “The King’s Demons”
The TARDIS materializes in England in the year 1215 in the middle of a jousting tournament watched by King John himself, who naturally mistakes the travelers for demons. The Doctor realizes something is amiss when he remembers the king ought to be in London to sign the oath as a crusader. He soon discovers that the King’s knight Sir Giles is really the Master, and King John is a shape-changing android called Kamelion which the Master discovered on Xeriphas. The Master plans to use Kamelion to undermine key civilizations and set himself up as ruler of the resulting chaos. However, the Doctor steals Kamelion away aboard the TARDIS, where it remains for some time. The Doctor has also sabotaged the Master’s time ship, sending him out of control. Back in the TARDIS, the Doctor sets the coordinates for the Eye of Orion for a well-earned holiday.
Next Adventure
The Doctor: The High Council of Time Lords -- we’re being taken back to Gallifrey!
Nyssa: Why?
The Doctor: I don’t know! It must be urgent -- only twice before in our history has the recall circuit been used!
The Doctor fears he has been brought back to Gallifrey to be executed, thereby preventing the creature from ever crossing the dimensional boundary. They are brought before the High Council, where Lord President Borusa notes that the Doctor, too, has regenerated. He also somehow recognizes Nyssa.
Borusa: The space-time parameters of the Matrix have been invaded by a creature from the antimatter world. We know its composition and how unstable is the magnetism that shields it. The creature must be expelled immediately if we are to avert disaster.
The Doctor: Without knowing its purpose here?
Borusa: Its presence here must be our first concern. Antimatter cannot coexist in harmony in our universe.
The Doctor: Lord President, this creature is here now because it bonded with me. To do so it needed something very special, full and precise details of my biological make-up. Now, I didn’t pass this information on. Somebody did. The question is who.
Castellan: We considered this, Doctor, but the implications are quite preposterous.
The Doctor: Chancellor, can bonding occur without the full imprint of a so-called bio scan?
Thalia: Not to my knowledge. But the power of this creature is outside the limits of what we know, Doctor.
The creature is really Omega, the stellar engineer who gave the Gallifreyans mastery over time. He has convinced Councilor Hedin, an old friend of the Doctor’s, to help him leave the antimatter universe and return to Gallifrey. Believing he is working in the best interests of Time Lord society, Hedin engineers an elaborate conspiracy to give Omega control of the Matrix. When the plot is revealed, however, Hedin sacrifices himself to save the Doctor from the Castellan’s blaster. Hedin apparently believed that the Time Lords owed more to Omega than to leave him in the antimatter universe, although Omega demonstrates his insanity when he seeks to induce a cataclysmic matter-antimatter explosion on the Earth. However, at first, he seems overwhelmed by the simple pleasure of existing, before his body begins to rapidly decay. Exactly what happened to him when his corporeal form disintegrated remains a mystery. He is apparently destroyed just in time, but the Doctor fears he may one day return yet again.
The Doctor: I warned you this would happen, Omega.
Omega: Things could have been different. The power and greatness of Omega could have been yours. But no! Your hatred of me --
The Doctor: We didn’t hate you, Omega. Why couldn’t you be content to survive as you were? Why?
Omega: Time to come home, Doctor. Time for rest, to find peace. But it’s over now. All must die.
After Omega takes control of Gallifrey, the Doctor is able to escape to Earth with the help of the High Council and another of his old friends, Damon, who works in the Citadel communications center. Little is revealed about their relationship, though Damon proves very loyal to the Doctor, helping him escape from Commander Maxil and the Citadel Guards and to expose the conspiracy. Cardinal Zorac complains that whenever the Doctor returns to Gallifrey, there is violence, and the Castellan and his guards do seem to relish the intrigue. Undoubtedly, life in the Citadel is generally calm, and the guards enjoy the opportunity to strut their stuff perhaps a bit overzealously.
It is unclear how much time has elapsed for Tegan Jovanka since she last saw the Doctor and Nyssa. She has gotten a haircut and also lost her job as an air hostess, which prompted her to go to Amsterdam to meet up with her cousin Colin Fraser. It is there that she stumbles onto Omega’s secret base and is taken prisoner. They are soon rescued by the Doctor, and once Omega is defeated and Colin is safe, Tegan decides to rejoin the Doctor on his travels.
From “Snakedance”
When Tegan misreads the TARDIS coordinates, taking them to the planet Manussa, the Doctor suspects that she is still possessed by the Mara, an artificially created psychic force which they encountered earlier on Deva Loka. The Mara has brought them to its home planet in hopes of forming a body for itself so as to return to physical existence. It exerts a powerful influence over Tegan’s mind until taking her over completely. The Doctor tries to figure out the Mara’s plan by examining archaeological remains, though the local authorities think he is an apocalyptic lunatic. In the end, the Mara is destroyed.
From “Mawdryn Undead”
After retiring from UNIT in 1976, Brigadier Lethbridge-Stewart took a position at a boys school teaching mathematics. A year later, he meets a young woman named Tegan Jovanka, who is traveling with the Doctor. On returning to the TARDIS, he meets another young woman named Nyssa and a strange-looking man claiming to be the Doctor, although experiencing a mutated regeneration due to an accident with a transmat capsule. Tegan is unconvinced that the man isn’t an impostor. The TARDIS travels to a spaceship and the man disembarks. While searching for him, the Brigadier spots seven similar aliens. He then meets a boy named Turlough, whom Tegan had mentioned. Turlough tells him he’ll take him to the Doctor, but instead traps him in a small room. However, he soon escapes and meets the aliens, who attempt to return him to Earth, but the capsule can’t leave the ship. The Brigadier pockets a homing device from the console and returns to the ship in search of the Doctor. Hearing strange noises, the Brigadier goes through a doorway into a laboratory where he meets himself. There is a blinding flash, and when he comes to, he is back at the school, seeing the TARDIS dematerialize. The experience is deeply disturbing and the Brigadier soon suffers a nervous breakdown, during which he blocks all memory of the Doctor from his mind.
Six years later, in 1983, the Brigadier’s classic car is wrecked by two students, Turlough and Ibertson. When Ibertson reports that Turlough has vanished, the Brigadier finds him up the hill with an eccentric young man who follows him back to the school and mentions UNIT, much to the Brigadier’s surprise. Only after talking with the stranger for a while does the Brigadier’s memory begin to return and he recognizes the Doctor. When the Doctor mentions Tegan, the Brigadier remembers her. This helps the Doctor figure out what happened to his lost TARDIS. Slowly, the Brigadier remembers more details of their previous encounter, though it is still hazy. They return to the transmat capsule where they find Turlough inside. The Doctor is concerned that if the Brigadier should meet himself aboard the ship, it would short out the time differential, causing a temporal catastrophe. The capsule has broken down, but the Brigadier remembers the homing device he’s had in a box for six years. Headstrong as ever, the Brigadier insists on going with them to the spaceship, wanting to find out what caused his memory loss. They discover a laboratory containing a metamorphic symbiosis regenerator, a device used by Time Lords in cases of acute regenerative crisis, which has been stolen from Gallifrey. Hearing a voice, the Brigadier goes to investigate. When he returns, it seems the Doctor has been mutilated, but once hooked up to the device, the man admits his name is Mawdryn. The Doctor returns with Nyssa, where they learn the aliens stole the machine in an attempt to become Time Lords. But the experiment caused a perpetual mutation, so they were banished to the ship and placed within a warp ellipse. The Doctor is unwilling to sacrifice himself to help them until he realizes it is the only way to cure Nyssa and Tegan of a virus created by the mutation. Just as the Brigadier is about to activate the device, his younger self enters the laboratory and there is a blinding flash. The energy from the time differential shorting out saves the Doctor, Tegan, and Nyssa, and allows the aliens to finally die. The Doctor returns the Brigadier to the school in 1983, where they say good-bye.
Turlough is not really an English schoolboy, but is Vislor Turlough, a political prisoner exiled from his home planet of Trion. He is contacted by the Black Guardian, who wishes to use him to assassinate the Doctor. The Black Guardian promises to free Turlough from his imprisonment if he agrees. Turlough makes several attempts but cannot bring himself to kill the Doctor. From the knowledge he displays, it is certainly clear to the Doctor that Turlough does not belong on Earth in 1983, and he agrees to allow him to join the TARDIS crew. The Doctor eventually learns of the Black Guardian’s plot and defeats him, freeing Turlough from his influence. Although the Doctor is hesitant to trust him completely, they travel together until Turlough finds his long-lost brother on Sarn and learns that his exile has been rescinded, at which time he returns home to Trion.
From “Terminus”
Following the Black Guardian’s instructions, Turlough attempts to sabotage the TARDIS. His actions cause a temporal instability wave to sweep through part of the ship, including Nyssa’s room, where she is working on some experiments synthesizing enzymes. The Doctor flips a switch on the main console, causing the wall of Nyssa’s room to phase into another ship. Nyssa goes through the doorway and disappears.
Tegan: Where did the other spacecraft come from?
The Doctor: The TARDIS found it. There’s a failsafe. On impending breakup, it seeks out and locks onto the nearest spacecraft.
Tegan: You never mentioned it before!
The Doctor: Well, it never worked before.
The ship soon docks at a gigantic space station called Terminus, where people infected with Lazar’s Disease are sent to die. Terminus is located at the exact center of the known universe, and the Doctor speculates that the pilot had once jettisoned an enormous amount of unstable fuel into a void, causing the explosion that led to the formation of the universe. The ship time-jumped to escape the blast, but was caught in the shock wave and pushed billions of years into the future. Nyssa becomes infected with the disease, but is cured in the automated treatment center. Realizing that her skills could turn the station from a death ship into a proper hospital, Nyssa decides to stay. Facing a perilous and uncertain future, she wishes the Doctor and Tegan a tearful farewell.
From “Enlightenment”
The White Guardian attempts to contact the Doctor to warn him of some danger. He relays a set of coordinates, but is cut off by an appearance of the Black Guardian, who threatens the Doctor’s life. After the TARDIS materializes and the Doctor and Turlough go out to investigate, the White Guardian relays another cryptic message to Tegan. They discover they are on a ship run by beings that exist outside of time called Eternals, who are in a race through the solar system in an attempt to alleviate boredom. During a reception, the Doctor takes a fresh celery stalk for his lapel. Turlough discovers one of the Eternals is in league with the Black Guardian and insinuates himself aboard her ship, where he helps the Doctor commandeer the ship and win the race. The prize is enlightenment, granted jointly by the White Guardian and the Black Guardian.
White Guardian: Let the victor receive his prize! You will never destroy the light.
Black Guardian: Others shall do it for me.
White Guardian: Destroy the light and you destroy yourself. Dark cannot exist without knowledge of light.
Black Guardian: Nor light without dark. Your powers are waning.
White Guardian: Others will recharge them for me.
Black Guardian: These creatures have no knowledge of good and evil. Enlightenment will give them power. They will invade time itself! Chaos will come again and the universe will dissolve! Where is the captain of this ship? Where is the captain to receive the prize?
The Doctor: I’m afraid the captain can’t be with us. She met with a rather unfortunate accident. Both the captain and the first mate fell overboard. I brought the ship into harbour... with some assistance.
Black Guardian: You lie!
The Doctor: I leave the lies and deception to you.
Black Guardian: Take care, Doctor. You have not defeated me, you have merely won a minor skirmish. The war still goes on.
White Guardian: It seems enlightenment is yours, Doctor.
The Doctor: I’m not ready for it. I don’t think anyone is, especially Eternals.
Tegan: Doctor, I thought --
The Doctor: Yes, not now, Tegan.
White Guardian: You’re right, Doctor. Let the Eternals return to the place from which they came.
Marriner: No! I want to stay!
White Guardian: Back to your echoing void! Back to the vastness of eternity!
Marriner: Tegan, help me!
Tegan: I can’t.
Marriner: I need you!
Tegan: Doctor?
The Doctor: There’s nothing we can do.
White Guardian: You were right, Doctor, in judging no one is fit to claim all enlightenment. I can, however, allocate a share to you, Turlough.
Turlough: Me?
White Guardian: You assisted in bringing the ship to harbour.
Turlough: It’s a diamond! The size -- it could buy a galaxy! I can have that?
White Guardian: Yes.
Black Guardian: I would point out that under our agreement, it is mine. Unless, of course, you wish to surrender something else in its place. The Doctor is in your debt for his life. Give me the Doctor and you can have this, the TARDIS, whatever you wish.
White Guardian: Consider, Turlough. Which will you give him? The Doctor -- or this? The choice is yours.
Turlough: Here, take it!
White Guardian: Light destroys the dark. I think you will find your contract terminated.
Turlough: I never wanted the agreement in the first place.
The Doctor: I believe you.
Tegan: You’re mad!
Turlough: What I said is true!
Tegan: You believe him because he gave up enlightenment for your sake!
The Doctor: You’re missing the point. Enlightenment was not the diamond -- enlightenment was the choice.
White Guardian: Be vigilant, Doctor. Once, you denied him the Key to Time. Now, you have thwarted him again. He will be waiting for the third encounter. His power does not diminish.
Turlough: But the Black Guardian is destroyed!
White Guardian: While I exist, he exists also, until we are no longer needed.
From “The King’s Demons”
The TARDIS materializes in England in the year 1215 in the middle of a jousting tournament watched by King John himself, who naturally mistakes the travelers for demons. The Doctor realizes something is amiss when he remembers the king ought to be in London to sign the oath as a crusader. He soon discovers that the King’s knight Sir Giles is really the Master, and King John is a shape-changing android called Kamelion which the Master discovered on Xeriphas. The Master plans to use Kamelion to undermine key civilizations and set himself up as ruler of the resulting chaos. However, the Doctor steals Kamelion away aboard the TARDIS, where it remains for some time. The Doctor has also sabotaged the Master’s time ship, sending him out of control. Back in the TARDIS, the Doctor sets the coordinates for the Eye of Orion for a well-earned holiday.
Next Adventure
Thursday
Doctor Who Notes 19
Season nineteen of Doctor Who introduces Peter Davison in the title role, and gives him two opportunities to square off against the new Master. The Cybermen also make a return appearance, and tragedy strikes as one of the Doctor’s companions is killed.
From “Castrovalva”
The fall from the radio telescope induces a regeneration in the Doctor. While Nyssa and Tegan Jovanka help him into the TARDIS, Adric is kidnapped by the Master and replaced with a duplicate created through the block transfer computation process. The duplicate Adric sets the coordinates for the Big Bang while the Doctor searches for the Zero Room. He unravels his long scarf so as not to lose his way in the labyrinthine corridors; then resorts to leaving his shoes and waistcoat as well.
The Doctor: Now, ordinary spaces of course show up on the architectural configuration indicators, but any good Zero Room is balanced to zero energy with respect to the world outside its four walls… or however many walls it has. There was a very good polygonal Zero Room under the Junior Senate Block on Gallifrey, widely renowned for its healing properties. Romana’s always telling me I need a holiday.
Adric: But Romana’s gone, Doctor.
The Doctor: Gone? Really? Did she leave a note?
Adric: We said goodbye to her at the gateway. Don’t you remember?
The Doctor: Well, if we did, we did. This should get you back to the console room when the time comes.
Adric: Are you sure you’re all right?
The Doctor: There are strong dimensioning forces this deep in the TARDIS -- tend to make one a bit giddy.
Adric: And the regeneration?
The Doctor: I don’t know. I can feel it isn’t going to be as smooth as on other occasions. The sooner we get to this Zero Room place, the better, eh?
While wandering the corridors, the Doctor comes upon a room filled with cricketing paraphernalia, such as hats, clothing, and plaques; suggesting that at some point in his travels, he played quite a bit of cricket and collected a room full of stuff. It is from this room that he gets most of his new outfit, finding his frock coat hanging in the hallway outside. Meanwhile, Nyssa and Tegan search for him.
Nyssa: This part of the TARDIS can’t have been used for centuries.
Tegan: It does go on and on!
Nyssa: Deeper and deeper.
Tegan: Yes, I get that feeling, too -- that we’re going downwards!
As the TARDIS hurtles back into the Big Bang itself, the cloister bell rings continuously, warning of the imminent danger as the environment begins to exceed the engineering tolerances. The adrenaline and neuropeptides surging through the Doctor’s brain allow him to come up with a solution despite his regeneration crisis. They escape the gravity field by using the architectural configuration system to jettison one quarter of the TARDIS interior. However, the Master had a contingency plan that takes them to the city of Castrovalva on a planet in the Andromeda galaxy, a place where space folds back on itself in maddening ways. The entire city is an illusion created by the block transfer calculation process as a trap, perhaps drawn from Adric’s memories or imagination. When the power web is disrupted, local space begins to fold in on itself, preventing the Master’s TARDIS from leaving. He is apparently trapped in the city when it disappears forever.
From “Four to Doomsday”
The Doctor attempts to materialize at Heathrow Airport on February 28, 1981 so Tegan can catch her flight and not lose her job as a stewardess, but due to a massive magnetic field shift, it arrives instead on a spacecraft. The Doctor soon meets three aliens in the control center. The Doctor lets slip that the TARDIS runs on archon energy.
Monarch: And you are?
The Doctor: I am the Doctor.
Enlightenment: A doctor? Of what?
The Doctor: Of everything!
Tegan displays quite a talent for drawing fashion plates, suggesting that she may have taken the job with the airline to further her dream of being a fashion designer. She also demonstrates an ability to speak the language of the Australian aborigines. Nyssa explains that she is an expert in bioengineering and cybernetics.
From “Kinda”
When the TARDIS materializes on the planet Deva Loka, Tegan’s mind is invaded by a psionic creature called the Mara. The Doctor says he is familiar with legends of the Mara, and these stories help him defeat the creature. Tegan wants to make sure she is completely free of the Mara’s influence, but the Doctor doesn’t answer.
From “The Visitation”
Once again attempting to deliver Tegan to Heathrow Airport, the TARDIS arrives at the right place, but 300 years early, due to a fault in the lateral balance cones. The Doctor discovers evidence of an alien spacecraft having crash-landed in the area. He learns the aliens are fugitive Terileptil prisoners. While holding the Doctor prisoner, the Terileptil leader destroys the sonic screwdriver with his blaster.
From “Black Orchid”
Tegan decides to stay with her new friends aboard the TARDIS for a while, rather than trying to get back to her job. However, the TARDIS materializes once again on Earth, on June 11, 1925. The Doctor is invited to play in a cricket match at the Cranleigh estate when he is mistaken for the friend of a friend. By a weird coincidence, Nyssa meets her physical double in Charles Cranleigh’s fiancée, Ann Talbot. The time-travelers enjoy a break from their adventures when asked to stay for the annual fancy dress ball. However, they soon become entangled in a murder mystery concerning the Cranleigh family’s dark secret, the demented brother George. They spend a day or so to attend George’s funeral. Upon leaving, they are given their party costumes as a farewell gift.
From “Earthshock”
Adric is sulking in his room, which is full of souvenirs from his travels. He tells the Doctor he wants to return to his people on their adopted world of Teradon in E-Space. The Doctor refuses to take the TARDIS back into the other universe because of the great danger involved. They argue and the Doctor sets the ship down on Earth in 2526 so Adric can try to calculate a course through a CVE and the Doctor can go for a walk. He is clearly upset over Adric’s decision to leave. They find they have wandered into a battle between military personnel and killer androids. After destroying the androids and deactivating a powerful bomb, the Doctor apologizes and Adric says he has changed his mind anyway, as there is nothing for him among his own people. Tracing the signals received by the bomb to a space freighter en route to Earth, the Doctor uncovers a Cybermen plot to destroy the planet by using the freighter as a giant missile. The Cybermen commandeer the TARDIS, forcing Adric to remain aboard the freighter. His tampering with the alien control system sends the freighter hurtling backwards through time. The crew abandons ship, but Adric decides to remain behind to crack the final logic code. The Doctor uses Adric’s badge for mathematical excellence to jam the Cyber Leader’s chestplate and then destroys it with its own blaster. However, the freighter crashes to Earth, wiping out the dinosaurs and killing Adric.
From “Time-Flight”
The Doctor: The crew of the freighter safely returned to their own time.
Nyssa: Cyber Fleet dispersed.
Tegan: Oh, great! You make it sound like a shopping list, ticking off things as you go. Aren’t you forgetting something rather important? Adric is dead!
Nyssa: Tegan, please.
The Doctor: We feel his loss as well.
Tegan: Well, you could do more than grieve! You could go back!
Nyssa: Could you?
The Doctor: No.
Nyssa: Surely the TARDIS is quite capable of --
Tegan: We could change what happened if we materialise before Adric was killed!
The Doctor: And change your own history?
Tegan: Look, the freighter could still crash into Earth -- that doesn’t have to be changed. Only Adric doesn’t have to be on board!
The Doctor: Now, listen to me, both of you! There are some rules that cannot be broken even with the TARDIS! Don’t ever ask me to do anything like that again! We must accept that Adric is dead. His life wasn’t wasted; he died trying to save others, just like his brother Varsh. You know, Adric had a choice. This is the way he wanted it.
The TARDIS finally materializes at Heathrow Airport where the Doctor learns a Concorde aircraft has vanished without a trace. The Doctor circumvents airport security by invoking his UNIT clearance. He suspects the plane encountered a time warp, and recreating the phenomenon, they find themselves 140 million years in the past, where they find a wizard who turns out to be the Master in disguise, having somehow escaped from Castrovalva and gotten stranded on pre-historic Earth. He cannibalized his TARDIS to create the time corridor. The Master has apparently exhausted his dynamorphic generator and plans to absorb the amalgamated consciousness of the Xeraphin race as a new power source. The Xeraphin had to meld to survive an aborted colonization attempt. The Doctor manages to strand the Master on Xeriphas, where the Xeraphin will be able to regenerate their physical forms. The TARDIS materializes back at Heathrow where Tegan wanders off, apparently to say goodbye, but the Doctor beats a hasty retreat from the authorities, leaving Tegan behind.
Next Season
From “Castrovalva”
The fall from the radio telescope induces a regeneration in the Doctor. While Nyssa and Tegan Jovanka help him into the TARDIS, Adric is kidnapped by the Master and replaced with a duplicate created through the block transfer computation process. The duplicate Adric sets the coordinates for the Big Bang while the Doctor searches for the Zero Room. He unravels his long scarf so as not to lose his way in the labyrinthine corridors; then resorts to leaving his shoes and waistcoat as well.
The Doctor: Now, ordinary spaces of course show up on the architectural configuration indicators, but any good Zero Room is balanced to zero energy with respect to the world outside its four walls… or however many walls it has. There was a very good polygonal Zero Room under the Junior Senate Block on Gallifrey, widely renowned for its healing properties. Romana’s always telling me I need a holiday.
Adric: But Romana’s gone, Doctor.
The Doctor: Gone? Really? Did she leave a note?
Adric: We said goodbye to her at the gateway. Don’t you remember?
The Doctor: Well, if we did, we did. This should get you back to the console room when the time comes.
Adric: Are you sure you’re all right?
The Doctor: There are strong dimensioning forces this deep in the TARDIS -- tend to make one a bit giddy.
Adric: And the regeneration?
The Doctor: I don’t know. I can feel it isn’t going to be as smooth as on other occasions. The sooner we get to this Zero Room place, the better, eh?
While wandering the corridors, the Doctor comes upon a room filled with cricketing paraphernalia, such as hats, clothing, and plaques; suggesting that at some point in his travels, he played quite a bit of cricket and collected a room full of stuff. It is from this room that he gets most of his new outfit, finding his frock coat hanging in the hallway outside. Meanwhile, Nyssa and Tegan search for him.
Nyssa: This part of the TARDIS can’t have been used for centuries.
Tegan: It does go on and on!
Nyssa: Deeper and deeper.
Tegan: Yes, I get that feeling, too -- that we’re going downwards!
As the TARDIS hurtles back into the Big Bang itself, the cloister bell rings continuously, warning of the imminent danger as the environment begins to exceed the engineering tolerances. The adrenaline and neuropeptides surging through the Doctor’s brain allow him to come up with a solution despite his regeneration crisis. They escape the gravity field by using the architectural configuration system to jettison one quarter of the TARDIS interior. However, the Master had a contingency plan that takes them to the city of Castrovalva on a planet in the Andromeda galaxy, a place where space folds back on itself in maddening ways. The entire city is an illusion created by the block transfer calculation process as a trap, perhaps drawn from Adric’s memories or imagination. When the power web is disrupted, local space begins to fold in on itself, preventing the Master’s TARDIS from leaving. He is apparently trapped in the city when it disappears forever.
From “Four to Doomsday”
The Doctor attempts to materialize at Heathrow Airport on February 28, 1981 so Tegan can catch her flight and not lose her job as a stewardess, but due to a massive magnetic field shift, it arrives instead on a spacecraft. The Doctor soon meets three aliens in the control center. The Doctor lets slip that the TARDIS runs on archon energy.
Monarch: And you are?
The Doctor: I am the Doctor.
Enlightenment: A doctor? Of what?
The Doctor: Of everything!
Tegan displays quite a talent for drawing fashion plates, suggesting that she may have taken the job with the airline to further her dream of being a fashion designer. She also demonstrates an ability to speak the language of the Australian aborigines. Nyssa explains that she is an expert in bioengineering and cybernetics.
From “Kinda”
When the TARDIS materializes on the planet Deva Loka, Tegan’s mind is invaded by a psionic creature called the Mara. The Doctor says he is familiar with legends of the Mara, and these stories help him defeat the creature. Tegan wants to make sure she is completely free of the Mara’s influence, but the Doctor doesn’t answer.
From “The Visitation”
Once again attempting to deliver Tegan to Heathrow Airport, the TARDIS arrives at the right place, but 300 years early, due to a fault in the lateral balance cones. The Doctor discovers evidence of an alien spacecraft having crash-landed in the area. He learns the aliens are fugitive Terileptil prisoners. While holding the Doctor prisoner, the Terileptil leader destroys the sonic screwdriver with his blaster.
From “Black Orchid”
Tegan decides to stay with her new friends aboard the TARDIS for a while, rather than trying to get back to her job. However, the TARDIS materializes once again on Earth, on June 11, 1925. The Doctor is invited to play in a cricket match at the Cranleigh estate when he is mistaken for the friend of a friend. By a weird coincidence, Nyssa meets her physical double in Charles Cranleigh’s fiancée, Ann Talbot. The time-travelers enjoy a break from their adventures when asked to stay for the annual fancy dress ball. However, they soon become entangled in a murder mystery concerning the Cranleigh family’s dark secret, the demented brother George. They spend a day or so to attend George’s funeral. Upon leaving, they are given their party costumes as a farewell gift.
From “Earthshock”
Adric is sulking in his room, which is full of souvenirs from his travels. He tells the Doctor he wants to return to his people on their adopted world of Teradon in E-Space. The Doctor refuses to take the TARDIS back into the other universe because of the great danger involved. They argue and the Doctor sets the ship down on Earth in 2526 so Adric can try to calculate a course through a CVE and the Doctor can go for a walk. He is clearly upset over Adric’s decision to leave. They find they have wandered into a battle between military personnel and killer androids. After destroying the androids and deactivating a powerful bomb, the Doctor apologizes and Adric says he has changed his mind anyway, as there is nothing for him among his own people. Tracing the signals received by the bomb to a space freighter en route to Earth, the Doctor uncovers a Cybermen plot to destroy the planet by using the freighter as a giant missile. The Cybermen commandeer the TARDIS, forcing Adric to remain aboard the freighter. His tampering with the alien control system sends the freighter hurtling backwards through time. The crew abandons ship, but Adric decides to remain behind to crack the final logic code. The Doctor uses Adric’s badge for mathematical excellence to jam the Cyber Leader’s chestplate and then destroys it with its own blaster. However, the freighter crashes to Earth, wiping out the dinosaurs and killing Adric.
From “Time-Flight”
The Doctor: The crew of the freighter safely returned to their own time.
Nyssa: Cyber Fleet dispersed.
Tegan: Oh, great! You make it sound like a shopping list, ticking off things as you go. Aren’t you forgetting something rather important? Adric is dead!
Nyssa: Tegan, please.
The Doctor: We feel his loss as well.
Tegan: Well, you could do more than grieve! You could go back!
Nyssa: Could you?
The Doctor: No.
Nyssa: Surely the TARDIS is quite capable of --
Tegan: We could change what happened if we materialise before Adric was killed!
The Doctor: And change your own history?
Tegan: Look, the freighter could still crash into Earth -- that doesn’t have to be changed. Only Adric doesn’t have to be on board!
The Doctor: Now, listen to me, both of you! There are some rules that cannot be broken even with the TARDIS! Don’t ever ask me to do anything like that again! We must accept that Adric is dead. His life wasn’t wasted; he died trying to save others, just like his brother Varsh. You know, Adric had a choice. This is the way he wanted it.
The TARDIS finally materializes at Heathrow Airport where the Doctor learns a Concorde aircraft has vanished without a trace. The Doctor circumvents airport security by invoking his UNIT clearance. He suspects the plane encountered a time warp, and recreating the phenomenon, they find themselves 140 million years in the past, where they find a wizard who turns out to be the Master in disguise, having somehow escaped from Castrovalva and gotten stranded on pre-historic Earth. He cannibalized his TARDIS to create the time corridor. The Master has apparently exhausted his dynamorphic generator and plans to absorb the amalgamated consciousness of the Xeraphin race as a new power source. The Xeraphin had to meld to survive an aborted colonization attempt. The Doctor manages to strand the Master on Xeriphas, where the Xeraphin will be able to regenerate their physical forms. The TARDIS materializes back at Heathrow where Tegan wanders off, apparently to say goodbye, but the Doctor beats a hasty retreat from the authorities, leaving Tegan behind.
Next Season
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