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Doctor Who

  • TV-PG
  • 1963–1989
  • 26 seasons
  • Drama, Action & Adventure
  • 7.9

The adventures of The Doctor, a time-traveling humanoid alien known as a Time Lord. He explores the universe in his TARDIS, a sentient time-traveling spaceship. Its exterior appears as a blue British police box, which was a common sight in Britain in 1963 when the series first aired. Along with a succession of companions, The Doctor faces a variety of foes while working to save civilizations, help ordinary people, and right many wrongs.

Episodes

This season had a unique format, never again repeated in the show. Doctor Who had returned to production after a near-cancellation and an eighteen-month production hiatus. For the first time, a season consisted of a single story, The Trial of a Time Lord, although this was made up of four serials from a production perspective: each serial was written by a different person (save for The Mysterious Planet and the first part of The Ultimate Foe, both of which were written by Robert Holmes) and featured a different story presented as evidence, excluding the final two episodes which concluded the ongoing story of the trial; the trial storyline itself acted as a framing device to bracket the first three serials. As a result, whether The Trial of a Time Lord should be considered one story or four has been intensely debated. This single-story format, sometimes referred to as a "miniseries", would later be utilised for the third and fourth series of Torchwood.

14 episodes
  1. 1The Trial of a Time Lord: Part 1

    26 minSep 6, 19866.7

    The Doctor is taken 'out of time' by the Time Lords and made to face an inquiry into his meddling in the affairs of others, overseen by the Inquisitor. The prosecutor, the Valeyard, soon has the proceedings upgraded to a trial for the Doctor's life. Evidence takes the form of recordings of the Doctor's recent adventures, beginning with his visit to the mysterious world of Ravalox and an encounter with Andromedan space pirates...

  2. 2The Trial of a Time Lord: Part 2

    25 minSep 13, 19866.6

    The Doctor has an appointment with the Immortal, while Peri finds herself caught up with Glitz and the Tribe of the Free. Meanwhile, Merdeen begins to question all he believes.

  3. 3The Trial of a Time Lord: Part 3

    25 minSep 20, 19866.5

    The Doctor escapes to rejoin Peri on the surface but shortly after becomes the prisoner of a surface-dwelling tribe called The Free. Ravalox isn't Ravalox after all, but before the Doctor can learn much more an irresistible agent from UK Habitat comes to fetch him back.

  4. 4The Trial of a Time Lord: Part 4

    25 minSep 27, 19866.4

    All those on Ravolox are in exponentially greater peril than anyone can comprehend. If anything in the entire universe is to survive, it may come down to the Doctor arguing against machine logic over the value of life.

  5. 5The Trial of a Time Lord: Part 5

    25 minOct 4, 19866.6

    The Doctor's trial continues. The Valeyard's next piece of evidence for the prosecution concerns the Doctor's recent trip to Thoros Beta. Though originally investigating arms dealing, the Doctor and Peri become embroiled in their old enemy Sil's alarming neurological experiments...

  6. 6The Trial of a Time Lord: Part 6

    25 minOct 11, 19866.9

    The scientist Crozier keeps making empty promises and Yrcanos and Peri are seemingly betrayed by the addled Doctor who is sure the Matrix is being manipulated...

  7. 7The Trial of a Time Lord: Part 7

    25 minOct 18, 19866.6

    While the Doctor helps Dr. Crozier transfer Lord Kiv's brain into a new host skull, Peri accompanies King Yrcanos as he searches for the Alpha Resistance fighters whom he feels, most certainly, will follow him into glorious battle against the Mentors and the Doctor.

  8. 8The Trial of a Time Lord: Part 8

    25 minOct 25, 19866.8

    As the Possidor Ambassador visits, Sil is appalled to realise Crozier has selected Peri to be the Kiv's new host body - a move Yrcanos takes exception to with devastating results.

  9. 9The Trial of a Time Lord: Part 9

    25 minNov 1, 19865.0

    With the prosecution case concluded, at last the Doctor is able to present his evidence. It takes place in the future with a new companion and new problems.

  10. 10The Trial of a Time Lord: Part 10

    25 minNov 8, 19865.0

    As the Hyperion III continues its journey, more mysterious deaths occur.

  11. 11The Trial of a Time Lord: Part 11

    25 minNov 15, 19864.9

    A course change that takes the Hyperion III closer to a black hole could prove unwise when there are so many aboard ship with hidden agendas. Disappearances continue, a murderer remains at large, and one person finally crumbles under the strain of harbouring a guilty secret.

  12. 12The Trial of a Time Lord: Part 12

    25 minNov 22, 19865.0

    With factions vying for control of the ship, the Vervoids are found to be responsible for the many disappearances. Only the Doctor sees the fundamental but missed point as to why they can't be reasoned with or why they can't be allowed to arrive on Earth.

  13. 13The Trial of a Time Lord: Part 13

    25 minNov 29, 19866.7

    The Valeyard's true identity is revealed and the trial aborted, but the Doctor and Mel must pursue his new enemy into the Matrix itself, where nothing is quite what it seems…

  14. 14The Trial of a Time Lord: Part 14

    30 minDec 6, 19866.3

    The final part of this epic adventure. The Doctor and the Valeyard have entered the world of the Matrix. Can the Doctor defeat the evil incarnation of himself?

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Series cast

Tom BakerThe Doctor172 episodes
William HartnellThe Doctor138 episodes
Patrick TroughtonThe Doctor134 episodes
Jon PertweeThe Doctor129 episodes
Nicholas CourtneyBrigadier Lethbridge-Stewart111 episodes
Elisabeth SladenSarah Jane Smith98 episodes
Frazer HinesJamie91 episodes
John LeesonDaleks (voice)82 episodes
John LevenePlatoon Under Leader Benton78 episodes
Katy ManningJo Grant77 episodes
William RussellIan Chesterton77 episodes
Jacqueline HillBarbara Wright77 episodes
Janet FieldingTegan Jovanka76 episodes
John Scott MartinDalek (operator)75 episodes
Peter DavisonThe Doctor73 episodes
Lalla WardPrincess Astra54 episodes
Louise JamesonLeela52 episodes
Nicola BryantPerpugilliam "Peri" Brown51 episodes

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