Beginning in November 1963, Doctor Who is the longest-running science fiction TV series in the world, spanning 26 consecutive years in its original form. It revolves around the adventures of a traveller in time and space generally known as 'The Doctor'. He is accompanied on his travels by a number of companions (also known as 'assistants') and faces alien monsters, historical villains and misguided maniacs all over the galaxy, but he often admits that Earth is by far his favourite planet.

This project divides the stories into 'seasons'; each season covers all of the episodes shown within one transmitted block of episodes. The project is divided into entries by decade, 1960s, 1970s, 1980s, 1990s and a separate entry for the 'reboot' series that began in 2005. Links to other decades can be found at the end of this entry.

Season 18

'The Leisure Hive' (4 episodes)

• Broadcast: 30 August - 20 September, 1980
• Writer: David Fisher
• Director: Lovett Bickford
• Incidental Music: Peter Howell

The Leisure Hive on Argolis is a lasting memorial to the war between the Argolins and the reptilian Foamasi that devastated both races. But so few people come to the Hive now that it's in danger of bankruptcy. One final chance remains to save the Hive - refocus the tachyon technology that powers its leisure activities and instead turn the hive into a centre for whole body rejuvenation. But Pangol, son of the Hive's administrators, has another idea - the creation of an army that will massacre their former enemies the Foamasi and see the Argolin race return to its noble warrior roots.

Note: John Leeson returns as the voice of K-9.

'Meglos' (4 episodes)

• Broadcast: 27 September - 18 October, 1980
• Writers: John Flanagan and Andrew McCulloch
• Director: Terence Dudley
• Incidental Music: Paddy Kingsland and Peter Howell

The planet Tigella is overrun with deadly plant life. The vegetation has taken over the surface of the planet, forcing its people down into a subterranean citadel. There, the Savants work towards a scientific solution to their plight but are hindered by the Deons who place their faith in the power source, the Dodecahedron, which they worship as a god. But the Dodecahedron will soon be taken from the Tigellans by their old friend, the Doctor - or so it seems. In reality, their visitor is a disguised cactus-like being called Meglos - last of the Zolpha Thurans.

'Full Circle' (4 episodes)

• Broadcast: 25 October - 15 November, 1980
• Writer: Andrew Smith
• Director: Peter Grimwade
• Incidental Music: Paddy Kingsland

Romana was only ever supposed to be the Doctor's companion while the Doctor searched for the Key to Time. Now, the Time Lords want her back. As the Doctor sets the Tardis for Gallifrey, it accidentally falls into E-space, another universe that operates on negative co-ordinates, and lands instead on the planet Alzarius. There, the Doctor and Romana encounter a society based around a crashed spaceship, a race of marsh creatures, a species of poisonous spiders and a young boy called Adric with a badge for mathematical excellence and a bad attitude.

Note: This story introduced Matthew Waterhouse as Adric.

'State of Decay' (4 episodes)

• Broadcast: 22 November - 13 December, 1980
• Writer: Terrance Dicks
• Director: Peter Moffatt
• Incidental Music: Paddy Kingsland

On an unnamed planet lies an unnamed village in the shadow of a bleak, dark tower, home of the Three Who Rule. When the Doctor and Romana drop by, they soon realise that the Three Who Rule are responsible for holding the villagers back, preventing them from developing technology and oppressing them in an atmosphere of constant fear. They soon begin to suspect that the Three Who Rule are vampires - and Time Lord law has very specific instructions for Time Lords who encounter vampires. But then they learn that they came to the planet with a stowaway aboard the Tardis - Adric is here and has been taken by the guards to be a guest of the Three Who Rule...

'Warriors' Gate' (4 episodes)

• Broadcast: 3 - 24 January, 1981
• Writer: Steve Gallagher
• Director: Paul Joyce
• Incidental Music: Peter Howell

The Gateway is a portal between E-Space and normal space. It's also a place that exists in multiple time zones, showing the time-travelling leonine Tharils in their former glories as feudal lords, and then later, after the Gundans came, as the slaves of cruel captains who use the once-noble Tharils to operate their time craft. When the Tardis lands at the Gateway near to a ship containing Tharil slaves, Romana is faced with a decision - to help the Tharils or continue with her travels in the Tardis.

Note: This story sees the departure of Lalla Ward as Romana and John Leeson as the voice of K-9.

'The Keeper of Traken' (4 episodes)

• Broadcast: 31 January - 21 February, 1981
• Writer: Johnny Byrne
• Director: John Black
• Incidental Music: Roger Limb

The Empire of Traken is legendary as a peaceful civilisation, presided over by its Keeper and powered by The Source. When a statue appears in one of the groves near to the Traken Council's chambers, the Traken people assume that it is a Melkur - an evil being that has been calcified by the Source to keep Traken pure. But within the Melkur lurks an evil being intent on using the Source for his own means. A being who knows the Doctor of old...

Note: This story introduced Sarah Sutton as Nyssa (although the character would not officially become a regular until the next story) and Anthony Ainley as the newly-regenerated Master.

'Logopolis' (4 episodes)

• Broadcast: 28 February - 21 March, 1981
• Writer: Christopher H. Bidmead
• Director: Peter Grimwade
• Incidental Music: Paddy Kingsland

The people of Logopolis speak a language constructed of pure mathematics. For centuries they have used a form of chanting to create block transfer computations that have kept the Universe stable long after it should have begun to decay. When the Doctor visits the Logopolitans hoping that they might be able to help him fix his Tardis, he accidentally brings two other travellers with him: one is Tegan Jovanka, an air stewardess whose curiosity led her to get lost inside the Tardis; the other is the Master, newly rejuvenated after his encounters with the Source on Traken. On Logopolis, the Doctor, Tegan and Adric are joined by Nyssa of Traken, brought to be with the Doctor by a strange, ethereal 'Watcher' who also brings a warning for the Doctor. While he must do everything in his power to stop the Master, he also knows that for him at least, this is the end... but the moment has been prepared for.

Note: This story marked the final adventure for Tom Baker as the Doctor and introduced his successor, Peter Davison. It also saw the arrival of Janet Fielding as new companion Tegan Jovanka.

K-9 and Company

Intended by its producer as a pilot for a proposed TV series, 'A Girl's Best Friend' was the only episode of K-9 and Company to be produced. Although strictly speaking not part of the official Doctor Who series, it provided fans with the welcome pairing of two popular former regulars, Elisabeth Sladen as Sarah-Jane Smith and John Leeson as the voice of K-9.

'A Girl's Best Friend'

• Broadcast: 28 December, 1981
• Writer: Terence Dudley
• Director: John Black
• Incidental Music: Peter Howell
• Theme Music: Ian Levine and Fiachra Trench

Season 19

'Castrovalva' (4 episodes)

• Broadcast: 4 - 12 January, 1982
• Writer: Christopher H. Bidmead
• Director: Fiona Cumming
• Incidental Music: Paddy Kingsland

As the newly-regenerated Doctor struggles to stabilise, his young friends can only wait for him to recover. After narrowly avoiding collision with the Big Bang, they manage to land the ship near Castrovalva, a citadel with a seemingly rich history and the right kind of peaceful atmosphere to help the Doctor's regeneration to stabilise. But in reality it is a trap created by the Master using the mathematical skills of Adric. Can the Doctor find the way out before Castrovalva collapses in on itself?

'Four To Doomsday' (4 episodes)

• Broadcast: 18 - 26 January, 1982
• Writer: Terence Dudley
• Director: John Black
• Incidental Music: Roger Limb

Four days away from Earth is a gigantic spaceship, the final home of the Urbankans, a race of frog-like beings. Also aboard are representatives of cultures from Earth's history dating back to early Aboriginal men. When the Doctor and his three friends land on the ship, they discover that the Urbankans and their leader, Monarch, are making one final trip to Earth, which they intend to colonise - after wiping out humanity.

'Kinda' (4 episodes)

• Broadcast: 1 - 9 February, 1982
• Writer: Christopher Bailey
• Director: Peter Grimwade
• Incidental Music: Peter Howell

A survey team continues to conduct research into the potential colonisation of planet S14 - also known as Deva Loka. The indigenous people, the Kinda, appear primitive, but their simple lifestyles disguise a rich and deeply spiritual culture. The Kinda never sleep alone for they know what awaits them in their dreams - a terrifying entity called the Mara waiting for someone to arrive who will give it corporeal form. That person is Tegan. As the inhabitants of the survey dome struggle to cope with the demands of the increasingly unstable second officer Hindle, Tegan is taken to the edge of madness by a demonic being waiting to possess her...

'The Visitation' (4 episodes)

• Broadcast: 15 - 23 February, 1983
• Writer: Eric Saward
• Director: Peter Moffatt
• Incidental Music: Paddy Kingsland

1666, and the outskirts of London have been cordoned off for fear of spreading the devastating plague. In a house not for from where Heathrow Airport will eventually be built, a Tereleptil fugitive from the prison mines of Raaga prepares to make Earth more habitable for himself and other Tereleptil refugees. But first, the locals must be culled...

Note: The Doctor's sonic screwdriver was written out in this story. It would not be seen again until the TV Movie in 1996.

'Black Orchid' (2 episodes)

• Broadcast: 1 - 2 March, 1982
• Writer: Terrence Dudley
• Director: Ron Jones
• Incidental Music: Roger Limb

When the Tardis lands on the platform of Cranleigh Halt railway station, the Doctor is mistaken for a late replacement on Lord Cranleigh's cricketing team. As the travellers settle down to enjoy a weekend of partying as guests of Lord Cranleigh and his mother, one of the servants is found dead and the Doctor is accused of murder by Lord Cranleigh's financeé, Ann, who happens to be an exact double for Nyssa. The Doctor tries to prove his innocence, but Lady Cranleigh appears reluctant to help him for some reason. Could it be because she has a terrible secret to protect?

Note: This was the first story to involve a purely historical setting devoid of science fiction elements since 'The Highlanders' in 1966.

'Earthshock' (4 episodes)

• Broadcast: 9 - 17 March, 1982
• Writer: Eric Saward
• Director: Peter Grimwade
• Incidental Music: Malcolm Clarke

In the year 2526, a group of palaeontologists go missing while exploring some caves. When a military team is called in to investigate, they discover the Doctor and his friends very near to some mutilated bodies. Before the Tardis crew can explain their presence, the party is attacked by two blank-faced androids guarding a hugely powerful bomb. While the troopers destroy the androids, the Doctor defuses the bomb and follows its operating signal to a space freighter currently approaching Earth. Taking some of the troopers with him, the Doctor lands the Tardis inside the freighter and begins to explore the hundreds of silos - unaware that each one contains the sleeping form of a Cyberman.

Note: This story saw the return of the Cybermen, with David Banks playing the Cyberleader for the first time (he returned to play this part in each subsequent appearance of the Cybermen until 'Silver Nemesis' in 1988). 'Earthshock' concluded with the shock departure of Matthew Waterhouse as Adric.

'Time-Flight' (4 episodes)

• Broadcast: 22 - 30 March, 1982
• Writer: Peter Grimwade
• Director: Ron Jones
• Incidental Music: Roger Limb

When the Tardis finally gets Tegan to Heathrow, there's no time to rest. Someone has kidnapped a Concorde aircraft and the only way to discover who's responsible is to send another Concorde to follow the trail of the first. The Doctor and his friends, along with the crew and passengers of both planes, find themselves on a prehistoric landscape near a huge temple inhabited by the wizard Kalid. But Kalid is merely the Master in disguise, using the kidnapped passengers and crew of Concorde to help fix his Tardis and tap into the energy of the people of Xeriphas.

Season 20

'Arc of Infinity' (4 episodes)

• Broadcast: 3 - 12 January, 1983
• Writer: John Byrne
• Director: Ron Jones
• Incidental Music: Roger Limb

A strange being breaches the Tardis's defences and takes a copy of the Doctor's body pattern. On the Doctor's home planet of Gallifrey, a traitor plots to bring the legendary Time Lord Omega back from his accidental exile in a universe of anti-matter. The only way to prevent this from happening would appear to involve the execution of the Doctor, but Omega has other ideas...

'Snakedance' (4 episodes)

• Broadcast: 18 - 26 January, 1983
• Writer: Christopher Bailey
• Director: Fiona Cumming
• Incidental Music: Peter Howell

Deep inside Tegan's mind, the Mara rests, trapped but not banished after the evens on Deva Loka. It compels her to program the Tardis to take her to Manussa, a planet that was once torn apart by the Mara. Now, the serpentine entity seeks revenge and an opportunity to return... But can the Doctor manage to persuade the locals that the evil being they thought was merely a legend is in fact a deadly threat about to take control once again?

'Mawdryn Undead' (4 episodes)

• Broadcast: 1 - 9 February, 1983
• Writer: Peter Grimwade
• Director: Peter Moffatt
• Incidental Music: Paddy Kingsland

In 1977, while working at a boys' school, something happened to make former UNIT officer Alistair Lethbridge-Stewart lose his memory. In 1983, he regained it thanks to the reappearance of his friend, the Doctor. In 1977, Tegan is trying to find help for the Doctor, who has been horrifically burned in an accident. In 1983, the Doctor realises that the injured man was not himself but Mawdryn, one of seven mutants cursed to live forever. As the Doctor tries to find a way of rescuing Tegan and Nyssa from 1977, one of the Brigadier's pupils, a boy called Turlough, finds himself working for the Black Guardian. His mission - to kill the Doctor...

Note: This story saw the arrival of new companion Turlough, played by Mark Strickson, a guest appearance from Nicholas Courtney as Brigadier Lethbridge-Stewart and the return of Valentine Dyall as the Black Guardian, a character first glimpsed in 'The Armageddon Factor'. The Black Guardian also appears in the next two stories, 'Terminus' and 'Enlightenment'.

'Terminus' (4 episodes)

• Broadcast: 15 - 23 February, 1983
• Writer: Steve Gallagher
• Director: Mary Ridge
• Incidental Music: Roger Limb

Terminus Incorporated is a gigantic space station established to provide a medical facility to cure the unfortunate victims of Lazars' Disease of their highly infectious contagion. But the people left to run Terminus are drug addicted, demotivated and exhausted. Something else about Terminus - it lies at the exact epicentre of the universe, right at the point where the Big Bang is believed to have began. The Black Guardian is determined that it should also be the final resting place of the Doctor...

Note: This story saw the departure of Sarah Sutton as Nyssa.

'Enlightenment' (4 episodes)

• Broadcast: 1 - 9 March, 1983
• Writer: Barbara Clegg
• Director: Fiona Cumming
• Incidental Music: Malcolm Clarke

A race of Eternals have staged a boatrace with a difference; the planets of the Solar System act as markers while humans kidnapped from different periods in Earth's history form the crews of their ships. For the winner of the race, the prize is Enlightenment. But for the Doctor it could mean his final confrontation with the Black Guardian - particularly if Turlough finally makes his mind up whose side he's really on.

'The King's Demons' (2 episodes)

• Broadcast: 15 - 16 March, 1983
• Writer: Terence Dudley
• Director: Tony Virgo
• Incidental Music: Jonathan Gibbs and Peter Howell, Lute played by Jakob Lindberg

How can a person be in two places at once? King John is apparently both in London as well as a guest at the castle of Sir Ranulf Fitzwilliam. But neither the King nor his bodyguard Sir Gilles Estram are who or what they seem, as the Doctor learns when he disturbs the King playing his lute one evening. And what of the date - 1215? Surely this can't have anything to do with the signing of Magna Carta?

Note: This story saw the arrival of Gerald Flood as the voice of Kamelion (a character that was planned as a companion but eventually appeared in just one more story - 'Planet of Fire').

20th Anniversary Special

Shown in the UK two days after the series' 20th anniversary as part of the BBC's annual 'Children in Need' charity appeal, this celebratory adventure saw the return of Patrick Troughton and Jon Pertwee as the second and third Doctors, respectively. Richard Hurndall stepped in to play the first Doctor and Tom Baker's fourth Doctor was represented by footage from the uncompleted story 'Shada'.

'The Five Doctors' (90-minute special)

• Broadcast: 25 November, 1983
• Writer: Terrance Dicks
• Director: Peter Moffatt
• Incidental Music: Peter Howell

Someone has been using outlawed technology to scoop the Doctor's past selves and old friends and enemies from time. They find themselves brought to an area on Gallifrey known as the Death Zone - a barren wilderness where one false move can result in instant death but perseverance can lead to immortality. At the heart of the Death Zone lies the Tower of Rassilon, the tomb of the first and greatest of the Time Lords. But the legends are uncertain as to whether he is in fact dead. Could Rassilon be behind the appearance of various Doctors across the Death Zone? And if so, what is his purpose?

Note: Other guest stars for this special included Carole Ann Ford as Susan, Frazer Hines as Jamie, Wendy Padbury as Zoe, Nicholas Courtney as Brigadier Lethbridge-Stewart, Caroline John as Liz Shaw, Richard Franklin as Mike Yates, Elisabeth Sladen as Sarah-Jane Smith, John Leeson as the voice of K-9, Anthony Ainley as the Master, David Banks as the Cyberleader and Roy Skelton as the voice of a Dalek.

Season 21

'Warriors of the Deep' (4 episodes)

• Broadcast: 5 - 13 January, 1984
• Writer: Johnny Byrne
• Director: Pennant Roberts
• Incidental Music: Jonathan Gibbs

Just over a century ago, the original reptilian inhabitants of Earth awoke from hibernation and tried to reclaim the planet from the 'ape-primitive' humans. Their plans failed and their colonies were wiped out. Now, the few surviving Silurians and Sea Devils have joined forces to stage an attack on an underwater military base. However, at the same time, enemy agents are in the process of sabotaging the base - can the Doctor stop humanity being destroyed by both itself and the reptilian former masters of Earth?

Note: The Silurians and Sea Devils returned, having been introduced in Seasons Seven and Nine respectively.

'The Awakening' (2 episodes)

• Broadcast: 19 - 20 January, 1984
• Writer: Eric Pringle
• Director: Michael Owen Morris
• Incidental Music: Peter Howell

Tegan asks the Doctor if he can take her to visit her grandfather, Andrew Verney, in the English village of Little Hodcombe. But Verney is nowhere to be found and most of the villagers are too busy taking part in a re-enactment of the Civil War, led by the Squire, Sir George Hutchinson. While Tegan grows anxious about her grandfather, the Doctor uncovers a malevolent face behind a wall in the village church. It is the face of the Malus, a demonic alien that is compelling Sir George to recreate the Civil War - and not as mere games, this time.

'Frontios' (4 episodes)

• Broadcast: 26 January - 3 February 1984
• Writer: Christopher H. Bidmead
• Director: Ron Jones
• Incidental Music: Paddy Kingsland

On Frontios, an ailing colony of humans are being bombarded by an unseen force. When the colony's leader, Captain Revere, is dragged underground, his second in command, Brazen, decides to hide the truth from the already frightened people. But when the Doctor's Tardis is forced to land on Frontios, he soon discovers that Revere's disappearance is just one of a number of mysteries surrounding the colony. What lies beneath the Earth that so petrifies Turlough? Who is attacking the colonists? And how could the Tardis disintegrate into nothing?

'Resurrection of the Daleks '(2 50-minute episodes)

• Broadcast: 8 - 15 February, 1984
• Writer: Eric Saward
• Director: Matthew Robinson
• Incidental Music: Malcolm Clarke

Prisoners from the future are shot dead on the streets of 1980s London by sinister policemen. A nearby warehouse is cordoned off by soldiers called in to investigate a possible unexploded bomb. And on a prison ship in deep space, the Daleks begin to exterminate all who stand between them and the prison's only inmate - the Daleks' creator, Davros.

Note: This story introduced Terry Molloy as the third actor to play Davros. It also saw the final appearance from Janet Fielding as Tegan.

'Planet of Fire' (4 episodes)

• Broadcast: 23 February - 2 March, 1984
• Writer: Peter Grimwade
• Director: Fiona Cumming
• Incidental Music: Peter Howell

Quite how the island of Lanzarote and the planet Trion are linked isn't clear, but when artefacts from Turlough's homeworld turn up among the possessions of a drowning tourist called Peri, he begins to worry. Then the robot Kamelion reveals that he is still under the control of the Master when he programmes the Tardis to land on the arid planet Sarn. The mystery deepens when a young man hailed as The Chosen One by the people of Sarn is revealed to be Turlough's brother, like himself an exile from Trion. But why has the Master brought the Tardis here? And what is the truth behind the legend of Logar?

Note: This story saw the arrival of Nicola Bryant as Perpugilliam 'Peri' Brown and the departure of both Turlough and Kamelion.

'The Caves of Androzani' (4 episodes)

• Broadcast: 8 - 16 March, 1984
• Writer: Robert Holmes
• Director: Graeme Harper
• Incidental Music: Roger Limb

The drug spectrox extends the user's natural lifespan and is therefore a highly-prized commodity on Androzani Major - so highly prized that people will kill for it. But unprocessed, spectrox can be deadly. When the Doctor and Peri land on nearby Androzani Minor, they are mistaken for gunrunners and executed. Though they have the work of a skilled android builder to thank for their lives, their gratitude soon runs out when they instead become his captives, for Sharaz Jek has lived for many years with only androids, a defeated soldier and a burning desire for revenge to keep him company. But Jek's new companions won't be with him for long as they've both contracted Spectrox Toxaemia. If that doesn't kill them, there are armed soldiers, armed androids, rivers of boiling magma and a bloodthirsty creature between them and safety. This time, even if the Doctor can save his friend, he might not be able to save himself...

Note: This story marks the final regular appearance of Peter Davison as the Doctor and the arrival of his replacement, Colin Baker.

'The Twin Dilemma' (4 episodes)

• Broadcast: 22 - 30 March, 1984
• Writer: Anthony Stevens
• Director: Peter Moffatt
• Incidental Music: Malcolm Clarke

The kidnap of the twin sons of a galactic dignitary, a retired Time Lord posing as a hermit, a trigger-happy space policeman and the plans of the slug-like gastropods conspire to provide the Doctor with a baffling challenge. Unfortunately the newly regenerated Doctor is struggling for his sanity, as Peri discovers when he tries to strangle her.

Season 22

This whole season of Doctor Who was broadcast in 45-minute episodes, as opposed to the traditional 25-minute format.

'Attack of the Cybermen' (2 episodes)

• Broadcast: 5 - 12 January, 1985
• Writer: Paula Moore (Paula Woolsey and Eric Saward)
• Director: Matthew Robinson
• Incidental Music: Malcolm Clarke

An exploration of the sewers of London draws the Doctor and Peri into the clutches of the Cybermen. Forcing the Doctor to take them back to their adopted home, Telos, the Cybermen hope to use Halley's Comet as a weapon to destroy Earth and prevent the demise of their original home planet, Mondas. But the indigenous race on Telos, the Cryons, are just as keen to see that the Cybermen do not succeed...

Note: This story showed the Doctor's Tardis changing shape for the first time, although it returned to its normal 'Police Box' appearance by the story's end.

'Vengeance on Varos' (2 episodes)

• Broadcast: 19 - 26 January, 1985
• Writer: Philip Martin
• Director: Ron Jones
• Incidental Music: Jonathan Gibbs

Former prison colony Varos still has guards, a governor and the stench of oppression. Its inhabitants live in various domes dotted about the planet and some, the unfortunate ones, find themselves in horrific torture scenarios that are videotaped and exported, along with the planet's precious minerals. Just as Varos exploits its people, Varos itself is being exploited by the Galatron Mining Corporation and its representative, the repellent sluglike Sil. When the Doctor and Peri are forced to visit Varos in search of some essential Zeiton 7 for the Tardis, they are soon dragged into joined forces with a small band of rebels hoping to overthrow the governor's regime. Little do they realise that the outcome of their fight may well be decided by the voting buttons of Varos's viewing public...

'The Mark of the Rani' (2 episodes)

• Broadcast: 2 - 9 February, 1985
• Writers: Pip and Jane Baker
• Director: Sarah Hellings
• Incidental Music: Jonathan Gibbs

In a North-eastern English mining community, a young inventor called George Stephenson finds his work interrupted by marauding workers. Initially mistaken for luddites fighting against progress, the thugs are in fact victims of the Rani, a callous Time Lord who views humans as subjects for experimentation. But her work is interrupted when she is dragged into the long-standing feud between the Doctor and the Master.

Note: This story saw the introduction of Kate O'Mara as the Rani.

'The Two Doctors' (3 episodes)

• Broadcast: 16 February - 2 March, 1985
• Writer: Robert Holmes
• Director: Peter Moffatt
• Incidental Music: Peter Howell

Respected scientist Dastari allows his ambition to override his sense of morality when his experiments into augmenting a female Androgum lead him into collaborating with the war-like Sontarans. That would be bad enough, but when Dastari plans to help the Sontarans by providing them with a working time machine, the Time Lords dispatch the Doctor to fix the problem. However, two different Doctors end up ensnared in Dastari's traps. As the Second Doctor struggles to prevent Dastari from turning him into an Androgum, the Sixth tries to find his former self before the effects of the transformation reach him.

Note: This story saw guest appearances by Patrick Troughton and Frazer Hines, recreating the roles of the Second Doctor and Jamie.

'Timelash' (2 episodes)

• Broadcast: 9 - 16 March, 1985
• Writer: Glen McCoy
• Director: Pennant Roberts
• Incidental Music: Liz Parker

On the planet Karfel, a citadel houses 500 citizens, subjects of the dictator the Borad. When the Tardis lands there, its inhabitants find the Karfelons on the verge of war with their intergalactic neighbours, the Bandrils. A group of rebels hope to overthrow the Borad and avoid the Timelash, a time corridor that disperses bodies through the time vortex. How this all ties in with the first intergalactic adventures of a young writer from Earth and an old foe of the Doctor's, only time will tell...

'Revelation of the Daleks' (2 episodes)

• Broadcast: 23 - 30 March, 1985
• Writer: Eric Saward
• Director: Graeme Harper
• Incidental Music: Roger Limb

The Doctor brings Peri to the planet Necros to mourn the loss of his friend, Arthur Stengos. But Stengos is not the late lamented stiff everyone has been led to believe. The creator of the Daleks, Davros, has installed himself as the 'Great Healer' and is using the planet's 'Tranquil Repose' mortuary to resource both a food processing scheme and his greater plan - self-replicating Daleks. But this is one revelation too far as various employees of the Great Healer conspire against him.

Note: Terry Molloy once again played Davros, while one scene showed a Dalek hovering in mid-air for the first time.

Season 23

The series returned to the old 25-minute format with this season, which formed one long 14-part adventure, the longest in the show's history. Sadly, this would be Colin Baker's last story as the reigning Doctor.

The Trial of a Time Lord

(Episodes 1 - 4 also known as 'The Mysterious Planet')

• Broadcast: 6 - 27 September, 1986
• Writer: Robert Holmes
• Director: Nicholas Mallett
• Incidental Music: Dominic Glynn

The Doctor is taken out of time and brought to a space station where his own people, the Time Lords, intend to try him for diverse crimes. The prosecuting counsel, known as the Valeyard, boasts that the evidence against the Doctor is damning and as proof uses the Matrix, the repository of all Time Lord knowledge, to show the jury one of the Doctor's adventures where his interference on the planet Ravalox leads to near catastrophe...

(Episodes 5 - 8 also known as 'Mindwarp')

• Broadcast: 4 - 25 October, 1986
• Writer: Philip Martin
• Director: Ron Jones
• Incidental Music: Richard Hartley

The Valeyard continues his prosecution of the Doctor with evidence from the accused's most recent escapade. On the planet Thoros Beta reign a race of slug-like mutants called Mentors, the race that bread the loathsome Sil. The Mentor leader, Lord Kiv, is in desperate need of a body transplant to house his ever-expanding brain. Meanwhile, the warrior king Yrcanos has sided with a group of rebels from Thoros Alpha to overthrow the Mentors once and for all. Into this steps the Doctor and his friend Peri, only one of whom will escape from Thoros Beta alive...

Note: Episode 8 saw the final appearance of Nicola Bryant as Peri.

(Episodes 9-12 also known as 'Terror of the Vervoids' / 'The Vervoids')

• Broadcast: 1 - 22 November, 1986
• Writers: Pip and Jane Baker
• Director: Chris Clough
• Incidental Music: Malcolm Clarke

Still numb after the revelations of the Valeyard's evidence, the Doctor is given the opportunity to defend himself. He chooses an adventure from his own future, in the hope that it justifies his actions. Aboard the Hyperion III space cruiser, a murderer, a race of killer plants, a nearby black hole and Mel, a new companion, provide the Doctor with what appears to be the ultimate challenge. But soon the Doctor realises that his own evidence has been tampered with. Can he still prove his innocence with an unreliable testimony?

Note: Episode 9 marked the arrival of new companion Melanie, played by Bonnie Langford.

(Episodes 13 - 14 also known as 'The Ultimate Foe' / 'Time, Inc.')

• Broadcast: 29 November - 6 December, 1986
• Writers: Robert Holmes (episode 13), Pip and Jane Baker (episode 14)
• Director: Chris Clough
• Incidental Music: Dominic Glynn

The Doctor's real adversary is revealed when the Master appears on the Matrix screen to give evidence - astonishingly, in the Doctor's defence. The Valeyard is actually a possible future, final incarnation of the Doctor. Desperate to survive, this evil Doctor has conspired with the Time Lords to find the Doctor guilty of all charges in return for his remaining lives. Exposed, the Valeyard retreats into the Matrix to construct a deadly final trap for the Doctor. There, illusions take on a sinister aspect as the Doctor has to fight for his life and his sanity...

Season 24

From here until the 1996 TV movie, the Seventh Doctor is played by Sylvester McCoy.

'Time and the Rani' (4 episodes)

• Broadcast: 7 - 28 September, 1987
• Writers: Pip and Jane Baker
• Director: Andrew Morgan
• Incidental Music: Keff McCulloch

The Tardis is drawn off course and forced to land on the planet Lakertya. As the Doctor lies unconscious on the Tardis floor, he regenerates into his seventh persona, watched by the evil Rani and her Tetrap henchman who cart him off to the Rani's headquarters. While the Rani pretends to be Mel in order to gain assistance from the still-confused Doctor, Mel learns of the Rani's suppression of the Lakertyan people for a nefarious plan that involves a collection of genii, a giant brain and a lump of strange matter...

'Paradise Towers (4 episodes)'

• Broadcast: 5 - 26 October, 1987
• Writer: Stephen Wyatt
• Director: Nicholas Mallett
• Incidental Music: Keff McCulloch

Paradise Towers won awards for its design. Its luxury apartments are automated with all the latest automated devices, the halls are cleaned by robots (overseen by on-site caretakers) and on the top floor lies a beautiful swimming pool. But that was before the war. The children sent to live there have become tribal, hunting down rival gangs and covering the walls in graffiti. The pensioners have learned to fend for themselves, though their diet has changed considerably. And as the caretakers struggle to keep everyone to the rules, an evil presence in the basement is growing stronger, helped by the Chief Caretaker. Is this really the holiday destination the Doctor promised Mel?

'Delta and the Bannermen' (3 episodes)

• Broadcast: 2 - 16 November, 1987
• Writer: Malcolm Kohll
• Director: Chris Clough
• Incidental Music: Keff McCulloch

The Chimeron race are all but extinct, hunted down and culled by the vile Bannermen troops. A Chimeron princess called Delta manages to flee the Bannermen with the last Chimeron egg and hide among a party of Navarino holidaymakers heading for 1950s Disneyland. Then the Navarino time ship collides with a satellite and is diverted to a holiday camp in Wales. Luckily, the Doctor and Mel are on hand to help fix the Navarino craft and protect Delta. Unluckily, the Bannermen have tracked her down...

'Dragonfire' (3 episodes)

• Broadcast: 23 November - 7 December, 1987
• Writer: Ian Briggs
• Director: Chris Clough
• Incidental Music: Dominic Glynn

The Planet Svartos is dominated by Iceworld, a frozen citadel that houses a space port, shopping arcades... and a prison for one of the galaxy's greatest criminals, Kane. The 'Dragonfire' - the key to Kane's release - is hidden deep within Iceworld and guarded by a dragon, so the legends say. When the Doctor bumps into the rogue Glitz, he decides to accompany him on a quest for the Dragonfire, leaving Mel to hang out with a waitress called Ace. But Mel soon learns that Ace has a talent for trouble and a love of explosives...

Note: This story saw the departure of Bonnie Langford as Mel and the arrival of Sophie Aldred as Ace.

Season 25

'Remembrance of the Daleks' (4 episodes)

• Broadcast: 5 - 26 October, 1988
• Writer: Ben Aaronovitch
• Director: Andrew Morgan
• Incidental Music: Keff McCulloch

In 1963, the Doctor came to Earth to hide the Hand of Omega, an artefact from the Dark Times of Gallifrey. But then a pair of interfering school teachers forced him to make a hurried departure. A few months later his future self and new companion Ace return to finish the job only to discover that two warring factions of Daleks are also after the Hand of Omega...

Note: Terry Molloy returned to make his final TV appearance as Davros. After years of suffering jokes about their immobility, the Daleks are clearly shown able to hover up and down flights of stairs in this story.

'The Happiness Patrol' (3 episodes)

• Broadcast: 2 - 16 November, 1988
• Writer: Graeme Curry
• Director: Chris Clough
• Incidental Music: Dominic Glynn

Helen A is the leader of the colony Terra Alpha, where she maintains a ruthless determination to wipe out the killjoys - people who refuse to be happy. She's founded a security force called the 'Happiness Patrol' to help her enforce happiness, and there's the Kandy Man, an inventive robot made almost entirely of saccharine. But still these killjoys insist on wearing black, listening to sad songs and being unhappy - even when she threatens them with execution. And now she has one more problem on her hands as an off-worlder known only as the Doctor is determined to interfere with her administration of the planet.

'Silver Nemesis' (3 episodes)

• Broadcast: 23 November - 7 December, 1988
• Writer: Kevin Clarke
• Director: Chris Clough
• Incidental Music: Keff McCulloch

The Nemesis statue is fashioned from living metal, one of the relics of ancient Gallifrey. Trapped inside a meteor, it orbits the planet Earth in 25-year cycles. But in 1988, the meteor is due to land on Earth and various parties await its return: Lady Peinforte, a time-travelling witch; De Flores, a former Nazi intent on using the statue to help him establish the Third Reich; the Cybermen, whose space fleet lies on the dark side of Earth's moon; and the Doctor, who until recently had forgotten all about Nemesis.

Note: David Banks returned to play the Cyberleader for the final time.

'The Greatest Show in the Galaxy' (4 episodes)

The Psychic Circus has fans across the universe. People travel from far and wide to take part in open auditions, even though they know the show isn't as good as it used to be. So why does the Doctor want to take part? What is the Chief Clown's sinister purpose? And what is the terrible force lurking in the audience, demanding to be entertained?

Season 26

'Battlefield' (4 episodes)

• Broadcast: 6 - 27 September, 1989
• Writer: Ben Aaronovitch
• Director: Michael Kerrigan
• Incidental Music: Keff McCulloch

In another dimension, the legends of King Arthur are far from fantasy. But when the evil queen Morgaine breaks into our own dimension all havoc breaks out. As the inter-dimensional battle rages, the Doctor finds himself allied with a new generation of UNIT soldiers - and an old friend. But Morgaine has a terrible being on her side - the Destroyer, eater of Worlds...

Note: Nicholas Courtney returned for this story to play Brigadier Lethbridge-Stewart.

'Ghost Light' (3 episodes)

• Broadcast: 4 - 18 October, 1989
• Writer: Marc Platt
• Director: Alan Wareing
• Incidental Music: Mark Ayres

In the London village of Perivale lies a large, sprawling house. In the 1880s it was once the home of an explorer, his wife and their daughter. In the 1980s it was firebombed by a girl called Ace after she experienced a ghostly presence there. Not that she recognises it when the Doctor takes her back there for an 'initiative test'...

'The Curse of Fenric' (4 episodes)

• Broadcast: 25 October - 15 November, 1989
• Writer: Ian Briggs
• Director: Nicholas Mallett
• Incidental Music: Mark Ayres

In a World War Two army base near Maiden's Point in North Yorkshire lies a dark secret. Vampiric Haemovores, Russian soldiers, a commander on the verge of a nervous breakdown and a widowed single mother find themselves pawns in a game of chess. It's all part of a trap set by the Doctor for a force of chaos known as Fenric. But even a master gameplayer like the Doctor couldn't predict how far Fenric's influence could spread... as Ace discovers to her cost.

'Survival' (3 episodes)

• Broadcast: 22 November - 6 December, 1989
• Writer: Rona Munro
• Director: Alan Wareing
• Incidental Music: Dominic Glynn

When the Doctor takes Ace back home to Perivale, it's not quite the dull place she's led him to believe. Cat-like aliens are kidnapping the residents and teleporting them to their own planet. When the Doctor and Ace are also captured, they're horrified to discover the Master waiting for them. And the Doctor's old enemy reveals something even worse: the planet has a habit of changing people - quite literally.

Note: Anthony Ainley guest-starred as the Master for the last time on television. It would also be the end of the last regular series of Doctor Who until 2005.

h2g2's Doctor Who Episode Guide

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