Doctor Who season 21
{{Short description|1984 season of British sci-fi TV series}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=February 2015}}
{{Use British English|date=September 2011}}
{{Infobox television season
| season_number = 21
| bgcolour = #B3C91E
| image = File:Doctor Who Season 21 DVD.jpg
| caption = Cover art of the Region 2 DVD release for first serial of the season
| starring = {{Unbulleted list|Peter Davison|Janet Fielding|Mark Strickson|Gerald Flood|Nicola Bryant|Colin Baker}}
| num_stories = 7
| num_episodes = 24
| network = BBC1
| first_aired = {{start date|1984|1|5|df=y}}
| last_aired = {{end date|1984|3|30|df=y}}
| episode_list = List of Doctor Who episodes (1963–1989)
}}
The twenty-first season of British science fiction television series Doctor Who began on 5 January 1984 with the Fifth Doctor (Peter Davison) serial Warriors of the Deep, and ended on 30 March 1984 with Colin Baker's first serial The Twin Dilemma. For the third time (the first being during Season 4 and second being Season 18), the entire TARDIS crew changed over the course of a single season. John Nathan-Turner produced the series, with Eric Saward script editing.
Casting
{{See also|List of Doctor Who cast members}}
= Main cast =
- Peter Davison as the Fifth Doctor
- Janet Fielding as Tegan Jovanka
- Mark Strickson as Vislor Turlough
- Gerald Flood as Voice of Kamelion
- Nicola Bryant as Peri Brown
- Colin Baker as the Sixth Doctor
== The Doctor ==
Peter Davison makes his final regular appearance as the Doctor in The Caves of Androzani. Colin Baker makes his first full appearance as the Doctor in the final serial The Twin Dilemma.
== Companions ==
Janet Fielding (Tegan Jovanka) and Mark Strickson (Vislor Turlough) continue their roles as the Fifth Doctor's companions for their final season, Janet Fielding leaves in Resurrection of the Daleks and Mark Strickson departs in Planet of Fire. New companion Peri Brown played by Nicola Bryant makes her first appearance in Planet of Fire.
The shape-shifting Android Companion Kamelion, played by Gerald Flood, makes his second and final appearance in Planet of Fire, though the character itself – along with other Fifth Doctor companions who left by this story (Tegan, Nyssa, Adric, and Turlough) – all make illusionary cameos as the Doctor regenerates at the climax of The Caves of Androzani.
=Recurring actors =
Anthony Ainley returns in Planet of Fire as the Master, which was intended to be his final appearance. Ainley, like other departed fifth Doctor companions make illusionary cameos as the Doctor regenerates.
=Guest stars=
Davros makes his first appearance since Destiny of the Daleks (1979) this time played by Terry Molloy.
Serials
{{See also|List of Doctor Who episodes (1963–1989)}}
Episodes were broadcast twice weekly on Thursday and Friday evenings, with Resurrection of the Daleks broadcast on two consecutive Wednesday nights.
Resurrection of the Daleks was planned as a standard four-parter.{{cite web|last=Braxton |first=Mark |url=https://www.radiotimes.com/news/2012-03-09/resurrection-of-the-daleks/ |title=Resurrection of the Daleks ★★★ |publisher=Radio Times |access-date=2019-09-11}} However, the BBC's coverage of the 1984 Winter Olympics meant that Doctor Who's normal timeslot was unavailable. Rather than delay broadcasting the story, the decision was taken to produce it as a pair of double length episodes and broadcast it in the unfamiliar Wednesday timeslot.
The Caves of Androzani was the first time since Season 4's The Tenth Planet that the introduction of a new Doctor had taken place before the final serial of the season.
{{#invoke:Episode table|main |background=#B3C91E |overall=5 |season=5 |title=15 |aux1=16 |director=12 |writer=13 |airdate=15 |prodcode=6 |viewers=10 |aux4=3 |country=UK |overallT={{Abbr|No.|Number}}
story |titleT=Serial title |aux1T=Episode titles
|aux4T = Appreciation Index
|dontclose = y
}}
{{#invoke:Episode list|sublist |Doctor Who season 21
| Serial = yes
| NumParts = 4
| EpisodeNumber = 130
| EpisodeNumber2 = 1
| RTitle = Warriors of the Deep
| Aux1_1 = "Part One"
| Aux1_2 = "Part Two"
| Aux1_3 = "Part Three"
| Aux1_4 = "Part Four"
| DirectedBy = Pennant Roberts
| WrittenBy = Johnny Byrne
| OriginalAirDate_1 = {{Start date|1984|1|5|df=y}}
| OriginalAirDate_2 = {{Start date|1984|1|6|df=y}}
| OriginalAirDate_3 = {{Start date|1984|1|12|df=y}}
| OriginalAirDate_4 = {{Start date|1984|1|13|df=y}}
| ProdCode = 6L
| Viewers_1 = 7.6
| Viewers_2 = 7.5
| Viewers_3 = 7.3
| Viewers_4 = 6.6
| Aux4_1 = 65
| Aux4_2 = 64
| Aux4_3 = 62
| Aux4_4 = 65
| ShortSummary = The TARDIS materialises in a seabase in the year 2084. Earth in the late 21st century is divided between two power blocs waging a bitter cold war, forever threatening to escalate into violent conflict. Mysterious accidents have been occurring on the seabase, including the deaths of key personnel. Investigating, the Doctor, Tegan and Turlough discover that not only have double agents infiltrated the seabase, but the Doctor's old foes, the Silurians and Sea Devils, are plotting to use the seabase to set off a war which will decimate humanity.
| LineColor = B3C91E
}}
{{#invoke:Episode list|sublist |Doctor Who season 21
| Serial = yes
| NumParts = 2
| EpisodeNumber = 131
| EpisodeNumber2 = 2
| RTitle = The Awakening
| Aux1_1 = "Part One"
| Aux1_2 = "Part Two"
| DirectedBy = Michael Owen Morris
| WrittenBy = Eric Pringle
| OriginalAirDate_1 = {{Start date|1984|1|19|df=y}}
| OriginalAirDate_2 = {{Start date|1984|1|20|df=y}}
| ProdCode = 6M
| Viewers_1 = 7.9
| Viewers_2 = 6.6
| Aux4_1 = 65
| Aux4_2 = 63
| ShortSummary = The Doctor takes Tegan to the village of Little Hodcombe to visit her grandfather. The villagers, led by Sir George Hutchinson, are reenacting events from the English Civil War, including skirmishes which took place near the town. But the recreations have revived the Malus, an alien entity buried beneath a ruined church which feeds on the passions inflamed by war and death. Time is becoming distorted while Hutchinson – who has fallen under the Malus' influence – works to set the creature free, putting Tegan's life at risk in the process.
| LineColor = B3C91E
}}
{{#invoke:Episode list|sublist |Doctor Who season 21
| Serial = yes
| NumParts = 4
| EpisodeNumber = 132
| EpisodeNumber2 = 3
| RTitle = Frontios
| Aux1_1 = "Part One"
| Aux1_2 = "Part Two"
| Aux1_3 = "Part Three"
| Aux1_4 = "Part Four"
| DirectedBy = Ron Jones
| WrittenBy = Christopher H. Bidmead
| OriginalAirDate_1 = {{Start date|1984|1|26|df=y}}
| OriginalAirDate_2 = {{Start date|1984|1|27|df=y}}
| OriginalAirDate_3 = {{Start date|1984|2|2|df=y}}
| OriginalAirDate_4 = {{Start date|1984|2|3|df=y}}
| ProdCode = 6N
| Viewers_1 = 8.0
| Viewers_2 = 5.8
| Viewers_3 = 7.8
| Viewers_4 = 5.6
| Aux4_1 = 66
| Aux4_2 = 69
| Aux4_3 = 65
| Aux4_4 = 65
| ShortSummary = The TARDIS arrives on the planet Frontios in the far future, where the last vestiges of humanity crashlanded years earlier. The struggling colony is beset by disasters, including deadly meteorite showers and the disappearance of several prominent colonists who have been sucked down beneath the ground. The Doctor, Tegan and Turlough discover that the culprits are the Gravis and his Tractators, giant insects with incredible powers over gravity. The Gravis intends to transform Frontios into an enormous spaceship, and spread the terror of the Tractators across the galaxy.
| LineColor = B3C91E
}}
{{#invoke:Episode list|sublist |Doctor Who season 21
| Serial = yes
| NumParts = 2
| EpisodeNumber = 133
| EpisodeNumber2 = 4
| RTitle = Resurrection of the Daleks
| Aux1_1 = "Part One"
| Aux1_2 = "Part Two"
| DirectedBy = Matthew Robinson
| WrittenBy = Eric Saward
| OriginalAirDate_1 = {{Start date|1984|2|8|df=y}}
| OriginalAirDate_2 = {{Start date|1984|2|15|df=y}}
| ProdCode = 6P
| Viewers_1 = 7.3
| Viewers_2 = 8.0
| Aux4_1 = 69
| Aux4_2 = 65
| ShortSummary = The Doctor, Tegan and Turlough are nearly torn apart in a Dalek time corridor which connects a warehouse on modern-day Earth with a spacecraft in the future. The Daleks have lost the war with the Movellans due to a virus which affects only their kind. Now, with the help of the mercenary Lytton, they intend to free the imprisoned Davros and force him to create an antidote. Once successful, the Daleks will at last be in a position to destroy the Movellans and rampage across the cosmos.
| LineColor = B3C91E
}}
{{#invoke:Episode list|sublist |Doctor Who season 21
| Serial = yes
| NumParts = 4
| EpisodeNumber = 134
| EpisodeNumber2 = 5
| RTitle = Planet of Fire
| Aux1_1 = "Part One"
| Aux1_2 = "Part Two"
| Aux1_3 = "Part Three"
| Aux1_4 = "Part Four"
| DirectedBy = Fiona Cumming
| WrittenBy = Peter Grimwade
| OriginalAirDate_1 = {{Start date|1984|2|23|df=y}}
| OriginalAirDate_2 = {{Start date|1984|2|24|df=y}}
| OriginalAirDate_3 = {{Start date|1984|3|1|df=y}}
| OriginalAirDate_4 = {{Start date|1984|3|2|df=y}}
| ProdCode = 6Q
| Viewers_1 = 7.4
| Viewers_2 = 6.1
| Viewers_3 = 7.4
| Viewers_4 = 7.0
| Aux4_1 = —
| Aux4_2 = —
| Aux4_3 = —
| Aux4_4 = —
| ShortSummary = Turlough rescues a drowning botany student named Peri Brown and brings her to the TARDIS to recuperate. Before Peri can bid her farewells, Kamelion – once again under the Master's control – takes the TARDIS to the planet Sarn. There his mission is to find the Master, who has been diminished to just inches in height following a mishap with his tissue compression eliminator, and restore him using the healing properties of Sarn's miraculous numismaton flames. But Sarn hides a mysterious connection to Turlough's past – a connection which may prove to be the catalyst in the Master's scheme.
| LineColor = B3C91E
}}
{{#invoke:Episode list|sublist |Doctor Who season 21
| Serial = yes
| NumParts = 4
| EpisodeNumber = 135
| EpisodeNumber2 = 6
| RTitle = The Caves of Androzani
| Aux1_1 = "Part One"
| Aux1_2 = "Part Two"
| Aux1_3 = "Part Three"
| Aux1_4 = "Part Four"
| DirectedBy = Graeme Harper
| WrittenBy = Robert Holmes
| OriginalAirDate_1 = {{Start date|1984|3|8|df=y}}
| OriginalAirDate_2 = {{Start date|1984|3|9|df=y}}
| OriginalAirDate_3 = {{Start date|1984|3|15|df=y}}
| OriginalAirDate_4 = {{Start date|1984|3|16|df=y}}
| ProdCode = 6R
| Viewers_1 = 6.9
| Viewers_2 = 6.6
| Viewers_3 = 7.8
| Viewers_4 = 7.8
| Aux4_1 = 65
| Aux4_2 = —
| Aux4_3 = 65
| Aux4_4 = 68
| ShortSummary = After landing on the planet Androzani Minor, the Doctor and Peri develop lethal spectrox toxaemia poisoning. As the two search for a cure before it is too late, they become enmeshed in a decades-old feud between the disfigured roboticist Sharaz Jek and businessman Morgus. Jek falls in love with Peri, but the situation only degenerates when the girl rebuffs his affections. Between threats from Magma beasts and gun runners, it quickly becomes apparent that the Doctor will never find a cure in time to save both himself and his companion.
| LineColor = B3C91E
}}
{{#invoke:Episode list|sublist |Doctor Who season 21
| Serial = yes
| NumParts = 4
| EpisodeNumber = 136
| EpisodeNumber2 = 7
| RTitle = The Twin Dilemma
| Aux1_1 = "Part One"
| Aux1_2 = "Part Two"
| Aux1_3 = "Part Three"
| Aux1_4 = "Part Four"
| DirectedBy = Peter Moffatt
| WrittenBy = Anthony Steven
| OriginalAirDate_1 = {{Start date|1984|3|22|df=y}}
| OriginalAirDate_2 = {{Start date|1984|3|23|df=y}}
| OriginalAirDate_3 = {{Start date|1984|3|29|df=y}}
| OriginalAirDate_4 = {{Start date|1984|3|30|df=y}}
| ProdCode = 6S
| Viewers_1 = 7.6
| Viewers_2 = 7.4
| Viewers_3 = 7.0
| Viewers_4 = 6.3
| Aux4_1 = 61
| Aux4_2 = 66
| Aux4_3 = 59
| Aux4_4 = 67
| ShortSummary = The Doctor experiences serious regenerative instability, causing him to attack Peri and then decide to live as a hermit on the barren asteroid Titan 3. There he stumbles upon a plot by his old friend, the Time Lord Azmael, who has kidnapped twin mathematical geniuses named Romulus and Remus. Azmael's adopted planet, Jaconda, has been taken over by the sluglike Mestor and his Gastropods, forcing the Time Lord to do Mestor's bidding. But even Azmael is unaware of Mestor's true plan – to destroy Jaconda's sun, and thereby scatter Gastropod eggs throughout the universe.
| LineColor = B3C91E
}}
{{End|Episode table|html=y}}
Production
File:Doctor Who title 1984-1986.jpg
During this season, the title card was slightly modified for the final serial The Twin Dilemma, and continued during Colin Baker's reign as the Sixth Doctor until the end of the season 23 14 episode epic The Trial of a Time Lord.{{Cite web|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/doctorwho/s4/features/galleries/gallery_logos/6|title=BBC - Doctor Who - the Logo Look}}
Broadcast
The entire season was broadcast from 5 January to 30 March 1984. Transmission moved to Thursdays and Fridays, except for Resurrection of the Daleks which was aired in two double-length episodes on Wednesdays.
Home media
{{see also|List of Doctor Who home video releases|List of other Doctor Who home video releases}}
= VHS releases =
{{#lst:List of other Doctor Who home video releases|VHSSeason21}}
= DVD and Blu-ray releases =
{{#lst:List of Doctor Who home video releases|Season21}}
In print
{{see also|List of Doctor Who novelisations}}
{{#lst:List of Doctor Who novelisations|Season21}}
References
{{reflist|refs=
=Bibliography=
{{refbegin}}
- {{cite book |last=Smith |first=Paul |date=2014 |title=The Classic Doctor Who DVD Compendium |location=United Kingdom |publisher=Wonderful Books|isbn=978-0-9576062-2-7}}
{{refend}}
External links
- {{IMDb episodes|0056751||Season 21}}
{{Doctor Who episodes|C21}}