Doctor Who season 13

Last updated

Doctor Who
Season 13
Doctor Who Season 13 DVD.jpg
Cover art of the Region 2 DVD release for the first serial of the season
Starring
No. of episodes26
Release
Original network BBC1
Original release30 August 1975 (1975-08-30) 
6 March 1976 (1976-03-06)
Season chronology
 Previous
Season 12
Next 
Season 14
List of episodes

The thirteenth season of British science fiction television series Doctor Who began on 30 August 1975 with the story Terror of the Zygons , and ended with The Seeds of Doom . This is the second series to feature the Fourth Doctor, played by Tom Baker, with Philip Hinchcliffe producing and Robert Holmes script editing. In September 2009, it was ranked as readers' favourite season in Doctor Who Magazine issue 413.

Contents

Casting

Main cast

Tom Baker continued his role as The Fourth Doctor along with Sarah Jane Smith (Elisabeth Sladen). Harry Sullivan, played by Ian Marter, departed in Terror of the Zygons and reappeared in The Android Invasion as a guest star.

Recurring cast

Nicholas Courtney returned as Brigadier Lethbridge-Stewart in Terror of the Zygons having last appeared in Robot . John Levene makes his final appearance as Sergeant Benton in The Android Invasion after six years in the role.

Serials

Terror of the Zygons was produced as part of the production schedule for Season 12, but was held for transmission from the end of that season to the beginning of Season 13, to coincide with a move from the new season starting at the beginning of the calendar year, to starting in late summer. Terror of the Zygons was also the last appearance of the Brigadier until Mawdryn Undead in Season 20. The season took a transmission break of two weeks over the Christmas 1975 period, between the broadcasts of The Android Invasion and The Brain of Morbius.

No.
story
No. in
season
Serial titleEpisode titlesDirected byWritten byOriginal air dateProd.
code
UK viewers
(millions) [1]
AI [1]
801 Terror of the Zygons "Part One" Douglas Camfield Robert Banks Stewart 30 August 1975 (1975-08-30)4F8.459
"Part Two"6 September 1975 (1975-09-06)6.1
"Part Three"13 September 1975 (1975-09-13)8.254
"Part Four"20 September 1975 (1975-09-20)7.2
The Fourth Doctor is summoned to Earth by the Brigadier who is in Scotland investigating the mysterious loss of oil rigs, and discovers an alien invasion.
812 Planet of Evil "Part One" David Maloney Louis Marks 27 September 1975 (1975-09-27)4H10.456
"Part Two"4 October 1975 (1975-10-04)9.956
"Part Three"11 October 1975 (1975-10-11)9.157
"Part Four"18 October 1975 (1975-10-18)10.154
An expedition is murdered. The Doctor and Sarah Jane land on the planet at the same time as the expedition's rescue team, and are immediately taken prisoner as the suspected murderers.
823 Pyramids of Mars "Part One" Paddy Russell "Stephen Harris"
(Lewis Greifer and Robert Holmes)
25 October 1975 (1975-10-25)4G10.5
"Part Two"1 November 1975 (1975-11-01)11.3
"Part Three"8 November 1975 (1975-11-08)9.4
"Part Four"15 November 1975 (1975-11-15)11.760
The Osiran warmonger Sutekh seeks to be released from his prison and enlists servants on Earth.
834 The Android Invasion "Part One" Barry Letts Terry Nation 22 November 1975 (1975-11-22)4J11.958
"Part Two"29 November 1975 (1975-11-29)11.3
"Part Three"6 December 1975 (1975-12-06)12.1
"Part Four"13 December 1975 (1975-12-13)11.4
The Doctor and Sarah Jane land in a duplicate of an English village, complete with androids created by aliens as a testing ground for their invasion plot.
845 The Brain of Morbius "Part One" Christopher Barry "Robin Bland"
(Terrance Dicks and Robert Holmes)
3 January 1976 (1976-01-03)4K9.5
"Part Two"10 January 1976 (1976-01-10)9.3
"Part Three"17 January 1976 (1976-01-17)10.157
"Part Four"24 January 1976 (1976-01-24)10.2
Years ago, the renegade Time Lord known as Morbius was executed. When the Doctor and Sarah Jane arrive on the planet Karn, they discover that Dr Solon is creating a body so that Morbius may live again.
856 The Seeds of Doom "Part One"Douglas CamfieldRobert Banks Stewart31 January 1976 (1976-01-31)4L11.459
"Part Two"7 February 1976 (1976-02-07)11.4
"Part Three"14 February 1976 (1976-02-14)10.3
"Part Four"21 February 1976 (1976-02-21)11.1
"Part Five"28 February 1976 (1976-02-28)9.9
"Part Six"6 March 1976 (1976-03-06)11.5
Scientists uncover two giant seedpods buried in the Antarctic permafrost for thousands of years. Ruthless plant-lover Harrison Chase decides he must have them for his rare collection, but the pods may spell the end of all non-plant life on Earth.

Broadcast

The entire season was broadcast from 30 August 1975 to 6 March 1976.

Home media

VHS releases

SeasonStory no.Serial nameNumber and duration
of episodes
UK release dateAustralia release dateUSA/Canada release date
1380 Terror of the Zygons 1 x 100 min.
4 x 25 min.
November 1988(edited)
August 1999(unedited)
April 1987(edited)
January 2000 (unedited)
April 1991(edited)
May 2000 (unedited)
81 Planet of Evil 4 x 25 min.February 1994March 1994June 1996
82 Pyramids of Mars 1 x 100 min.
4 x 25 min.
February 1985(edited)
April 1994(unedited)
November 1985(edited)February 1988(edited)
March 1998 (unedited)
83 The Android Invasion 4 x 25 min.March 1995March 1995March 1996
84 The Brain of Morbius 1 x 60 min.
4 x 25 min.
July 1984(edited)
July 1990(unedited)
November 1987(edited)
January 1991(unedited)
November 1987(edited)
February 1997 (unedited)
85 The Seeds of Doom 6 x 25 min.August 1994
2 x VHS
October 1994September 1995

Betamax releases

SeasonStory no.Serial nameNumber and duration
of episodes
UK release dateAustralia release dateUSA/Canada release date
1382 Pyramids of Mars 1 x 100 min.February 1985 (edited) [2]
84 The Brain of Morbius 1 x 60 min.
July 1984 (edited) [3]

Video 2000 releases

SeasonStory no.Serial nameNumber and duration
of episodes
UK release dateAustralia release dateUSA/Canada release date
1384 The Brain of Morbius 1 x 60 min.July 1984 (edited) [3]

Laserdisc releases

SeasonStory no.Serial nameNumber and duration
of episodes
UK release dateAustralia release dateUSA/Canada release date
1380 Terror of the Zygons 4 × 25 min.December 1997 [4] [5]
84 The Brain of Morbius (edited)1 x 60 min.July 1984 [6] [7]

DVD and Blu-ray releases

All releases are for DVD

SeasonStory no.Serial nameNumber and duration
of episodes
R2 release dateR4 release dateR1 release date
1380 Terror of the Zygons [lower-alpha 1] 4 × 25 min.29 July 2013 [8]
30 September 2013 [9] [lower-alpha 2]
2 October 2013 [10] 8 October 2013 [11]
81 Planet of Evil 4 × 25 min.15 October 2007 [12] 5 December 2007 [13] 4 March 2008 [14]
82 Pyramids of Mars [lower-alpha 3] [15] 4 × 25 min.1 March 2004 [16] 10 June 2004 [17] 7 September 2004 [18]
83 The Android Invasion [lower-alpha 4] 4 × 25 min.9 January 2012 [19] 5 January 2012 [20] [21] 10 January 2012 [22]
84 The Brain of Morbius 4 × 25 min.21 July 2008 [23] 2 October 2008 [24] 7 October 2008 [25]
85 The Seeds of Doom 6 × 25 min.25 October 2010 [26] 2 December 2010 [27] 8 March 2011 [28]
  1. Advanced release in region 2 as part of 'The Fourth Doctor Time Capsule' set with no special features on 29 July 2013
  2. The Region 2 release of Terror of the Zygons was released in advance as part of The Fourth Doctor Time Capsule box set without special features, and was later re-released on its own with special features.
  3. Also available as part of The Doctors Revisited 1-4 in Regions 1 and 4
  4. Only available as part of the U.N.I.T. Files box set in Regions 2 and 4. Only available individually in Region 1.

In print

SeasonStory no.Library no. [lower-alpha 1] Novelisation titleAuthorHardcover
release date [lower-alpha 2]
Paperback
release date [lower-alpha 3]
Audiobook
release date [lower-alpha 4]
1308040 Doctor Who and the Loch Ness Monster Terrance Dicks 15 January 19761978 [lower-alpha 5]
08147 Doctor Who and the Planet of Evil 21 July 197718 August 19776 April 2023 [29]
08250 Doctor Who and the Pyramids of Mars 16 December 197614 August 2008
0832 Doctor Who and the Android Invasion 16 November 197818 August 2022
0847 Doctor Who and the Brain of Morbius 19 May 197723 June 19774 February 2008
Junior Doctor Who and the Brain of Morbius27 June 198013 November 1980
08555 Doctor Who and the Seeds of Doom Philip Hinchcliffe 17 February 19775 September 2019
  1. Number in Target's Doctor Who Library, if applicable
  2. Published by Target's parent companies (Allen Wingate, W. H. Allen, BBC Books) unless otherwise indicated
  3. Published by Target Books (or by BBC Books under the Target Collection umbrella) unless otherwise indicated
  4. Unabridged from BBC Audio/AudioGo unless otherwise indicated
  5. Published by the Royal National Institute of the Blind

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References

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Bibliography