Doctor Who | |
---|---|
Season 15 | |
Starring | |
No. of stories | 6 |
No. of episodes | 26 |
Release | |
Original network | BBC1 |
Original release | 3 September 1977 – 11 March 1978 |
Season chronology | |
The fifteenth season of British science fiction television series Doctor Who began on 3 September 1977 with the serial Horror of Fang Rock , and ended with The Invasion of Time . The fourth series for the Fourth Doctor, new producer Graham Williams became producer for this series (and the two following), while Robert Holmes left script editing for Anthony Read midway through.
Tom Baker and Louise Jameson continue their roles as the Fourth Doctor and Leela. K9, played by John Leeson, makes his first appearance during the second serial The Invisible Enemy. Louise Jameson makes her final appearance as Leela in The Invasion of Time.
Graham Williams took over as producer from Philip Hinchcliffe. Robert Holmes was replaced as script editor by Anthony Read, during The Sun Makers. The season took a short transmission break of two weeks over the Christmas 1977 period, between the broadcasts of The Sun Makers and Underworld.
No. story | No. in season | Serial title | Episode titles | Directed by | Written by | Original air date | Prod. code | UK viewers (millions) [1] | AI [1] | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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92 | 1 | Horror of Fang Rock | "Part One" | Paddy Russell | Terrance Dicks | 3 September 1977 | 4V | 6.8 | 58 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
"Part Two" | 10 September 1977 | 7.1 | — | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
"Part Three" | 17 September 1977 | 9.8 | 60 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
"Part Four" | 24 September 1977 | 9.9 | 57 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
The TARDIS lands on the island of Fang Rock, and the the Doctor notices that the lighthouse isn't functioning properly, decides to investigate. Arriving at the lighthouse, the Doctor and Leela talk to the keepers Reuben and Vince, and discover the dead body of the third keeper, Ben. A luxury yacht crashes onto Fang Rock. The four survivors are brought to the lighthouse: the bosun Harker; Colonel James Skinsale MP; the owner, Lord Palmerdale; and his secretary Adelaide Lessage. Some time later, Reuben disappears for a time, reappearing a changed man, and Palmerdale and Harker are killed. The Doctor finds Harker's body and then Reuben's – the latter cold. The creature attempts to kills the others in the lighthouse, revealing itself to be a Rutan, whose ship crash-landed in the sea and who is trying to summon its mother ship, planning to turn the strategically-located Earth into a base in their war against the Sontarans. The Doctor and Skinsale retrieve diamonds from Palmerdale's body belt, but the Rutan kills Skinsale. The Doctor then modifies a flare mortar to destroy the alien, and uses the diamonds to focus the lighthouse beam into a high-energy laser, and destroys the Rutan mothership. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
93 | 2 | The Invisible Enemy | "Part One" | Derrick Goodwin | Bob Baker and Dave Martin | 1 October 1977 | 4T | 8.6 | — | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
"Part Two" | 8 October 1977 | 7.3 | — | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
"Part Three" | 15 October 1977 | 7.5 | — | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
"Part Four" | 22 October 1977 | 8.3 | 60 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
A shuttle crew encounters a cloud in space that infects them with an intelligent virus. When the Doctor answers the distress call, he is infected as well. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
94 | 3 | Image of the Fendahl | "Part One" | George Spenton-Foster | Chris Boucher | 29 October 1977 | 4X | 6.7 | — | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
"Part Two" | 5 November 1977 | 7.5 | 75 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
"Part Three" | 12 November 1977 | 7.9 | — | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
"Part Four" | 19 November 1977 | 9.1 | 61 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Scientists investigating an ancient skull unwittingly start to revive the Fendahl, an ancient life-form feared even by the Time Lords. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
95 | 4 | The Sun Makers | "Part One" | Pennant Roberts | Robert Holmes | 26 November 1977 | 4W | 8.5 | — | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
"Part Two" | 3 December 1977 | 9.5 | 62 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
"Part Three" | 10 December 1977 | 8.9 | 68 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
"Part Four" | 17 December 1977 | 8.4 | 59 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
In the far future, the planet Pluto is habitable, heated by several miniature suns. However, the heat is available only to the ruling classes. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
96 | 5 | Underworld | "Part One" | Norman Stewart | Bob Baker and Dave Martin | 7 January 1978 | 4Y | 8.9 | 65 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
"Part Two" | 14 January 1978 | 9.1 | — | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
"Part Three" | 21 January 1978 | 8.9 | — | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
"Part Four" | 28 January 1978 | 11.7 | — | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
The remnants of the Minyans have an old link to the Time Lords. The Doctor must help them to find the hidden race banks that will save their dying race. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
97 | 6 | The Invasion of Time | "Part One" | Gerald Blake | "David Agnew" (Graham Williams and Anthony Read) | 4 February 1978 | 4Z | 11.2 | 56 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
"Part Two" | 11 February 1978 | 11.4 | — | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
"Part Three" | 18 February 1978 | 9.5 | — | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
"Part Four" | 25 February 1978 | 10.9 | — | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
"Part Five" | 4 March 1978 | 10.3 | — | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
"Part Six" | 11 March 1978 | 9.8 | — | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
The Doctor returns to Gallifrey, having claimed the Presidency. He orders Leela expelled from the Capitol Citadel. However, the Doctor is doing this to prevent a Vardan instigated disaster. |
Season fifteen proved to be a difficult transition period. Philip Hinchcliffe's departure coincided with the loss of a number of long-time contributors to the show as Graham Williams took over as Producer. Williams remarked, "I had to try and find some new ones, and that wasn't the least of the problems. Bob Holmes was stuck on Weng-Chiang for ages... all the scripts were coming in late...". [2]
Robert Holmes remained to work on the three stories he had commissioned, while his successor, Anthony Read, trailed him in preparation of taking over the position. Read, an experienced director and producer, had only agreed to the position of Script Editor because he was intrigued by the chance to work on Doctor Who. Holmes completed Horror of Fang Rock and The Invisible Enemy , before leaving due to creative exhaustion. Image of the Fendahl fell to Read, who had to hastily write K-9 into the story when Holmes made him a regular character.
While Tom Baker enjoyed working with John Leeson (the voice of K-9) in rehearsals, he disliked the prop. Holmes recalled, "it used to drive Tom spare, and more often than not, he'd kick it out of frustration." [2] Holmes agreed to write The Sun Makers , and while the story was meant to follow K-9's introduction and establish him as a regular character, scheduling problems—resulting in the shelving of scripts that Fang Rock had to replace—required the story order to change, with Fendahl preceding it. [2]
Baker had found it difficult to accept the violent Leela character since her introduction, contributing to growing tensions between himself and Louise Jameson. According to Jameson, the tension came to a head during the recording of Fang Rock, when she finally confronted Baker over multiple takes of a scene caused by him entering early and cutting her off. [3] Tensions between the two eased over the course of the season.
Read commissioned Bob Baker and Dave Martin to write Underworld , the penultimate story of the season. Right away, the production was hit hard by record inflation, resulting in the design staff working day and night and inventing new techniques and processes to complete the story on time. [4] The final story, The Invasion of Time , proved even more chaotic: with a reduced budget, a complete last-minute re-write by Read and Williams, and a BBC industrial-dispute between the props department and the electricians.
The entire season was broadcast from 3 September 1977 to 11 March 1978.
Season | Story no. | Serial name | Number and duration of episodes | UK release date | Australia release date | USA/Canada release date |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
15 | 92 | Horror of Fang Rock | 4 x 25min. | July 1998 | November 1998 | March 1999 |
93 | The Invisible Enemy | 4 x 25 min. | September 2002 | November 2002 | October 2003 | |
94 | Image of the Fendahl | 4 x 25 min. | March 1993 | July 1993 | June 1996 | |
95 | The Sun Makers | 4 x 25 min. | July 2001 | September 2001 | February 2002 | |
96 | Underworld | 4 x 25 min. | March 2002 | May 2002 | May 2003 | |
97 | The Invasion of Time | 6 x 25 min. | March 2000 2 x VHS | August 2000 | August 2000 2 x VHS |
All releases are for DVD unless otherwise indicated:
Season | Story no. | Serial name | Number and duration of episodes | R2 release date | R4 release date | R1 release date |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
15 | 92 | Horror of Fang Rock | 4 × 25 min. | 17 January 2005 [5] | 7 April 2005 [6] | 6 September 2005 [7] |
93 | The Invisible Enemy [lower-alpha 1] | 4 × 25 min. | 16 June 2008 [8] | 4 September 2008 [9] | 2 September 2008 [10] | |
94 | Image of the Fendahl | 4 × 25 min. | 20 April 2009 [11] | 4 June 2009 [12] | 1 September 2009 [13] | |
95 | The Sun Makers | 4 × 25 min. | 1 August 2011 [14] | 1 September 2011 [15] | 9 August 2011 [16] | |
96 | Underworld [lower-alpha 2] | 4 × 25 min. | 29 March 2010 [17] | 3 June 2010 [18] [19] [20] | 6 July 2010 [16] | |
97 | The Invasion of Time [lower-alpha 3] | 6 × 25 min. | 5 May 2008 [21] | 3 July 2008 [22] | 2 September 2008 [23] | |
92–97 | Complete Season 15 [lower-alpha 4] | 26 × 25 min. | 18 March 2024 (B) [24] | 19 June 2024 (B) [25] | 9 July 2024 (B) [26] |
Season | Story no. | Library no. [lower-alpha 1] | Novelisation title | Author | Hardcover release date [lower-alpha 2] | Paperback release date [lower-alpha 3] | Audiobook release date [lower-alpha 4] |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
15 | 092 | 32 | Doctor Who and the Horror of Fang Rock | Terrance Dicks | 30 March 1978 | 2 February 2017 | |
093 | 36 | Doctor Who and the Invisible Enemy | 29 March 1979 | 2 August 2018 | |||
094 | 34 | Doctor Who and the Image of the Fendahl | 26 July 1979 | 6 February 2020 | |||
095 | 60 | Doctor Who and the Sunmakers | 18 November 1982 | 7 February 2019 | |||
096 | 67 | Doctor Who and the Underworld | 24 January 1980 | 6 May 2021 | |||
097 | 35 | Doctor Who and the Invasion of Time | 21 February 1980 | 1 September 2016 |
State of Decay is the fourth serial of the 18th season in the British science fiction television series Doctor Who, which was first broadcast in four weekly parts on BBC1 from 22 November to 13 December 1980.
Horror of Fang Rock is the first serial of the 15th season of the British science fiction television series Doctor Who, which was first broadcast in four weekly parts on BBC1 from 3 to 24 September 1977.
The Invasion of Time is the sixth and final serial of the 15th season of the British science fiction television series Doctor Who, which was first broadcast in six weekly parts on BBC1 from 4 February to 11 March 1978. It features the final appearance of Louise Jameson as the companion Leela.
K9, occasionally written K-9, is the name of several fictional robotic canines in the long-running British science fiction television series Doctor Who, first appearing in 1977. K9 has also been a central character in three of the series' television spin-offs: the one-off K-9 and Company (1981), The Sarah Jane Adventures (2007–2011) and K9 (2009–2010). Although not originally intended to be a recurring character in the series, K9 was kept in the show following his first appearance because he was expected to be popular with younger audiences. There have been at least four separate K9 units in the series, with the first two being companions of the Fourth Doctor. Voice actor John Leeson has provided the character's voice in most of his appearances, except during season 17 of Doctor Who, in which David Brierley temporarily did so. The character was created by Bob Baker and Dave Martin, to whom rights to the character still belong; consequently, Baker's spin-off series K9, which is not BBC-produced, could not directly reference events or characters from Doctor Who, though it attempted to be a part of that continuity.
Leela is a fictional character played by Louise Jameson in the long-running British science fiction television series Doctor Who. She was a companion of the Fourth Doctor and a regular in the programme from 1977 to 1978. Leela appeared in nine stories.
The sixteenth season of British science fiction television series Doctor Who, known collectively as The Key to Time, began on 2 September 1978 with The Ribos Operation, and ended with The Armageddon Factor. The arc was originally conceived by producer Graham Williams, who had proposed it as part of his application for the producer's job in 1976. The name refers to the powerful artefact, the segments of which are what the Fourth Doctor and his companions, Romana and K9, search for during the season. Anthony Read continued in his role as script editor, from the previous season. Douglas Adams also became script editor alongside Read.
Image of the Fendahl is the third serial of the 15th season of the British science fiction television series Doctor Who, which was first broadcast in four weekly parts on BBC1 from 29 October to 19 November 1977.
The Sun Makers is the fourth serial of the 15th season of the British science fiction television series Doctor Who, which was first broadcast in four weekly parts on BBC1 from 26 November to 17 December 1977.
The Fourth Doctor is an incarnation of the Doctor, the protagonist of the British science fiction television series Doctor Who. He is portrayed by Tom Baker.
The twenty-fifth season of British science fiction television series Doctor Who began on 5 October 1988. It comprised four separate serials, beginning with Remembrance of the Daleks and ending with The Greatest Show in the Galaxy. To mark the 25th anniversary season, producer John Nathan-Turner brought back the Daleks and the Cybermen. The American New Jersey Network also made a special behind-the-scenes documentary called The Making of Doctor Who, which followed the production of the 25th anniversary story Silver Nemesis. Andrew Cartmel script edited the series.
The twenty-first season of British science fiction television series Doctor Who began on 5 January 1984 with the Fifth Doctor serial Warriors of the Deep, and ended with Colin Baker's first serial The Twin Dilemma. For the third time, the entire TARDIS crew changed over the course of a single season. John Nathan-Turner produced the series, with Eric Saward script editing.
The twentieth season of British science fiction television series Doctor Who began on 3 January 1983 with the story Arc of Infinity, and ended 16 March 1983 with The King's Demons. A 20th Anniversary special, "The Five Doctors", followed in November 1983. John Nathan-Turner produced this series, with Eric Saward script editing.
The eighteenth season of British science fiction television series Doctor Who consisted of seven four-episode serials broadcast from 30 August 1980 with the serial The Leisure Hive, to 21 March 1981 with the serial Logopolis. The season is Tom Baker's final as the Fourth Doctor before his regeneration into the Fifth Doctor, as well as Lalla Ward's as companion Romana II and John Leeson's as the voice of K9. For the second time, the entire main cast changed over the course of a single season. The season also sees the debut of Matthew Waterhouse as Adric, Sarah Sutton as Nyssa, and Janet Fielding as Tegan Jovanka, the three of whom would remain regular companions into the Fifth Doctor's era, as well as the return of the Master, portrayed both by Geoffrey Beevers and Anthony Ainley.
The seventeenth season of British science fiction television series Doctor Who began on 1 September 1979 with the story Destiny of the Daleks, and ended with The Horns of Nimon. This was Graham Williams' final series producing Doctor Who. The script editor was Douglas Adams.
The fourteenth season of British science fiction television series Doctor Who began on 4 September 1976 with The Masque of Mandragora, and ended with The Talons of Weng-Chiang. The third Fourth Doctor series, it was the final series of Philip Hinchcliffe's production, whilst Robert Holmes stayed till The Sun Makers in the next series.
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.
The twelfth season of British science fiction television series Doctor Who began on 28 December 1974 with Tom Baker's first serial Robot, and ended with Revenge of the Cybermen on 10 May 1975.
The eleventh season of British science fiction television series Doctor Who began on 15 December 1973 with the serial The Time Warrior, and ended with Jon Pertwee's final serial Planet of the Spiders. The season's writing was recognized by the Writer's Guild of Great Britain for Best Children's Drama Script. This is the Third Doctor's fifth and final series, and also the last consecutively to be produced by Barry Letts and script edited by Terrance Dicks. Both Letts and Dicks would work for the programme again, however - Letts in Season 18 and Dicks on future stories, e.g. Horror of Fang Rock.
In 2012, Big Finish Productions began producing audio dramas featuring Doctor Who's fourth Doctor, as portrayed by Tom Baker. Baker had previously declined to feature in any Big Finish releases, but after recording a trilogy of full cast audio boxsets for BBC Audiobooks, he decided to participate. This was also part of a spin off series of the Monthly range.