Doctor Who | |
---|---|
Season 26 | |
Starring | |
No. of stories | 4 |
No. of episodes | 14 |
Release | |
Original network | BBC1 |
Original release | 6 September – 6 December 1989 |
Season chronology | |
The 26th season of Doctor Who premiered on 6 September 1989 with the serial "Battlefield," and consisted of four serials, ending with "Survival," which was the final episode of Doctor Who for over 15 years, until the show was revived in 2005. John Nathan-Turner produced the series, with Andrew Cartmel script editing.
Sylvester McCoy and Sophie Aldred both continue their roles as the Seventh Doctor and Ace for their final season.
Nicholas Courtney returned to play Brigadier Lethbridge-Stewart in Battlefield. He first appeared with the Second Doctor in 1968 in The Web of Fear before becoming a recurring character throughout the Second Doctor to the Fifth Doctor and last appearing in "The Five Doctors" (1983).
Anthony Ainley returned to play The Master in Survival, having last appeared in The Trial of a Time Lord (1986). This was Ainley's final television appearance in the role, though he portrayed the Master one last time in the 1997 computer game Destiny of the Doctors .
Jean Marsh, who had portrayed Joanna in The Crusade (1965) and Sara Kingdom in The Daleks' Master Plan (1965–66), appeared in Battlefield playing the part of the main antagonist.
Season 26 continued Andrew Cartmel's trend of bringing a darker and more mysterious tone to the show, with a particular focus on Ace's past and the Doctor's manipulative nature. The season aired on Wednesdays, as per the previous season's schedule.
No. story | No. in season | Serial title | Episode titles | Directed by | Written by | Original air date | Prod. code | UK viewers (millions) [1] [2] | AI [1] [2] | ||||||||||||||||||
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152 | 1 | Battlefield | "Part One" | Michael Kerrigan | Ben Aaronovitch | 6 September 1989 | 7N | 3.1 | 69 | ||||||||||||||||||
"Part Two" | 13 September 1989 | 3.9 | 68 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
"Part Three" | 20 September 1989 | 3.6 | 67 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
"Part Four" | 27 September 1989 | 4.0 | 65 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
The Doctor and Ace discover that a UNIT platoon has come under assault whilst transporting a nuclear warhead. The attackers are knights from another dimension led by the legendary sorceress Morgaine, half-sister of King Arthur, whose magical powers appear to be real. The Doctor learns that one of his future incarnations will become Merlin, and bury Arthur beneath the waters of a nearby lake. With Brigadier Lethbridge-Stewart at his side one last time, the Doctor must confront Morgaine, who has summoned a demonic entity known as the Destroyer of Worlds. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
153 | 2 | Ghost Light | "Part One" | Alan Wareing | Marc Platt | 4 October 1989 | 7Q | 4.2 | 68 | ||||||||||||||||||
"Part Two" | 11 October 1989 | 4.0 | 68 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
"Part Three" | 18 October 1989 | 4.0 | 64 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
The Doctor takes Ace back to 1883 to a Perivale house called Gabriel Chase which Ace recognises. Josiah Smith, an alien who has spent millennia adapting to humanity, intends to assassinate Queen Victoria and seize the British throne. Meanwhile, buried in the basement is Smith's former master – a powerful entity who intends to halt all evolution on Earth. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
154 | 3 | The Curse of Fenric | "Part One" | Nicholas Mallett | Ian Briggs | 25 October 1989 | 7M | 4.3 | 67 | ||||||||||||||||||
"Part Two" | 1 November 1989 | 4.0 | 68 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
"Part Three" | 8 November 1989 | 4.0 | 68 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
"Part Four" | 15 November 1989 | 4.2 | 68 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
The Doctor and Ace land in England during World War II, at a secret seaside base which houses the Ultima Machine, a powerful codebreaking device. But disturbances plague the installation: Russians are trying to steal the Ultima, mysterious Viking runes are found in a church crypt, and vampiric Haemovores are rising from the ocean. The Doctor discovers his ancient foe, Fenric, has manipulated events in order to gain his freedom. And central to Fenric's schemes is none other than Ace. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
155 | 4 | Survival | "Part One" | Alan Wareing | Rona Munro | 22 November 1989 | 7P | 5.0 | 69 | ||||||||||||||||||
"Part Two" | 29 November 1989 | 4.8 | 69 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
"Part Three" | 6 December 1989 | 5.0 | 71 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
The Seventh Doctor brings Ace back home to Perivale. Ace becomes worried because her friends seem to have disappeared. The Doctor and a fitness instructor called Paterson are suddenly teleported, and the Doctor is confronted by the Master, who explains that they are on a sentient planet which has the power to transform the inhabitants into Cheetahs. The Master shows signs of transformation. Ace finds her friends Shreela and Midge, but a Cheetah pack attacks; Midge kills one Cheetah while Ace injures another, called Karra. She begins to form an attachment to Karra. Ace's eyes change and she begins to transform into a Cheetah. Midge begins to transform, and The Master uses him to teleport both of them back; Ace helps the Doctor and others get back. Paterson is killed by Midge and the Master, and then Midge is killed in the Master's machinations; he also kills Karra, whose presence had been comforting Ace's continued transformation. The Master teleports himself back along with the Doctor, but the Doctor resists and turns away from violence, and is transported away. The Doctor has gone back to the TARDIS and finds Ace, whose metamorphosis has reversed. |
The entire season was broadcast from 6 September to 6 December 1989. The Curse of Fenric was originally intended to be aired before Ghost Light, but was subsequently rescheduled.
Season | Story no. | Serial name | Number and duration of episodes | UK release date | Australia release date | USA/Canada release date |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
26 | 152 | Battlefield | 4 x 25 mins | March 1998 | October 1998 | March 1998 |
153 | Ghost Light | 3 x 25 mins | May 1994 | July 1994 | June 1996 | |
154 | The Curse of Fenric | 4 x 25 mins | February 1991 | July 1991 | January 1992 | |
155 | Survival | 3 x 25 mins | October 1995 | November 1996 | September 1996 |
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 |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
26 | 152 | Battlefield | 1 × 96 min. | 26 December 2008 [3] | 19 March 2009 [4] | 5 May 2009 [5] |
153 | Ghost Light | 3 × 25 min. | 20 September 2004 [6] | 3 February 2005 [7] | 7 June 2005 [8] | |
154 | The Curse of Fenric | 1 × 104 min. | 6 October 2003 [9] | 11 February 2004 [10] | 1 June 2004 [11] | |
155 | Survival | 3 × 25 min. | 16 April 2007 [12] | 6 June 2007 [13] | 14 August 2007 [14] | |
152–155 | Complete Season 26 [lower-alpha 1] | 14 × 25 min. 8 × 30 min. 1 × 96 min. 1 × 104 min. | 27 January 2020 (B) [15] | 11 March 2020 (B) [16] | 24 March 2020 (B) [17] |
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] |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
26 | 152 | 152 | Battlefield | Marc Platt | — | 18 July 1991 | 5 May 2022 [18] |
153 | 149 | Ghost Light | Marc Platt | 20 September 1990 | 2 June 2011 | ||
154 | 151 | The Curse of Fenric | Ian Briggs | 15 November 1990 | 3 September 2015 | ||
155 | 150 | Survival | Rona Munro | 18 October 1990 | 7 September 2017 |
Midway through 1989, Doctor Who's production team began initial planning for Season 27, which would have aired at the end of 1990. Andrew Cartmel and the writers he had worked with regularly, including Ben Aaronovitch, Ian Briggs, and Marc Platt, brainstormed possible story ideas. One of the major proposed plot points for Season 27 was the departure of Ace, who would have been taken to Gallifrey to become a Time Lord herself. This would also have seen the subsequent introduction of a new companion, planned as an "aristocratic cat burglar". The cancellation of the series meant that no detailed work was undertaken beyond these initial ideas: [19]
Four of the five proposed serials were subsequently adapted by the authors alongside Big Finish Productions into audio adventures that were released as part of their Doctor Who: The Lost Stories range in 2011:
The only one of the proposed stories that did not receive a release from Big Finish was Alixion.
Although the first series of Doctor Who's return in 2005 is the 27th full series of the show, the production team officially restarted the series numbering from scratch. This was mainly due to the 16-year gap between Season 26 and the new series (not counting the 1996 television movie).
Percy James Patrick Kent-Smith, known professionally as Sylvester McCoy, is a Scottish actor. Gaining prominence as a physical comedian, he became best known for playing the seventh incarnation of the Doctor in the long-running science fiction television series Doctor Who from 1987 to 1989—the final Doctor of the original run—and briefly returning in a television film in 1996. He is also known for his work as Radagast in The Hobbit film series (2012–2014).
Remembrance of the Daleks is the first serial of the 25th season of the British science fiction television series Doctor Who. The serial was first broadcast in four weekly episodes from 5 to 26 October 1988. It was written by Ben Aaronovitch and directed by Andrew Morgan.
Survival is the final serial of the 26th season of the British science fiction television series Doctor Who, which was first broadcast in three weekly parts on BBC1 from 22 November to 6 December 1989. It is the final story of the original 26-year run; the show did not return as a series until 2005. The story marks the final regular television appearances of Sylvester McCoy as the Seventh Doctor and Sophie Aldred as Ace, and the final television appearance of Anthony Ainley as the Master, appearing alongside McCoy's Doctor for the only time.
Ace is a fictional character played by Sophie Aldred in the long-running British science fiction television series Doctor Who. A 20th-century Earth teenager from the London suburb of Perivale, she is a companion of the Seventh Doctor and was a regular in the series from 1987 to 1989 and returned in 2022. She is considered one of the Doctor's most popular companions.
The Curse of Fenric is the third serial of the 26th season of the British science-fiction television series Doctor Who, which was first broadcast in four weekly parts on BBC1 from 25 October to 15 November 1989.
The Seventh Doctor is an incarnation of the Doctor, the protagonist of the British science fiction television series Doctor Who. He is portrayed by Scottish actor Sylvester McCoy.
Ghost Light is the second serial of the 26th season of the British science fiction television series Doctor Who, which was first broadcast in three weekly parts on BBC1 from 4 to 18 October 1989.
Mark Ayres is an electronic musician, composer and audio engineer.
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-fourth season of British science fiction television series Doctor Who began on 7 September 1987 with Sylvester McCoy's first story Time and the Rani, and ended with Dragonfire. John Nathan-Turner produced the series, with Andrew Cartmel script editing.
The twenty-second season of British science fiction television series Doctor Who began on 5 January 1985 and ended on 30 March 1985. It opened with the serial Attack of the Cybermen and ended with the serial Revelation of the Daleks. The season returned to the traditional Saturday transmission for the first time since Season 18, but for the first and only time in the series' first run it featured 45-minute episodes in its entirety. During transmission, BBC1 controller Michael Grade announced an 18-month hiatus for the series, partly citing the violence depicted in the stories of the season. John Nathan-Turner produced the series with Eric Saward as script editor.
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 nineteenth season of British science fiction television series Doctor Who began on 4 January 1982 with Castrovalva, and ended with Time-Flight. John Nathan-Turner produced the series, with two script editors: Anthony Root and Eric Saward.
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.