Christopher Ryan is a British actor best known for his roles as Mike TheCoolPerson in the BBC comedy series The Young Ones, Dave Hedgehog in the BBC comedy series Bottom, Tony Driscoll in the BBC comedy series Only Fools and Horses, and as Edina Monsoon's ex-husband Marshall Turtle in the BBC sitcom Absolutely Fabulous. He has also appeared as the McKendrick twins in One Foot in the Grave, and played Sontaran General Staal in Doctor Who in 2008.
The twenty-third season of British science fiction television series Doctor Who, known collectively as The Trial of a Time Lord, aired in weekly episodes from 6 September to 6 December 1986. It contained four adventures: The Mysterious Planet, Mindwarp, Terror of the Vervoids and The Ultimate Foe; the season also marked the final regular appearance of Colin Baker as the Sixth Doctor.
The Mysterious Planet is the first serial of the larger narrative known as The Trial of a Time Lord which encompasses the whole of the 23rd season of the British science fiction television series Doctor Who. It was first broadcast in four weekly parts on BBC1 from 6 to 27 September 1986. The title The Mysterious Planet is not used on-screen and only appears in the serial's scripts with the four episodes that comprise the story being transmitted as The Trial of a Time Lord Parts One to Four.
Mindwarp is the second serial of the larger narrative known as The Trial of a Time Lord which encompasses the whole of the 23rd season of the British science fiction television series Doctor Who. It was first broadcast in four weekly parts on BBC1 from 4 to 25 October 1986. The title Mindwarp is not used on screen and appears only on the serial's scripts with the four episodes that comprise the story being transmitted as The Trial of a Time Lord Parts Five to Eight. This story marks the final appearance of Nicola Bryant as Peri Brown.
The Caves of Androzani is the sixth serial of the 21st season of the British science fiction television series Doctor Who, which was first broadcast in four twice-weekly parts on BBC1 from 8 to 16 March 1984.
The Twin Dilemma is the seventh and final serial of the 21st season of the British science fiction television series Doctor Who, which was first broadcast in four twice-weekly parts from 22 March to 30 March 1984.
Reeltime Pictures Ltd is a British film, television and video production company and a distributor of the films of other companies, founded in 1984 by Keith Barnfather.
Perpugilliam “Peri” Brown, is a fictional character played by Nicola Bryant in the long-running British science fiction television series Doctor Who.
The Ice Warriors are a fictional extraterrestrial race of reptilian humanoids in the long-running British science fiction television series Doctor Who. They were originally created by Brian Hayles, first appearing in the 1967 serial The Ice Warriors where they encountered the Second Doctor and his companions Jamie and Victoria. In Doctor Who, the Ice Warriors originated on Mars, which within the series narrative is a dying world. Their early appearances depict the Ice Warriors as attempting to conquer the Earth and escape their planet as early as Earth's Ice Age. A frozen group are discovered by an Earth scientific team who dub them 'Ice Warriors' in their first appearance. Despite this not being the name of their species, an Ice Lord later refers to his soldiers as Ice Warriors in the 1974 serial The Monster of Peladon. Similarly there is a fleeting reference to themselves as such in The Curse of Peladon. Although originally appearing as villains, subsequent appearances have depicted Ice Warriors that have eschewed violence and even ally themselves with the Doctor. They have also been featured in flashback and cameo appearances, in addition to appearing frequently in spin-off media such as novels and audio releases.
The Valeyard is a fictional character from the long-running British science fiction television series, Doctor Who. He is described by the Master as an amalgamation of the Doctor's darker sides from between his twelfth and final incarnations. In the story The Trial of a Time Lord, comprising the whole of Season 23, the High Council of the Time Lords appoint the Valeyard as prosecutor at the Sixth Doctor's trial, hoping to have him executed and thereby remove the sole witness to their near destruction of life on Earth.
Vengeance on Varos is the second serial of the 22nd season of the British science fiction television series Doctor Who, which was first broadcast in two weekly parts on 19 and 26 January 1985.
Nabil Shaban is a Jordanian-British actor and writer. He co-founded Graeae—a theatre group which promotes disabled performers. He's best known as the recurring villain Sil in Doctor Who.
The Sixth Doctor is an incarnation of the Doctor, the protagonist of the BBC science fiction television series Doctor Who. He is portrayed by Colin Baker. Although his televisual time on the series was comparatively brief and turbulent, Baker has continued as the Sixth Doctor in Big Finish's range of original Doctor Who audio adventures.
Philip Martin was an English television screenwriter. He created the BBC television drama series Gangsters in the 1970s and later wrote two television serials for Doctor Who during Colin Baker's tenure as the Sixth Doctor in the 1980s.
The Nightmare Fair is a story originally written for the 1986 season of Doctor Who, but never filmed. A novelisation based on the script was published in 1989 by Target Books, as the first volume of its Missing Episodes series. The script and novelisation were written by former series producer Graham Williams, and would have been directed by Matthew Robinson had it gone to air. It is the first novel-length text featuring The Doctor not to be based upon a previously transmitted production, although being a novelisation it is not strictly speaking an "original" novel.
Mission to Magnus is a story originally written to be part of the unfilmed 1986 season of Doctor Who. It was novelised by its scriptwriter Philip Martin, who had previously written the television stories Vengeance on Varos and Mindwarp.
Professor George Litefoot is a character who appeared in the 1977 Doctor Who television serial The Talons of Weng-Chiang. He was played by Trevor Baxter. He worked so well with Christopher Benjamin's character, Henry Gordon Jago, the production team briefly considered giving them their own spin-off series. In 2009 they reprised their roles for a Big Finish Productions audio drama, The Mahogany Murderers. This led to their own audio series, Jago & Litefoot. Litefoot's character also appeared in a 1997 Doctor Who novel, The Bodysnatchers.
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 classic series' first run it featured 45-minute episodes in its entirety. During transmission, BBC One 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 script editing.
Philippa "Flip" Jackson is a fictional character played by Lisa Greenwood in a series of audio plays produced by Big Finish Productions based on the long-running British science fiction television series Doctor Who. She is a companion of the Sixth Doctor. Her first appearance was in "The Crimes of Thomas Brewster".
Sil and the Devil Seeds of Arodor is a 2019 direct-to-video mini-series produced by Reeltime Pictures. It stars the character of Sil from the television Doctor Who, as well as other elements licensed from the series. Nabil Shaban, who portrayed Sil in the original two serials, returned to the role.
