Season 3

The third season of Doctor Who ran between 11 September 1965 and 16 July 1966. The season was marked by extremes. At twelve episodes, The Daleks' Master Plan was the longest story in the show's history until superceded by the fourteen-episode The Trial of a Time Lord in 1986 (although some consider that tale to be four separate serials broadcast under a single title); the single-episode story Mission to the Unknown remains the shortest Doctor Who story ever televised (not counting the several mini-episodes produced since 2005) and the only one in which neither the Doctor nor any companions appear (this designation, though, is controversial, as its role as a prologue to The Daleks' Master Plan renders it more the thirteenth episode of that story rather than a standalone). The season also had the greatest number of different companions (seven) and producers (three). This was the longest season, at 45 episodes. It also featured the first appearance of actor Nicholas Courtney, although not in his most famous role as the Brigadier. This was also the season of The War Machines, to date the only televised story in which the taboo of never referring to the Doctor directly by the name "Doctor Who" is broken.

Behind the scenes, it was dominated by the departure of Verity Lambert, the immensely exhausting production of The Daleks' Master Plan, and preparations for William Hartnell's departure – including intense discussion over how to handle such an unprecedented change in a lead actor on a show still at the height of popularity. It consisted of ten serials (listed below) and forty-five episodes, the majority of which are considered lost, though three serials, The Ark, The Gunfighters and The War Machines, exist in complete form.

Television stories

#	Title	Writer	Episodes	Notes
1	Galaxy 4	William Emms	4	First appearance of the Rills.
2	Mission to the Unknown	Terry Nation	1	Only story not to feature the Doctor.
3	The Myth Makers	Donald Cotton	4	First appearance of Katarina and final appearance of Vicki.
4	The Daleks' Master Plan	Terry Nation Dennis Spooner	12	Final appearance of Katarina and first and final appearance of Sara Kingdom; first story to feature the death of a companion.
5	The Massacre of St Bartholomew's Eve	John Lucarotti Donald Tosh	4	William Hartnell appears as both the Doctor and the Abbot of Amboise (though the characters never appear together on-screen); first appearance of Dodo Chaplet.
6	The Ark	Paul Erickson Lesley Scott	4	First serial to be recorded out of sequence.
7	The Celestial Toymaker	Brian Hayles	4	Debut of the Celestial Toymaker; "The Hall of Dolls" contains a slur that was not yet considered politically incorrect when the episode originally premiered.
8	The Gunfighters	Donald Cotton	4	Final story to use individual episode titles. First story that entirely takes place in the USA.
9	The Savages	Ian Stuart Black	4	Final appearance of Steven Taylor.
10	The War Machines	Ian Stuart Black	4	First appearances of Ben Jackson and Polly Wright and final appearance of Dodo Chaplet. First occasion of a writer composing consecutive stories.

Notes

All stories were four episodes in length, except Mission to the Unknown (one episode) and The Daleks' Master Plan (twelve episodes). Up to The Gunfighters, each chapter had its own title, but beginning with The Savages, overall story titles were introduced.

Cast

Recurring

Guest

Stories set during this season

The Anachronauts (during The Daleks' Master Plan)
The Little Drummer Boy (during The Daleks' Master Plan)
Home Truths (during The Daleks' Master Plan)
The Drowned World (during The Daleks' Master Plan)
The Guardian of the Solar System (during The Daleks' Master Plan)
The Perpetual Bond (between The Daleks' Master Plan and The Massacre of St Bartholomew's Eve)
The Cold Equations (between The Daleks' Master Plan and The Massacre of St Bartholomew's Eve)
The First Wave (between The Daleks' Master Plan and The Massacre of St Bartholomew's Eve)
Salvation (between The Massacre of St Bartholomew's Eve and The Ark)
Bunker Soldiers (between The Ark and The Gunfighters)
Mother Russia (between The Gunfighters and The Savages)
Tales from the Vault (between The Gunfighters and The Savages)
Return of the Rocket Men (between The Gunfighters and The Savages)
The Man in the Velvet Mask (between The Savages and The War Machines)
The Rag and Bone Man's Story (during The War Machines)

Adaptations and merchandising

Home media

VHS

The Ark (1998)
The Gunfighters (2002)
The War Machines (1997)
The Hartnell Years (1991) (The Celestial Toymaker episode 4 - "The Final Test")
Daleks: The Early Years (1992) (The Daleks' Master Plan episodes 5 and 10 - "Counter Plot" and "Escape Switch")

Loose Cannon VHS releases

Galaxy 4 (1999)
Mission to the Unknown (2000)
The Myth Makers (1998/2006)
The Daleks' Master Plan (2003) (Episodes 1-4,6-9,10-12/2 parts)
The Massacre of St Bartholomew's Eve (2001)
The Celestial Toymaker (1999)
The Savages (1999/2008)

DVD

Serial name	Number and duration of episodes	R2 release date	R4 release date	R1 release date
Galaxy 4 (Episode 3 of 4)	1 x 25 min.	11 March 2013	TBA	TBA
The Ark	4 × 25 min.	14 February 2011	3 March 2011	8 March 2011
The Gunfighters Only available as part of the Earthstory box set in Regions 2 and 4. Only available individually in Region 1.	4 × 25 min.	20 June 2011	4 August 2011	12 July 2011
The War Machines	4 × 25 min.	25 August 2008	7 November 2008	6 January 2009
{Lost in Time: William Hartnell} The Daleks' Master Plan (episodes 2, 5 & 10 of 12) The Celestial Toymaker (episode 4 of 4)	6 × 25 min. + 2 × 25 min. audio	1 November 2004	2 December 2004 (Original release) 1 July 2010 (Re-release)	2 November 2004

Novelisations

Audiobooks

Galaxy 4
Mission to the Unknown/Daleks Master Plan
The Myth Makers
The Massacre
The Celestial Toymaker

External links

BBC Website Guide to Season 3

Tardis