Season 23 of Doctor Who ran between 6 September 1986 and 6 December 1986. It starred Colin Baker as the Sixth Doctor. Though produced as four separate serials from a practical standpoint, it aired as a single serial entitled The Trial of a Time Lord. With this season the BBC returned Doctor Who to an autumn season start for the first time since Season 18; this scheduling would remain for the rest of the original series' run.

Overview Edit

This season had a unique, never-repeated format. Doctor Who had returned to production after a near-cancellation and an eighteen month production hiatus. For the first time, a season consisted of a single story, The Trial of a Time Lord, although this was broken down into four shorter serials with an overarching theme. The trial storyline itself acted as a framing device to bracket the story. In the last two episodes, commonly known as The Ultimate Foe, the trial took centre stage. Uniquely, not one of the stories had any scenes set in modern-day (or historical) Earth.

The experiment of forty-five-minute episodes having been deemed a failure, the BBC reverted the series to twenty-five-minute episodes, but kept the episode count at fourteen, effectively halving the number of episodes in a season. The last episode, however, ran thirty minutes.

This format lasted for the remainder of the classic series. This was the final season to feature Colin Baker as the Sixth Doctor; following its conclusion, Baker was fired. He did not return to play the Doctor for the regeneration that led off the next season. It was the last season to use the "neon tubing" logo introduced in 1980. A new arrangement of the Doctor Who theme was introduced this season, but was only used for these fourteen episodes before being replaced by another new arrangement.

Television stories Edit

Episodes	Title	Writer	Notes
1-4	The Mysterious Planet	Robert Holmes	First appearances of the Valeyard, Inquisitor, and Sabalom Glitz; Peri has begun dressing conservatively
5-8	Mindwarp	Philip Martin	Final appearance of Peri Brown
9-12	Terror of the Vervoids	Pip and Jane Baker	First appearance of Melanie Bush
13-14	The Ultimate Foe	Robert Holmes Eric Saward (uncredited, part one only) Pip and Jane Baker	Final appearances of the Valeyard and Inquisitor; Final appearance of the Sixth Doctor. Final Doctor Who script for Robert Holmes.

Aborted Season 23 Edit

Prior to Doctor Who being placed on hiatus after Season 22, a slate of serials of standard length was planned, and scripts were written for several. The decision to recast Season 23 as a single interconnected arc resulted in production of these stories being cancelled.

Three of the stories were subsequently adapted as Target Books novelisations: The Nightmare Fair (which would have seen the return of the Celestial Toymaker), Mission to Magnus (featuring Sil and the Ice Warriors; Sil ultimately appeared in the Mindwarp segment of the Trial arc), and The Ultimate Evil. An unofficial audio adaptation of The Nightmare Fair was also produced for charity in the early 2000s.

Beginning in late 2009, Big Finish Productions launched a series of audio dramas starring Colin Baker and Nicola Bryant based upon The Nightmare Fair, Mission to Magnus, and other story lines planned for the aborted Season 23. The productions are subtitled The Lost Stories.

Cast Edit

Regulars Edit

• The Sixth Doctor - Colin Baker
• Peri Brown - Nicola Bryant (departs in Mindwarp)
• Melanie Bush - Bonnie Langford (introduced Terror of the Vervoids)
• The Valeyard - Michael Jayston
• The Inquisitor - Lynda Bellingham

Semi-regulars Edit

• The Master - Anthony Ainley (The Ultimate Foe)
• Sabalom Glitz - Tony Selby (The Mysterious Planet and The Ultimate Foe)

Adaptations and merchandising Edit

Home media Edit

VHS Edit

• The Trial of a Time Lord (packaged in a tin)

DVD Edit

All serials of The Trial of a Time Lord were released in a complete box set on 29 September 2008 in region 2, on 7 October 2008 in Region 1, and on 5 January 2009 in Region 4.

Novels Edit

• The Mysterious Planet
• Mindwarp
• Terror of the Vervoids
• The Ultimate Foe

External links Edit

• BBC website guide to Season 23

v • e Doctor Who television stories   Seasons 1-4: First Doctor Season 1 1963 1964 An Unearthly Child  • The Daleks  • The Edge of Destruction  • Marco Polo  • The Keys of Marinus  • The Aztecs  • The Sensorites  • The Reign of Terror Season 2 1964 1965 Planet of the Giants  • The Daleks Invasion of Earth  • The Rescue  • The Romans  • The Web Planet  • The Crusade  • The Space Museum  • The Chase  • The Time Meddler Season 3 1965 1966 Galaxy 4  • Mission to the Unknown  • The Myth Makers  • The Daleks' Master Plan  • The Massacre of St Bartholomew's Eve  • The Ark  • The Celestial Toymaker  • The Gunfighters  • The Savages  • The War Machines Season 4 1966 The Smugglers  • The Tenth Planet   Seasons 4-6: Second Doctor Season 4 1966 1967 The Power of the Daleks  • The Highlanders  • The Underwater Menace  • The Moonbase  • The Macra Terror  • The Faceless Ones  • The Evil of the Daleks Season 5 1967 1968 The Tomb of the Cybermen  • The Abominable Snowmen  • The Ice Warriors  • The Enemy of the World  • The Web of Fear  • Fury from the Deep  • The Wheel in Space Season 6 1968 1969 The Dominators  • The Mind Robbers  • The Invasion  • The Krotons  • The Seeds of Death  • The Space Pirates  • The War Games   Seasons 7-11: Third Doctor Season 7 1970 Spearhead from Space  • Doctor Who and the Silurians  • The Ambassadors of Death  • Inferno Season 8 1971 Terror of the Autons  • The Mind of Evil  • The Claws of Axos  • Colony in Space  • The Dæmons Season 9 1972 Day of the Daleks  • The Curse of Peladon  • The Sea Devils  • The Mutants  • The Time Monster Season 10 1972 1973 The Three Doctors  • Carnival of Monsters  • Frontier in Space  • Planet of the Daleks  • The Green Death Season 11 1973 1974 The Time Warrior  • Invasion of the Dinosaurs  • Death to the Daleks  • The Monster of Peladon  • Planet of the Spiders   Seasons 12-18: Fourth Doctor Season 12 1974 1975 Robot  • The Ark in Space  • The Sontaran Experiment  • Genesis of the Daleks  • Revenge of the Cybermen Season 13 1975 1976 Terror of the Zygons  • Planet of Evil  • Pyramids of Mars  • The Android Invasion  • The Brain of Morbius  • The Seeds of Doom Season 14 1976 1977 The Masque of Mandragora  • The Hand of Fear  • The Deadly Assassin  • The Face of Evil  • The Robots of Death  • The Talons of Weng-Chiang Season 15 1977 1978 Horror of Fang Rock  • The Invisible Enemy  • Image of the Fendahl  • The Sun Makers  • Underworld  • The Invasion of Time Season 16 1978 1979 The Key to Time: The Ribos Operation  • The Pirate Planet  • The Stones of Blood  • The Androids of Tara  • The Power of Kroll  • The Armageddon Factor Season 17 1979 1980 Destiny of the Daleks  • City of Death  • The Creature from the Pit  • Nightmare of Eden  • The Horns of Nimon  •Shada (unbroadcast) Season 18 1980 1981 The Leisure Hive  • Meglos  • Full Circle  • State of Decay  • Warriors' Gate  • The Keeper of Traken  • Logopolis   Seasons 19-21: Fifth Doctor Season 19 1982 Castrovalva  • Four to Doomsday  • Kinda  • The Visitation  • Black Orchid  • Earthshock  • Time-Flight Season 20 1983 Arc of Infinity  • Snakedance  • Mawdryn Undead  • Terminus  • Enlightenment  • The King's Demons Children in Need 1983 The Five Doctors Season 21 1984 Warriors of the Deep  • The Awakening  • Frontios  • Resurrection of the Daleks  • Planet of Fire  • The Caves of Androzani   Seasons 21-23: Sixth Doctor Season 21 1984 The Twin Dilemma Season 22 1985 Attack of the Cybermen  • Vengeance of Varos  • The Mark of the Rani  • The Two Doctors  • Timelash  • Revelation of the Daleks Season 23 1986 The Trial of a Time Lord: The Mysterious Planet  • Mindwarp  • Terror of the Vervoids  • The Ultimate Foe   Seasons 24-26: Seventh Doctor Season 24 1987 Time and the Rani  • Paradise Towers  • Delta and the Bannermen  • Dragonfire Season 25 1988 1989 Remembrance of the Daleks  • The Happiness Patrol  • Silver Nemesis  • The Greatest Show in the Galaxy Season 26 1989 Battlefield  • Ghost Light  • The Curse of Fenric  • Survival   1996: Eighth Doctor 1996 Doctor Who   Series 1: Ninth Doctor Series 1 2005 Rose  • The End of the World  • The Unquiet Dead  • Aliens of London / World War Three  • Dalek  • The Long Game  • Father's Day  • The Empty Child / The Doctor Dances  • Boom Town  • Bad Wolf / The Parting of the Ways   Series 2-4: Tenth Doctor Series 2 2005 2006 Mini-episode Children in Need Special Christmas special The Christmas Invasion Regular episodes New Earth  • Tooth and Claw  • School Reunion  • The Girl in the Fireplace  • Rise of the Cybermen / The Age of Steel  • The Idiot's Lantern  • The Impossible Planet / The Satan Pit  • Love & Monsters  • Fear Her  • Army of Ghosts / Doomsday Series 3 2006 2007 Christmas special The Runaway Bride Regular episodes Smith and Jones  • The Shakespeare Code  • Gridlock  • Daleks in Manhatten / Evolution of the Daleks  • The Lazarus Experiment  • 42  • Human Nature / The Family of Blood  • Blink  • Utopia / The Sound of Drums / Last of the Time Lords Animation The Infinite Quest Series 4 2007 2008 2009 2010 Mini episode Time Crash Christmas episode Voyage of the Damned Regular episodes Partners in Crime  • The Fires of Pompeii  • Planet of the Ood  • The Sontaran Stratagem / The Poison Sky  • The Doctor's Daughter  • The Unicorn and the Wasp  • Silence in the Library / Forest of the Dead  • Midnight  • Turn Left  • The Stolen Earth / Journey's End Mini episode Music of the Spheres The Specials The Next Doctor  • Planet of the Dead  • The Waters of Mars  • The End of Time Animation Dreamland For the purposes of this list, "series 4" is considered to be the production series 4, which ran all the way from Time Crash to The End of Time.   Series 5-present: Eleventh Doctor Series 5 2010 Regular episodes The Eleventh Hour  • The Beast Below  • Victory of the Daleks  • The Time of Angels / Flesh and Stone  • The Vampires of Venice  • Amy's Choice  • The Hungry Earth / Cold Blood  • Vincent and the Doctor  • The Lodger  • The Pandorica Opens / The Big Bang Mini episodes Meanwhile in the TARDIS Series 6 2010 2011 Christmas special A Christmas Carol Mini episodes Space / Time Regular episodes The Impossible Astronaut / Day of the Moon  • The Curse of the Black Spot  • The Doctor's Wife  • The Rebel Flesh / The Almost People  • A Good Man Goes to War  • Let's Kill Hitler  • Night Terrors  • The Girl Who Waited  • The God Complex  • Closing Time  • The Wedding of River Song Mini episodes Death Is the Only Answer  • Night and the Doctor Series 7 2011 Christmas special The Doctor, the Widow and the Wardrobe Despite marketing language by the BBC, The Adventure Games are not televised episodes, and therefore are not included on this list. Deliberately unincluded on this list are BBC licensed episodes which this wiki considers to be non-canonical — such as the so-called "Pilot Episode", Dimensions in Time, A Fix with Sontarans, Search Out Space, The Curse of Fatal Death and the National Television Awards Sketch 2011.

v • e Aliens and Enemies of Season 23 The Trial of a Time Lord (overall) The Valeyard  • Time Lords Part 1-4: The Mysterious Planet Drathro (L3)  • Andromedans  • L1 Part 5-8: Mindwarp Mentors (individual)  • Kiv  • Sil  • Thoros Alphans  • Crozier  • Kani  • Krontep  • Dorf  • Posicarian  • The Raak Part 9-12: Terror of the Vervoids Vervoids  • Mogarians  • Atza  • Ortezo  • Doland  • Rudge  • Bruchner Part 13-14: The Ultimate Foe The Master  • Andromedan  • Krontep