23 – Twenty-Third Season – Colin Baker

This season aired 18 months after the Season 22, a very long break indeed. The Controller of BBC1, Michael Grade, decided he was not happy with the program and that it needed to “rest” for a bit. But the reaction from fans in both the UK and abroad meant it would return. However, the return was only temporary since this was Colin Baker’s last season, and his successor, Sylvester McCoy, would only have three seasons before they killed it. Grade was later quoted as saying that he “hated Doctor Who”. Note that when Doctor Who returned in 2005, Michael Grade came back as BBC Chairman, and his appointment stipulated that he could not kill Doctor Who again.

This time, they went back to the 24 minute episodes, airing one per week. The first three stories had four parts, and the last one two parts, for a total of fourteen. An executive of the BBC had promised that there would be more episodes in Season 23 than in Season 22, and indeed there was one more, since Season 22 had thirteen episodes. But when you consider that the episodes were twice as long in Season 22, this actually meant a lot less on the screen.

The Mysterious Planet

This is the beginning of the 4-story arc The Trial of a Time Lord. Note that the story titles were not seen on the screen originally, just as Trial of a Time Lord, Part x. So this story is parts 1-4 of The Trial of a Time Lord. The story as seen consists of episodes that are entered into evidence by the prosecutor, known as The Valeyard.

This particular story concerns the TARDIS landing on the planet Ravalox, which supposedly was burned to a crisp some centuries before. But it appears to be very like Earth. So much alike, in fact, that it turns out to be Earth, though it was somehow moved some light years from its previous location. When the Doctor and Peri go into a tunnel, they find a sign that says Marble Arch, a tube station in London. In the tunnels there are people who have some technology, and they are ruled by the The Immortal, a robot centuries old. Above ground are more primitive people, ruled by Queen Katryca. They worship or venerate a piece of advanced technology that we learn converts ultraviolet light into “black light”, and this is the source of the power for the robot.

A pair of thieves has landed with the idea of stealing technological secrets that the robot has, which they can sell on the galactic market to many civilizations. They manage to blow up the light converter, which would disable the robot. But the Doctor knows that this would cause a huge explosion that would kill everyone. So he does into the tunnels to where the robot is located to try and fix things. But his efforts cannot succeed because the robot does not place any value on human life. The Doctor needs to turn off the black light system to repair it, but that would disable the robot. The robot reasons that if it is going to die, it might as well kill all the people as well.

Several times per episode the action in the story stops so we can go back to the courtroom for the usual courtroom drama tropes about objections, etc.

Note that there is new theme music introduced here, which I don’t like. But perhaps you will find it to your taste,

Reviews

Mindwarp

Again, the title Mindwarp does not appear anywhere on the screen, where it is simply parts 5-8 of The Trial of a Time Lord. The story opens in the courtroom, and as in the last story the courtroom interruptions will happen as the story unfolds. The Doctor and Peri land on the planet Thoros Beta, where we meet up with an old foe of the Doctor, Sil, last seen in Vengeance on Varos. He is here to hire a scientist named Crozier who is experimenting with brain transfer. It seems that Sil’s superior, Kiv, has a problem. His brain is expanding, but his skull isn’t. It is causing him extreme pain, and will kill him within a few days. Crozier’s task is to transplant Kiv’s brain into a body with a larger skull, but he is running out of time. When the Doctor and Peri walk in on Crozier and Sil, Sil induces Crozier to use his brain device on the Doctor as a form of interrogation. But this seems to change the Doctor’s personality making him completely self-centered. He helps to interrogate Peri, and goes into business with Sil. And he helps Crozier complete the brain transfer of Kiv. A bit later, Sil offers the Doctor some of his food, and this seems to restore the Doctor. Meanwhile, a barbarian king named Yrcanos (Brian Blessed) who had been an experimental subject of Crozier gets free, and is eager to do battle with Sil and the Mentors, and the Doctor works with him. But as they are making the final approach, the Doctor is sucked into the TARDIS and taken to the trial, and Yrcanos finally kills everyone, including Peri. The Inquisitor explains that the High Council took these steps to stop Crozier’s discoveries from spreading into the Galaxy.

During the courtroom scenes, the Doctor seems to think that the scenes shown are not correct, but in some respects his memory is hazy. which makes his objections rather weak. The Valeyard and the Inquisitor point out that all of these scenes are pulled from the Matrix, so they must be the accurate truth. But the Doctor remains unconvinced and vows to get to the bottom of it. That is, if he lives long enough. The Valeyard is recommending the death sentence.

This is the end of Peri as a companion.

Reviews

Terror of the Vervoids

Reviews

The Ultimate Foe

Reviews

Trial of a Time Lord

Colin Baker Reviewed

Season 23

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