Doctor Who (season 24)
| Doctor Who season 24 | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Country of origin | United Kingdom |
| No. of episodes | 14, 4 serials |
| Broadcast | |
| Original channel | BBC One |
| Original run | 7 September 1987 – 7 December 1987 |
| Home video release | |
|
DVD release | |
| Region 1 |
1 September 2009 - 8 May 2012 |
| Region 2 |
22 June 2009 - 7 May 2012 |
| Region 4 |
6 August 2009 - 7 June 2012 |
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.
Casting
Main Characters
Sylvester McCoy makes his first appearance as the Doctor in Time and the Rani, replacing Colin Baker who was fired by the BBC. The Doctor is joined by Mel as the Doctor's companion, who leaves at the end of the season in Dragonfire.
New Companion
The departure of Bonnie Langford saw plans to introduce a new companion. However, owing to Langford being undecided as to when she would actually leave the show, producer John Nathan-Turner asked writers Malcolm Kohll and Ian Briggs to formulate characters that could be used as potential companions. Kohll designed a character in his script, titled The Flight of the Chimeron (eventually to take shape as Delta and the Bannermen), called Ray. Initially it appeared that The Flight of the Chimeron would be the final serial of the season, which would see Ray leave with the Doctor. However, by the time it came to production and scheduling for the season, Kohll's serial had been swapped in the running order with Ian Briggs' (which became Dragonfire), and led to Briggs' creation, who eventually became Ace, taking Mel's place with the Doctor.[1]
Guest stars
Kate O'Mara makes her second appearance as The Rani in McCoy's first serial Time and the Rani.
Sophie Aldred guest stars as Ace in Dragonfire; Ace would become the Doctor's companion in the next season.
Tony Selby, having recently appeared in The Trial of a Time Lord, also made a guest appearance as Sabalom Glitz in the same story and acts as an unofficial companion to the Seventh Doctor.
Serials
Andrew Cartmel takes over as script editor. This season is moved to a Monday schedule.
The previous season, while ostensibly a single 14-part serial, was divided into three stories of four episodes and one of two episodes. For this season, this was re-jigged into a new format that would be followed over the next three years, with a pair of four-parters and a pair of three-parters. Not including The Two Doctors, which had episodes of 45-minute duration, Delta and the Bannermen was the first standard format (25-minute) 3 part serial since Planet of Giants in Season 2.
| Story | Serial | Title | Directed by | Written by | UK viewers (million)[2] |
AI[2] | Original air date | Production code |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 144 | 1 | Time and the Rani | Andrew Morgan | Pip and Jane Baker | 5.1 4.2 4.3 4.9 | 58 63 57 59 | 7 September 1987 14 September 1987 21 September 1987 28 September 1987 | 7D |
| The Rani has taken control of the planet Lakertya and forced the peaceful Lakertyans to build a rocket silo-cum-laboratory base into a cliff face. She is aided by the Tetraps, a race of bat-like creatures. To aid in her plans, she forces the Doctor's TARDIS to crash-land on the planet, initiating the Doctor's regeneration into his seventh incarnation. Can the Doctor get past his post-regenerative trauma and thwart the Rani once more? | ||||||||
| 145 | 2 | Paradise Towers | Nicholas Mallett | Stephen Wyatt | 4.5 5.2 5.0 5.0 | 61 58 58 57 | 5 October 1987 12 October 1987 19 October 1987 26 October 1987 | 7E |
| The Doctor takes Mel to the peaceful Paradise Towers for a trip. However, things are quite wrong; killer cleaners and the disembodied mind of architect in the basement pose a threat. | ||||||||
| 146 | 3 | Delta and the Bannermen | Chris Clough | Malcolm Kohll | 5.3 5.1 5.4 | 63 60 60 | 2 November 1987 9 November 1987 16 November 1987 | 7F |
| The Chimeron queen heads for a holiday camp in Wales after being a target for assassination. The Doctor and Mel run into Delta and decide to help her get rid of the Bannermen. | ||||||||
| 147 | 4 | Dragonfire | Chris Clough | Ian Briggs | 5.5 5.0 4.7 | 61 61 64 | 23 November 1987 30 November 1987 7 December 1987 | 7G |
| Kane has waited 3,000 years to escape his ice prison. However, the Doctor, Mel, Ace, and Glitz may have something to say about that. | ||||||||
Broadcast
The entire season was broadcast from 7 September to 7 December 1987.
DVD Release
All serials of season 24 were released individually in between 2009 and 2012.
| Serial name | Number and duration of episodes |
R2 release date | R4 release date | R1 release date |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Time and the Rani | 4 × 25 min. | 13 September 2010 | 4 November 2010 | 14 June 2011 |
| Paradise Towers | 4 × 25 min. | 18 July 2011 | 1 September 2011 | 9 August 2011 |
| Delta and the Bannermen | 3 × 25 min. | 22 June 2009 | 6 August 2009 | 1 September 2009 |
| Dragonfire Available as part of the Ace box set. Only available individually in Region 1. | 3 × 25 min. | 7 May 2012[3] | 7 June 2012 | 8 May 2012 |
In print
| Serial name | Novelisation title | Author | First published |
|---|---|---|---|
| Time and the Rani | Time and the Rani | Pip and Jane Baker | 1988 |
| Paradise Towers | Paradise Towers | Stephen Wyatt | 1988 |
| Delta and the Bannermen | Delta and the Bannermen | Malcolm Kohll | 1989 |
| Dragonfire | Dragonfire | Ian Briggs | 1989 |
References
- ↑ "A Brief History Of Time (Travel): Delta And The Bannermen". Shannonsullivan.com. Retrieved 2012-07-19.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 "Ratings Guide". Doctor Who News. Retrieved 27 December 2014.
- ↑ DWM 433