Doctor Who (season 6)

This article is about the 1968/69 season. For the 2011 series, see Doctor Who (series 6).
Doctor Who season 6
Country of origin United Kingdom
No. of episodes 44: 7 serials
Broadcast
Original channel BBC One
Original run 10 August 1968 – 21 June 1969
Home video release

DVD release

Region 1 2 March 2004 -
10 July 2012
Region 2 17 February 2003 -
2 July 2012
Region 4 5 May 2003 -
2 August 2012

The sixth season of British science fiction television series Doctor Who began on 10 August 1968 with the first story of season 6 The Dominators and ended Patrick Troughton's reign as the Doctor with its final story The War Games.

Casting

Main characters

Patrick Troughton, Frazer Hines and Wendy Padbury make their final appearances as the Second Doctor, Jamie McCrimmon and Zoe Heriot respectively. Troughton and his fellow actors collectively decided that the workload of Doctor Who was exhausting them, and that they would soon depart from the show. From Season 7 onwards the show would never have such a high number of episodes again. The three actors remained with the show until the conclusion of the final season six serial The War Games.

Guest stars

Nicholas Courtney reappears as Brigadier Lethbridge-Stewart in The Invasion, last seen (as a Colonel) in The Web of Fear. He would soon make regular appearances in the program beginning with season 7's Spearhead from Space.

John Levene makes his first appearance as Corporal Benton in The Invasion. He would continue to make regular appearances, with the character promoted to sergeant, from season 7 until season 13.

Alan Bennion makes his first of three appearances in the series playing an Ice Warrior. In this, his first appearance, he portrays Lord Slaar in The Seeds of Death.

Serials

Terrance Dicks took over from Derrick Sherwin as script editor from The Invasion, with Sherwin resuming the role for The Space Pirates. Derrick Sherwin took over as producer from Peter Bryant for The War Games.

Season 6 is the most complete of all the second Doctor's seasons, with only seven episodes missing (compared with twenty-eight from Season 4 and eighteen from Season 5), none of the season's stories missing in their entirety and only two stories (The Invasion and The Space Pirates) incomplete. This compares to the first two second Doctor seasons from which only two complete serials (The Tomb of the Cybermen and The Enemy of the World) survive. The missing two episodes of The Invasion have since been reconstructed using animation and released on DVD.

The War Games, which was the final serial of the season, and the last of Patrick Troughton's tenure as the Doctor, was also the second longest serial up to that point, spanning 10 episodes - only the 12-part serial The Daleks' Master Plan from Season 3 was longer.

Story Serial Title Directed by Written by UK viewers
(million)[1]
AI[1] Original air date Production
code
0441The DominatorsMorris BarryNorman Ashby (Mervyn Haisman and Henry Lincoln)6.1
5.9
5.4
7.5
5.9
52
55
55
51
53
10 August 1968
17 August 1968
24 August 1968
31 August 1968
7 September 1968
TT
Arriving on an irradiated island, The Doctor, Jamie and new companion Zoe Heriot find an alien craft bearing the imperious and ruthless Dominators.
0452The Mind RobberDavid MaloneyPeter Ling and Derrick Sherwin6.6
6.5
7.2
7.3
6.7
51
49
53
56
49
14 September 1968
21 September 1968
28 September 1968
5 October 1968
12 October 1968
UU
By blowing a fluid link, the Doctor is forced to use the emergency unit to take the TARDIS away from danger and indeed out of reality itself: to the Land of Fiction. Here, he meets fictional characters, such as Rapunzel, Lemuel Gulliver and Medusa.
0463The Invasion
(Episodes 1 & 4 missing)
Douglas CamfieldDerrick Sherwin and Kit Pedler7.3
7.1
7.1
6.4
6.7
6.5
7.2
7.0
55
53
54
51
52
56
55
53
2 November 1968
9 November 1968
16 November 1968
23 November 1968
30 November 1968
7 December 1968
14 December 1968
21 December 1968
VV
After becoming invisible, the TARDIS arrives in England, 1975. While looking for a missing scientist at an electronics company, the TARDIS crew find out that the Cybermen are hidden within London's sewers and are planning an invasion.
0474The KrotonsDavid MaloneyRobert Holmes9.0
8.4
7.5
7.1
59
57
56
55
28 December 1968
4 January 1969
11 January 1969
18 January 1969
WW
On an unnamed planet, a race called the Gonds are subject to the mysterious Krotons, unseen beings to whom they provide their brightest members as "companions".
0485The Seeds of DeathMichael FergusonBrian Hayles and Terrance Dicks6.6
6.8
7.5
7.1
7.6
7.7
57
59
55
55
57
59
25 January 1969
1 February 1969
8 February 1969
15 February 1969
22 February 1969
1 March 1969
XX
Landing in the early 21st Century, The Doctor finds the human race has become reliant on a teleportation system known as T-Mat. The Ice Warriors are hiding on the Moon and planning to use T-Mat to destroy every living thing on Earth.
0496The Space Pirates
(Episodes 1, 3, 4, 5 & 6 missing)
Michael HartRobert Holmes5.8
6.8
6.4
5.8
5.5
5.3
57
52
55
53
56
52
8 March 1969
15 March 1969
22 March 1969
29 March 1969
5 April 1969
12 April 1969
YY
Space beacons on the space lanes are being blown up and plundered for precious argonite by a gang of space pirates led by Caven and his associate Dervish.
0507The War GamesDavid MaloneyMalcolm Hulke and Terrance Dicks5.5
6.3
5.1
5.7
5.1
4.2
4.9
3.5
4.1
5.0
55
54
53
50
53
53
53
53
57
58
19 April 1969
26 April 1969
3 May 1969
10 May 1969
17 May 1969
24 May 1969
31 May 1969
7 June 1969
14 June 1969
21 June 1969
ZZ
Arriving in No Man's Land during World War I, the Doctor, Jamie and Zoe are sentenced to death for being enemy spies. They find out brainwashed soldiers are being abducted from Earth and forced to fight in simulated environments, reflecting the periods in history whence they were taken. The aliens' aim is to produce a super army from the survivors. The Doctor is forced to make a choice that will change who he is.

Missing episodes

DVD releases

Serial name Number and duration
of episodes
R2 release date R4 release date R1 release date
The Dominators 5 × 25 min. 12 July 2010 2 September 2010 11 January 2011
The Mind Robber 5 × 20 min. 7 March 2005 5 May 2005 6 September 2005
The Invasion (episodes 2-3 & 5-8 of 8, animation of 1 & 4) 8 × 25 min. 6 November 2006 3 January 2007 6 March 2007
The Krotons 4 × 25 min. 2 July 2012[2][3] 2 August 2012[4] 10 July 2012
The Seeds of Death 6 × 25 min. 17 February 2003 5 May 2003 2 March 2004
The Seeds of Death – Special Edition
Only available as part of the Revisitations 2 box set in Regions 2 and 4.
6 × 25 min. 28 March 2011 5 May 2011 12 June 2012[5]
The War Games 10 × 25 min. 6 July 2009 3 September 2009 3 November 2009

Lost in Time
All existing episodes from otherwise missing Second Doctor serials from this season have been released on the Lost in Time collection, with the exception of The Invasion which had its missing episodes animated for its DVD release. Lost in Time was released in two formats in Region 1, with individual releases for volumes one and two (which cover First Doctor and Second Doctor episodes respectively), as well as an edition combining both volumes. In Regions 2 and 4, Lost in Time is available only as the combined single volume.

Includes episodes from Number and duration
of episodes
R2 release date R4 release date R1 release date
The Space Pirates (episode 2 of 6) 1 × 25 min.
1 November 2004 2 December 2004
(Original release)
1 July 2010
(Re-release)
2 November 2004

In print

Serial name Novelisation title Author First published
The Dominators The Dominators Ian Marter 1984
The Mind Robber The Mind Robber Peter Ling 1987
The Invasion The Invasion Ian Marter 1985
The Krotons The Krotons Terrance Dicks 1985
The Seeds of Death The Seeds of Death Terrance Dicks 1986
The Space Pirates The Space Pirates Terrance Dicks 1990
The War Games Doctor Who and the War Games Malcolm Hulke 1979

References

  1. 1.0 1.1 "Ratings Guide". Doctor Who News. Retrieved 27 December 2014.
  2. "The Doctor Who News Page: DVD Schedule Update". Doctorwhonews.net. 3 May 2011. Retrieved 18 May 2011.
  3. "Twitter / Classic Doctor Who: All content for KROTONS DV". Twitter.
  4. "Doctor Who: The Krotons". Ezydvd.com.au. Retrieved 2012-07-18.
  5. "Doctor Who: The Seeds of Death – Special Edition – DVD". Bbc americashop.com. Retrieved 18 May 2011.