Doctor Who season 3
| Doctor Who | |
|---|---|
| Season 3 | |
 Cover art of the soundtrack release for first serial of the season | |
| Starring | |
| No. of stories | 10 |
| No. of episodes | 45 (28 missing) |
| Release | |
| Original network | BBC One |
| Original release | 11 September 1965 – 16 July 1966 |
| Season chronology | |
The third season of British science fiction television series Doctor Who began on 11 September 1965 with the story Galaxy 4 and ended on 16 July 1966 with The War Machines. Only 17 out of 45 episodes survive in the BBC archives; 28 remain missing. As result only 3 serials are complete.
Casting
Main cast
- William Hartnell as the First Doctor
- Maureen O'Brien as Vicki
- Peter Purves as Steven Taylor
- Adrienne Hill as Katarina
- Jean Marsh as Sara Kingdom
- Jackie Lane as Dodo Chaplet
- Anneke Wills as Polly
- Michael Craze as Ben Jackson
William Hartnell continues his journey as The First Doctor, accompanied by companions Vicki (Maureen O'Brien) and Steven Taylor (Peter Purves). In the third story The Myth Makers, Vicki departed and was replaced by Katarina (Adrienne Hill). Katarina's tenure was brief, the character being killed in episode 4 of the following story, The Daleks' Master Plan. In some companion lists, Sara Kingdom (Jean Marsh) is included as a companion, though her appearances was limited to later episodes of the serial The Daleks' Master Plan.
Dodo Chaplet (Jackie Lane) joined the Doctor and Steven in the next serial, The Massacre of St Bartholomew's Eve. There were no changes in the primary cast until Steven's departure in the penultimate story, The Savages. In the final story The War Machines, Dodo also departs, and the Doctor was joined by Polly (Anneke Wills) and Ben (Michael Craze). Like the previous season, the cast of companions had changed from start to finish.
Guest stars
Peter Butterworth makes his second and final appearance as the Meddling Monk in the serial The Daleks' Master Plan, though his presence in the story is limited to three parts only; "Volcano", "Golden Death", and "Escape Switch".
Serials
John Wiles replaced Verity Lambert as producer after "Mission to the Unknown". Innes Lloyd, in turn, replaced Wiles after The Ark. Donald Tosh continued as script editor until The Massacre of St Bartholomew's Eve: "Priest of Death", and was replaced by Gerry Davis beginning with The Massacre of St Bartholomew's Eve: "Bell of Doom".[1]
The practice of giving each individual episode a different title was abandoned after The Gunfighters, near the end of the season. This season was notable for the longest serial to date, The Daleks' Master Plan, which contained 12 episodes. The record of The Daleks' Master Plan as the longest serial was eventually taken by the 14-part The Trial of a Time Lord, which spanned the whole of Season 23. The single-episode prequel to this story, "Mission to the Unknown", was not only the shortest story, but was notable for the absence of the entire regular cast. The episode came about when Planet of Giants, the opening serial of Season 2, was reduced from four to three episodes, leaving a single episode held over in the production schedule. Rather than attempt to create a single-episode story, or add an episode to an already commissioned story, it was decided to use this one episode as a trailer to set up the upcoming 12-part Dalek story.[citation needed]
Four of the stories from Season 3 ("Mission to the Unknown", The Myth Makers, The Massacre of St. Bartholomew's Eve, and The Savages) are completely missing from the BBC archive, with no surviving episodes. Further, "Mission to the Unknown" and The Massacre of St. Bartholomew's Eve are two of only three stories from the entire run of Doctor Who with no surviving footage from any sources (the other being Marco Polo from Season 1). Only three of this season's stories (The Ark, The Gunfighters and The War Machines) are complete.
Season 3 holds the distinction of being the longest-running season of Doctor Who to date, having produced 45 episodes in 10 serials. Season 6 produced just one episode less in 7 serials.
The Massacre of St. Bartholomew's Eve was the first serial that saw the lead actor cast in a dual role; William Hartnell not only plays the Doctor, but also the Abbot of Amboise. This would be repeated by Patrick Troughton in Season 5's The Enemy of the World.
| Story | Serial | Title | Directed by | Written by | Original air date | Prod. code | UK viewers (millions) [2] | AI [2] |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 18 | 1 | Galaxy 4 "Four Hundred Dawns"† "Trap of Steel"† "Air Lock" "The Exploding Planet"† | Derek Martinus and Mervyn Pinfield | William Emms | 11 September 1965 18 September 1965 25 September 1965 2 October 1965 | T | 9.0 9.5 11.3 9.9 | 56 55 54 53 |
| 19 | 2 | "Mission to the Unknown"† | Derek Martinus | Terry Nation | 9 October 1965 | T/A | 8.3 | 54 |
| 20 | 3 | The Myth Makers "Temple of Secrets"† "Small Prophet, Quick Return"† "Death of a Spy"† "Horse of Destruction"† | Michael Leeston-Smith | Donald Cotton | 16 October 1965 23 October 1965 30 October 1965 6 November 1965 | U | 8.3 8.1 8.7 8.3 | 48 51 49 52 |
| 21 | 4 | The Daleks' Master Plan "The Nightmare Begins"† "Day of Armageddon" "Devil's Planet"† "The Traitors"† "Counter Plot" "Coronas of the Sun"† "The Feast of Steven"† "Volcano"† "Golden Death"† "Escape Switch" "The Abandoned Planet"† "Destruction of Time"† | Douglas Camfield | Terry Nation and Dennis Spooner | 13 November 1965 20 November 1965 27 November 1965 4 December 1965 11 December 1965 18 December 1965 25 December 1965 1 January 1966 8 January 1966 15 January 1966 22 January 1966 29 January 1966 | V | 9.1 9.8 10.3 9.5 9.9 9.1 7.9 9.6 9.2 9.5 9.8 8.6 | 54 52 52 51 53 56 39 49 52 50 49 57 |
| 22 | 5 | The Massacre of St Bartholomew's Eve "War of God"† "The Sea Beggar"† "Priest of Death"† "Bell of Doom"† | Paddy Russell | John Lucarotti and Donald Tosh | 5 February 1966 12 February 1966 19 February 1966 26 February 1966 | W | 8.0 6.0 5.9 5.8 | 52 52 49 53 |
| 23 | 6 | The Ark "The Steel Sky" "The Plague" "The Return" "The Bomb" | Michael Imison | Paul Erickson and Lesley Scott | 5 March 1966 12 March 1966 19 March 1966 26 March 1966 | X | 5.5 6.9 6.2 7.3 | 55 56 51 50 |
| 24 | 7 | The Celestial Toymaker "The Celestial Toyroom"† "The Hall of Dolls"† "The Dancing Floor"† "The Final Test" | Bill Sellars | Brian Hayles and Donald Tosh | 2 April 1966 9 April 1966 16 April 1966 23 April 1966 | Y | 8.0 8.0 9.4 7.8 | 48 49 44 43 |
| 25 | 8 | The Gunfighters "A Holiday for the Doctor" "Don't Shoot the Pianist" "Johnny Ringo" "The OK Corral" | Rex Tucker | Donald Cotton | 30 April 1966 7 May 1966 14 May 1966 21 May 1966 | Z | 6.5 6.6 6.2 5.7 | 45 39 36 30 |
| 26 | 9 | The Savages (all episodes missing) | Christopher Barry | Ian Stuart Black | 28 May 1966 4 June 1966 11 June 1966 18 June 1966 | AA | 4.8 5.6 5.0 4.5 | 48 49 48 48 |
| 27 | 10 | The War Machines | Michael Ferguson | Ian Stuart Black and Kit Pedler | 25 June 1966 2 July 1966 9 July 1966 16 July 1966 | BB | 5.4 4.7 5.3 5.5 | 49 45 44 39 |
Missing episodes
- Galaxy 4 – Episodes 1, 2 & 4 (of 4 total)
- "Mission to the Unknown" – Entire episode
- The Myth Makers – All 4 episodes
- The Daleks' Master Plan – Episodes 1, 3, 4, 6 – 9, 11 & 12 (of 12 total)
- The Massacre of St Bartholomew's Eve – All 4 episodes
- The Celestial Toymaker – Episodes 1, 2 & 3 (of 4 total)
- The Savages – All 4 episodes
DVD releases
| Serial name | Number and duration of episodes |
R2 release date | R4 release date | R1 release date |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 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
All existing episodes from otherwise missing First Doctor serials from this season have been released on the Lost in Time collection with the exception of Galaxy 4 episode 3, which was recovered after the release of Lost in Time. 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 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 |
Galaxy 4: Airlock
This episode was recovered in December 2011 and was released on DVD on 11 March 2013 with the special edition of the Season 1 story The Aztecs.
| Includes episodes from | Number and duration of episodes |
R2 release date | R4 release date | R1 release date |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| The Aztecs – Special Edition Includes Galaxy 4: Airlock |
5 × 25 min. |
11 March 2013 | 20 March 2013 | 12 March 2013 |
In print
| Serial name | Novelisation title | Author | First published |
|---|---|---|---|
| Galaxy 4 | Galaxy Four | William Emms | 14 November 1985 |
| "Mission to the Unknown" | The Daleks' Master Plan Part I: Mission to the Unknown | John Peel | 21 September 1989 |
| The Myth Makers | The Myth Makers | Donald Cotton | 11 April 1985 |
| The Daleks' Master Plan | The Daleks' Master Plan Part I: Mission to the Unknown The Daleks' Master Plan Part II: The Mutation of Time |
John Peel | 21 September 1989 19 October 1989 |
| The Massacre of St Bartholomew's Eve | The Massacre | John Lucarotti | 18 June 1987 |
| The Ark | The Ark | Paul Erickson | 16 October 1986 |
| The Celestial Toymaker | The Celestial Toymaker | Gerry Davis and Alison Bingeman | 19 June 1986 |
| The Gunfighters | The Gunfighters | Donald Cotton | 11 July 1985 |
| The Savages | The Savages | Ian Stuart Black | 20 March 1986 |
| The War Machines | The War Machines | Ian Stuart Black | 16 February 1989 |
See also
References
- ^ "Doctor Who Classic Episode Guide – Season 3". BBC. Retrieved 20 August 2012.
- ^ a b "Ratings Guide". Doctor Who News. Retrieved 27 December 2014.