Doctor Who (season 18)
The eighteenth season of British science fiction television series Doctor Who began on 30 August 1980 with the serial The Leisure Hive, and ended with Tom Baker's last story Logopolis.
| Doctor Who | |
|---|---|
| Season 18 | |
 Cover art of the Blu-ray release for the complete season | |
| Starring | |
| Country of origin | United Kingdom |
| No. of stories | 7 |
| No. of episodes | 28 |
| Release | |
| Original network | BBC1 |
| Original release | 30 August 1980 – 21 March 1981 |
| Season chronology | |
Casting
Main cast
- Tom Baker as the Fourth Doctor
- Lalla Ward as Romana
- John Leeson as Voice of K9[note 1]
- Matthew Waterhouse as Adric
- Sarah Sutton as Nyssa
- Janet Fielding as Tegan Jovanka
Season 18 sees the swan song of Tom Baker as the Fourth Doctor, ending his time after seven years on the program. New companions Adric (Matthew Waterhouse), Nyssa (Sarah Sutton), and Tegan Jovanka (Janet Fielding) make their introductions in Full Circle, The Keeper of Traken, and Logopolis, respectively. Romana, played by Lalla Ward, departs from the series in Warriors' Gate, along with John Leeson who returns to voice the robot K9. With the arrival of Adric, this season marks the first time since 1967 that the show has given the Doctor a party of three travelling companions.
Guest stars
The Master returned to the show, this time played by Geoffrey Beevers, in The Keeper of Traken. After the events of Traken the Master was thereafter played by Anthony Ainley, who would continue in the part for the rest of the classic series' run.
Jacqueline Hill, who had played the First Doctor's companion Barbara Wright, returned in Meglos, although this time playing a different character, the alien priestess Lexa.
Serials
For Season 18 John Nathan-Turner replaces Graham Williams as producer. Barry Letts returns as executive producer, for just this season. Christopher H. Bidmead also replaces Douglas Adams as script editor. In a return to the format of early seasons, virtually all serials from Seasons 18 through 20 are linked together, often running directly into each other. Three serials – Full Circle, State of Decay, and Warriors' Gate – are part of a trilogy within the season. These three serials include the arrival of Adric and the departure of Romana and K9.
Over the period of Christmas 1980, the season took a two-week transmission break between the broadcasts of State of Decay and Warriors' Gate.
| Story | Serial | Serial title | Episode titles | Directed by | Written by | Original air date | Prod. code | UK viewers (millions) [1] | AI [1] | |||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 109 | 1 | The Leisure Hive | "Part One" | Lovett Bickford | David Fisher | 30 August 1980 | 5N | 5.9 | — | |||||||||||||||||||||
| "Part Two" | Lovett Bickford | David Fisher | 6 September 1980 | 5N | 5.0 | — | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| "Part Three" | Lovett Bickford | David Fisher | 13 September 1980 | 5N | 5.0 | — | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| "Part Four" | Lovett Bickford | David Fisher | 20 September 1980 | 5N | 4.5 | 65 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| In search of a holiday, the Doctor and Romana travel to the famous Leisure Hive on Argolis, a planet ravaged by a nuclear war with the reptilian Foamasi years earlier. The main attraction of the Hive is a device called the Tachyon Recreation Generator, but when things start to go mysteriously wrong with the machine, the Doctor realises that evil is afoot in the Hive. He and Romana begin to unearth a tangled conspiracy which may lead to a new, deadlier war between the Argolins and the Foamasi. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 110 | 2 | Meglos | "Part One" | Terence Dudley | John Flanagan & Andrew McCulloch | 27 September 1980 | 5Q | 5.0 | 61 | |||||||||||||||||||||
| "Part Two" | Terence Dudley | John Flanagan & Andrew McCulloch | 4 October 1980 | 5Q | 4.2 | 64 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| "Part Three" | Terence Dudley | John Flanagan & Andrew McCulloch | 11 October 1980 | 5Q | 4.7 | — | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| "Part Four" | Terence Dudley | John Flanagan & Andrew McCulloch | 18 October 1980 | 5Q | 4.7 | 63 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| The Doctor is summoned back to the planet Tigella, where the population is divided along religious and scientific lines. Something is going terribly wrong with Tigella's main power source, the Dodecahedron, but the Savants are prevented from investigating by the zealous Deons. To make matters worse, before the Doctor can solve the problem with the Dodecahedron, he is accused of its theft. The true culprit is Meglos, a shapeshifting Zolfa-Thuran, who intends to unleash the full might of the Dodecahedron upon the universe. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 111 | 3 | Full Circle | "Part One" | Peter Grimwade | Andrew Smith | 25 October 1980 | 5R | 5.9 | — | |||||||||||||||||||||
| "Part Two" | Peter Grimwade | Andrew Smith | 1 November 1980 | 5R | 3.7 | — | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| "Part Three" | Peter Grimwade | Andrew Smith | 8 November 1980 | 5R | 5.9 | — | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| "Part Four" | Peter Grimwade | Andrew Smith | 15 November 1980 | 5R | 5.4 | 65 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Romana is recalled to Gallifrey, but en route the TARDIS is drawn through a Charged Vacuum Emboitment into another universe, called E-Space. Landing on the planet Alzarius, the Doctor meets a group of humans who are trying to rebuild their spacecraft which crashlanded generations ago. When Marshmen begin rising from the swamps during the dreaded time of Mistfall, however, the Doctor realises that there is something amiss on Alzarius, and begins to unravel a genetic riddle which stretches back centuries. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 112 | 4 | State of Decay | "Part One" | Peter Moffatt | Terrance Dicks | 22 November 1980 | 5P | 5.8 | — | |||||||||||||||||||||
| "Part Two" | Peter Moffatt | Terrance Dicks | 29 November 1980 | 5P | 5.3 | — | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| "Part Three" | Peter Moffatt | Terrance Dicks | 6 December 1980 | 5P | 4.4 | — | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| "Part Four" | Peter Moffatt | Terrance Dicks | 13 December 1980 | 5P | 5.4 | 69 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Still trapped in E-Space, the TARDIS materialises on a medieval planet. The townsfolk live in fear of the Three Who Rule, who govern from their mighty castle. Investigating, the Doctor discovers that the Three Who Rule are ancient astronauts who were turned into vampires long ago, and their castle is actually their spaceship. When Romana and Adric are kidnapped, the Doctor must ally himself with a band of renegade peasants to stop the resurrection of one of Gallifrey's greatest enemies: the Great Vampire itself. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 113 | 5 | Warriors' Gate | "Part One" | Paul Joyce & Graeme Harper (uncredited) | Stephen Gallagher | 3 January 1981 | 5S | 7.1 | 59 | |||||||||||||||||||||
| "Part Two" | Paul Joyce & Graeme Harper (uncredited) | Stephen Gallagher | 10 January 1981 | 5S | 6.7 | — | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| "Part Three" | Paul Joyce & Graeme Harper (uncredited) | Stephen Gallagher | 17 January 1981 | 5S | 8.3 | — | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| "Part Four" | Paul Joyce & Graeme Harper (uncredited) | Stephen Gallagher | 24 January 1981 | 5S | 7.8 | 59 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Trying to escape from E-Space, the Doctor, Romana, Adric and K9 instead land in an eerie white void whose only feature is a crumbling old keep. Also trapped in the void is a slave ship captained by the cruel Rorvik, whose time sensitive pilot, the leonine Tharil Biroc, escapes and lures the Doctor into the keep and the mirror gateway beyond. There, the Doctor witnesses the rise and fall of the once-mighty Tharil Empire. He realises that he must free the Tharils enslaved on the ship and escape through the gateway, before Rorvik's vengeful actions destroy them all. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 114 | 6 | The Keeper of Traken | "Part One" | John Black | Johnny Byrne | 31 January 1981 | 5T | 7.6 | — | |||||||||||||||||||||
| "Part Two" | John Black | Johnny Byrne | 7 February 1981 | 5T | 6.1 | — | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| "Part Three" | John Black | Johnny Byrne | 14 February 1981 | 5T | 5.2 | — | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| "Part Four" | John Black | Johnny Byrne | 21 February 1981 | 5T | 6.1 | 63 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| The Union of Traken is governed by a Keeper gifted with the powers of the Source. The current Keeper is nearing the end of his thousand-year tenure, however, and asks the Doctor and Adric – who have escaped from E-Space – to go to Traken and stop an evil he believes is plotting to destroy the Union. But the source of the evil, the Melkur, has already infiltrated the Consuls of Traken, and has the Doctor declared a criminal. Allying himself with Consul Tremas and his daughter, Nyssa, the Time Lord must uncover the true power behind the Melkur – someone who knows the Doctor of old. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 115 | 7 | Logopolis | "Part One" | Peter Grimwade | Christopher H. Bidmead | 28 February 1981 | 5V | 7.7 | — | |||||||||||||||||||||
| "Part Two" | Peter Grimwade | Christopher H. Bidmead | 7 March 1981 | 5V | 7.7 | 61 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| "Part Three" | Peter Grimwade | Christopher H. Bidmead | 14 March 1981 | 5V | 5.8 | — | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| "Part Four" | Peter Grimwade | Christopher H. Bidmead | 21 March 1981 | 5V | 6.1 | 65 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| After her aunt is murdered by the Master, an airline stewardess named Tegan Jovanka becomes an unwitting stowaway aboard the TARDIS as it travels to the planet Logopolis. There, the Doctor discovers that the Master's interference with the Logopolitans' advanced mathematics has unleashed a wave of entropy which threatens to consume the entire universe. The two Time Lords enter into an uneasy alliance. Their only hope lies on Earth... but then, in the moment of greatest crisis, the Master plays his ultimate trump card. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Broadcast
The entire season was broadcast from 30 August 1980 to 21 March 1981.
Home media
VHS releases
| Season | Story no. | Serial name | Number and duration of episodes |
R2 release date | R4 release date | R1 release date |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 18 | 110 | The Leisure Hive | 4 x 25 min. | January 1997 | September 1997 | May 1997 |
| 111 | Meglos | 4 x 25 min | March 2003 | June 2003 | October 2003 | |
| 112 113 114 |
The E-Space Trilogy Full Circle State of Decay Warriors' Gate |
12 x 25 min | November 1997 3 x VHS |
October 1997 3 x VHS |
July 1998 3 x VHS | |
| 115 | The Keeper of Traken | 4 x 25 min | June 1993 | September 1993 | February 1994 | |
| 116 | Logopolis | 4 x 25 min | March 1992 | September 1992 | October 1993 |
DVD and Blu-ray releases
| Season | Story no. | Serial name | Number and duration of episodes |
R2 release date | R4 release date | R1 release date |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 18 | 109 | The Leisure Hive | 4 × 25 min. | 5 July 2004[2] | 7 October 2004[3] | 7 June 2005[4] |
| 110 | Meglos | 4 × 25 min. | 10 January 2011[5] | 20 January 2011[6] | 11 January 2011[7] | |
| 111–113 | Full Circle State of Decay Warriors' Gate |
12 × 25 min.[lower-alpha 1] | 26 January 2009[8] | 9 April 2009[9] | 5 May 2009[10] | |
| 114 | The Keeper of Traken[lower-alpha 2] | 4 × 25 min. | 29 January 2007[11] | 7 March 2007[12] | 5 June 2007[13] | |
| 115 | Logopolis[lower-alpha 3] | 4 × 25 min. | 29 January 2007[11] | 7 March 2007[12] | 5 June 2007[14] | |
| 109–115 | Complete Season 18[lower-alpha 4] | 28 × 25 min. | 18 March 2019(B)[15] | 17 April 2019(B)[16] | 19 March 2019(B)[17] |
- Known collectively as The E-Space Trilogy. Each serial comprises four episodes.
- Only available as part of the New Beginnings box set in Regions 2 and 4. Available individually or in the box set in Region 1.
- Available as part of the New Beginnings box set or the Regeneration box set in Region 2. Only available as part of the New Beginnings box set in Region 4. Available individually or as part of the New Beginnings box set in Region 1.
- Released as Doctor Who: The Collection – Season 18 in Region B. Released as Doctor Who – Tom Baker: Complete Season Seven in Region A.
In print
| Serial name | Novelisation title | Author | First published |
|---|---|---|---|
| The Leisure Hive | Doctor Who and the Leisure Hive | David Fisher | 22 July 1982 |
| Meglos | Meglos | Terrance Dicks | 5 May 1983 |
| Full Circle | Full Circle | Andrew Smith | 16 September 1982 |
| State of Decay | Doctor Who and the State of Decay | Terrance Dicks | 17 September 1981 |
| Warriors' Gate | Doctor Who and Warriors' Gate | John Lydecker | 15 April 1982 |
| The Keeper of Traken | Doctor Who and the Keeper of Traken | Terrance Dicks | 20 May 1982 |
| Logopolis | Logopolis | Christopher H. Bidmead | 21 October 1982 |
Notes
- Spelt "K.9" in the credits of Meglos and Full Circle
References
- "Ratings Guide". Doctor Who News. Retrieved 27 December 2014.
- "Doctor Who: The Leisure Hive". 5 July 2004. Retrieved 16 November 2017 – via Amazon.
- "The Doctor Who - Leisure Hive by Roadshow Home Ent - Shop Online for Movies, DVDs in Australia". Fishpond. Retrieved 16 November 2017.
- "Doctor Who: The Leisure Hive". 7 June 2005. Retrieved 16 November 2017 – via Amazon.
- "Doctor Who - Meglos". 10 January 2011. Retrieved 16 November 2017 – via Amazon.
- "Doctor Who Meglos by Roadshow Entertainment - Shop Online for Movies, DVDs in Australia". Fishpond. Retrieved 16 November 2017.
- "Doctor Who: Meglos". 11 January 2011. Retrieved 16 November 2017 – via Amazon.
- "Doctor Who: The E-Space Trilogy". 26 January 2009. Retrieved 16 November 2017 – via Amazon.
- "Doctor Who by Roadshow Entertainment - Shop Online for Movies, DVDs in Australia". Fishpond. Retrieved 16 November 2017.
- "Doctor Who: The E-Space Trilogy". 5 May 2009. Retrieved 16 November 2017 – via Amazon.
- "Doctor Who - New Beginnings". 29 January 2007. Retrieved 16 November 2017 – via Amazon.
- "Doctor Who New Beginnings by Roadshow Entertainment - Shop Online for Movies, DVDs in Australia". Fishpond. Retrieved 16 November 2017.
- "Doctor Who: The Keeper of Traken". 5 June 2007. Retrieved 16 November 2017 – via Amazon.
- "Doctor Who: Logopolis". 5 June 2007. Retrieved 16 November 2017 – via Amazon.
- "Doctor Who - The Collection - Season 18 - Limited Edition Packaging [Blu-ray] [2019]". Retrieved 27 November 2018 – via Amazon.
- "Doctor Who: Classic Season 18". JB Hi-Fi. Retrieved 16 April 2019.
- Doctor Who - Tom Baker: Complete Season Seven [Blu-ray] [2019]. ASIN 6317626030.CS1 maint: ignored ISBN errors (link) CS1 maint: ASIN uses ISBN (link)
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