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|name              = The Doctor's trial
|name              = The Doctor's trial
|image            = Troughton in Court.jpg
|image            = Troughton in Court.jpg
|first             = The War Games (TV story)
|first             = The War Games (TV story)
|appearances      = [[PROSE]]: ''[[Second Session (short story)|Second Session]]''
|appearances      = [[PROSE]]: ''[[The Trial of Doctor Who (short story)|The Trial of Doctor Who]]'', ''[[Doctor Who and the Auton Invasion (novelisation)|Doctor Who and the Auton Invasion]]'', ''[[World Game (novel)|World Game]]'', ''[[Second Session (short story)|Second Session]]''
|date              = [[Gallifreyan Year 309906]]
|date              = [[Gallifreyan Year 309906]]
|location          = [[Gallifrey]]
|location          = [[Courtroom (The War Games)|Courtroom]]
|leader1          = [[Second Doctor]]
|leader1          = [[Second Doctor]]
|leader2          = [[Goth]]/[[Pandad IV]]
|leader2          = [[First Time Lord (The War Games)|First Time Lord]]
|result            = {{il|[[Jamie McCrimmon]] and [[Zoe Heriot]] have their memory wiped of [[the Doctor]]|The Doctor becomes an agent of the [[Celestial Intervention Agency|CIA]]|The Doctor is [[Exile on Earth|exiled to Earth]]|The Doctor is forced to [[regenerate]]}}
|result            = {{il|[[Jamie McCrimmon]] and [[Zoe Heriot]] have their memory wiped of [[the Doctor]]|The Doctor becomes an agent of the [[Celestial Intervention Agency|CIA]]|The Doctor is [[Exile on Earth|exiled to Earth]]|The Doctor is [[forced regeneration|forced]] to [[Second Doctor's change of appearance|regenerate]]}}
|clip              = The Doctor Summons the Time Lords - The War Games - Doctor Who - BBC
|clip              = The Doctor Summons the Time Lords - The War Games - Doctor Who - BBC
|clip2            = Second Doctor regenerates - Patrick Troughton to Jon Pertwee
|clip2            = Second Doctor regenerates - Patrick Troughton to Jon Pertwee
}}
}}
In '''the Doctor's first trial''' involving the [[Time Lord]]s, he was charged with breaching the [[non-interference policy]] ([[TV]]: ''[[The War Games (TV story)|The War Games]]'') and tried by three members of the [[High Council]], [[Adelphi]], [[Goth]], and [[Socra]], ([[PROSE]]: ''[[The Legacy of Gallifrey (short story)|The Legacy of Gallifrey]]'') who constituted a Malfeasance Tribunal. The trial was dubbed in the official court records as "'''Malfeasance Tribunal 309906'''". ([[TV]]: ''[[The Deadly Assassin (TV story)|The Deadly Assassin]]'', [[PROSE]]: ''[[A Brief History of Time Lords (novel)|A Brief History of Time Lords]]'')
In '''the Doctor's first trial''' involving the [[Time Lord]]s, he was charged with breaching the [[non-interference policy]] and tried by [[Court (The War Games)|a court of Time Lords]]. ([[TV]]: {{cs|The War Games (TV story)}}) ''[[The Book of the War]]'' claimed that the name of '''Audience of the Ruling Houses''' applied to "any session in which the ruling Houses passed judgement over those in breach of the [[Laws of Time|Protocols]]". ([[PROSE]]: {{cs|The Book of the War (novel)}})
 
According to one account, the trial was dubbed in the official court records as "'''Malfeasance Tribunal 309906'''". ([[PROSE]]: {{cs|A Brief History of Time Lords (novel)}}) According to other accounts, it was its verdict which constituted "'''Malfeasance Tribunal order 30906'''", ([[PROSE]]: {{cs|Doctor Who and the Genesis of the Daleks (novelisation)}}) or indeed "'''Malfeasance Tribunal order dated 309906'''", with the number being [[Gallifreyan history|a date]] rather than a reference number. ([[TV]]: {{cs|The Deadly Assassin (TV story)}})


== History ==
== History ==
=== A day to come ===
Not yet realising that he was a [[future]] [[incarnation]], the [[First Doctor]] reasoned that the [[Twelfth Doctor]] was a [[Time Lord]] when he observed that he was mid-[[regeneration]], asking if he had come to take "[[The Doctor's TARDIS|the ship]]" back, much to the future Doctor's amusement. ([[TV]]: {{cs|Twice Upon a Time (TV story)}})
Acting on behalf of the [[Celestial Intervention Agency]] during the [[First Omega Crisis]], [[Goth]] masqueraded as the fictional character [[Lemuel Gulliver]] in the [[Land of Fiction]] to monitor the [[Second Doctor]]. When the Doctor recognised him and feared he would be taken to Gallifrey for trial, Goth told the Doctor that "that time is long in your future and long in our past." ([[PROSE]]: {{cs|Future Imperfect (short story)}})
=== Origins ===
=== Origins ===
Alongside his [[granddaughter]], [[Susan Foreman]], the [[First Doctor]] stole [[the Doctor's TARDIS|a TARDIS]], which they used to depart their [[home planet]] of [[Gallifrey]]. ([[TV]]: ''[[The Name of the Doctor (TV story)|The Name of the Doctor]]'') As the Doctor claimed to [[Ian Chesterton]] and [[Barbara Wright]], he and Susan were [[exile]]s wandering through [[time]] as they had been cut off from their planet; ([[TV]]: ''[[An Unearthly Child (TV story)|An Unearthly Child]]'') he was particularly adamant to not interfere in the course of history, ([[TV]]: ''[[The Aztecs (TV story)|The Aztecs]]'') for fear of alerting the [[Time Lord]]s ([[TV]]: ''[[The Time Meddler (TV story)|The Time Meddler]]'') Furthermore, as the [[Second Doctor]] explained to [[Jamie McCrimmon]] and [[Zoe Heriot]], he was not content to merely observe [[N-Space|the universe]] as the other [[Time Lord]]s did and so, motivated by [[boredom]], proceeded to explore time and [[space]] personally. While doing so, he acknowledged that he had a tendency to "get involved" and understood that the Time Lords did not approve of his actions, despite the [[people]] he had helped during his travels. ([[TV]]: ''[[The War Games (TV story)|The War Games]]'')
Prior to the trial, [[the Doctor]] had been hiding from the [[Time Lord]]s due to violating their laws. By one account, he was put on trial solely for the charge of breaking the [[non-interference policy]]. ([[TV]]: {{cs|The War Games (TV story)}}) Other accounts indicated he had two charges, but that the second, [[The Doctor and Susan's escape from Gallifrey|stealing a TARDIS]], was incredibly minor compared to the first. ([[PROSE]]: {{cs|The Trial of Doctor Who (short story)}}, {{cs|Doctor Who and the War Games (novelisation)}}) A third account indicated his charge was breaking the [[First Law of Time]] by meeting the [[Sixth Doctor]] while on a mission from the [[Celestial Intervention Agency]], and that he'd only been hiding from the Time Lords since then. ([[PROSE]]: {{cs|The Legacy of Gallifrey (short story)}})


=== The trial ===
Judging the return of the participants in the [[War Game]]s too tough a task, the [[Second Doctor]] decided to send a [[hypercube]] containing all the relevant information to the Time Lords so that they could help with the matter, although [[the War Chief]] quite forcibly advised against it. ([[TV]]: {{cs|The War Games (TV story)}}) In the timeline as it stood after [[Rassilon]] used an amnesiac [[Eighth Doctor]] to make "one or two small improvements in the patterns of history", the Second Doctor was aided in this decision by the Eighth Doctor, who suggested a defence speech to his past self which the Second Doctor would recite nearly word-for-word in the trial. ([[PROSE]]: {{cs|The Eight Doctors (novel)}}, {{cs|World Game (novel)}}) Authorities from Gallifrey were dispatched to the planet, including no lesser Time Lords than [[Keeper (Doctor Who and the Doomsday Weapon)|the Keeper]] ([[PROSE]]: {{cs|Doctor Who and the Doomsday Weapon (novelisation)}}) and three members of the [[High Council]], ([[PROSE]]: {{cs|The Three Doctors (novelisation)}}, {{cs|The Legacy of Gallifrey (short story)}}) one of them being [[Goth]], ([[PROSE]]: {{cs|The Legacy of Gallifrey (short story)}}) who was also an agent of the [[Celestial Intervention Agency]], ([[PROSE]]: {{cs|Future Imperfect (short story)}}) yet unknown to the Presidency. ([[PROSE]]: {{cs|The Legacy of Gallifrey (short story)}})
Judging the return of the participants in the [[War Game]]s too tough a task, the [[Second Doctor]] decided to send a [[hypercube]] containing all the relevant information to the Time Lords so that they could help with the matter, although [[the War Chief]] quite forcibly advised against it. ([[TV]]: ''[[The War Games (TV story)|The War Games]]'') Authorities from Gallifrey were dispatched to the planet, including no lesser Time Lords than [[Keeper (Doctor Who and the Doomsday Weapon)|the Keeper]] ([[PROSE]]: ''[[Doctor Who and the Doomsday Weapon (novelisation)|Doctor Who and the Doomsday Weapon]]'') and three members of the [[High Council]], ([[PROSE]]: ''[[The Three Doctors (novelisation)|The Three Doctors]]'', ''[[The Legacy of Gallifrey]]'') one of them being [[Goth]], ([[PROSE]]: ''[[The Legacy of Gallifrey]]'') who was also an agent of the [[Celestial Intervention Agency]], ([[PROSE]]: ''[[Future Imperfect (short story)|Future Imperfect]]'') yet unknown to the Presidency. ([[PROSE]]: ''[[The Legacy of Gallifrey]]'')


The Doctor briefly attempted to evade the Time Lords but they took control of [[The Doctor's TARDIS|the TARDIS]] and landed it on [[Gallifrey]]. The Doctor, [[Jamie McCrimmon|Jamie]] and [[Zoe Heriot|Zoe]] witnessed [[the War Lord]] [[Trial of the War Lord|being sentenced]] before Jamie and Zoe were placed in a [[force field]] and the Doctor was escorted to his own trial.
The Doctor briefly attempted to evade the Time Lords, but they took control of [[The Doctor's TARDIS|the TARDIS]] and landed it on [[Gallifrey]]. The Doctor, [[Jamie McCrimmon|Jamie]] and [[Zoe Heriot|Zoe]] witnessed [[the War Lord]] [[Trial of the War Lord|being sentenced]] before Jamie and Zoe were placed in a [[force field]] and the Doctor was escorted to his own trial. ([[TV]]: {{cs|The War Games (TV story)}})


The Time Lords accused the Doctor of breaking their laws of non-interference. The Doctor admitted the crime and reiterated his pride in doing so, rather than merely observing the [[evil]] in the universe. He then asked for a [[Thought Channel]] to show the evil he fought. He showed the Time Lords the [[Quark]]s and the [[Robot Yeti|Yeti]]. When they seemed unimpressed he showed them the [[Ice Warrior]]s, the [[Cyberman (Mondas)|Cybermen]] and the [[Dalek]]s. He ended by saying that he may be guilty of interference, but they were guilty of passivity against such evil. With the trial over, the Time Lords considered the charges whilst the Doctor played [[cards]].
=== The recorded trial ===
The [[court (The War Games)|court]] accused the Doctor of breaking their laws of non-interference. The Doctor admitted the crime and reiterated his pride in doing so, rather than merely observing the [[evil]] in the universe. He then asked for a [[Thought Channel]] to show the evil he fought. He showed the Time Lords the [[Quark]]s and the [[Robot Yeti|Yeti]]. When they seemed unimpressed he showed them the [[Ice Warrior]]s, the [[CyberMondan|Cybermen]] and the [[Dalek]]s. He ended by saying that he may be guilty of interference, but they were guilty of passivity against such evil. With the trial over, the Time Lords considered the charges whilst the Doctor played [[cards]].


Allowed to bid farewell to Jamie and Zoe they convince him to try and escape but they are intercepted by a group of Time Lords. The Doctor says goodbye to both of them before they are returned to their own times with their memories wiped of all but their first encounter with the Doctor. The Doctor watched on a screen as Zoe is returned to [[the Wheel]] and Jamie fights a [[Redcoat (The War Games)|Redcoat]].
Allowed to bid farewell to Jamie and Zoe they convince him to try and escape but they are intercepted by a group of Time Lords. The Doctor says goodbye to both of them before they are returned to their own times with their memories wiped of all but their first encounter with the Doctor. The Doctor watched on a screen as Zoe is returned to [[the Wheel]] and Jamie fights a [[Redcoat (The War Games)|Redcoat]].


The Time Lords then delivered their verdict; they accepted that there was evil in the universe that must be fought and the Doctor had a part to play. They noted his affinity to [[Earth]] and told him he would be [[Exile on Earth|exiled there]] as well as forced to [[regenerate]]. The Time Lords gave the Doctor several choices for [[Third Doctor|his new body]] but he declined all of them. He then lost his speech and began to swirl into nothingness. ([[TV]]: ''[[The War Games (TV story)|The War Games]]'')
The Time Lords then delivered their verdict; they accepted that there was evil in the universe that must be fought and the Doctor had a part to play. They noted his affinity to [[Earth]] and told him he would be [[Exile on Earth|exiled there]] as well as forced to [[regenerate]]. The Time Lords gave the Doctor several choices for [[Third Doctor|his new body]] but he declined all of them. He then lost his speech and began to swirl into nothingness. ([[TV]]: {{cs|The War Games (TV story)}})
 
=== The trial's secret facets ===
{{section stub}}
Another matter raised during the Doctor's trial was the [[1986 Cyberman invasion of Earth]]. It was a [[temporal anomaly]], not part of the orthodox [[Time Lord]] vision of [[Earth]]'s history — and the Doctor's presence on Earth at the time, in his [[First Doctor|previous incarnation]], led to the speculation that he had somehow bent the planet's time-stream out of shape himself, permitting the invasion. Less harshly, it was suggested by the prosecution that the Doctor may have accidentally "ripped" the Earth's [[time stream]] in the 20th century by operating [[the Doctor's TARDIS|his TARDIS]] there too often. The Doctor convinced the prosecution that this line of argument was misguided by pointing out that if excessive TARDIS activity really had deleterious effects on a [[nexus world]]'s time-field, [[Gallifrey]] itself would long have been "a smoking hole in space". ([[PROSE]]: {{cs|The Cyber Files (novel)}}) Elsewhere, however, [[the Accord]] were aware that Earth's timeline was damaged by the TARDIS as a result of its unique faults. ([[PROSE]]: {{cs|The Enfolded Time (short story)}})
 
Before the Doctor's sentence could be carried out, the [[Celestial Intervention Agency]] intervened and turned him into their "hired gun". ([[PROSE]]: {{cs|World Game (novel)}}) He worked in this capacity for some time, ([[TV]]: {{cs|The Two Doctors (TV story)}}, et al.) although he was unaware of the true extent of this. Knowing the Doctor was liable to becoming impatient and feeling exploited, the Time Lords took to wiping his [[memory]] after each mission. The result was that the Doctor believed every mission to be his first and readily accepted them, led as he was to believe each time that success would grant him his release. ([[PROSE]]: {{cs|Save Yourself (short story)}}) However, when the CIA needed to cover up his visit to [[Space Station Camera]], it was decided that his exile should be enforced. ([[PROSE]]: {{cs|A Brief History of Time Lords (novel)}}) Before he could be forced to regenerate, the Doctor finally succeeded in escaping. He settled down on Earth in hiding, though lived there in luxury for some time, before falling into a trap and finally regenerating into his third incarnation. ([[COMIC]]: {{cs|The Night Walkers (comic story)}})
 
=== Legacy ===
Because the Time Lords knew little about the [[human]] [[mind]], both Jamie ([[COMIC]]: {{cs|The World Shapers (comic story)}}) and Zoe were able to regain some of their memories of travelling with the Doctor. ([[AUDIO]]: {{cs|Echoes of Grey (audio story)}}) Additionally, after the Doctor had saved the Time Lords from certain doom they lifted his exile and restored his [[knowledge]] of the TARDIS. ([[TV]]: {{cs|The Three Doctors (TV story)}}) On the day of [[Pandad IV]]'s assassination, [[Spandrell]] and [[Engin]] consulted the Doctor's entry in the [[APC Net]], learning of this trial. ([[TV]]: {{cs|The Deadly Assassin (TV story)}}) This trial was referenced during the [[Sixth Doctor]]'s [[The Doctor's trial (The Mysterious Planet)|trial for meddling]], in which the sentence was deemed by [[The Valeyard|the prosecutor]] to be too lenient. ([[TV]]: {{cs|The Mysterious Planet (TV story)}})


=== Aftermath and legacy ===
It was during the trial that the Doctor first directed the Time Lords' attention towards the [[Dalek]]s. ([[TV]]: {{cs|The War Games (TV story)}}) The Time Lords monitored the Daleks' continued activities and partially came around to the Doctor's way of thinking, viewing them as a potentially serious threat. ([[AUDIO]]: {{cs|The Dalek Conquests (audio story)}}) Eventually, they summoned the [[Fourth Doctor]] to [[Skaro]] to avert the [[creation of the Daleks]]. ([[TV]]: {{cs|Genesis of the Daleks (TV story)}}) The failure of this mission eventually prompted the Daleks to retaliate, resulting in mounting aggression which led, in the longer term, to the [[Last Great Time War]]. ([[PROSE]]: {{cs|A Brief History of Time Lords (novel)}}, {{cs|The Slyther of Shoreditch (short story)}}, {{cs|Engines of War (novel)}}, et al.)
Before the Doctor's sentence could be carried out, the [[Celestial Intervention Agency]] intervened and turned him into their "hired gun". ([[PROSE]]: ''[[World Game (novel)|World Game]]'') He worked in this capacity for some time. ([[TV]]: ''[[The Two Doctors (TV story)|The Two Doctors]]'' et al.) However, when the CIA needed to cover up his visit to [[Space Station Camera]] it was decided that his exile should be enforced. ([[PROSE]]: ''[[A Brief History of Time Lords (novel)|A Brief History of Time Lords]]'') Although the Doctor escaped again before a regeneration could be enforced and lived in luxury for some time before falling into a trap and finally regenerating into his third incarnation. ([[COMIC]]: ''[[The Night Walkers (comic story)|The Night Walkers]]'')


Both Jamie ([[COMIC]]: ''[[The World Shapers (comic story)|The World Shapers]]'') and Zoe were able to regain some of their [[memory|memories]] of travelling with the Doctor. ([[AUDIO]]: ''[[Echoes of Grey (audio story)|Echoes of Grey]]'') Additionally, after the Doctor had saved the Time Lords from certain doom they lifted his exile and restored his [[knowledge]] of the TARDIS. ([[TV]]: ''[[The Three Doctors (TV story)|The Three Doctors]]'') On the day of [[Pandad IV]]'s assassination, [[Spandrell]] and [[Engin]] consulted the Doctor's entry in the [[APC Net]], learning of this trial. ([[TV]]: ''[[The Deadly Assassin (TV story)|The Deadly Assassin]]'') This trial was referenced during the [[Sixth Doctor]]'s [[The Doctor's trial (The Mysterious Planet)|trial for meddling]], in which the sentence was deemed by [[The Valeyard|the prosecutor]] to be too lenient. ([[TV]]: ''[[The Mysterious Planet (TV story)|The Mysterious Planet]]'')
The trial was mentioned by the [[Fifteenth Doctor]] as one many memories which weighed on the [[Fourteenth Doctor]] when convincing him to go into [[rehabilitation]] on Earth. ([[TV]]: {{cs|The Giggle (TV story)}})


=== Alternate timelines ===
== Other realities ==
In a [[Inferno Earth|parallel universe]], the [[Second Doctor (Inferno Earth)|Second Doctor]] chose [[Third Doctor (Inferno Earth)|one of the faces]] offered to him and became a brutal [[dictator]] on [[Earth]]. ([[PROSE]]: ''[[Timewyrm: Revelation (novel)|Timewyrm: Revelation]]'')
In a [[Inferno Earth|parallel universe]], the [[Second Doctor (Inferno Earth)|Second Doctor]] chose [[Third Doctor (Inferno Earth)|one of the faces]] offered to him and became a brutal [[dictator]] on [[Earth]]. ([[PROSE]]: {{cs|Timewyrm: Revelation (novel)}})
 
In [[Parallel universe (Exile)|one universe]], the [[Previous Doctor (Exile)|Second Doctor]] succeeded in escaping from the trial, regenerating into [[The Doctor (Exile)|a female incarnation]] to hide on Earth. When the Doctor was eventually found, the [[Time Lord (Exile)|Time Lords]] skipped the trial and proceeded straight to the sentencing. ([[AUDIO]]: {{cs|Exile (audio story)}})
 
In the [[Unbound Universe]], the [[Second Doctor]] was put on trail for violating the [[non-interference policy]], being made to regenerate into [[Unbound Doctor|a new body]] as punishment and was exiled to Earth. Though the Doctor, as in N-Space, was meant to arrive in [[1970s]] [[England]], he instead arrived in [[Hong Kong (Unbound Universe)|Hong Kong]] in the year [[1997]]. ([[AUDIO]]: {{cs|Sympathy for the Devil (audio story)}})


== Behind the scenes ==
== Behind the scenes ==
The concept of a [[Season 6B]] set between ''[[The War Games (TV story)|The War Games]]'' and ''[[Spearhead from Space (TV story)|Spearhead from Space]]'' was a long held fan theory and established as narrative fact by ''[[TV Comic]]''.
The concept of a [[Season 6B]] set between ''[[The War Games (TV story)|The War Games]]'' and ''[[Spearhead from Space (TV story)|Spearhead from Space]]'' was a long held fan theory and established as narrative fact by ''[[TV Comic]]''.
The four faces proposed to the Doctor for his change of appearance were drawn by the story's designer [[Roger Cheveley]]. The script of the episode confirms, as the episode's dialogue indicates, that five faces are proposed to him. The one deemed "too young" by the Doctor is not shown. None of the faces shown resemble the actual [[Third Doctor]], as [[Jon Pertwee]] was not cast in the role until production of this serial had concluded.
A [[Kroton (species)|Kroton]] was originally going to be one of the foes the Doctor brought up on the projection screen in the courtroom, and a copyright payment made to [[Robert Holmes]]. However, neither of the two Kroton costumes was in usable condition, according to the DVD Production Information subtitles.


In the fan film, ''[[Devious]]'', the Doctor was extracted by the CIA halfway through his regeneration creating the "Second-and-a-Halfth Doctor" played by [[Tony Garner]]. He went on several adventures before completing his regeneration.
In the fan film, ''[[Devious]]'', the Doctor was extracted by the CIA halfway through his regeneration creating the "Second-and-a-Halfth Doctor" played by [[Tony Garner]]. He went on several adventures before completing his regeneration.
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[[Category:Trials in which the Doctor was the defendant]]
[[Category:Trials in which the Doctor was the defendant]]
[[Category:Time Lord history]]
[[Category:Time Lord history]]
[[Category:Events involving the Second Doctor]]

Latest revision as of 09:22, 15 March 2024

In the Doctor's first trial involving the Time Lords, he was charged with breaching the non-interference policy and tried by a court of Time Lords. (TV: The War Games [+]Loading...["The War Games (TV story)"]) The Book of the War claimed that the name of Audience of the Ruling Houses applied to "any session in which the ruling Houses passed judgement over those in breach of the Protocols". (PROSE: The Book of the War [+]Loading...["The Book of the War (novel)"])

According to one account, the trial was dubbed in the official court records as "Malfeasance Tribunal 309906". (PROSE: A Brief History of Time Lords [+]Loading...["A Brief History of Time Lords (novel)"]) According to other accounts, it was its verdict which constituted "Malfeasance Tribunal order 30906", (PROSE: Doctor Who and the Genesis of the Daleks [+]Loading...["Doctor Who and the Genesis of the Daleks (novelisation)"]) or indeed "Malfeasance Tribunal order dated 309906", with the number being a date rather than a reference number. (TV: The Deadly Assassin [+]Loading...["The Deadly Assassin (TV story)"])

History[[edit] | [edit source]]

A day to come[[edit] | [edit source]]

Not yet realising that he was a future incarnation, the First Doctor reasoned that the Twelfth Doctor was a Time Lord when he observed that he was mid-regeneration, asking if he had come to take "the ship" back, much to the future Doctor's amusement. (TV: Twice Upon a Time [+]Loading...["Twice Upon a Time (TV story)"])

Acting on behalf of the Celestial Intervention Agency during the First Omega Crisis, Goth masqueraded as the fictional character Lemuel Gulliver in the Land of Fiction to monitor the Second Doctor. When the Doctor recognised him and feared he would be taken to Gallifrey for trial, Goth told the Doctor that "that time is long in your future and long in our past." (PROSE: Future Imperfect [+]Loading...["Future Imperfect (short story)"])

Origins[[edit] | [edit source]]

Prior to the trial, the Doctor had been hiding from the Time Lords due to violating their laws. By one account, he was put on trial solely for the charge of breaking the non-interference policy. (TV: The War Games [+]Loading...["The War Games (TV story)"]) Other accounts indicated he had two charges, but that the second, stealing a TARDIS, was incredibly minor compared to the first. (PROSE: The Trial of Doctor Who [+]Loading...["The Trial of Doctor Who (short story)"], Doctor Who and the War Games [+]Loading...["Doctor Who and the War Games (novelisation)"]) A third account indicated his charge was breaking the First Law of Time by meeting the Sixth Doctor while on a mission from the Celestial Intervention Agency, and that he'd only been hiding from the Time Lords since then. (PROSE: The Legacy of Gallifrey [+]Loading...["The Legacy of Gallifrey (short story)"])

Judging the return of the participants in the War Games too tough a task, the Second Doctor decided to send a hypercube containing all the relevant information to the Time Lords so that they could help with the matter, although the War Chief quite forcibly advised against it. (TV: The War Games [+]Loading...["The War Games (TV story)"]) In the timeline as it stood after Rassilon used an amnesiac Eighth Doctor to make "one or two small improvements in the patterns of history", the Second Doctor was aided in this decision by the Eighth Doctor, who suggested a defence speech to his past self which the Second Doctor would recite nearly word-for-word in the trial. (PROSE: The Eight Doctors [+]Loading...["The Eight Doctors (novel)"], World Game [+]Loading...["World Game (novel)"]) Authorities from Gallifrey were dispatched to the planet, including no lesser Time Lords than the Keeper (PROSE: Doctor Who and the Doomsday Weapon [+]Loading...["Doctor Who and the Doomsday Weapon (novelisation)"]) and three members of the High Council, (PROSE: The Three Doctors [+]Loading...["The Three Doctors (novelisation)"], The Legacy of Gallifrey [+]Loading...["The Legacy of Gallifrey (short story)"]) one of them being Goth, (PROSE: The Legacy of Gallifrey [+]Loading...["The Legacy of Gallifrey (short story)"]) who was also an agent of the Celestial Intervention Agency, (PROSE: Future Imperfect [+]Loading...["Future Imperfect (short story)"]) yet unknown to the Presidency. (PROSE: The Legacy of Gallifrey [+]Loading...["The Legacy of Gallifrey (short story)"])

The Doctor briefly attempted to evade the Time Lords, but they took control of the TARDIS and landed it on Gallifrey. The Doctor, Jamie and Zoe witnessed the War Lord being sentenced before Jamie and Zoe were placed in a force field and the Doctor was escorted to his own trial. (TV: The War Games [+]Loading...["The War Games (TV story)"])

The recorded trial[[edit] | [edit source]]

The court accused the Doctor of breaking their laws of non-interference. The Doctor admitted the crime and reiterated his pride in doing so, rather than merely observing the evil in the universe. He then asked for a Thought Channel to show the evil he fought. He showed the Time Lords the Quarks and the Yeti. When they seemed unimpressed he showed them the Ice Warriors, the Cybermen and the Daleks. He ended by saying that he may be guilty of interference, but they were guilty of passivity against such evil. With the trial over, the Time Lords considered the charges whilst the Doctor played cards.

Allowed to bid farewell to Jamie and Zoe they convince him to try and escape but they are intercepted by a group of Time Lords. The Doctor says goodbye to both of them before they are returned to their own times with their memories wiped of all but their first encounter with the Doctor. The Doctor watched on a screen as Zoe is returned to the Wheel and Jamie fights a Redcoat.

The Time Lords then delivered their verdict; they accepted that there was evil in the universe that must be fought and the Doctor had a part to play. They noted his affinity to Earth and told him he would be exiled there as well as forced to regenerate. The Time Lords gave the Doctor several choices for his new body but he declined all of them. He then lost his speech and began to swirl into nothingness. (TV: The War Games [+]Loading...["The War Games (TV story)"])

The trial's secret facets[[edit] | [edit source]]

This section's awfully stubby.

Please help by adding some more information.

Another matter raised during the Doctor's trial was the 1986 Cyberman invasion of Earth. It was a temporal anomaly, not part of the orthodox Time Lord vision of Earth's history — and the Doctor's presence on Earth at the time, in his previous incarnation, led to the speculation that he had somehow bent the planet's time-stream out of shape himself, permitting the invasion. Less harshly, it was suggested by the prosecution that the Doctor may have accidentally "ripped" the Earth's time stream in the 20th century by operating his TARDIS there too often. The Doctor convinced the prosecution that this line of argument was misguided by pointing out that if excessive TARDIS activity really had deleterious effects on a nexus world's time-field, Gallifrey itself would long have been "a smoking hole in space". (PROSE: The Cyber Files [+]Loading...["The Cyber Files (novel)"]) Elsewhere, however, the Accord were aware that Earth's timeline was damaged by the TARDIS as a result of its unique faults. (PROSE: The Enfolded Time [+]Loading...["The Enfolded Time (short story)"])

Before the Doctor's sentence could be carried out, the Celestial Intervention Agency intervened and turned him into their "hired gun". (PROSE: World Game [+]Loading...["World Game (novel)"]) He worked in this capacity for some time, (TV: The Two Doctors [+]Loading...["The Two Doctors (TV story)"], et al.) although he was unaware of the true extent of this. Knowing the Doctor was liable to becoming impatient and feeling exploited, the Time Lords took to wiping his memory after each mission. The result was that the Doctor believed every mission to be his first and readily accepted them, led as he was to believe each time that success would grant him his release. (PROSE: Save Yourself [+]Loading...["Save Yourself (short story)"]) However, when the CIA needed to cover up his visit to Space Station Camera, it was decided that his exile should be enforced. (PROSE: A Brief History of Time Lords [+]Loading...["A Brief History of Time Lords (novel)"]) Before he could be forced to regenerate, the Doctor finally succeeded in escaping. He settled down on Earth in hiding, though lived there in luxury for some time, before falling into a trap and finally regenerating into his third incarnation. (COMIC: The Night Walkers [+]Loading...["The Night Walkers (comic story)"])

Legacy[[edit] | [edit source]]

Because the Time Lords knew little about the human mind, both Jamie (COMIC: The World Shapers [+]Loading...["The World Shapers (comic story)"]) and Zoe were able to regain some of their memories of travelling with the Doctor. (AUDIO: Echoes of Grey [+]Loading...["Echoes of Grey (audio story)"]) Additionally, after the Doctor had saved the Time Lords from certain doom they lifted his exile and restored his knowledge of the TARDIS. (TV: The Three Doctors [+]Loading...["The Three Doctors (TV story)"]) On the day of Pandad IV's assassination, Spandrell and Engin consulted the Doctor's entry in the APC Net, learning of this trial. (TV: The Deadly Assassin [+]Loading...["The Deadly Assassin (TV story)"]) This trial was referenced during the Sixth Doctor's trial for meddling, in which the sentence was deemed by the prosecutor to be too lenient. (TV: The Mysterious Planet [+]Loading...["The Mysterious Planet (TV story)"])

It was during the trial that the Doctor first directed the Time Lords' attention towards the Daleks. (TV: The War Games [+]Loading...["The War Games (TV story)"]) The Time Lords monitored the Daleks' continued activities and partially came around to the Doctor's way of thinking, viewing them as a potentially serious threat. (AUDIO: The Dalek Conquests [+]Loading...["The Dalek Conquests (audio story)"]) Eventually, they summoned the Fourth Doctor to Skaro to avert the creation of the Daleks. (TV: Genesis of the Daleks [+]Loading...["Genesis of the Daleks (TV story)"]) The failure of this mission eventually prompted the Daleks to retaliate, resulting in mounting aggression which led, in the longer term, to the Last Great Time War. (PROSE: A Brief History of Time Lords [+]Loading...["A Brief History of Time Lords (novel)"], The Slyther of Shoreditch [+]Loading...["The Slyther of Shoreditch (short story)"], Engines of War [+]Loading...["Engines of War (novel)"], et al.)

The trial was mentioned by the Fifteenth Doctor as one many memories which weighed on the Fourteenth Doctor when convincing him to go into rehabilitation on Earth. (TV: The Giggle [+]Loading...["The Giggle (TV story)"])

Other realities[[edit] | [edit source]]

In a parallel universe, the Second Doctor chose one of the faces offered to him and became a brutal dictator on Earth. (PROSE: Timewyrm: Revelation [+]Loading...["Timewyrm: Revelation (novel)"])

In one universe, the Second Doctor succeeded in escaping from the trial, regenerating into a female incarnation to hide on Earth. When the Doctor was eventually found, the Time Lords skipped the trial and proceeded straight to the sentencing. (AUDIO: Exile [+]Loading...["Exile (audio story)"])

In the Unbound Universe, the Second Doctor was put on trail for violating the non-interference policy, being made to regenerate into a new body as punishment and was exiled to Earth. Though the Doctor, as in N-Space, was meant to arrive in 1970s England, he instead arrived in Hong Kong in the year 1997. (AUDIO: Sympathy for the Devil [+]Loading...["Sympathy for the Devil (audio story)"])

Behind the scenes[[edit] | [edit source]]

The concept of a Season 6B set between The War Games and Spearhead from Space was a long held fan theory and established as narrative fact by TV Comic.

The four faces proposed to the Doctor for his change of appearance were drawn by the story's designer Roger Cheveley. The script of the episode confirms, as the episode's dialogue indicates, that five faces are proposed to him. The one deemed "too young" by the Doctor is not shown. None of the faces shown resemble the actual Third Doctor, as Jon Pertwee was not cast in the role until production of this serial had concluded.

A Kroton was originally going to be one of the foes the Doctor brought up on the projection screen in the courtroom, and a copyright payment made to Robert Holmes. However, neither of the two Kroton costumes was in usable condition, according to the DVD Production Information subtitles.

In the fan film, Devious, the Doctor was extracted by the CIA halfway through his regeneration creating the "Second-and-a-Halfth Doctor" played by Tony Garner. He went on several adventures before completing his regeneration.