Season 11 (Doctor Who 1963)

Season 11 — 1973-74
Doctor:	Third Doctor
Companions:	Sarah, the Brig, Benton, Yates
Key crew
Producer(s):	Barry Letts
Script editors:	Terrance Dicks
Series details
Start date:	15 December 1973
End date:	8 June 1974
Premiere network:	BBC1
Typical episode length:	25'
More info
Main DWMSE coverage in issues:	2, 15
Key reference books about the season:	The Discontinuity Guide, The Third Doctor Handbook, The Seventies, About Time 3
Key documentaries about the season:	Behind the Sofa: Robert Holmes and Doctor Who
Relevant Myth Makers interviews:	Nicholas Courtney, Jon Pertwee, Richard Franklin, Barry Letts and Terrance Dicks (part 1), Barry Letts and Terrance Dicks (part 2), Roger Delgado, Elisabeth Sladen, Robert Sloman, John Levene
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Season 11 of Doctor Who ran between 15 December 1973 and 8 June 1974. It starred Jon Pertwee as the Third Doctor.

Overview

It consisted of five serials and twenty-six episodes. It was Jon Pertwee's final season as the Doctor and included, very briefly, the first appearance of Tom Baker as the Fourth Doctor. The Time Warrior, the season opener, introduced Sarah Jane Smith, who was a frequently featured character in the Doctor Who universe decades after her departure in Season 14. The same story also, for the first time, named the Doctor's homeworld as Gallifrey. UNIT had also entirely been phased out of the series by this time. Roger Delgado, the first actor who had played the Master, had died, and so the production team did not give the character the dramatic send-off that they had planned in the season finale. The diamond shaped Doctor Who logo and tunnel effects with Jon Pertwee were introduced, paving the way for the Tom Baker era.

Season 11 was the latest season to be subject to the BBC's then-current policy of junking old episodes. For reasons unknown, only the first episodes of Invasion of the Dinosaurs and Death to the Daleks were erased; copies of both episodes were later reacquired.

This season also had an incredibly good write-up. The five writers for this season — Robert Holmes, Malcolm Hulke, Terry Nation, Brian Hayles and Robert Sloman — won an award from the Writer's Guild of Great Britain for Best Children's Drama Script. This was the last season of Terrance Dicks' run as script editor.

Television stories

#	Title	Writer	Episodes	Notes
1	The Time Warrior	Robert Holmes	4	First appearance of Sarah Jane Smith and the Sontarans; the Doctor's home planet is identified for the first time as Gallifrey.
2	Invasion of the Dinosaurs	Malcolm Hulke	6	Part 1 is titled Invasion, making this the first episode to have an individual title since the final episode of The Gunfighters in 1966.
3	Death to the Daleks	Terry Nation	4	Sarah Jane's first encounter with the Daleks.
4	The Monster of Peladon	Brian Hayles	6	Sequel to The Curse of Peladon. Featuring the return of the Ice Warriors.
5	Planet of the Spiders	Robert Sloman Barry Letts (uncredited)	6	Final regular appearance of the Third Doctor and Mike Yates. First appearance of the Fourth Doctor.

Cast

Recurring

• The Third Doctor - Jon Pertwee
• Sarah Jane Smith - Elisabeth Sladen
• Brigadier Lethbridge-Stewart - Nicholas Courtney
• Sergeant Benton - John Levene
• Mike Yates - Richard Franklin

Stories set during this season

• AUDIO: The Prisoner of Peladon (between The Green Death and The Time Warrior)
• AUDIO: The Paradise of Death (between The Time Warrior and Invasion of the Dinosaurs)
• PROSE: The Ghosts of N-Space / AUDIO: The Ghosts of N-Space (between Death to the Daleks and The Monster of Peladon)
• PROSE: Island of Death (after The Ghosts of N-Space)
• PROSE: Amorality Tale (between The Monster of Peladon and Planet of the Spiders)

Adaptations and merchandising

Home media

VHS

• The Time Warrior (1989) (edited movie format)
• Invasion of the Dinosaurs (2003) (Invasion part 1 in B/W)
• Death to the Daleks (1987/1995)
• The Monster of Peladon (1995)
• Planet of the Spiders (1991)

DVDs

All serials of season 11 were released on DVD between 2007 and 2012.

Serial name	Number and duration of episodes	R2 release date	R4 release date	R1 release date
The Time Warrior Available individually or in the Bred for War box set in Regions 2 and 4. Only available individually in Region 1.	4 × 25 min.	3 September 2007	3 October 2007	1 April 2008
Invasion of the Dinosaurs Only available as part of the U.N.I.T. Files box set in Regions 2 and 4. Only available individually in Region 1.	6 × 25 min.	9 January 2012	5 January 2012	10 January 2012
Death to the Daleks	4 × 25 min.	18 June 2012	5 July 2012	10 July 2012
The Monster of Peladon Only available as part of the Peladon Tales box set in Regions 2 and 4. Only available individually in Region 1.	6 × 25 min.	18 January 2010	4 March 2010	4 May 2010
Planet of the Spiders	6 × 25 min.	18 April 2011	2 June 2011	10 May 2011

Novels

• Doctor Who and the Time Warrior
• Doctor Who and the Dinosaur Invasion
• Death to the Daleks
• Doctor Who and the Monster of Peladon
• Doctor Who and the Planet of the Spiders

External links

BBC website guide to Season 11