Season 17 (Doctor Who 1963)

Season 17 — 1979-80
Doctor:	Fourth Doctor
Companions:	Romana, K9
Key crew
Producer(s):	Graham Williams
Script editors:	Douglas Adams
Series details
Start date:	1 September 1979
End date:	12 January 1980
Premiere network:	BBC1
Typical episode length:	25'
More info
Main DWMSE coverage in issues:	9, 16
Key reference books about the season:	The Discontinuity Guide, The Fourth Doctor Handbook, The Seventies, About Time 4
Key documentaries about the season:	A Matter of Time, Lalla's Wardrobe
Relevant Myth Makers interviews:	Tom Baker, David Brierley, Graham Williams
← Previous	16
Next →	18

The seventeenth season of Doctor Who ran between 1 September 1979 and 12 January 1980. It consisted of five stories and twenty episodes, plus the incomplete Shada, unfinished as a result of an industrial strike. Lalla Ward joined as Romana II, and the season is notable for the involvement of Douglas Adams in the writing department. This was the last season to use the traditional Delia Derbyshire "Doctor Who theme" arrangement.

Television stories

#	Title	Writer	Episodes	Notes
1	Destiny of the Daleks	Terry Nation	4	First appearance of Romana II; final Terry Nation Dalek script. K9 is said to have contracted "robot laryngitis" which impairs his speech, and is given minimal screen time due to the prop being unsuitable for location shooting.
2	City of Death	David Agnew, aka David Fisher Douglas Adams Graham Williams	4	First story to include filming outside the UK. Part 4 has the highest viewing figures of all times.
3	The Creature from the Pit	David Fisher	4	First serial to feature David Brierley as the "voice" for K9 after John Leeson temporarily left the role, with the voice change explained as robot laryngitis.
4	Nightmare of Eden	Bob Baker	4	Gives social commentary on drug use and trafficking. First serial to have its model effects recorded on video instead of film. Excessive production difficulties convinced Graham Williams to step down as producer at the end of the season.
5	The Horns of Nimon	Anthony Read	4	Last aired vocal performance of David Brierley as K9. Final aired serial to use the Delia Derbyshire arrangement of the series theme and the Fourth Doctor credits designed by Bernard Lodge.
6	Shada	Douglas Adams	6 (planned)	Never completed due to industrial action and never broadcast; attempts to finish story made in other mediums. Final serial to feature David Brierley as the voice of K9, with John Leeson returning to voice the character next season.

Cast

Recurring

• The Fourth Doctor - Tom Baker
• Romana II - Lalla Ward
• K9 (voice) - David Brierley (appears in The Creature from the Pit, Nightmare of Eden, The Horns of Nimon)

Notes

• Romana I regenerates off screen, appearing in her new form at the start of Destiny of the Daleks.
• Season 17 had David Brierley replacing John Leeson as the voice of K9. Leeson would return in Season 18 and all subsequent guest appearances and in the reconstructed video version of Shada.
• This would be the final season not to feature the Master until Season 24.

Stories set during this season

• PROSE: The Lying Old Witch in the Wardrobe (concurrent with Destiny of the Daleks)
• COMIC: Victims (After Destiny of the Daleks)
• PROSE: The End of Now (Between City of Death and The Creature from the Pit)
• PROSE: The Romance of Crime (between The Creature from the Pit and Nightmare of Eden)
• PROSE: The English Way of Death (after The Romance of Crime)
• AUDIO: The Beautiful People (between Nightmare of Eden and The Horns of Nimon)
• PROSE: Festival of Death) (Set between City of Death and The Horns of Nimon)

Adaptations and merchandising

Home media

VHS

• Destiny of the Daleks (1994/2001)
• City of Death (1991/2001)
• The Creature from the Pit (2002)
• Nightmare of Eden (1999)
• The Horns of Nimon (2003)
• Shada (with extra post-production work and linking narration of unfilmed sequences) (1992)
• The Tom Baker Years (extracts from all stories) (1991)

DVD

All serials of season 17 were released between 2005 and 2013

Serial name	Number and duration of episodes	R2 release date	R4 release date	R1 release date
Destiny of the Daleks Available individually or in The Complete Davros Collection box set in Regions 2 and 4. Only available individually in Region 1.	4 × 25 min.	26 November 2007	6 February 2008	4 March 2008
City of Death	4 × 25 min.	7 November 2005	1 December 2005	8 November 2005
The Creature from the Pit	4 × 25 min.	3 May 2010	1 July 2010	7 September 2010
Nightmare of Eden	4 × 25 min.	2 April 2012	3 May 2012	8 May 2012
The Horns of Nimon Only available as part of the Myths and Legends box set in Regions 2 and 4. Only available individually in Region 1.	4 × 25 min.	29 March 2010	3 June 2010	6 July 2010
Shada Part of The Legacy Box set.	TBA	7 January 2013	TBA	8 January 2013

Novels

• Doctor Who and the Destiny of the Daleks
• City of Death
• Doctor Who and the Creature from the Pit
• Doctor Who and the Nightmare of Eden
• Doctor Who and the Horns of Nimon
• Shada

Target Books was unable to come to an agreement with Douglas Adams for novelising the televised story City of Death (which Adams co-wrote) and the untelevised Shada. An agreement with Adams' estate eventually allowed BBC Books to publish an adaptation of Shada in 2012. City of Death remained one of a handful of classic-era serials that had still to be officially novelised; however, in October 2013, Gareth Roberts confirmed on Twitter that he was currently writing a novelisation of City of Death, with a release date of 14 May 2015. One year later, in October 2014, Roberts announced (again via Twitter) that the book was now instead being written by James Goss; the novelisation was eventually released on 21 May 2015.

External links

• BBC website guide to Season 17