Season 3 (Doctor Who 1963)

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This article is for the 1965-66 season of Doctor Who; for other third seasons of other programmes, see Series 3.

The third season of Doctor Who ran between 11 September 1965 and 16 July 1966. The season was marked by extremes. At twelve episodes, The Daleks' Master Plan was the longest story in the show's history until superceded by the fourteen-episode The Trial of a Time Lord in 1986 (although some consider that tale to be four separate serials broadcast under a single title); the single-episode story Mission to the Unknown remains the shortest Doctor Who story ever televised (not counting the several mini-episodes produced since 2005) and the only one in which neither the Doctor nor any companions appear (this designation, though, is controversial, as its role as a prologue to Daleks' Master Plan renders it more the thirteenth episode of that story rather than a standalone). The season also had the greatest number of different companions (seven), and producers (three). It also featured the first appearance of actor Nicholas Courtney, although not in his most famous role as The Brigadier. This was also the season of The War Machines, to date the only televised story in which the taboo of never referring to the Doctor directly by the name "Doctor Who" is broken.

Behind the scenes, it was dominated by the departure of Verity Lambert, the immensely exhausting production of The Daleks' Master Plan, and preparations for William Hartnell's departure – including intense discussion over how to handle such an unprecedented changed in a lead actor on a show still at the height of popularity. It consisted of ten serials (listed below) and forty-five episodes, the majority of which are considered lost, though three serials, The Ark, The Gunfighters and The War Machines, exist in complete form.

Television Stories

# Title Writer Episodes Notes
1 Galaxy 4 William Emms 4
2 Mission to the Unknown Terry Nation 1 Only story not to feature the Doctor
3 The Myth Makers Donald Cotton 4 First appearance of Katarina and final appearance of Vicki
4 The Daleks' Master Plan Terry Nation
Dennis Spooner
12 Final appearance of Katarina and first and final appearance of Sara Kingdom; first story to feature the death of a companion
5 The Massacre of St Bartholomew's Eve John Lucarotti
Donald Tosh
4 First appearance of Dodo Chaplet
6 The Ark Paul Erickson
Lesley Scott
4
7 The Celestial Toymaker Brian Hayles 4
8 The Gunfighters Donald Cotton 4 Final story to use individual episode titles
9 The Savages Ian Stuart Black 4 Final appearance of Steven Taylor
10 The War Machines Ian Stuart Black 4 First appearances of Ben Jackson and Polly Wright and final appearance of Dodo Chaplet. First occasion of a writer composing consecutive stories.

Notes

  • All stories were exactly four episodes in length, except Mission to the Unknown (one episode) and The Daleks' Master Plan (twelve episodes). Up to The Gunfighters, each chapter had its own title, but beginning with The Savages, overall story titles were introduced.

Cast

Main Cast

Guest Cast

Stories Set During This Season

Adaptations and Merchandising

Home Media

VHS

Loose Cannon VHS's

  • Galaxy 4 (1999)
  • Mission to the Unknown (2000)
  • The Myth Makers (1998/2006)
  • The Daleks' Master Plan (2003) (Episodes 1-4,6-9,10-12/2 parts)
  • The Massacre of St Bartholomew's Eve (2001)
  • The Celestial Toymaker (1999)
  • The Savages (1999/2008)

DVD

  • Lost in Time (2004) (The Daleks' Master Plan 2, 5 & 10, The Celestial Toymaker 4) (2004)
  • The Ark (2011)
  • The Gunfighters (2011)
  • The War Machines (2008)

Novelisations

Audiobooks

  • Galaxy 4
  • Mission to the Unknown/Daleks Master Plan
  • The Myth Makers
  • The Massacre
  • The Celestial Toymaker

External links