The tenth season of Doctor Who ran between 30 December 1972 and 23 June 1973. It starred Jon Pertwee as the Third Doctor. The tenth anniversary story The Three Doctors aired during this season.
Overview
It consisted of five serials and twenty-six episodes. William Hartnell returned in a cameo as the First Doctor and Patrick Troughton in a more substantial role as the Second Doctor in The Three Doctors. This story marked the end of the Doctor's exile on Earth, opening the series up to increased off-world adventures and beginning a gradual chasing out of UNIT-related storylines. Jo Grant left this season. Roger Delgado made his final appearance in his role as the Master in Frontier in Space. Owing to the actor's accidental death, the Master never had a proper send-off and would not return as a semi-regular character until 1981.
Television stories
| # | Title | Writer | Episodes | Notes |
| 1 | The Three Doctors | Bob Baker Dave Martin |
4 | First appearance of the Second Doctor since 1969 and the First Doctor since 1966; final performance of William Hartnell as the Doctor. The Doctor's exile lifted by the Time Lords |
| 2 | Carnival of Monsters | Robert Holmes | 4 | |
| 3 | Frontier in Space | Malcolm Hulke | 6 | Final performance of Roger Delgado as the Master |
| 4 | Planet of the Daleks | Terry Nation | 6 | First Terry Nation Daleks script since 1965 |
| 5 | The Green Death | Robert Sloman Barry Letts (uncredited) |
6 | Final regular appearance of Jo Grant |
Main cast
Regular
- The Third Doctor - Jon Pertwee
- Jo Grant - Katy Manning
Recurring
- Brigadier Lethbridge-Stewart - Nicholas Courtney
- Sergeant Benton - John Levene
- Mike Yates - Richard Franklin
Guest
Stories set during this season
- PDA: The Wages of Sin (immediately after The Three Doctors)
- PDA: The Suns of Caresh (after Carnival of Monsters)
- PDA: Catastrophea (immediately after Planet of the Daleks)
- MA: Dancing the Code (between Planet of the Daleks and The Green Death)
- MA: Speed of Flight (after Dancing the Code)
- PDA: Last of the Gaderene (between Planet of the Daleks and The Green Death)
Adaptations and merchandising
Home media
VHS
- The Three Doctors (1991/2002)
- Carnival of Monsters (1995)
- Frontier in Space (1995)
- Planet of the Daleks (1999) (episode 3 is in B+W)
- The Green Death (1996
- The Pertwee Years (1992) (Frontier in Space 6)
DVD
All serials of season 10 were released individually on DVD in between 2002 and 2009.
| Serial name | Number and duration of episodes |
R2 release date | R4 release date | R1 release date |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| The Three Doctors | 4 × 25 min. | 24 November 2003 | 12 November 2003 | 2 March 2004 |
| The Three Doctors – Special Edition Will be part of the Revisitations 3 box set. |
4 × 25 min. | 13 February 2012 | 1 March 2012 | 13 March 2012 |
| Carnival of Monsters | 4 × 25 min. | 15 July 2002 | 2 September 2002 | 1 July 2003 |
| Carnival of Monsters – Special Edition Only available as part of the Revisitations 2 box set in Regions 2 and 4. Not yet available in Region 1. |
4 × 25 min. | 28 March 2011 | 5 May 2011 | TBA |
| Dalek War: Frontier in Space (6 episodes) Planet of the Daleks (6 episodes) |
12 × 25 min. | 5 October 2009 | 4 February 2010 | 2 March 2010 |
| The Green Death | 6 × 25 min. | 10 May 2004 | 5 August 2004 | 1 March 2005 |