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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, Elisabeth Sladen as Sarah-Jane Smith and Nicholas Courtney as Brigadier Lethbridge-Stewart. The season opened with The Time Warrior and concluded with Planet of the Spiders.
- You may wish to consult
Series 11for other, similarly-named pages.
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 began to be phased out of the series in this season. 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. Mike Yates's betrayal. |
| 3 | Death to the Daleks | Terry Nation | 4 | Sarah Jane's first TARDIS trip into space and 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- their last major appearance in the classic series. |
| 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. Reappearance of the planet Metebelis III and the Metebelis crystal. Debut of K'anpo Rimpoche, the Doctor's old mentor. Only televised story to feature two Time Lords regenerating over the course of the same adventure discounting the First and Twelfth Doctors in 2017's Twice Upon a Time. |
Cast
- Doctor Who - Jon Pertwee
- Sarah Jane Smith - Elisabeth Sladen
- Brigadier Lethbridge-Stewart - Nicholas Courtney
Recurring
- Sergeant Benton - John Levene
- Mike Yates - Richard Franklin
- Alpha Centauri - Stuart Fell as body and Ysanne Churchman as voice
- Aggedor - Nick Hobbs
- Dalek Voices - Michael Wisher
Guest
- Linx - Kevin Lindsay
- Professor Rubeish - Donald Pelmear
- Irongron - David Daker
- Bloodaxe - John J. Carney
- Eleanor - June Brown
- Edward of Wessex - Alan Rowe
- Hal - Jeremy Bulloch
- General Finch - John Bennet
- Charles Grover M.P. - Noel Johnson
- Professor Whitaker - Peter Miles
- Butler - Martin Jarvis
- Ruth - Carmen Silvera
- Adam - Brian Badcoe
- Dan Galloway - Duncan Lamont
- Peter Hamilton - Julian Fox
- Jill Tarrant - Joy Harrison
- Bellal - Arnold Yarrow
- Richard Railton - John Abineri
- Eckersley - Donald Gee
- Thalira - Nina Thomas
- Ortron - Frank Gatliff
- Gebek - Rex Robinson
- Ettis - Ralph Watson
- Azaxyr - Alan Bennion
- Sskel - Sonny Caldinez
- Lupton - John Dearth
- Barnes - Christopher Burgess
- Moss - Terence Lodge
- Cho-je - Kevin Lindsay
- Tommy - John Kane
- Spider Voices - Ysanne Churchman, Kismet Delgado, Maureen Morris
- Arak - Gareth Hunt
- Sabor - Geoffrey Morris
- K'anpo - George Cormack
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)
- PROSE: An Overture Too Early (shortly before 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 |
Download/streaming availability
| Serial name | Amazon Video | BritBox | iTunes |
|---|---|---|---|
| The Time Warrior (4 episodes) |
UK | ✓ | ✓ |
| Invasion of the Dinosaurs (6 episodes) |
✓ | ||
| Death to the Daleks (4 episodes) |
✓ | ||
| The Monster of Peladon (6 episodes) |
✓ | ||
| Planet of the Spiders (6 episodes) |
UK | ✓ | ✓ |
BritBox is available only in the US and Canada. iTunes stores carry Doctor Who serials in Australia, Canada, France, Germany, the UK and US, unless stated otherwise.