Season 11 (Doctor Who 1963)

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 last 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.

This is the first season since Season 8 To not feature the master.

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. Last story to be written by Malcolm Hulke.
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

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 Hungry Bomb (between Death to the Daleks and The Monster of Peladon)
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 releases

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)

DVD & Blu-ray releases

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.

Novels

External links

BBC website guide to Season 11