Warriors' Gate (TV story)

Warriors' Gate is the fifth story of the 18th season of Doctor Who. It saw the departure of Romana II and K9 from the regular cast, and concluded the "E-Space trilogy".

From a production standpoint, it marked Graeme Harper's directorial debut on the programme, although he wasn't credited in that capacity for his work. His promotion to the director's chair followed one of the rare instances that a director was fired during production of a Doctor Who story — although credited director, Paul Joyce, was quickly re-hired.

Synopsis

A strange creature forces its way into the TARDIS steering them to a white void occupied only by the ruins of an old building and a spaceship. This empty space is a gateway to the past and future and the creature responsible for taking them there is Biroc, a Tharil, an enslaved race. The gateway offers the only exit out of E-Space, but the void is contracting. Are the Doctor and his friends fated to spend eternity in E-Space? And what final shock revelation awaits the Doctor?

Plot

Part one

A countdown takes place, leading up to the crew of a spacecraft using a Tharil to try and escape from “nowhere”, they fail. Onboard the TARDIS the Doctor is at the controls. They have entered a disruption and the Doctor struggles to make sense of it. The Tharil, Biroc is taken away but escapes from his escort. He is seen by Lane who warns the bridge. Meanwhile, the Doctor is trying to land the TARDIS, he moves to press a button but Romana prevents him from doing so because it is dangerous, he considers if he subconsciously wanted to press the button.

Rorvik's group inspect the TARDIS.

Romana is still trying to avoid returning to Gallifrey, she asks the Doctor if they have the right to take Adric out of his own time, the Doctor tells her Adric will love it on Gallifrey. Adric decides to press a button and does so determined by flipping a coin, a theory suggested by the Doctor. Biroc has escaped the craft and runs through a white void.

The TARDIS lands and the console sparks, smoke pours out of K9. The Doctor avoid the Time winds coming through the open doors of the TARDIS. Biroc then enters and walks to the controls. One the spacecraft they pick up the TARDIS on their scanners noting it as a craft. Biroc begins operating the TARDIS controls, the Doctor and Romana note that he is on a different time line enabling him to get it, Romana wonders why he hasn’t been torn apart. On the craft, Captain Rorvik decides to wake another Tharil up to navigate them out of the “gap between timelines”. He then announces that they are to go out to the TARDIS. Biroc converses with the TARDIS crew; he tells them not to trust Rorvik and his men. He then tells them he is a “shadow of his past, and your future”, he then leaves and to cross the white void.

The Doctor shows Romana the co-ordinates, all zero. He then leaves to follow Biroc, he tells K9 to follow him but then realises he has been damaged by the Time winds; he finds a sign of life in him and then sets of. Romana tells Adric that they are in the gap between the negative co-ordinates of E-Space and the positive N-Space, Adric likens it to an intersection. The pair then set about repairing K9, they succeed. K9 then warns them of three approaching humanoids. Using a mass detector, Rorvik and two of his crew search for the craft they picked up, the TARDIS crew see them approaching on their scanner.

Biroc arrives at a stone arch with a door in it; he enters and is closely followed by the Doctor. Inside, Biroc inspects a cobweb covered dining hall. He passes through what appears to be a mirror and disappears. Rorvik’s group are inspecting the TARDIS, they cannot determine what it is. The Doctor arrives in the dining hall and makes his way around it. He inspects two skeletons in armour, brushing them of cobwebs he moves on; the skeleton moves. The Doctor crouches by the mirror as the skeleton advances on him; it raises its axe and swings.

Part two

to be added

Part three

to be added

Part four

to be added

Cast

Crew

References

Cultural References from the Real World

When Biroc vanishes during a conversation with the Doctor, the Doctor states that he is gone again, which is "like talking to a Cheshire cat" - an allusion to the well-known character from Alice's Adventures in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll.

Foods and beverages

The Doctor eats pickled onions with Rorvick and drinks wine with Biroc.

Locations

The Gateway is the point which intersects between E-Space and Normal Space.

Minerals

Rorvik's ship is made of Dwarf star alloy, the only material that can hold time sensitives such as the Tharils.

Races and species

Tharils are not affected by the Time winds and can walk the timelines.

Robots

The Gundans were built by the Humans to walk the time lines and travel through the mirrors at the Gateway.

Romana

Romana departs the Doctor's company not wishing to return to the Time Lords or Gallifrey. She takes K9 with her, whose memory wafers have been replaced and recovered to function past the mirrors.

Technology

Mass detectors can be used to find objects within a space with zero coordinates.
The Tardis is called a "Ship for Midgets"

Story notes

This is the final story in the 'E-Space Trilogy'.
The script development for this serial went through two distinct phases. Initially, the project was tackled by Christopher Priest. In Priest's version of the final chapter of the E-Space trilogy, the Doctor and Romana would have exited E-Space via a political thriller involving Gallifrey. This script was called Sealed Orders, and presumably would have dealt more directly with Romana's failure to return to her home planet following her temporary assignment to find the Key to Time. After considerable time massaging this treatment, it was abandoned, to be replaced by a Steve Gallagher-penned effort called "Dream Time". Though the basic elements of this story would remain in Warrior's Gate, the final script was heavily re-written by script editor Christopher H. Bidmead and director Paul Joyce. Joyce would later claim that in fact the scripts were so much a product of his efforts that he, in fact, deserved the writing credit.
In addition to the difficulties surrounding the writing of this story, virtually every phase of the production of this serial was problematic. Tom Baker was particularly tetchy due both to his ongoing illness during the seasons and the departure of his then-lover, Lalla Ward, from the series. Both he and Ward were deeply displeased with their characterizations in the initial script — which was one of the reasons Paul Joyce became so heavily involved in the re-write. He couldn't get his stars to perform unless their script concerns were directly addressed. Meanwhile, Paul Joyce had little experience directing for television, and had considerable disagreements with John Nathan-Turner and lighting director John Dixon. Ultimately, only about half of the production was directed by Joyce, with most of the final half being tackled by credited production assistant, Graeme Harper. Also, the production was hit by a strike of the BBC carpenters, which further delayed matters.

Ratings

Part 1 - 7.1 million viewers
Part 2 - 6.7 million viewers
Part 3 - 8.3 million viewers
Part 4 - 7.8 million viewers

Myths

to be added

Filming locations

Powis Castle, Welshpool, Powys (Stills used in the story)
BBC Television Centre (TC6 & TC1), Shepherd's Bush, London

Production errors

If you'd like to talk about narrative problems with this story — like plot holes and things that seem to contradict other stories — please go to this episode's discontinuity discussion.

In part two, a Gundan's axe falls onto the Doctor's back, without harm.
In part three, a boom mike pokes out from behind the MZ.
Adric takes K9's ear, but when the computer arrives at the Doctor, he's got both.
When Packard swings K9 overhead, its hollow interior is visible, it is also visible momentairily before the time winds damage him.
In part one, when the Time Winds damage K-9, smoke pours out of him. Behind the prop (visible just below its head) is a pipe leading to it, which can be seen filling up with smoke at the beginning of this shot.
The supposedly immense mass of the privateer ship is not very well supported by the pyrotechnics modelwork in episode four, where it hops lightly on its base.

Continuity

DW: The Keeper of Traken follows straight on from this story.
In NA: Blood Harvest Romana is retrieved from E-Space by the Doctor.

Timeline

This story takes place after ST: O, Darkness
This story takes place before DWA: Conundrum

Home video and audio releases

DVD releases

Warriors' Gate has been released in a box set alongside Full Circle and State of Decay. The box set in titled The E-Space Trilogy.
Editing for DVD release completed by Doctor Who Restoration Team.

Region 2 UK cover
Region 4 Australian cover

Box set

DVD UK box set cover
DVD Australian box set cover
DVD US box set cover

Video releases

Warriors' Gate was released on video in 1997 by BBC Worldwide as part of a boxed set containing: Full Circle, State of Decay and Warriors' Gate.