Season 12 (Doctor Who 1963)
The twelfth season of Doctor Who ran between 28 December 1974 and 10 May 1975. It was the first season of the series to feature Tom Baker as the Fourth Doctor. It was also the last Doctor Who season to have a December/January start until the Peter Davison era.
Overview
Season 12 consisted of five serials and twenty episodes, which made it the shortest season to date. The season was shortened due to a decision by the BBC to move Terror of the Zygons, originally intended as the finale, to the start of Season 13 in order to allow the next season to begin earlier and allow Doctor Who to better compete against the soon-to-debut Space: 1999. All the stories in this season were interconnected, with several forming a loose story arc relating to Space Station Nerva. The Cybermen returned to the series for the first time since The Invasion. Genesis of the Daleks, a story which introduced Davros and showed the creation of the Daleks is one of the most famous of all Doctor Who serials.
Television stories
| # | Title | Writer | Episodes | Notes |
| 1 | Robot | Terrance Dicks | 4 | First appearance of Harry Sullivan; final regular appearance of Bessie. First story to feature videotaped exteriors; First appearance of the Fourth Doctor. |
| 2 | The Ark in Space | Robert Holmes | 4 | |
| 3 | The Sontaran Experiment | Bob Baker Dave Martin |
2 | Shortest 1970s story; first two-part story since The Rescue in 1965 |
| 4 | Genesis of the Daleks | Terry Nation | 6 | First appearance of Davros |
| 5 | Revenge of the Cybermen | Gerry Davis | 4 | First full appearance of the Cybermen since 1968 |
Main cast
Regular
- The Fourth Doctor - Tom Baker (introduced Robot)
- Sarah Jane Smith - Elisabeth Sladen
- Harry Sullivan - Ian Marter (introduced Robot)
Guest
- Brigadier Lethbridge-Stewart - Nicholas Courtney (Robot)
- Warrant Officer Benton - John Levene (Robot)
Notes
- Though they only appeared in one story during Season 12, the Brigadier and Benton had appeared more prominently in previous stories.
- Kaled is a anagram for Dalek.
Stories set during this season
MA: A Device of Death (immediately after Genesis of the Daleks)
Adaptations and merchandising
Home media
VHS
- Robot (1992)
- The Ark in Space (1989) (Edited Movie Format)
- The Ark in Space (1994)
- The Sontaran Experiment/Genesis of the Daleks (1991)
- Genesis of the Daleks (2001)
- Revenge of the Cybermen (1983/1984) (Edited Movie Format)
- Revenge of the Cybermen (1999)
- The Tom Baker Years (1992) (extracts from each of the stories)
DVD
- Robot (2007)
- The Ark in Space (2002)
- The Sontaran Experiment (2006)
- Genesis of the Daleks (2006)
- Revenge of the Cybermen (2010)
Novels
- Doctor Who and the Giant Robot
- Doctor Who and the Ark in Space
- Doctor Who and the Sontaran Experiment
- Doctor Who and the Genesis of the Daleks
- Revenge of the Cybermen
Scriptbooks
- In 2004, BBC Books published a hardcover, annotated collection of all the scripts from Season 12.
External links
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