Season 19 (Doctor Who 1963)
Season 19 of Doctor Who ran between 4 January 1982 and 30 March 1982. It starred Peter Davison as the Fifth Doctor, Matthew Waterhouse as Adric, Sarah Sutton as Nyssa and Janet Fielding as Tegan Jovanka. The season opened with Castrovalva and concluded with Time-Flight. It was released as a Blu-Ray box set in December 2018.
Overview
It consisted of seven serials and twenty-six episodes airing on a bi-weekly schedule. Two milestones occurred in Earthshock. Firstly, the Cybermen returned, unannounced, for the first time since Revenge of the Cybermen in 1975 with a completely different design, with David Banks' first appearance as Cyber-Leader, a role he would return to in subsequent stories involving the Cybermen until Silver Nemesis. Secondly, for the first time since The Daleks' Master Plan which had aired in 1965 and 1966, a companion died. Other milestones included Black Orchid, the first non-science fictional historical serial since 1966's The Highlanders, and the destruction of the Doctor's sonic screwdriver in The Visitation. A cliffhanger ending to the series appeared to have left Tegan stranded at Heathrow Airport with the Doctor abandoning her by mistake (the Doctor had spent most of the series trying to get Tegan back to Heathrow, which almost became a running theme).
Originally, this series was going to have twenty-eight episodes- two more than normal. However, John Nathan-Turner used two of the allocated episodes for A Girl's Best Friend, the failed pilot to K9 and Company.
With this season, the BBC returned the series to a mid-winter season start, which had last been done for Season 12 and had been the format throughout the Jon Pertwee era.
Television stories
| # | Title | Writer | Episodes | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Castrovalva | Christopher H. Bidmead | 4 | Continued from Logopolis. First full story of the Fifth Doctor. Final part of the the Master story arc. First story to be directed by Fiona Cumming. |
| 2 | Four to Doomsday | Terence Dudley | 4 | Peter Davison's first story filmed as the Fifth Doctor. First story written by Terence Dudley. |
| 3 | Kinda | Christopher Bailey | 4 | First appearance of the Mara. |
| 4 | The Visitation | Eric Saward | 4 | First Doctor Who script for Eric Saward and the last onscreen use of the sonic screwdriver by the Doctor until Doctor Who (1996). |
| 5 | Black Orchid | Terence Dudley | 2 | First pure historical story since 1966. Also features Ron Jones’ directorial debut on the programme. |
| 6 | Earthshock | Eric Saward | 4 | Final appearance of Adric; first companion death since 1966. Reappearance of the Cybermen. |
| 7 | Time-Flight | Peter Grimwade | 4 | Temporary departure of Tegan Jovanka. First episode written by Peter Grimwade. |
Cast
- The Doctor - Peter Davison
- Adric - Matthew Waterhouse
- Nyssa - Sarah Sutton
- Tegan Jovanka - Janet Fielding
Recurring
Guest
- Ruther - Frank Wylie
- Shardovan - Derek Waring
- Mergrave - Michael Sheard
- Monarch - Stratford Johns
- Persuasion - Paul Shelley
- Enlightenment - Annie Lambert
- Bigon - Philip Locke
- Lin Futu - Burt Kwouk
- Sanders - Richard Todd
- Todd - Nerys Hughes
- Hindle - Simon Rouse
- Aris - Adrian Mills
- Panna - Mary Morris
- Karuna - Sarah Prince
- Richard Mace - Michael Robbins
- Android - Peter Van Dissel
- Villager - Richard Hampton
- Terileptil - Michael Melia
- Miller - James Charlton
- Lady Cranleigh - Barbara Murray
- Sir Robert Muir - Moray Watson
- Lord Charles Cranleigh - Michael Cochrane
- Ann - Sarah Sutton
- Latoni - Ahmed Khalil
- The Unknown/George Cranleigh - Gareth Milne
- Scott - James Warwick
- Kyle - Clare Clifford
- Cyber Leader - David Banks
- Cyber Lieutenant - Mark Hardy
- Briggs - Beryl Reid
- Berger - June Bland
- Ringway - Alec Sabin
- Captain Stapley - Richard Easton
- First Officer Bilton - Michael Cashman
- Flight Engineer Scobie - Keith Drinkel
- Angela Clifford - Judith Byfield
- Professor Hayter - Nigel Stock
Stories set during this season
- PROSE: The Comet's Tail (during Castrovalva)
- AUDIO: Psychodrome (between Castrovalva and Four to Doomsday)
- PROSE: Cold Fusion (between Castrovalva and Four to Doomsday)
- PROSE: The Immortals (between Castrovalva and Four to Doomsday)
- PROSE: First Born (between Kinda and The Visitation)
- PROSE: Divided Loyalties (between The Visitation and Black Orchid)
- AUDIO: Smoke and Mirrors (between The Visitation and Black Orchid)
- PROSE: In the TARDIS: Christmas Day (between Black Orchid and Earthshock)
- PROSE: Hearts of Stone (between Black Orchid and Earthshock)
- AUDIO: The Darkening Eye (between Black Orchid and Earthshock)
- AUDIO: Iterations of I (between Black Orchid and Earthshock)
Ratings
- Average: 9.3 million
- Highest: 10.5 million (Castrovalva Part 4)
- Lowest: 8.3 million (Time-Flight Part 4)
Adaptations and merchandising
Home media
VHS releases
- Castrovalva (1992)
- Four to Doomsday (2001)
- Kinda (1994)
- The Visitation / Black Orchid (1994)
- Earthshock (1992)
- Time-Flight (2000)
DVD & Blu-ray releases
All serials of season 19 were released individually on DVD between 2003 and 2011. The complete season was upscaled in 1080i50 high definition and released on Blu-ray as Doctor Who: The Collection - Season 19 in the UK on 10 December 2018.
It was later released in Australia on 23 January 2019 and was released in the US under the title Doctor Who: Peter Davison - Complete Season One on 4 December 2018.
| Serial name | Number and duration of episodes |
R2 release date | R4 release date | R1 release date |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Castrovalva Only available as part of the New Beginnings box set in Regions 2 and 4. Available individually or in the box set in Region 1. |
4 × 25 min. | 29 January 2007 | 7 March 2007 | 5 June 2007 |
| Four to Doomsday | 4 × 25 min. | 15 September 2008 | 4 December 2008 | 6 January 2009 |
| Kinda Only available as part of the Mara Tales box set in Regions 2 and 4. Only available individually in Region 1. |
4 × 25 min. | 7 March 2011 | 7 April 2011 | 12 April 2011 |
| The Visitation | 4 × 25 min. | 19 January 2004 | 8 April 2004 | 1 March 2005 |
| The Visitation - Special Edition | 4 x 25 min. | 6 May 2013 | 15 May 2013 | 14 May 2013 |
| Black Orchid | 2 × 25 min. | 14 April 2008 | 5 June 2008 | 5 August 2008 |
| Earthshock | 4 × 25 min. | 18 August 2003 | 1 October 2003 | 7 September 2004 |
| Time-Flight Only available as part of the Time-Flight/Arc of Infinity box set in Regions 2 and 4. Only available individually in Region 1. |
4 × 25 min. | 6 August 2007 | 5 September 2007 | 6 November 2007 |
| The Collection - Season 19 | 26 x 25 min. | 10 December 2018 | 23 January 2019 | 4 December 2018 |
Download/streaming availability
| Serial name | Amazon Video | Google Play | iTunes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Castrovalva (4 episodes) | ✓ | ✓ | |
| Four to Doomsday (4 episodes) | |||
| Kinda (4 episodes) | ✓ | ✓ | |
| The Visitation (4 episodes) | ✓ | ✓ | |
| Black Orchid (2 episodes) | |||
| Earthshock (4 episodes | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| Time-Flight (4 episodes) | ✓ | ✓ |
Novels
Audiobooks
External links
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