The Three Doctors (TV story)

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The Three Doctors was the groundbreaking first story of the anniversary Season 10 of Doctor Who. The serial marked several milestones: it was the first multi-Doctor story (establishing the concept of the Doctor being able to meet his past incarnations); it marked the return of William Hartnell and Patrick Troughton to the role of the Doctor (for Hartnell, the last time); it established the idea of the Doctor being recruited by the Time Lords to undertake assignments; and it ended the years-long story arc of the Doctor being exiled to Earth, which had began in Season 7 in 1970.

Synopsis

The Time Lords find themselves besieged by a mysterious enemy inhabiting the anti-matter universe on the other side of the black hole from which they draw their power. They enlist the Doctor in his first three incarnations to battle this foe, who turns out to be a legend from the Time Lords's remote past.

Vital cosmic energy is draining into a black hole and the Time Lords are under siege. The Doctor is their only hope but, trapped in the TARDIS, he's powerless. The only way out is to break the First Law of Time to let the Doctor help himself - literally...

Plot

Episode One

A superluminal signal is sent to Earth, carrying with it an unusual energy blob that seems intent on capturing the Doctor. In the meantime, the homeworld of the Time Lords is under siege, with all the power sustaining it being drained through a black hole. Trapped and desperate, the Time Lords do the unthinkable and break the First Law of Time, allowing the Doctor to aid himself by summoning his two previous incarnations from the past. The Doctor's second incarnation joins the Third Doctor in investigating the origins of the creature and the black hole, while UNIT headquarters faces an attack by Anti-matter monsters. The Third Doctor switches off the TARDIS force field and goes outside. Jo follows him and both are engulfed in a blinding flash from the plasma creature in the U.N.I.T laboratory...

Episode Two

The First Doctor deduces the black hole is a bridge between universes, and the other two Doctors allow the TARDIS to be swallowed up by the energy creature. which transports them, Doctor Tyler, Jo Grant, Sergeant Benton and Brigadier Lethbridge-Stewart into an antimatter universe created by the legendary Time Lord Omega, a solar engineer who created the supernova that powers Time Lord civilisation, but was considered killed in the explosion.

In actuality, he had been transported to the antimatter universe, where his will and thought turned the formless matter into physicality. Trapped, due to the fact that his will is the only thing maintaining reality, he vowed revenge on the Time Lords who left him stranded. The Second Doctor switches off the TARDIS force field and the whole of UNIT HQ is transported through the black hole...

Episode Three

The Third Doctor, Jo and Doctor Tyler reach the planet and enter the throne room. Jo asks who brought them here and a loud booming voice declares: "I did!" From the shadows steps the legendary Time Lord, Omega. He has been prisoned here for many years, and it is clear that the exile he lives in has made him quite insane. Along with his revenge, he has summoned the Doctors here to take over the mental maintenance of the antimatter universe so he can escape. He tells the second and third Doctors that without him, there would be no time travel and him and the other Time Lords will locked away in their own time.

However, the Doctors discover that years of exposure to the corrosive effects of the black hole's singularity have destroyed Omega's physical body - he is trapped forever. The Second and Third Doctors ask him if he has a physical body. Omega walks over to a mirror and takes off his mask. The Doctors both discover he hasn't got a head or a physical body. The Third Doctor replies: "You exist only becasue your will says that you exist. And your will is all that is left of you." Omega bows his head in shame and lets out a insane cry. Driven over the edge by this discovery, Omega now demands that the Doctors share his exile.

The Second and Third Doctors find the point of singularity within the black hole: the source of Omega's power. Omega and the Third Doctor argue until the third Doctor is thrown into a black void - the dark side of Omega's mind. Omega's avatar gets the Doctor in a stranglehold and Omega declares: " THOSE WHO OPPOSE THE WILL OF OMEGA SHALL NOT LIVE! DESTROY HIM!"

Episode Four

The Doctors escape briefly, and offer Omega a proposition. They will give him his freedom if they send the others back to the positive matter universe. Omega agrees, and when that is done, the Doctors offer Omega a force field generator containing the Second Doctor's recorder, which had fallen in it prior to the transport through the black hole. When the Third Doctor shouts at Omega to take the generator, Omega knocks it over in a rage and the unconverted positive matter recorder falls out of the force field. When the recorder comes into contact with the antimatter universe, it annihilates everything in a flash, returning the Doctors in the TARDIS to the positive matter universe.

The Third Doctor explains that death was the only freedom anyone could offer Omega. With the power now restored to the Time Lords, they are able to send the First and Second Doctors back to their respective time periods. As a reward, the Time Lords give the Third Doctor a new dematerialisation circuit for the TARDIS and restore his knowledge of how to travel through space and time.

Cast

Crew

References

Astronomical objects

The Doctor

  • The First Doctor caustically refers to his future selves as (respectively) "a dandy and a clown".
  • The Second Doctor does not like the way his future self has "re-decorated" 'his' TARDIS. Much later, the Fifth Doctor would make a similar criticism when meeting the Tenth.
  • The Second Doctor recognises Benton from their adventure with the Cybermen.
  • The Second Doctor treasures and likes to play his recorder. He thinks little of television.
  • The Brigadier at first thinks that one of the Doctor's experiments has changed him back to an early version of himself. He seems more outraged than wonder struck at the interior of the TARDIS, believing the Doctor has built it using UNIT resources. He either disbelieves or does not understand that part of UNIT HQ (including the Doctor's laboratory) has gotten transported into the anti-matter universe and states in confidence that he thinks they're in Cromer.

Cultural references

Foods and Beverages

  • Jelly Babies make their debut on Doctor Who when the Second Doctor offers one to the Brigadier. Several years later, jelly babies became the confection of choice of the Fourth Doctor and continued to be referenced from time to time on the series for many years thereafter.

Races and species

Temporal theory

  • The First Doctor gets trapped in a time eddy.
  • The First Law of Time expressly forbids any Time Lord to cross his own time stream and meet his former (or, for that matter, future) selves.

Theories and Concepts

Time Lords

  • The Doctor's three selves have the power to have a "telepathic conference" amongst themselves, exchanging information at a rapid speed.
  • The Doctor admired Omega in his youth.

UNIT

  • The Brigadier says UNIT HQ is "a Top Secret establishment". It's therefore a interesting that there is a large sign outside informing the world not only of its function, but also the name of the commanding officer.

Story Notes

  • This was William Hartnell's last appearance as the Doctor before his death in 1975. Hartnell was too ill to play a more active role in the story. Instead his scenes were filmed in Ealing Television Film Studios while he read his lines from cue cards. The script was rewritten with the explanation that the First Doctor was stuck in a time eddy due to the power drain caused by Omega.
  • The first appearance of Omega. Originally Omega's name was supposed to be Ohm, the word resulting from turning "who" upside-down if it were in capital letters. Ohm was later used as the name of an ancient Gallifreyan god in PDA: The Infinity Doctors.
  • Original plans were for Jamie McCrimmon and Zoe Heriot to appear in the story. However, Frazer Hines was unable to take time out from Emmerdale Farm for filming, and the idea of additional companions received objections from Jon Pertwee, who felt too many characters would detract from the story.
  • This story marks the end of the Doctor's exile on Earth. This also marks the beginning of the gradual phasing out of UNIT on the series, as the Doctor spends more and more time away from 20th century Earth.
  • Jelly babies make their Doctor Who debut when the Second Doctor offers one. A few years later, the sweet would be brought back as the Fourth Doctor's favourite sweet, with cameos in later years.

Ratings

  • Episode 1 - 9.6 million viewers
  • Episode 2 - 10.8 million viewers
  • Episode 3 - 8.8 million viewers
  • Episode 4 - 11.9 million viewers

Myths

  • William Hartnell's scenes were filmed in the garage of his home against a black backdrop. (His scenes were actually filmed at Ealing Television Film Studios.)
  • The scene in which the Second Doctor was shown in black and white originated from the (now lost) 1960s serial, The Macra Terror. It was actually a pre-filmed shot.

Filming Locations

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.
  • There are shots that make it quite obvious that there is not interior to the TARDIS prop.
  • The split screen effect used to allow Patrick Troughton's arm to reach for the recorder before he fully appears is rather obvious; additionally, just before his arm appears, a boom mike drifts into the shot directly above John Levene.
  • The footsteps of those returning to Earth via the singularity can be heard as they walk down the steps after they've disappeared.
  • Jo's knickers can be seen in episode one.
  • The view from the TARDIS scanner is from the far side of the lab and includes the TARDIS itself
  • When UNIT HQ vanishes, there is grass where the building used to be.
  • When the gel creature is chasing Tyler, it bumps into a wall right before the cut to the next scene.
  • When the Doctor and Jo find Bessie, her tyres are covered with white dust, showing she was driven into the quarry, not transported.
  • Although it is later revealed that Omega has no physical shape, the actor's mouth can be seen on several occasions, notably when he is working out who the Second Doctor is.
  • When the Doctors flee Omega's lair, they open the door, which is smooth on its outer surface. But outside shots reveal the door to be textured.

Continuity

  • The Second Doctor addresses Benton as Corporal, the rank he held in DW: The Invasion. He also refers to UNIT's battle with the Cybermen in that story. The Brigadier also mentions that adventure, as well as his first meeting with the Doctor during the Yeti attack in DW: The Web of Fear. Mention is also made of the two occasions the Doctor "changed his appearance," - the process was not yet called regeneration.

Timeline

For the First Doctor:

For the Second Doctor:

For the Third Doctor:

DVD, Video and Other Releases

DVD releases

Released as Doctor Who: The Three Doctors.

Released:

PAL - BBC DVD BBCDVD1144
NTSC - Warner Video E1925

Contents:

Notes:

  • Region 2 cover

    Region 2 cover

  • 3docspack.jpg

    Region 2 - Boxed set

  • Region 1 cover

    Region 1 cover

Video releases

Released as Doctor Who: The Three Doctors.

Released:

  • First Release:
PAL - BBC Video BBCV4650
NTSC - CBS/FOX Video 3405
NTSC - Warner Video E1100
PAL - BBC Video BBCV7364
  • UK VHS - First release

    UK VHS - First release

  • UK VHS - WH Smith - Second release

    UK VHS - WH Smith - Second release

  • UK VHS - WH Smith - Second release spine

    UK VHS - WH Smith - Second release spine

Novelisation

File:1ThreeDoctors.jpg
Main article: The Three Doctors (novelisation)

See also

External Links

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