Season 21 (Doctor Who 1963)

Season 21 — 1984
Doctor:	Fifth Doctor
Secondary Doctor:	Sixth Doctor
Companions:	Tegan, Turlough, Peri, Kamelion
Key crew
Producer(s):	John Nathan-Turner
Script editors:	Eric Saward
Series details
Start date:	5 January 1984
End date:	30 March 1984
Premiere network:	BBC1
Typical episode length:	mix of 25' and 45'
More info
Main DWMSE coverage in issues:	1, 3, 18
Key reference books about the season:	The Discontinuity Guide, The Fifth Doctor Handbook, The Sixth Doctor Handbook, The Eighties, JN-T: The Life and Scandalous Times, About Time 5, The Complete History 38, TCH 39, TCH 40
Key documentaries about the season:	Being Doctor Who, Mouth on Legs
Relevant Myth Makers interviews:	Janet Fielding, Nicola Bryant, Peter Grimwade, Colin Baker (1990), John Nathan-Turner, Mark Strikcson, Eric Saward, Colin Baker (2005)
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Season 21 of Doctor Who ran from 5 January 1984 to 30 March 1984. It starred Peter Davison as the Fifth Doctor, Janet Fielding as Tegan Jovanka and Mark Strickson as Turlough for the majority, whilst the final serial featured Colin Baker as the Sixth Doctor and Nicola Bryant as Peri Brown. The season opened with Warriors of the Deep and concluded with The Twin Dilemma.

Overview

The season consisted of seven serials comprised of twenty-four episodes. The Twin Dilemma, the first story with Colin Baker as the Sixth Doctor, aired last in the season. This season saw the departure of companions Tegan, Turlough and Kamelion and introduced Peri. Most episodes were the traditional twenty-five minute length. However, due to coverage of the 1984 Winter Olympics, Resurrection of the Daleks was re-edited before airing and shown as two forty-five minute episodes.

Colin Baker's first story, The Twin Dilemma, introduced a modified version of the opening credits including a slight modification to the series logo (although the theme arrangement was not changed). This was the first time since Season 4 that such a change occurred during a season.

Along with Season 4, it was one of only two seasons of the classic series to have a completely different cast in the final story of the season than in the first story. In this case, Janet Fielding, Mark Strickson and Peter Davison, respectively, departed their roles in three consecutive serials.

Television stories

#	Title	Writer	Episodes	Notes
1	Warriors of the Deep	Johnny Byrne	4	Final story to be written by Johnny Byrne.
2	The Awakening	Eric Pringle	2	Last 2-part Doctor Who story to be broadcast with 25-minute episodes.
3	Frontios	Christopher H. Bidmead	4	Final story to be written by former script editor Christopher H. Bidmead.
4	Resurrection of the Daleks	Eric Saward	2	First story broadcast in 45-minute episodes. Final appearance of Tegan Jovanka.
5	Planet of Fire	Peter Grimwade	4	First appearance of Peri Brown, and final appearances of Vislor Turlough and Kamelion. Final story to be written by Peter Grimwade, and also the final to be directed by Fiona Cumming.
6	The Caves of Androzani	Robert Holmes	4	First appearance of the Sixth Doctor and final regular appearance of the Fifth Doctor.
7	The Twin Dilemma	Anthony Steven	4

Cast

• The Doctor - Peter Davison
• Tegan Jovanka - Janet Fielding
• Vislor Turlough - Mark Strickson

Recurring

• Peri Brown - Nicola Bryant
• The Doctor - Colin Baker
• Lytton - Maurice Colbourne
• Davros - Terry Molloy
• Dalek Voices - Brian Miller, Royce Mills
• Kamelion (voice) - Gerald Flood
• The Tremas Master - Anthony Ainley
• Nyssa - Sarah Sutton
• Adric - Matthew Waterhouse

Guest

• Solow - Ingrid Pitt
• Nilson - Ian McCulloch
• Vorshak - Tom Adams
• Bulic - Nigel Humphreys
• Preston - Tara Ward
• Icthar - Norman Comer
• Sauvix - Christopher Farries
• Jane Hampden - Polly James
• Sir George Hutchinson - Denis Lill
• Colonel Wolsey - Glyn Houston
• Joseph Willow - Jack Galloway
• Will Chandler - Keith Jayne
• Andrew Verney - Frederick Hall
• Brazen - Peter Gilmore
• Norna - Lesley Dunlop
• Range - William Lucas
• Plantagenet - Jeff Rawle
• Cockerill - Maurice O'Connell
• Gravis - John Gillett
• Stien - Rodney Bewes
• Styles - Rula Lenska
• Colonel Archer - Del Henney
• Timanov - Peter Wyngarde
• Professor Howard Foster - Dallas Adams
• Sorasta - Barbara Shelley
• Amyand - James Bate
• Malkon - Edward Highmore
• Sharaz Jek - Christopher Gable
• Morgus - John Normington
• Salateen - Robert Glenister
• Stotz - Maurice Roëves
• Chellak - Michael Cochrane
• Krelper - Roy Holder
• Timmin - Barbara Kinghorn
• President - David Neal
• Professor Edgworth / Azmael - Maurice Denham
• Hugo Lang - Kevin McNally
• Mestor - Edwin Richfield
• Romulus - Gavin Conrad
• Remus - Andrew Conrad
• Noma - Barry Stanton
• Drak - Oliver Smith

Stories set before this season

TV

• The Five Doctors

Novels

• The Crystal Bucephalus

Short stories

to be added

Audio

• The Five Companions
• Fifth Doctor's involvement in The Sirens of Time

Comics

to be added

Stories set during this season

Novels

• Deep Blue
• The King of Terror
• Lords of the Storm
• Imperial Moon
• The Ultimate Treasure
• Superior Beings
• Warmonger
• Blood and Hope

Short stories

• Life After Queth
• Perfect Day
• Keeping It Real
• The Creation of Camelot
• Encounter on Burnt Snake Flat
• Graham Dilley Saves the World
• The Gangster's Story
• Far Away in a Manger

Audio

• And You Will Obey Me
• Excelis Dawns
• Time in Office
• Phantasmagoria
• Loups-Garoux
• Singularity
• The Blazing Hour
• Fifth Doctor and Turlough's involvement in The End of the Beginning
• I, Kamelion
• Red Dawn
• Exotron
• Urban Myths
• The Eye of the Scorpion
• The Church and the Crown
• No Place Like Home
• Nekromanteia
• The Axis of Insanity
• The Roof of the World
• Three's a Crowd
• The Council of Nicaea
• The Kingmaker
• Peri and Erimem's involvement in The Veiled Leopard
• The Gathering
• Cuddlesome
• The Mind's Eye
• The Fifth Doctor, Peri and Erimem's cameo in The 100 Days of the Doctor
• Son of the Dragon
• The Bride of Peladon
• Mission of the Viyrans
• The Judgement of Isskar
• The Destroyer of Delight
• The Chaos Pool
• The Garden of Storms
• The Moonrakers
• The People Made of Smoke
• Peri and the Piscon Paradox
• Winter

Comics

• The Curse of the Scarab

Adaptations and merchandising

Home media

VHS releases

• Warriors of the Deep (1995)
• The Awakening/Frontios (1997)
• Resurrection of the Daleks (1993/2001)
• Planet of Fire (1998)
• The Caves of Androzani (1992)
• The Twin Dilemma (1992)

DVD & Blu-ray releases

All serials of season 21 were released individually in between 2001 and 2011.

Serial name	Number and duration of episodes	R2 release date	R4 release date	R1 release date
Warriors of the Deep Only available as part of the Beneath the Surface box set in Regions 2 and 4. Available individually or in the box set in Region 1.	4 × 25 min.	14 January 2008	5 March 2008	3 June 2008
The Awakening Only available as part of the Earth Story box set in Regions 2 and 4. Only available individually in Region 1.	2 × 25 min.	20 June 2011	4 August 2011	12 July 2011
Frontios	4 × 25 min.	30 May 2011	7 July 2011	14 June 2011
Resurrection of the Daleks Available individually or in The Complete Davros Collection box set in Regions 2 and 4. Only available individually in Region 1.	4 × 25 min. (Original Version)	18 November 2002	3 February 2003	1 July 2003
Resurrection of the Daleks – Special Edition Only available as part of the Revisitations 2 box set in Regions 2 and 4. Only available individually in Region 1.	4 × 25 min. (Original Version) 2 × 46 min. (Broadcast Version)	28 March 2011	5 May 2011	12 June 2012
Planet of Fire Only available as part of the Kamelion Tales box set in Regions 2 and 4. Only available individually in Region 1. Includes remastered "movie version" with new footage.	4 × 25 min. (Broadcast Version) 1 × 66 min. (Special Edition)	14 June 2010	5 August 2010	7 September 2010
The Caves of Androzani	4 × 25 min.	18 June 2001	7 January 2002	2 April 2002
The Caves of Androzani – Special Edition Only available as part of the Revisitations 1 box set in Regions 2 and 4.	4 × 25 min.	4 October 2010	2 December 2010	14 February 2012
The Twin Dilemma	4 × 25 min.	7 September 2009	3 December 2009	5 January 2010

Download/streaming availability

Serial name	Amazon Video	iTunes
Warriors of the Deep (4 episodes)	✓	✓
The Awakening (2 episodes)		✓
Frontios (4 episodes)	✓	✓
Resurrection of the Daleks (2 episodes)		✓
Planet of Fire (4 episodes)	✓	✓
The Caves of Androzani (4 episodes	✓	✓
The Twin Dilemma (4 episodes)		✓

Novels

• Warriors of the Deep
• The Awakening
• Frontios
• Resurrection of the Daleks
• Planet of Fire
• The Caves of Androzani
• The Twin Dilemma

Target Books was originally unable to come to an agreement that would have allowed Resurrection of the Daleks to be adapted as a novel. However, Eric Saward eventually novelised the story in collaboration with BBC Books in 2019, 35 years after the story first premiered on television.

External links

• BBC website guide to Season 21