Season 6B
Encyclopedia
Season 6B is a fan
theory related to the long-running British
science fiction television
series Doctor Who
. It constitutes a hypothetical series of adventures undertaken by the Second Doctor
(Patrick Troughton
) between his final regular appearance in season 6 and the Third Doctor
's (Jon Pertwee
) debut in season 7. It was devised in order to explain the continuity issues that arose when Troughton reprised his role as the Doctor in The Five Doctors
and The Two Doctors
. Although the television series has not confirmed the existence of the season 6B timeframe, numerous stories in spin-off media have been set during this era.
, the last serial of season 6, sees the Second Doctor
(Patrick Troughton
) exiled to Earth by the Time Lords, who also force him into regeneration
. This regeneration, however, does not take place on-screen and the newly-regenerated Third Doctor
(Jon Pertwee
) first appears falling out of the TARDIS
in Spearhead from Space
.
Troughton reprised his role as the Second Doctor three times in the television series: in The Three Doctors (1973), The Five Doctors
(1983) and The Two Doctors
(1985). The latter two stories both see the Second Doctor's character contradicting established events from his original tenure.
In The Five Doctors, the Second Doctor and Brigadier Lethbridge-Stewart
are retrieved via Time Scoop from a UNIT
reunion, which the Doctor had travelled to in the TARDIS. However, prior to the Doctor's exile on Earth (and therefore for the entire of the Second Doctor era of the television series) the TARDIS's destination was unable to be determined by the Doctor. Later in the episode, illusions of Jamie McCrimmon
(Frazer Hines
) and Zoe Heriot
are dismissed because the Second Doctor knows that the Time Lords wiped their memories
, and therefore Jamie should not have recognised the Brigadier. Since this only occurred shortly before the end of The War Games, it is unclear how the Doctor can be aware of Jamie's mindwipe unless he has already lived through his trial as seen in The War Games.
In The Two Doctors, the Second Doctor and Jamie appear on a mission for the Time Lords, who are even able to control the Doctor's TARDIS remotely. Again, this seems irreconcilable with the Second Doctor's original era, as the Doctor had no contact with the Time Lords between a time prior to the series' first episode and The War Games. Jamie is also aware of the Time Lords here, where The War Games saw him returned to his own time with no memory of his travels with the Doctor shortly after he arrived on Gallifrey
. As in The Five Doctors, the Second Doctor is able to control the flight of the TARDIS much more effectively than before, deliberately piloting it to the space station where The Two Doctors takes place and also temporarily dropping off Victoria Waterfield
before the episode begins.
, by Paul Cornell
, Martin Day
and Keith Topping
. The theory reads that following his trial in The War Games the Second Doctor is not immediately exiled and forced into regeneration, but for a time works for the Celestial Intervention Agency
, a covert Time Lord organisation that grants him increased control over his TARDIS
at the cost of his freedom. If the Second Doctor from The Five Doctors and The Two Doctors comes from this period, the continuity issues described above become irrelevant.
During this time, the CIA may allow the Doctor to travel with both Jamie and Victoria as companions, acquires a Stattenheim remote control device to summon the TARDIS (as seen in The Two Doctors), and possibly receives a ring, bracelet, and a watch which home in on the TARDIS (which are found with the Third Doctor in Spearhead from Space). Eventually, the arrangement with the CIA comes to an end and the Doctor's original sentence is enforced. The Discontinuity Guide also postulates that the Doctor's memory was wiped of the events of season 6B when he went into exile, with the Third Doctor displaying memory issues at the start of Spearhead from Space.
comic strip in 1969. Action in Exile (TVC #916-#920) sees the Doctor arrive in London without his TARDIS, where he checks into the luxurious Carlton Grange Hotel. From there, he proceeds to have five Earth-bound adventures, at the end of which he is re-captured by the Time Lords and forced into regeneration in a direct lead-in to Spearhead from Space.
Former Doctor Who series writer and script editor Terrance Dicks
has utilised season 6B in two Past Doctor Adventures
novels. Players
(1999) features a flashback to this period, and World Game
(2005) explicitly bridges the gap between The War Games and The Two Doctors. It follows the season 6B outline as described above, with only the minor difference that Jamie only believes Victoria has been travelling with himself and the Doctor due to the Time Lords altering his memories.
Fandom
Fandom is a term used to refer to a subculture composed of fans characterized by a feeling of sympathy and camaraderie with others who share a common interest...
theory related to the long-running British
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
science fiction television
Science fiction on television
Science fiction first appeared on a television program during the Golden Age of Science Fiction. Special effects and other production techniques allow creators to present a living visual image of an imaginary world not limited by the constraints of reality; this makes television an excellent medium...
series Doctor Who
Doctor Who
Doctor Who is a British science fiction television programme produced by the BBC. The programme depicts the adventures of a time-travelling humanoid alien known as the Doctor who explores the universe in a sentient time machine called the TARDIS that flies through time and space, whose exterior...
. It constitutes a hypothetical series of adventures undertaken by the Second Doctor
Second Doctor
The Second Doctor is the second incarnation of the protagonist of the long-running BBC television science-fiction series Doctor Who. He was portrayed by character actor Patrick Troughton....
(Patrick Troughton
Patrick Troughton
Patrick George Troughton was an English actor most widely known for his roles in fantasy, science fiction and horror films, particularly in his role as the second incarnation of the Doctor in the long-running British science-fiction television series Doctor Who, which he played from 1966 to 1969,...
) between his final regular appearance in season 6 and the Third Doctor
Third Doctor
The Third Doctor is the third incarnation of the protagonist of the long-running BBC television science-fiction series Doctor Who. He was portrayed by actor Jon Pertwee....
's (Jon Pertwee
Jon Pertwee
John Devon Roland Pertwee , was an English actor. Pertwee is best known for his role in the BBC science fiction television series Doctor Who, in which he played the third incarnation of the Doctor from 1970 to 1974, and as the title character in the series Worzel Gummidge...
) debut in season 7. It was devised in order to explain the continuity issues that arose when Troughton reprised his role as the Doctor in The Five Doctors
The Five Doctors
The Five Doctors is a special feature-length episode of the British science fiction television series Doctor Who, produced in celebration of the programme's twentieth anniversary. It had its world premiere in the United States, on the Chicago PBS station WTTW and various other PBS member stations...
and The Two Doctors
The Two Doctors
The Two Doctors is a serial in the British science fiction television series Doctor Who, which was first broadcast in three weekly parts from 16 February to 2 March 1985. It starred Colin Baker and Nicola Bryant as the Sixth Doctor and his companion Peri, respectively...
. Although the television series has not confirmed the existence of the season 6B timeframe, numerous stories in spin-off media have been set during this era.
Continuity problems
The conclusion of The War GamesThe War Games
The War Games is a serial in the British science fiction television series Doctor Who, which originally aired in ten weekly parts from 19 April to 21 June 1969. It was the last regular appearance of Patrick Troughton as the Second Doctor, and of Wendy Padbury and Frazer Hines as companions Zoe...
, the last serial of season 6, sees the Second Doctor
Second Doctor
The Second Doctor is the second incarnation of the protagonist of the long-running BBC television science-fiction series Doctor Who. He was portrayed by character actor Patrick Troughton....
(Patrick Troughton
Patrick Troughton
Patrick George Troughton was an English actor most widely known for his roles in fantasy, science fiction and horror films, particularly in his role as the second incarnation of the Doctor in the long-running British science-fiction television series Doctor Who, which he played from 1966 to 1969,...
) exiled to Earth by the Time Lords, who also force him into regeneration
Regeneration (Doctor Who)
Regeneration, in the British science fiction television series Doctor Who, is a biological ability exhibited by Time Lords, a race of fictional humanoids originating on the planet Gallifrey. This process allows a Time Lord who is old or mortally wounded to undergo a transformation into a new...
. This regeneration, however, does not take place on-screen and the newly-regenerated Third Doctor
Third Doctor
The Third Doctor is the third incarnation of the protagonist of the long-running BBC television science-fiction series Doctor Who. He was portrayed by actor Jon Pertwee....
(Jon Pertwee
Jon Pertwee
John Devon Roland Pertwee , was an English actor. Pertwee is best known for his role in the BBC science fiction television series Doctor Who, in which he played the third incarnation of the Doctor from 1970 to 1974, and as the title character in the series Worzel Gummidge...
) first appears falling out of the TARDIS
TARDIS
The TARDISGenerally, TARDIS is written in all upper case letters—this convention was popularised by the Target novelisations of the 1970s...
in Spearhead from Space
Spearhead from Space
Spearhead from Space is a serial in the British science fiction television series Doctor Who, which was first broadcast in four weekly parts from 3 January to 24 January 1970. The serial opened Series 7 of the show and was the first to be produced in colour. The serial introduced Jon Pertwee as the...
.
Troughton reprised his role as the Second Doctor three times in the television series: in The Three Doctors (1973), The Five Doctors
The Five Doctors
The Five Doctors is a special feature-length episode of the British science fiction television series Doctor Who, produced in celebration of the programme's twentieth anniversary. It had its world premiere in the United States, on the Chicago PBS station WTTW and various other PBS member stations...
(1983) and The Two Doctors
The Two Doctors
The Two Doctors is a serial in the British science fiction television series Doctor Who, which was first broadcast in three weekly parts from 16 February to 2 March 1985. It starred Colin Baker and Nicola Bryant as the Sixth Doctor and his companion Peri, respectively...
(1985). The latter two stories both see the Second Doctor's character contradicting established events from his original tenure.
In The Five Doctors, the Second Doctor and Brigadier Lethbridge-Stewart
Brigadier Lethbridge-Stewart
Brigadier Sir Alistair Gordon Lethbridge-Stewart, generally referred to simply as the Brigadier, is a fictional character in the British science fiction television series Doctor Who, played by Nicholas Courtney...
are retrieved via Time Scoop from a UNIT
UNIT
UNIT is a fictional military organisation from the British science fiction television series Doctor Who, Torchwood and The Sarah Jane Adventures...
reunion, which the Doctor had travelled to in the TARDIS. However, prior to the Doctor's exile on Earth (and therefore for the entire of the Second Doctor era of the television series) the TARDIS's destination was unable to be determined by the Doctor. Later in the episode, illusions of Jamie McCrimmon
Jamie McCrimmon
James Robert "Jamie" McCrimmon is a fictional character played by Frazer Hines in the long-running British science fiction television series Doctor Who. A piper of the Clan McLaren who lived in 18th century Scotland, he was a companion of the Second Doctor and a regular in the programme from 1966...
(Frazer Hines
Frazer Hines
Frazer Hines is an English actor best known for his roles as Jamie McCrimmon in Doctor Who and Joe Sugden in Emmerdale. Hines was born in Horsforth, a civil parish of Leeds.-Acting career:...
) and Zoe Heriot
Zoe Heriot
Zoe Heriot , or simply Zoe, is a fictional character played by Wendy Padbury in the long-running British science fiction television series Doctor Who...
are dismissed because the Second Doctor knows that the Time Lords wiped their memories
Mindwipe
For the Transformers character, see Mindwipe .Mindwipe is a technique used in some science fiction scenarios, where the subject's memories and personality are erased and replaced by new memories and personality more useful to those who are carrying out the mindwiping, or to their area's...
, and therefore Jamie should not have recognised the Brigadier. Since this only occurred shortly before the end of The War Games, it is unclear how the Doctor can be aware of Jamie's mindwipe unless he has already lived through his trial as seen in The War Games.
In The Two Doctors, the Second Doctor and Jamie appear on a mission for the Time Lords, who are even able to control the Doctor's TARDIS remotely. Again, this seems irreconcilable with the Second Doctor's original era, as the Doctor had no contact with the Time Lords between a time prior to the series' first episode and The War Games. Jamie is also aware of the Time Lords here, where The War Games saw him returned to his own time with no memory of his travels with the Doctor shortly after he arrived on Gallifrey
Gallifrey
Gallifrey is a fictional planet in the long-running British science fiction television series Doctor Who and is the homeworld of the Doctor and the Time Lords...
. As in The Five Doctors, the Second Doctor is able to control the flight of the TARDIS much more effectively than before, deliberately piloting it to the space station where The Two Doctors takes place and also temporarily dropping off Victoria Waterfield
Victoria Waterfield
Victoria Waterfield is a fictional character played by Deborah Watling in the long-running British science fiction television series Doctor Who. A native of Victorian England, she was a companion of the Second Doctor and a regular in the programme from 1967 to 1968.-Character history:Victoria first...
before the episode begins.
Season 6B
The "Season 6B" theory was first published in the 1995 book The Discontinuity GuideThe Discontinuity Guide
The Discontinuity Guide, by Paul Cornell, Martin Day and Keith Topping, is a humorous guidebook to the serials of the original run of the BBC science fiction series Doctor Who. It was first published in 1995 by Virgin Books, which at the time also published licensed Doctor Who...
, by Paul Cornell
Paul Cornell
Paul Cornell is a British writer best known for his work in television drama as well as Doctor Who fiction, and as the creator of one of the Doctor's spin-off companions, Bernice Summerfield....
, Martin Day
Martin Day
Martin Day is a screenwriter and novelist best known for his work on various spin-offs related to the BBC Television series Doctor Who, and many episodes of the daytime soaps Doctors and Family Affairs.-Work:...
and Keith Topping
Keith Topping
Keith Andrew Topping , is an author, journalist and broadcaster most closely associated with his work relating to the BBC Television series Doctor Who and for writing numerous official and unofficial guide books to a wide variety of television and film series, specifically Buffy the Vampire...
. The theory reads that following his trial in The War Games the Second Doctor is not immediately exiled and forced into regeneration, but for a time works for the Celestial Intervention Agency
Celestial Intervention Agency
The Celestial Intervention Agency is a fictional organization of Time Lords in the universe of the long-running British science fiction television series Doctor Who....
, a covert Time Lord organisation that grants him increased control over his TARDIS
TARDIS
The TARDISGenerally, TARDIS is written in all upper case letters—this convention was popularised by the Target novelisations of the 1970s...
at the cost of his freedom. If the Second Doctor from The Five Doctors and The Two Doctors comes from this period, the continuity issues described above become irrelevant.
During this time, the CIA may allow the Doctor to travel with both Jamie and Victoria as companions, acquires a Stattenheim remote control device to summon the TARDIS (as seen in The Two Doctors), and possibly receives a ring, bracelet, and a watch which home in on the TARDIS (which are found with the Third Doctor in Spearhead from Space). Eventually, the arrangement with the CIA comes to an end and the Doctor's original sentence is enforced. The Discontinuity Guide also postulates that the Doctor's memory was wiped of the events of season 6B when he went into exile, with the Third Doctor displaying memory issues at the start of Spearhead from Space.
Adoption in tie-in fiction
The idea of a post-The War Games Second Doctor was first introduced before the Third Doctor had even appeared on-screen, in the TV ComicTV Comic
TV Comic was a British comic book published weekly between November 9, 1951 and June 29, 1984 for 1,697 issues. With its bright, eye-catching covers, it featured stories based on television shows running at the time of publication. The first issue had 8 pages and had Muffin the Mule on the cover....
comic strip in 1969. Action in Exile (TVC #916-#920) sees the Doctor arrive in London without his TARDIS, where he checks into the luxurious Carlton Grange Hotel. From there, he proceeds to have five Earth-bound adventures, at the end of which he is re-captured by the Time Lords and forced into regeneration in a direct lead-in to Spearhead from Space.
Former Doctor Who series writer and script editor Terrance Dicks
Terrance Dicks
Terrance Dicks is an English writer, best known for his work in television and for writing a large number of popular children's books during the 1970s and 80s.- Early career :...
has utilised season 6B in two Past Doctor Adventures
Past Doctor Adventures
The Past Doctor Adventures were a series of spin-off novels based on the long running BBC science fiction television series Doctor Who and published under the BBC Books imprint. For most of their existence, they were published side-by-side with the Eighth Doctor Adventures...
novels. Players
Players (Doctor Who)
Players is a BBC Books original novel written by Terrance Dicks and based on the long-running British science fiction television series Doctor Who. It features the Sixth Doctor and Peri meeting Winston Churchill during the Boer War and prior to the abdication of the would-be king Edward VIII...
(1999) features a flashback to this period, and World Game
World Game (Doctor Who)
World Game is a BBC Books original novel written by Terrance Dicks and based on the long-running British science fiction television series Doctor Who. It features the Second Doctor and the Lady Serena and is set during "Season 6B"...
(2005) explicitly bridges the gap between The War Games and The Two Doctors. It follows the season 6B outline as described above, with only the minor difference that Jamie only believes Victoria has been travelling with himself and the Doctor due to the Time Lords altering his memories.