The Trial of a Time Lord
Encyclopedia
The Trial of a Time Lord is a fourteen-part British science fiction
serial of the long running BBC series Doctor Who
. The serial, produced as the twenty-third season of the Doctor Who television series, aired in weekly episodes from 6 September to 6 December 1986. The only Doctor Who presentation of its kind, it contains four mini-adventures, The Mysterious Planet, Mindwarp, Terror of the Vervoids and The Ultimate Foe.
The idea for the serial stemmed from several production changes to Doctor Who, such as reduced screen time for the season and a request from BBC controller Michael Grade
that the series contain less violence and more humour. Several problems occurred during production, including the death of scriptwriter Robert Holmes
, and the resignation of script editor Eric Saward
.
is tried by the High Council of Time Lords for breaking several of the laws of Gallifrey
, the Time Lords' home world, including interference with outside worlds and genocide
. A mysterious character called the Valeyard
acts as prosecutor. In the first two chapters (The Mysterious Planet and Mindwarp) events from the Doctor's past and present are submitted as evidence of his guilt. The third chapter (Terror of the Vervoids) presents future events in the Doctor's defence. In the concluding chapter (The Ultimate Foe) the Doctor's trial is halted, and the Doctor confronts the Valeyard and his old rival, the Master
, in order to clear his name and to save the High Council.
and script editor Eric Saward
learned that the twenty-third season would be postponed from January 1986 to September 1986. In addition to the delay, the run-times of the episodes ordered were reduced from forty-five minutes to twenty-five. Nathan-Turner and Saward realised that the new season would need a more creative format and scrapped planned serials, focusing instead on a trial story with an A Christmas Carol
-inspired "past, present, and future" storyline, thereby stretching the length of the season. By July 1985, the characters of the Valeyard, the Inquisitor, and Mel were conceived.
Robert Holmes was commissioned to write the first and final chapters of the serial. His draft of the first chapter, The Mysterious Planet, was criticised by BBC Head of Drama Jonathan Powell for its comedic content, contradicting the BBC controller’s request for a more humorous series.
The second chapter, Mindwarp, was written by Philip Martin
. Martin's character Sil
, introduced in Vengeance on Varos
, was popular among the production team, who asked Martin to feature the character in another serial. Nathan-Turner asked Martin to include Sil in his chapter, and asked for Peri to be killed in accordance with Nicola Bryant’s wishes to leave the show.
The third chapter was to be interlinked with the fourth. Holmes was originally asked to write it, but declined, citing a dislike of six-part serials. After rejecting submissions by Christopher H. Bidmead
and PJ Hammond
, Nathan-Turner approached husband-and-wife writing team Pip and Jane Baker
to write a studio-based serial, Terror of the Vervoids.
Holmes was unable to finish writing the fourth chapter, originally called Time Inc., before his death from liver failure on 24 May 1986. Pip and Jane Baker were commissioned by Nathan-Turner at short notice to write a new version of the episode, after series script editor Eric Saward withdrew his permission for his original version of part fourteen to be used: the original ending would have featured a fight to the death in a time vent with both the Doctor and the Valeyard, which executive producer John Nathan-Turner did not want to use as such a downbeat ending would have provided an excuse for BBC management to cancel the show. Subsequently the title was later changed to The Ultimate Foe.
Filming of the serial began on 7 April 1986 and ended on 14 August 1986. For the opening sequence, Nathan-Turner commissioned a 45-second model shot that cost over , which at that time was the highest amount of money spent on a single special effects sequence in the history of the series. The outdoor sequences in The Mysterious Planet were filmed in mid-April in Queen Elizabeth Country Park
, and studio work followed on 24 April and 10 May. Studio work for Mindwarp took place from 27–29 May and 11–13 June, and location shots were filmed in Brighton
from 15–16 June. Terror of the Vervoids and The Ultimate Foe were produced simultaneously; production began with location filming for the latter in late June, before returning to the studio to film scenes for both chapters on 16–17 July. Terror of the Vervoids was the last chapter to be completed, with studio work taking place from 30 July–1 August and from 12–14 August.
figures had improved since the previous season—the lowest figure was 66% for parts seven and nine and the highest was 72% for parts one, four, and eight— the viewing figures were lower.
, Martin Day
, and Keith Topping
, co-authors of The Discontinuity Guide
, wrote that as a whole, the serial's plot "hangs together remarkably well". David J. Howe
and Stephen James Walker, authors of Doctor Who: The Television Companion, disagreed, arguing that the serial was a "monumental wasted opportunity". They disapproved of the trial storyline, being unconvinced that a prosecutor "in any reasonable legal system" would be allowed to modify charges and court proceedings mid-trial. They did find the meta-humour of "the Doctor effectively sitting down to watch Doctor Who for fourteen weeks" amusing if repetitive however, and praised Baker’s acting. Both reviews found that the trial scenes detracted from the chapter story arcs.
Reviews of the individual chapters were also mixed. Although appreciative of Brian Blessed’s acting, Cornell, Day, and Topping argued that the script for Mindwarp lacked focus, "[trying] to be comic, grotesque, straight, and farcical all at the same time". Howe and Walker were more favourable towards the script, citing Sil’s re-appearance as positive, and hailing Peri’s death as "one of the most dramatic and impressive moments of the entire season" and Bryant's best scene since The Caves of Androzani
. Both reviews judged Terror of the Vervoids to be a well-written story, although Cornell, Day, and Topping criticised the dialogue, and Howe and Walker were unimpressed by Bonnie Langford
's performance.
Science fiction
Science fiction is a genre of fiction dealing with imaginary but more or less plausible content such as future settings, futuristic science and technology, space travel, aliens, and paranormal abilities...
serial of the long running BBC 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...
. The serial, produced as the twenty-third season of the Doctor Who television series, aired in weekly episodes from 6 September to 6 December 1986. The only Doctor Who presentation of its kind, it contains four mini-adventures, The Mysterious Planet, Mindwarp, Terror of the Vervoids and The Ultimate Foe.
The idea for the serial stemmed from several production changes to Doctor Who, such as reduced screen time for the season and a request from BBC controller Michael Grade
Michael Grade
Michael Ian Grade, Baron Grade of Yarmouth CBE is a British broadcast executive and businessman. He was BBC chairman from 2004 to 2006 and executive chairman of ITV plc from 2007 to 2009.-Early life:...
that the series contain less violence and more humour. Several problems occurred during production, including the death of scriptwriter Robert Holmes
Robert Holmes (scriptwriter)
This entry is about the television scriptwriter. For other people with the same name, see Robert Holmes .Robert Colin Holmes was an English television scriptwriter, who for over twenty-five years contributed to some of the most popular programmes screened in the UK...
, and the resignation of script editor Eric Saward
Eric Saward
Eric Saward was born on 9 December 1944 and became a scriptwriter and script editor for the BBC, resigning from the latter post on the TV programme Doctor Who in 1986....
.
Synopsis
In the serial, the Sixth DoctorSixth Doctor
The Sixth Doctor is the sixth incarnation of the protagonist of the long-running BBC television science-fiction series Doctor Who. He was portrayed by Colin Baker...
is tried by the High Council of Time Lords for breaking several of the laws of 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...
, the Time Lords' home world, including interference with outside worlds and genocide
Genocide
Genocide is defined as "the deliberate and systematic destruction, in whole or in part, of an ethnic, racial, religious, or national group", though what constitutes enough of a "part" to qualify as genocide has been subject to much debate by legal scholars...
. A mysterious character called the Valeyard
Valeyard
The Valeyard is a fictional character from the long-running British science fiction television series, Doctor Who. He is described as an aspect of the Doctor from between his twelfth and final incarnations as depicted in the TV show or regenerations in the novelization of the story...
acts as prosecutor. In the first two chapters (The Mysterious Planet and Mindwarp) events from the Doctor's past and present are submitted as evidence of his guilt. The third chapter (Terror of the Vervoids) presents future events in the Doctor's defence. In the concluding chapter (The Ultimate Foe) the Doctor's trial is halted, and the Doctor confronts the Valeyard and his old rival, the Master
Master (Doctor Who)
The Master is a recurring character in the British science fiction television series Doctor Who. He is a renegade Time Lord and the archenemy of the Doctor....
, in order to clear his name and to save the High Council.
Episodes
The series remained at once-weekly Saturday broadcasts. All episodes were 25 minutes long. Although there were now 14 episodes in the season, the total running time was significantly reduced since the episodes were just over half as long.| Story No. | Serial | Title | Directed by | Written by | UK viewers (million) |
Original air date | Production code |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Production
The serial was proposed in 1985, after executive producer John Nathan-TurnerJohn Nathan-Turner
John Nathan-Turner was the ninth producer of the long-running BBC science fiction series Doctor Who, from 1980 until it was effectively cancelled in 1989...
and script editor Eric Saward
Eric Saward
Eric Saward was born on 9 December 1944 and became a scriptwriter and script editor for the BBC, resigning from the latter post on the TV programme Doctor Who in 1986....
learned that the twenty-third season would be postponed from January 1986 to September 1986. In addition to the delay, the run-times of the episodes ordered were reduced from forty-five minutes to twenty-five. Nathan-Turner and Saward realised that the new season would need a more creative format and scrapped planned serials, focusing instead on a trial story with an A Christmas Carol
A Christmas Carol
A Christmas Carol is a novella by English author Charles Dickens first published by Chapman & Hall on 17 December 1843. The story tells of sour and stingy Ebenezer Scrooge's ideological, ethical, and emotional transformation after the supernatural visits of Jacob Marley and the Ghosts of...
-inspired "past, present, and future" storyline, thereby stretching the length of the season. By July 1985, the characters of the Valeyard, the Inquisitor, and Mel were conceived.
Robert Holmes was commissioned to write the first and final chapters of the serial. His draft of the first chapter, The Mysterious Planet, was criticised by BBC Head of Drama Jonathan Powell for its comedic content, contradicting the BBC controller’s request for a more humorous series.
The second chapter, Mindwarp, was written by Philip Martin
Philip Martin (screenwriter)
Philip Martin is an English television screenwriter.His early work included regular series such as Z-Cars in the late 1960s/early 70s, but his most famous work is the postmodern television series Gangsters. This was an examination of race seen through an increasingly surreal vision of...
. Martin's character Sil
Sil (Doctor Who)
Sil is a fictional alien from the television series Doctor Who, first appearing in the 1985 serial Vengeance on Varos. Sil was portrayed by Nabil Shaban....
, introduced in Vengeance on Varos
Vengeance on Varos
Vengeance on Varos is a serial in the British science fiction television series Doctor Who, which was first broadcast in two weekly parts from 19–26 January 1985.-Synopsis:...
, was popular among the production team, who asked Martin to feature the character in another serial. Nathan-Turner asked Martin to include Sil in his chapter, and asked for Peri to be killed in accordance with Nicola Bryant’s wishes to leave the show.
The third chapter was to be interlinked with the fourth. Holmes was originally asked to write it, but declined, citing a dislike of six-part serials. After rejecting submissions by Christopher H. Bidmead
Christopher H. Bidmead
Christopher Hamilton Bidmead is a British writer and journalist.Bidmead trained as an actor at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Arts , later playing several roles on stage, television and radio. By the early 1970s he was scriptwriting for Thames Television, producing material for Harriet's Back in...
and PJ Hammond
Peter J. Hammond
Peter J. Hammond is a British television writer.-Career:He began writing for television in the 1960s, working on BBC police dramas such as Dixon of Dock Green and Z-Cars, the latter of which he served as script editor on for a year from 1969 to 1970...
, Nathan-Turner approached husband-and-wife writing team Pip and Jane Baker
Pip and Jane Baker
"Pip" and Jane Baker are British television writers best known for their contributions to the long running science fiction series Doctor Who. A husband-and-wife writing team, they wrote four serials for the programme: The Mark of the Rani, Parts 9–12 and 14 of The Trial of a Time Lord and Time...
to write a studio-based serial, Terror of the Vervoids.
Holmes was unable to finish writing the fourth chapter, originally called Time Inc., before his death from liver failure on 24 May 1986. Pip and Jane Baker were commissioned by Nathan-Turner at short notice to write a new version of the episode, after series script editor Eric Saward withdrew his permission for his original version of part fourteen to be used: the original ending would have featured a fight to the death in a time vent with both the Doctor and the Valeyard, which executive producer John Nathan-Turner did not want to use as such a downbeat ending would have provided an excuse for BBC management to cancel the show. Subsequently the title was later changed to The Ultimate Foe.
Filming of the serial began on 7 April 1986 and ended on 14 August 1986. For the opening sequence, Nathan-Turner commissioned a 45-second model shot that cost over , which at that time was the highest amount of money spent on a single special effects sequence in the history of the series. The outdoor sequences in The Mysterious Planet were filmed in mid-April in Queen Elizabeth Country Park
Queen Elizabeth Country Park
Queen Elizabeth Country Park is a large country park situated on the South Downs in southern England. It is located on the A3 road three miles south of Petersfield, Hampshire....
, and studio work followed on 24 April and 10 May. Studio work for Mindwarp took place from 27–29 May and 11–13 June, and location shots were filmed in Brighton
Brighton
Brighton is the major part of the city of Brighton and Hove in East Sussex, England on the south coast of Great Britain...
from 15–16 June. Terror of the Vervoids and The Ultimate Foe were produced simultaneously; production began with location filming for the latter in late June, before returning to the studio to film scenes for both chapters on 16–17 July. Terror of the Vervoids was the last chapter to be completed, with studio work taking place from 30 July–1 August and from 12–14 August.
Reception and analysis
Public reaction to the season was mixed. Although the Audience AppreciationAppreciation Index
The Audience Appreciation Index is a score out of 100 which is used as an indicator of the public's appreciation for a television or radio programme, or broadcast service, in the United Kingdom. Until 2002, the AI of a programme was calculated by BARB, the organisation that compiles television...
figures had improved since the previous season—the lowest figure was 66% for parts seven and nine and the highest was 72% for parts one, four, and eight— the viewing figures were lower.
Reviews
The serial received mixed reviews from Doctor Who critics. Paul CornellPaul 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...
, co-authors of The Discontinuity Guide
The 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...
, wrote that as a whole, the serial's plot "hangs together remarkably well". David J. Howe
David J. Howe
David J. Howe is a British writer, journalist, publisher, and media historian.-Biography:David Howe was born in 1961 and established himself as an authoritative media historian through writing articles for fanzines and other publications...
and Stephen James Walker, authors of Doctor Who: The Television Companion, disagreed, arguing that the serial was a "monumental wasted opportunity". They disapproved of the trial storyline, being unconvinced that a prosecutor "in any reasonable legal system" would be allowed to modify charges and court proceedings mid-trial. They did find the meta-humour of "the Doctor effectively sitting down to watch Doctor Who for fourteen weeks" amusing if repetitive however, and praised Baker’s acting. Both reviews found that the trial scenes detracted from the chapter story arcs.
Reviews of the individual chapters were also mixed. Although appreciative of Brian Blessed’s acting, Cornell, Day, and Topping argued that the script for Mindwarp lacked focus, "[trying] to be comic, grotesque, straight, and farcical all at the same time". Howe and Walker were more favourable towards the script, citing Sil’s re-appearance as positive, and hailing Peri’s death as "one of the most dramatic and impressive moments of the entire season" and Bryant's best scene since The Caves of Androzani
The Caves of Androzani
The Caves of Androzani is a serial in the British science fiction television series Doctor Who, which was first broadcast in four twice-weekly parts from 8–16 March 1984. It was Peter Davison's last regular appearance as the Doctor, and marks the first appearance of Colin Baker in the role...
. Both reviews judged Terror of the Vervoids to be a well-written story, although Cornell, Day, and Topping criticised the dialogue, and Howe and Walker were unimpressed by Bonnie Langford
Bonnie Langford
Bonita Melody Lysette "Bonnie" Langford is an English actress, dancer and entertainer. She came to prominence as a child star in the early 1970s then she subsequently became a companion of Colin Baker and Sylvester McCoy's Doctor Who and has appeared on stage in various musicals such as Peter Pan:...
's performance.