Doctor Who Season 20

(1983) January - November | # of Episodes : 22

Ratings

7.9

8.4

Series Details

Seasons: 26

Total Episodes: 694

Creators: Verity Lambert , Sydney Newman , Donald Wilson , C. E. Webber

Networks: BBC One , BBC Television

Status: Ended

First Air Date: Nov 23, 1963

Recent Air Date: Dec 6, 1989

Run Time: m

In Production: No

Original Language: English

Age Rating: TV-PG

Website: Link

Production Companies: BBC

Genres

Keywords

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Stream Sources

Episodes 23 on BritBox

Episodes 23 on BritBox Amazon Channel

Synopsis

Structurally, the season retread season 18's formula of including a trilogy of stories bound together by an overarching theme. In this instance, the tripartite tale involved Turlough's attempts to kill the Doctor at the behest of the Black Guardian.

Main Cast

Peter Davison

The Doctor

Age : 73 | Popularity : 75%

Janet Fielding

Tegan Jovanka

Age : 71 | Popularity : 27%

Mark Strickson

Vislor Turlough

Age : N/A | Popularity : 20%

Episodes

Episode 1

03 January 1983 - Arc of Infinity (1)

On Gallifrey, someone on the high council is perpetrating a treasonous act - transmitting the Doctor's bio-extract from the space/time matrix to an anti-matter being. On Earth, two English lads spend their last night in Amsterdam sleeping in a crypt where they're attacked by an alien creature under the same anti-matter being's control.

Episode 2

05 January 1983 - Arc of Infinity (2)

With an anti-matter being trying to enter the universe through the Doctor, risking the destruction of everything, there is only one clear course of action for the High Council of Time Lords to take: execute the Doctor. Meanwhile, Tegan arrives in Amsterdam and hears about what's become of her cousin from his unscathed friend.

Episode 3

11 January 1983 - Arc of Infinity (3)

Something seemed amiss about the Doctor's execution, so the Castellan has Commander Maxil discreetly but fully look it. Meanwhile, as the Doctor meets the anti-matter being inside the Time Lord Matrix, Tegan and her cousin's friend run afoul of a bird-like alien back on Earth.

Episode 4

12 January 1983 - Arc of Infinity (4)

The High Council creates a distraction so the Doctor and Nyssa can find Omega on Earth and prevent his reentry into our universe.

Episode 5

18 January 1983 - Snakedance (1)

Tegan steers the TARDIS to the planet Manussa, without meaning to - but why? And is it a coincidence that the planet is about to celebrate the 500th anniversary of the expulsion of the insidious Mara?

Episode 6

19 January 1983 - Snakedance (2)

The Doctor talks to Ambril and Chela to try and stop the 500th anniversary celebrations. A possessed Tegan finds herself in Dugdale's Hall of Mirrors to where she summons Lon. The Doctor and Nyssa return to the caves.

Episode 7

25 January 1983 - Snakedance (3)

The possessed Tegan and Lon try to find the whereabouts of the Great Crystal. The Doctor finds himself in prison, with only Nyssa to try and get him out. Chela tells the Doctor tales of Dojjen.

Episode 8

26 January 1983 - Snakedance (4)

The Doctor and the original snakedancer Dojjen work to rid the planet of the Mara.

Episode 9

01 February 1983 - Mawdryn Undead (1)

The Doctor discovers a starship trapped in a time warp over Earth. Meanwhile, public schoolboy - and secret alien émigré, Turlough, learns he can have that which he most desires, in return for the murder of the Doctor...

Episode 10

02 February 1983 - Mawdryn Undead (2)

The TARDIS lands on Earth six years out of date, stranding the Doctor in 1983 while leaving Tegan and Nyssa to look for him in 1977. Both parties also encounter former companion, Brigadier Lethbridge-Stewart, though curiously, he has no memory of the Doctor at all.

Episode 11

08 February 1983 - Mawdryn Undead (3)

Mawdryn and his eternal mutants reveal the truth: they are exiles, they are in pain and need the Doctor's future 'lives', as afforded by each of his remaining regenerations.

Episode 12

09 February 1983 - Mawdryn Undead (4)

As the Doctor's ethics are challenged and the two Brigadiers finally meet, Turlough plots with the Black Guardian to bring the Time Lord down once and for all...

Episode 13

15 February 1983 - Terminus (1)

Deep space, some time in the future. Still following the Black Guardian's orders, Turlough sabotages the TARDIS, forcing an emergency fusion with an apparently deserted starship. But the ship is headed for the notorious plague colony, Terminus. Surrounded by plague victims and space pirates, is the Doctor too preoccupied to notice the greatest threat of all - a threat connected to the position of Terminus at the exact centre of the universe?

Episode 14

16 February 1983 - Terminus (2)

The Doctor's party remains divided and scattered as the immense transport docks at the Terminus space station, which turns out to be a leper colony at the exact centre of the known universe. As they find their way around and investigate, Nyssa shows signs of contracting the disease.

Episode 15

22 February 1983 - Terminus (3)

Since the Doctor's party represents neither lazars nor handlers, they're presumed to be investigators, which is enough to spark the disgruntled Valgard into challenging Eirak over leadership of the handlers. Meanwhile, as the giant, dog-like Garm takes a terrified Nyssa off for "treatment," Bor returns from the forbidden zone with interesting news about the ship.

Episode 16

23 February 1983 - Terminus (4)

In attempting to reopen a doorway into the TARDIS, Turlough activates Terminus' automated fuel-jettisoning sequence. The first time this sequence was engaged, it flung its first of two massive loads of unstable fuel into the distant past, producing the Big Bang that created the universe. This second sequence - if the Doctor can't find a way to shut it down - will release a second massive load, the explosion of which will entirely negate the effects of the first.

Episode 17

01 March 1983 - Enlightenment (1)

After receiving a warning from the White Guardian, the Doctor initially believes the TARDIS has landed aboard an Edwardian clipper ship - but all is not as it seems. While the time travellers are caught up in the omnipotent Eternals' race for the ultimate prize, the Black Guardian's scheme to destroy the Doctor enters the end-game - but which side is Turlough a pawn of?

Episode 18

02 March 1983 - Enlightenment (2)

Captain Striker and his officers reveal themselves to be Eternals, mind-reading creatures who live outside of time and who require Ephemerals (humans and other "time dwellers") to relieve them of their emptiness. They race against other Eternals for the grand prize of Enlightenment, by which to grant their deepest wishes. That can't be good for the universe, but how can the Doctor strategise against beings adept at reading his every thought?

Episode 19

08 March 1983 - Enlightenment (3)

Turlough's panic puts him aboard a pirate ship where Captain Wrack uses his presence to invite all the other captains over for dinner. She's been picking off a few of her greatest rivals in the race and now sees an opportunity to clear the field once and for all and become the clear winner.

Episode 20

09 March 1983 - Enlightenment (4)

Tegan isn't aware she been outfitted with a device to destroy Captain Striker's ship. While the detonation will merely slip the indestructible Eternals back into the realm of eternity, nothing nearly so elegant or as tidy awaits the Ephemerals aboard the ship.

Episode 21

15 March 1983 - The King's Demons (1)

In 1215 at the castle of Ranulf Fitzwilliam, son Hugh is jousting on a matter of honor against Sir Gillis Estram, the champion of King John, when the TARDIS appears. The Doctor, Turlough and Tegan are immediately hailed as demons and welcomed warmly by the King. Something is wrong with this picture, observes the Doctor.

Episode 22

16 March 1983 - The King's Demons (2)

England, 1215. With the historic signing of the Magna Carta supposedly only days away, the Doctor is startled to find King John apparently intent on provoking civil war - and seemingly in two places at once...

Crew

Department	Role	Name
Sound	Theme Song Performance	Peter Howell
	Main Title Theme Composer	Ron Grainer
Art	Main Title Designer	Sid Sutton
Production	Producer	John Nathan-Turner
Department	Role	Name

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