The Five Doctors was a special feature-length
episode of the
British science fiction television series
Doctor Who, produced in celebration of the programme's twentieth anniversary. It originally aired in the United Kingdom on
November 25,
1983, although it had its world premiere in the
United States, on the
Chicago PBS station
WTTW-TV and various other PBS affiliates on
November 23, the anniversary date.
Synopsis The
Fifth Doctor,
Tegan and
Turlough are taking a break on the Eye of Orion, one of the most tranquil spots in the universe, when the Fifth Doctor suddenly collapses. Tegan and Turlough bring the Fifth Doctor back into the
TARDIS, where they discover to their distress that he is literally fading away. The Fifth Doctor manages to set the TARDIS controls for a destination and the ship dematerializes.
In a hidden chamber, a dark figure is manipulating the controls of a time scoop and kidnapping
the Doctor's previous
incarnations out of the time stream along with some of his former companions. The
First Doctor is taken while he is walking in a rose garden, the
Second Doctor and
Brigadier Lethbridge-Stewart from a
UNIT reunion and the
Third Doctor while he is out driving his roadster, Bessie. Also taken out of time are
Sarah Jane Smith and the Doctor's granddaughter
Susan Foreman. The
Fourth Doctor and
Romana are taken while
punting along the
River Cam, but whoever is doing this is frustrated as the two are trapped in the time vortex by a time eddy and unable to rematerialize. All of them, save the Fourth Doctor and Romana, are deposited on a desolate, rocky landscape — the Death Zone on
Gallifrey.
Meanwhile, in the Capitol on Gallifrey, the High Council of
Time Lords, headed by Lord President
Borusa and consisting of Chancellor Flavia and the Castellan, watches in concern. The
Eye of Harmony is being drained by whoever is taking the Doctor out of time, endangering all of Gallifrey. Despite Borusa's misgivings, the High Council has unanimously voted to call in the
Master to assist by going into the Death Zone to help the Doctors. Offered a pardon and a new cycle of regenerations, the Master accepts, and is given a copy of the Seal of the High Council by the Castellan to prove his bona fides, and a matter transmitter (transmat) recall device. He is then teleported via transmat to the Death Zone.
In the Zone, the Doctors face various dangers. The First Doctor and Susan are pursued by a
Dalek through a hall of mirrors, finally escaping when they push the Dalek into a dead end, where the discharge of its energy weapon ricochets back and destroys itself. The Second Doctor and the Brigadier escape from a squad of
Cybermen, and the Third Doctor rescues Sarah from her fall down an embankment. Sarah is mildly confused, as she had seen the Third Doctor regenerate into the Fourth (
Planet of the Spiders), but is glad to see the Doctor she once knew. The Second and Third Doctors explain to their companions that in Gallifrey's past, known as the Dark Time, the Time Lords misused their powers. A device called the Time Scoop was used to pluck beings out of their times and place them in the Death Zone, where they would fight each other in a sort of gladiatorial game. The Doctors' goal now is to reach the Dark Tower, where the Time Lord founder
Rassilon is entombed, although there is some doubt as to whether Rassilon is actually dead.
The Master meets and tries unsuccessfully to convince the Third Doctor that he is there to help. He is then forced to flee when thunderbolts fall from the sky. The Third Doctor only sees this as confirmation that this is all a plot of the Master's. The First Doctor and Susan find the TARDIS and the presence of the First Doctor seems to stabilize the Fifth for the moment. Together, they scan the tower and find three entrances — one at the apex of the tower, the main gate at the base, and one underground, but a force field prevents the TARDIS's entry. The Fifth Doctor takes Tegan and Susan to go to the main gate, but encounters the Master, who has no better luck convincing the Fifth Doctor than he did the Third. At that moment, the two are surrounded by Cybermen, and when they try to run away, the Master is knocked out by a cybergun blast. The Fifth Doctor finds the Master's recall device on his unconscious body, and transmats himself to the Capitol. The Master, confronted by the Cybermen, offers himself as a guide to the Tower.
In the Capitol, the Doctor is informed of the situation by the High Council. The Doctor realizes not only that he has done the Master an injustice, but also that they were found too easily by the Cybermen. He opens the recall device and finds a homing beacon inside. The Castellan, who gave the Master the device, is arrested and his quarters ordered to be searched. There is found a box containing the Black Scrolls of Rassilon, forbidden knowledge from the Dark Time. Borusa destroys the scrolls before anyone can examine them, and orders the Castellan taken to the mind probe for interrogation. However, as the Castellan is escorted outside, there is a shot. The Doctor rushes out to find the Castellan dead, and the Captain of the guard reporting that he was shot while trying to escape. The Doctor voices his concerns to Chancellor Flavia — the Castellan was stubborn, but not a traitor. There is more to this than meets the eye.
The Second Doctor and the Brigadier are exploring a series of caves when they encounter a
Yeti, left over from the games. Taking refuge in an alcove, the Doctor tries to chase the Yeti off with a
firework, but only succeeds in maddening it, causing it to collapse the entrance to the alcove. However, the Doctor detects a breeze blowing further back, and discovers the underground entrance to the Tower.
On the surface, the Third Doctor and Sarah come across a
Raston Warrior Robot, according to the Doctor the most perfect killing machine ever devised. Able to move with blinding speed and fire bolts of metal at its targets, it detects its victims by motion. The Doctor and Sarah are unable to move without attracting the robot's attention, but luck is on their side when a squad of Cybermen come over the ridge and are rapidly eliminated by the robot. Taking advantage of the distraction, the Doctor and Sarah run past the robot's position, taking some rope and spare bolts from the robot's cave. Reaching a cliff face just above the Tower, the Doctor uses the rope and bolts to form a grappling hook, and both he and Sarah
abseil across to the top of the Tower.
Tegan and Susan have told the First Doctor what happened to the Fifth Doctor. The First Doctor decides to head for the main gate himself, with Tegan insisting on accompanying him. Opening the main gate through the means of a keypad hidden under a bell, they find a chessboard floor pattern blocking their way. The First Doctor determines that the chessboard is a trap — electrical bolts will destroy anyone attempting to cross unless they find the safe path. The Master appears at this point, warning them the Cybermen are close behind. While the Doctor and Tegan hide, the Master lures the Cybermen onto the chessboard and they are all killed. The Master blithely steps across the board, moving into the Tower after telling the Doctor that "it's as easy as pie." The Doctor realizes that the Master means the Greek letter
pi, and that the safe path is calculated by means of the mathematical constant. Armed with this knowledge, the Doctor and Tegan make their way across the trap. In the Zone, the TARDIS is being surrounded by Cybermen, who start to assemble a bomb to blow it up. Inside, Turlough and Susan watch helplessly, not knowing what to do.
The Second and Third Doctors encounter more obstacles while moving separately through the Tower, with the mind of Rassilon exuding a feeling of intensifying fear. They also encounter what appear to be their previous companions, the Third meeting
Captain Mike Yates and
Liz Shaw, and the Second meeting
Jamie McCrimmon and
Zoe Heriot. The Doctors soon realize they are just phantoms designed to impede their progress through the Tower, and the spectres vanish with a scream. Finally, all three Doctors reach the tomb, where Rassilon's casket is. While the Brigadier, Sarah and Tegan get re-acquainted, the three Doctors try to translate an inscription written in Ancient Gallifreyan on a pedestal near a control panel.
The Fifth Doctor finds that Borusa has vanished from the Council chamber, but the guards insist the President could not have gotten by them at the only entrance. The transmat is out of power, so the Doctor deduces there must be a secret door. He finds it hidden behind a painting of Rassilon playing the harp. The key to opening the door is a series of notes played on the actual harp standing in front of the painting, notes indicated by the sheet music in the painting itself. The Doctor enters the secret chamber, and finds the dark figure that had taken his other selves out of time: Borusa. The Lord President is not satisfied with ruling Gallifrey for his lifetimes — he wants to be President Eternal. Borusa has determined that Rassilon discovered the secret of immortality, and he means to claim it, sending the Doctors into the Zone to clear the way for him. Using the Coronet of Rassilon, Borusa overwhelms the Fifth Doctor's will, forcing the latter to obey his commands.
In the tomb, the Doctors have deciphered the inscription. Rassilon did discover immortality, and was willing to share it with whoever overcame the obstacles to the tomb and took the ring from his body. However, a line troubles the First Doctor: "To lose is to win and he who wins shall lose." The Master steps out of the shadows, wanting to claim immortality himself, but is attacked from behind by the Brigadier and tied up by Sarah and Tegan. The Third Doctor fixes the control panel by reversing the polarity of the neutron flow, allowing the TARDIS to transport itself to the tomb just seconds before the Cybermen's bomb detonates.
The Second Doctor contacts the Capitol, and the Fifth Doctor answers, still under Borusa's control. The Fifth Doctor tells his other selves to await his and Borusa's arrival. Transmatting over to the tomb, Borusa paralyzes the Doctors' companions with a command and tries to control the minds of the Doctors as well, but fails as all four Doctors combine their wills against him. However, a booming voice echoes through the chamber, the voice of Rassilon, demanding to know who disturbs him. Borusa steps forward to claim immortality and while the other Doctors protest, the First Doctor holds the others back and says to the projection of Rassilon that Borusa deserves the prize. Borusa takes the ring from the body and puts it on, but finds himself paralyzed, then transformed into one of several stone faces carved into the side of the casket. Rassilon then sends the Master back to his own time, and frees the Fourth Doctor from the time vortex before returning to eternal rest. The First Doctor smugly tells the Fifth that he finally understood the proverb. The prize was another trap — a means for Rassilon to discover who wanted immortality and get them out of the way.
The Doctors and their companions say their good-byes to each other and re-enter the TARDIS save for the Fifth Doctor, Tegan and Turlough. As the three watch, the others are transported back to their proper timezones. Chancellor Flavia arrives with guards and tells the Doctor that with Borusa's disappearance, the Council has appointed the Doctor as President. The Doctor appears reluctant, and Flavia tells him he cannot refuse an order of the Council, or it will attract the severest penalties. The Doctor orders Flavia back to the Capitol, saying that he will travel in his TARDIS and that she has full powers until his return. Once in the ship, however, he reveals to Tegan and Turlough he has no intention of returning. Tegan asks if the Doctor really intends to go on the run from his own people in a rickety old TARDIS. The Doctor replies, smiling, "Why not? After all, that's how it all started."
Plot The Doctor —
Peter Davison,
Jon Pertwee,
Patrick Troughton,
Richard Hurndall,
Tom Baker,
William Hartnell Tegan —
Janet Fielding Turlough —
Mark Strickson Sarah Jane Smith —
Elisabeth Sladen Susan Foreman —
Carole Ann Ford Brigadier Lethbridge-Stewart —
Nicholas Courtney The Master —
Anthony Ainley Borusa —
Philip Latham Romana —
Lalla Ward Chancellor Flavia —
Dinah Sheridan The Castellan —
Paul Jerricho Cyber Leader —
David Banks Cyber Lieutenant —
Mark Hardy Rassilon —
Richard Mathews Jamie McCrimmon —
Frazer Hines Zoe —
Wendy Padbury Colonel Crichton —
David Savile Liz Shaw —
Caroline John Captain Yates —
Richard Franklin Voice of
K9 —
John Leeson Dalek Voice —
Roy Skelton Dalek Operator —
John Scott Martin Sergeant —
Ray Float Raston Robot —
Keith Hodiak Commander —
Stuart Blake Technician —
Stephen Meredith Guard —
John Tallents Cyber Scout —
William Kenton Cast The role of the First Doctor was played by Richard Hurndall, as William Hartnell, who originally played the role, died in 1975. Tom Baker declined to reprise his role as the
Fourth Doctor, as he did not want to reappear in the series so recently after his departure (a decision he would later say that he regretted); so his appearance in the story was pieced together from footage filmed for the unaired serial
Shada. William Hartnell does make an appearance, however, in a pre-titles sequence taken from the end of
The Dalek Invasion of Earth.
The scene with Jamie and Zoe was originally written with Zoe and
Victoria Waterfield in mind. The Doctor would have realised the truth when Victoria called Lethbridge-Stewart "Brigadier", since Victoria had only met the Brigadier when he was a Colonel in
The Web of Fear. However,
Deborah Watling was unable to make the filming dates, but Frazer Hines was able to free himself up for a day's shooting, so Jamie was written in instead.
In the original drafts of the script, the Doctor/companion combinations were very different. Before Tom Baker decided not to appear, the Fourth Doctor would have been paired with Sarah, the Third Doctor with the Brigadier and the Second Doctor with Jamie. When Baker declined to appear and Frazer Hines was unable to meet the production dates due to other commitments, the scripts had to be altered. However, Hines was able to step in later for a cameo appearance, as noted above.
Cast notes The Five Doctors marks the end of a string of linked serials that began with
The Leisure Hive.
This is only the second time in the series' history that there was a pre-credits sequence.
Castrovalva (1982) was the first such story. Subsequently,
Time and the Rani (1987) and
Remembrance of the Daleks (1988) also featured pre-credits teasers. The pre-credits sequence became a regular occurrence starting with the 2005 series episode "
The End of the World".
This serial also featured the debut of the new TARDIS console and room, the first redesign since 1977. This console would remain until the end of series production in 1989.
This serial ended fan speculation as to whether or not
Patrick Troughton and Jon Pertwee's Doctors were regenerations or merely "changes of appearance". It also explictly indicated in dialogue that the Davison incarnation of the Doctor was in fact the fifth, officially contradicting the
Morbius Doctors speculation that had circulated since the
The Brain of Morbius serial that there had been additional incarnations of the Doctor prior to Hartnell.
When asked by the Third Doctor as to whether he has regenerated again, the Master says "Not exactly", referencing his stealing of Tremas's body as seen in the Fourth Doctor story
The Keeper of Traken (
1981).
This is the first time it is suggested that a new cycle of regenerations can be bestowed on a person (in this case the Master), implying that it could be possible to circumvent the twelve-regeneration limit established in
The Deadly Assassin. However, the Master is occupying a non-Time Lord body, so whether this can be applied to a Time Lord who has already reached his thirteenth incarnation is unclear.
Three incarnations of
Borusa previously appeared in
The Deadly Assassin,
The Invasion of Time and
Arc of Infinity.
Dinah Sheridan makes a guest appearance as Flavia. The character has subsequently been mentioned in spin-off fiction as becoming President of the High Council and then subsequently removed from office due to a scandal (as detailed in the
New Adventures novel,
Happy Endings). In the new series, a musical cue composed by
Murray Gold with ethereal sounding vocals is jokingly referred to as "Flavia's Theme" by the production team, who say it is Flavia's voice singing out from the
time vortex.
One of the jewels from the Coronet of Rassilion would later play an important part in the
Big Finish Productions Bernice Summerfield adventure
The Crystal of Cantus.
No explanation is given for
companion Kamelion's absence from this story.
Continuity This story takes place after
The Dalek Invasion of Earth from the point of view of the First Doctor and Susan, given Susan's mature appearance and the implication that they have been separated for some time.
Although it is never made clear exactly where this story takes place within the Second and Third Doctors' chronology, it is strongly implied that it takes place after the events of
The Three Doctors. The Second Doctor mentions
Omega while reminiscing with the Brigadier, and also makes a comment about his own replacement being "unpromising" when he is in UNIT headquarters and meets Lethbridge-Stewart's successor. The Third Doctor also refers to "that fellow in the check trousers and black frock-coat" when he meets the illusions of Mike Yates and Liz Shaw. The familiar and mock-antagonistic way that the Second and Third Doctors interact also suggests that
The Five Doctors takes place after the events of
The Three Doctors for them both. Since the First Doctor refers to the Second as "the little fellow", it is reasonable to assume that the story takes place later in his chronology as well.
The Second Doctor's method of determining that Jamie and Zoe are phantoms which references the events of
The War Games is, seemingly, a continuity error, (subsequently rendering the Second Doctor's earlier meeting with the Brigadier in this story a continuity error). The memories of Jamie and Zoe's
travels with the Doctor, as opposed to their respective initial adventures with him in their own home eras (
The Highlanders and
The Wheel in Space) were wiped in
The War Games when they were returned to their own times at a moment just after they had left in the TARDIS. There are various fan explanations for this and it is noted that it is the Brigadier only that they should not have recognised as neither of them would remember meeting him in
The Web of Fear and
The Invasion respectively.
This story takes place some time between
The Time Warrior and
Planet of the Spiders from the Third Doctor's point of view as he recognises Sarah Jane, for whom events take place after
K-9 and Company.
The Third Doctor reacts to Sarah's mimed description of the Fourth Doctor by saying, "Teeth and curls?" and telling her the change has not happened yet for him. Although the Third Doctor may just be interpreting her gestures, his accuracy has led some fans to believe that it implies a previous unseen encounter with the Fourth Doctor. According to
Terrance Dicks on the
DVD commentary, the line was supposed to be Sarah's, but Pertwee negotiated with Elisabeth Sladen for him to say it instead, leading to the problem. In the short story
The Touch of the Nurazh by Stephen Hatcher from the anthology
Short Trips: Monsters, an injury makes the Third Doctor begin to regenerate into the Fourth but the process is reversed. This is witnessed by Jo Grant, and the theory is that she subsequently describes the Fourth Doctor's appearance to the Third.
That Romana has her second known appearance implies that the story takes place between
Destiny of the Daleks, wherein she regenerated into that form, and
Meglos from the point of view of the Fourth Doctor and Romana (and the unseen K-9 Mark II), their being in
Cambridge confirming that they are not yet trapped in E-Space, (as seen in
Full Circle to
Warriors' Gate), where Romana and K-9 Mark II remained in
Warriors' Gate.
This story occurs after
Mawdryn Undead from the Brigadier's point of view, given that he recognises Tegan and later the Fifth Doctor.
At the start of the episode, Sarah Jane Smith is shown with K-9, a direct reference to the spin-off pilot of two years earlier,
K-9 and Company. The two characters later returned in the
Tenth Doctor story "
School Reunion".
Retroactive perspectives The working title for this story was
The Six Doctors. It would have been written by former
script editor Robert Holmes and would have featured the
Cybermen and their
kidnapping of the five incarnations of the Doctor; in their attempt to extract
Time Lord DNA to turn themselves into "Cyberlords", the twist being that the First Doctor and Susan would actually be
android impostors (the former being the "Sixth Doctor" of the title) and the Second Doctor would have saved the day. However, Holmes dropped out at an early stage and another former script editor, Terrance Dicks, was brought in instead. Some elements of this plotline would be reused in Holmes's own
The Two Doctors.
The original script featured an appearance by the
Autons, last seen in
Terror of the Autons. After being dropped into the Death Zone, Sarah would have been attacked by a group of them before being rescued by the Third Doctor. However, due to budgetary restrictions, the scene was dropped and replaced in the finished version.
Just before she meets the Third Doctor, Sarah falls a few feet down what fans have generally considered a rather unconvincing slope. In the novelisation, Sarah actually steps off a cliff. This was what was originally intended in the script, but for budgetary reasons the sequence was changed.
Nathan-Turner's first choice of director for the story was
Waris Hussein, who had directed the first ever
Doctor Who serial,
An Unearthly Child, in 1963. However, Hussein was in America at the time and was unable to accept the offer. Nathan-Turner then asked another veteran director,
Douglas Camfield, to direct but he also declined. It has been suggested that Camfield was offended to be second choice or that he was angered that Nathan-Turner had not asked him back to
Doctor Who before, but there is no known evidence to support this suggestion. Camfield was also very ill with
heart disease, and this may have had an impact on his decision not to direct the production. He died of a
heart attack early in 1984.
The programme is officially a co-production with the
Australian Broadcasting Corporation, although the production team were not aware of this during production and the agreement in effect amounted to little more than a pre-production purchase pact.
The story was prepared in two formats: the ninety-minute version and a four-part version, the latter designed for international distribution or repeat broadcasting in the ordinary series run. The episode breaks were, respectively: Sarah falling down the slope, the Cybermen placing their bomb outside the TARDIS while Susan and Turlough watch; and the Master appearing behind the
First Doctor and Tegan while in the Dark Tower.
In the various publicity photos of the five Doctors from this story, a waxwork model of
Tom Baker from a 1980 Doctor Who Exhibition in
Madame Tussaud's was used. According to producer
John Nathan-Turner, Baker had agreed to do the photocall for the 20th anniversary but, suspecting that he might not turn up, Turner organised for the waxwork to be on location.
This is the only programme from the classic series of
Doctor Who for which all recorded and filmed material, including alternate and unused takes, fluffed scenes and so forth, still exists in broadcast-quality format. This allowed for the creation of the 1995 version of the story.
The end credits featured a specially mixed version of the theme music, which began with
Delia Derbyshire's original 1960s arrangement and then segued into the
Peter Howell arrangement being used by the series at the time. This arrangement was only used on this one occasion and was the last time that the Derbyshire version was heard during the show's original run. A unique arrangement of the opening credits music was also used, which ended in a brief coda phrase that was never used in any other serial.
Broadcast, VHS and DVD releases
Structure and narrative technique
Barents Sea and White Sea (Arctic Ocean)
Renovations and additions