"Doctor Who" The Five Doctors (1983)

Director:

Peter Moffatt

Writer:

Terrance Dicks (writer)

TV Series:

"Doctor Who" (1963)

Original Air Date:

23 November 1983 (Season 20, Episode 23)

Genre:

Adventure | Drama | Sci-Fi

Plot:

The Doctor and his previous regenerative versions are abducted to an isolated area of his home planet as part of a renegade timelord's scheme.

Plot Keywords:

Dalek | Robot | Cyborg | Immortality | Cyberman

Cast

Peter Davison	...	The Doctor
Patrick Troughton	...	The Doctor
Jon Pertwee	...	The Doctor
Richard Hurndall	...	The Doctor
Tom Baker	...	The Doctor (archive footage)
William Hartnell	...	The Doctor (archive footage)
Janet Fielding	...	Tegan Jovanka
Mark Strickson	...	Turlough
Elisabeth Sladen	...	Sarah Jane Smith
Carole Ann Ford	...	Susan Foreman
Nicholas Courtney	...	Brigadier Lethbridge-Stewart
Lalla Ward	...	Romana (archive footage)
Anthony Ainley	...	The Master
Philip Latham	...	Lord President Borusa
Dinah Sheridan	...	Chancellor Flavia

Runtime:

90 min | 102 min (DVD version)

Country:

UK

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White | Color

Sound Mix:

Dolby

Certification:

Australia:PG | UK:U

Filming Locations:

Carreg Y Foelgron, Ffestiniog, Gwynedd, Wales, UK

Company:

Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC)

Trivia:

Geoffrey Bayldon was seriously considered for The Hartnell Doctor

Quotes:

Fifth Doctor: I'm certainly not the man I was. Thank goodness.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in "Doctor Who: The Age of Steel (#2.6)" (2006)

Soundtrack:

Destiny Waltz

Should be called 'The Four Doctors' ...

This particular Dr Who episode, which screened during Peter Davison's (the 5th Doctor) tenure, was intended to celebrate the 20th anniversary of Dr Who. The plot - a mysterious individual has summoned all incarnations of the Doctor to the Death Zone on Gallifrey for some unknown purpose. The Doctors, unsure of why they are here try to reach the Tower of Rasselon (sp?) to find answers, where along the way they confront various obstacles (a Daalek, Cybermen, a Yeti etc.) Apparently the mysterious individual wants something within the tower and is using the Doctors to get it - one Doctor would not have been enough, but FIVE doctors might be (well 4 really, read below).

It's pretty much well known that Tom Baker (the 4th Doctor) declined to appear in this special episode so the producers were forced to use some old footage from Baker's tenure as the Doctor and then use the plot device of having him 'stuck' in the vortex (or whatever they called it) to explain his absence, so contrary to the title the story from the outset only really involves 4 doctors. In addition William Hartnell (the 1st Doctor) had passed away in 1975 so a replacement in Richard Hurndall had to be found. Hurndall does a good job in keeping to the character as originally played by Hartnell but it's pretty obvious to all that it's another actor, but that couldn't be helped.

As far as the quality of the episode goes, it depends on what you want to get out of it. As an exercise in seeing all of the Doctors (well 4 of them - and 1 with a replacement actor) it's not too bad, especially seeing how each Doctor reacts to the others being present (the verbal sparring between Patrick Troughton (the 2nd Doctor) and Jon Pertwee (the 3rd Doctor) is hilarious). However as far as plot goes its pretty weak on the ground - 90% of the episode seems to be made up of shots of each of the respective Doctors running from something, with the 5th Doctor killing time outside the zone trying to figure it all out and token references being made concerning the 4t Doctor being 'stuck' and thus not present. And the Master has a few scenes too. Clearly for the amount of Doctors involved (not counting all the sidekicks they bring along) 90 mins is nowhere long enough to adequately tell a story involving all of them (or 4 of them)

Worth a look to see all 5 (sorry, 4 ::sigh::) Doctors together in action, just don't expect anything major in the plot department.