Doctor Who (season 24)

Doctor Who (season 24)
Cover art of the Region 2 DVD release for first serial of the season
Starring
Country of origin United Kingdom
No. of stories 4
No. of episodes 14
Release
Original network BBC One
Original release 7 September (1987-09-07) – 7 December 1987 (1987-12-07)
Season chronology

The twenty-fourth season of British science fiction television series Doctor Who began on 7 September 1987 with Sylvester McCoy's first story Time and the Rani, and ended with Dragonfire.

Production

A new logo for the series was introduced with this season along with a new opening credits sequence that moved away from the "starfield" motif introduced in 1980. As with the opening sequence from the Sixth Doctor era, the Seventh Doctor's opening does not use a static image of the Doctor, but rather one with limited animation: the image of the Doctor starts as a scowl, then fades to a winks followed by a smile. McCoy wears makeup that gives his face and hair a silver/grey appearance. Episode four mistakenly uses an early version of this sequence, which gives the Doctor's face a shadowy look which producer John Nathan-Turner felt was not prominent enough.[1][2]

Music

Keff McCulloch arranged the new opening theme. It was used until the end of the regular run of the series. The new theme arrangement marked the first time since the First Doctor's era that the theme's "middle eight" section was regularly heard during the opening credits (the previous two arrangements used the middle eight during the closing credits only).

Casting

Main cast

New Companion

The departure of Bonnie Langford saw plans to introduce a new companion. However, owing to Langford being undecided as to when she would actually leave the show, producer John Nathan-Turner asked writers Malcolm Kohll and Ian Briggs to formulate characters that could be used as potential companions. Kohll designed a character in his script, titled The Flight of the Chimeron (eventually to take shape as Delta and the Bannermen), called Ray. Initially it appeared that The Flight of the Chimeron would be the final serial of the season, which would see Ray leave with the Doctor. However, by the time it came to production and scheduling for the season, Kohll's serial had been swapped in the running order with Ian Briggs' (which became Dragonfire), and led to Briggs' creation, who eventually became Ace, taking Mel's place with the Doctor.[3]

Recurring stars

Kate O'Mara makes her second appearance as the Rani in McCoy's first serial Time and the Rani.

Guest stars

Sophie Aldred guest stars as Ace in Dragonfire; Ace would become the Doctor's companion in the next season.

Tony Selby, having recently appeared in The Trial of a Time Lord, also made a guest appearance as Sabalom Glitz in the same story and acts as an unofficial companion to the Seventh Doctor.

Serials

Andrew Cartmel takes over as script editor. This season is moved to a Monday schedule.

The previous season, while ostensibly a single 14-part serial, was divided into three stories of four episodes and one of two episodes. For this season, this was re-jigged into a new format that would be followed over the next three years, with a pair of four-parters and a pair of three-parters. Not including The Two Doctors, which had episodes of 45-minute duration, Delta and the Bannermen was the first standard format (25-minute) 3 part serial since Planet of Giants in Season 2.

StorySerialTitleDirected byWritten byOriginal air dateProd.
code		UK viewers
(millions) [4]		AI [4]
1441Time and the RaniAndrew MorganPip and Jane Baker7 September 1987 (1987-09-07)
14 September 1987
21 September 1987
28 September 1987		7D5.1
4.2
4.3
4.9		58
63
57
59
The Rani lures the TARDIS to Lakertya, where she requires the Doctor's aid to complete a device which will draw on the intelligence of history's greatest geniuses to help her reshape the universe to her own design. To this end, she drugs the newly-regenerated Doctor and masquerades as Mel to gain his trust. The real Mel, however, allies herself with the native Lakertyans, who have been suffering under the rule of the Rani and her bat-like Tetraps. It is up to Mel to rouse the Lakertyans to rebellion, and free the Doctor from the Rani's clutches.
1452Paradise TowersNicholas MallettStephen Wyatt5 October 1987 (1987-10-05)
12 October 1987
19 October 1987
26 October 1987		7E4.5
5.2
5.0
5.0		61
58
58
57
The Doctor and Mel go to Paradise Towers for a holiday, only to find the famed complex in ruins. Long ago, the adults went off to fight a war and never returned. Left behind are the Kangs, gangs of wild teenaged girls; the Rezzies, cannibalistic old women; the Caretakers, who ostensibly look after the Towers; and Pex, who was too scared to go to war. But also lurking is Kroagnon, architect of Paradise Towers, who has taken mental possession of the Chief Caretaker and the cleaning robots in an attempt to rid his creation of human life forever.
1463Delta and the BannermenChris CloughMalcolm Kohll2 November 1987 (1987-11-02)
9 November 1987
16 November 1987		7F5.3
5.1
5.4		63
60
60
The Doctor and Mel win a vacation on a time-travelling tour bus to a 1950s holiday camp. Also on the bus is Delta, the last of the Chimeron race, who is being hunted by the genocidal Bannermen and their brutish leader, Gavrok. When a mercenary on the bus alerts Gavrok to Delta's whereabouts, it is up to the Doctor and Mel to stop the assassins and find a way to give the Chimerons a new lease on life.
1474DragonfireChris CloughIan Briggs23 November 1987 (1987-11-23)
30 November 1987
7 December 1987		7G5.5
5.0
4.7		61
61
64
The TARDIS lands on Iceworld, an enormous shopping complex on Svartos. There, the Doctor and Mel meet up with a time-displaced teenaged waitress from Earth named Ace and their old friend Sabalom Glitz. Glitz is searching for the treasure of the legendary Dragon who is supposed to dwell beneath Iceworld. But when the Doctor joins Glitz in his quest, they discover more than they bargained for, unearthing the millennia-old secret of Kane, Iceworld's murderous ruler.

Broadcast

The entire season was broadcast from 7 September to 7 December 1987.

DVD Releases

All serials of season 24 were released individually in between 2009 and 2012.

Serial name Number and duration
of episodes		 R2 release date R4 release date R1 release date
Time and the Rani4 × 25 min.13 September 20104 November 201014 June 2011
Paradise Towers4 × 25 min.18 July 20111 September 20119 August 2011
Delta and the Bannermen3 × 25 min.22 June 20096 August 20091 September 2009
Dragonfire
Available as part of the Ace Adventures box set in Regions 2 & 4. Only available individually in Region 1.		3 × 25 min.7 May 2012[5] 7 June 20128 May 2012

In print

Serial name Novelisation title Author First published
Time and the Rani Time and the Rani Pip and Jane Baker 17 December 1987
Paradise Towers Paradise Towers Stephen Wyatt 1 December 1988
Delta and the Bannermen Delta and the Bannermen Malcolm Kohll 19 January 1989
Dragonfire Dragonfire Ian Briggs 16 March 1989

References

  1. ↑ Howe, David J.; Walker, Stephen James (1998). Doctor Who The Handbook – The Seventh Doctor. London: Doctor Who Books. p. 40. ISBN 0-426-20527-8.
  2. ↑ Howe, David J.; Walker, Stephen James (1998). "Time and the Rani". Doctor Who: The Television Companion. London: BBC Worldwide. p. 502. ISBN 0-563-40588-0.
  3. ↑ "A Brief History Of Time (Travel): Delta And The Bannermen". Shannonsullivan.com. Retrieved 2012-07-19.
  4. 1 2 "Ratings Guide". Doctor Who News. Retrieved 27 December 2014.
  5. ↑ DWM 433
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