The Five Doctors (TV story)

"A man is a sum of his memories — a Time Lord even more so."

- The Fifth Doctor

The Five Doctors was a special ninety-minute story which celebrated the 20th anniversary of Doctor Who. The story united the then-current Fifth Doctor with his predecessors in an adventure which also featured several of his past and current companions and enemies.

In addition to its inclusion of a number of characters not normally seen together, it was significant for a number of behind-the-scenes novelties. It was the first — and, as of 2008, only — episode of Doctor Who to premiere in the United States, aside from the American co-produced TV movie. It was also the first Doctor Who narrative broadcast as a part of the UK's Children in Need charity telethon.

Synopsis
Someone is plucking all the incarnations of the Doctor out of time, and placing them in the Death Zone on Gallifrey where they will meet old friends and enemies and play out the deadly Game of Rassilon, for the ultimate prize. But to lose is to win, and he who wins shall lose...

Plot
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 his 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 &mdash; the Death Zone on Gallifrey.

Meanwhile, in the Capitol on Gallifrey, the Inner 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 whomever 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, and is 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 &mdash; 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. The scrolls spontaneously combust before anyone can examine them, and Borusa 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 &mdash; 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 &mdash; 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 sepulchre is. While the Brigadier, Sarah and Tegan get re-acquainted, the three Doctors try to translate an inscription written in Old High 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 &mdash; 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 &mdash; 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 orders Flavia back to the Capitol, saying that he will follow 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 rackety old TARDIS. The Doctor replies, smiling, "Why not? After all, that's how it all started."

Cast

 * The Doctor - Peter Davison
 * Tegan Jovanka - Janet Fielding
 * Turlough - Mark Strickson
 * The Doctor - Jon Pertwee
 * The Doctor - Patrick Troughton
 * The Doctor - Richard Hurndall
 * The Doctor - Tom Baker (footage from unbroadcast Shada)
 * The Doctor - William Hartnell
 * Sarah Jane Smith - Elisabeth Sladen
 * Brigadier Lethbridge-Stewart - Nicholas Courtney
 * Susan - Carole Ann Ford
 * The Master - Anthony Ainley
 * Romana - Lalla Ward (footage from unbroadcast Shada)
 * Lord President Borusa - Philip Latham
 * Chancellor Flavia - Dinah Sheridan
 * The Castellan - Paul Jerricho
 * Jamie McCrimmon - Frazer Hines (illusion)
 * Zoe Heriot - Wendy Padbury (illusion)
 * Liz Shaw - Caroline John (illusion)
 * Captain Mike Yates - Richard Franklin (illusion)
 * K9 - John Leeson (cameo)
 * Rassilon - Richard Mathews
 * Cyber Leader - David Banks
 * Cyber Lieutenant - Mark Hardy
 * Crichton - David Savile
 * Dalek Voice - Roy Skelton
 * Dalek Operator - John Scott Martin
 * Commander - Stuart Blake
 * Technician - Stephen Meredith
 * Sergeant - Ray Float
 * Guard - John Tallents
 * Cyber Scout - William Kenton
 * Raston Robot - Keith Hodiak

Crew

 * Film Editor - M.A.C. Adams
 * Studio Lighting - Don Babbage
 * Film Cameraman - John Baker
 * Visual Effects - John Brace
 * Production Associate - June Collins
 * Production Assistant - Jean Davis
 * Title Music - Ron Grainer and the BBC Radiophonic Workshop
 * Theme arrangement - Peter Howell
 * Make-Up - Jill Hagger
 * Incidental Music - Peter Howell
 * Costumes - Colin Lavers
 * Special Sounds - Dick Mills
 * Studio Sound - Martin Ridout
 * Assistant Floor Manager - Pauline Seager
 * Script Editor - Eric Saward
 * Writer - Terrance Dicks
 * Designer - Malcolm Thornton
 * Director - Peter Moffatt
 * Producer - John Nathan-Turner

Gallifrey

 * The Death Zone "the black secret at the heart of your Time Lord paradise" was created in the days before Rassilon when Gallifreyans kidnapped aliens for sport.
 * The second incarnation of the Doctor says that his ancestors had "tremendous powers, which they misused".
 * Borusa kidnaps the Doctors using the time scoop to the Death Zone on Gallifrey.
 * The Dark Tower is accessible from three points.
 * Borusa, who has regenerated again, is at least the fourth Time Lord to play the Game of Rassilon in search of immortality.

Real Earth people

 * Whilst punting down the river the Doctor rambles to Romana mentioning;
 * Isaac Newton
 * Andrew Marvell
 * Christopher Smart
 * Ernest Rutherford
 * Owen Chadwick
 * William Wordsworth
 * Judge Jeffries

Story Notes

 * This story commemorated the twentieth anniversary of Doctor Who.
 * Robert Holmes was initially commissioned to write the special, which initially had the working title The Six Doctors because it originally included a robot imposter of one of the Doctors. Holmes, however, was unable to come up with a workable script, so Terrance Dicks was commissioned to write the piece.
 * The Five Doctors was co-produced with the Australian Broadcasting Commission who put in AUD $60,000.
 * The companion-hallucination cameos were last-minute additions to the script, and Dicks had already completed his first draft of the script when Tom Baker pulled out of the project.
 * William Hartnell was deceased by this time, and Tom Baker declined to return to his role as the Fourth Doctor. An early idea to incorporate footage of Hartnell and Baker into the story's action in a way similar to the contemporary film Dead Men Don't Wear Plaid was abandoned in favor of hiring actor Richard Hurndall to give his own impression of the First Doctor, while clips of Baker and Lalla Ward from the unfinished and (at the time) never-before-seen story "Shada" were used to show only the Fourth Doctor's abduction and return, without any interaction between himself and the other Doctors. For a publicity cast photo, a figure from Madame Tussaud's Wax Museum of Baker as the Doctor was used.


 * This story was broadcast via satellite on 23 November, 1983 to North American viewers, before its transmission in the UK. However, UK viewers did get to see some extra scenes and dialogue.


 * Terrance Dicks is said to have been displeased with Eric Saward's changes to his original story. He especially felt the Cybermen, for whom Saward had a particular fondness, were overused in the finished story.


 * The story was revamped for a mid-1990s video release with scenes and dialogue added or deleted, and some of the visual effects and the voice of Rassilon redone. The resulting version continues to receive mixed reactions from fans.


 * 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 explicitly indicated in dialogue that the Davison incarnation of the Doctor was in fact the fifth, officially discounting fan speculation dating back to The Brain of Morbius that the First Doctor wasn't actually the first. Ironically, Terrance Dicks wrote both stories.
 * Just as the Doctor is (almost) never referred to as "Doctor Who", so too are the terms First Doctor, Second Doctor, etc. never actually uttered on screen. This episode comes closest to breaking that precedent when the First Doctor asks the Fifth, "Regeneration?" and the Fifth replies "Fourth".
 * The Quarks were set to return to Doctor Who for The Five Doctors but were removed from the script at an early stage and replaced by the Raston Warrior Robot. The Quarks appear on the cover of the Five Doctor's VHS as this was not changed to match the TV swap.
 * Dicks' original script also included an encounter with the Autons.
 * This story marks the end of a long series of linked storylines that began with The Leisure Hive. Each story had been linked in some way, either as direct continuations, or in more subtle ways such as dialogue references to previous events. In this case, The Five Doctors is linked to The King's Demons and earlier stories by the fact it resolves the subplot of the Doctor finally arriving at the Eye of Orion.
 * Commander Maxil, last seen in Arc of Infinity, was at one point to have appeared. The character was dropped from the final script, most likely due to actor Colin Baker's imminent appointment as the Sixth Doctor.
 * Two versions of the ending sequences were made. One had a scene in which the Doctor and Romana were seen to run inside a building and instead of the Timescoop taking the Doctors back, there were TARDIS holograms and the accompanying sound to take them back, however this has been omitted from the final version.
 * Unless one considers the Brigadier to be a companion, this story has the distinction of marking the first time companions from different eras had met and interacted. This would occur only once more in the original series, in The Two Doctors when Peri and Jamie meet, and has occurred several times in the 2005-present revival.

Ratings

 * 7.7 million viewers

Myths

 * The Five Doctors was to feature Omega.

Filming Locations

 * Plas Brondanw, Llanfrothen, Penrhyndeudraeth, Gwynedd (Eye of Orion)
 * Manod Quarry (now known as Cwt y Bugail Quarry (McAlpine)), Blaenau Ffestiniog, Gwynedd
 * Tilehouse Lane, Denham Green, Buckinghamshire (Third Doctor chase scene in Bessie)
 * West Common Road, Uxbridge, Middlesex (Sarah Jane Smith's house)
 * Carreg Y Foel Gron, Ffestiniog, Gwynedd (Location where Susan and the First Doctor see the TARDIS)
 * Cwm Bychan, Llanbedr, Gwynedd (Road in the Death Zone where the Third Doctor and Sarah drive)
 * Denham Manor, Halings Lane, Denham Green (UNIT HQ)
 * North Common Road, Uxbridge, Middlesex (Location where Sarah waits for the bus and is taken by the Time Scoop)
 * Ealing Television Film Studios, Ealing Green, Ealing
 * BBC Television Centre (TC6), Shepherd's Bush, London

Discontinuity, Plot Holes, Errors

 * After being frozen by Borusa, the Brigadier clearly moves his head to watch Borusa go. The Brigadier has had training to resist such mental attacks see NA: No Future.
 * When the Cyberman attacks the Brigadier, his jeans are visible.(WHAT?)
 * The Cybermen following the Master into the Tomb must be blind not to see the Doctor.
 * When the checkerboard floor becomes electrified and the Cybermen are zapped, one particularly dim Cyberman who had not stepped on yet continues obliviously on to the platform to meet his fate.
 * If the Time Lords can offer the Master a new life, then why is Borusa so worried about his own mortality? Just because they can offer a Time Lord a new cycle of regenerations doesn't mean it's not exceptional to do so. There's no reason for the High Council to grant Borusa more regenerations
 * The rope that the Third Doctor slides towards to tower on clearly goes up at the end.
 * The Master meets the Fifth Doctor on his way to the Tomb, then offers to lead the Cybermen to the Tomb. He is then beaten to the Tower by the First Doctor, who only started his journey when Susan and Tegan arrive back.
 * Like in Earthshock a Cyberman uses the phrase Excellent when they are said to have no emotions. maybe the cyberleader has a limited sense of emotion. Or the phrase might simply be a stock phrase the Cyberman has been programmed to say, but is otherwise as meaningless as "Have a nice day".
 * How could the Brigadier say "Nice to see you again!" to the Master after the latter has just regenerated and so the Brigadier wouldn't recognise him at all? He figures it out like the Third Doctor they don't really look that different. Also there is nothing to indicate the Brigadier hadn't met the Master in his current form at some earlier time.
 * No reference is made to the Doctor's newest companion, Kamelion, who only joined in the preceding serial; even the android's former owner, The Master, makes no reference to him. MA:The Crystal Bucephalus accounts for why he does not feature. As for the Master it is not clear where in the Master's personal timeline he is taken from.
 * Left unexplained is why the "younger" incarnations don't remember this incident of meeting themselves, a fact muddied by the much later Time Crash It has been suggested that the Time Lords wipe there memory. Sarah not remembering this story in School Reunion seems to support that.''
 * How can The Second Doctor know that the Time Lords sent Jamie and Zoe back to their own times and wiped their memories of him when he regenerated at the end of the War Games See Season 6B, a theory created by fans and later supported by Terrance Dicks in his Past Doctor Adventures novel Players, that suggests the regeneration did not occur immediately after the end of The War Games and that the Doctor went on to have several adventures working for the Celestial Intervention Agency before finally regenerating. This theory is also intended to cover discrepancies surrounding The Two Doctors''.
 * The Second Doctor concludes that Jamie and Zoe aren't real because he knows there memories of their time with him were wiped by the Time Lords. But in The War Games the Time Lords say they will remember only their first adventure with the Doctor so there's no reason why they wouldn't remember him. However, they would still not recognise the Brigadier, and the Doctor is not suspicious till Jamie names him.
 * Also, how does the Doctor know the Time Scoop didn't kidnap Jamie and Zoe from a time when they were still travelling with the Doctor? Because the Doctor could see that Jamie and Zoe had aged considerably since his last adventure with them.
 * Susan recognises the Cybermen when she sees them outside the TARDIS, yet she stopped travelling with the Doctor long before his first encounter with them. She sees them in this adventure when she is with Tegan who names them so she knows what they are called from there. Alternatively, as The Doctor obviously knew of the Cybermen before "The Tenth Planet", it is not unreasonable to assume that Susan might have done so too. Perhaps they both learned about them on Gallifrey.
 * The First Doctor and Susan stop to rest in the Death Zone. Susan then points out the TARDIS with surprise and delight, though it is in an open space not ten metres before them!
 * If Borusa can use the time scoop to bring the Doctors into the Death Zone, could he not use it to take the Daleks, Cybermen, Yeti and Raston Robot out?
 * If the transmat can take Borusa, the Fifth Doctor, Chancellor Flavia and her guards directly to the Tomb of Rasillon, why the elaborate plan to use the Doctors to find it?!
 * Despite the few, somewhat tame obstacles the Doctors encounter, they make their progress to the Tower with relative ease. We are meant to believe however that the Game of Rassillon was a death sentence.
 * The destruction of the Dalek, which was supposed 'to play the Game too well' not so much demonstrates the cunning of the Doctor as the stupidity of the Dalek.
 * The Sound of Drums later established that Time Lords can always recognise each other (although this does not seem to apply to different incarnations of the same Time Lord, for example in Time Crash where the Fifth Doctor does not know who the Tenth is). Why, then, does the First Doctor not recognise the Master, them having been at the Academy together? The Master is in a non-Time Lord body and so perhaps the First Doctor will not recognise him. This is similar to the situation in Utopia where the Tenth Doctor cannot recognise the Master in human form.
 * When each of the Doctors are taken out of the Doctor's timestream, only the Fifth Doctor is affected. Why aren't the Second, Third and Fourth getting the same reaction when the First Doctor is taken out and so forth? Perhaps the Fifth Doctor's reaction is due to the fact that the Fourth Doctor was not Time Scooped properly. The First, Second and Third Doctors had not "been" the Fourth yet, and so this would not have affected them. Also, it's possible their physical reactions may simply have occurred off screen or have been too minor for them to notice since the Fifth Doctor indicates his reaction is in part due to being "whittled away" which one would expect to affect the older Time Lord. The First Doctor wouldn't have anything to be whittled away. Alternately, the lack of reaction may also be due to the fact the younger Doctors were abducted earlier than the Fifth, so had more time to feel the effects.
 * Why doesn't the Fifth Doctor remember the events already (likewise the Third, Second, etc.). This is an issue faced by every multi-Doctor story and requires suspension of disbelief from the audience. It can be rationalized that the memories of the interaction were supressed by the Time Lords, which is supported by dialogue in School Reunion suggesting Sarah Jane and the Tenth Doctor have no memory of meeting during The Five Doctors.

Continuity

 * Three incarnations of Borusa previously appeared in DW: The Deadly Assassin', The Invasion of Time and Arc of Infinity''.
 * The Brigadier refers to Yeti (DW: The Web of Fear) and Cybermen (DW: The Invasion)
 * The Second Doctor mentions Omega. (DW: The Three Doctors)
 * Sarah Jane is seen with K-9, a reference to the K-9 & Company: A Girl's Best Friend.
 * EDA: The Eight Doctors features the Raston Warrior Robot and the Fifth Doctor at the Eye of Orion.
 * This story occurs after (DW: Mawdryn Undead) from the Brigadier's point of view, given that he recognises Tegan and later the Fifth Doctor.
 * The Time Lords offer the Master a complete life cycle, which they do later in their history. (DW: The Sound of Drums)

Perspectives

 * It is implied that the Doctor and Susan have not met for a while, thus it must be after The Dalek Invasion of Earth.
 * The story hints several times that this is after the events of The Three Doctors for The first three doctors. The Second Doctor mentions Omega while reminiscing with the Brigadier, and also makes a comment about his replacement being "unpromising" when he is in UNIT headquarters.  The Third Doctor refers to “that fellow in the check trousers and black frock-coat” when he meets the illusions of Mike Yates and Liz Shaw.  The First Doctor refers to the Second as "the little fellow".
 * The Brigadier refers to the Yeti (The Web of Fear) and the Cybermen (The Invasion). He also recognises the Fifth Doctor and Tegan suggesting it is after Mawdryn Undead.
 * For the Third Doctor, it takes place some time between The Time Warrior and Planet of the Spiders as he recognises Sarah Jane (who was his last companion before his regeneration).
 * Sarah is at home with K-9, so it must be after the K-9 and Company spinoff.
 * 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. In the short story The Touch of the Nurazh 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. (According to both Elisabeth Sladen and Terrance Dicks the "all teeth and curls" line was supposed to be Sarah's, but Jon Pertwee appropriated it for himself.)
 * The time-placement for the Fourth Doctor depends upon which version of The Five Doctors is viewed, and whether Shada, despite being unbroadcast and incomplete, is considered canonical (which in turn relates to whether the webcast version is considered canonical). In any event, Romana is in her second incarnation, placing this between Destiny of the Daleks and Full Circle (when the TARDIS enters E-Space and events unfold that lead to her leaving the Doctor). Shada was placed between The Horns of Nimon and The Leisure Hive. According to the 1983 version of The Five Doctors, it is strongly implied that due to both Romana and the Fourth Doctor being Timescooped, the events of Shada were disrupted, leading the Eighth Doctor later being drawn into that adventure again (with Romana in tow). The 1995 Special Edition, however, only has the Doctor Timescooped, and after the defeat of Borusa, Rassilon returns the Doctor to just before the Timescoop took him away, which would allow the events of Shada to unfold.

VHS releases

 * The Five Doctors has had 2 separate VHS releases:
 * It was released on video by BBC Enterprises in 1985.
 * It was released on video by BBC Worldwide in 1995 as part of a boxed set, however this was the Extended/Special Edition version of the story.

Laserdisc releases

 * The original (broadcast) version of the story was released on Laserdisc in 1994.

DVD release

 * In 1999 The Five Doctors was released on DVD by BBC Worldwide, this was the same Extended / Special Edition as the 1995 VHS release, with no additional features. Released in Australia 2000. Only the North America release had commentary and the Who's Who features.
 * In 2008 The Five Doctors was re-released celebrating the story's 25th anniversary, in this case it was a dual DVD release showcasing the original version of the story and the Extended / Special Edition.

Second release
DVD extras (2008 version):
 * Commentary track on 1983 version by Carole Ann Ford, Nicholas Courtney, Elisabeth Sladen, Mark Strickson.
 * Commentary track on 1995 version by Peter Davison and Terrance Dicks
 * Hidden "easter egg" commentary on 1983 version by David Tennant, Phil Collinson and Helen Raynor (recorded in 2006 during filming of Gridlock)
 * Celebration, a 52-minute documentary hosted by Colin Baker looking back at the 1983 anniversary year.
 * The Ties That Bind Us, a 26-minute documentary narrated by Paul McGann looking at the links between The Five Doctors and both past and future Doctor Who storylines (right up to Last of the Time Lords)
 * Five Doctors, One Studio - raw video footage of the only studio recording session in which Davison, Pertwee, Troughton and Hurndall were all together.
 * Outtakes and bloopers.
 * (Not So) Special Effects - raw footage of the filming of several special effects sequences.
 * Publicity clips from Saturday Superstore, Blue Peter, Nationwide and Breakfast Time.
 * Isolated music track for both versions.
 * Trails and continuities, including the cliffhangers created for the four-episode version.
 * Photo gallery.
 * Production notes subtitles option on both versions.
 * DVD ROM feature: Radio Times listings.
 * Easter egg: a clip of the Timescoop "black triangle" eating the BBC Logo, taken from the 1995 video release of the Special Edition.

Audio Release
A soundtrack album of the music from this serial was released by Silva Screen Records as The Five Doctors: Classic Music from the BBC Radiophonic Workshop Vol. 2 (FILMCD 710).

Novelisation

 * Main article: The Five Doctors (novelisation)

A novelisation by Terrance Dicks was published in conjunction with the broadcast. This was the first and only time that the release of a novelisation more or less coincided with the broadcast of an episode.