The Three Doctors (TV story)

"So you're my replacements? A dandy and a clown!"

- The Doctor

The Three Doctors was the groundbreaking first story of the anniversary Season 10 of Doctor Who. The serial marked several milestones: it was the first multi-Doctor story (establishing the concept of the Doctor being able to meet his past incarnations); it marked the return of William Hartnell and Patrick Troughton to the role of the Doctor (for Hartnell, the last time); it established the idea of the Doctor being recruited by the Time Lords to undertake assignments; and it ended the years-long story arc of the Doctor being exiled to Earth, which had began in Season 7 in 1970.

Synopsis
The Time Lords find themselves besieged by a mysterious enemy inhabiting the anti-matter universe on the other side of the black hole from which they draw their power. They enlist the Doctor in his first three incarnations to battle this foe, who turns out to be a legend from the Time Lords's remote past.

Plot
A superluminal signal is sent to Earth, carrying with it an unusual energy blob that seems intent on capturing the Doctor. In the meantime, the homeworld of the Time Lords is under siege, with all the power sustaining it being drained through a black hole. Trapped and desperate, the Time Lords do the unthinkable and break the First Law of Time, allowing the Doctor to aid himself by summoning his two previous incarnations from the past.

Unfortunately, the Doctor's first incarnation is trapped in a time eddy, unable to fully materialise, and can only communicate via view screen, but the Doctor's second incarnation joins the third in investigating the origins of the creature and the black hole, while UNIT headquarters faces an attack by Anti-matter monsters.

The First Doctor deduces the black hole is a bridge between universes, and the other two Doctors allow the TARDIS to be swallowed up by the energy creature, which transports them, Doctor Tyler, Jo Grant, Sergeant Benton and Brigadier Lethbridge-Stewart into an antimatter universe created by the legendary Time Lord Omega, a solar engineer who created the supernova that powers Time Lord civilization, but was considered killed in the explosion. In actuality, he had been transported to the antimatter universe, where his will and thought turned the formless matter into physicality. Trapped, due to the fact that his will is the only thing maintaining reality, he vowed revenge on the Time Lords who left him stranded.

It is clear that the exile has made Omega quite insane. Along with his revenge, he has summoned the Doctors here to take over the mental maintenance of the antimatter universe so he can escape. However, the Doctors discover that years of exposure to the corrosive effects of the black hole's singularity have destroyed Omega's physical body - he is trapped forever. Driven over the edge by this discovery, Omega now demands that the Doctors share his exile.

The Doctors escape briefly, and offer Omega a proposition. They will give him his freedom if they send the others back to the positive matter universe. Omega agrees, and when that is done, the Doctors offer Omega a force field generator containing the Second Doctor's recorder, which had fallen in it prior to the transport through the black hole. Omega knocks the generator over in a rage and the unconverted positive matter recorder falls out of the force field. When the recorder comes into contact with the antimatter universe, it annihilates everything in a flash, returning the Doctors in the TARDIS to the positive matter universe. The Third Doctor explains that death was the only freedom anyone could offer Omega.

With the power now restored to the Time Lords, they are able to send the First and Second Doctors back to their respective time periods. As a reward, the Time Lords give the Third Doctor a new dematerialization circuit for the TARDIS and restore his knowledge of how to travel through space and time.

Cast

 * The Doctor - Jon Pertwee
 * The Doctor - Patrick Troughton
 * The Doctor - William Hartnell
 * Jo Grant - Katy Manning
 * Brigadier Lethbridge-Stewart - Nicholas Courtney
 * Sergeant Benton - John Levene
 * Omega - Stephen Thorne
 * Dr. Tyler - Rex Robinson
 * President of the Council - Roy Purcell
 * Mr. Ollis - Laurie Webb
 * Chancellor - Clyde Pollitt
 * Time Lord - Graham Leaman
 * Mrs Ollis - Patricia Prior
 * Corporal Palmer - Denys Palmer

Crew

 * Writer - Bob Baker and Dave Martin
 * Producer - Barry Letts
 * Director - Lennie Mayne
 * Title Music - Ron Grainer and BBC Radiophonic Workshop
 * Theme Arrangement - Delia Derbyshire
 * Incidental Music - Dudley Simpson
 * Special Sounds - Dick Mills
 * Film Cameraman - John Baker
 * Film Sound - Bob Roberts
 * Film Editor - Jim Walker
 * Visual Effects - Michaeljohn Harris, Len Hutton
 * Costumes - James Acheson
 * Make-Up - Ann Rayment
 * Studio Lighting - Clive Thomas
 * Studio Sound - Derek Miller-Timmins
 * Script Editor - Terrance Dicks
 * Designer - Roger Liminton
 * Assistant Floor Manager - Trina Cornwell
 * Production Assistant - David Tilley

Cultural references

 * Jo makes a reference to the Beatles song I Am the Walrus; the Second Doctor doesn't know how it goes.
 * The Doctor can play "Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star" on his recorder.
 * Aladdin

Food and Beverages

 * Jelly Babies make their debut on Doctor Who when the Second Doctor offers one to the Brigadier. Several years later, jelly babies became the confection of choice of the Fourth Doctor and continued to be referenced from time to time on the series for many years thereafter.

Astronomical objects

 * Omega controls a singularity in a Black hole.

Theories and Concepts

 * Omega's universe is a universe of anti-matter
 * The First Law of Time expressly forbids any Time Lord to cross his own time stream and meet his former (or, for that matter, future) selves.

Races and Species

 * The Brigadier mentions to the Doctor their encountering the Yeti and Cybermen.
 * The beings sent to UNIT HQ by Omega are known as Gell guards.

Time Lords

 * The Doctor's three selves have the power to have a "telepathic conference" amongst themselves, exchanging information at a rapid speed.
 * The Doctor admired Omega in his youth.

Story Notes

 * This story celebrates the tenth year of Doctor Who on television.


 * William Hartnell's last appearance as the Doctor before his death in 1975. Hartnell was too ill to play a more active role in the story. Instead his scenes were filmed in Ealing Television Film Studios while he read his lines from cue cards. The script was rewritten with the explanation that the First Doctor was stuck in a time eddy due to the power drain caused by Omega.


 * The first of three mainstream return appearances by Patrick Troughton as the Second Doctor. His next two were in DW: The Five Doctors and DW: The Two Doctors


 * The first appearance of Omega. Originally Omega's name was supposed to be Ohm, the word resulting from turning "who" upside-down if it were in capital letters. Ohm was later used as the name of an ancient Gallifreyan god in PDA: The Infinity Doctors.


 * The original script, entitled Deathworld had the Time Lords enlisting the three Doctors to battle a Federation of Evil led by Death. The idea of Death as an actual entity was later used in the Virgin New Adventures novels and Big Finish Doctor Who Audio Dramas with Death as an Eternal who purposely arranges for the Seventh Doctor to be shot and die in 1999 San Francisco at the beginning of the television movie.


 * Original plans were for Jamie McCrimmon and Zoe Heriot to appear in the story. However, Frazer Hines was unable to take time out from Emmerdale Farm for filming, and the idea of additional companions received objections from Jon Pertwee, who felt too many characters would detract from the story.


 * This story featured a new redesigned TARDIS console room set by Roger Liminton. The one used in the previous story, DW: The Time Monster, warped in storage and had a design which Barry Letts disliked.


 * The end of the Doctor's exile on Earth. This also marks the beginning of the gradual phasing out of UNIT on the series, as the Doctor spends more and more time away from 20th century Earth.


 * Jelly babies make their Doctor Who debut when the Second Doctor offers one. A few years later, the sweet would be brought back as the Fourth Doctor's favourite sweet, with cameos in later years.

Ratings

 * Episode 1 - 9.6 million viewers
 * Episode 2 - 10.8 million viewers
 * Episode 3 - 8.8 million viewers
 * Episode 4 - 11.9 million viewers

Myths

 * William Hartnell's scenes were filmed in the garage of his home against a black backdrop. (His scenes were actually filmed at Ealing Television Film Studios.)
 * The scene in which the Second Doctor was shown in black and white originated from the (now lost) 1960s serial, The Macra Terror. It was actually a pre-filmed shot.

Filming Locations

 * Summerfield Bungalow in Rickmansworth, Hertfordshire served as the Ollis's cottage. The bird sanctuary was actually Springwell Reservoir, also in Rickmansworth.
 * Exterior scenes set in Omega's universe were filmed at Springwell Quarry.
 * Halings House in Denham Green, Buckinghamshire, served as the exterior of UNIT HQ.
 * The fight between the Third Doctor and Omega's dark side, as well as the First Doctor's scenes, were filmed at Ealing Television Film Studios.
 * Model shots were filmed at the BBC Television Centre Puppet Theatre, with all other scenes filmed at BBC Television Centre Studio 1.

Discontinuity, Plot Holes, Errors

 * The fact that he has been brought into his own future and telepathically linked with the Third Doctor leads to questions of the Second Doctor learning of his eventual capture, trial, and exile by the Time Lords. Season 6B is an attempt to reconcile the issues arising from this plot hole. In The Five Doctors and The Two Doctors, the Doctor appears not to remember meeting himself; in Time Crash, however, he does remember.
 * How come the Brigadier mentions to the Second Doctor about both the Autons and the Nestene Consciousness when the Second doesn't remember these events?The Brigadier doesn't know that - he's trying to get his head round the sudden reappearance of the old Doctor, and is confused about the face changing.
 * In episode 4, the two Doctors take less time to get to UNIT than the others did in Bessie.
 * If the organism was to find the Doctor, why send the monsters as well? In case he put up a struggle or some how he could defeat the organism.
 * The explanation of why Ollis is taken doesn't really hold up, and it is painfully obvious that they just needed a good way to start the story. The explanation was not really an explanation, that was merely the Doctor hypothesising.
 * In the end the Third Doctor says he will need to build new forcefield circuit before he can travel again, so how does he materialise in Carnival of Monsters? The forcefield circuit is probably less complex than the materialisation circuit. There is clearly at least a small amount of time that passes and the Doctor obviously rebuilt the forcefield circuit in that time.
 * There are shots that make it quite obvious that there is not interior to the TARDIS prop.
 * Grass is seen under the shot where the UNIT building vanishes.
 * The split screen effect used to allow Patrick Troughton's arm to reach for the recorder before he fully appears is rather obvious; additionally, just before his arm appears, a boom mike drifts into the shot directly above John Levene.

Continuity

 * The Second Doctor addresses Benton as Corporal, the rank he held in DW: The Invasion. He also refers to UNIT's battle with the Cybermen in that story. The Brigadier also mentions that adventure, as well as his first meeting with the Doctor during the Yeti attack in DW: The Web of Fear. Mention is also made of the two occasions the Doctor "changed his appearance," - the process was not yet called regeneration.


 * Omega returns again in DW: Arc of Infinity, PDA: The Infinity Doctors and BFA: Omega. A children's storybook, K9 and the Time Trap would feature a villain very similar to Omega called Omegon, and include subtle references to the events of The Three Doctors.


 * MA: The Empire of Glass, takes place just after the First Doctor is returned to his own time.

Timeline
For the First Doctor:
 * This story occurs after CC: Frostfire
 * This story occurs before MA: The Empire of Glass

For the Second Doctor:
 * This story occurs after DWM: Future Imperfect
 * This story occurs before DWM: Briefly Noted

For the Third Doctor:
 * This story occurs after PDA: Verdigris
 * This story occurs before PDA: The Wages of Sin

DVD, Video and Other Releases
DVD Releases

Released as Doctor Who: The Three Doctors.

Released:
 * Region 2 24th November 2003
 * PAL - BBC DVD BBCDVD1144


 * Region 4 12th November 2003
 * Region 1 2nd March 2004
 * NTSC - Warner Video E1925

Contents:
 * Pebble Mill at One - Bernard Wilkie and Patrick Troughton interviews from Christmas 1973.
 * Blue Peter - Jon Pertwee and the Whomobile in the studio.
 * BSB - Excerpts from BSB '31 Who' weekend.
 * PanoptiCon '93 - Jon Pertwee on stage at PanoptiCon '93
 * Trailers
 * Photo Gallery.
 * Production Subtitles
 * Commentary: Nicholas Courtney, Katy Manning and Barry Letts

Notes:
 * Editing for DVD release completed by Doctor Who Restoration Team.
 * Also released in the UK in a limited edition boxset, including a miniature Bessie model car.

Video Release

Released as Doctor Who: The Three Doctors.

Released:


 * First Release:
 * UK August 1991
 * PAL - BBC Video BBCV4650
 * US January 1992
 * NTSC - CBS/FOX Video 3405
 * NTSC - Warner Video E1100


 * Second Release: Exclusive to W.H. Smith as part of The Time Lord Collection.
 * UK September 2002
 * PAL - BBC Video BBCV7364

Novelisation

 * Main article: The Three Doctors (novelisation)


 * Novelised as Doctor Who - The Three Doctors in 1975 by Terrance Dicks.