Season 16 of Doctor Who, also referred to as The Key to Time, ran from 2 September 1978 to 24 February 1979. It starred Tom Baker as the Fourth Doctor, Mary Tamm as Romana I and John Leeson as K9 Mark II. The season opened with The Ribos Operation and concluded with The Armageddon Factor.
Overview[]
It consisted of six serials comprised of twenty-six episodes. This season saw the introduction of the Black and White Guardians as well as the companion Romana I who became the first Time Lady companion since Susan. This season is sometimes colloquially known as The Key to Time season after the story arc involving the Key to Time. Although not the first season to consist of linked stories (Season 8 in 1971 was the first, as all the stories that year featured the Master), it was the first to be recognised as having a series-long arc. Although multi-serial arcs would occur again, such a full-season experiment wouldn't be attempted again until Season 23. The arc has a number of similarities to the Season 1 story The Keys of Marinus. The storyline was originally proposed for Season 15, but it required more planning.[1]
Season 16 marked a triple milestone for Doctor Who: the hundredth story (The Stones of Blood), the five-hundredth episode (episode 1 of The Armageddon Factor) and the fifteenth anniversary of the first broadcast, on 23 November 1978.
A number of publicity photos for the season show Tom Baker sporting a very obvious bandage on his upper lip; this was due to his being bit by a dog shortly before filming for the season began. The resulting lip injury is visible to varying degrees throughout the season.
In 2002 (Region 1) it became the first Doctor Who season to be released to DVD in its entirety in a single box set; it remained the only "classic series" season to be available as a single set until the release of Season 23, The Trial of a Time Lord to DVD in 2008.
Tom Baker decided to leave by the end of this season, but he was persuaded to stay.[2]
This is the last season of Doctor Who to date to have no returning antagonists in any story, sharing this distinction along with Season 1, Season 7 and Season 13. Like those other seasons however, which had antagonists return in later seasons, this season introduced the Black Guardian.
Television stories[]
| # | Title | Writer | Episodes | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | The Ribos Operation | Robert Holmes | 4 | First appearance of Romana and the White Guardian. Beginning of the Key to Time quest. |
| 2 | The Pirate Planet | Douglas Adams | 4 | First story to written by Douglas Adams, and the only televised story where he received sole credit. |
| 3 | The Stones of Blood | David Fisher | 4 | Marks Doctor Who's one hundredth television story. Part four aired during the fifteenth anniversary of the series. First story to be written by David Fisher. |
| 4 | The Androids of Tara | 4 | ||
| 5 | The Power of Kroll | Robert Holmes | 4 | |
| 6 | The Armageddon Factor | Bob Baker Dave Martin |
6 | Final appearance of Romana I. First appearance of the Black Guardian. Final story on which Anthony Read was script editor and the final story to be written by Dave Martin. Conclusion to the Key to Time quest. |
Cast[]
Recurring[]
Guest[]
- Garron - Iain Cuthbertson
- Unstoffe - Nigel Plaskitt
- Graff Vynda-K - Paul Seed
- Sholakh - Robert Keegan
- Binro - Timothy Bateson
- Captain - Bruce Purchase
- Mr. Fibuli - Andrew Robertson
- Kimus - David Warwick
- Mula - Primi Townsend
- Nurse - Rosalind Lloyd
- Professor Rumford - Beatrix Lehmann
- Vivien Fay - Susan Engel
- De Vries - Nicholas McArdle
- Martha - Elaine Ives-Cameron
- Megara Voices - Gerald Cross, David McAlister
- Count Grendel - Peter Jeffrey
- Zadek - Simon Lack
- Prince Reynart - Neville Jason
- Princess Strella - Mary Tamm
- Farrah - Paul Lavers
- Lamia - Lois Baxter
- Till - Declan Mulholland
- Archimandrite - Cyril Shaps
- Thawn - Neil McCarthy
- Fenner - Philip Madoc
- Dugeen - John Leeson
- Rohm-Dutt - Glyn Owen
- Ranquin - John Abineri
- Varlik - Carl Rigg
- Skart - Frank Jarvis
- Harg - Grahame Mallard
- Marshal - John Woodvine
- Princess Astra of Atrios - Lalla Ward
- Merak - Ian Saynor
- Shapp - Davyd Harries
- The Shadow - William Squire
- Pilot - Pat Gorman
- Drax - Barry Jackson
Notes[]
- John Leeson, more well known as the voice of K9, appeared as the human Dugeen during The Power of Kroll due to K-9 being absent from that story.
- Lalla Ward guest stars as Princess Astra in The Armageddon Factor before taking over the role of Romana from Mary Tamm in Destiny of the Daleks.
Stories set before this season[]
The following stories are the known stories set between Season 15 finale The Invasion of Time and Season 16 opener The Ribos Operation:
Audio[]
to be completed
Stories set during this season[]
Novels[]
- Tomb of Valdemar
- The Shadow of Weng-Chiang
- Fourth Doctor and Romana's involvement in Heart of TARDIS
Short Stories[]
Audios[]
- Ferril's Folly
- The Fourth Doctor and Romana I's involvement in Luna Romana
Comics[]
Adaptations and merchandising[]
Home media[]
VHS releases[]
- The Ribos Operation
- The Pirate Planet
- The Stones of Blood
- The Androids of Tara
- The Power of Kroll
- The Armageddon Factor
- The Tom Baker Years (excerpts from all stories)
DVD & Blu-ray releases[]
This entire season was released with minimal restoration and extras only in Region 1 as a box set or individually on 1 October 2002. A limited edition box set with full restoration and expanded extras was released in Region 2 on 24 September 2007. This limited edition set was later issued in Region 4 on 7 November 2007, in Region 1 on 3 March 2009 as a Special Edition release (these were also available individually), and in Region 2 on 16 November 2009 as a non-limited re-release.
| Serial name | Number and duration of episodes |
R2 release date | R4 release date | R1 release date |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| The Key to Time | 26 × 25 min. | N/A | N/A | 1 October 2002 |
| The Key to Time:
The Ribos Operation (4 episodes) Only available in The Key to Time box set in Regions 2 and 4. |
26 × 25 min. | 27 September 2007 (Limited release) 16 November 2009 (Re-release) |
7 November 2007 | 3 March 2009 |
Download/streaming availability[]
| Serial name | Amazon Video | iTunes |
|---|---|---|
| The Ribos Operation (4 episodes) | ✓ | ✓ |
| The Pirate Planet (4 episodes) | ✓ | ✓ |
| The Stones of Blood (4 episodes) | ✓ | ✓ |
| The Androids of Tara (4 episodes) | ✓ | ✓ |
| The Power of Kroll (4 episodes) | ✓ | ✓ |
| The Armageddon Factor (6 episodes) | ✓ | ✓ |
Novels[]
- Doctor Who and the Ribos Operation
- The Pirate Planet
- Doctor Who and the Stones of Blood
- Doctor Who and the Androids of Tara
- Doctor Who and the Power of Kroll
- Doctor Who and the Armageddon Factor
Target Books was unable to come to an agreement with Douglas Adams to novelise his script, The Pirate Planet. It was finally adapted by BBC Books in 2017.
Footnotes[]
External links[]
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