The Two Doctors
Encyclopedia
The Two Doctors is a serial in the British
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...

 science fiction television series Doctor Who
Doctor Who
Doctor Who is a British science fiction television programme produced by the BBC. The programme depicts the adventures of a time-travelling humanoid alien known as the Doctor who explores the universe in a sentient time machine called the TARDIS that flies through time and space, whose exterior...

, which was first broadcast in three weekly parts from 16 February to 2 March 1985. It starred Colin Baker
Colin Baker
Colin Baker is a British actor who is known for playing Paul Merroney in The Brothers from 1974 to 1976 and as the sixth incarnation of the Doctor in the long-running science fiction television series Doctor Who, from 1984 to 1986.- Background:Colin Baker was born in London, but moved north to...

 and Nicola Bryant
Nicola Bryant
-External links:** at shillpages.com/dw *...

 as the Sixth Doctor
Sixth Doctor
The Sixth Doctor is the sixth incarnation of the protagonist of the long-running BBC television science-fiction series Doctor Who. He was portrayed by Colin Baker...

 and his companion Peri
Peri Brown
Peri Brown, full name Perpugilliam Brown, is a fictional character played by Nicola Bryant in the long-running British science fiction television series Doctor Who....

, respectively. It also featured a one-off return of Patrick Troughton
Patrick Troughton
Patrick George Troughton was an English actor most widely known for his roles in fantasy, science fiction and horror films, particularly in his role as the second incarnation of the Doctor in the long-running British science-fiction television series Doctor Who, which he played from 1966 to 1969,...

 and Frazer Hines
Frazer Hines
Frazer Hines is an English actor best known for his roles as Jamie McCrimmon in Doctor Who and Joe Sugden in Emmerdale. Hines was born in Horsforth, a civil parish of Leeds.-Acting career:...

 to their respective roles of the Second Doctor
Second Doctor
The Second Doctor is the second incarnation of the protagonist of the long-running BBC television science-fiction series Doctor Who. He was portrayed by character actor Patrick Troughton....

 and Jamie McCrimmon
Jamie McCrimmon
James Robert "Jamie" McCrimmon is a fictional character played by Frazer Hines in the long-running British science fiction television series Doctor Who. A piper of the Clan McLaren who lived in 18th century Scotland, he was a companion of the Second Doctor and a regular in the programme from 1966...

.

Synopsis

The Second Doctor and Jamie are on a mission for the Time Lord
Time Lord
The Time Lords are an ancient extraterrestrial race and civilization of humanoids in the British science fiction television series Doctor Who, of which the series' eponymous protagonist, the Doctor, is a member...

s that goes horribly wrong, and Jamie sees the Doctor being tortured to death. However, if the Doctor died in his second incarnation, what does that mean for the Sixth Doctor and Peri?

Plot

The Second Doctor
Second Doctor
The Second Doctor is the second incarnation of the protagonist of the long-running BBC television science-fiction series Doctor Who. He was portrayed by character actor Patrick Troughton....

 and Jamie McCrimmon
Jamie McCrimmon
James Robert "Jamie" McCrimmon is a fictional character played by Frazer Hines in the long-running British science fiction television series Doctor Who. A piper of the Clan McLaren who lived in 18th century Scotland, he was a companion of the Second Doctor and a regular in the programme from 1966...

 land the TARDIS
TARDIS
The TARDISGenerally, TARDIS is written in all upper case letters—this convention was popularised by the Target novelisations of the 1970s...

 on board Space Station
Space station
A space station is a spacecraft capable of supporting a crew which is designed to remain in space for an extended period of time, and to which other spacecraft can dock. A space station is distinguished from other spacecraft used for human spaceflight by its lack of major propulsion or landing...

 Chimera in the Third Zone on a mission for the Time Lord
Time Lord
The Time Lords are an ancient extraterrestrial race and civilization of humanoids in the British science fiction television series Doctor Who, of which the series' eponymous protagonist, the Doctor, is a member...

s, who have also installed a teleport
Teleportation
Teleportation is the fictional or imagined process by which matter is instantaneously transferred from one place to another.Teleportation may also refer to:*Quantum teleportation, a method of transmitting quantum data...

 control on the TARDIS. The Doctor
Doctor (Doctor Who)
The Doctor is the central character in the long-running BBC television science-fiction series Doctor Who, and has also featured in two cinema feature films, a vast range of spin-off novels, audio dramas and comic strips connected to the series....

 explains that the station is a research facility and that they have to talk to Dastari, the Head of Projects. The TARDIS materialises in the station kitchen, where they meet Shockeye, the station cook. Shockeye is an Androgum, a member of a primitive, emotionally and ethically bestial humanoid race which acts as the station's workforce. As they leave they hear the TARDIS dematerialise. This is observed by Chessene, an Androgum technologically augmented to mega-genius levels. Chessene has plans of her own, involving someone named Stike who will be arriving in force soon, once Shockeye's poisoned meal to the scientists takes effect. She has also taken possession of the Kartz-Reimer module.

The Doctor tells Dastari that the Time Lords want the time experiments of Kartz and Reimer stopped. The Time Lords have an official policy of neutrality, so have sent the exiled Doctor to maintain deniability. Dastari introduces Chessene, but the Doctor is sceptical as to whether such augmentation can change Chessene's essential Androgum nature, and considers such tampering dangerous. Meanwhile, three Sontaran
Sontaran
The Sontarans are a fictional extraterrestrial race of humanoids from the British science fiction television series Doctor Who, and also seen in spin-off series The Sarah Jane Adventures. They were created by writer Robert Holmes.-Culture:...

 battlecruisers appear near the station. Before the station's defences can be activated, Chessene incapacitates the technician on post and opens the docking bays. Back in the office, the Doctor warns that the distortions from the Kartz-Reimer experiments are on the verge of threatening the fabric of time, but Dastari refuses to order them to cease, accusing the Time Lords of not wanting another race to discover the secrets of time travel
Time travel
Time travel is the concept of moving between different points in time in a manner analogous to moving between different points in space. Time travel could hypothetically involve moving backward in time to a moment earlier than the starting point, or forward to the future of that point without the...

. As the argument grows more heated, Dastari grows faint and falls into a drugged stupor. Energy weapons fire begins to sound in the corridors and the Doctor orders Jamie to run as a Sontaran levels a gun at the Doctor.

Somewhere else, the Sixth Doctor
Sixth Doctor
The Sixth Doctor is the sixth incarnation of the protagonist of the long-running BBC television science-fiction series Doctor Who. He was portrayed by Colin Baker...

 and Peri Brown
Peri Brown
Peri Brown, full name Perpugilliam Brown, is a fictional character played by Nicola Bryant in the long-running British science fiction television series Doctor Who....

 are on a peaceful fishing trip. When they return to the TARDIS, Peri is startled as the Sixth Doctor is suddenly weak and collapses — just as, back on the station, Jamie spies the Second Doctor in a glass chamber, writhing in agony as a Sontaran manipulates controls. In his TARDIS, the Sixth Doctor regains his strength and has a vision of his second incarnation being put to death. Since he is still alive, he is concerned that he may have died in the past and only exists now as a temporal anomaly. He decides to consult his old friend Dastari to see if he can help.

The TARDIS materializes on the station, but the smell of decay and death is everywhere. The station computer demands that the Doctor leaves and, when he refuses, tries to kill him and Peri by depressurising the passageway. The Doctor manages to open a hatch and drag his unconscious companion through to another section. The Doctor discovers Dastari's day journal and the Time Lords' objections to the Kartz-Reimer experiments, but refuses to believe his people are responsible for the massacre. Peri suggests someone is trying to frame the Time Lords and drive a wedge between them and the Third Zone governments. They leave the office to enter the service ducts, work their way to the control centre and attempt to deactivate the computer before it succeeds in killing them.

On Earth, Chessene, Shockeye and a Sontaran, Major Varl, take possession of a Spanish
Spain
Spain , officially the Kingdom of Spain languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Spain's official name is as follows:;;;;;;), is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula...

 hacienda
Hacienda
Hacienda is a Spanish word for an estate. Some haciendas were plantations, mines, or even business factories. Many haciendas combined these productive activities...

 by killing its aged owner, Doña Arana. Varl sets up a homing beacon for the Sontaran ship, while Chessene absorbs the knowledge of the old woman's mind, discovering that they are in Andalucia
Andalusia
Andalusia is the most populous and the second largest in area of the autonomous communities of Spain. The Andalusian autonomous community is officially recognised as a nationality of Spain. The territory is divided into eight provinces: Huelva, Seville, Cádiz, Córdoba, Málaga, Jaén, Granada and...

, just outside the city of Seville
Seville
Seville is the artistic, historic, cultural, and financial capital of southern Spain. It is the capital of the autonomous community of Andalusia and of the province of Seville. It is situated on the plain of the River Guadalquivir, with an average elevation of above sea level...

. Varl announces that Group Marshal Stike of the Ninth Sontaran Battle Fleet is in descent orbit. Meanwhile two people, Oscar Botcherby and Anita, are approaching the grounds. Oscar, an ex-English stage actor who manages a restaurant in the city, intends to catch moths, armed with a net and a cyanide
Cyanide
A cyanide is a chemical compound that contains the cyano group, -C≡N, which consists of a carbon atom triple-bonded to a nitrogen atom. Cyanides most commonly refer to salts of the anion CN−. Most cyanides are highly toxic....

 killing jar
Killing jar
A killing jar is a device used by entomologists to kill captured insects quickly and with minimum damage. The jar, typically glass, must be hermetically sealable and usually has a thin layer of hardened plaster of paris on the bottom to absorb the insecticide. The insecticide will then slowly...

 in his backpack. He and Anita see the Sontaran ship zoom overhead, and observe through binoculars Dastari and another Sontaran carrying an unconscious Second Doctor towards the hacienda.

Down in the bowels of the station, the Sixth Doctor tries to disconnect the main circuit. Suddenly, Peri is attacked by a humanoid in rags, and when her cries distract the Doctor, he is hit by a gas trap and falls unconscious, becoming entangled in the wires...

Peri knocks out her attacker and frees the Sixth Doctor, who saved himself by shutting off his respiratory passages. He disconnects the computer's main circuit, and the two find that Peri's attacker was a half-delirious Jamie, who has been hiding all the while. Jamie moans that "they" killed the Doctor, and under hypnosis
Hypnosis
Hypnosis is "a trance state characterized by extreme suggestibility, relaxation and heightened imagination."It is a mental state or imaginative role-enactment . It is usually induced by a procedure known as a hypnotic induction, which is commonly composed of a long series of preliminary...

, tells the Sixth Doctor what has transpired, giving a description that the Doctor recognizes as the Sontarans. Returning to the office to examine the station records, the Doctor suddenly sees Peri in the glass tube, writhing in pain. As he frantically works the controls to free her, the person in the tube changes from Peri to Dastari to the Second Doctor and to himself. The Sixth Doctor explains to Jamie and Peri that what Jamie saw was an illusion designed to make people believe the Doctor was dead and not investigate further (the animator had been left on and captured Peri's image), which means the Second Doctor is being held captive somewhere. He theorises that the Sontarans also kidnapped Dastari as he is the only biogeneticist in the galaxy who could isolate the symbiotic
Symbiosis
Symbiosis is close and often long-term interaction between different biological species. In 1877 Bennett used the word symbiosis to describe the mutualistic relationship in lichens...

 nuclei that gives Time Lords the molecular stability to travel through time. If given time travel, the Sontarans will become unstoppable. The Sixth Doctor puts himself into a telepathic
Telepathy
Telepathy , is the induction of mental states from one mind to another. The term was coined in 1882 by the classical scholar Fredric W. H. Myers, a founder of the Society for Psychical Research, and has remained more popular than the more-correct expression thought-transference...

 trance to determine where his past incarnation is being held. He awakens having heard the sound of the Santa Maria, the largest of the 25 bells at the Great Cathedral of Seville.

In the cellar of the hacienda, Dastari and Chessene set up equipment, keeping the Second Doctor drugged and passive. Chessene explains to Dastari that they have come to Earth as it is conveniently situated for an attack Stike wishes to make on the Madillon Cluster against the Rutan Host
Rutan Host
Rutans are a fictional extraterrestrial race from the British science fiction television series Doctor Who. They have been at war with the Sontaran Empire for more than 50,000 years, and this war dominates both cultures to the exclusion of all else...

, and that Shockeye wants to taste the flesh of humans. Dastari heaps scorn on Shockeye's primitive urges, and urges Chessene to remember that she is beyond those. The TARDIS materialises on the grounds near the hacienda, and Oscar approaches it as the TARDIS crew emerge, thinking it is a real police box
Police box
A police box is a British telephone kiosk or callbox located in a public place for the use of members of the police, or for members of the public to contact the police...

 and that the Doctor and his companions are plain-clothes police
Police
The police is a personification of the state designated to put in practice the enforced law, protect property and reduce civil disorder in civilian matters. Their powers include the legitimized use of force...

 officers. Taking advantage of the mistake, the Doctor asks that Oscar lead him to the hacienda.

Dastari reveals his plan to dissect the Second Doctor's cell structure to isolate his symbiotic nuclei and give them to Chessene. The Second Doctor protests that her barbaric Androgum nature, coupled with the ability to time travel, will mean that there will be no limit to her evil. The Sixth Doctor asks Peri to create a distraction outside the hacienda while he and Jamie go to the cellar via a passage in the nearby ice house. Peri calls out, interrupting Dastari's operation. She poses as a lost American
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

 student, but Chessene is suspicious, having read thoughts of the Doctor in her mind. Chessene gets Shockeye to bring the Second Doctor, strapped into a wheelchair, through the hall, to see if Peri reacts. She does not, as she has never seen the Second Doctor before. Peri leaves but Shockeye chases her, eager for a meal.

Meanwhile, the Sixth Doctor and Jamie are in the cellar, where the Doctor examines the Kartz-Reimer module, a prototype time machine modelled on Time Lord technology. He explains to Jamie that once the briode nebuliser of the module is primed with his symbiotic nuclei — the Rassilon
Rassilon
Rassilon is a fictional character in the British science fiction television series Doctor Who. In the backstory of the programme, he was the founder of Time Lord society on the planet Gallifrey...

 Imprimatur — it will be safe for anyone to use. Unfortunately, the Sontarans have heard him. Outside, Shockeye catches Peri. She faints, and Shockeye leans over her body...

Shockeye knocks Peri out and brings her back to the hacienda kitchen. In the cellar, Stike threatens to kill Jamie unless the Sixth Doctor gets into the module and primes it with his symbiotic print, and the Doctor does so. Stike is about to execute Jamie anyway, but Jamie stabs Stike's leg with a concealed knife
Sgian Dubh
The sgian-dubh is a small, singled-edged knife worn as part of traditional Scottish Highland dress along with the kilt. It is worn tucked into the top of the kilt hose with only the upper portion of the hilt visible...

, and the Doctor and he run off upstairs, where they find the Second Doctor. Before they can release the Second Doctor and escape the hacienda, however, Shockeye shows up with the unconscious Peri. The Second Doctor feigns unconsciousness while the others hide.

While the Sixth Doctor and Jamie watch from their hiding place, they hear Chessene voice her concern that now that a second Time Lord is involved, the other Time Lords will be arriving as well. However, she has a contingency plan. She asks Dastari to implant the Second Doctor with some of Shockeye's genetic material, turning the Doctor into an Androgum. They also intend to eliminate the Sontarans. However, Dastari and Chessene are unaware that the module is now primed, and that Stike is preparing to leave in it. Stike orders Varl to set the Sontaran battlecraft's self-destruct mechanism to kill all the witnesses.

Chessene interrupts Shockeye as he is about to slaughter Peri and makes him bring the Second Doctor to the cellar. She stuns Shockeye so that Dastari can remove his genetic material. The Sixth Doctor revives Peri, and tells Jamie and her that what he revealed about the Imprimatur in the cellar was not true — he had lied because he had heard Stike approaching. The machine worked for the Doctor, but will not for them because the Doctor has taken the briode nebuliser.

Dastari has implanted the Second Doctor with a 50 percent Androgum inheritance, and when Shockeye wakes in a rage, he finds a kindred spirit in the transformed Doctor. They decide to go into the town to sample the local cuisine. Dastari lures the Sontarans into the cellar, where Chessene attacks them with two canisters of coronic acid. Varl is killed, but Stike, though wounded, manages to escape. He tries to use the module, but without the nebuliser, it severely burns him. Stike staggers towards his battlecraft, forgetting about the self-destruct. The ship explodes and kills him.

The Sixth Doctor, Peri and Jamie follow the Second Doctor into Seville
Seville
Seville is the artistic, historic, cultural, and financial capital of southern Spain. It is the capital of the autonomous community of Andalusia and of the province of Seville. It is situated on the plain of the River Guadalquivir, with an average elevation of above sea level...

, hoping to cure him before the change becomes complete. Dastari and Chessene are also looking for them, knowing that unless the Second Doctor undergoes a stabilizing operation, he will eventually reject the Androgum transfusion. The Second Doctor and Shockeye go to Oscar's restaurant, ordering gargantuan amounts of food. When Oscar demands that they pay, Shockeye fatally stabs Oscar, just as the Sixth Doctor and the others arrive. Shockeye leaves the Second Doctor, who slowly reverts back to normal. As they leave the restaurant, Chessene and Dastari appear, taking them back to the hacienda at gunpoint.

Chessene and Dastari find the nebuliser on the module missing, and the Sixth Doctor tells them how he primed the machine for Stike. To test the truth of the Doctor's claim, they replace the nebuliser and send Peri on a trip with the module, and she survives. Chessene gives permission for Shockeye to eat Jamie, and the Androgum takes him to the kitchen. The Sixth Doctor confirms the Second's suspicions — the nebuliser is sabotaged, with a thin interface layer so it would work once for Peri. Flipping the table over on which the key to their chains rests, the Doctors retrieve the key. The Sixth Doctor frees himself first, and goes to save Jamie. He encounters Shockeye in the kitchen, and the Androgum wounds him with a knife. Shockeye pursues him through the grounds, but the Sixth Doctor finds Oscar's pack and his cyanide
Cyanide
A cyanide is a chemical compound that contains the cyano group, -C≡N, which consists of a carbon atom triple-bonded to a nitrogen atom. Cyanides most commonly refer to salts of the anion CN−. Most cyanides are highly toxic....

 killing jar. The Doctor ambushes Shockeye, covering his head with Oscar's butterfly net and pressing the cyanide-soaked cotton wool to his face, killing him.

Chessene sees the Doctor's blood and starts licking it. Dastari realizes that no matter how augmented she may be, Chessene is still an Androgum, and decides to free the Second Doctor and his companions. When Chessene sees this, she shoots and kills Dastari. She tries to shoot the Second Doctor and Peri, but Jamie throws a knife at her wrist, making her drop the gun. Chessene goes into the module, hoping to escape, but the module explodes, molecularly disintegrating her and turning her back into a common Androgum in death.

The Second Doctor uses a Stattenheim remote control to summon his TARDIS. He and Jamie say their goodbyes and leave. As the Sixth Doctor and Peri make their way back to their own TARDIS, the Doctor tells her that from now on, it will be a healthy vegetarian diet for both of them.

Continuity

  • Victoria Waterfield
    Victoria Waterfield
    Victoria Waterfield is a fictional character played by Deborah Watling in the long-running British science fiction television series Doctor Who. A native of Victorian England, she was a companion of the Second Doctor and a regular in the programme from 1967 to 1968.-Character history:Victoria first...

     is mentioned as having been dropped off prior to the start of the serial.
  • Although there is dispute over whether the Doctor actually kills anyone in Vengeance on Varos
    Vengeance on Varos
    Vengeance on Varos is a serial in the British science fiction television series Doctor Who, which was first broadcast in two weekly parts from 19–26 January 1985.-Synopsis:...

    , he is shown killing Shockeye with cyanide
    Cyanide
    A cyanide is a chemical compound that contains the cyano group, -C≡N, which consists of a carbon atom triple-bonded to a nitrogen atom. Cyanides most commonly refer to salts of the anion CN−. Most cyanides are highly toxic....

     in self-defence in this serial, adding to ongoing media criticism over the level of violence in the Sixth Doctor's era; this is the first time the Doctor is shown directly and intentionally killing a humanoid character (Cybermen notwithstanding) since The Ribos Operation
    The Ribos Operation
    The Ribos Operation is a serial in the British science fiction television series Doctor Who, which was first broadcast in four weekly parts from September 2 to September 23, 1978. This serial introduces Mary Tamm as the companion Romana. After finishing his first year as producer of Doctor Who,...

    (1978), in which he deliberately switches an explosive, letting the villain blow himself up instead.
  • At the end of the story, the Doctor decides that he and Peri should turn vegetarian. Save for sampling Marsh Minnows offered by Sil
    Sil (Doctor Who)
    Sil is a fictional alien from the television series Doctor Who, first appearing in the 1985 serial Vengeance on Varos. Sil was portrayed by Nabil Shaban....

     in Mindwarp
    Mindwarp
    Mindwarp is a serial in the British science fiction television series Doctor Who, which was first broadcast in four weekly parts from 4 October to 25 October 1986. It is part of the larger narrative known as The Trial of a Time Lord, encompassing the whole of the 23rd season...

    , he does not consume animal tissue before the suspension of the series in 1989. The Ninth Doctor
    Ninth Doctor
    The Ninth Doctor is the ninth incarnation of the protagonist of the long-running BBC television science-fiction series Doctor Who. He is played by Christopher Eccleston....

     does, however, order steak and chips in the new series episode "Boom Town
    Boom Town (Doctor Who)
    "Boom Town" is an episode in the British science fiction television series Doctor Who, which was first broadcast on 4 June 2005. The Doctor, Rose and Jack travel to modern-day Cardiff and meet up with Rose's boyfriend, Mickey...

    " (although he is not seen to eat it on screen), The Tenth Doctor
    Tenth Doctor
    The Tenth Doctor is the tenth incarnation of the protagonist of the long-running BBC television science-fiction series Doctor Who. He is played by David Tennant, who appears in three series, as well as eight specials...

     samples a buffalo wing in "Voyage of the Damned
    Voyage of the Damned (Doctor Who)
    "Voyage of the Damned" is an episode of the British science fiction television series Doctor Who. First broadcast on 25 December 2007, it is 72 minutes long and the third Christmas special since the show's revival in 2005...

    " with no apparent reservations, and The Eleventh Doctor
    Eleventh Doctor
    The Eleventh Doctor is the eleventh incarnation of the protagonist of the BBC television science-fiction series Doctor Who. Matt Smith plays this incarnation, replacing David Tennant's Tenth Doctor in the 2010 episode "The End of Time, Part Two"...

     samples bacon and fish fingers in "The Eleventh Hour
    The Eleventh Hour (Doctor Who)
    "The Eleventh Hour" is an episode of the British science fiction television series Doctor Who. It was first broadcast on BBC One and BBC HD on 3 April 2010....

    ". In "Amy's Choice
    Amy's Choice (Doctor Who)
    "Amy's Choice" is the seventh episode in the fifth series of British science fiction television series Doctor Who, first broadcast on BBC One on 15 May 2010...

    ", the Dream Lord suggests that the Doctor is "probably a vegetarian". In the novel The City of the Dead, the Eighth Doctor offhandedly mentions giving up on vegetarianism (like all spin-off Doctor Who novels, this isn't necessarily canon.)
  • The waistcoat that the Sixth Doctor wears in this story can be seen in the TARDIS wardrobe in the Tenth Doctor
    Tenth Doctor
    The Tenth Doctor is the tenth incarnation of the protagonist of the long-running BBC television science-fiction series Doctor Who. He is played by David Tennant, who appears in three series, as well as eight specials...

     story The Christmas Invasion
    The Christmas Invasion
    "The Christmas Invasion" is a 60-minute special episode of the British science fiction television series Doctor Who. It is Christmas, but there is little cause for celebration as planet Earth is invaded by aliens known as the Sycorax...

    .
  • In The Time Warrior
    The Time Warrior
    The Time Warrior is a serial in the British science fiction television series Doctor Who, which was first broadcast in four weekly parts from December 15, 1973 to January 5, 1974. This serial introduced Elisabeth Sladen as new companion Sarah Jane Smith. It also marked the debut of the Sontarans...

    , the first appearance of the Sontarans in the series, the Third Doctor
    Third Doctor
    The Third Doctor is the third incarnation of the protagonist of the long-running BBC television science-fiction series Doctor Who. He was portrayed by actor Jon Pertwee....

     refers to a familiarity with the race which would fit in with his second incarnation's encounter with them in this story.
  • This is the last Sontaran appearance until "The Sontaran Stratagem
    The Sontaran Stratagem
    "The Sontaran Stratagem" is the fourth episode of the fourth series of British science fiction television series Doctor Who. It was broadcast on BBC One on 26 April 2008...

    " in the revived series.
  • Despite being a clone race, the two Sontarans who appear in The Two Doctors are both over 6 feet tall and are therefore significantly taller than their brethren in previous and subsequent stories where the race is depicted as being shorter than the average human male. Additionally, one of the Sontarans in this story is significantly taller than the other.
  • The Two Doctors was released as 6 25 minute episodes in the USA. "Part One" ends with the Doctor and Peri wandering around the space station where the Doctor says "the research here didn't threaten anyone", to which the computer replies "it threatened the Time Lords". "Part Three" ends with Anita offering to show the Doctor and Peri to the hacienda and "Part Five" ends with the Doctor taking a drink from a fountain in Seville as he begins to feel the effects of becoming an Androgum. UK Gold screenings of the story as well as the Australian video release have used the 6-part version.
  • This is one of several multi-Doctor stories and was the third during the original series' run, including the 10th Anniversary story The Three Doctors (1972) and the 20th Anniversary story The Five Doctors
    The Five Doctors
    The Five Doctors is a special feature-length episode of the British science fiction television series Doctor Who, produced in celebration of the programme's twentieth anniversary. It had its world premiere in the United States, on the Chicago PBS station WTTW and various other PBS member stations...

    (1983). Excluding the charity special Dimensions In Time
    Dimensions in Time
    Dimensions in Time is a charity special crossover between the British science fiction television series Doctor Who and the soap opera EastEnders that ran in two parts on 26 and 27 November 1993. It was filmed on the EastEnders Albert Square set, and features several of the stars of that programme...

    , no new multi-Doctor story would occur again on screen until the 2007 "mini-episode" of the new series, "Time Crash
    Time Crash
    "Time Crash" is a mini-episode of the British science fiction television series Doctor Who. It was broadcast on 16 November 2007, as part of the BBC One telethon for the children's charity Children in Need...

    ".

Season 6B

The serial contains severe divergences from the series' continuity from the 1960s, including Jamie knowing who the Time Lords were, the Second Doctor being on a mission for the Time Lords and the visibly aged appearance of the two actors. A popular fan theory to account for these apparent discrepancies is a hypothetical "Season 6B
Season 6B
Season 6B is a fan theory related to the long-running British science fiction television series Doctor Who. It constitutes a hypothetical series of adventures undertaken by the Second Doctor between his final regular appearance in season 6 and the Third Doctor's debut in season 7...

", taking place between The War Games
The War Games
The War Games is a serial in the British science fiction television series Doctor Who, which originally aired in ten weekly parts from 19 April to 21 June 1969. It was the last regular appearance of Patrick Troughton as the Second Doctor, and of Wendy Padbury and Frazer Hines as companions Zoe...

(the final serial of Season 6) and Spearhead from Space
Spearhead from Space
Spearhead from Space is a serial in the British science fiction television series Doctor Who, which was first broadcast in four weekly parts from 3 January to 24 January 1970. The serial opened Series 7 of the show and was the first to be produced in colour. The serial introduced Jon Pertwee as the...

(the first serial of Season 7), first postulated by Paul Cornell
Paul Cornell
Paul Cornell is a British writer best known for his work in television drama as well as Doctor Who fiction, and as the creator of one of the Doctor's spin-off companions, Bernice Summerfield....

, Martin Day
Martin Day
Martin Day is a screenwriter and novelist best known for his work on various spin-offs related to the BBC Television series Doctor Who, and many episodes of the daytime soaps Doctors and Family Affairs.-Work:...

, and Keith Topping
Keith Topping
Keith Andrew Topping , is an author, journalist and broadcaster most closely associated with his work relating to the BBC Television series Doctor Who and for writing numerous official and unofficial guide books to a wide variety of television and film series, specifically Buffy the Vampire...

 in their book Doctor Who: The Discontinuity Guide
The Discontinuity Guide
The Discontinuity Guide, by Paul Cornell, Martin Day and Keith Topping, is a humorous guidebook to the serials of the original run of the BBC science fiction series Doctor Who. It was first published in 1995 by Virgin Books, which at the time also published licensed Doctor Who...

. It is presumed that during this period the Time Lords allowed the Doctor to regain the companionship of not only Jamie, but also Victoria Waterfield
Victoria Waterfield
Victoria Waterfield is a fictional character played by Deborah Watling in the long-running British science fiction television series Doctor Who. A native of Victorian England, she was a companion of the Second Doctor and a regular in the programme from 1967 to 1968.-Character history:Victoria first...

, who is mentioned in the opening scene here. Season 6B has featured in spin-off fiction, most notably Players
Players (Doctor Who)
Players is a BBC Books original novel written by Terrance Dicks and based on the long-running British science fiction television series Doctor Who. It features the Sixth Doctor and Peri meeting Winston Churchill during the Boer War and prior to the abdication of the would-be king Edward VIII...

and World Game
World Game (Doctor Who)
World Game is a BBC Books original novel written by Terrance Dicks and based on the long-running British science fiction television series Doctor Who. It features the Second Doctor and the Lady Serena and is set during "Season 6B"...

, both by Terrance Dicks
Terrance Dicks
Terrance Dicks is an English writer, best known for his work in television and for writing a large number of popular children's books during the 1970s and 80s.- Early career :...

.

The opening scene of the serial begins in monochrome
Monochrome
Monochrome describes paintings, drawings, design, or photographs in one color or shades of one color. A monochromatic object or image has colors in shades of limited colors or hues. Images using only shades of grey are called grayscale or black-and-white...

, reflecting the Second Doctor's era, before dissolving into colour, and makes use of the old-style TARDIS console last seen in The King's Demons
The King's Demons
The King's Demons is a serial in the British science fiction television series Doctor Who, which was originally broadcast in two parts on March 15 and March 16, 1983...

, albeit with the addition of a new teleport control by which the Second Doctor tells Jamie the Time Lords can maintain control of the TARDIS.

Production

  • Working titles for this story included The Kraglon Inheritance and The Androgum Inheritance.
  • Robert Holmes, a vegetarian
    Vegetarianism
    Vegetarianism encompasses the practice of following plant-based diets , with or without the inclusion of dairy products or eggs, and with the exclusion of meat...

    , wrote the serial as an allegory about meat-eating, hunting and butchering. "Androgum" is an anagram
    Anagram
    An anagram is a type of word play, the result of rearranging the letters of a word or phrase to produce a new word or phrase, using all the original letters exactly once; e.g., orchestra = carthorse, A decimal point = I'm a dot in place, Tom Marvolo Riddle = I am Lord Voldemort. Someone who...

     for "gourmand".
  • Elements from Robert Holmes's aborted project The Six Doctors were carried over to this story (as the production subtitles for the DVD release reveal).
  • Holmes's original brief from producer John Nathan-Turner was to write a serial taking place in New Orleans
    New Orleans, Louisiana
    New Orleans is a major United States port and the largest city and metropolitan area in the state of Louisiana. The New Orleans metropolitan area has a population of 1,235,650 as of 2009, the 46th largest in the USA. The New Orleans – Metairie – Bogalusa combined statistical area has a population...

    , involving the Sontarans, the Second Doctor and Jamie, but the setting had to be changed to Spain instead when the expected funding for location filming in the United States
    United States
    The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

     fell through. Holmes was particularly disappointed that much of the humour involving the differences between Britain and America
    United States
    The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

     was lost in the rewrite. The only hint we get of this humour is in Episode 1, when the Sixth Doctor looks at Peri and says that Columbus
    Christopher Columbus
    Christopher Columbus was an explorer, colonizer, and navigator, born in the Republic of Genoa, in northwestern Italy. Under the auspices of the Catholic Monarchs of Spain, he completed four voyages across the Atlantic Ocean that led to general European awareness of the American continents in the...

     "has a lot to answer for".
  • According to the DVD commentary track, location filming was plagued by numerous small problems, including high heat that caused make-up to melt, a three-day delay to replace Troughton and Pearce's wigs (which had somehow got lost in shipping), Carmen Gómez' refusal to wear a costume designed for her, and a local stunt man (the truck driver) who refused to perform his stunt as it had been choreographed. Pearce also says that she was a last-minute replacement for another, unspecified actress who had to drop out of the production. A filmed scene with Oscar and Anita in the olive grove was discovered to have been ruined by a scratch on the negative, so Saxon and Gómez, who had already returned to England, had to be quickly brought back to Spain at considerable expense.
  • During the transmission of the story, the news that the series would be put on hiatus for a year was announced. Much controversy still surrounds this period and action, with disputes over whether or not the series was facing cancellation outright at this stage, and the roles of various BBC officials such as BBC One
    BBC One
    BBC One is the flagship television channel of the British Broadcasting Corporation in the United Kingdom. It was launched on 2 November 1936 as the BBC Television Service, and was the world's first regular television service with a high level of image resolution...

     controller Michael Grade
    Michael Grade
    Michael Ian Grade, Baron Grade of Yarmouth CBE is a British broadcast executive and businessman. He was BBC chairman from 2004 to 2006 and executive chairman of ITV plc from 2007 to 2009.-Early life:...

     and Head of Drama Serials Jonathan Powell.
  • Discounting the 1996 TV movie which was produced entirely in Canada
    Canada
    Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...

    , and the 2007 episode "Daleks in Manhattan
    Daleks in Manhattan
    "Daleks in Manhattan" is an episode of the British science fiction television series Doctor Who. It was broadcast on BBC One on 21 April 2007, and is the fourth episode of Series 3 of the revived Doctor Who series. It is part one of a two-part story, concluded in "Evolution of the Daleks"...

    " which included some second unit
    Second unit
    In film, the second unit is a team that shoots subsidiary footage for a motion picture. Its work is distinct from that of the first unit, which shoots all scenes involving principal actors...

     footage shot in New York City
    New York City
    New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...

    , a regular series episode wouldn't be substantially filmed outside the UK until "The Fires of Pompeii
    The Fires of Pompeii
    "The Fires of Pompeii" is the second episode of the fourth series of the British science fiction television series Doctor Who. It was broadcast on BBC One on 12 April 2008....

    " which was broadcast in 2008.

Cast notes

This story marked the final appearance of Patrick Troughton as the Second Doctor and the final on-screen appearance (so far) of Frazer Hines as Jamie (though he has reprised the role in subsequent audio plays.)

In print

The novelisation of this serial, by Robert Holmes, was published in hardback and paperback in August 1985 as the 100th Doctor Who release by Target Books
Target Books
Target Books was a British publishing imprint, established in 1973 by Universal-Tandem Publishing Co Ltd, a paperback publishing company. The imprint was established as a children's imprint to complement the adult Tandem imprint, and became well known for their highly successful range of...

. This was Holmes only complete novelisation and seeks to clear up some of the continuity errors in the original broadcast. With a gold foil-embossed cover, it was billed on release as the 100th novelisation and featured an introduction by John Nathan-Turner

Broadcast, VHS and DVD releases

  • This story was released on VHS
    VHS
    The Video Home System is a consumer-level analog recording videocassette standard developed by Victor Company of Japan ....

     in November 1993.
  • This story was released on DVD
    DVD
    A DVD is an optical disc storage media format, invented and developed by Philips, Sony, Toshiba, and Panasonic in 1995. DVDs offer higher storage capacity than Compact Discs while having the same dimensions....

     in the UK in September 2003 in a two-disc set as part of the Doctor Who 40th Anniversary Celebration releases, representing the Colin Baker years, with many extra features, including the Jim'll Fix It
    Jim'll Fix It
    Jim'll Fix It was a long-running British television show, broadcast by the BBC between 1975 and 1994. It was presented by Jimmy Savile. It was produced by Roger Ordish, who also worked on other BBC shows, including A Bit of Fry & Laurie...

    sketch A Fix with Sontarans
    A Fix with Sontarans
    "A Fix with Sontarans" is the name of a specially written segment produced for the BBC children's programme Jim'll Fix It featuring Colin Baker in character as the Sixth Doctor. It was broadcast on 23 February 1985...

    .
  • The DVD contains a full-length commentary provided by director Peter Moffatt and actors Colin Baker, Nicola Bryant, Frazer Hines, and Jacqueline Pearce.
  • The DVD was subsequently incorporated into the box set Bred for War: The Sontaran Collection, along with The Time Warrior
    The Time Warrior
    The Time Warrior is a serial in the British science fiction television series Doctor Who, which was first broadcast in four weekly parts from December 15, 1973 to January 5, 1974. This serial introduced Elisabeth Sladen as new companion Sarah Jane Smith. It also marked the debut of the Sontarans...

    , The Sontaran Experiment
    The Sontaran Experiment
    The Sontaran Experiment is a serial in the British science fiction television series Doctor Who, which was originally broadcast in two weekly parts on 22 February and 1 March 1975.-Synopsis:...

    and The Invasion of Time
    The Invasion of Time
    The Invasion of Time is a serial in the British science fiction television series Doctor Who, which was first broadcast in six weekly parts from 4 February to 11 March 1978...

    .
  • The BBC has made the serial available for download on Apple iTunes.
  • This was released in issue 45 of Doctor Who DVD Files
    Doctor Who DVD Files
    Doctor Who DVD Files is a fortnightly partwork magazine published by GE Fabbri, authorised by 2 entertain and BBC Worldwide. Each issue consists of a magazine and a DVD....

    .

Target novelisation

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