The Five Doctors
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Template:Doctorwhobox The Five Doctors was a special movie-length episode of the British science fiction television series Doctor Who, produced in celebration of the programme's twentieth anniversary. It originally aired in the United Kingdom on November 25, 1983, although it actually had its world premiere in the United States, on the Chicago PBS station WTTW-TV and various other PBS affiliates on November 23, the actual anniversary date.
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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 that wins shall lose...
Plot
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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 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 the 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 - the Death Zone on Gallifrey.
Meanwhile, in the Capitol on Gallifrey, the High 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 - 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. Borusa destroys the scrolls before anyone can examine them, and 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 - 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 - 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 Herriot. 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 casket is. While the Brigadier, Sarah and Tegan get re-acquainted, the three Doctors try to translate an inscription written in Ancient 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 - 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 - 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 appears reluctant, and Flavia tells him he cannot refuse an order of the Council, or it will attract the severest penalties. 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 rickety old TARDIS. The Doctor replies, smiling, "Why not? After all, that's how it all started."
Notes
- The role of the First Doctor was played by Richard Hurndall, as William Hartnell, who originally played the role, had passed away. Tom Baker declined to reprise his role as the Fourth Doctor, so his appearance in the story was pieced together from footage filmed for the unaired serial Shada. William Hartnell does make an appearance, however, in a pre-titles sequence taken from the end of The Dalek Invasion of Earth.
- This serial also featured the debut of the new TARDIS console and room, the first redesign since 1977. This console would remain until the end of series production in 1989.
- The ending credits featured a specially mixed version of the theme music, which blended Delia Derbyshire's original 1960s arrangement with the Peter Howell arrangement being used by the series at the time.
- A special edition of the movie, with some updated special effects and additional footage was released on VHS in 1995 in a box set with the video of The King's Demons and a limited edition postcard album. It was the first Doctor Who serial to be released on DVD in 1999. The Region 1 version has a commentary track by writer Terrance Dicks and Peter Davison.
- Three incarnations of Borusa have previously appeared in The Deadly Assassin, The Invasion of Time and Arc of Infinity.
- Dinah Sheridan makes a guest appearance as Flavia.
- The Five Doctors marks the end of a string of linked serials that began with The Leisure Hive.
External links
- Cast and Crew list, on the BBC website (http://www.bbc.co.uk/cult/doctorwho/episodeguide/fivedoctors/castcrew.shtml)