Season 23, Episode 4 | 2 parts | First broadcast: 29 November – 6 December 1986 | Writers: Robert Holmes and Pip and Jane Baker | Director: Chris Clough
Cast
- Colin Baker as the Doctor
- Bonnie Langford as Mel Bush
- Michael Jayston as the Valeyard
- Anthony Ainley as the Master
- Tony Selby as Sabalom Glitz
Summary
As the Doctor’s trial reaches its climax, he uncovers proof that the evidence against him has been manipulated by the sinister Valeyard, revealed to be a dark, future incarnation of the Doctor himself, in league with a shadowy alliance to seize control of Time Lord society. Pursuing his adversary into the mysterious virtual landscape of the Matrix alongside Glitz and the timely intervention of the Master, the Doctor must expose the conspiracy to clear his name and save Gallifrey’s High Council.
Interesting Facts
- This serial concludes the Trial of a Time Lord arc and marks Colin Baker’s final regular appearance as the Sixth Doctor.
- Writer Robert Holmes died before completing the final episode, and Pip and Jane Baker were brought in to finish the story after script editor Eric Saward withdrew his own alternate ending.
- The Valeyard is revealed to be an amalgamation of the darker aspects of the Doctor’s own future self, one of the series’ boldest twists involving the character’s own identity.
- Colin Baker was not invited back to film a regeneration scene for his successor, meaning his era ends on this story with the change to the Seventh Doctor handled off-screen at the start of the next season.
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