Doctor Who season 13

This article is about the 1975–76 season. For the 2021 series, see Doctor Who series 13.

Doctor Who
Season 13
Cover art of the Region 2 DVD release for the first serial of the season
Starring
No. of stories6
No. of episodes26
Release
Original networkBBC1
Original release30 August 1975 (1975-08-30) –
6 March 1976 (1976-03-06)
Season chronology
← Previous
Season 12
Next →
Season 14
List of episodes

The thirteenth season of British science fiction television series Doctor Who began on 30 August 1975 with the story Terror of the Zygons, and ended with The Seeds of Doom. This is the second series to feature the Fourth Doctor, played by Tom Baker, with Philip Hinchcliffe producing and Robert Holmes script editing. In September 2009, it was ranked as readers' favourite season in Doctor Who Magazine issue 413.

Casting

See also: List of Doctor Who cast members

Main cast

Tom Baker continued his role as The Fourth Doctor along with Sarah Jane Smith (Elisabeth Sladen). Harry Sullivan, played by Ian Marter, departed in Terror of the Zygons and reappeared in The Android Invasion as a guest star.

Recurring cast

Nicholas Courtney returned as Brigadier Lethbridge-Stewart in Terror of the Zygons having last appeared in Robot. John Levene makes his final appearance as Sergeant Benton in The Android Invasion after six years in the role.

Serials

See also: List of Doctor Who episodes (1963–1989)

Terror of the Zygons was produced as part of the production schedule for Season 12, but was held for transmission from the end of that season to the beginning of Season 13, to coincide with a move from the new season starting at the beginning of the calendar year, to starting in late summer. Terror of the Zygons was also the last appearance of the Brigadier until Mawdryn Undead in Season 20. The season took a transmission break of two weeks over the Christmas 1975 period, between the broadcasts of The Android Invasion and The Brain of Morbius.

No.
story		No. in
season		Serial titleEpisode titlesDirected byWritten byOriginal air dateProd.
code		UK viewers
(millions) [1]		AI [1]
801Terror of the Zygons"Part One"Douglas CamfieldRobert Banks Stewart30 August 1975 (1975-08-30)4F8.459
"Part Two"6 September 1975 (1975-09-06)6.1—
"Part Three"13 September 1975 (1975-09-13)8.254
"Part Four"20 September 1975 (1975-09-20)7.2—
The Fourth Doctor is summoned to Earth by the Brigadier who is in Scotland investigating the mysterious loss of oil rigs, and discovers an alien invasion.
812Planet of Evil"Part One"David MaloneyLouis Marks27 September 1975 (1975-09-27)4H10.456
"Part Two"4 October 1975 (1975-10-04)9.956
"Part Three"11 October 1975 (1975-10-11)9.157
"Part Four"18 October 1975 (1975-10-18)10.154
An expedition is murdered. The Doctor and Sarah Jane land on the planet at the same time as the expedition's rescue team, and are immediately taken prisoner as the suspected murderers.
823Pyramids of Mars"Part One"Paddy Russell"Stephen Harris"
(Lewis Greifer and Robert Holmes)		25 October 1975 (1975-10-25)4G10.5—
"Part Two"1 November 1975 (1975-11-01)11.3—
"Part Three"8 November 1975 (1975-11-08)9.4—
"Part Four"15 November 1975 (1975-11-15)11.760
The Osiran warmonger Sutekh seeks to be released from his prison and enlists servants on Earth.
834The Android Invasion"Part One"Barry LettsTerry Nation22 November 1975 (1975-11-22)4J11.958
"Part Two"29 November 1975 (1975-11-29)11.3—
"Part Three"6 December 1975 (1975-12-06)12.1—
"Part Four"13 December 1975 (1975-12-13)11.4—
The Doctor and Sarah Jane land in a duplicate of an English village, complete with androids created by aliens as a testing ground for their invasion plot.
845The Brain of Morbius"Part One"Christopher Barry"Robin Bland"
(Terrance Dicks and Robert Holmes)		3 January 1976 (1976-01-03)4K9.5—
"Part Two"10 January 1976 (1976-01-10)9.3—
"Part Three"17 January 1976 (1976-01-17)10.157
"Part Four"24 January 1976 (1976-01-24)10.2—
Years ago, the renegade Time Lord known as Morbius was executed. When the Doctor and Sarah Jane arrive on the planet Karn, they discover that Dr Solon is creating a body so that Morbius may live again.
856The Seeds of Doom"Part One"Douglas CamfieldRobert Banks Stewart31 January 1976 (1976-01-31)4L11.459
"Part Two"7 February 1976 (1976-02-07)11.4—
"Part Three"14 February 1976 (1976-02-14)10.3—
"Part Four"21 February 1976 (1976-02-21)11.1—
"Part Five"28 February 1976 (1976-02-28)9.9—
"Part Six"6 March 1976 (1976-03-06)11.5—
Scientists uncover two giant seedpods buried in the Antarctic permafrost for thousands of years. Ruthless plant-lover Harrison Chase decides he must have them for his rare collection, but the pods may spell the end of all non-plant life on Earth.

Broadcast

The entire season was broadcast from 30 August 1975 to 6 March 1976.

Home media

See also: List of Doctor Who home video releases and List of other Doctor Who home video releases

VHS releases

Season Story no. Serial name Number and duration
of episodes 		UK release date Australia release date USA/Canada release date
13 80 Terror of the Zygons 1 x 100 min.
4 x 25 min. 		November 1988(edited)
August 1999(unedited) 		April 1987(edited)
January 2000 (unedited) 		April 1991(edited)
May 2000 (unedited)
81 Planet of Evil 4 x 25 min. February 1994 March 1994 June 1996
82 Pyramids of Mars 1 x 100 min.
4 x 25 min. 		February 1985(edited)
April 1994(unedited) 		November 1985(edited) February 1988(edited)
March 1998 (unedited)
83 The Android Invasion 4 x 25 min. March 1995 March 1995 March 1996
84 The Brain of Morbius 1 x 60 min.
4 x 25 min. 		July 1984(edited)
July 1990(unedited) 		November 1987(edited)
January 1991(unedited) 		November 1987(edited)
February 1997 (unedited)
85 The Seeds of Doom 6 x 25 min. August 1994
2 x VHS 		October 1994 September 1995

Betamax releases

Season Story no. Serial name Number and duration
of episodes 		UK release date Australia release date USA/Canada release date
13 82 Pyramids of Mars 1 x 100 min. February 1985 (edited)[2] — —
84 The Brain of Morbius 1 x 60 min.
 July 1984 (edited)[3] — —

Video 2000 releases

Season Story no. Serial name Number and duration
of episodes 		UK release date Australia release date USA/Canada release date
13 84 The Brain of Morbius 1 x 60 min. July 1984 (edited)[3] — —

Laserdisc releases

Season Story no. Serial name Number and duration
of episodes 		UK release date Australia release date USA/Canada release date
13 80 Terror of the Zygons 4 × 25 min. December 1997[4][5] — —
84 The Brain of Morbius (edited) 1 x 60 min. July 1984[6][7] — —

DVD and Blu-ray releases

All releases are for DVD

Season Story no. Serial name Number and duration
of episodes 		R2 release date R4 release date R1 release date
13 80 Terror of the Zygons[a] 4 × 25 min. 29 July 2013[8]
30 September 2013[9][b] 		2 October 2013[10] 8 October 2013[11]
81 Planet of Evil 4 × 25 min. 15 October 2007[12] 5 December 2007[13] 4 March 2008[14]
82 Pyramids of Mars[c] [15] 4 × 25 min. 1 March 2004[16] 10 June 2004[17] 7 September 2004[18]
83 The Android Invasion[d] 4 × 25 min. 9 January 2012[19] 5 January 2012[20][21] 10 January 2012[22]
84 The Brain of Morbius 4 × 25 min. 21 July 2008[23] 2 October 2008[24] 7 October 2008[25]
85 The Seeds of Doom 6 × 25 min. 25 October 2010[26] 2 December 2010[27] 8 March 2011[28]
  1. ^ Advanced release in region 2 as part of 'The Fourth Doctor Time Capsule' set with no special features on 29 July 2013
  2. ^ The Region 2 release of Terror of the Zygons was released in advance as part of The Fourth Doctor Time Capsule box set without special features, and was later re-released on its own with special features.
  3. ^ Also available as part of The Doctors Revisited 1-4 in Regions 1 and 4
  4. ^ Only available as part of the U.N.I.T. Files box set in Regions 2 and 4. Only available individually in Region 1.

In print

See also: List of Doctor Who novelisations
Season Story no. Library no.[a] Novelisation title Author Hardcover
release date[b] 		Paperback
release date[c] 		Audiobook
release date[d]
13 080 40 Doctor Who and the Loch Ness Monster Terrance Dicks 15 January 1976 1978 [e]
081 47 Doctor Who and the Planet of Evil 21 July 1977 18 August 1977 6 April 2023[29]
082 50 Doctor Who and the Pyramids of Mars 16 December 1976 14 August 2008
083 2 Doctor Who and the Android Invasion 16 November 1978 18 August 2022
084 7 Doctor Who and the Brain of Morbius 19 May 1977 23 June 1977 4 February 2008
— Junior Doctor Who and the Brain of Morbius 27 June 1980 13 November 1980 —
085 55 Doctor Who and the Seeds of Doom Philip Hinchcliffe 17 February 1977 5 September 2019
  1. ^ Number in Target's Doctor Who Library, if applicable
  2. ^ Published by Target's parent companies (Allen Wingate, W. H. Allen, BBC Books) unless otherwise indicated
  3. ^ Published by Target Books (or by BBC Books under the Target Collection umbrella) unless otherwise indicated
  4. ^ Unabridged from BBC Audio/AudioGo unless otherwise indicated
  5. ^ Published by the Royal National Institute of the Blind

References

  1. ^ a b "Ratings Guide". Doctor Who News. Retrieved 27 December 2014.
  2. ^ "Pyramids of Mars @ The TARDIS Library (Doctor Who books, DVDs, videos & audios)". www.timelash.com.
  3. ^ a b "The Brain of Morbius @ The TARDIS Library (Doctor Who books, DVDs, videos & audios)". www.timelash.com.
  4. ^ "Terror of the Zygons". timelash.com. Retrieved 4 February 2012.
  5. ^ "Doctor Who: Terror of the Zygons (1975) [EE 1203]". lddb.com. Retrieved 4 February 2012.
  6. ^ "The Brain of Morbius". timelash.com. Retrieved 4 February 2012.
  7. ^ "Doctor Who: The Brain of Morbius (1975) [BBCV 2012L]". lddb.com. Retrieved 4 February 2012.
  8. ^ Smith 2014, The Fourth Doctor Time Capsule.
  9. ^ Smith 2014, Terror of the Zygons.
  10. ^ "Doctor Who by Roadshow Entertainment - Shop Online for Movies, DVDs in Australia". Fishpond. Archived from the original on 16 November 2017. Retrieved 16 November 2017.
  11. ^ "Doctor Who, Story 80: Terror of the Zygons". 8 October 2013. Retrieved 16 November 2017 – via Amazon.
  12. ^ Smith 2014, Planet of Evil.
  13. ^ "Doctor Who Planet of Evil by Roadshow Entertainment - Shop Online for Movies, DVDs in Australia". Fishpond. Archived from the original on 16 November 2017. Retrieved 16 November 2017.
  14. ^ "Doctor Who: Planet of Evil". 4 March 2008. Archived from the original on 26 January 2021. Retrieved 16 November 2017 – via Amazon.
  15. ^ "Doctor Who: The Doctors Revisited 1-4 (2013)". Amazon. 16 July 2013. Retrieved 11 January 2014.
  16. ^ Smith 2014, Pyramids of Mars.
  17. ^ "Doctor Who Pyramids of Mars by Roadshow Entertainment - Shop Online for Movies, DVDs in Australia". Fishpond. Archived from the original on 16 November 2017. Retrieved 16 November 2017.
  18. ^ "Doctor Who: Pyramids of Mars". 7 September 2004. Retrieved 16 November 2017 – via Amazon.
  19. ^ Smith 2014, U.N.I.T. Files.
  20. ^ "Doctor Who UNIT Files Box Set". Australian Broadcasting Corporation. Archived from the original on 3 December 2013. Retrieved 29 November 2013.
  21. ^ "Doctor Who UNIT boxset 3 DVD Set". BBC. Archived from the original on 15 May 2013. Retrieved 29 November 2013.
  22. ^ "Doctor Who: The Android Invasion". 10 January 2012. Retrieved 16 November 2017 – via Amazon.
  23. ^ Smith 2014, The Brain of Morbius.
  24. ^ "Doctor Who The Brain of Morbius by Roadshow Entertainment - Shop Online for Movies, DVDs in Australia". Fishpond. Archived from the original on 16 November 2017. Retrieved 16 November 2017.
  25. ^ "Doctor Who: The Brain of Morbius". 7 October 2008. Retrieved 16 November 2017 – via Amazon.
  26. ^ Smith 2014, The Seeds of Doom.
  27. ^ "Doctor Who Seeds of Doom by Roadshow Entertainment - Shop Online for Movies, DVDs in Australia". Fishpond. Archived from the original on 16 November 2017. Retrieved 16 November 2017.
  28. ^ "Doctor Who: The Seeds of Doom". 8 March 2011. Archived from the original on 12 February 2021. Retrieved 16 November 2017 – via Amazon.
  29. ^ Doctor Who and the Planet of Evil. 6 April 2023 – via Penguin.co.uk.

Bibliography

  • Smith, Paul (2014). The Classic Doctor Who DVD Compendium. United Kingdom: Wonderful Books. ISBN 978-0-9576062-2-7.