Doctor Who season 13

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

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.

Doctor Who
Season 13
Cover art of the Blu-ray release for the complete season
Starring	Tom Baker Elisabeth Sladen Ian Marter
No. of stories	6
No. of episodes	26
Release
Original network	BBC1
Original release	30 August 1975 (1975-08-30) – 6 March 1976 (1976-03-06)
Season chronology
List of episodes

Casting

See also: List of Doctor Who cast members

Main cast

• Tom Baker as the Fourth Doctor
• Elisabeth Sladen as Sarah Jane Smith
• Ian Marter as Harry Sullivan

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 as Brigadier Lethbridge-Stewart
• John Levene as Sergeant Benton

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 title	Episode titles	Directed by	Written by	Original release date	Prod. code	UK viewers (millions) [1]	AI [1]
80	1	Terror of the Zygons	"Part One"	Douglas Camfield	Robert Banks Stewart	30 August 1975 (1975-08-30)	4F	8.4	59
			"Part Two"			6 September 1975 (1975-09-06)		6.1	—
			"Part Three"			13 September 1975 (1975-09-13)		8.2	54
			"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.
81	2	Planet of Evil	"Part One"	David Maloney	Louis Marks	27 September 1975 (1975-09-27)	4H	10.4	56
			"Part Two"			4 October 1975 (1975-10-04)		9.9	56
			"Part Three"			11 October 1975 (1975-10-11)		9.1	57
			"Part Four"			18 October 1975 (1975-10-18)		10.1	54
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.
82	3	Pyramids of Mars	"Part One"	Paddy Russell	"Stephen Harris" (Lewis Greifer and Robert Holmes)	25 October 1975 (1975-10-25)	4G	10.5	—
			"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)		11.7	60
The Osiran warmonger Sutekh seeks to be released from his prison and enlists servants on Earth.
83	4	The Android Invasion	"Part One"	Barry Letts	Terry Nation	22 November 1975 (1975-11-22)	4J	11.9	58
			"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.
84	5	The Brain of Morbius	"Part One"	Christopher Barry	"Robin Bland" (Terrance Dicks and Robert Holmes)	3 January 1976 (1976-01-03)	4K	9.5	—
			"Part Two"			10 January 1976 (1976-01-10)		9.3	—
			"Part Three"			17 January 1976 (1976-01-17)		10.1	57
			"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.
85	6	The Seeds of Doom	"Part One"	Douglas Camfield	Robert Banks Stewart	31 January 1976 (1976-01-31)	4L	11.4	59
			"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]
	80–85	Complete Season 13[e]	26 × 25 min.	TBA (B) [29]	TBA	TBA

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.
5. Released as Doctor Who: The Collection – Season 13 in Region B. Released as Doctor Who – Tom Baker: Complete Season Two in Region A.

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] 4 September 2025[30]
	081	47	Doctor Who and the Planet of Evil		21 July 1977	18 August 1977	6 April 2023[31]
	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