Doctor Who season 6

This article is about the 1968–69 season. For the 2011 series, see Doctor Who series 6.

The sixth season of British science fiction television series Doctor Who began on 10 August 1968 with the story The Dominators and ended Patrick Troughton's reign as the Doctor with its final story The War Games. Only 37 out of 44 episodes are held in the BBC archives; 7 remain missing. As a result, 2 serials are incomplete: only episode 2 of the 6-part story The Space Pirates still exists, while The Invasion has had its two missing episodes (episodes 1 and 4) reconstructed using animation.

Doctor Who
Season 6
Cover art of the Region 2 DVD release for first serial of the season
Starring	Patrick Troughton Frazer Hines Wendy Padbury
No. of stories	7
No. of episodes	44 (7 missing)
Release
Original network	BBC1
Original release	10 August 1968 (1968-08-10) – 21 June 1969 (1969-06-21)
Season chronology
List of episodes

Casting

See also: List of Doctor Who cast members

Main cast

• Patrick Troughton as the Second Doctor
• Frazer Hines as Jamie McCrimmon
• Wendy Padbury as Zoe Heriot

Patrick Troughton, Frazer Hines and Wendy Padbury make their final regular appearances as the Second Doctor, Jamie McCrimmon and Zoe Heriot respectively. Troughton and his fellow actors collectively decided that the workload of Doctor Who was exhausting them, and that they would soon depart from the show. From Season 7 onwards the show would never have such a high number of episodes again. The three actors remained with the show until the conclusion of the final season six serial The War Games.

Troughton reprised his role in three subsequent special stories, one of which also featured Hines.

Guest stars

Nicholas Courtney reappears as Brigadier Lethbridge-Stewart in The Invasion, last seen (as a Colonel) in The Web of Fear. He would soon make regular appearances in the program beginning with season 7's Spearhead from Space.

John Levene makes his first appearance as Corporal Benton in The Invasion. He would continue to make regular appearances, with the character promoted to sergeant, from season 7 until season 13.

Alan Bennion makes his first of three appearances in the series playing an Ice Warrior. In this, his first appearance, he portrays Lord Slaar in The Seeds of Death.

Kevin Stoney makes his second appearance as a villain in The Invasion as Tobias Vaughn. Louise Pajo and Ronald Leigh-Hunt guest star in The Seeds of Death.

Serials

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

Terrance Dicks took over from Derrick Sherwin as script editor from The Invasion, with Sherwin resuming the role for The Space Pirates. Derrick Sherwin took over as producer from Peter Bryant for The War Games.

Season 6 is the most complete of all the Second Doctor's seasons, with only seven episodes missing (compared with thirty-three from Season 4 and eighteen from Season 5), none of the season's stories missing in their entirety and only two stories (The Invasion and The Space Pirates) incomplete. This compares to the first two seasons of the Second Doctor from which only two complete serials (The Tomb of the Cybermen and The Enemy of the World) survive. The missing two episodes of The Invasion have since been reconstructed using animation and released on DVD.

The War Games, which was the final serial of the season, and the last of Patrick Troughton's tenure as the Doctor, was also the second longest serial up to that point, spanning 10 episodes – only the 12-part serial The Daleks' Master Plan from Season 3 was longer. Both of these would be beaten in 1986 by the 14-part season-spanning story The Trial of a Time Lord

The Dominators and The Mind Robber were both produced at the end of the fifth recording block and held over to Season 6.^{[citation needed]}

No. story	No. in season	Serial title	Episode titles	Directed by	Written by	Original release date	Prod. code	UK viewers (millions) [1]	AI [1]
44	1	The Dominators	"Episode 1"	Morris Barry	"Norman Ashby" (Mervyn Haisman and Henry Lincoln)	10 August 1968 (1968-08-10)	TT	6.1	52
			"Episode 2"			17 August 1968 (1968-08-17)		5.9	55
			[Episode 3][note 1]			24 August 1968 (1968-08-24)		5.4	55
			"Episode 4"			31 August 1968 (1968-08-31)		7.5	51
			"Episode 5"			7 September 1968 (1968-09-07)		5.9	53
Arriving on an irradiated island, The Doctor, Jamie and new companion Zoe Heriot find an alien craft bearing the imperious and ruthless Dominators.
45	2	The Mind Robber	"Episode 1"	David Maloney	Derrick Sherwin (uncredited)	14 September 1968 (1968-09-14)	UU	6.6	51
			"Episode 2"		Peter Ling	21 September 1968 (1968-09-21)		6.5	49
			"Episode 3"		Peter Ling	28 September 1968 (1968-09-28)		7.2	53
			"Episode 4"		Peter Ling	5 October 1968 (1968-10-05)		7.3	56
			"Episode 5"		Peter Ling	12 October 1968 (1968-10-12)		6.7	49
By blowing a fluid link, the Doctor is forced to use the emergency unit to take the TARDIS away from danger and indeed out of reality itself: to the Land of Fiction. Here, he meets fictional characters, such as Rapunzel, Lemuel Gulliver and Medusa.
46	3	The Invasion	"Episode One"†	Douglas Camfield	Derrick Sherwin and Kit Pedler (story)	2 November 1968 (1968-11-02)	VV	7.3	55
			"Episode Two"			9 November 1968 (1968-11-09)		7.1	53
			"Episode Three"			16 November 1968 (1968-11-16)		7.1	54
			"Episode Four"†			23 November 1968 (1968-11-23)		6.4	51
			"Episode Five"			30 November 1968 (1968-11-30)		6.7	52
			"Episode Six"			7 December 1968 (1968-12-07)		6.5	56
			"Episode Seven"			14 December 1968 (1968-12-14)		7.2	55
			"Episode Eight"			21 December 1968 (1968-12-21)		7.0	53
After becoming invisible, the TARDIS arrives in England. While looking for a missing scientist at an electronics company, the TARDIS crew find out that the Cybermen are hidden within London's sewers and are planning an invasion.
47	4	The Krotons	"Episode One"	David Maloney	Robert Holmes	28 December 1968 (1968-12-28)	WW	9.0	59
			"Episode Two"			4 January 1969 (1969-01-04)		8.4	57
			"Episode Three"			11 January 1969 (1969-01-11)		7.5	56
			"Episode Four"			18 January 1969 (1969-01-18)		7.1	55
On an unnamed planet, a race called the Gonds are subject to the mysterious Krotons, unseen beings to whom they provide their brightest members as "companions".
48	5	The Seeds of Death	"Episode One"	Michael Ferguson	Brian Hayles	25 January 1969 (1969-01-25)	XX	6.6	57
			"Episode Two"		Brian Hayles	1 February 1969 (1969-02-01)		6.8	59
			"Episode Three"		Brian Hayles and Terrance Dicks (uncredited)	8 February 1969 (1969-02-08)		7.5	55
			"Episode Four"		Brian Hayles and Terrance Dicks (uncredited)	15 February 1969 (1969-02-15)		7.1	55
			"Episode Five"		Brian Hayles and Terrance Dicks (uncredited)	22 February 1969 (1969-02-22)		7.6	57
			"Episode Six"		Brian Hayles and Terrance Dicks (uncredited)	1 March 1969 (1969-03-01)		7.7	59
The Ice Warriors plan to destroy every living thing on Earth by making Earth more habitable for them.
49	6	The Space Pirates	"Episode One"†	Michael Hart	Robert Holmes	8 March 1969 (1969-03-08)	YY	5.8	57
			"Episode Two"			15 March 1969 (1969-03-15)		6.8	52
			"Episode Three"†			22 March 1969 (1969-03-22)		6.4	55
			"Episode Four"†			29 March 1969 (1969-03-29)		5.8	53
			"Episode Five"†			5 April 1969 (1969-04-05)		5.5	56
			"Episode Six"†			12 April 1969 (1969-04-12)		5.3	52
Space beacons on the space lanes are being blown up and plundered for precious argonite by a gang of space pirates led by Caven and his associate Dervish.
50	7	The War Games	"Episode One"	David Maloney	Terrance Dicks and Malcolm Hulke	19 April 1969 (1969-04-19)	ZZ	5.5	55
			"Episode Two"			26 April 1969 (1969-04-26)		6.3	54
			"Episode Three"			3 May 1969 (1969-05-03)		5.1	53
			"Episode Four"			10 May 1969 (1969-05-10)		5.7	50
			"Episode Five"			17 May 1969 (1969-05-17)		5.1	53
			"Episode Six"			24 May 1969 (1969-05-24)		4.2	53
			"Episode Seven"			31 May 1969 (1969-05-31)		4.9	53
			"Episode Eight"			7 June 1969 (1969-06-07)		3.5	53
			"Episode Nine"			14 June 1969 (1969-06-14)		4.1	57
			"Episode Ten"			21 June 1969 (1969-06-21)		5.0	58
On an alien planet, the Doctor uncovers a plot to conquer the Galaxy with brainwashed Earth soldiers, forced to fight in simulated "war games", reflecting the periods in history whence they were taken, with the aliens being aided by a renegade Time Lord called the War Chief. Joining forces with rebel soldiers, who have broken their conditioning, the Doctor and his companions foil the plot and end the fighting. The War Chief is killed when the aliens' leader, the War Lord, realises he has been plotting against him. The Doctor needs the help of the Time Lords to put things right, but risks capture for his interference across space-time and the theft of his TARDIS. The Time Lords return the soldiers to Earth, dematerialise the War Lord, erase Zoe and Jamie's memories from the points in time when they first entered the TARDIS and then return them there. They then place the Doctor on trial; who cites his many battles against the evils of the universe. Accepting this defence, the Time Lords exile him to Earth, and tell him he will change his appearance. He cries out indignantly as a forced regeneration is triggered.

^† : Episode is missing

Missing episodes

See also: Doctor Who missing episodes

• The Invasion – Episodes 1 & 4 (of 8 total) (Animated recreations exist)
• The Space Pirates – Episodes 1, 3 – 6 (of 6 total)

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
6	44	The Dominators	5 × 25 min.	September 1990[3][4]	February 1991[4]	August 1994[4]
	45	The Mind Robber	5 × 25 min.	May 1990[5][6]	September 1990[6]	February 1994[6]
	46	The Invasion	6 × 25 min.	June 1993[7][8] (2 x VHS)	October 1993[8]	June 1995[8]
	47	The Krotons	4 × 25 min.	February 1991[9][10]	July 1991[10]	August 1994[10]
	48	The Seeds of Death	1 × 150 min.	July 1985[11][12]	December 1987[12]	March 1990[12]
	50	The War Games	10 × 25 min.	February 1990[13][14]	June 1990[14]	January 1992[14]

Betamax releases

Season	Story no.	Serial name	Number and duration of episodes	UK release date	Australia release date	USA/Canada release date
6	48	The Seeds of Death	1 × 150 min.	July 1985 (edited)[12]	—	—

DVD and Blu-ray releases

All releases are for DVD unless otherwise indicated:

• ^(D,B) indicates a simultaneous DVD and Blu-ray release

Season	Story no.	Serial name	Number and duration of episodes	R2 release date	R4 release date	R1 release date
6	44	The Dominators	5 × 25 min.	12 July 2010[15][16][17]	2 September 2010[18]	11 January 2011[19]
	45	The Mind Robber	5 × 20 min.	7 March 2005[20][21]	5 May 2005[22]	6 September 2005[23]
	46	The Invasion[a]	8 × 25 min.	6 November 2006[24][25][26]	3 January 2007[27]	6 March 2007[28]
	47	The Krotons	4 × 25 min.	2 July 2012[29][30][31]	2 August 2012[32]	10 July 2012[33]
	48	The Seeds of Death	6 × 25 min.	17 February 2003[34]	5 May 2003[35]	2 March 2004[36]
		The Seeds of Death (Special Edition)[b]	6 × 25 min.	28 March 2011[37][38][39]	5 May 2011[40]	12 June 2012[41]
	49	Lost in Time, Volume 2 The Space Pirates[c]	1 × 25 min.	1 November 2004[42][d][44]	2 December 2004[43][e]	2 November 2004[43]
	50	The War Games[f]	10 × 25 min.	6 July 2009[45][46][47]	3 September 2009[48]	3 November 2009[49]
		The War Games in Colour	1 × 75 min. 10 × 25 min.	21 April 2025 (D,B) [50]	16 July 2025[51] (D,B)	TBA

1. Episodes 2–3 and 5–8 of 8, animation of 1 and 4
2. Only available as part of the Revisitations 2 box set in Regions 2 and 4. Only available individually in Region 1.
3. Episode 2 of 6
4. Re-released in slimmer packaging in late 2016^[43]
5. Re-released in slimmer packaging in July 2010^[43]
6. Available individually or in the Regeneration box set in Region 2.
   Only available individually in Regions 1 and 4.

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]
6	044	86	The Dominators	Ian Marter	19 April 1984[52]	19 July 1984[52]	6 September 2018[52]
	045	115	The Mind Robber	Peter Ling	20 November 1986[53]	16 April 1987[53]	6 August 2009[53]
	046	98	The Invasion	Ian Marter	16 May 1985[54]	10 October 1985[54]	7 April 2016[54]
	047	99	The Krotons	Terrance Dicks	13 June 1985[55]	14 November 1985[55]	2 April 2020[55]
	048	112	The Seeds of Death		17 July 1986[56]	4 December 1986[56]	2 February 2023[57]
	049	147	The Space Pirates		—	15 March 1990[58]	1 December 2016[58]
	050	70	Doctor Who and the War Games	Malcolm Hulke	25 October 1979[59]	25 September 1979[59]	1 February 2011[59]

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

Notes

1. This episode has no on-screen episode title^[2]