The Time Warrior

"The Time Warrior" is the first story of the eleventh season of Doctor Who.

Background information

• Writer Robert Holmes had a good working relationship with the Doctor Who production office, and script editor Terrance Dicks in particular. He had contributed a story-a-year to the series since Jon Pertwee had taken on the role of the Doctor. Dicks and Holmes had been talking about a possible story to conclude the tenth season's recording block of episodes, but which would be held over until the beginning of the next season.
• On January 9th, 1973, Holmes was asked to come up with a possible four-part story titled "The Automata", with a brief to deliver a storyline by 26th January. Not much is known about the contents of this particular storyline, but by 26th February, 1973, the production office had notified Holmes that they would not be continuing with this idea, and that they would not be commissioning scripts.
• On the same day, Holmes was given a brief to come up with another four-part storyline, this time titled "The Time Fugitive" (or just "The Fugitive" according to some sources), to be delivered by the 5th March, 1973. This new commission had come about after a lunchtime meeting between Holmes, Dicks and producer Barry Letts, when one of the topics of conversation had been how long it had been since Doctor Who had done a story in a historical setting. Holmes reluctantly agreed to come up with such a story, but on the condition that no famous historical figures were to be used.
• Holmes sent his story idea to Terrance Dicks in the form of a Sontaran military communication. Addressed to "Terran Cedicks" from "Field Marshall Hol Mes", the proposal contained excerpts from the military journal of Sontaran officer "Jingo Linx."
• A new TARDIS key, designed as an ankh-like pendant, was introduced in this story.
• All the scenes of the Doctor swordfighting were recorded with Terry Walsh doubling for Pertwee in the knight's costume.
• The costume Kevin Lindsay wears as Linx was heavily padded, quilted and made from a material known as lurex. When other Sontaran costumes were required to be made for Doctor Who, it was found that the material used for Linx's costume was no longer being made. The collar and helmet were made of fibreglass, with the helmet made to be the same shape as Linx's head.
• Linx's ship - or cursitor, as it is described in the script - was a full-size prop made from sections of expanded polystyrene. The polystyrene was scored to give the exterior a diamond pattern. The prop was first used on location at Peckforton Castle. It reappeared in the studio for the interior scenes. This Sontaran ship design makes two more appearances in the classic series before returning in "The Sontaran Stratagem". The design was identified as a Sontaran space pod in The Sarah Jane Adventures serial "The Last Sontaran".
• The interior of Linx's ship was mainly constructed from a stock spaceship set that the series kept in storage, along with the TARDIS interior set.
• Interviewed by Doctor Who Magazine in 1992, Elisabeth Sladen recalled recently watching the serial: "I saw [the serial] a long time after making it, and I was quite amazed at what a strong role they let me take. Sarah was never so strong again."

Links and references

Cast

• Doctor Who - Jon Pertwee
• Sarah Jane Smith - Elisabeth Sladen
• Brigadier Lethbridge Stewart - Nicholas Courtney
• Linx - Kevin Lindsay
• Professor Rubeish - Donald Pelmear
• Irongron - David Daker
• Bloodaxe - John J. Carney
• Edward of Wessex - Alan Rowe
• Eleanor - June Brown
• Hal - Jeremy Bulloch
• Meg - Sheila Fay
• Eric - Gordon Pitt
• Sentry - Steve Brunswick

Uncredited performers

• Andrew Abrahams as Irongron's sentry (2-3)
• Tom Atkins as Irongron's soldier (1,3)
• George Ballantine as a scientist (1-4)
• Michael Boone as Irongron's soldier (1-3)
• Brian Bowles as Irongron's soldier (1,3)
• Marc Boyle as Irongron's man (3)
• David Buswell as Irongron's soldier (1-4)
• David Carruthers as Irongron's soldier (2-3)
• David Cleeve as a UNIT soldier (1)
• Allan Deutrom as a Wessex bowman (2-3)
• Douglas Domingo as Irongron's man in workshop (1-4)
• Ray Dunbobbin as Irongron's soldier (1-4)
• Bella Emberg as a kitchen hag (4)
• David Enyon as a scientist (1-4)
• Eden Fox as a scientist (1-4)
• Andrew Greenwood as Irongron's soldier (2-3)
• Emmett Hennessy as Irongron's man (1-4)
• Bill Herbert as Irongron's man (1,3-4)
• John Hughman as the fighting robot (2)
• Stephen Ismay as a UNIT soldier (1)
• Jon James as Irongron's soldier (2-3)
• Clifford Kershaw as a Wessex bowman (2-3)
• Alan Lenoir as Irongron's man (1-4)
• Bill Lodge as Irongron's man (4)
• Dudley Long as the fighting robot with head (2)
• Alan Luxton as Irongron's soldier (2-3)
• Jimmy Lyon as Irongron's man (1-4)
• Roger Marston as a scientist (1-4)
• Bill Monks as the fighting robot without head (2)
• Keith Norrish as Irongron's man (1,3-4)
• Ronald Nunnery as a Wessex man (2-4)
• Robert Peters as Irongron's man in workshop (1)
• Paul Phillips as a scientist (2-4)
• Michael Ralph as Irongron's soldier (1-3)
• Mary Rennie as a kitchen hag (4)
• Jacqueline Stanbury as Mary (1)
• Malcolm Stevens as Irongron's soldier (2-3)
• Alan C. Thomas as Irongron's man (1,3-4)
• Sidney Tomas as Irongron's soldier (2-3)
• Dick Weable as Irongron's soldier (1,3)
• Jim Whelan as Irongron's soldier (2-3)
• Howard Williamson as Irongron's soldier (2-3)
• Unknown performer as Morrison (2,4)

Crew

• Written by Robert Holmes
• Directed by Alan Bromly
• Produced by Barry Letts
• Fight Arrangers -
  • Marc Boyle
  • Terry Walsh
• Title Music by Ron Grainer and BBC Radiophonic Workshop
• Title Sequence - Bernard Lodge
• Incidental Music - Dudley Simpson
• Special Sound - Dick Mills
• Costume Designer - James Acheson
• Make-Up - Sandra Exelby
• Film Cameraman - Max Samett
• Film Sound - John Gatland
• Film Editor - William Symon
• Studio Lighting - Mike Jefferies
• Studio Sound - Tony Millier
• Visual Effects Designer - Jim Ward
• Script Editor - Terrance Dicks
• Designer - Keith Cheetham

References

1273; 17th century; 1974

5th Sontaran Army Space Fleet; activator key; alloy; ant; archer; armourer; Army Space Corps; atomic weapon; axe; bat; blackboard; bow and arrow; brain; bread; breech-loading gun; brigadier; British monarchy; butcher; cadet; camel; camera; captain; cheese; chicken; chocolate truffle; cockerel; coffee; commander; Crabshaw; crossbow; Crusades; delta particle; demon; Dingle, Maxwell; dog; dragon; Earth; England; espionage; fat; fennel; fighting robot; fly; fox; friar; galaxy; Gallifrey; ghost; glasses; guidance system; hen; henbane; horse; hypnosis; Irongron's castle; journalist; knight; Linx's ship; liver; lobster; loop theory of time; Lord of Salisbury; love-in-a-mist; magic; magician; magnifying glass; man-at-arms; matter transmitter; meat; Metebelis III; Middle Ages; Minister of Defence; mushroom; Norman; oatmeal; osmic projector; paintbrush; palette knife; pikeman; police box; polka; probic vent; professor; rabbit; ragwort; Rembrandt; rhondium sensor; rifle; the Ritz; robber baron; robot; Royal Society; Rutan; Rutan fighter; salt; saltpetre; Saracen; seaweed; sesame; sheep; sleeping potion; smith; Smith, Lavinia; Sontaran; Sontaran-Rutan war; Sontaran Empire; Sontaran Military Academy; Sontaran space armour; Sontaran space pod; Sontaran wand; space hardware research centre; sparrow; spider; squadron; squire; star; steak; stink bomb; stoat; sulphur; swagger stick; sword; tadpole; tea; telephone; Time Lord; time transference; time travel; tin; toad; United Kingdom; United Nations Intelligence Taskforce; United States; virologist; virus; Wessex Castle; wine; wizard