Out of all the Pertwee Season openers, I always thought on paper it has the least going for it as it had no gimmick as such, but in fact I think it's not that bad. I very much enjoy the Pseudo-Historical Nature of the sttory and the fact it introduced another popular companion/adversary for The Doctor makes it in hindsight a special one. (Plus the naming of Gallifrey as The Doctor's home planet)

I always thought Kevin Lindsay to this day is the best Sontaran there has ever been and in this he doesn't disappoint. Though his next story would be the better one for me, in this he still brings out things out the brutality, love of death and war and the eagerness for the fight that all Sontaran's have.

This also fits nicely into the story. His working relationship with Irongron is strained from the off as well as quite funny. Irongron and Bloodaxe are another superb Robert Holmes double act, contrasting neatly with world weary Edward and Lady 'Dot Cotton' Eleanor. Hal is a useful character who on another day may have been suitable for a companion and Professor Rubeish is another amusing addition to the mix.

Off course, what completes the story is the introduction of one Sarah Jane Smith. It is an extremely strong debut and Lis Sladen empowers Sarah with plenty of fight and gusto from the off, from pretending to be her Aunt, waging her own war against The Doctor, her reaction to first being back in time and Irongron and the Linx himself. The only disappointment for me is that we didn't see her reaction to the TARDIS from inside the Console Room as it was in flight. Plus her 70's hairstyle and clothes in this one are not great!

The story itself is an enjoyable one. I like the fact that in the second episode The Doctor is sort of on the edge of the action, watching all the goings on as they unfold, very unusual that. His confrontations with Linx are excellent and the final episode builds up the tension quite nicely. The four parters in the Pertwee Era are mainly the better stories and this one is no exception.

Seconded! I love The Time Warrior, I remember buying it from ASDA with my pocket money, it was one of the first classic who's I saw and it didn't disappoint. Unusually, I think the weakest episode is the 1st, but I don't know whether people would agree.

Sarah Jane gets a great intro too.

agreed, also feel that the Sontaran face in the Time Warrior was the best - .

Iit's clear that right from the start of season 11 you get a sense that an era is coming to an end and change is in the air as Unit are pretty much relegated to a cameo walk on part. But can't fault Time Warrior for me the best story by far of season 11.

Like the parts where the Doctor is escaping from Irongron and Co around the Castle, also the part where they are defending the Castle walls with stinkbombs or something is very well done and quite amusing also.
My favourite Sontaran story, although The Sontaran Experiment is a good 2-parter also.

One of my favourite Pertwee episodes. I think it's mainly down to the debut of Sarah-Jane, a pseudo-historical story, a new villain, and the intro of NEW titles! (I preferred those titles to the later Tom Baker ones - that Tardis looked naff!)

Loved Professor Rubeish - some good comic lines there. Jeremy Bulloch played the dashing good hero (it was rumoured he might have joined the Tardis Team). David Daker played a brilliant villain in Irongron!
With a lot of it on film - it looked a bit more polished.
Can't really fault it for a 1973 production!

Love this story! Everything about it is great - the dialogue ("a long-shanked knave with a mighty nose" "that thin-hipped bitch") is wonderful, Irongron is a wonderful character and the Sontarans are a good conception.

While the OP mentions Irongron and Bloodaxe as a duo, I also see Irongron and Linx as a great duo. There's a real respect between them. Linx seems to see the robber captain as a fellow warrior.

Yes, defiantly the best portrayal and best design. Makes the modern versions look very tame indeed. I think Moffat and Co should revisit The Time Warrior and put the new Sontaran's right.

I did sort of mention it. I said the working relationship between them was quite funny.




I don't dislike the new design but I hate the 'purpleness' of it. As you say, should have been more in line with this design which is much better.

I've spotted on several Pertwee Polls lately that The Time Warrior seems to a favourite amongst several posters, which I actually find surprising as I wouldn't automatically assume this story to be one of the more popular Pertwee Stories.

Like I said above, on paper it really hasn't got that much going for it and to me, it does seems as if the debut of Sarah and the Sontarans elevates the story above what it should be. That's not backtracking on my original thoughts on the story, I still like it but perhaps I prefer the other stories of Season 11 more.

It's always weird watching the New Title Sequence for this Season. Like Season 18, it feels premature in hindsight and you get used to the updated sequence with the following Doctor. It did need updating at this point as Pertwee had aged slightly since Season 7.

It's not just the title sequence that's odd to watch, seeing Sarah with the Third Doctor is weird too and that's the strange thing about Season 11. It feels almost, but not quite, as if it should be a 4th Doctor Season because there the title sequence and Sarah are so much more related to Tom Baker's Era.

I love The Time Warrior and although I agree with much of what yo say in both your last and original post I'm not sure there's no gimmick, it seems a pretty standard Dicks/Letts opener to me..

Terror of the Autons - New companion, new bad guy.
Day of the Daleks - Daleks
The Three Doctors - Three Doctors
The Time Warrior - new companion, new monsters.

I think the only/main reason you wouldn't automatically think of it as a popular Pertwee is connected to your other main point - it doesn't feel like a proper Pertwee story.

There's always a different feel about the programme when a long term companion leaves and Jo Grant was the 3rd Doctor's most associated companion. I get the same feel with Hartnell's Time Meddler having just lost the school teachers the story has a completely new and fresh feel about.

Of course it's not totally the same Hartnell continued for a while after The Time Meddler whilst we know Pertwee id on the home stretch with this one in that regard it's more akin with The Smugglers.

Something I've noticed with the classic Doctors, the early ones at least, is that they seem to try to prepare you for a new Doctor, during the final season of the current one.

With Hartnell, it seemed more like a Troughton show from The War Machines onwards, He was given new companions more suited to Patrick Troughton and the story direction started to become closer to what we would expect during Troughton's run.

With Pertwee it's similar, the titles are changed to those which would look a lot more like Tom Bakers and a new companion who would become a lot more associated with the incoming Doctor arrives.

To a certain extent this happens again 7 years later. New titles which would be the ones used for the new Doctor and a gradual change of companion line up to ones who would fit the new Doctor better.

The obvious exception to this is Troughton but even here we are given a prototype, almost Pertwee, story in the form of The Invasion in his last season.

Anyway back to The Time Warrior, a top story written by the Classic series best writer, the introduction of the show's best companion and one of the best monster's (all my in my opinion of course).

You've got action, adventure, comedy (in the form of Bloodaxe and Rubeish) and mystery. All in all think it's one of Pertwee's best and I say that as a fan of the era.

This is definitely one of my favourites, lots.of great elements have been mentioned.

Agree with most of your post but I suppose after the last two Season openers, with the Daleks and then having all Three Doctors in the next one, it seemed feeble in comparison, there was an unknown element to it and for me it just seemed to lack the vibe of a Season opener. It feels as if the story should have been mid-season but I still enjoy it nonetheless. And as you say, it doesn't feel like a Pertwee Story either because of all the changes made for this Season.

One other thing I noticed about this story, a point that I had never realised before. When the castle explodes at the end, the Doctor, Sarah and Hal escape, so apparently do a lot of the soldiers.....but what happened to Meg and the Serving maids in the kitchen?!!!!!!!

Nice to see all the positive posts on here for this story.

Watched this story yesterday Daveyboy and it definitely has a different feel to the previous season. Its a little strange watching Pertwee on his own but he then has this interesting comedy relationship with Professor Rubeish and I rather sympathise that the Prof is almost blind without his glasses. Neither Linx nor the Masterwouldn't have been able to hypnotise him !

I rather like the Doctor's new dynamic with Sarah Jane. She is a little firecracker struggling against Irongrons men. I remember watching this story years ago and not really liking her debut as she felt a bit forceful with all the women's lib stuff but have come to realise SJ is resourceful and quite smart. Its rather fun to see her questioning which side the Doctor is on and planning to kidnap him. Also it has helped to see the stories in order as you get the context of how different she will be to Jo.

I agree with your comments and everyone's elses about the strong relationship between Linx and Irongron. Its a very interesting double act which develops from forced co-operation to grudging respect from Irongron ( for the robot soldier) to then almost to utter enmity.I remember watching the Sontaren Experiment a long while ago and that was my first experience of seeing a Sontaren ( sticking out their tongues which is a little gross) and very good it was too. They should be cunning, war- like which is why I rather dislike the idea of the 'pet' jokey Sontaren Strax in the modern series as part of the Paternoser Gang. Of course people can re-invent but tonally it doesn't feel like an improvement..He seems like the kid friendly equivalent to K9...

Anyway ...... back to the story .Kevin Linday is very strong and david daker just about keeps his performance from going over the top. I like the refined elegance but the shrewd lady 'Dot' Eleanor.


Its rather nice to have a historical story which if I am right is the first one for Pertwee and first since the The Abominable Snowmen or is it the Highlanders ? Not sure if TAS is set in early 19th century.The scenes outside the castle when Irongron's men are attacking are castle look authentically Middle Ages.

Other highlights are the brief scenes with the Doctor and the Brigadier ( lovely Nick ever charming) and the new tittle sequence .
A good story 7or maybe 8 / 10

As Daveyboy said its pseudo history which makes it more akin to The Abominable Snowmen than The Highlanders which was purely historical. But it's a bit of shock to realise that The Doctor (brief trip to Atlantis aside) hasn't been back in time since The Abominable Snowmen and he wouldn't again for another couple of years (Pyramids of Mars).

Still love this story especially episode 1.

I'm not a huge Pertwee fan, but the moment Sarah Jane joins it immediately feels like a better show.

The Time Warrior is a great story. First we get the superb new 'time tunnel' opening credits (which stayed with the show for many year, being updated for Tom Baker's Doctor).

Then we get a wonderful new companion. And then the first Sontaran too (and I agree with daveyboy7472 - Kevin Lindsay has never been bettered).

I have to agree with daveyboy7472 too, about the lack of interior TARDIS scenes. It really would have added something to the show to see Sarah Jane's reaction to the TARDIS console room, and also to see where she hid when the Doctor took her back in time without realising it.

Its a great introduction for Sarah Jane and really sets out from day one that she was going to be a very different type of companion. And a great introduction for the Sontarans too.

Yes, I love the Rubesih character, it's a shame there weren't more of those sort of comedy acts in the Pertwee Era for the 3rd Doctor to bounce off.

Agree about Sarah also, she never really gets as strong and bolshy as this again, if anything she seems to go the other way, particularly in her later stories imo.

I love The Abominable Snowmen but though it has a historical setting of sorts, I never really regard it as a truly bona fide historical story and it certainly isn't officially one. As far as I can see, The Highlanders is the last pure historical story(Until Black Orchid), I'd put it more as a psuedo-historical, like The Time Warrior.


I'm open to correction but did Terrance Dicks cover this in the Novelisation of the story? May well be wrong on that one though.

I think he did - something about Sarah hearing the Doctor approaching, and she jumped into a locker in the console room.

I agree: the Sontaran in this story has a devious evilness about him, the costume fits and looks real, and the acting is superb. Never been bettered.

Imagine if Strax had been in instead of Lynx.

It's funny, that's why I was going to post on this thread. I remember being gutted when I got the VHS that the TARDIS scene from the book wasn't there. Every Who should have a TARDIS scene!

For me, this one actually reverses the trend of the majority of serials: it gets better every time I watch it. Lynx and Irongron are classic Robert Holmes characters, endlessly enjoyable, especially in their personal interlocutions.

Oddly, I think this is also the best the Sontarans have ever looked, even to this day. And that is despite Lynx visually not really capturing the essence of what Robert Holmes seemed to be going for, which was a devil-like figure.

I think if you took silly characters like Rubeish (appropriately named) out of the story, and perhaps the under-utilized sub-plot with Queen Dorothy Cotton, this would be a five star classic.

The medieval period has never really been represented much in Doctor Who and it's hard to imagine it being done more enjoyably than this.

I think that Carnival of Monsters, Holmes serial just before this one (I think?), began an incredible stretch of stories by the master, with Holmes really finding his natural style, lasting right through the Tom Baker era (Caves of Androzani, Holmes' return to the series, is fantastic but not typical of Holmes as Saward gave him the encouragement to be 'darker' and more cynical than he had previously been allowed to be). I think Carnival of Monsters through Power of Kroll represents Holmes at his peak.


Re: The novelization. Is this the one where Robert Holmes wrote the first few pages and then gave up on it and handed it to Terrance Dicks? I recall Terrance Dicks reading those opening scenes and thinking 'I wish I could write like that'.

Well as usual I do have to disagree with you to a degree on Robert Holmes! Though I accept the 70s is his peak he still wrote an amazing story with Andozani. I still like his Two Doctors script despite its flaws. Season 23s opener is agreeably not his strongest but loved Episode 13, my fave of the entire Sixth Doctor Era.

As for the novel, spot on with that.

Hello TomTit the points in bold you made I do particularly agree with. The Sontaren looks fantastic and the setting is as authentic as a Doctor who story can get. There is one bit where Irongron is disgusted at the wine he is served and David Daker really throws the goblet and 'wine' at some poor extra behind him. That makes me laugh.

You are right about Robert Holmes.and his peak era. All his stories from Pertwee to Davison that I have seen) have memorable dialogue or characters. I tend to forgive the sixth doctor era stories a little bit because he was ill and was given all these requirements to fulfil. Not really fair on him but there are still flashes of his dialogue and imagination still there

very intrigued to read his contribution to the novelisation of The Time Warrior. Time pick up a copy second-hand I think


Of all his stories I think the Mysterious Planet is the weakest but that's due to a poor realisation visually of his ideas and some dodgy acting. You are right about Episode 13 of Trial. Its full of lovely moments , the Master, the Valeyard in the Matrix, Mr Popplewick.I would love to know what his original end vision would have been not the Pip and Jane version we got which was so disappointing.

The Time Warrior is my most favourite Third Doctor story, the second being Planet of the Daleks.

I thought the first episode was good. People can think that the first one is weak, because it is slow. That is because the writer likes to set the scene. You have to, to put the main characters into the story as though they are meant to be there. Wherever the story is set, that is. This can take up half the first episode, if not a bit longer.

How could you explain to eight year olds watching the programme, that one minute they look modern with purple armour, then silly and all old looking?

You'd have to explain to the kids how the Sontarans came into DW in the first place, saying about Robert Holmes and so on. It would be a tedious exercise. They would be better off getting a book about Doctor Who.

This would be a great starting point to letting them know about Classic Who, especially the Sontarans.

http://img2.wikia.nocookie.net/__cb2...r_Guide_HB.jpg

For me, The Time Warrior is the only classic from Pertwee's disappointing last season. I think Barry Letts and Terrance Dicks probably did one season too many. However, The Time Warrior is undoubtedly a Holmes classic and stands out, not least for the fact it's Pertwee's only historical.