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10 things you need to know about Season 10

Jon Pertwee would have been 100 years old this week and we’re here to celebrate the contribution that he made to Doctor Who! His era was full of firsts, including the show being shot and broadcast in colour! Season 10, in particular, shook up the show in a variety of dramatic ways. Here are 10 things that you need to know about this ground-breaking season.

Order Doctor Who: The Collection – Season 10 from Amazon and HMV. For US click here and Canada click here.


First Ever Multi-Doctor Story

The Three Doctors (1972/73)

The Three Doctors celebrated ten years of the show by stunningly reuniting the first three Doctors in spectacular fashion: The bickering between the Second and Third Doctor! The scolding of both of them by the First Doctor! A headless villain! There’s so much to enjoy when everyone’s favourite Time Lord meets themselves and The Three Doctors set the way for every multi-Doctor epic that followed.


First Appearance of Omega

The Three Doctors (1972/73)

An unprecedented meeting of Doctors needed an unprecedented villain. Enter Omega, an ancient Time Lord trapped in an anti-matter universe.

A big baddie in every sense (look at the size of his helmet), Omega is a tantalising insight into the mysterious history of the Time Lords. How much did we learn about them? Well we still don’t know that much. How’s that for mysterious!


A single Cyberman cameo in the Third Doctor Era

Carnival of Monsters (1973)

Shockingly, there’s only a single Cyberman in the entire Jon Pertwee era, and it’s not even a threat! What?!

The metal meanie is trapped helpless in a machine and only pops up in a montage. Bizarrely, even though it is only on-screen for a moment, the footage of the Cyberman wasn’t from an older story, but was specially shot for Carnival of Monsters instead. It wasn’t until the next multi-doctor extravaganza The Five Doctors that the Third Doctor would finally face off against them!


The Drashigs - rags and tyres

Carnival of Monsters (1973)

The title Carnival of Monsters suggests a multitude of villains, but the central monsters are actually the Drashigs, dangerous six-eyed predators with a terrifying scream. The stuff of nightmares on-screen, behind the scenes they have very domestic origins. Their haunting scream was created by screeching tyres and, if you’re very good at anagrams, you might have noticed that their name is an anagram of dish-rags!


First appearance of future companion Ian Marter

Carnival of Monsters (1973)

If you are a fan of the Fourth Doctor adventures and you’ve also seen Season 10’s Carnival of Monsters, a certain crew member of the SS Bernice might look a little familiar. That’s because Ian Marter, who plays the character of John Andrews, went on to play UNIT Medic and companion of Tom Baker’s Doctor Harry Sullivan.

You can see John Andrews in action in this clip!


Final Appearance of Roger Delgado as the Master

Frontier In Space (1973)

Suave, cunning and utterly ruthless. The Master is a Time Lord you wouldn’t want to run into in a dark alley - or even on a sunny day in the park. They’re that dangerous! They have become one of the Doctor’s longest-running foes and that’s in part down to their masterful wink first incarnation, deftly played by Roger Delgado.

Delgado died before he was able to return for his planned last story, so his version of the Master was never given an on-screen exit. When the Master reappeared on our screens, it wasn’t Delgado’s charming iteration, but a scarred version, hell bent on revenge!


First appearance of the Draconians

Frontier In Space (1973)

While the Draconians only appear in Frontier in Space, their iconic design has propelled them into being some of Doctor Who’s most recognisable alien species. Even though the Draconians were never seen again, they are often referenced throughout the series. How’s that for memorable?!


First Terry Nation Script since 1965

Planet of the Daleks (1973)

Planet of the Daleks marked Dalek creator Terry Nation’s return to Doctor Who after an eight year gap. Planet of the Daleks is not only a sequel to the original Dalek story, it also picks up directly from Frontier in Space.

He would go on to write three more on-screen Dalek stories, including their iconic origin story Genesis of the Daleks.

 

Laying the seeds for the Third Doctor’s regeneration

The Green Death (1973)

Your past can catch up with you, and for a Time Lord, that can be fatal! While Season 10 isn’t the end of the Third Doctor’s era, it starts laying the seeds that eventually lead to the Doctor regenerating. In The Green Death, the Doctor takes a blue crystal from Metebelis III that enhances intelligence and psychic powers. This crystal would come back to haunt him as the native lifeforms of Metebelis III, the eight-legs, want it back. It doesn’t work out well for the Doctor…


Jo Grant leaves the Doctor

The Green Death (1973)

Get the tissues ready, this one’s a real tearjerker! Jo Grant had been the Doctor’s companion since the beginning of Season 8 and when it was time to say goodbye, it hit us in all the feels.

While Jo celebrates her engagement with Cliff and the UNIT staff, the Doctor slips out and silently drives away. It’s a beautiful, melancholic shot that ends a brilliant series. We’re still crying about it.


Order Doctor Who: The Collection – Season 10 from Amazon and HMV. For US click here and Canada click here.

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