Doctor Who season 17

Doctor Who (season 17)
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Starring	Tom Baker Lalla Ward David Brierley
Country of origin	United Kingdom
No. of episodes	20 (+6 unaired) 5 stories (+1 unaired)
Release
Original network	BBC One
Original release	1 September 1979 (1979-09-01) – 12 January 1980 (1980-01-12)

The seventeenth season of British science fiction television series Doctor Who began on 1 September 1979 with the story Destiny of the Daleks, and ended with The Horns of Nimon.

Casting

See also: List of Doctor Who cast members

Main cast

• Tom Baker as the Fourth Doctor
• Lalla Ward as Romana
• David Brierley as Voice of K-9 Mk. II

Tom Baker continued as the Fourth Doctor. Lalla Ward, who played Princess Astra in the season 16 finale The Armageddon Factor, returned to the series as the newly regenerated Romana, replacing Mary Tamm in the role. After John Leeson declined to voice K-9 in this season, David Brierley replaced him in the final three serials (and Shada).

Guest stars

Davros returns in Destiny of the Daleks, this time played by David Gooderson.

Serials

Season 17 was intended to follow the same format as had every season since Season 13, with five 4-part serials and a 6-parter closing the season out. However, the planned final serial of the season, Shada, was affected by an industrial dispute involving the BBC's technicians; while the location filming and the first studio recording session were completed, strike action by staff meant that the planned second studio session had to be cancelled. Although the dispute was resolved and plans were put in place to continue work on the story, it was eventually shelved, as the BBC was concerned that its Christmas productions might be affected. A BBC historian has suggested that by cancelling completely instead of finishing what little was required the management could demonstrate that the strikes had consequences

Story	Serial	Title	Directed by	Written by	Original air date	Prod. code	UK viewers (millions)	AI
104	1	Destiny of the Daleks	Ken Grieve	Terry Nation	1 September 1979 8 September 1979 15 September 1979 22 September 1979	5J	13.0 12.7 13.8 14.4	67 — 63 64
The TARDIS lands the Fourth Doctor and Romana on a strangely familiar planet. There, they meet the android Movellans, who are locked in a war with the Daleks. The planet is Skaro, and in a bunker sits an enemy long thought dead — Davros, creator of the Daleks.
105	2	City of Death	Michael Hayes	David Agnew (Douglas Adams, Graham Williams and David Fisher)	29 September 1979 6 October 1979 13 October 1979 20 October 1979	5H	12.4 14.1 15.4 16.1	— 64 — 64
The Doctor is enjoying a holiday in Paris with Romana when, armed with several Mona Lisas, he uncovers an alien conspiracy that could result in the loss of all life on earth.
106	3	The Creature from the Pit	Christopher Barry	David Fisher	27 October 1979 3 November 1979 10 November 1979 17 November 1979	5G	9.3 10.8 10.2 9.6	— 67 — —
On the planet Chloris, the Doctor and Romana soon find themselves caught up in a long and secret enmity between the Lady Adrasta, who rules the planet in fear, and the mysterious Creature that she keeps in a Pit.
107	4	Nightmare of Eden	Alan Bromly	Bob Baker	24 November 1979 1 December 1979 8 December 1979 15 December 1979	5K	8.7 9.6 9.6 9.4	— — — 65
The TARDIS lands at the site of a hyperspatial collision between two spacecraft - as a result of which, neither ship is dimensionally stable, risking the lives of all those aboard.
108	5	The Horns of Nimon	Kenny McBain	Anthony Read	22 December 1979 29 December 1979 5 January 1980 12 January 1980	5L	6.0 8.8 9.8 10.4	— — — 67
After colliding with a spaceship, The Doctor, Romana and K-9 learn that young natives from a peaceful planet called Aneth are being transported into a great labyrinth called "The Power Complex".
—	6	Shada	Pennant Roberts	Douglas Adams	Unaired	5M	—	—
The story revolves around the lost planet Shada, on which the Time Lords built a prison for defeated would-be conquerors of the universe. Skagra, an up-and-coming would-be conqueror of the universe, needs the assistance of one of the prison's inmates, but finds that nobody knows where Shada is anymore except one aged Time Lord who has retired to Earth.

Broadcast

Part 4 of The Horns of Nimon saw the last appearance of the diamond-shaped logo that had been used since The Time Warrior in 1973.

The entire season was broadcast from 1 September 1979 to 12 January 1980.

DVD Release

All serials of season 17 were released individually between 2005 and 2013.

Serial name	Number and duration of episodes	R2 release date	R4 release date	R1 release date
Destiny of the Daleks Available individually or in The Complete Davros Collection box set in Regions 2 and 4. Only available individually in Region 1.	4 × 25 min.	26 November 2007	6 February 2008	4 March 2008
City of Death	4 × 25 min.	7 November 2005	1 December 2005	8 November 2005
The Creature from the Pit	4 × 25 min.	3 May 2010	1 July 2010	7 September 2010
Nightmare of Eden	4 × 25 min.	2 April 2012	3 May 2012	8 May 2012
The Horns of Nimon Only available as part of the Myths and Legends box set in Regions 2 and 4. Only available individually in Region 1.	4 × 25 min.	29 March 2010	3 June 2010	6 July 2010
Shada Only available as part of The Legacy Box set	1 × 25 min. 4 × 18 min. 1 × 14 min.	7 January 2013	9 January 2013	8 January 2013

In print

Main article: List of Doctor Who novelisations

Serial name	Novelisation title	Author	First published
Destiny of the Daleks	Doctor Who and the Destiny of the Daleks	Terrance Dicks	1979
City of Death	City of Death	James Goss	2015
The Creature from the Pit	Doctor Who and the Creature from the Pit	David Fisher	1981
Nightmare of Eden	Doctor Who and the Nightmare of Eden	Terrance Dicks	1980
The Horns of Nimon	Doctor Who and the Horns of Nimon	Terrance Dicks	1980
Shada	Shada	Gareth Roberts	2012