'THE TRIAL OF A TIME LORD' AT 40: THE MYSTERIOUS PLANET!

Within the strange environs of Marb Station, on the planet whose strange underground inhabitants refer to it as 'UK Habitat', the Doctor faces a brutal stoning for accidently traversing the human's cultural water conservation. Luckily, his umbrella saves the day for our colourful hero, from the colony's most-eager-to-kill residents. 

The late Robert Holmes scripts for episodes 1-4 of The Trial of A Time Lord may have taken an undeserved structural battering from the idiots of the BBC's then Sixth Floor, but the story's intriguing and quirky opening episode was nonetheless a triumph and warmly received by critics and viewers on its original transmission.

MYRKA MAYHEM!

The Sea Devils and Silurians have begin their attack on the troubled Sea Base Four of 2084, firstly by unleashing the aquatic terror they possess that is the Myrka, of which The Doctor and an injured Tegan are now isolated and trapped in its fierce company, during the Part Two cliffhanger to Warriors of the Deep.

"That thing's gonna kill us!"

The rushed to production story, and its 'pantomime horse' operated creature (which I originally thought looked good in close-up and some front side shots), proved a disappointment to many fans on its original transmission, and was most likely the story that initiated the ever malignant Michael Grade into wanting to cancel the show for good beyond 1985. Now, with the remastered, re-edited story as part of The Collection - Season 21 Blu-ray set, with its now more fearsome Myrka, we hope fans minds are more positively directed towards the story. And we hope Michael Grade has received a viewing copy too!

The all-new fearsome Mykra of the Warriors of the Deep - Special Edition, from 2026.

Great work by Chris Stephens Creations and the BBC team.

Get The Collection - Season 21 here:

Doctor Who: The Collection Season 21 Limited Edition [Blu-ray] [Region B]: Amazon.co.uk: Peter Davison, Janet Fielding, Mark Strickson, Nicola Bryant, Peter Davison, Janet Fielding

WILL THE REAL SARAH JANE...

With the alien Kraal's plan of Earth conquest revealed via its specially created training ground recreation, the Doctor confronts an android version of his faithful companion Sarah Jane Smith, who soon shoots at the the escaping Time Lord. A memorable and spooky moment, developed by Phillip Hinchcliffe, from the fun Terry Nation duplicates yarn, The Android Invasion.

INTRUDER ALERT!

Two of the previously captured Martian Ambassadors resolutely make their way to the British Space Centre, ready to help the Doctor expose the mad, war-mongering machinations of the human General Carrington, during the memorable finale to the excellent The Ambassadors of Death, a story that was restored as best it could be during its recent inclusion with The Collection - Season 7 set release.

'SLIPBACK' - OUT NOW FROM BBC PHYSICAL AUDIO...

It could be the end of the universe (again) as the bolshy Sixth Doctor Who and his American companion Peri Brown find themselves trapped on the Vipod Mor survey spaceship, full of diverse shady characters (including an on-the-run criminal and a vile, disease-ridden captain), plus a hideous carnivorous monster that's running amok in its ventilation ducts. All this, whilst later caught in the deadly machinations of an unstable split-personality computer. The Slipback has begun...

Not regarded by fans as one of Classic Doctor Who's finest spin-offs, nor one of writer Eric Saward's finest scripts either, Slipback proves a cannibalised mish-mash of previous ideas from his mostly excellent time as series Script Editor, here trying too hard to emulate the kind of humorous universe building prior done better by Douglas Adams ten years earlier. Nonetheless, this adaptation of the original 1986 Target novel isn't too bad, of which actor/former Spitting Image puppets impersonator Jon Glover (who also starred in the original radio series) does an effective job of telling the lengthy story, handling the numerous characters' vocal interpretations well, especially Colin Baker's lead incarnation.

Slipback is definitely for the completist's collection only, with far better classic tales in the range for overall fans to listen to and enjoy first.

Get it here:

Doctor Who: Slipback: 6th Doctor Novelisation: Amazon.co.uk: Saward, Eric, Glover, Jon: 9781529975178: Books

'Z-CARS' IN SPACE!

Within the busy command hub of Space Corps cruiser V-41, top intergalactic policemen Major Ian Warne (Donald Gee) and General Hermack (Jack May) keep an eye on the space lanes and the ongoing threat of evil, cargo stealing pirates, during the long but underrated Troughton tale, The Space Pirates.

THE TERRORS OF DIDO!

Stranded on the lost world of Dido, its once civilisation mysteriously deceased, the young Earth girl Vicki must survive within a crashed spaceship, looking after its injured pilot, Bennett, and dealing with the harsh, mysterious creature known as Koquillion that regularly visits and torments her. Maureen O'Brien would have an excellent introduction to the series as new companion Vicki within the effective David Whitaker written two-parter, The Rescue.

The original audio soundtrack for this story comes with crisply efficient linking narration from O'Brien, a natural choice to helm this LP given its importance as her character's introductory story. Now available (18th April, 2026) from Demon Records, it also includes an all-new, near ten minutes long interview with the actor on how she got the memorable part.

'The Rescue' comes to vinyl for Record Store Day 2026 | Doctor Who