Doctor Who: Season 20

1983 · 22 episodes · ★ 6.1

What Season 20 of Doctor Who

Season 20 of Doctor Who returns to the formula of season 18, with stories linked by a common thread. That thread is Turlough, a boarding school student who hides his alien origins and agrees to kill the Doctor in exchange for what he wants most, on assignment from the Black Guardian. Tegan and Nyssa accompany the Doctor while the Gallifreyan Council decides to end him due to the threat of an antimatter being. Afterward, the TARDIS lands on Manussa, where an anniversary tied to the Mara is being prepared, and the journey takes the Doctor to England in 1215 and the court of King John.

22episodes

Jan 3, 1983premiered

Mar 16, 1983Latest episode

9.2 hrtotal runtime

Season 20 Episodes

20x01 Arc of Infinity (1)
Jan 3, 1983 · 25 min · ★ 6.0
On Gallifrey, someone on the high council is perpetrating a treasonous act - transmitting the Doctor's bio-extract from the space/time matrix to an anti-matter being. On Earth, two English lads spend their last night in Amsterdam sleeping in a crypt where they're attacked by an alien creature under the same anti-matter being's control.
Directing: Ron Jones · Writing: Johnny Byrne · Starring: Colin Baker, John D. Collins, Elspet Gray, Leonard Sachs
20x02 Arc of Infinity (2)
Jan 5, 1983 · 25 min
With an anti-matter being trying to enter the universe through the Doctor, risking the destruction of everything, there is only one clear course of action for the High Council of Time Lords to take: execute the Doctor. Meanwhile, Tegan arrives in Amsterdam and hears about what's become of her cousin from his unscathed friend.
Directing: Ron Jones · Writing: Johnny Byrne · Starring: Colin Baker, Elspet Gray, Leonard Sachs, Ian Collier
20x03 Arc of Infinity (3)
Jan 11, 1983 · 25 min
Something seemed amiss about the Doctor's execution, so the Castellan has Commander Maxil discreetly but fully look it. Meanwhile, as the Doctor meets the anti-matter being inside the Time Lord Matrix, Tegan and her cousin's friend run afoul of a bird-like alien back on Earth.
Directing: Ron Jones · Writing: Johnny Byrne · Starring: Colin Baker, Elspet Gray, Leonard Sachs, Ian Collier
20x04 Arc of Infinity (4)
Jan 12, 1983 · 25 min
The High Council creates a distraction so the Doctor and Nyssa can find Omega on Earth and prevent his reentry into our universe.
Directing: Ron Jones · Writer: Johnny Byrne
20x05 Snakedance (1)
Jan 18, 1983 · 25 min · ★ 6.0
Tegan steers the TARDIS to the planet Manussa, without meaning to - but why? And is it a coincidence that the planet is about to celebrate the 500th anniversary of the expulsion of the insidious Mara?
Directing: Fiona Cumming · Writing: Christopher Bailey
20x06 Snakedance (2)
Jan 19, 1983 · 25 min
The Doctor talks to Ambril and Chela to try and stop the 500th anniversary celebrations. A possessed Tegan finds herself in Dugdale's Hall of Mirrors to where she summons Lon. The Doctor and Nyssa return to the caves.
Directing: Fiona Cumming · Writing: Christopher Bailey · Starring: Colette O'Neil, Brian Miller, John Carson, Martin Clunes
20x07 Snakedance (3)
Jan 25, 1983 · 25 min
The possessed Tegan and Lon try to find the whereabouts of the Great Crystal. The Doctor finds himself in prison, with only Nyssa to try and get him out. Chela tells the Doctor tales of Dojjen.
Directing: Fiona Cumming · Writing: Christopher Bailey
20x08 Snakedance (4)
Jan 26, 1983 · 25 min
The Doctor and the original snakedancer Dojjen work to rid the planet of the Mara.
Directing: Fiona Cumming · Writing: Christopher Bailey
20x09 Mawdryn Undead (1)
Feb 1, 1983 · 25 min · ★ 6.6
The Doctor discovers a starship trapped in a time warp over Earth. Meanwhile, public schoolboy - and secret alien émigré, Turlough, learns he can have that which he most desires, in return for the murder of the Doctor...
Directing: Peter Moffatt · Writing: Peter Grimwade · Starring: Nicholas Courtney, Roger Hammond, Stephen Garlick, Angus MacKay
20x10 Mawdryn Undead (2)
Feb 2, 1983 · 25 min
The TARDIS lands on Earth six years out of date, stranding the Doctor in 1983 while leaving Tegan and Nyssa to look for him in 1977. Both parties also encounter former companion, Brigadier Lethbridge-Stewart, though curiously, he has no memory of the Doctor at all.
Directing: Peter Moffatt · Writer: Peter Grimwade · Cast: Nicholas Courtney, Stephen Garlick, Angus MacKay, Valentine Dyall
20x11 Mawdryn Undead (3)
Feb 8, 1983 · 25 min
Mawdryn and his eternal mutants reveal the truth: they are exiles, they are in pain and need the Doctor's future 'lives', as afforded by each of his remaining regenerations.
Directing: Peter Moffatt · Writer: Peter Grimwade · Cast: Nicholas Courtney, Valentine Dyall, David Collings
20x12 Mawdryn Undead (4)
Feb 9, 1983 · 25 min
As the Doctor's ethics are challenged and the two Brigadiers finally meet, Turlough plots with the Black Guardian to bring the Time Lord down once and for all...
Directing: Peter Moffatt · Writing: Peter Grimwade · Starring: Nicholas Courtney, Mark Strickson, Roger Hammond, Valentine Dyall
20x13 Terminus (1)
Feb 15, 1983 · 25 min · ★ 6.2
Deep space, some time in the future. Still following the Black Guardian's orders, Turlough sabotages the TARDIS, forcing an emergency fusion with an apparently deserted starship. But the ship is headed for the notorious plague colony, Terminus. Surrounded by plague victims and space pirates, is the Doctor too preoccupied to notice the greatest threat of all - a threat connected to the position of Terminus at the exact centre of the universe?
Directing: Mary Ridge · Writer: Stephen Gallagher · Cast: Liza Goddard, Dominic Guard, Peter Benson, Valentine Dyall
20x14 Terminus (2)
Feb 16, 1983 · 25 min
The Doctor's party remains divided and scattered as the immense transport docks at the Terminus space station, which turns out to be a leper colony at the exact centre of the known universe. As they find their way around and investigate, Nyssa shows signs of contracting the disease.
Directing: Mary Ridge · Writing: Stephen Gallagher · Starring: Liza Goddard, Dominic Guard, Peter Benson, Andrew Burt
20x15 Terminus (3)
Feb 22, 1983 · 25 min
Since the Doctor's party represents neither lazars nor handlers, they're presumed to be investigators, which is enough to spark the disgruntled Valgard into challenging Eirak over leadership of the handlers. Meanwhile, as the giant, dog-like Garm takes a terrified Nyssa off for "treatment," Bor returns from the forbidden zone with interesting news about the ship.
Directing: Mary Ridge · Writing: Stephen Gallagher · Starring: Liza Goddard, Dominic Guard, Peter Benson, Andrew Burt
20x16 Terminus (4)
Feb 23, 1983 · 25 min
In attempting to reopen a doorway into the TARDIS, Turlough activates Terminus' automated fuel-jettisoning sequence. The first time this sequence was engaged, it flung its first of two massive loads of unstable fuel into the distant past, producing the Big Bang that created the universe. This second sequence - if the Doctor can't find a way to shut it down - will release a second massive load, the explosion of which will entirely negate the effects of the first.
Directing: Mary Ridge · Writing: Stephen Gallagher · Starring: Liza Goddard, Dominic Guard, Peter Benson, Andrew Burt
20x17 Enlightenment (1)
Mar 1, 1983 · 25 min · ★ 6.8
After receiving a warning from the White Guardian, the Doctor initially believes the TARDIS has landed aboard an Edwardian clipper ship - but all is not as it seems. While the time travellers are caught up in the omnipotent Eternals' race for the ultimate prize, the Black Guardian's scheme to destroy the Doctor enters the end-game - but which side is Turlough a pawn of?
Directing: Fiona Cumming · Writer: Barbara Clegg · Cast: Keith Barron, Cyril Luckham, Tony Caunter, Valentine Dyall
20x18 Enlightenment (2)
Mar 2, 1983 · 25 min
Captain Striker and his officers reveal themselves to be Eternals, mind-reading creatures who live outside of time and who require Ephemerals (humans and other "time dwellers") to relieve them of their emptiness. They race against other Eternals for the grand prize of Enlightenment, by which to grant their deepest wishes. That can't be good for the universe, but how can the Doctor strategise against beings adept at reading his every thought?
Directing: Fiona Cumming · Writing: Barbara Clegg · Starring: Keith Barron, Tony Caunter, Valentine Dyall
20x19 Enlightenment (3)
Mar 8, 1983 · 25 min
Turlough's panic puts him aboard a pirate ship where Captain Wrack uses his presence to invite all the other captains over for dinner. She's been picking off a few of her greatest rivals in the race and now sees an opportunity to clear the field once and for all and become the clear winner.
Directing: Fiona Cumming · Writer: Barbara Clegg · Cast: Leee John, Keith Barron, Lynda Baron, Tony Caunter
20x20 Enlightenment (4)
Mar 9, 1983 · 25 min · ★ 6.6
Tegan isn't aware she been outfitted with a device to destroy Captain Striker's ship. While the detonation will merely slip the indestructible Eternals back into the realm of eternity, nothing nearly so elegant or as tidy awaits the Ephemerals aboard the ship.
Directing: Fiona Cumming · Writing: Barbara Clegg · Starring: Leee John, Keith Barron, Lynda Baron, Cyril Luckham
20x21 The King's Demons (1)
Mar 15, 1983 · 25 min · ★ 5.6
In 1215 at the castle of Ranulf Fitzwilliam, son Hugh is jousting on a matter of honor against Sir Gillis Estram, the champion of King John, when the TARDIS appears. The Doctor, Turlough and Tegan are immediately hailed as demons and welcomed warmly by the King. Something is wrong with this picture, observes the Doctor.
Directing: Tony Virgo · Writer: Terence Dudley · Cast: Anthony Ainley, Gerald Flood
20x22 The King's Demons (2) Season Finale
Mar 16, 1983 · 25 min · ★ 5.5
England, 1215. With the historic signing of the Magna Carta supposedly only days away, the Doctor is startled to find King John apparently intent on provoking civil war - and seemingly in two places at once...
Directing: Tony Virgo · Writer: Terence Dudley · Cast: Christopher Villiers, Gerald Flood, Michael J. Jackson, Isla Blair