Doctor Who: Season 26

1989 · 14 episodes · ★ 7.0

What Season 26 of Doctor Who

This is the final season of the series' classic era. Nearly all of its stories take place on Earth, except for some scenes in Survival. Battlefield begins when UNIT transports a nuclear warhead and armored knights appear, continuing a war that started thousands of years ago in another dimension. Then the Doctor and Ace investigate a Victorian house full of secrets in Ghost Light and a British naval base from World War II in The Curse of Fenric, where they clash with vampires and an ancient Viking curse. Ace faces her past. The Doctor, darker and dressed in black, treats the others as pieces on a board between good and evil.

14episodes

Sep 6, 1989premiered

Dec 6, 1989final episode

5.8 hrtotal runtime

Season 26 Episodes

26x01 Battlefield (1)
Sep 6, 1989 · 25 min · ★ 7.5
As UNIT are transporting a nuclear warhead around Carbury, knights in armour arrive to continue waging a war that began thousands of years ago, but in a wholly different dimension.
Directing: Michael Kerrigan · Writing: Ben Aaronovitch · Starring: Marcus Gilbert, James Ellis, Angela Douglas, Christopher Bowen
26x02 Battlefield (2)
Sep 13, 1989 · 25 min · ★ 8.0
The Doctor and Ace discover a stone spaceship underneath Warmsley's archaeological dig while Mordred summons Morgaine to Earth's dimension.
Directing: Michael Kerrigan · Writing: Ben Aaronovitch · Starring: Marcus Gilbert, James Ellis, Christopher Bowen, Angela Bruce
26x03 Battlefield (3)
Sep 20, 1989 · 25 min · ★ 7.2
The Brigadier rescues the Doctor from the stone spaceship before they set out to locate Morgaine before she gains Excalibur.
Directing: Michael Kerrigan · Writing: Ben Aaronovitch · Starring: Marcus Gilbert, James Ellis, Christopher Bowen, Angela Bruce
26x04 Battlefield (4)
Sep 27, 1989 · 25 min · ★ 7.3
Morgaine forces Ace and Shou Yuing to hand over Excalibur by threatening to release the Destroyer, so the Doctor and the Brigadier enter a dimensional portal to stop her.
Directing: Michael Kerrigan · Writing: Ben Aaronovitch · Starring: Marcus Gilbert, Angela Douglas, Christopher Bowen, Angela Bruce
26x05 Ghost Light (1)
Oct 4, 1989 · 25 min · ★ 6.1
The Doctor and Ace explore Victorian house Gabriel Chase and realise it hides just as many dark secrets in its drawing room as it does in its dark cellar.
Directing: Alan Wareing · Writing: Marc Platt · Starring: John Nettleton, Ian Hogg, Sylvia Syms, Michael Cochrane
26x06 Ghost Light (2)
Oct 11, 1989 · 25 min · ★ 6.2
The Doctor manages to rescue Ace from the husks and then tries to uncover the truth about the goings on in Josiah's house.
Directing: Alan Wareing · Writing: Marc Platt · Starring: John Nettleton, Ian Hogg, Sylvia Syms, Frank Windsor
26x07 Ghost Light (3)
Oct 18, 1989 · 25 min · ★ 6.0
Only Redvers, still searching for the elusive Saxe-Coburg, seems able to withstand Light and communicate with Control. Ace realises her past actions need to be dealt with.
Directing: Alan Wareing · Writing: Marc Platt · Starring: John Hallam, Ian Hogg, Sylvia Syms, Frank Windsor
26x08 The Curse of Fenric (1)
Oct 25, 1989 · 25 min · ★ 7.2
England, the 1940s. The TARDIS brings the Doctor and Ace to a secret naval base during WWII. There, the time-travellers battle vampiric Haemovores and an ancient Viking curse!
Directing: Nicholas Mallett · Writing: Ian Briggs · Starring: Dinsdale Landen, Nicholas Parsons, Anne Reid, Alfred Lynch
26x09 The Curse of Fenric (2)
Nov 1, 1989 · 25 min · ★ 7.0
The Doctor and Ace manage to convince Sorin to release them while Millington and Judson attempt to translate the Viking runes.
Directing: Nicholas Mallett · Writing: Ian Briggs · Starring: Dinsdale Landen, Nicholas Parsons, Anne Reid, Alfred Lynch
26x10 The Curse of Fenric (3)
Nov 8, 1989 · 25 min · ★ 7.1
The Doctor and his friends come under attack from the Haemavores, allowing Millington to retrieve the flask containing Fenric's essence.
Directing: Nicholas Mallett · Writing: Ian Briggs · Starring: Dinsdale Landen, Nicholas Parsons, Anne Reid, Alfred Lynch
26x11 The Curse of Fenric (4)
Nov 15, 1989 · 25 min · ★ 6.7
Fenric is loose and planning to use the Ancient Haemovore to poison the Earth with chemicals, unless the Doctor can defeat him in their centuries old game.
Directing: Nicholas Mallett · Writing: Ian Briggs · Starring: Dinsdale Landen, Anne Reid, Alfred Lynch, Marcus Hutton
26x12 Survival (1)
Nov 22, 1989 · 25 min · ★ 7.7
Perivale, England, the late 1980s. People are vanishing into thin air under the baleful stare of a very strange cat. The Doctor and Ace learn that, in the battle for survival, success can carry a terrible price...
Directing: Alan Wareing · Writing: Rona Munro · Starring: Gareth Hale, Julian Holloway, Anthony Ainley, Norman Pace
26x13 Survival (2)
Nov 29, 1989 · 25 min · ★ 7.4
The Doctor and Paterson manage to escape from the Master and join up with Ace and her friends, where the Doctor tries to find a way to get them all off the planet before it explodes.
Directing: Alan Wareing · Writing: Rona Munro · Starring: Julian Holloway, Anthony Ainley, Lisa Bowerman, Will Barton
26x14 Survival (3) Season Finale
Dec 6, 1989 · 25 min · ★ 7.2
Ace manages to transport the Doctor and the others back to Perivale but the Master is also there, preparing for a final showdown with the Doctor.
Directing: Alan Wareing · Writing: Rona Munro · Starring: Adele Silva, Julian Holloway, Anthony Ainley, Lisa Bowerman