A Matter of Time: The Two Doctors

ORIGINAL BROADCAST: 02/03/1985

Twenty-five years ago today, the Sontarans appeared in their fourth and final television adventure in the classic series of Doctor Who, starring Colin Baker and Patrick Troughton as the Doctor, and Nicola Bryant and Frazer Hines as Peri and Jamie. In The Time Warrior, the first appearance of the Sontarans, the Third Doctor refers to a familiarity with the race, which would fit in with his second incarnation's encounter with them in this story.

This is one of several multi-Doctor stories, and was the third during the original series, including the tenth anniversary story The Three Doctors and the twentieth anniversary story The Five Doctors. This story also marked the final appearance of Patrick Troughton as the Second Doctor, and the final appearance so far of Frazer Hines as Jamie. Patrick Troughton died in 1987, and remains to date as the only actor to reprise the role of the Doctor on three separate occasions on television.

During the transmission of the story, the news that the series would be put on hiatus for a year was announced. Much controversy still surrounds this period and action, with disputes over whether or not the series was facing total cancellation at this stage, and the roles of various BBC officials such as BBC One controller Michael Grade.

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