Doctor WhoThe Trial of a Time Lord
TV-PG
This season had a unique format, never again repeated in the show. Doctor Who had returned to production after a near-cancellation and an eighteen-month production hiatus. For the first time, a season consisted of a single story, The Trial of a Time Lord, although this was made up of four serials from a production perspective: each serial was written by a different person (save for The Mysterious Planet and the first part of The Ultimate Foe, both of which were written by Robert Holmes) and featured a different story presented as evidence, excluding the final two episodes which concluded the ongoing story of the trial; the trial storyline itself acted as a framing device to bracket the first three serials. As a result, whether The Trial of a Time Lord should be considered one story or four has been intensely debated. This single-story format, sometimes referred to as a "miniseries", would later be utilised for the third and fourth series of Torchwood.
Where to Watch Doctor Who • The Trial of a Time Lord
14 Episodes
- The Trial of a Time Lord: Part 2
E2The Trial of a Time Lord: Part 2The Doctor finds that the subterranean UK Habitat is run by a cloistered robot named Drathro, whom the inhabitants call "The Immortal." Their black light energy converters are destabilizing, unaware that it's the result of two space pirates mucking about on the surface with designs on looting their dwelling. - The Trial of a Time Lord: Part 3
E3The Trial of a Time Lord: Part 3The Doctor escapes to rejoin Peri on the surface but shortly becomes the prisoner of a surface-dwelling tribe called The Free. Ravalox isn't Ravalox after all, but before the Doctor can learn much more an irresistible agent from UK Habitat comes to fetch him back. - The Trial of a Time Lord: Part 6
E6The Trial of a Time Lord: Part 6Having been put through a makeshift truth extractor, the Doctor appears damaged, apt to mimic the personalities of those with whom he has eye contact. He eventually abandons Peri and a gung-ho warrior king in favor of joining in with Sil and Dr. Crozier in the latest of their perverse projects. - The Trial of a Time Lord: Part 7
E7The Trial of a Time Lord: Part 7While the Doctor helps Dr. Crozier transfer Lord Kiv's brain into a new host skull, Peri accompanies King Yrcanos as he searches for the Alpha Resistance fighters whom he feels, most certainly, will follow him into glorious battle against the Mentors and the Doctor. - The Trial of a Time Lord: Part 8
E8The Trial of a Time Lord: Part 8The first transfer is flawed, so Dr. Crozier needs to transfer Lord Kiv into another host body. Unfortunately, Peri meets all the requirements for the subsequent candidate. Since the Doctor's been helpful and has somewhat of a personal interest in Peri, he's permitted to locate an equally suitable substitute candidate, if he can. The prosecution rests. - The Trial of a Time Lord: Part 10
E10The Trial of a Time Lord: Part 10A lethal booby-trap in the Hydroponic Center awakens the genetically engineered fruit pods in storage, and passengers and crewmen alike start disappearing without trace. There's a murderer on board and the Doctor means to find out who he or she is. - The Trial of a Time Lord: Part 11
E11The Trial of a Time Lord: Part 11A course change that takes the Hyperion III closer to a black hole could prove unwise when there are so many aboard ship with hidden agendas. Disappearances continue, a murderer remains at large, and one person finally crumbles under the strain of harbouring a guilty secret. - The Trial of a Time Lord: Part 12
E12The Trial of a Time Lord: Part 12With factions vying for control of the ship, the Vervoids are found to be responsible for the many disappearances. Only the Doctor sees the fundamental but missed point as to why they can't be reasoned with or why they can't be allowed to arrive on Earth.
