Dimensions in Time

Dimensions in Time is a charity

Dimensions in Time featured all of the surviving actors to have played the Doctor as well as many of the character's companions and several of the EastEnders stars of the time. The special was produced for Children in Need following Doctor Who's cancellation in 1989 and was the only original story broadcast in celebration of the show's 30th anniversary.

Plot

The

Mayday! Mayday! This is an urgent message for all of the Doctors. It's vitally important that you listen carefully to me, for once. Our whole existence is being threatened by a renegade Time Lord known only as the Rani! She hates me. She even hates children! Two of my earlier selves have already been snared in her vicious trap. The grumpy one and the flautist, do you remember? She wants to put us out of action, lock us away in a dreary backwater of London's East End, trapped in a time-loop in perpetuity. Her evil is all around us! I can hear the heart beat of a killer. She's out there somewhere. We must be on our guard and we must stop her before she destroys all of my other selves! Oh... Good luck, my dears!

The

The Third Doctor and Mel Bush appear from the time jump, and question an older Pauline Fowler and Kathy Beale on when they are. When Pauline and Kathy reply that it is 2013, another time jump occurs. In 1973, Pauline and Kathy remember the assassination of John F. Kennedy, while Kathy tells off a young Ian Beale. The Sixth Doctor and Susan Foreman appear, but she wonders what has happened to the First Doctor and her other companions Ian Chesterton and Barbara Wright.

After another time jump to 2013, Susan changes into

In 1993, after the Fifth Doctor changes to the Third Doctor in the next time jump, along with Nyssa and Peri changing into Liz Shaw, the Rani takes control of Liz's mind. As Mandy Salter tries to stop the Rani, Captain Mike Yates of UNIT arrives in Bessie to save the Third Doctor and get him to the Brigadier who is waiting for them.

After another time jump, the Doctor changes to the

Back in 1973, the Third Doctor explains to Victoria who the Rani was and thinks that her control is breaking down, as they return to the TARDIS.

After the Seventh Doctor lands the TARDIS in 1993,

Continuity

The array of aliens summoned to Walford by the Rani included: an Aldeberian (Zog), an Argolin, a biomechanoid dragon, a

, a Tractator, a Vanir and a Vervoid.

Production

Cast notes

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• This was the final official appearance of Jon Pertwee as the Third Doctor; Pertwee died three years later.
• Tom Baker returned to the role of the Fourth Doctor on television for the first time since leaving 12 years previously, though he had recorded links for the video release of the incomplete Shada the year before. Baker would later return to the series in 2013's "The Day of the Doctor" in which he appears as "The Curator".
• This special marks the first time that Peter Davison returned as the Fifth Doctor. He would later reprise the role in the 2007 mini-episode broadcast for Children in Need, "Time Crash", alongside his future son-in-law David Tennant as the Tenth Doctor, 2022 as a "Guardian of the Edge" in Power of the Doctor and 2023 in Tales of the TARDIS alongside Janet Fielding as Tegan.^[2]
• This was the final appearance of Colin Baker as the Sixth Doctor until 2022, when he appeared as a “Guardian of the Edge” to the Thirteenth Doctor alongside the 1st, 5th, 7th and 8th Doctors, and 2023 in Tales of the TARDIS alongside Nicola Bryant as Peri.
• This is the last appearance on television of Caroline John as Liz Shaw (John died in 2012) and Deborah Watling as Victoria Waterfield (Watling died in 2017).
• In February 1993,
  Season 26
  . Aldred later reprised her role as Ace in Tales of the TARDIS in 2023 alongside Sylvester McCoy as the Doctor.
• This marked the only time that the Brigadier appeared with the Sixth Doctor on-screen; they also met in the Big Finish audio drama "The Spectre of Lanyon Moor".
• This marked the final on-screen appearances of
  Nyssa, Lalla Ward as Romana and Louise Jameson as Leela
  .
• This was also the last appearance of
  Melanie Bush until her cameo at the end of "The Power of the Doctor
  ". Bryant later returned in 2023 alongside Colin Baker on Tales of the TARDIS, and Langford will be guest starring in Series 14 of Doctor Who, alongside Ncuti Gatwa as the Doctor.
• This marked the final appearance of
  The Rani
  . O'Mara died in 2014.
• The Vengeance of Morbius
  "

• The Dimensions of Time and 3-Dimensions of Time were the working titles for this story.^[citation needed] David Roden convinced producer John Nathan-Turner not to use either title, and instead settled on Dimensions in Time.
• This was David Roden's first professional script. Roden's original draft featured the Seventh Doctor meeting the Brigadier on route to a UNIT reunion – and becoming involved in a battle with a crashed spacecraft full of Cybermen. The script was entitled Destination: Holocaust, and featured the Seventh Doctor and Brigadier trapped in a burning church, trying to fight off the advancing damaged Cybermen. This original idea, written by David Roden, was vetoed by Nathan-Turner after it became apparent that Children in Need wished for the story to be a crossover with EastEnders. Despite loving the originally proposed script, Nathan-Turner also had concerns about the cost, which would have included several lengthy night-shoots and a much larger special effects budget.
• Allegedly,
  Cyrian (named after the original intended actor, Sir Ian McKellen
  ).
• The special was one of several special 3D programmes the BBC produced at the time, using a 3D system developed by American inventor Terry D. Beard that made use of the Pulfrich effect. The technology required spectacles with one darkened lens and one transparent one; these were sold in shops to the public, with the proceeds going to Children in Need.
• The Daleks were supposed to appear, but the segment was scrapped after a disagreement with Dalek creator Terry Nation over payments. The Dalek segment would have seen Peter Davison facing up against them again in the streets seen in the 1984 serial Resurrection of the Daleks.
• All actors and crew gave their services especially for Children in Need, and waived their fees on the condition that Dimensions in Time would never be repeated or sold on home video for profit. For the same reason, the story has and never will be released on DVD, or appear as an extra on home video.

Broadcast

• Part One was broadcast as part of the 1993 Children in Need telethon. It was introduced by Noel Edmonds in a short live sketch with Jon Pertwee, in character as the Third Doctor.
• At the end of Part One, viewers were asked to phone in and vote for which EastEnders character would save the Doctor at the start of Part Two. Two versions of the scene were filmed, one featuring
  Big Ron
  . The £101,000 raised from phone calls went to Children in Need. The result of the vote was announced prior to the screening of Part Two. The version featuring Mandy was broadcast after it won 56% of the vote.
• Part Two was broadcast as part of popular UK programme Noel's House Party.

Reception

Dimensions in Time has received almost universally negative reviews and is often highlighted as a particular low point of the Wilderness Years: the period between Doctor Who's 1989 cancellation and

Dimensions in Time has been likened to the similarly-maligned Star Wars Holiday Special, due to both productions being low-budget TV specials with questionable canonicity in relation to their main series, and due to similar perceptions of overall extremely poor quality.^[8]

Ratings

Dimensions in Time achieved viewing figures of 13.8 million viewers for the first part and 13.6 million for the second part, making them two of the most highly watched episodes of Doctor Who ever produced. The highest single audience figure was for Part Four of City of Death, at 16.1 million viewers.

References