The Ultimate Foe
143d[1] – The Trial of a Time Lord: The Ultimate Foe | |||
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Doctor Who serial | |||
Cast | |||
Guest
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Production | |||
Directed by | Season 23 | ||
Running time | 2 episodes, 25 minutes and 30 minutes | ||
First broadcast | 29 November 1986 | ||
Last broadcast | 6 December 1986 | ||
Chronology | |||
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The Ultimate Foe is the fourth and final serial of the larger narrative known as
In the serial, continuing from the events of
Plot
![]() | This episode's plot summary may be too long or excessively detailed. (June 2017) |
The
When the Doctor demands to halt the trial as he cannot be both the defendant and prosecutor, the Valeyard flees into the Matrix, a virtual reality where normal
The Master reveals that he wishes the Doctor to prevail over the Valeyard, since he fears the Valeyard's ability to defeat him. He puts the Doctor into a catatonic state and sends him out of his TARDIS to lure the Valeyard out of hiding. The Valeyard emerges onto a balcony, but fires upon the Master, forcing him to flee. Mel emerges from a tunnel and the Doctor, recognising her voice, emerges from his trance. She leads him out of the Matrix and into the trial room. They agree that she should tell the truth, and she confirms to the court that the scenes of the Vervoids' destruction, the basis of the Valeyard's charge of genocide, are as she witnessed them. The Inquisitor finds the Doctor guilty and declares that his life is forfeit. He accepts the verdict as the fulfilment of justice and is led off to execution.
However, this is another illusion. Mel is frantic that the Doctor needs help, grabbing the Keeper's key and entering the Matrix. She finds the Doctor and warns him – but he had already realised the courtroom was a fake and merely wished to reach a final confrontation with the Valeyard. Bribed by the Master, Glitz returns to the Fantasy Factory; he finds the master tape of the data he thought was destroyed on Ravolox. Glitz escapes with the data to the Master's TARDIS, while the Doctor asks Popplewick for Chambers; Popplewick doesn't comply. The Doctor and Mel lay hold of him, and the Doctor peels away his face to reveal Popplewick as a disguised Valeyard. They realise that a concealed machine in the room is a particle disseminator, with which the Valeyard plans to murder the members of the court.
The Inquisitor learns the High Council has been deposed. The Master appears on the Matrix screen to offer to impose order in return for power. He loads Glitz's master tape into his TARDIS systems, but a booby-trap is triggered, paralysing him and Glitz. Mel emerges from the Matrix to warn the Time Lords. They cannot turn off the Matrix screen, but the Doctor sabotages the Valeyard's weapon and the Fantasy Factory explodes; he flees the Matrix, back to the courtroom. The Inquisitor drops the charges against him and reveals that Peri survived the events on Thoros Beta and became Yrcanos's queen. She urges the Doctor to stand for Lord President of the new Council, but he suggests she should stand. He urges the Time Lords to be lenient towards Glitz, while he returns Mel back to her proper time.
As the Inquisitor leaves the trial room, she gives instructions to the Keeper of the Matrix. As he looks up at the camera, he is revealed to be the Valeyard.
Production
Episode | Title | Run time | Original air date | UK viewers (millions) [3] |
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1 | "Part Thirteen" | 24:42 | 29 November 1986 | 4.4 |
2 | "Part Fourteen" | 29:30 | 6 December 1986 | 5.6 |
John Nathan-Turner commissioned Pip and Jane Baker to write a replacement final episode. For copyright reasons they could not be told anything of the content of Saward's script
Although the other episodes of this season were the usual 25 minutes in length, it proved impossible to edit episode 14 down to that length. Nathan-Turner applied for and received special permission for the episode to run 5 minutes over its scheduled time slot, making it 30 minutes.
Commercial releases
In print
ISBN 0-426-20329-1 | |
A novelisation of this serial, written by Pip and Jane Baker, was published by Target Books in April 1988 as The Ultimate Foe. The Ultimate Foe was the working title for the 9th to 12th parts of the season, now generally called Terror of the Vervoids. The novel ends with an additional scene in which Mel is returned to the Doctor's future, and hints that the events of the following serial Time and the Rani took place after several other adventures and before the Sixth Doctor's regeneration.
Home media
In October 1993, this story was released on
A limited edition Blu-Ray set of the series was released in October 2019 featuring optional extended versions of all 14 episodes as part of the extra features package.
References
- releasesfollow The Discontinuity Guide numbering system.
- ISSN 0957-9818.
- ^ "Ratings Guide". Doctor Who News. Retrieved 28 May 2017.
- ^ Smith, James Cooray (2017). The Black Archive #14: The Ultimate Foe. Obverse Books. pp. 58–59, 63–67.
- ^ "13 scrapped Doctor Who storylines you'll never see". Digital Spy. 10 December 2016.
- ^ "Pip and Jane Baker (1988)". 15 October 2009.
- ^ "Trials and Tribulations", The Ultimate Foe DVD featurette.
Further reading
- Walker S. J., Doctor Who—The Handbook: Sixth Doctor. (1993) Dr Who Books (Virgin Publishing Ltd)
External links
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/f/fa/Wikiquote-logo.svg/34px-Wikiquote-logo.svg.png)
Target novelisation
- The Ultimate Foe title listing at the Internet Speculative Fiction Database
- On Target – The Ultimate Foe