Doctor Who: The trial of Season 23 - Looking back at Trial of a Time Lord

After an eighteen month-long hiatus, Colin Baker and Nicola Bryant returned for Season 23. Was it a strong season overall?

(Image Courtesy: BBC Studios, BritBox.)

We look back at Season 23’s fourteen-part epic, The Trial of a Time Lord. But is it a single serial, or is it really four Doctor Who stories in one? And how well does it work altogether?

The Trial of a Time Lord is an interesting oddity in Doctor Who history. On the surface, it presents itself as being one long story, spread out across an entire season. A fourteen-part epic, with the Sixth Doctor on trial for his life the entire time!

Well, that doesn’t exactly sound that epic. So how come the trial is spread out across an entire season? Simple: it’s actually four stories in one. During the Doctor’s trial, three adventures are presented as “evidence” via the Matrix – a vast computer system containing the sum of all Time Lord knowledge. The Doctor, the Valeyard (his prosecutor) and the Inquisitor all watch these adventures on a large screen. In short, you have the Doctor and other Time Lords watching Doctor Who!

How well does this idea work? Especially considering that it lasts for an entire season?

While the idea of the Doctor and other Time Lords watching Doctor Who sounds amusing and meta, it very quickly wears thin. Especially during the first story, The Mysterious Planet. At this point in the season, the trial scenes are definitely the weakest. Either they’re extremely repetitive scenes of the Doctor objecting and getting angry, or they’re criticisms made of the story.

These could be amusing moments, but the problem is that they’re a little too on-the-nose – essentially addressing genuine problems with the series that needed fixing, at times. Drawing the audience’s attention to these flaws doesn’t reduce them, it just highlights them further. Especially when that method of self-criticism continually interrupts the flow of the story itself!

But that’s just a broad criticism of the season. Let’s take a look at each of the four stories individually, starting with…

The Mysterious Planet

Let’s take a look at the opening story. How is The Mysterious Planet? Written by Robert Holmes – arguably one of the greatest writers in Doctor Who history – the story comes off as shockingly bland. Not terrible, just not what you expect from a writer as strong as Holmes. However, I recently came across a blog – Doctor Who Vews with Hoyle and Haughton – that sums up the story’s issues far better than I could.

The key problems in this story aren’t in the script. After all, there are a lot of rich and intriguing ideas presented that Robert Holmes throws at the audience, especially regarding the titular mystery.

Instead, it’s in its execution. This can range from significant problems in casting (while I think Tony Selby works well as opportunistic criminal Sabalom Glitz, Joan Sims as a warrior queen still leaves me scratching my head), to set design and even lighting (the underground subway stations look too basic and too brightly lit). It’s a real shame, as there’s potential for a really solid story here, but too many elements let it down.

The story isn’t completely without merit, of course. In some ways, it sets the arc elements up nicely. The story raises many questions – most of which wouldn’t be answered until the final two episodes of the season – and it makes it clear that there’s a much bigger picture here. Something involving the Time Lords themselves.

However, if I’m honest, the arc – or at least the trial – very much works against that. The censored moments in the evidence itself makes it very clear that the Time Lords are trying to cover something up, so the fact that the story is used as evidence against the Doctor is shocking, to say the least! Especially when you find out exactly what they’re trying to cover up by the end!

Mindwarp

Mindwarp is definitely an improvement. While it’s not one of my favorite Doctor Who stories, it does feature the best balance between having a decent story on its own terms and using the arc to develop it.

The trial interruptions stick out less because this time, the Valeyard’s evidence is much more damaging against the Doctor. Moments that highlight the Doctor’s genuine arrogance, or how many times his companion Peri is in danger, work well because the Valeyard’s points feel valid. It’s during this story that you feel that the Doctor is in serious trouble, and it works well.

Well, mostly. One key issue that I do have with Mindwarp is that, at times, it tries to do too much at once. During the course of the story, the Doctor becomes selfish, cowardly, even villainous. The audience is made to wonder if this is the result of his mind being altered by the real villains of the story – Sil and Crozier – or if the Doctor is simply trying to trick them.

Too much at once?

This is a really interesting idea in itself. However, there’s also the suggestion that the evidence has been changed and that the Matrix isn’t showing what’s really going on. And this is when the arc actually works against the story, because on its own terms, making the audience wonder if the Doctor has turned bad is a great idea on its own. Throwing in the idea that the audience can’t trust what they’re seeing is attempting to do too much, at least in my opinion.

Even worse is that there are a few trial scenes that don’t work because of the core idea. The Valeyard makes accusations that the Doctor has always been cowardly and selfish, when it’s clear that his behavior has been significantly changed after having his mind altered. So those moments at least lack tension because the arguments hold no weight.

However, it has to be said that the last ten minutes at least more than make up for it. There are not one but two major shocks, and both of them work so well because of the trial itself. So as problematic as some of the trial scenes are in this story, the last few minutes just about make up for it, and show just how well the trial can work for the story when handled right.

Terror of the Vervoids

In some ways, Terror of the Vervoids is the story that’s the least connected to the trial. This isn’t surprising, as it’s set in the Doctor’s future, with the story used as evidence that he’ll improve over time. In some ways, it’s unsurprising that a special edition of the story – which removes the trial segments altogether – has been created for the Blu-Ray release. (We’ll review how successful that version works at a later point.)

However, while the story itself is unconnected to the trial, the presentation of it is rather crucial. Because that’s when it becomes clear that the Matrix really is being tampered with. While the Doctor has yet to live through the events of Vervoids, he made sure to watch the evidence first before presenting it to the court. So he’s more surprised than anyone to see moments of him acting extremely out of character. (There’s a rather hilarious example in the third episode that lacks any kind of subtlety, and makes it very, very clear to the audience that the Matrix is being manipulated.)

Confused tenses?

On its own terms, Terror isn’t a bad story. The Agatha Christie style murder mystery is a little basic, but still intriguing, and the Sixth Doctor is at his most likable in this one. We’re presented a version of him that has mellowed considerably, or at least, it will do.

But there’s the key issue with the story. Terror of the Vervoids is supposed to be set in the Doctor’s future, and for a while, writers Pip and Jane Baker do at least try to keep that in mind. However, as the story goes on, it becomes clearer and clearer that they’ve forgotten this key detail, especially during the trial sequences.

There are quite a few examples of the Doctor and the Valeyard arguing over the events of Terror in the past tense. This becomes especially noticeable at the very end of the story, when the Valeyard adds a completely new charge to the trial – one that the Doctor hasn’t even committed yet! So the idea of seeing a case from the Doctor’s future is an intriguing idea, but it could have been handled better.

But what of the final story – the grand conclusion to the trial itself? After so much build-up, does it all pay off?

The Ultimate Foe

Apparently, The Ultimate Foe was the initial title for Terror of the Vervoids, while Time Inc. was used for the final two episodes of The Trial of a Time Lord. I’m definitely glad that the official titles changed that, as frankly, the Vervoids are far from an “ultimate foe”. The Valeyard, on the other hand…

And that’s what the final two episodes are about – the Valeyard. Who he is, and why he’s a very personal enemy to the Doctor. With the character having such a key role all season, it’s definitely satisfying to get some answers regarding questions of his identity, and they are big ones.

Even better is that Michael Jayston – who’s been great to watch so far – really gets to let out his more villainous side in this story. Once the truth about his character is revealed, the stakes are raised, and the conflict between him and the Doctor becomes far more interesting as a result.

We also get other major answers too, going back to the very beginning of the arc. The revelations are satisfying, but what feels bigger is the Doctor’s reaction to all of them. Colin Baker truly shines in this one, particularly when he gives a speech completely condemning his own people, and he portrays the Doctor’s sheer outrage and shock so perfectly.

A story of two halves?

It has to be said however that The Ultimate Foe is really a story of two halves, at least in terms of quality. While the first half is fantastic, and frankly features one of the best episodes of the entire season, the second half is noticeably messier.

It’s not surprising – Robert Holmes sadly passed away after writing what he could for part thirteen of Trial. Due to a complete mess behind the scenes, the original planned ending for the story was completely scrapped, and Pip and Jane Baker had to write the story’s conclusion in very short time. So while the final episode is a little unsatisfying and features even more problems in terms of continuity (such as Six and Mel travelling together at the end – despite the fact that the Doctor hasn’t properly met her yet!), it’s amazing that it works as well as it does.

And to be honest, it’s not as if it’s a disappointing ending to one of the strongest arcs of the series. There were some elements that worked well in The Trial of a Time Lord, (the early mysteries, the shocking moments, and some rather strong ideas). But there were also elements that didn’t work so well (the execution of those ideas, the messy continuity, the amount of padding).

Sadly, the weakest aspect of The Trial of a Time Lord is the trial itself. While some moments do add to the story, others do nothing but subtract from it, and the Doctor being on trial for his life never feels quite as exciting as it should do. A bold experiment for the series, but one with distinctly mixed results.

Next. Trailer and details revealed for the Master’s 50th anniversary box set. dark

What do you think of The Trial of a Time Lord? Do you think the story works well overall? Or do you think it should have been better? Let us know in the comments below.

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Doctor Who: The trial of Season 23 – How well does The Trial of a Time Lord work as a whole?

By James Aggas | Dec 16, 2019