The fifth season of the British science fiction television series Doctor Who was originally broadcast on BBC1 between 1967 and 1968. The season started on 2 September 1967 with the story The Tomb of the Cybermen and ended on 1 June 1968 with The Wheel in Space. The season saw several changes in behind the scenes production, with producer Innes Lloyd stepping down and being replaced by story editor Peter Bryant in the role. Due to Bryant's training for and eventual promotion to producer, the role of story editor underwent multiple shifts. Victor Pemberton initially took over, though left early into the season to focus on writing his own stories. Derrick Sherwin took over after Pemberton's departure, though was not keen on the part and brought in Terrance Dicks to serve as his assistant story editor with hopes to train him as his replacement.
The season continued to star Patrick Troughton in the role of the Second Doctor, an alien who travels in time and space in a time machine known as the TARDIS, a ship which greatly resembles a British police box. Frazer Hines reprises his role as the Doctor's companion Jamie McCrimmon from the prior season, and Deborah Watling reprises her part of Victoria Waterfield, introduced in the fourth season's finale The Evil of the Daleks (1967), in a main cast role as well. Watling played the part for most of the fifth season, departing in the penultimate serial, Fury from the Deep (1968), due to a lack of strong material for the character and to avoid typecasting. The character of Zoe Heriot, portrayed by actress Wendy Padbury, was introduced in The Wheel in Space as a new companion. The season also features Jack Watling, Deborah Watling's father, in the recurring role of Professor Travers across two serials. The Web of Fear (1968) also introduces Nicholas Courtney as the character Colonel Lethbridge-Stewart; Lethbridge-Stewart would go on to appear in a major recurring role throughout the rest of the show's original run.
The serials in this season were written by Kit Pedler, Gerry Davis, Henry Lincoln, Mervyn Haisman, Brian Hayles, David Whitaker, and Pemberton. The season's serials focused on writing stories featuring various monsters, largely due to the departure of the highly popular Daleks from the series in The Evil of the Daleks. As a result, emphasis was put onto creating new recurring enemies. The Cybermen, Pedler and Davis's creations, were brought back for two serials, while Lincoln and Haisman's Yeti were introduced in the season and also appeared in two serials. Additionally, Hayles's creations, the Ice Warriors, were introduced in this season and reappeared in later stories. The season featured a story archetype known as "Base Under Siege", during which the characters are largely isolated on one set and attacked by an external force; the only story in the season not to use this format or feature any monster was Whitaker's The Enemy of the World (1967–1968). The serials were directed by Morris Barry, Gerald Blake, Derek Martinus, Barry Letts, Douglas Camfield, Hugh David, and Tristan de Vere Cole. Filming was largely done in studio on sets, primarily at Riverside Studios and Ealing Studios. Several serials utilised on-location filming, notably The Abominable Snowmen (1967), which was filmed at Snowdonia and was at the time the series' longest on-location shoot. Filming for the season started in June 1967 and wrapped by May 1968.
The fifth season has received largely positive responses from critics and viewers. The season's Base Under Siege format and focus on monsters influenced much of how the series was viewed publicly, and additionally influenced the development of later stories in the series. The season introduced numerous major concepts and characters that appeared frequently later in the series, such as Lethbridge-Stewart, the Yeti, the Ice Warriors, and the sonic screwdriver, a device the Doctor uses throughout the rest of the show. The season is also credited with firmly establishing the Cybermen as major antagonists within the series. Many of the season's episodes were wiped by the BBC throughout the years following its airing in order to reuse the video tapes they were held on. As a result, only 22 out of the season's 40 episodes are held in the BBC archives; 18 remain missing, with only The Tomb of the Cybermen and The Enemy of the World being retained in the BBC's archives in their entirety. Many of the season's missing episodes have been reconstructed in animated form in later releases.
Main cast
Patrick Troughton as the Second Doctor. He is a Time Lord who travels throughout time in space in a ship known as the TARDIS, which greatly resembles a British police box. While traveling, he and his traveling companions get involved in various adventures across the universe. The Second Doctor has an unassuming, clownish demeanor which belies a deep intelligence and inquisitive prowess. His shabby clothing has led to critics describing him as a "cosmic hobo". Troughton also portrays the character of Salamander, a dictator who appears in The Enemy of the World who is identical in appearance to the Second Doctor. Frazer Hines as Jamie McCrimmon. Jamie is a young man who hails from the Scottish highlands in 1746, joining the Doctor after meeting him following Battle of Culloden. Due to hailing from several centuries in the past, Jamie is largely unfamiliar with many aspects of the future, such as airplanes, though he is highly intelligent and adapts quickly to his newfound environment. He trusts the Doctor deeply and does his best to keep him safe, though is willing to call him out on his actions if need be. He treats Victoria like a younger sister, and has a friendly, albeit bickering, relationship with Zoe. Deborah Watling as Victoria Waterfield. Victoria is a young girl from the Victorian era, now an orphan following the death of her father while combatting the Daleks. She has a "prim", demure personality, though also has a tendency to scream when encountering monsters. She longs to settle down in one place, and eventually stops traveling with the Doctor and Jamie, tired of winding up in dangerous situations, electing to stay behind and settle down with a 20th century family. Wendy Padbury as Zoe Heriot. Zoe is a teenage genius who hails from the far future. She is highly intelligent and assertive, acting as an intellectual challenge to the Doctor. Zoe is trained in logic and uses it to approach situations, leading to conflict with the Doctor and Jamie, who follow a less logical approach in their adventures. Zoe ends up stowing away aboard the TARDIS and joining them in their adventures.
Serials
: Episode is missing Production
Development Innes Lloyd continued as the show's producer in The Tomb of the Cybermen, though had no great desire to continue in the role and thus sought to leave. He suggested Gerry Davis become producer, though Davis rejected his offer. Davis suggested to Lloyd that Peter Bryant take over as producer instead. Bryant had joined the production team in January 1967, having previously stepped in for Lloyd in the producer role, and had additionally worked as an assistant story editor with Davis and as an associate producer on The Faceless Ones (1967). Bryant ended up taking over Davis's story editor role in April 1967. Victor Pemberton was brought on as Bryant's assistant story editor. Bryant was enthusiastic about the role, but was unconfident in his skills as a producer; as a result, the final recording block of The Tomb of the Cybermen was given to Bryant as a "test run", with Pemberton acting as main story editor during this period. The story's success resulted in Bryant's position as producer being "virtually sealed". As the fifth season wore on, Bryant gained more creative input on the stories.
Tomb required little editing from Pemberton, though he attempted to add more atmosphere in places. Many rewrites were unable to be fulfilled due to Davis's departure from the production team to work on The First Lady, resulting in Pemberton undertaking the bulk of needed rewrites, with many concerning the character of Victoria. Initial story editing for subsequent serial The Abominable Snowmen was done by Pemberton, though the bulk of story edits were done by Bryant, who returned to his post during this story. Pemberton found himself unhappy with his new position, and desired to return to writing. Bryant took over his post once again after this serial, but shadowed Lloyd in preparation for taking over as producer at the end of the year. The Enemy of the World served as Lloyd's final story for the series, with Bryant taking over his role. Derrick Sherwin took over as assistant script editor. Sherwin was not particularly keen on being story editor, and thus contacted Terrance Dicks to serve as an uncredited story editor in 1968, with Sherwin planning to train and make Dicks his successor. Sherwin officially became the main story editor starting with The Web of Fear.
For The Tomb of the Cybermen, Sandra Reid served as costume designer while Gillian James handled makeup. This serial served as their final time working on the show, and Dorothea Wallace took over from Reid for the final two studio recording sessions due to Reid being hospitalised during production. Starting with The Abominable Snowmen, costume design work was largely handled by Martin Baugh, who took over from Reid's post, with Sylvia James operating makeup in Gillian's place. Baugh designed the costumes of several characters and creatures during this season, including the Yeti and the Ice Warriors.
Writing
Overall changes
The season was notable for repeatedly utilising the "Base Under Siege" story format, in which the characters, largely isolated on one set, were invaded by a given monster of the week. Additionally, there was a character type called the "Unstable Commander", often a figure of authority who provides "extra jeopardy" for the other characters. This story style is attributed to producer Lloyd, who used the format in the previous season's The Tenth Planet (1966), which introduced the recurring Cybermen as antagonists, and were used again later in that season for another Cyberman serial, The Moonbase (1967). Each story in the fifth season uses the Base Under Siege format in different capacities, though largely stick to a similar model, with the exception of The Enemy of the World. The story format ended up having a large effect on the show's story content for years afterward, even following Lloyd's departure.
The fifth season saw an increase in the emphasis on recurring "monsters" for the Doctor to fight. Lloyd hoped to find monsters to match the popularity of the Daleks, who were the only major recurring antagonist of Troughton's predecessor, William Hartnell, in the role of the Doctor. The season introduced the Ice Warriors and Yeti as part of this initiative, as well as further establish the Cybermen as antagonists following their two appearances in the prior season. Though attempts to find Dalek replacements had already been tried, such as with the titular monsters of The War Machines (1966), the need to find new monsters was further emphasised by the Daleks being written out of the series in the previous season's The Evil of the Daleks (1967) as a result of their creator, Terry Nation, seeking to pitch a Dalek television series in America.
Fury from the Deep also introduced an item known as the sonic screwdriver, representing a change in policy by the production team where the Doctor should use more "magical" gadgets. The screwdriver recurs throughout the rest of the series, being given several further functions as the show has progressed.