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Doctor Who Season 23 Episodes
Season 23 Episode Guide
14 Episodes 1986 - 1986
Episode 1
The Trial of a Time Lord: Part One
25 mins
The Doctor is pulled out of his time stream and summoned to a Time Lord space station above Gallifrey. On his arrival it is announced by the Inquisitor that the Doctor will stand trial. Accused of conduct unbecoming a Time Lord, the Doctor refutes the allegations made against him and chooses to mount his own defense rather than entrust his fate to a fellow Time Lord. Opposing the Doctor and appearing for the prosecution is the Valeyard, an enigmatic figure who is clearly out for the Doctor. Suffering from short term memory loss as a result being taken out of time, and puzzled as to the absence of his companion Peri, the Doctor can only sit back and watch as the Valeyard mounts his case against the eccentric time traveler. The first piece of evidence is taken from the Matrix, the repository of all Time Lord knowledge. It chronicles the Doctor's interference in affairs of the planet Ravalox, a planet very similar to Earth and which was partly decimated by a fireball several centuries ago. Accompanied by Peri in this adventure, the Doctor and his young friend discover there is more to the planet than meets the eye. Why do the duo discover what appears to be an old abandoned subway station with an old sign that reads 'Marble Arch'? Who are the underground dwellers that live beneath the train station? What are the motivations of the Tribe of the Free who are ruled over by Queen Katryca? Why do the two villainous rogues, Glitz and Dibber, want to destroy the totem to the Free's god? And who or what is the god-like immortal of whom or of which the underground dwellers speak? As these questions and others are answered, the Doctor realizes he might be the only one capable of saving Ravalox from becoming the flash point of universal destruction.
Episode 2
The Trial of a Time Lord: Part Two
25 mins
The 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.
Episode 3
The Trial of a Time Lord: Part Three
24 mins
The 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.
Episode 4
The Trial of a Time Lord: Part Four
24 mins
All those on Ravolox are in exponentially greater peril than anyone can comprehend. If anything in the entire universe is to survive, it may come down to the Doctor arguing against machine logic over the value of life.
Episode 5
The Trial of a Time Lord: Part Five
25 mins
The court looks into the Doctor's investigation of Thoros Beta, home planet of the Mentors whom the Doctor suspects of selling advanced weaponry to primitive cultures.
Episode 6
The Trial of a Time Lord: Part Six
25 mins
Having 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.
Episode 7
The Trial of a Time Lord: Part Seven
25 mins
While 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.
Episode 8
The Trial of a Time Lord: Part Eight
25 mins
The 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.
Episode 9
The Trial of a Time Lord: Part Nine
25 mins
With the case for the prosecution concluded, the Doctor begins his presentation for the defense. Afforded the same privileges as the Valeyard, with access to the Matrix, the Doctor presents evidence that's to take place in his own future. Now in the company of a new, energetic traveling companion named Mel, the Time Lord answers a mayday from the Hypherion III. a luxury star-liner that ferries between planets Moga and Earth. Brought before Commodore Tonker Travers, an old acquaintance of the Doctor's, the Time Lord is dismayed that Travers is far from pleased at his presence. The Commodore knows from experience that, whenever the eccentric time traveler appears, all hell breaks loose. Confined to guest areas of the ship, the Doctor and Mel attempt to discover who sent the mayday, but it's an investigation that will lead to a more alarming threat than either could have dared to imagine, one which involves a web of intrigue and a dark secret concealed within the ship's cargo hold.
Episode 10
The Trial of a Time Lord: Part Ten
24 mins
A 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.
Episode 11
The Trial of a Time Lord: Part Eleven
24 mins
A 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 harboring a guilty secret.
Episode 12
The Trial of a Time Lord: Part Twelve
25 mins
With 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.
Episode 13
The Trial of a Time Lord: Part Thirteen
25 mins
With the evidence for the defense at an end and the trial nearly over, it would seem that the Doctor's fate has been well and truly sealed. But the shock intervention of an old adversary throws new light on the case with the Doctor's future traveling companion Mel and the roguish Sabalom Glitz being presented to the courtroom as surprise witnesses. Shocking revelations come to light involving the high council of Time Lords, the Valeyard and their corrupt conspiracy which involved the Doctor and his affairs with the planet Ravolox. But with an even more mind blowing revelation brought to the fore, the Doctor is forced to come to terms with an enigmatic link between himself and his sinister prosecutor.
Episode 14
The Trial of a Time Lord: Part Fourteen
30 mins
So much ado by the Valeyard and the Master over the Doctor's death makes the Doctor wary of being made decoy for some other, truer target. Continuing in the Matrix itself, he may find both them and the answers he seeks.