Doctor Who's Tragical History TourDoctor Who's Tragical History Tour
  • Nu-Who
    • Ncuti Gatwa
    • Jodie Whittaker
    • Peter Capaldi
    • Matt Smith
    • David Tennant
    • Christopher Eccleston
  • Tweeners
    • John Hurt
    • Paul McGann
    • The Master List
    • Regeneration X
    • The Mystery Guest
    • The Hand of Fear
  • Colo(u)r
    • Sylvester McCoy
    • Colin Baker
    • Peter Davison
    • Tom Baker
    • Jon Pertwee
  • Monochrome
    • Patrick Troughton
    • William Hartnell
  • Tour du Jour
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    • The Randomizer
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Doctor Who's Tragical History Tour
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  • Nu-Who
    1. Ncuti Gatwa
    2. Jodie Whittaker
    3. Peter Capaldi
    4. Matt Smith
    5. David Tennant
    6. Christopher Eccleston
    7. View All

    Who Told You There Wouldn’t Be Any Math?

    December 5, 2022

    The Next-iest of Doctors

    May 29, 2022

    Svelte 16

    May 8, 2022

    Who Told You There Wouldn’t Be Any Math?

    December 5, 2022

    B-Bye Bradley

    October 6, 2022

    Svelte 16

    May 8, 2022

    Now You Sea Devil, No You Don’t

    April 24, 2022

    E-Spaced

    August 4, 2023

    Svelte 16

    May 8, 2022

    The Dark Jacket Dimension

    November 13, 2021

    Bad Hair Month

    September 9, 2021

    60 for 60 — The Greatest Stories in Doctor Who History — (54→49)

    September 20, 2023

    E-Spaced

    August 4, 2023

    Who Told You There Wouldn’t Be Any Math?

    December 5, 2022

    The Wedding of SMW

    August 27, 2022

    60 for 60 — The Greatest Stories in Doctor Who History — (54→49)

    September 20, 2023

    60 for 60 — The Greatest Stories in Doctor Who History — (60→55)

    September 15, 2023

    Who Told You There Wouldn’t Be Any Math?

    December 5, 2022

    The Next-iest of Doctors

    May 29, 2022

    The Dark Jacket Dimension

    November 13, 2021

    The (W)hole Ruth

    January 31, 2020

    Ten Days Till the Tenthiversary of the Tenting of the Tenth

    December 22, 2019

    The Last ‘Last Christmas’ Specials Rankings #3

    December 24, 2018

    60 for 60 — The Greatest Stories in Doctor Who History — (54→49)

    September 20, 2023

    60 for 60 — The Greatest Stories in Doctor Who History — (60→55)

    September 15, 2023

    60 for 60 — The Prelude

    September 8, 2023

    Destiny of the Costume Closet

    September 1, 2023
  • Tweeners
    1. John Hurt
    2. Paul McGann
    3. The Master List
    4. Regeneration X
    5. The Mystery Guest
    6. The Hand of Fear
    7. View All

    Hurt So Good: A Doctor and His Umbrella

    April 27, 2023

    Who Told You There Wouldn’t Be Any Math?

    December 5, 2022

    Svelte 16

    May 8, 2022

    Ten’ll Get You Five

    September 4, 2020

    60 for 60 — The Greatest Stories in Doctor Who History — (60→55)

    September 15, 2023

    McGann Before McGann

    May 26, 2023

    … And All That Yaz

    November 16, 2022

    Fivey at Forty: The First Companion Death of 1982

    March 16, 2022

    60 for 60 — The Greatest Stories in Doctor Who History — (54→49)

    September 20, 2023

    60 for 60 — The Greatest Stories in Doctor Who History — (60→55)

    September 15, 2023

    60 for 60 — The Prelude

    September 8, 2023

    Destiny of the Costume Closet

    September 1, 2023

    Ghost Re-Write

    November 16, 2021

    The (W)hole Ruth

    January 31, 2020

    Dup-topia

    January 29, 2020

    The Glue Guy

    June 24, 2018

    Doctor on Doctor ACTION!

    November 19, 2017

    The Wheel in Cheese

    August 10, 2014

    The Hurt Locker

    May 25, 2013

    60 for 60 — The Greatest Stories in Doctor Who History — (54→49)

    September 20, 2023

    60 for 60 — The Greatest Stories in Doctor Who History — (60→55)

    September 15, 2023

    60 for 60 — The Prelude

    September 8, 2023

    Destiny of the Costume Closet

    September 1, 2023

    60 for 60 — The Greatest Stories in Doctor Who History — (54→49)

    September 20, 2023

    60 for 60 — The Greatest Stories in Doctor Who History — (60→55)

    September 15, 2023

    60 for 60 — The Prelude

    September 8, 2023

    Destiny of the Costume Closet

    September 1, 2023
  • Colo(u)r
    1. Sylvester McCoy
    2. Colin Baker
    3. Peter Davison
    4. Tom Baker
    5. Jon Pertwee
    6. View All

    A Studio Film (or rather a film in the studio)

    June 9, 2023

    … And All That Yaz

    November 16, 2022

    Fivey at Forty: The First Companion Death of 1982

    March 16, 2022

    Roomba With a Prenumbra

    March 1, 2022

    60 for 60 — The Greatest Stories in Doctor Who History — (60→55)

    September 15, 2023

    Hurt So Good: A Doctor and His Umbrella

    April 27, 2023

    … And All That Yaz

    November 16, 2022

    B-Bye Bradley

    October 6, 2022

    60 for 60 — The Greatest Stories in Doctor Who History — (54→49)

    September 20, 2023

    60 for 60 — The Greatest Stories in Doctor Who History — (60→55)

    September 15, 2023

    The Inevitable Adric

    July 14, 2023

    The Box(ing) Day of Delights

    December 26, 2022

    60 for 60 — The Greatest Stories in Doctor Who History — (54→49)

    September 20, 2023

    Destiny of the Costume Closet

    September 1, 2023

    The Inevitable Adric

    July 14, 2023

    Hurt So Good: A Doctor and His Umbrella

    April 27, 2023

    McGann Before McGann

    May 26, 2023

    The Warrior Before Time

    May 19, 2023

    Purple Shag Carpet

    May 11, 2023

    Hurt So Good: A Doctor and His Umbrella

    April 27, 2023

    60 for 60 — The Greatest Stories in Doctor Who History — (54→49)

    September 20, 2023

    60 for 60 — The Greatest Stories in Doctor Who History — (60→55)

    September 15, 2023

    60 for 60 — The Prelude

    September 8, 2023

    Destiny of the Costume Closet

    September 1, 2023
  • Monochrome
    1. Patrick Troughton
    2. William Hartnell
    3. View All

    60 for 60 — The Greatest Stories in Doctor Who History — (60→55)

    September 15, 2023

    When Patrick (almost) Met Ian

    August 25, 2023

    When Patrick Met Verity

    August 11, 2023

    More For Letts

    July 25, 2023

    60 for 60 — The Greatest Stories in Doctor Who History — (54→49)

    September 20, 2023

    When Patrick Met Verity

    August 11, 2023

    The TARDIS whirled on it’s way again…

    December 23, 2022

    Invasion of The Invasion

    December 17, 2022

    60 for 60 — The Greatest Stories in Doctor Who History — (54→49)

    September 20, 2023

    60 for 60 — The Greatest Stories in Doctor Who History — (60→55)

    September 15, 2023

    60 for 60 — The Prelude

    September 8, 2023

    Destiny of the Costume Closet

    September 1, 2023
  • Tour du Jour
    • On This Day
    • The House of Holmes
    • 50 for 50
    • The Randomizer
    • THT Rand-o-pix of the Day
    • The Feast of Steven
    • Tour Notz
    • The Watcher
    • Contact the Tour
Doctor Who's Tragical History TourDoctor Who's Tragical History Tour
Roundel Roundabouts

The Key to (the) Tribe

By -- DSWOctober 27, 202103 Mins Read
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So by now everyone, except those who deliberately choose to stay away from Doctor Who news in advance of a season which in turn means you wouldn’t be reading this anyway, knows that Series 13 is being sold as one big all-encompassing story.

Of course this has all been done before, once when we didn’t know it was coming and another when we (in the ‘royal’ sense) very much did.

In this regard we’re not referring back to the light-touch breadcrumbs that RTD would, and perhaps will again, salt throughout the four full series which comprised his tenure of nu-Who, or even to the very first experiment in this regard with the linked-single-story quest The Keys of Marinus during William Hartnell’s first season, but rather to the crowning achievement of the Graham Williams era of producer-ship in 1978, the classic Key to Time season (16). 

Conceived as a light-touch umbrella quest-type theme, all of the stories, while stand-alone in their own right, saw the Doctor and his ‘assigned’ companion Romana, as chosen by the White Guardian, searching out the segments of the Key to Time, a plot mcguffin if ever there was one, to rebalance time itself.  The stories ranged from light capers, as in The Ribos Operation, to straight-out monster stories (The Power of Kroll) and because the segments were disguised, it allowed the seasons authors choices about how the segments mattered to the plot of their own stories. In The Ribos Operation the finding of the segment was a main plot driver whilst in The Androids of Tara the segment was found right away and almost unimportant thereafter.  The Key as an overall story device really only mattered at the very beginning and end of the season.  As such viewers, who weren’t expecting a serialized story, didn’t have to invest themselves week-to-week to follow along.  Today this season is one of the most warmly remembered in the classic canon.

Fast forward to 1986 when Doctor Who was on significantly shakier footing.  Coming out of the first serious production interruption of the classic era, producer JN-T took the risky decision to mirror to status of the program being ‘on trial’ by having the Doctor on trial for ‘interference’ by the Time Lords for the whole of the season (23). 

Here the linking of the stories which comprised this shortened season (only 14 episodes compared to Season 16’s standard 26) wasn’t so much of an umbrella but a heavy boot, intruding on the stories in all sorts of ways which undercut the drama by pulling out of one story being told to the larger trial story, quite often it seemed to little effect, other than to annoy the average viewer.  This was much more serialized in a way that modern audiences would, in theory at least, be much more tolerant of.

━◦○◦━◦○◦━◦○◦━◦○◦━◦○◦━

Will Series 13, for all of its shininess, be a modern progenitor of either 1978 or 1986 or, more likely, its own beast to be wrestled with.  And will audiences care to follow for this all-too-brief Season-ette?

We’re about to find out.

 

Short Hops:
  • Fussin' Fluxin' Flexin'
    Fussin' Fluxin' Flexin'
  • Come and See the Softer Side of Six
    Come and See the Softer Side of Six
  • The Road Seldom Taken
    The Road Seldom Taken
Tom Baker Colin Baker William Hartnell The Ribos Operation The Androids of Tara The Keys of Marinus Mary Tamm Series 13 The Power of Kroll
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On This Day in Doctor Who History
  • September 23
    • 1978: The Ribos Operation [4]
    • 1967: The Tomb of the Cybermen [4]
  • September 24
    • 1977: The Horror of Fang Rock [4]
    • 1966: The Smugglers [3]
    • 2011: Closing Time
  • September 25
    • 1976: The Masque of Mandragora [4]
    • 1965: Galaxy 4 [3-- [Air Lock]
  • September 26
    • 2015: The Witch's Familiar
  • September 27
    • 2014: The Caretaker
    • 1975: Planet of Evil [1]
    • 1980: Meglos [1]
    • 1986: The Mysterious Planet [4]
    • 1989: Battlefield [4]
  • September 28
    • 1968: The Mind Robber [3]
    • 1987: Time and the Rani [4]
  • September 29
    • 1979: City of Death [1]

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