| The following article is written from an Out of Universe perspective. |
Season 33 of Doctor Who ran from 7 September 1996 to 1 February 1997.
It was the first season for Michael French as The Doctor and the first for Rakie Ayola as Janet Wells.
Overview
Format and chapter details
This season consisted of eight stories with twenty-two 25-minute episodes. It was the tenth season in Chapter Two Part III of Doctor Who.
A brand new era
Season 33 felt quite dramatic in different to recent seasons due to it featuring not only a new Doctor under Michael French, but also a new companion in his debut story, similar to how Henrick joined the TARDIS in Season 28. Other than Garwood and Brake remaining on along with major crew members, everything else felt vastly different due to the BBC slowly progressing the competitiveness with other American sci-fi shows which would be noted with the frequent use of alien planets in recent years.
Janet the Traveller
The new companion would be Janet Wells, a Lancashire traveller from the year 1956. Played by Rakie Ayola, she was the first actress of colour to play a companion with a sub-arc of her dealing with themes of race across several stories and especially her debut story considering the time period she was in.
New titles and theme
With a new Doctor, a new title sequence and theme arrangement was commissioned. The new sequence was designed by Red Pepper, and saw a 3D clock explode, entering a vortex, which features the cast names in the sequence for the first time. The Doctor's face now appears in the form of his eyes, appearing from the clock before zooming past the camera whilst the vortex changes colour from orange to blue, followed by the Doctor Who logo, retaining the 1991 version, and the episode title and writer underneath.
Mark Ayres was again asked to compose a new version of the theme, which included a ticking clock throughout, which is incorporated into the sequence. Despite the incidental music moving towards an orchestral feel from this season, Ayres' arrangement retained the synthesized feel.
Stories
The eight stories featured in this season included the Master, a hot London summer, the return of the Daleks and Vardans, a planet of demons, a Well, surviving a laser strike and resurrecting the Autons.
Cast
Regular
Recurring
- To Be Added.
Guest
- To Be Added.
Television Stories
| Serial | # | Title | Writer | Director | Air Date |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1 | Revenge of the Master | Colin Brake | Roger Singleton-Turner | 7 September 1996 |
| 2 | 14 September 1996 | ||||
| 3 | 21 September 1996 | ||||
| 4 | 28 September 1996 | ||||
| 2 | 5 | The English Way of Death | Gareth Roberts | Sandy Johnson | 5 October 1996 |
| 6 | 12 October 1996 | ||||
| 7 | 19 October 1996 | ||||
| 3 | 8 | The Time Ravagers | Nicholas Briggs | Andrew Morgan | 26 October 1996 |
| 9 | 2 November 1996 | ||||
| 10 | 9 November 1996 | ||||
| 4 | 11 | Heaven and Earth | Paul Cornell | Marcus Mortimer | 16 November 1996 |
| 12 | 23 November 1996 | ||||
| 13 | 30 November 1996 | ||||
| 5 | 14 | Trial by Fire | Steven Moffat | Richard Holthouse | 7 December 1996 |
| 15 | 14 December 1996 | ||||
| 6 | 16 | The Well | Mark Gatiss | 21 December 1996 | |
| 7 | 17 | Paradise Lost | Russell T Davies | 28 December 1996 | |
| 18 | 4 January 1997 | ||||
| 8 | 19 | Resurrection of the Autons | Steve Lyons | Brian Grant | 11 January 1997 |
| 20 | 18 January 1997 | ||||
| 21 | 25 January 1997 | ||||
| 22 | 1 February 1997 |
Home Media
To be added.