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| Leela and The Doctor |
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 Season Fourteen consisted of what had become the standard 6 stories containing 26 episodes. This format of 5 stories having 4 episodes each with the final sixth story having 6 episodes would continue until Season Seventeen – the penultimate season for the Fourth Doctor.
Season Fourteen though is notable for three things: the departure of Sarah Jane Smith in "The Hand of Fear"; the first and only story in the original series where The Doctor has no companion and for being set entirely on Gallifrey in "The Deadly Assassin"; and for introducing Leela, the leather clad savage in "The Face of Evil".
The departure of companion Sarah Jane Smith, played by Elisabeth Sladen, at the very end of "The Hand of Fear" created very poignant moment in the history of the show. It also made her chronologically the longest-serving Doctor Who companion (though the Second Doctor companion Jamie McCrimmon) actually had more episodes). Originally Sarah Jane Smith was due to die at the end of a planned Douglas Camfield story about the Foreign Legion but to Elisabeth Sladen's delight she was not killed off when "The Hand of Fear" – the story that replaced it – was made.
Upon her departure, Elisabeth Sladen returned to other work, returning in the 1980 spin-off "K-9 and Company," the 1983 Twentieth Anniversary story "The Five Doctors" and the Thirtieth-Anniversary Children In Need special "Dimensions in Time", in 1993. She also worked on two Jon Pertwee Doctor Who radio dramas, "The Paradise of Death"", in 1993, and "The Ghosts of N-Space", in 1995 and she also returned to the role for Big Finish Productions’ nine part Sarah Jane Smith Audio series. Then in 2006 she returned to the show in the Tenth Doctor story "School Reunion" (in which Sarah Jane Smith's departure point was revealed to be Aberdeen rather than Croydon), and her own spin-off series The Sarah Jane Adventures. She also returned in the 2008 Tenth Doctor story "The Stolen Earth/Journey's End", playing a major role as a companion again alongside Mickey Smith, Captain Jack Harkness, Rose Tyler, Jackie Tyler, Martha Jones and Donna Noble. Finally, she made a cameo at the conclusion of the Tenth Doctor's last story "The End of Time".
"The Deadly Assassin", as well being the first and only story in the original series where The Doctor has no companion and for being set entirely on Gallifrey, is also famous as for featuring a ‘revisionist’ portrayal of the Time Lords, as well as revealing much more about them. "The Deadly Assassin" also featured the return of The Master in a degenerated new form. After the death of Roger Delgado, who sadly was tragically killed in an automobile accident in Turkey while travelling to a location shoot for a film, it was felt that the 1973 Third Doctor story "Frontier in Space" would be the last story that this character would appear in the show. Thankfully this was not to be the case for this iconic Doctor Who character. The Master in "The Deadly Assassin" was played by Peter Pratt – his only appearance in the role. But despite Peter Pratt only playing the part this once, and The Master’s very decrepit state, this would not be the last time that The Master would appear in the show.
The most significant element of this season was the introduction of new companion Leela - the Sevateem leather clad savage played by Louise Jameson. Originally Leela was only due to appear in a couple of stories. However, during the recording of this season’s final story, "The Talons of Weng-Chiang", Producer Philip Hinchcliffe’s successor Graham Williams gradually took over the reigns and he approached Louise Jameson with an offer to stay on for Season Fifteen. This however, was a decision at odds with a promise Philip Hinchcliffe had made to Tom Baker that the character of Leela would be written out of the show at the conclusion of Season Fourteen. Tom Baker was of the opinion that the character was too violent for the show and would have preferred to carry on without a companion at all. Louise Jameson was initially reluctant to continue, mainly because of her frosty relationship with Tom Baker and the brown contact lenses she was compelled to wear. But when Graham Williams offered to relinquish the need for her to wear contact lenses (which were used to change the colour of her eyes) Louise Jameson agreed to sign a contract for the whole of Season Fifteen.
The overall gothic ambience of the season, which was a hallmark of the Philip Hinchcliffe/Robert Holmes era, was helped by the introduction of the TARDIS' secondary Console Room, which was used in lieu of the traditional Console Room during the whole of this season. The gothic feel was very much seen in the final story of the season, "The Talons of Weng-Chiang", which is considered to be one of the best stories of the show. This story also was John Nathan-Turner's first involvement in the show as Production Unit Manager. John Nathan-Turner has since become a legendary member of the Doctor Who team as he would later succeed Graham Williams as the show's Producer from 1980 to 1989 and so the final Producer until the show was revived in 2005.
Being Philip Hinchcliffe’s final season as Producer, and with Script Editor Robert Holmes also soon to leave the show, this season was the last, of three seasons, where these two key figures were in charge of the show. The storylines covered certainly continued to expand the show's core audience - especially in broadening the show's appeal to adults with the introduction of Leela and the more portrayal of violence and death resulting in even more complaints from Mary Whitehouse's National Viewers' and Listeners' Association - especially with the broadcast of "The Deadly Assassin". Unfortunately, these complaints were so strong that behind the scenes it was decided that Philip Hinchcliffe should move on from the series, and that his successor should create a much more light-hearted vision of the show.
Despite these complaints this season achieved an average of 11.1 million viewers – the highest the show has achieved until this point in the show’s history. Considered to be the best season ever this is backed up by it coming first and second in two Doctor Who Magazine polls (first in 1998 and second in 2009). This season was only beaten to second place in the 2009 poll by the previous season, Season Thirteen. Ironically even though this season is one of the most popular it does not contain a single Dalek story.
The conclusion of this season resulted in the end of the Philip Hinchcliffe/Robert Holmes era and even though Tom Baker would continue as the Fourth Doctor for another four years, and that he would be joined by many other companions who would accompany him in some more classic stories, the golden age of Doctor Who had come to an end. Thanks, in the opinion of many fans, to Mary Whitehouse.
Despite this Graham Williams was about to begin his time at the helm and the show would never be the same again – especially as Season Fifteen would include the introduction of another popular companion – his electronic dog, K9.
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| Sarah Leaves the TARDIS |
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This season is renowned for introducing the TARDIS' secondary Console Room. Designed by Barry Newbery this Jules Verne-inspired wood-panelled set was used throughout the majority of this season. It still retained the same overall configuration that is an integral part of the TARDIS with roundels, scanner and console but had a less futuristic feel. This set was used for a number of important and memorable scenes. Namely the departure of Sarah Jane Smith and the classic scene where The Doctor attempts to explain to Leela how the inside of the TARDIS can be bigger than the outside.
The departure of Sarah Jane Smith, at the very end of very end of "The Hand of Fear", created a very poignant moment in the history of the show. Having defeated Eldrad, a silicone-based humanoid creature, The Doctor and Sarah Jane Smith are back in the TARDIS. Sarah Jane Smith though is annoyed at The Doctor and threatens to leave. However, as she goes off to pack her things, even though she has no intention of leaving, The Doctor receives a summons from the Time Lords to return to Gallifrey. Sarah is therefore shocked when she returns to find that she has to leave anyway. After saying their goodbyes Sarah exits the TARDIS and then watches it dematerialise. Her time with The Doctor over. However, despite The Doctor telling her that the TARDIS has arrived near her home, Sarah realises that she is not in Hillview Road and may not even be in South Croydon at all…
At the beginning of "The Robots of Death", in the TARDIS' secondary Console Room, we see Leela playing with The Doctor’s Yo-Yo not realising it is just a toy. The Doctor then tries to demonstrate to her why the TARDIS is dimensionally transcendental. To do this he uses two different sized boxes. He places the larger box on top of the TARDIS console while holding the smaller box close to Leela so making the smaller box seem larger than the small one. However, his demonstration, turns out not to be very helpful. At the end of this scene The Doctor tries to stop Leela from taking a gun, that she liberated from a Tesh at the end of the previous story, stating that if people see you mean no harm then they never heart you. Despite this Leela still follows The Doctor out of the TARDIS with her hunting knife.
This story and the next, "The Talons of Weng-Chiang", both contain a number of must-see scenes involving Leela and The Doctor’s attempts to make her less of a savage. Even though her savagery becomes less and less in each story now and again it shows through - like in "The Talons of Weng-Chiang" where she has a meal with Professor Litefoot but has no concept of using the cutlery or the napkin provided. However, despite all The Doctor’s efforts she never loses her adept use of her hunting knife and poisonous Janus Thorns which she uses to protect not only herself but also The Doctor on a number of occasions.
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(Position = 2 out of 31)
