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“I am a Sontaran officer. My name is Linx. I hereby claim this planet, its moons and satellites, for the greater glory of the Sontaran Empire.”

I have a friend who believes you can split the Jon Pertwee era of Doctor Who neatly in half: in his estimation, the first twelve stories, up to and including “The Sea Devils,” are almost entirely high-quality Who; the second twelve stories, in contrast, are weak, underdeveloped, and boring. As artificial as the division line may be, I actually don’t think he’s far wrong. Yet we both agree on just one classic emerging from the wasteland of the later Pertwee years: 1973/4’s “The Time Warrior,” the first story of Pertwee’s final season.

“The Time Warrior” doesn’t really boast a different set-up from most early ‘70s Who. Some months after the departure of his companion, Jo Grant, the Doctor is brought in by UNIT to investigate the mysterious disappearance of a group of scientists. During his investigation, he meets a “plucky” and “aggressively feminist” young journalist, Sarah Jane Smith (Elisabeth Sladen), who is posing as a more experienced relative to get her big scoop. When the Doctor manages to trace the location of the scientists, she stows aboard his TARDIS, and finds herself in what she believes to be a medieval reenactment. As you might expect, the Doctor and Sarah have landed in true medieval times, where they independently discover a local robber baron has a new and powerful ally - a goblinesque alien Sontaran called Linx, who is using the kidnapped scientists to repair his damaged spacecraft.

“The Time Warrior” is sandwiched neatly between two longer stories, both (in)famous in their own right, which I actually do enjoy ("The Green Death” and “Invasion of the Dinosaurs"). However, those stories are fun in spite of certain elements: one has an appallingly stereotypical set of Welsh stereotypes and an instant romance, while both are at least an episode too long and “boast” some of the most atrocious model effects ever seen in the history of the program. “The Time Warrior” has no such caveats. It’s just a good, taut story from writer Robert Holmes, one of the rare Pertwee four-parters, with a unique and memorable setting. It also happens to feature a small set of ‘firsts’: yes, this is the first story of season 11, and the first story with a new title sequence in four years, but it also sees the introduction of the Sontarans, an alien race the Doctor describes as “nasty, brutish, and short.” Although they’ve only appeared sporadically since - most recently in this current season - the Sontarans have become the war-faring, militant heavies of Doctor Who, never quite reaching the level of Daleks or Cybermen, but still residing in the top five most famous alien threats.

Perhaps more importantly, however, “The Time Warrior” sees the introduction of Elisabeth Sladen as journalist Sarah Jane Smith, who must surely count as the Doctor’s most popular companion ever. Traveling regularly with two Doctors over three and a half years, she has the longest tenure of any female associate, and has headlined not one but two spin-offs (well, one was an attempt). What Sladen has become known for is her character’s easy camaraderie with the Doctor, and especially her wonderful chemistry with fourth Doctor Tom Baker, while elevating the character of Sarah beyond her meagre script of questions and unlucky curiosity into someone...well, that you might actually want to get to know. So it’s a little peculiar to actually see, in “The Time Warrior,” a genuine scripted character: a proper journalist, with journalistic goals, and a pointedly feminist perspective, to boot. It’s a touch on the nose, but it seems right for 1973, and a streak of this tougher characterization would have been very welcome in later stories. Sadly, it is greatly diminished just two stories later, and entirely disappears after Tom Baker’s introduction the following year. Good thing she’s got that new spin-off to show off her journalistic skills...er...leading a Scooby Doo squad of teens.

I jest, of course. I really like The Sarah Jane Adventures and its cast, excepting that noxious ‘Mr. Smith’ K-9 replacement thing. But that’s a subject for another review…

Doctor Who: The Time Warrior is distributed on DVD by 2entertain and BBC Video (through Warner). Famously, this is the last story of the original series to have never been released in its original, episodic form in any territory; as one of the earliest home video releases, “The Time Warrior” has only been available as a compilation “movie format” VHS up to this point. (And here in North America, another handful of Jon Pertwee and Tom Baker titles remain in that situation...for now.) Video quality on the DVD is both consistent and relatively high, since all four parts exist as PAL videotape masters. However, as with all ‘70s television, the image tends to be a little soft, with some colors lookingwashed out, and the 16mm film sequences are unsurprisingly grainy. It’s probably as good as a Pertwee-era story will ever look, though. Audio is available in the original mono, with English subtitles available for both the feature story and all of the video supplements.

The information subtitle track for this release has been compiled by Richard Molesworth, and it’s actually one of his more solid entries. Yes, he still goes on at too much length about shooting locations and dates, but there are also some interesting sections of cut dialogue, as well as observations on the casting of Elisabeth Sladen.

“The Time Warrior“‘s commentary track has been recorded by everyone’s favorite Pertwee mainstays, producer Barry Letts and script editor Terrance Dicks, joined for the first time by actor Elisabeth Sladen. Since Sladen’s character debuts in the story, her casting and early experiences working on Doctor Who form a large portion of the discussion. For her part, she seems to be a bit more at ease than when she appears alongside Tom Baker on a commentary track; I always get the impression that she’s affectionately fretting over her old friend and co-star, trying to make sure he doesn’t say anything too crazy and force his audience to stop adoring him. Freed from such concerns, she just seems happier on this track, and falls into easy conversation with Letts and Dicks.

Beginning the End: Making ‘The Time Warrior (30 mins.) is the expected behind-the-scenes documentary for this release. The beginning is a little goofy, opening abruptly and resembling the title sequence on a show about ancient castles and cathedrals, and the continuing effect of framing archive clips in stone arches and windows is a bit...unfortunate. (Yes, I understand that it’s meant to present 4:3 clips in an anamorphic 16:9 documentary, but it’s still distracting and weird.) However, the overall featurette is actually very enjoyable, covering everything from Jon Pertwee’s announced departure to Elisabeth Sladen’s casting, with a lot of background information on the actual writing and production of the story - and yes, a few anecdotes that are repeated from the commentary. Letts and Dicks carry the bulk of the program, joined by Sladen, guest actors Jeremy Bulloch and Donald Pelmear, and designer Keith Cheetham.

Trails and Continuity (1 min.) features a reconstructed trailer for the Radio Times (Britain’s TV Guide equivalent) cover story that highlighted the start of season 11 and “The Time Warrior,” as well as the continuity announcements that preceded part one and followed part four of the story. These clearly feature DVD-quality images set to rather ropey, fan-recorded, off-air audio. (You can clearly hear a voice go “Yeah!” during the trailer.) Where would we be without fans and their dedication!

CGI Effects are an optional set of new, computer-generated effects you can choose to turn on for the entire, four-part story (the default option is to watch the original, broadcast effects). These have been featured on a number of earlier Who releases, but are often limited to improved laser beam effects and occasional model ships. These are perhaps the most overt yet, including a really showy new opening shot of Linx’s ship falling into Earth’s atmosphere. Personally, I think they’re pretty neat, especially the various new shots for part one; the castle explosion from part four is still a bit weak, but it beats the existing (non-)effect. A neat alternative option for fans who already know “The Time Warrior” back-to-front.

Photo Gallery (9 mins.) is a selection of color and black-and-white production and publicity photographs, often focusing on the Sontaran Linx and the introduction of Sarah Jane, set first to the theme tune and then to various sound effect atmospheres. A small set of pictures toward the end were specially shot for Radio Times. Some of these pictures will be quite familiar to fans, while others have never been publicly seen before.

For fans with DVD-Rom access, the disc features a PDF of the 1974 Doctor Who annual, a hardbound book of stories, fun facts, comics and games for kids. Although dated to 1974, when season 11 was broadcast, this would have been available in the shops for the Christmas shopping season of 1973; therefore, the third Doctor is accompanied in all the stories and comic strips by his last companion, Jo, who departed at the end of season 10. There are also some truly wacky “scientific” articles, including a lovely set of predictions for what kind of Christmas gifts we might receive in 2003. (Well? Did you get your day-trip in orbit around Earth?)

Additionally, a separate PDF contains the Radio Times listings for “The Time Warrior.” A few extra treats have also been included, such as the aforementioned Radio Times cover story for the December 15, 1973 issue, and a large cartoon by artist Frank Bellamy, both of which originally accompanied the listing for part one.

There are also two easter eggs on this disc: one in the usual location (you know where!), the other in a slightly more unusual place. Both are cute but slight, more trivia for newer fans than anything else.

The disc opens with a trailer for Doctor Who: The Complete Third Series on DVD - yes, that trailer. You’d think everyone would have gone ahead and bought the blasted thing by now if they were planning on it.

I like “The Time Warrior” a lot. It’s a great story - easily the best from the second half of Jon Pertwee’s era - and both the companion and villain introduced here have proven so popular as to be brought back, time and again, in both the new series as well as the original. Thankfully, Doctor Who: The Time Warrior also happens to be a solid little DVD; for my money, the first such Pertwee release in terms of both story, video and extras content. This title can be found online for less than $20 and comes easily recommended. If you’re a Doctor Who fan, you owe it to yourself to have this one in your collection. 

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