Country of origin United Kingdom No. of episodes 20 (+6 unaired) | No. of stories 5 (+1 unaired) Original network BBC One | |
Starring Tom Baker
Lalla Ward
David Brierley Original release 1 September 1979 (1979-09-01) – 12 January 1980 (1980-01-12) | ||
The seventeenth season of British science fiction television series Doctor Who began on 1 September 1979 with the story Destiny of the Daleks, and ended with The Horns of Nimon.
Contents
Main cast
Tom Baker continued as the Fourth Doctor. Lalla Ward, who played Princess Astra in the season 16 finale The Armageddon Factor, returned to the series as the newly regenerated Romana, replacing Mary Tamm in the role. After John Leeson declined to voice K-9 in this season, David Brierley replaced him in the final three serials (and Shada).
Guest stars
Davros returns in Destiny of the Daleks, this time played by David Gooderson.
Serials
Season 17 was intended to follow the same format as had every season since Season 13, with five 4-part serials and a 6-parter closing the season out. However, the planned final serial of the season, Shada, was affected by an industrial dispute involving the BBC's technicians; while the location filming and the first studio recording session were completed, strike action by staff meant that the planned second studio session had to be cancelled. Although the dispute was resolved and plans were put in place to continue work on the story, it was eventually shelved, as the BBC was concerned that its Christmas productions might be affected. A BBC historian has suggested that by cancelling completely instead of finishing what little was required the management could demonstrate that the strikes had consequences
Broadcast
Part 4 of The Horns of Nimon saw the last appearance of the diamond-shaped logo that had been used since The Time Warrior in 1973.
The entire season was broadcast from 1 September 1979 to 12 January 1980.
DVD Release
All serials of season 17 were released individually between 2005 and 2013.