At the end of The War Games, the Second Doctor is captured and put on trial by the Time Lords. He is forced to regenerate and sentenced to exile on Earth. However, later the Sixth Doctor is captured by the Time Lords and put on trial again for continual interference in the affairs of other lifeforms. The prosecutor in his trial is the Valeyard, who is an evil future incarnation of the Doctor himself – this is one of the darkest twists in the history of Doctor Who! In real life, Doctor Who had been put on an 18-month hiatus after narrowly escaping cancellation by Michael Grade in 1985. When Doctor Who returned in 1986 with the season-long epic story The Trial of a Time Lord, the programme was on trial in more ways than one… Like the Valeyard, I studied law at university and I hold an LLB in Scots and English law from Aberdeen University and an LLM in Public Law from Bristol University. I embarked on the LPC MSc at the University of Law, London Moorgate. However, it was there that I decided that a career in commercial law was not for me, given that (rather unfairly) the Magic Circle London law firms prefer privately educated Russell Group university undergraduates regardless of whether they studied law or not. This was the path I had regrettably been sent down by my old private school, which encouraged me to study law at university and head to the Magic Circle London law firms in the first place. My legal career ambitions spanned the length of Game of Thrones (2011-2019). With hindsight, I think it was a mistake to continue studying law beyond Aberdeen, I should have given up law and moved to Cardiff straight after I graduated. Alternatively, I should have studied screenwriting at Manchester University for my masters degree, met Chris Chibnall early (because he lectured on the course) and then moved to Cardiff afterwards. I never want to go back into higher education again. Colin Baker worked as a clerk in a solicitor’s office for his father before he became an actor. The criminal justice system in the UK and the USA needs to be reformed and the legal profession is too dominated by privately educated people, so private education should be abolished.
The Trial of a Time Lord: The Mysterious Planet
★★★☆☆
TX: 06/09/1986 – 27/09/1986
Written by Robert Holmes Directed by Nicholas Mallett
The Doctor is put on trial by the Time Lords for his continual interference in the affairs of other life forms. The court prosecutor, the Valeyard presents evidence from the Doctor’s recent past. The Sixth Doctor and Peri arrive on the planet Ravolox, where they discover a Marble Arch Underground tube station sign. Peri deduces that Ravolox is really Earth in the far future. Her theory is proved right after the pair enter some underground tunnels and discover a civilisation that lives in fear of the Immortal. The Immortal is really an L3 Robot called Drathro, who depends on Black Light to function. The Black Light receiver is used as a totem pole in a nearby primitive village, run by Katryca the Queen of the Free. An intergalactic con man called Sabalom Glitz and his business partner Dibber try to shoot the Doctor. Dibber destroys the receiver, which cuts of the supply of Black Light to Drathro. Drathro instructs the Doctor to build his own supply of Black Light. Queen Katryca and the other primitives mount an attack on the underground dwellings. Glitz and Dibber are searching for Time Lord secrets from the Matrix on Gallifrey, which Drathro gives to them in exchange for an escape from the planet. Drathro’s Black Light convertor overloads, which destroys him and his base. The Doctor, Peri and the other survivors escape to the surface. It is later revealed in The Trial of a Time Lord: The Ultimate Foe that the Earth was dragged across space by the Time Lords which created a solar fireball that destroyed all life on the surface of the Earth, forcing the survivors to live underground. The Time Lords did this to prevent Gallifreyan secrets on Earth from being found by a robot recovery mission from Andromeda.
The Trial of a Time Lord: Mindwarp
★★★★☆
TX: 04/10/1986 – 25/10/1986
Written by Philip Martin Directed by Ron Jones
As part of the evidence against him in his trial by the Time Lords, the Doctor is shown his most recent adventure before being taken to the courtroom. The Sixth Doctor and Peri arrive on the planet Thoros Beta where the natives are being experimented on by a scientist called Crozier. Crozier has been instructed to find a new body for the Lord Kiv, the leader of the slug-like Mentors. Events take a turn for the worst when the Doctor and Peri’s old enemy, Sil – another Mentor, arrives on the planet. The Doctor is experimented on and in the process his mind is negatively affected. Peri teams up with the warlord King Yrcanos and attempts to rescue the Doctor. However, the Doctor in his weakened mental state is now assisting Crozier and the Mentors. Peri is ultimately captured and her body is designated as the new host for Lord Kiv. Crozier performs the operation, transferring Kiv’s mind into Peri’s body, apparently killing her in the process. The Doctor, who has recovered his mental health, rushes to rescue Peri, but he is taken out of time by the Time Lords and brought to his court trial. Yrcanos enters the laboratory and discovers Kiv has taken over Peri’s body. Enraged, Yrcanos kills everyone in the room. Back at the trial, the court prosecutor, the Valeyard contends that the Doctor was responsible for Peri’s death due to his actions. However, the Doctor suggests that he was taken out of time for another reason, and that he has every intention of finding out what it is.
The Trial of a Time Lord: Terror of the Vervoids
★★☆☆☆
TX: 01/11/1986 – 22/11/1986
Written by Pip and Jane Baker Directed by Chris Clough
The Sixth Doctor presents evidence from his own future as part of his defence in his trial by the Time Lords. The Doctor attests that his behaviour improves in the future. In the evidence presented, the Doctor and his future companion Mel respond to a MayDay call by the intergalactic liner Hyperion III. Onboard are a group of Vervoids, genetically grown humanoid plants created by Professor Lasky and her team. The Vervoids escape and begin killing the crew and passengers of the ship one by one and putting their corpses on a compost heap. Events take a turn for the worse when the ship is hijacked, first by Lasky’s terrified assistant Bruchner and later by a couple of rogue Mogarians and Rudge. The Doctor discovers that the element vionesium, which is onboard, has properties similar to Magnesium and that when exposed to oxygenated air it produces incredibly intense light and carbon dioxide, which can be used to defeat the Vervoids. The Doctor and Mel destroy all the Vervoids using the vionesium, however this leaves the Doctor open to the charge of genocide back at his trial.
The Trial of a Time Lord: The Ultimate Foe
★★☆☆☆
TX: 29/11/1986 – 06/12/1986
Written by Robert Holmes and Pip & Jane Baker Directed by Chris Clough
The Sixth Doctor stands accused of genocide in court by the Time Lords. Two friends of the Doctor, Mel and Sabalom Glitz are summoned to the trial secretly by the Master. The Master tells the Doctor that the Time Lords sacrificed the Earth in the future by dragging it across space where it became known as Ravolox, in order to protect stolen Gallifreyan secrets hidden on Earth from being recovered by Andromeda. The Master also reveals that he has conspired with the Doctor’s prosecutor, the Valeyard whom the Master reveals to be an evil potential future incarnation of the Doctor himself! The Valeyard flees into the Matrix and the Doctor pursues him. The Valeyard sets many traps for the Doctor in the nightmare world of the Matrix. Glitz and Mel follow the Doctor into the Matrix. Glitz has been doing a dodgy deal with the Master. The Doctor and Mel confront the Valeyard for the final time. They realise that a concealed machine in the room is a particle disseminator, with which the Valeyard plans to murder the members of the court. The Inquisitor learns the High Council has been deposed. The Master appears on the Matrix screen to offer to impose order in return for power. He loads Glitz’s master tape into his TARDIS systems, but a booby-trap is triggered, paralysing him and Glitz. Mel emerges from the Matrix to warn the Time Lords. They cannot turn off the Matrix screen, but the Doctor sabotages the Valeyard’s weapon and the Fantasy Factory explodes. The Doctor flees the Matrix, back to the courtroom. Back at the courtroom, the Inquisitor reveals to the Doctor that all charges against him have been dismissed and that his companion Peri survived the events of Thoros-Beta and is now alive and happily married to King Yrcanos. The Doctor suggests that the Inquisitor should run to be the President of Gallifrey, before departing with Mel, who has decided to put the Doctor on a diet.
Chris Olsen's TARDIS 