Dimensions in Time ( TV story ) Dimensions in Time was a two - part story broadcast in 1993 as a part of that year ' s Children in Need appeal . It featured Kate O ' Mara ' s last televised performance as the Rani . It was the first two - part serial since " Revelation of the Daleks " in 1985 and the last until " The End of Time " in 2010 . It was a nominal " celebration " of the thirtieth anniversary of " Doctor Who " , made primarily due to the cancellation of the BBC ' s original idea for a thirtieth anniversary story , " The Dark Dimension " . Since the BBC had already obtained , at least in principle , agreement from most of the ex - Doctors to do some sort of anniversary programme , they went ahead with a charity sketch . ( DOC : " The Seven Year Hitch " ) " Dimensions " raised over £101 , 000 for Children in Need according to presenter , Noel Edmonds . A major narrative feature of the piece was that it featured a crossover between the " EastEnders " and " Doctor Who " universes ; that is , the characters were narratively implied to be a part of the " same " universe . As the years have gone by , this narrative choice has caused the piece to be disregarded by many fans . Largely ignored by both " Doctor Who " and " EastEnders " writers , " Dimensions " became widely irrelevant to both series . However , there have been several prose stories in the DWU which have referenced " Dimensions " . Steven Moffat ' s " Doctor Who " National Television Awards Sketch is the only televised narrative to come close to acknowledging the story , implying that had met the Doctor before . " Dimensions " was a milestone production in many ways . It was the first and only time that John Nathan - Turner received a writing credit on a televised story , and it attracted the biggest audience of anything he had produced . It was also the final BBC1 appearance for most of the " Doctor Who " characters involved , the first time in " Doctor Who " history that 3D technology had been used in the recording and broadcast of a television story and the first time that the televised audience were able to affect the outcome of a " Doctor Who " story by telephone vote . In an article recapping the experiences with filming on set , Sophie Aldred recounted the rushed environment but otherwise noted that it still felt like " Doctor Who " ; going as far as to lement that the story was not the start to a new season . ( " Doctor Who Yearbook 1995 " ) However , many were not satisfied with the story , especially under the context of a celebration of 30 years of the program . Stephen J . Walker , David J . Howe and Mark Stammers gave it a 0 / 10 and called it " a dreadful travesty of a " Doctor Who " story " . ( REF : " The Second Doctor Handbook " ) Many concluded that the story was one of the many " oddities " which was not within the main " canon " of " Doctor Who " stories . In response to this , many of those involved began to attempt to justify the special . In his contemporary " post mortem " in " Doctor Who Magazine " , Nick Briggs said that in his opinion , " . . . this was not " Doctor Who " , just a charity get - together for a very good cause . " ( DWM 209 ) Nathan - Turner , 4 years later , directly attacked those that took the stories production so personally ; mocking the supposed " need " for him to justify the story ' s validity , alongside the concept of the supposed " " Doctor Who " mythos . " ( DWM 249 ) Publisher ' s summary . The Rani traps the Doctor in Albert Square . Plot . Part one . The Rani has captured the First and Second Doctor s as part of her plan to assemble a menagerie of all sentient life - forms from throughout space and time , hoping to use them to gain control of all individual minds in the universe . She requires only one more specimen , a human from Earth . Knowing that the Doctor will act to stop her , she creates a temporal trap to ensnare the Doctor in all his incarnations . While the Fourth Doctor attempts to send a warning to his previous and future incarnations , alerting them to her threat , the renegade Time Lord of the Rani seizes control of the Doctor ' s TARDIS , knocking it off course . The Seventh Doctor and Ace , en route to China , find themselves instead materialising in Cutty Sark Gardens in 1973 . As they walk , Ace is shocked to see the Doctor turn into his sixth incarnation . He explains they must have encountered a " groove " in time . Continuing their search , Ace finds a clothing stand and is offered a discount by its owner , much to the annoyance of his wife . The Doctor is shocked to discover that they have moved to 1993 . Suddenly , Ace is replaced by Mel and the Sixth Doctor becomes the Third . The Doctor explains to Mel that someone has been going through his timeline , pulling out early versions of himself and his companions . He meets two old shop owners who are selling what he sees as over - priced fruit . The Doctor learns that the year is 2013 just before he jumps in time again . They find themselves jumping time track s between the years 1973 , 1993 and 2013 , in an area within a few miles of Albert Square in London ' s East End . The Doctor is also changing back and forth between his Third , Fifth Sixth and Seventh incarnations , while Ace keeps turning into past companion s . Worse , the Rani has released her menagerie — including an Aldeberian , an Argolin , a biomechanoid , a Cyberman , a Stigorax , a Mentor , an Ogron , a Sandminer robot , a Sea Devil , a Tetrap , a Time Lord , a Tractator , a Vanir and a Vervoid — to attack the Doctors and their companions . The Rani tells the Doctors that they ' re all going on a journey — a very long journey ! Part two . The Rani is confronted by the Fifth Doctor , who psychically summons the Third Doctor to take his place . Liz attempts to disarm her , but flees when the Time Lady is distracted by a young woman . The Third Doctor is fortuitously rescued by Bessie , being driven by Mike Yates , who shoots the Rani ' s gun out of her hand and takes the Third Doctor to a helicopter , where he meets the Brigadier . After turning into the Sixth Doctor , he departs to find his companions . The Rani , now in her TARDIS , proclaims she only needs one more human to complete her menagerie , and sets a course for the Greenwich Meridian . Discovered by a pair of men , Romana II leaves her hiding place to find the Doctor , but is instead dragged into the Queen Vic pub . The Third Doctor makes it to the TARDIS with Victoria , and , emerging from the TARDIS in his seventh incarnation , sees the Rani ' s TARDIS materialising and witnesses Leela escaping from it . Leela tells him about the Rani ' s menagerie of clones , and he explains how the Rani is attempting to transfer a massive Time Tunnel to the Greenwich Meridian . Realising that the Rani is attempting to gain control of evolution , he asks Ace , now in the form of Leela , what form she was in when the Rani cloned her , and realises that , given the fact that the Rani cloned Romana , there are now two time brain s in the Rani ' s computer . The Seventh Doctor sets out to override the Rani ' s computer , and harness the power of the Time Tunnel to pull in the Rani ' s TARDIS instead of him . He uses his psychic powers to join with his earlier incarnations , then uses a converter linked to the dual time brains in the Rani ' s computers to propel her TARDIS into her own trap , with his first and second incarnations emerging from the time tunnel . Having freed himself , his past incarnations and all their companions , the Doctor and Ace depart . Notes . Deleted scenes . There were multiple deleted scenes : Production errors . " to be added "