Season 33

**22 episodes, comprising of 8 serials, starting with *Theatre of War***

**Season 33** of *Doctor Who* ran between 6 July 1996 and 30 November 1996. It starred Paul McGann as The Doctor, Julia Ormond as Jean Marie and Lisa Bowerman as Bernice Summerfield. The season opened with *Theatre of War* and ended with *Revenge of the Daleks*.

## Overview

This season consisted of eight stories and twenty-two twenty-five minute long episodes. For the new producer to take care of *Doctor Who*, Louis Marks was hired. After two very inexperienced producers, BBC ultimately decided to take the show more seriously once it started getting popular again, and had Marks helm the show. Not only was he very experienced in producing, but he did have a history with the show writing *Planet of Giants, Day of the Daleks, Planet of Evil,* and *The Masque of Mandragora.* So with those two major positives, Marks joined the *Doctor Who* production team along with Kate Orman in her second year as script editor. Marks favored the darker tone of the previous season, and ultimately pursued that for his reign on the show, which Orman was very excited about. For the first serial there is Justin Richards' *Theatre of War,* which utilized a character that was thought to be long forgotten. Marks wanted to include another companion this season, as he disliked the idea of The Doctor only having one female companion as he found it "archaic". So, Marks urged Richards to include a "companion character" for his story. Richards ultimately settled on a character that Paul Cornell created, Bernice Summerfield, an archaeologist from the 26th century. She was set to be introduced in an early draft of *Revelation* when Susannah Harker's contract was up, but she ultimately decided to sign on for another season. Cornell gave Richards his blessing and utilized the character. In the story, The Doctor and Jean are involved with interplanetary war, William Shakespeare, and an amphitheater on the planet Menaxus. Here, they meet Bernice who is doing research on the Braxiatel Collection. Then, there is *All-Consuming Fire,* an adventure with Sherlock Holmes in 1887, and *Blood Harvest*, featuring the return of Romana and The Great Vampires. Then there is *The Day I Lived*, which features an origin story for Sierra, (who left last season) and how she became an undercover agent, meeting The Doctor before she met The Doctor. Next is a sequel story for *The Keys of Marinus* entitled *The Ghosts of Marinus* involving a distress beacon for The Doctor. Then, we have *Damaged Goods,* taking place in the slums on a fateful Christmas Eve with a dark history and a strange being called an N-Form. Then, *Blink*, which introduces famed modern villain, The Weeping Angels. Finally, there is *Revenge of the Daleks*, involving The Renegade Daleks and The Imperial Daleks joining forces to stop the Doctor, and it may involve a companion getting caught in the crossfire.

## Cast

* Paul McGann as The Doctor
* Julia Ormond as Jean Marie
* Lisa Bowerman as Bernice Summerfield

### Recurring

* Claire King as Sierra

## Guest

* Camilla Power as Sally Sparrow
* Peter Ferdinando as Larry Nightingale

## Home Media

### VHS Releases

* *Theatre of War (2000)*
* *All-Consuming Fire* (2000)
* *Blood Harvest* (2001)
* *The Day I Lived*/*The Ghosts of Marinus* (1999)
* *Damaged Goods* (1999)
* *Blink* (2001)
* *Revenge of the Daleks* (1999)

## Footnotes

1. ↑ This was bundled with Season 34 story, *The Time Storm*