Season 18

**Season 18** of *Doctor Who* ran between 30 August 1980 and 31 January 1981. It starred Tom Baker as the Fourth Doctor, Lalla Ward as Romana II and David Brierley as K9 Mark II. The season opened with *The Castle of Doom* and concluded with *Sealed Orders*.

## Overview

### The End of An Era...?

At the end of Season 17, both Graham Williams and Douglas Adams announced their intentions to step down from *Doctor Who*. Whilst Adams was replaced fairly quickly by Christopher H. Bidmead, who had been suggested for the position by former writer Robert Banks Stewart, Williams' replacement was less certain. Initially, production unit manager George Gallaccio had been asked, but he declined. However, with nobody else wanting to take up the role, Gallaccio relented on his former decision with some coaxing from Williams. Gallaccio's intentions were to combine the wit of the Williams era with the darkness of the Hinchcliffe era to try and strike a perfect balance. This was combined with Bidmead's intentions to try and bring the show back to basics and make it more scientifically minded, with the two striking a somewhat uneasy agreement to allow some more fantasy-esque stories to balance out the scientific ones.

Alongside this, both Lalla Ward and David Brierley announced that they were stepping down from their roles as Romana and K9.

### Bye Bye Baker?

Many news outlets reported that Tom Baker would step down from his role as the Fourth Doctor at the end of the series. However, Baker himself denied these claims, stating that despite his ill health, he intended to stay on for just one more season.

## Cast

#### Main

* Doctor Who - Tom Baker
* Romana II - Lalla Ward
* K9 (voice) - David Brierley

#### Recurring

* Halvak - Geoffrey Beevers
* Spandrell - George Pravda
* Andred - Christopher Tranchell
* Borusa - Leonard Sachs

#### Guest

* Niersicht - Ian Hendry
* Vexell - Peter Hawkins
* Anding - Julian Holloway
* Shersova - Kate O'Mara
* Lady Francisca - Sabina Franklyn
* Personnel - Robin Sherringham, James Muir
* Personnel, Anepco's henchman - Robert Goodman
* The Captain, trooper - Roy Skelton
* General Grugger - Bill Fraser
* Lieutenant Brotadac - Frederick Treves
* Zastor - Edward Underdown
* Lexa - Ann Davies
* Caris - Colette Gleeson
* Deedrix - Crawford Logan
* Earthling - Christopher Owen
* Tigellan Guard - Simon Shaw
* Aukon - Emrys James
* Camilla - Rachel Davies
* Zargo - William Lindsay
* Ivo - Clinton Greyn
* Marta - Rhoda Lewis
* Tarak - Thane Bettany
* Habris - Iain Rattray
* Kalmar - Arthur Hewlett
* Veros - Stacy Davies
* Karl - Dean Allen
* Roga, Anepco's henchman, trooper - Stuart Fell
* Zoldaz - Stuart Blake
* Orina - Sarah Sutton
* Hadale - Gareth Thomas
* Anepco - William Dysart
* Uldermann - Cyril Shaps
* Pontifex Rinolde - Rob Edwards
* Anepco's henchmen - Richard Seager, David Korff, Pat Gorman
* Overseer Slathri - Garfield Morgan
* Levish - Tutte Lemkow
* Kandiri - Jane Asher
* Hadran - Walter Henry
* Smolesk - Peter Bowles
* Landi - Zienia Merton
* Santis - Hugh Walters
* Captain Torek - Roy Boyd
* Lieutenant Nayrol - Anthony Andrews
* Lieutenant Tela - Ronald Pickup
* Troopers - Michael Harley, Stan McGowan
* Kandin - Simon Cadell
* Solinne - Barbara Shelley
* Sandrigan - David Warner

## Adaptations and Merchandising

### Home Media

#### VHS

* *The Castle of Doom*
* *Meglos*

#### DVD

* A box set named *Farewell Romana*, containing *State of Decay*, *Dragons of Fear* and *Sealed Orders* was released in 2006.
* *Into the Comet* was put on DVD in 2008.
* *The Castle of Doom* was released on DVD in 2008.
* *State of Decay* was released a few months later in 2008.
* *Dragons of Fear* was released in 2007.
* *Meglos* was released in 2011.
* *Sealed Orders* was released in 2011.

#### CD

* A release of *The Castle of Doom*'s music was released in 2002.
* *Meglos* and *Into the Comet* were released on CD in 2002 as a pack.
* A CD, containing the soundtrack on *Into the Comet* was released in 2003.

#### Blu-Ray

* Season 18 was upscaled in 1080i50 high definition and were released as *Doctor Who: The Collection - Season 18* in the UK in 2018, and later in the USA under the name *Doctor Who: Tom Baker - Complete Season Seven*.

### Novels

* *Doctor Who and the Castle of Doom*
* *Meglos*
* *Doctor Who and the State of Decay*
* *Doctor Who and the Dragons of Fear*
* *Into the Comet*
* *Doctor Who and the Sealed Orders*