Battlefield

The Doctor and Ace receive a mysterious distress signal and land in the Earth village of Carbury, where a nuclear convoy has halted.  The Doctor’s concern is heightened when knights from another dimension begin to land in the area.  Nearby is Lake Voortigen, the mythical resting place of Excalibur, King Arthur’s mystical sword.  But the lake holds a more sinister secret, a spaceship from the same alien dimension.  The Doctor’s old friend the Brigadier is sent in to investigate, but the Doctor’s happiness is short-lived.  It seems his friend must take on the might of the deadly Destroyer, a horned demon intent on bringing about the end of the world.

• "Battlefield" marks the beginning of the final season of Doctor Who.

• Returning after a long absence is Brigadier Lethbridge-Stewart (played by Nicholas Courtney) as well as U.N.I.T.  This marks his final appearance in Doctor Who (although he has reprised his role twice on the audio adventures produced by Big Finish).

• This story had many elements to it that gave it a great deal of potential.  The most noteworthy of these is the Doctor/Merlin connection.

• Actress Jean Marsh (Morgaine) made her first of three appearances on Doctor Who as Joanna, sister to Richard the Lionheart in the William Hartnell story "The Crusade."  She would return a year later to play short lived companion Sara Kingdom in "The Daleks' Masterplan."  It would be another 23 years before she would make her final appearance as the evil Morgaine in the McCoy story "Battlefield."

• An accident occurred on the set during filming of the cliffhanger for episode 2.  Sophie Aldred (Ace) was in a plexiglas tank filled with water.  During filming, the tank shattered and water poured onto the studio floor.  Aldred was pulled to safety after Sylvester McCoy (Doctor #7) noticed the tank cracking and called out the warning to the stage hands.  Aldred credits McCoy's intervention with saving her from serious injury.  Some of this footage was still used for the program, and a more complete sequence of the accident is included on the documentary "More Than 30 Years in the TARDIS."

• "Battlefield" was originally conceived as a 3 part story and was planned for the 25th anniversary season the previous year. It was moved back a year and expanded to 4 episodes.

• The Doctor Who Restoration Team did extensive work on this video release by inserting 5 minutes of missing footage edited out of the original transmitted version.