 As well as being the first story for Season Eleven "The Time Warrior" is notable for many famous firsts: it introduced Elisabeth Sladen in the role of companion Sarah Jane Smith and it introduced the Sontarans.
Barry Letts and Terrance Dicks intended for journalist Sarah Jane Smith to be more independent and modern than previous companion Jo Grant. This was mainly in response to the accusations of sexism often levelled at the show.
The part of Sarah Jane Smith was offered to actress Elisabeth Sladen, who has revealed that she originally assumed that she was merely being considered for a guest spot. Although mainly a stage actress, Elisabeth Sladen had also enjoyed parts in television series such as Coronation Street, Doomwatch and Z Cars. Elisabeth Sladen would go on to be one of the most popular supporting cast members in the show's history.
June Brown, now better known as Dot Cotton in EastEnders, appears as Sir Edward's wife Lady Eleanor.
This story includes the first appearance of several actors who would later reappear in other stories. Kevin Lindsay (who played Linx) appeared as Cho-Je in "Planet of the Spiders" as well as playing two more Sontarans in "The Sontaran Experiment". While David Daker (who played Irongron) returned to the show in "Nightmare of Eden" (playing the part of Captain Rigg). He can also be heard in the Big Finish Productions audio story "Creatures of Beauty").
The original outline for the story was humorously submitted to the production office took the form of a ‘Field report from Sontaran Field Marshal Hol Mes, to Terran Cedicks’ - portions of which were worked into the Target Books novelisation.
Early production documentation accorded this story with the production code ‘VVV’, but it later became ‘UUU’ (with ‘VVV’ not being used at all).
Producer Barry Letts originally hoped to direct this story himself, but he and Script Editor Terrance Dicks were busy preparing the production on a new science-fiction series called Moonbase 3 (which they both planned to leave Doctor Who to make). Instead the role of director, for this story, was offered to Alan Bromly. Alan Bromly had worked as both a director and a producer, on programmes including Compact and Out of the Unknown.
As with the ninth recording block, which saw "Carnival of Monsters" being recorded last and then held over to be shown during Season Ten, it was decided that "The Time Warrior" would also be made at the end of the tenth block and then used to start Season Eleven.
Location shooting for this story to depict both Wessex Castle and Irongron's castle was done at Peckforton Castle, in Cheshire, utilising different views of the location.
Beginning with this story, individual episodes are listed as ‘Part One’, ‘Part Two’ etc. This replaces the previous system of calling them ‘Episode One’, ‘Episode Two’, etc., as established in the 1966 First Doctor story "The Savages".
A new title sequence (for both the opening titles and closing credits) was introduced using a slit-scan ‘time tunnel’ process designed by Bernard Lodge. This story also featured the debut of the distinctive diamond-shaped logo which, like the time tunnel sequence, remained in use until 1980. This version of the logo is arguably the show's most recognised logo.
This story finally revealed the name of The Doctor's home planet as being Gallifrey.
It is revealed that the Sontarans feed on raw energy via an energy exchanger. This energy is obtained through their probic vent (situated at the back of the neck) which is also their weak spot.
The Doctor already has knowledge of the Sontarans and their war against the Rutans. Similarly, Linx has prior knowledge of both Gallifrey and the Time Lords. In fact his opinion of the Time Lords is ‘a race of great technical achievement, but lacking the morale to withstand a determined assault’. This would seem to prefigure the eventual Sontaran invasion of Gallifrey that would occur in the 1978 Fourth Doctor story "The Invasion of Time".
The Sontarans would reappear in the Fourth Doctor stories: "The Sontaran Experiment" and "The Invasion of Time", as well as the 1985 Sixth Doctor story "The Two Doctors" (the Third Doctor's familiarity with the race would be resolved with his second incarnation's encounter with them in that story), and the 2008 Tenth Doctor story "The Sontaran Stratagem/The Poison Sky". They have also appeared in several episodes of The Sarah Jane Adventures; a Jim'll Fix It special, "A Fix with Sontarans"; and spin-off videos, "Shakedown: Return of the Sontarans", "Do You Have a License to Save This Planet?" and the Mindgame trilogy.
Linx is also mentioned in the Virgin Books' The Missing Adventures story "Lords of the Storm" written by David A. McIntee.
Sarah Jane Smith is heard to state that her age is 23. Given later statements in the spin-off show The Sarah Jane Adventures, Sarah Jane Smith was born in 1951, thereby suggesting that this story is set near the time of its original transmission.
Sarah Jane Smith's Aunt Lavinia does not appear in this story. She does though appear in the 1981 spin-off special "K9 and Company: A Girl's Best Friend".
The Brigadier is heard to refer to Jo Grant and the planet Metebelis 3.
In the first episode, The Doctor is seen demonstrating his newly-constructed rhondium sensor as both a practical scientific apparatus and a kind of alarm clock. The Tenth Doctor would later use a redesigned rhondium sensor in the 2009 story "Planet of the Dead".
The events of this story, and the following Sontaran story "The Sontaran Experiment", are referenced in The Sarah Jane Adventures story, "Eye of the Gorgon" and again in the Fifth Doctor Big Finish Productions audio story "Castle of Fear".
Robert Holmes was initially commissioned to write the Target Books novelisation of this story which was released in June 1978. However, he only ended up writing the book's prologue which includes Lynx at war with a group of Rutan fighters. Robert Holmes sent the prologue to Terrance Dicks with a note telling him to finish the rest himself. Robert Holmes was not credited for his contribution.
In this novelisation the Sontaran home planet is named as Sontara and it is also suggested that the Earth had never been surveyed, which would eventually happen in "The Sontaran Experiment".
This story was released on VHS in an omnibus format in March 1989. This release omits a slightly extended scene of Sarah Jane Smith's capture from the beginning of episode two. This release was one of three VHS compilations that were never re-released in episodic form, the other two being the 1969 Second Doctor story "The Seeds of Death" and the 1977 Fourth Doctor story "The Talons of Weng-Chiang".
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The Firsts:
The first story of Season Eleven.
The introduction of new companion Sarah Jane Smith played by Elizabeth Sladen.
The first appearance of the Sontarans.
The first time that The Doctor's home planet is named as 'Gallifrey'.
The first Doctor Who story to be directed by Alan Bromly
The first story to have its individual episodes listed as ‘Part One’, ‘Part Two’ etc.
The first story to feature the distinctive diamond-shaped logo.
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(Position = 53 out of 159)
(Position = 47 out of 200)
