Feb 6, 2009
Warriors' Gate is a serial in the British science fiction television series Doctor Who, which was first broadcast in four weekly parts from January 3 to January 24, 1981. The serial is the last of three loosely connected serials known as the E-Space trilogy and the last to feature Romana and K-9 as companions.
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[edit] Plot
[edit] Synopsis
At a null point in space and time on the interface between our universe (n-space) and E-space (exo-space), a slaver cargo vessel becomes trapped. It manoeuvres the timelines using members of the leonine Tharil race as navigators – and they too are the cargo of the grim vessel, held in cryogenic storage in its hold. A Tharil named Biroc flees the craft on the time winds, leaving it moored and trapped, and ventures to the TARDIS, which has also become trapped in a time rift in this strange dimension. The creature manifests itself in the TARDIS console room and imparts to the occupants the warning that he is a shadow of his own past -- and of their future; and that the others that are following him should not be trusted. The Tharil then disappears, with the Doctor in pursuit. Romana, and Adric are left worried about K-9, whose memory wafers have been shredded by the time winds.
The commander of the slave ship, Rorvik, is increasingly angry about their entrapment in the void and the general apathy of his crew toward their condition. When the ship picks up another object in the void, he and two of his crew members use a portable mass detector to track down the TARDIS. Romana steps outside to confront them and is persuaded to return to their ship with them to examine the damaged warp drive of their ship. Rorvik has, however, worked out she may be a time sensitive like the Tharils and is interested in her for potential profit. Adric and K9 both venture separately into the void in her pursuit.
The Doctor has meanwhile reached a vast stone archway in the void, containing an abandoned banqueting hall, decaying skeletons and partially functioning robot knights known as Gundans. They were built by slaves as part of a revolt against a previous tyranny that ended in a massacre at the feast in the same hall. The slavers used the time winds to descend on worlds and enslave the populations. K9 arrives at the Gateway too and begins to help the Doctor repair the Gundan, which has worn itself out. However, before they can obtain any more information Rorvik arrives with some of his crew and seizes control at the point of a gun. Romana has been taken back to the slaver ship for use as a navigator, while Rorvik has used the portable mass detector to isolate the Gateway. He becomes angry when a Gundan comes to life and walks out of the room straight through a solid mirror, and challenges the Doctor to explain the situation. His response is to walk through the mirror: a step the human slavers behind him cannot take.
Back on the slave ship, a Tharil called Lazlo, who had been left for dead by the slavers when his revivification process seemingly failed, frees Romana from certain death in the navigator’s chair. She hides in the hull of the ship and there finds Adric, and together they work out the slave ship is made of the incredibly dense dwarf star alloy, the remnants of a collapsed star. This heavy metal is the only thing that can hold the Tharils trapped in a single timeline. When they meet K9, the badly damaged robot informs them of dimensional instability and the imminent collapse of the void, which is contracting upon itself. The sheer weight of the slave ship is damaging the delicate balance holding the dimension together. Romana is shortly afterward separated from Adric and K9 and reunited with Lazlo, who takes her through the mirrors too.
Beyond the mirror the Doctor has found Biroc, who explains he was able to pass through because his hand was caught in the time winds. They enter an elegant mansion, seemingly frozen in time, where the Tharil explains that his people were the notorious slavers of the Gateway whose rule was overthrown by the use of the Gundans. As the sorry tale of the decay of their society is retold, the Doctor is reunited with Romana but in a bizarre twist they are returned to the reality of the decaying Gateway in the void once the Tharils’ story has been told – and once more find themselves prisoners of Rorvik.
Based on the reports of the shrinking of the Gateway, the Doctor deduces that the slave ship is indeed the cause of the problems and – more worryingly – there is not much time before the Gateway retracts into nothing. Adric has meanwhile hidden himself inside the MZ, a vast portable cannon which the slavers are going to use on the Gateway and the mirrors in an effort to escape the void. When the weapon reaches the Gateway he uses it to free the Doctor and Romana, and the time travellers flee into the void. When the slavers set out in pursuit they find their ship has moved much closer to the gateway – proof positive that the dimension is shrinking and therefore doomed. In frustration Rorvik fires the MZ at the mirrors, but succeeds only in destroying the weapon. The crazed and infuriated slaver now decides to use his ship’s engines to back-blast through the mirrors and escape the void. It is a foolish move: the backblast from the mirrors engulfs and destroys the ship and all its crew.
The Tharil slaves have, however, been freed by Lazlo and Romana, who has formed an empathy with the race. She elects to voyage through the Gateway with them and help the Tharils. The Doctor gives her K9, who will be restored beyond the Gateway, though he can never return. After they depart, the Doctor uses the knowledge he has gained from the Tharils to successfully pilot the TARDIS through the Gateway and back into N-Space.
[edit] Continuity
This serial comprises the third and final leg of an extended adventure generally known as the "The E-Space Trilogy"; the trilogy began in Full Circle, and continued in State of Decay.
The multi-coloured scarf can be seen on the hatstand.
[edit] Departures
This story was the last story to feature Lalla Ward as Romana. Two months after her departure, Ward went on to marry her co-star Tom Baker in 1981, but the marriage lasted less than two years. Ward is one of two former companions to ever be married to an actor who played the Doctor. The other was Jean Marsh, who played the First Doctor's companion, Sara Kingdom, was married to Jon Pertwee, although the marriage occurred prior to Pertwee landing the role of the Third Doctor.
Ward was seen again as Romana on television in The Five Doctors (1983) (via footage of her and Tom Baker from the unaired story of Shada (1980)) and reprised her role in the Children in Need charity special Dimensions in Time (1993). She continues to participate in the world of Doctor Who by attending conventions, recording audio commentary on DVD releases, performing in several Big Finish audio dramas and by appearing in the BBC's online drama webcasts.
This story was also the last television story of the classic series to feature the character of K-9 Mk. II, played by John Leeson. Leeson, who left the series at the end of Season 16, returned for Season 18 on the understanding that K-9 would be written out toward the end of the season.[citation needed]
The character of K-9 (Mk. III and Mk. IV), voiced again by John Leeson would return in the 1981 spin-off episode, K9 & Company, the 1983 anniversary special, The Five Doctors and the 2006 episode "School Reunion". He would later pop up twice in the first series of spin-off The Sarah Jane Adventures. He also appears in the Series Four Finale, Journey's End.
Romana and K-9's journey in E-space is continued in two BBV audio plays.
[edit] Production
| Episode | Broadcast date | Run time | Viewership (in millions) |
|---|---|---|---|
| "Part One" | 3 January 1981 | 22:54 | 7.1 |
| "Part Two" | 10 January 1981 | 23:47 | 6.7 |
| "Part Three" | 17 January 1981 | 22:15 | 8.3 |
| "Part Four" | 24 January 1981 | 24:53 | 7.8 |
| [1][2][3] | |||
Working titles for this story included Dream Time.
| Doctor Who book | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| Doctor Who and Warriors' Gate | |
| Series | Target novelisations |
| Release number | 71 |
| Writer | Stephen Gallagher |
| Publisher | Target Books |
| Cover artist | Andrew Skilleter |
| ISBN | 0 426 20146 9 |
| Release date | 15 April 1982 |
| Preceded by | Doctor Who and the State of Decay |
| Followed by | Doctor Who and the Keeper of Traken |
Commercial releases
- This story was released on VHS in October 1997.
- A DVD commentary has been recorded with actors Lalla Ward and John Leeson Script Editor Christopher H. Bidmead Visual Effects Designer Mat Irvine and Director Paul Joyce and was released on January 26th 2009 in a box set with Full Circle & State of Decay.
In print
A novelisation of this serial, written by Stephen Gallagher under the pseudonym "John Lydecker", was published by Target Books in April 1982.