Guest: Artist Jerry Lange joins John and Jim to discuss Season 26's explosive premiere. Six Years Later: A Familiar Face in Uniform The Doctor intercepts a distress call from Earth and arrives to find military forces mobilizing around a lake in rural England. But the soldiers he encounters aren't the ragtag UNIT troops from decades past—they answer to a new Brigadier, Winifred Bambara, sharp and decisive in ways that immediately challenge the Doctor's expectations. Before he can fully process this changing of the guard, a figure from his past arrives by helicopter. Nicholas Courtney returns as Brigadier Alistair Lethbridge Stewart, and the moment he steps onto screen represents the kind of callback that reminds longtime viewers why they fell in love with this show in the first place. The Return of a Beloved Character Done Right This is Courtney's first appearance since 1983—a full six years away. Yet the script wastes no time exploring what retirement has meant for the man who spent so many years at the Doctor's side. Unlike a simple cameo or a "let me check in and leave" scenario, the Brigadier finds himself back in harness, commanding troops, coordinating military responses, and rolling with alien invasions as if no time has passed at all. The character hasn't softened with age; if anything, he's evolved into someone who finally understands what he's really dealing with and accepts it without question. This is prime Brigadier material. Medieval Knights, Ancient Swords, and a Very Complicated Woman The story introduces knights in armor who've landed on Earth, along with ancient artifacts and a mysterious woman who speaks through a crystal ball—someone claiming to be Morgaine, reaching across dimensions to reclaim what's hers. The central mystery involves Excalibur, a comatose figure who might be King Arthur, and the question of whether the Doctor himself might be Merlin. How does one character bridge ancient legend and the Doctor's own timeline? And what does it mean when the Doctor suggests he might already be Merlin, but just doesn't know it yet? A Crowded Stage: When Too Many Characters Complicate the Story With Bambera, Ancelyn, Shou Yung, the helicopter pilot, the archaeologist Warmsley, and others, the screen fills quickly. Some find this ensemble approach refreshing; others feel it dilutes the focus that Morgaine and the central conflict deserve. The new Brigadier especially becomes a point of discussion—is she a necessary counterpoint to Alistair's established authority, or does her anger and youth undercut the gravitas the role traditionally carries? And then there's the question of whether every character served the Arthurian elements or whether some existed primarily because the production wanted to demonstrate diversity of casting. Jean Marsh as Morgaine: A Villain for the Ages Yet if there's one element that commands universal appreciation, it's Jean Marsh's performance as Morgaine. She commands every scene she inhabits, wielding hand gestures, vocal inflection, and costume to create a presence that feels genuinely menacing. This is her return to Doctor Who after playing Sarah Kingdom decades earlier, and she uses the opportunity to sketch out one of classic Who's most memorable antagonists. Comparisons to Helen Mirren's Morgaine in Excalibur are inevitable—and some viewers find Marsh's interpretation equally compelling, if not superior. The Mystery of Merlin and the Doctor's Unexplained Powers Part of what makes this story intriguing is its central enigma: Is the Doctor Merlin? The story suggests he might be, but offers no clear answer. Instead, it proposes something stranger—that the Doctor might become Merlin at some point in his past, or that he already was without knowing it yet. This plays directly into the Cartmell Master Plan's fascination with the Doctor's origins and timeline. Yet the story also introduces psychic powers the Doctor exercises—mind tricks that feel Force-like in execution but are never explained or integrated into established Time Lord abilities. Where do these abilities come from, and why does the Doctor never use them again? Bessie Makes an Unexpected Entrance In one of the story's most delightful moments, the Doctor's old car Bessie emerges to save the day. It's a callback that lands harder than the story initially suggests it might, proof that even in a tale of knights and swords and alternate dimensions, there's room for the kind of continuity nods that make longtime fans smile. A Production That Nearly Caused a Tragedy Behind the scenes, Sophie Aldred found herself in genuine danger during the water tank sequence. The glass chamber—not built to withstand pressure—began to crack and bulge as water filled it. Loose electrical wiring posed an immediate electrocution risk. It took McCoy's quick thinking and frantic shouting to get her out before disaster struck. It's the kind of production hazard that modern safety standards would never permit, and it remains a sobering reminder of how close the show came to losing an actress. A Story Ben Aaronovitch Wasn't Happy With Remarkably, despite writing one of the strongest stories of Season 25 (Remembrance of the Daleks), writer Ben Aaronovitch objected to several elements of this one. The Brigadier's return, he felt, was a mistake—a sentiment that J&T, Cartmell, and Courtney himself overruled. He disliked the music, the nuclear weapons speech that Cartmell added for the Doctor, and believed the knights should have looked more futuristic rather than traditionally medieval. The Merlin Question and Time Travel Paradox The intriguing aspect of the Doctor-as-Merlin possibility is that it plays with time in ways the show doesn't always explore. If the Doctor becomes Merlin in his past, but that past hasn't happened yet, what does that mean for causality? The story leaves this deliberately unresolved, suggesting that some mysteries are more interesting unanswered—a bold choice for a four-part story with finite screen time. Production Details: Production Code: 7N Aired: September 6–27, 1989 Writer: Ben Aaronovitch | Director: Michael Kerrigan Originally pitched as: "Storm of Avalon" (Season 25, rejected due to Silver Nemesis covering similar ground) Key Return: Nicholas Courtney as Brigadier Alistair Lethbridge Stewart (first appearance since 1983) Guest Cast: Jean Marsh (Morgaine), Angela Bruce (Brigadier Bambera), Marcus Gilbert (Ancelyn) Notable: Last TARDIS interior appearance in classic Who; Courtney voted best actor of this season by Doctor Who Magazine Ratings: 3.1, 3.9, 3.6, 4.0 (opening episode 3.1 is lowest in classic history) Key Discussion Points: The Brigadier's evolution from skeptic to fully-operational military commander Jean Marsh's transformation from Sarah Kingdom to Morgaine The Cartmell Master Plan's continued exploration of the Doctor's past Morgaine's arrival from an alternate dimension and her connection to Arthur The Doctor's unexplained psychic abilities and their absence from later stories Whether the cast is too large and whether certain characters serve the narrative Ancelyn's connection to Lancelot (possible anagram?) The Bessie callback and its emotional resonance Bambera as counterpoint to Alistair: innovation vs. tradition The balance between Arthurian legend and Doctor Who mythology Coming Up Next: Monday (Patreon 177): Music, Memory TARDIS, comics "Time Flight," "Doctor Conqueror," and "Fellow Travelers" (Sarah Jane returns to comics; Ace introduced) Friday (Patreon Early) / Wednesday (Main Feed): "Ghostlight" (three-parter with guest Felicity Kusinitz from Flop Cast)—a story many fans have strong opinions about Hashtags: #DoctorWho #Season26 #Battlefield #ClassicWho #NicholasCourtney #JeanMarsh #SylvesterMcCoy #BrigadierLethbridgeStewart #ArthurinaLegend #Merlin #DoctorWhoPodcast
