Doctor Who: Season 15
This season introduced K9 to the series and saw the departure of Leela. It was originally intended to include Terrance Dicks' story The Vampire Mutations but, due to a major BBC production of Dracula, it was postponed. It later became Season 18's State of Decay. To replace it, Dicks quickly scripted the season opener, Horror of Fang Rock. The season took a two week transmission break over the 1977 Christmas period, b
Season 15 Lore Primer
Key plot threads, lore context, and character stakes you need to remember before diving into this season.
- Directly follows the overarching narrative developments of Doctor Who Season 14.
- Faction dynamics and core character alliances shift under escalating external stakes.
- Crucial mysteries introduced previously reach key turning points and narrative reckonings.
- Sets up serialized story arcs that build directly toward the climactic season finale.
Season overview
This season introduced K9 to the series and saw the departure of Leela. It was originally intended to include Terrance Dicks' story The Vampire Mutations but, due to a major BBC production of Dracula, it was postponed. It later became Season 18's State of Decay. To replace it, Dicks quickly scripted the season opener, Horror of Fang Rock. The season took a two week transmission break over the 1977 Christmas period, between the broadcast of part four of The Sun Makers and part one of Underworld.
Episode Guide
Season 15 Progress Shield
Horror of Fang Rock (1)
Sep 3, 1977 · 25 min
The English channel, the 1900s AD. The TARDIS lands on barren Fang Rock, inhabited until now only by three lighthouse keepers. But what is the strange fog covering the island, and
Horror of Fang Rock (2)
Sep 10, 1977 · 25 min
The survivors of a wrecked ship are stranded with the lighhouse crew on Fang Rock as a deadly menace slithers through the fog. Has the Beast of Fang Rock returned?
Horror of Fang Rock (3)
Sep 17, 1977 · 25 min
The Doctor barricades everyone in the lighthouse to protect them from the mysterious deadly creature in the fog. But it may already be inside, biding its time…
Horror of Fang Rock (4)
Sep 24, 1977 · 25 min
The Rutan starts picking off the surviving humans one by one as the Doctor and Leela struggle to defeat not only the alien but an entire fleet waiting to occupy Earth.
The Invisible Enemy (1)
Oct 1, 1977 · 25 min
Deep space, 5000AD. An Earth supply shuttle is infected by a strange sentient space-borne virus, which quickly spreads to the crew of the refuelling station on the moon Titan. Even
The Invisible Enemy (2)
Oct 8, 1977 · 25 min
Leela and Lowe take the Doctor to the Bi-Al Foundation for help. But how can they cure an infection of the mind?
The Invisible Enemy (3)
Oct 15, 1977 · 25 min
Miniaturised clones of the Doctor and Leela are injected into his brain. But they must now fight the virus on its own level. And its servants are closing in around them.
The Invisible Enemy (4)
Oct 22, 1977 · 25 min
The Nucleus, now grown to human size, is determined to spawn and take over the Galaxy. Only the Doctor and Leela can stop it.
Image of the Fendahl (1)
Oct 29, 1977 · 25 min
England, the late 1970s. At Fetch Priory, Dr Fendelman's experiments with the new Time Scanner are disrupted by the mysterious death of a hiker, nearby. Then there's the mysterious
Image of the Fendahl (2)
Nov 5, 1977 · 25 min
The mystery surrounding the strange skull deepens. Thea is slowly succumbing to its influence while the Doctor prepares to battle a creature from mythology.
Image of the Fendahl (3)
Nov 12, 1977 · 25 min
While Max prepares to tap supernatural forces beyond imagining, the Doctor and Leela investigate the legend of the Fendahl.
Image of the Fendahl (4)
Nov 19, 1977 · 25 min
The Fendahl is returning to life, ready to consume everything in its path. Can the Doctor find a way to kill death itself?
The Sun Makers (1)
Nov 26, 1977 · 25 min
Pluto, the distant future. The planet has been terraformed and is now orbited by artificial suns, provided by the rapacious company who ruthlessly exploit the relocated human workf
The Sun Makers (2)
Dec 3, 1977 · 25 min
The Doctor has been captured by the Gatherer. Leela works to free him but the Gatherer is already laying his own plans…
The Sun Makers (3)
Dec 10, 1977 · 25 min
Now Leela is the prisoner of the Collector. He knows of the Doctor and is determined to rid himself of both of them.
The Sun Makers (4)
Dec 17, 1977 · 25 min
The Doctor now moves to completely overthrow the Company. But the Collector has one last trump card to play.
Underworld (1)
Jan 7, 1978 · 25 min
Deep space, an unknown time. The Doctor encounters the Minyans, survivors of a race the Time Lords unwittingly obliterated early in their own history. The Minyans are searching for
Underworld (2)
Jan 14, 1978 · 25 min
After 100,000 years, the Minyans have found the long-lost P7E. But what awaits them on the ship, long buried in the core of a newborn planet?
Underworld (3)
Jan 21, 1978 · 25 min
The Minyans have, at long last, found the P7E. But a host of guards and robotic seers stand between them and the race banks.
Underworld (4)
Jan 28, 1978 · 25 min
The Minyons struggle to gain the precious race banks from the Oracle. But perhaps it is giving in a little too easily ...
The Invasion of Time (1)
Feb 4, 1978 · 25 min
Gallifrey, world of the Time Lords. The Doctor returns and claims the vacant presidency. But his behaviour is erratic and his motives mysterious.
The Invasion of Time (2)
Feb 11, 1978 · 25 min
The Doctor is made president of the Time Lords. He immediately orders K-9 to lower the planet's defences and has Leela banished to the wilderness.
The Invasion of Time (3)
Feb 18, 1978 · 25 min
The Doctor has betrayed his own people and enabled a Vardan invasion of Gallifrey. Leela joins forces with the Outsiders and prepares to strike back against the aliens.
The Invasion of Time (4)
Feb 25, 1978 · 25 min
The Doctor works to free his planet of the Vardan menace. How can he defeat an enemy who can read his very thoughts? And does their invasion conceal a greater menace?
The Invasion of Time (5)
Mar 4, 1978 · 25 min
The Sontarans have invaded Gallifrey, seeking to seize the incredible power of the Time Lords. The Doctor's first step is to cut them off from their fleet. But Kelner is helping th
The Invasion of Time (6)
Mar 11, 1978 · 25 min
The Sontarans finally invade the TARDIS itself, seeking the Great Key. The Doctor, however, has other uses for this powerful object…