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Season guide

Doctor Who: Season 22

13 episodes Premiered Jan 5, 1985 Updated Sep 25, 2026

With this season the BBC experimented with the format of the series, reducing the number of episodes to thirteen, but making each episode forty-five minutes long. The experiment did not result in improved ratings and at the end of the season the BBC announced it was cancelling the series; uproar from fans resulted in the BBC changing its mind and putting the series on an eighteen-month hiatus instead. This season is

Previously on Doctor Who

Season 22 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 21.
  • ⚡ 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

With this season the BBC experimented with the format of the series, reducing the number of episodes to thirteen, but making each episode forty-five minutes long. The experiment did not result in improved ratings and at the end of the season the BBC announced it was cancelling the series; uproar from fans resulted in the BBC changing its mind and putting the series on an eighteen-month hiatus instead. This season is notable for featuring the final appearance of Patrick Troughton as the beloved Second Doctor, in a storyline that gave rise to a popular fan theory known as Season 6B.

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Season 22 Episodes

Episode Guide

🛡️ SPOILER SHIELD

Season 22 Progress Shield

Future titles & synopses blurred. Tap "Reveal" on any card to peek.
Binge Efficiency Engine

Season 22: Filler vs. Essential Canon

Filter episodes by narrative weight. Focus on essential mytharc and skip standalone side quests.

23%
77%
Mytharc (3): Crucial lore & season climaxes
Core (10): Character development & subplots
Side Quest (0): Standalone / filler
S22·E1 Mytharc

Attack of the Cybermen (1)

Jan 5, 1985 · 45 min

London, 1985. The alien mercenary Lytton has been stranded here for nearly a year, but now he has a plan to escape. But how does it involve the Doctor's old enemies - and why are t

S22·E2 Core

Attack of the Cybermen (2)

Jan 12, 1985 · 45 min

On Telos, the Doctor is reintroduced to the Cyber Leader and meets the Cryons, the planet's original inhabitants who will go to any lengths to get their world back!

S22·E3 Core

Vengeance on Varos (1)

Jan 19, 1985 · 45 min

The former prison planet Varos, the future. The downtrodden population of miners are kept happy by real-life violence and murder broadcast live from the Punishment Dome. But then t

S22·E4 Core

Vengeance on Varos (2)

Jan 26, 1985 · 45 min

The Governor forces the Doctor to tell him the true value of Zeiton-7 but Sil attempts to derail his plans by subjecting Peri and Areta to an enforced mutation.

S22·E5 Core

The Mark of the Rani (1)

Feb 2, 1985 · 46 min

England, the 1820s. As the Industrial Revolution gathers pace, the village of Killingworth is disturbed by crazed Luddite miners intent on smashing all machinery and engineers. But

S22·E6 Core

The Mark of the Rani (2)

Feb 9, 1985 · 45 min

The Master uses The Rani's mind-controlling parasites to keep a meeting of Earth's leading scientists from being cancelled, and helps her plant transformation land mines for The Do

S22·E7 Core

The Two Doctors (1)

Feb 16, 1985 · 45 min

The alien space station J7, the mid-1980s Earth time. The Time Lords have sent the second Doctor and Jamie here to try to stop dangerous experiments into time travel. But the stati

S22·E8 Core

The Two Doctors (2)

Feb 23, 1985 · 45 min

The Doctor and Peri meet Jamie and learn the Second Doctor is with the Sontarans on Earth.

S22·E9 Core

The Two Doctors (3)

Mar 2, 1985 · 45 min

The Sontarans prepare the Second Doctor to trigger their Kartz-Reimer capsule.

S22·E10 Core

Timelash (1)

Mar 9, 1985 · 46 min

The planet Karfel, in the distant future. The tyrannical Borad rules with an iron fist, and any who oppose him are cast into the Timelash - a space-time tunnel leading to the past

S22·E11 Core

Timelash (2)

Mar 16, 1985 · 45 min

The Borad accepts no opposition and enables Maylin Tekker to expose the rebels and trap Peri with the Morlox. The Doctor tries to avert a war between Karfel and the Bandrils.

S22·E12 Mytharc

Revelation of the Daleks (1)

Mar 23, 1985 · 45 min

The planet Necros, the future. The Doctor arrives for the cryogenic interment of an old friend at Tranquil Repose, a vast repository of bodies in suspended animation. But what does

S22·E13 Mytharc

Revelation of the Daleks (2)

Mar 30, 1985 · 46 min

Davros plans to create an army of Daleks loyal only to him but on Skaro, the Daleks have other plans and head to Necros. Caught in the middle of this, the Doctor must save Peri...

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