The Mysterious Planet

143a^[1] – *The Trial of a Time Lord: The Mysterious Planet*
143a – The Trial of a Time Lord: The Mysterious Planet
Doctor Who serial
Cast
	Doctor Colin Baker – Sixth Doctor;
	Companion Nicola Bryant – Peri Brown;
	Others Lynda Bellingham – The Inquisitor; Michael Jayston – The Valeyard; Tony Selby – Sabalom Glitz; Joan Sims – Queen Katryca; Glen Murphy – Dibber; Tom Chadbon – Merdeen; Roger Brierley – Drathro; David Rodigan – Broken Tooth; Adam Blackwood – Balazar; Timothy Walker – Grell; Billy McColl – Humker; Sion Tudor Owen – Tandrell;
Production
Directed by	Nicholas Mallett
Written by	Robert Holmes
Script editor	Eric Saward
Produced by	John Nathan-Turner
Music by	Dominic Glynn
Production code	7A
Series	Season 23
Running time	4 episodes, 25 minutes each
First broadcast	6 September 1986
Last broadcast	27 September 1986
Chronology
← Preceded by; Revelation of the Daleks	Followed by →; The Trial of a Time Lord: Mindwarp
	List of episodes (1963–1989)

The Mysterious Planet is the first serial of the larger narrative known as The Trial of a Time Lord which encompasses the whole of the 23rd season of the British science fiction television series Doctor Who. It was first broadcast in four weekly parts on BBC1 from 6 to 27 September 1986. The title The Mysterious Planet is not used on-screen and only appears in the serial's scripts with the four episodes that comprise the story being transmitted as The Trial of a Time Lord Parts One to Four.

In the serial, the Sixth Doctor (Colin Baker) is put on trial by his own people, the Time Lords, accused of meddling in the affairs of Earth far in the future, when it has been renamed Ravolox and relocated light years from its original location. Much of the story consists of video testimony presented by the prosecutor the Valeyard (Michael Jayston) of the Doctor attempting to stop the robot Drathro from causing an explosion that would threaten the entire universe.

^ From the Doctor Who Magazine series overview, in issue 407 (pp26-29). The Discontinuity Guide, which counts the unbroadcast serial Shada, lists this segment of The Trial of a Time Lord as an individual story, number 144. Region 1 DVD releases follow The Discontinuity Guide numbering system.

[1] From the Doctor Who Magazine series overview, in issue 407 (pp26-29). The Discontinuity Guide, which counts the unbroadcast serial Shada, lists this segment of The Trial of a Time Lord as an individual story, number 144. Region 1 DVD releases follow The Discontinuity Guide numbering system.

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