Christopher Morley looks at the Doctor's time with the CIA - that's the Celestial Intervention Agency.
You might have heard the term 'Season 6B' bandied about when talk turns to the Second Doctor- but just what is it? If you recall the events of The War Games ( his trial & supposed sentencing to enforced regeneration by the Time Lords, after calling them in to help against the War Chief...
... it won't escape your notice that we don't see him make the change into his Third incarnation, our first glimpse coming in Spearhead From Space as he tumbles from the TARDIS...
You might have heard the term 'Season 6B' bandied about when talk turns to the Second Doctor- but just what is it? If you recall the events of The War Games ( his trial & supposed sentencing to enforced regeneration by the Time Lords, after calling them in to help against the War Chief...
... it won't escape your notice that we don't see him make the change into his Third incarnation, our first glimpse coming in Spearhead From Space as he tumbles from the TARDIS...
'Season 6B' is,
in layman's terms, an attempt to fill in that gap. What's the Doctor
doing before his sentence is carried out? He's a Celestial
Intervention Agent, with the novel World Game
telling the tale of his first mission- stopping the Players meddling
in the Battle of Waterloo by impersonating Napoleon Bonaparte, which
provides ample explanation for just how he comes by the first outfit
he tries on following his regeneration into his Seventh incarnation...
The Agency even goes so far as to give him a new companion, a Time
Lady by the name of Serenadellatrovella ( Serena for short), psychic
paper ( well before New Who,
presented as a CIA invention) & a new TARDIS ( the Type 97 being
a vast improvement on a Type 40, though the Doctor still prefers his
old faithful space/time steed). He'll get it ( albeit with a
radically different interior) & Jamie McCrimmon back in time for
his next assignment.
For the end of
World Game leads into
the beginning of The Two Doctors...
Which might explain a few things as well as raise even more questions. His new mission is to persuade Dastari to stop his experiments, & he gets a Stattenheim remote control & brand spanking new TARDIS interior as a ' reward' from his CIA masters for his success in defeating the Players.
Which might explain a few things as well as raise even more questions. His new mission is to persuade Dastari to stop his experiments, & he gets a Stattenheim remote control & brand spanking new TARDIS interior as a ' reward' from his CIA masters for his success in defeating the Players.
He'll face them again in
Players ( another
shared-billing cameo alongside his Sixth self). There's also a case
for saying that The Three/Five Doctors
might have been similar assignments for him-called upon to help stop
first Omega...
...& then Borusa alongside past/future selves.
...& then Borusa alongside past/future selves.
How else would he know that the ' Jamie' & ' Zoe' he encounters in The Five Doctors aren't real, the ' originals' having had their minds purged of all but their first meetings with the Doctor? Perhaps what we see at the end of The War Games isn't a regeneration, but some sort of transmat. Take another look...
It's perfectly plausible that he could be spirited off on his first mission fairly soon after his trial ( World Game containing a record of what's believed to have actually happened following his disciplinary from the Time Lords for breaching a strict non-intervention policy).
Speaking of them, how Jamie knows of their
existence in The Two Doctors
is anyone's guess. Would he if his mind really had been swept clean
following The War Games?
Most likely the
Doctor was allowed to retain a familiar companion following Serena's
death- which might have rendered him more favourably disposed towards
acting as a Celestial Intervention Agent ( consider his all too
apparent willingness to help out in both The Three/Two
Doctors, taken out of his own
time-stream & set on altogether different paths), even going so
far as to lie to Jamie!
Rather conveniently it appears the piper's
forgotten all about Victoria Waterfield's departure in Fury
From The Deep...
As a fun fact though, before she leaves the Second & Jamie to it, the sonic screwdriver gets its first outing! It might be a pen with a torch on the end but its still cool..........
As a fun fact though, before she leaves the Second & Jamie to it, the sonic screwdriver gets its first outing! It might be a pen with a torch on the end but its still cool..........
The Third Doctor appears to have much more sophisticated gear at the start of his tenure- a ring, bracelet & TARDIS homing watch for starters. These could be leftovers from his CIA service ( his proper regeneration presumably occurring after he was no longer required). The tattoo he shows in the shower in Spearhead From Space is later explained as a mark branding a Time Lord a criminal or exile ( see the New Adventures novel Christmas On A Rational Planet).
Note also what Sarah-Jane Smith finds in the secondary console room in The Masque Of Mandragora after the Third Doctor becomes the Fourth...
The implication being that two incarnations ago the Doctor just might have used the place as part of one of his CIA missions! He'll have another few of those later, which we'll get to in a bit.
What of the
Agency themselves? In essence they're a covert unit of Time Lords
seeking to protect the Web of Time by any means, ensuring recorded
history plays out as intended while allowing certain details to
change if necessary. Hence their motto of ' the story changes, the
ending stays the same'. Their status as a secret part of Gallifreyan
operations also gives the High Council plausible deniability should
things go pear-shaped! And the Second Doctor was by no means their
only stooge.......
His dandier self
was also used to their advantage even after his exile to Earth-
Colony In Space might
very well be seen as a mission on their behalf to stop the Master
getting his beardy mitts on the Uxaierian Doomsday Weapon...
The Curse Of Peladon sees him providing diplomatic assistance to Peladon possibly on their behalf, & The Mutants has him using ' Sexy' as a post van ( sort of) as he delivers a very important package to Solos. The post- Three Doctors reprieve given to him doesn't last long either!
The Curse Of Peladon sees him providing diplomatic assistance to Peladon possibly on their behalf, & The Mutants has him using ' Sexy' as a post van ( sort of) as he delivers a very important package to Solos. The post- Three Doctors reprieve given to him doesn't last long either!
Following another
change of face,
the Fourth Doctor is sent off to stop or at least avert the creation
of the Daleks.
Remember the Time Lord who appears to the jelly baby enthusiast in the trenches of Skaro? The novel Lungbarrow identifies him as Lord Ferain, & he's the Director of Allegiance for the CIA. Its off to Karn next, where the Doctor strongly suspects a Celestial hand has guided him to prevent the resurrection of Morbius ( The Brain Of Morbius).
Remember the Time Lord who appears to the jelly baby enthusiast in the trenches of Skaro? The novel Lungbarrow identifies him as Lord Ferain, & he's the Director of Allegiance for the CIA. Its off to Karn next, where the Doctor strongly suspects a Celestial hand has guided him to prevent the resurrection of Morbius ( The Brain Of Morbius).
And now we go
back to the start, sort of- the Sixth Doctor also detecting their
involvement in whisking him to Earth to stop the Cybermen from using
Halley's Comet to blow our beloved planet to smithereens...
He'll be back helping out the Agency as one of The Two Doctors alongside the Second in next to no time, as only Vengeance On Varos & The Mark Of The Rani bridge the gap between the two!
Simple, no?
He'll be back helping out the Agency as one of The Two Doctors alongside the Second in next to no time, as only Vengeance On Varos & The Mark Of The Rani bridge the gap between the two!
Simple, no?
