<span class="SFPTagline"> From SCIFIPEDIA </span>

Season 24 of Doctor Who contained further changes for the increasingly troubled and venerable series. In response to harsh criticism about the portrayal of the Doctor from BBC upper management, Colin Baker had been asked to leave the title role. Offered only four episodes in the new season, he declined altogether. Furthermore, script editor Eric Saward had resigned in disgust the previous season.

Sylvester McCoy, who specialized in vaudville-style physical comedy, was newly cast as the seventh actor to play the title role. Andrew Cartmel, an inexperienced writer that had demonstrated some impressive first attempts at script writing, took on the role of script edtor.

Although season 24 is not considered particularly memorable as the series struggled to re-invent itself yet again, it is notable for the return of evil Time Lady The Rani, for an impressive Doctor Who debut by screenwriter Stephen Wyatt (Paradise Towers) and the introduction of a truly classic companion, Ace. She would arrive in the season's closer, "Dragonfire." Current companion Melanie Bush would depart in the same story.

Season 24 began airing on September 7, 1987. It consisted of fourteen 24-minute episodes. For this season, the program was once again shifted to weeknights. This time, however, it would air only 1 episode a week and it would be placed opposite ITV's perrenially top-rated show Coronation Street. It was a death slot and everyone from the fans to the production team to BBC management (who by now had come to despise their venerable sci-fi classic) knew it.

• Time and the Rani (4 episodes)
• Paradise Towers (4 episodes)
• Delta and the Bannermen (3 episodes)
• Dragonfire (3 episodes)