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

In the universe of Doctor Who fandom, Season 6b is a theoretical period in the Doctor's life between seasons 6 and 7 of the long-running British program. However, the theory actually arises from continuity gaffes in seasons 20 and 22.

Contents 1 The Original Continuity 2 Continuity Problems 3 Season 6b Continuity 4 The Theory in Action

The Original Continuity

As transmitted, the first episode of season 7 appears to follow immediately after the last episode of season 6. This arises simply from the fact that season 6 ends with the Doctor's second incarnation being arrested and put on trial by the Time Lords. His sentence, to be forced to regenerate into his third incarnation, appears to be carried out at the very end of the last episode of that season. The start of season 7, shows him stumbling out of the TARDIS, recovering from his recent regeneration.

Continuity Problems

The season 22 story, "The Two Doctors" creates an unusual problem with the continuity of the second Doctor's era. The second Doctor's appearance in this story is literally impossible to place within the original program continuity.

The character mentions early on that he has temporarily left Victoria behind, which would place these events somewhere in (or shortly before) the events of season 5. However, the Doctor and Jamie also state that they are on an errand for the Time Lords. Since the Doctor was a renegade, fleeing from the Time Lords for the program's first six seasons, it would seem to be impossible that he worked for them at any time during this period. Additionally, since the Time Lords forced the Doctor to regenerate into his third incarnation at the end of season 6, it also cannot have occurred after that time period.

A related continuity gaffe had already occurred in the 20th anniversary special, "The Five Doctors." In this story, the second Doctor remembers that the Jamie and Zoe's memories of the Doctor had been wiped at the end of the trial. But, since this didn't occur until after the Doctor was sentenced to forced regeneration, the second Doctor wouldn't have known about it yet.

Season 6b Continuity

The continuity gaffes in later seasons have led to the theory that, contrary to the implication in season 6, the second Doctor's forced regeneration was actually deferred for some time before being carried out. This theory was first introduced by Paul Cornell in his 1995 book The Discontinuity Guide.

Cornell's theory further asserts that the Time Lords were using the Doctor as something of an errand boy for this period, which would explain why the second Doctor is actually working for them in "The Two Doctors." However, this interpretation of The Two Doctors also requires that the Doctor went back to get Victoria and Jamie and somehow managed to restore Jamie's memory of him.

The theory would also explain why both the Doctor and Jamie appear significantly older in "The Two Doctors" than they appeared when they parted ways in season 6.

The Theory in Action

Terrance Dicks would later give credence to the theory by setting two of his Doctor Who novels, "Players" and "World Game," during season 6b. These two novels largely attempt to flesh out the theory by filling in many of the events that led up to "The Two Doctors." Since Dicks himself was largely responsible for the original continuity, his embrace of season 6b in this manner has led many fans to embrace it as canon.