History Recap / DoctorWhoS20E1ArcOfInfinity

'''Production code:''' 6E

Written by Johnny Byrne. This four-episode serial first aired from January 3--12, 1983.

* HamToHamCombat: Omega and the Doctor lob large roasts back and forth with glee as they devour everything in sight (not even Amsterdam is spared), even while Creator/PeterDavison plays off himself. Colin Baker does his absolute best to join in the fun.

* MirrorMatch: A lovely scene where Peter Davison plays the Doctor ''and'' Omega -- with the latter dubbed by Ian Collier, of course. This was so well done that many on the DVD commentary remarked that the voice fit Davison ''better'' than his own!

-->'''The Doctor:''' [[{{Catchphrase}} Hello, I'm the Doctor.]]\\

JustForFun/{{The one w|ith}}here Creator/ColinBaker shows up early.

The one where Creator/ColinBaker shows up early.

* AlasPoorVillain: Gareth Roberts once gave an interview for ''Magazine/DoctorWhoMagazine'' in 2011 in which he claimed there is no serial from the classic series that couldn't be saved by a good rewrite, using this as his litmus test: he suggested that even this story could be fixed by Creator/RussellTDavies, and that the audience would be crying for Omega at the end. Roberts tends to single out this story for every particular criticism of the [[Creator/JohnNathanTurner Nathan-Turner]] era, suggesting that it's his least favourite ever.

* HeroOfAnotherStory: Creator/ColinBaker played Commander Maxil not as a guest role, but as someone who thinks he's starring in his own series.
* ItsAllAboutMe: Maxil is positively bored with the Doctor, and spends much of his screentime looking mildly offended or checking his nails. Creator/JohnNathanTurner actually asked Creator/ColinBaker to tone it down, because the show was called ''Series/DoctorWho'' and not ''Commander Maxil''. Baker replied that no person would ever consider themselves a minor character in someone else's life, and so he played Maxil as someone convinced he was the main character of the story. Of course, Baker soon would ''become'' the main character of the show, making the whole thing quite HilariousInHindsight[[invoked]].

-->'''The Doctor:''' Hello, I'm the Doctor.\\

** The Doctor asks Damon about Leela. He replies that she is well. The Doctor is sorry to have missed her wedding.

* HeroOfAnotherStory: Creator/ColinBaker played Maxil not as a guest role, but as someone who thinks he's starring in his own series.
* ItsAllAboutMe: Maxil is positively bored with the Doctor, and spends much of his screentime looking mildly offended or checking his nails. Creator/JohnNathanTurner actually asked Creator/ColinBaker to tone it down, because the show was called ''Series/DoctorWho'' and not ''Commander Maxil''. Baker replied that no person would ever consider themselves a minor character in someone else's life, and so he played Maxil as someone convinced he was the main character of the story. Of course, Baker soon would ''become'' the main character, making the whole thing quite HilariousInHindsight[[invoked]].
* JustFollowingOrders: Maxil.

Travelling alone together ([[CelibateHero with none of that, thank you]]), the Doctor and Nyssa are interrupted in their travels by a random alien force that tries to take over the body of the Doctor. The Doctor is perturbed, sure, but the Time Lords are ''completely freaked out'' by this. Worried that it might happen again, which would be bad news as the alien is made of anti-matter, the Time Lords decide to drag the Doctor back to Gallifrey and ''kill him''... and blame him for Romana leaving, which was no fault of his - she's just as stubborn as he is. With a token show of regret, Lord President Borusa gets Creator/ColinBaker to shoot the Doctor and haul him off to the DisintegrationChamber. But someone has conveniently rigged the circuit so that he ends up just being shoved into the Matrix ([[Film/TheMatrix no, not that one]]) where the anti-matter alien torments the Doctor... revealing that he's the long-lost (and allegedly dead) Time Lord [[Recap/DoctorWhoS10E1TheThreeDoctors Omega]].

As it turns out, the Doctor [[NotQuiteDead isn't dead]]. Omega brings the Doctor back and starts making a copy of the Doctor's body for himself. So the Doctor, Nyssa and the TARDIS run down to Amsterdam, to try and stop him, but they're too late. Omega sheds his massive helmet to reveal... [[MirrorMatch the Doctor]]! In a most surreal scene, the Doctor and Omega-in-the-Doctor's-body banter back and forth before the Doctor reveals the big problem with Omega's plan: the body is only temporary.

This serial is notable in three ways. The first is that this features the return of [[Recap/DoctorWhoS10E1TheThreeDoctors Omega]], who last appeared in the 10th anniversary special. The second is that this serial kicks off the 20th anniversary season of Doctor Who. The final? Sixth Doctor Creator/ColinBaker shows up for the first time -- not as the Doctor, but as {{Jerkass}} security chief Maxil, the only Doctor until Creator/PeterCapaldi to appear in the series ''before'' landing the big role. In fact, there's even a scene of Maxil ''shooting'' the Doctor, something that's caused a lot of jokes within the fanbase and cast. Colin Baker himself joked that he'd gotten the part of the Doctor by [[KlingonPromotion shooting the incumbent.]]

* SealedEvilInACan: Omega.

Written by Johnny Byrne. This serial first aired January 3-12, 1983.

* NotEvenBotheringWithTheAccent: Marvel as Creator/PeterDavison struggles to pronounce "Jeugdhotel Centraal".

* ItsAllAboutMe: Maxil is positively bored with the Doctor, and spends much of his screentime looking mildly offended or checking his nails. Creator/JohnNathanTurner actually asked Creator/ColinBaker to tone it down, because the show was called ''Series/DoctorWho'' and not ''Commander Maxil''. Baker replied that no person would ever consider themselves a minor character in someone else's life, and so he played Maxil as someone convinced he was the main character of the story. Of course, Baker soon would ''become'' the main character, making the whole thing quite HilariousInHindsight.