The 623rd episode of Doctor Who airs on BBC1. Robert Glenister (Life On Mars), Maurice Roeves (The Nightmare Man) and Christopher Gable guest star. This four-part story is the swan song of the fifth Doctor (Peter Davison).
This timeline entry leads to an entry covering this entire Doctor Who serial; there are plans to write new episodic entries in the future. You can support this effort!
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The 624th episode of Doctor Who airs on BBC1. Robert Glenister (Life On Mars), Maurice Roeves (The Nightmare Man) and Christopher Gable guest star. Peter Davison makes his exit at the fifth Doctor in this story, with the new Doctor, Colin Baker, given a brief scene at the end of the episode.
This timeline entry leads to an entry covering this entire Doctor Who serial; there are plans to write new episodic entries in the future. You can support this effort!
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The 625th episode of Doctor Who airs on BBC1. This story introduces Colin Baker as the sixth Doctor, though his traumatic regeneration leaves him violently unstable for the first time in the show’s history. Maurice Denham guest stars. 
The 626th episode of Doctor Who airs on BBC1. This story introduces Colin Baker as the sixth Doctor; Maurice Denham guest stars.
This timeline entry leads to an entry covering this entire Doctor Who serial; there are plans to write new episodic entries in the future. You can support this effort!
Order Earl Green’s book VWORP!1 from theLogBook.com Store
The 627th episode of Doctor Who airs on BBC1. This story introduces Colin Baker as the sixth Doctor; Maurice Denham guest stars.
This timeline entry leads to an entry covering this entire Doctor Who serial; there are plans to write new episodic entries in the future. You can support this effort!
Order Earl Green’s book VWORP!1 from theLogBook.com Store
The 628th episode of Doctor Who airs on BBC1. This story introduces Colin Baker as the sixth Doctor; Maurice Denham guest stars. This is also the finale of the series’ 21st season.
This timeline entry leads to an entry covering this entire Doctor Who serial; there are plans to write new episodic entries in the future. You can support this effort!
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Scitron Digital releases the album Namco Video Game Music, collecting recordings of music and sounds from the company’s classic arcade games.
Polydor Records releases an album of John Williams‘ soundtrack from Indiana Jones And The Temple Of Doom, including the movie’s unique rendition of Cole Porter’s “Anything Goes”.
Atlantic Records releases James Horner‘s soundtrack from Star Trek III: The Search For Spock, including an instrumental “pop version” of the movie’s main theme. (The same album will be given a compact disc release at a later date by GNP Crescendo Records.)
With producer Harve Bennett now firmly in creative control of the movie franchise, Star Trek III: The Search For Spock premieres in theaters, directed by Leonard Nimoy (who, since his character is being searched for, plays only a small role as an actor in the film). The movie is a direct sequel to the events of the previous film, and sets up story developments for the fourth Star Trek movie, effectively serving as the middle chapter of a trilogy. The movie’s success confirms Nimoy’s graduation from actor to director.
Berkley Books publishes The Dune Encyclopedia, written and compiled by Dr. Willis E. McNelly and approved by Dune creator Frank Herbert (who would still contradict this book with some of his later Dune novels). The book, written from an academic point of view within the Dune universe, later goes out of print and is now considered a collectors’ item.
British publisher W.H. Allen releases the non-fiction book Doctor Who: The Key To Time by Peter Haining, a chronological collection of events, press mentions and other ephemera from Doctor Who’s beginning through the book’s publication. (The book is not related to the Key to Time storyline of the series’ 16th season.)
Midway releases the arcade video game Pac-Land, a game placing Pac-Man in a side-scrolling 2-D world similar to that of Super Mario Bros.
A&M Records releases David Shire’s soundtrack from the movie 2010: The Year We Make Contact. Available only briefly – the label doesn’t keep the title in print after the movie proves not to be a blockbuster – the soundtrack has yet to be reissued in any form and is an exceedingly rare collectors’ item. The album includes a version of the theme tune by Andy Summers of The Police.
ABC airs the Lucasfilm TV movie The Ewok Adventure, starring Eric Walker, Warwick Davis, Fionnula Flanagan, and Aubree Miller. Written by veteran animation writer Bob Carrau and directed by John Korty (The Autobiography of Miss Jane Pittman), this is the first live-action TV set in the Star Wars universe since the infamous 1978 Star Wars Holiday Special. The movie will become known by the alternate title Ewoks: Caravan of Courage outside of the United States.
Ballantine Books publishes The Odyssey File by Arthur C. Clarke and filmmaker Peter Hyams, chronicling the authors’ collaboration to translate Clarke’s novel 2010: Odyssey Two into the film 2010: The Year We Make Contact. Their lengthy international correspondence in 1983 and early 1984 was conducted by then-groundbreaking means of pre-internet e-mail exchanges.
The big-screen sequel 2010: The Year We Make Contact, starring Roy Scheider, John Lithgow, Helen Mirren and Bob Balaban, arrives in theaters. Adapted from Arthur C. Clarke’s novel “2010: Odyssey Two”, Peter Hyams’ movie is visually stunning, especially since none of the original setpieces or models remained from 2001, having been destroyed following production at Stanley Kubrick’s direct instruction. Though heavily hyped, 2010 proves disappointing for moviegoers expecting more of 2001‘s trippy imagery. 
The long-awaited, long-delayed feature film adaptation Dune premieres, based on the best-selling SF novel by Frank Herbert. Starring Kyle McLachlan (Twin Peaks), Sean Young (Blade Runner), featuring Patrick Stewart (Star Trek: The Next Generation) and Sting (lead singer of The Police), and directed by David Lynch (The Elephant Man, Twin Peaks), the movie meets with very mixed reviews, compressing many of the book’s events into a narrative that viewers not already familiar with the book find confusing.
The 629th episode of Doctor Who airs on BBC1, premiering the 22nd season of the series. Maurice Colbourne, Brian Glover and Faith Brown guest star in a story tying into both the first Cybermen story (1966’s The Tenth Planet) and the public’s fascination with the close approach, in 1985, of Halley’s Comet. This is also the first episode in Doctor Who’s new format for the 22nd season, which aired one 50 minute episode on the show’s more “traditional” Saturday night time slot.
The 630th episode of Doctor Who airs on BBC1, premiering the 22nd season of the series. Maurice Colbourne, Brian Glover and Faith Brown guest star in a story tying into both the first Cybermen story (1966’s The Tenth Planet) and the public’s fascination with the close approach, in 1985, of Halley’s Comet.
This timeline entry leads to an entry covering this entire Doctor Who serial; there are plans to write new episodic entries in the future. You can support this effort!
Order Earl Green’s book VWORP!1 from theLogBook.com Store
Varese Sarabande releases an album of re-recorded orchestral suites recreating the music from the 1960s TV series Star Trek, arranged and conducted by original series composer Fred Steiner and performed by the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra.
The 631st episode of Doctor Who airs on BBC1. Nabil Shaban makes his first appearance as Sil, with Martin Jarvis (Titanic) guest starring as the Governor. This is also one of Jason Connery’s first television jobs before moving on to the fantasy series Robin Of Sherwood.
The 632nd episode of Doctor Who airs on BBC1. Nabil Shaban makes his first appearance as Sil, with Martin Jarvis (Titanic) guest starring as the Governor. This is also one of Jason Connery’s first television jobs before moving on to the fantasy series Robin Of Sherwood.
This timeline entry leads to an entry covering this entire Doctor Who serial; there are plans to write new episodic entries in the future. You can support this effort!
Order Earl Green’s book VWORP!1 from theLogBook.com Store
The 633rd episode of Doctor Who airs on BBC1. Kate O’Mara (Dynasty) guest stars as the Rani, a new Time Lady foe for the Doctor, with Anthony Ainley appearing as the Master.
The 634th episode of Doctor Who airs on BBC1. Kate O’Mara (Dynasty) guest stars as the Rani, a new Time Lady foe for the Doctor, with Anthony Ainley appearing as the Master.
This timeline entry leads to an entry covering this entire Doctor Who serial; there are plans to write new episodic entries in the future. You can support this effort!
Order Earl Green’s book VWORP!1 from theLogBook.com Store
The 635th episode of Doctor Who airs on BBC1. Patrick Troughton and Frazer Hines return as the second Doctor and Jamie, and the Sontarans appear for the first time since the Tom Baker era. Jacqueline Pearce (Blake’s 7) guest stars. Where previous “multi-Doctor” stories have been tied to a major anniversary of the show, this story is merely a celebration of the second Doctor, and marks Troughton’s final appearance in the series before his death.
The 636th episode of Doctor Who airs on BBC1. Patrick Troughton and Frazer Hines return as the second Doctor and Jamie, and the Sontarans appear for the first time since the Tom Baker era. Jacqueline Pearce (Blake’s 7) guest stars.
This timeline entry leads to an entry covering this entire Doctor Who serial; there are plans to write new episodic entries in the future. You can support this effort!
Order Earl Green’s book VWORP!1 from theLogBook.com Store
The BBC announces that production of its popular science fiction series Doctor Who is to be paused to 18 months, allowing the show’s production staff to make alterations to the show’s content and style (at the request of BBC upper management following complaints of excessive depictions of violence), and affording the network an opportunity to redirect funds – temporarily – toward its new daytime TV service and the newly-started prime time soap opera EastEnders. Fans of the series rally to support the show, especially since several close to the production – including actor Colin Baker – reveal that the “18 month hiatus” is a cover for a complete cancellation of the show. Not helping matters is BBC1 Controller Michael Grade’s stated dislike for the series and its star.
The 637th episode of Doctor Who airs on BBC1. Patrick Troughton and Frazer Hines return as the second Doctor and Jamie, and the Sontarans appear for the first time since the Tom Baker era. Jacqueline Pearce (Blake’s 7) guest stars. This is Patrick Troughton’s final Doctor Who episode, and the last original series appearance of the Sontarans.
This timeline entry leads to an entry covering this entire Doctor Who serial; there are plans to write new episodic entries in the future. You can support this effort!
Order Earl Green’s book VWORP!1 from theLogBook.com Store
The 638th episode of Doctor Who airs on BBC1. Paul Darrow (Blake’s 7) and Dennis Carey guest star.