7.4/10626 votes#1 - The Ribos Operation (1)
Season 16 Episode 1 - Aired 9/2/1978
The Magellanic Clouds, the planet Ribos, an unknown time. Ordered by the White Guardian to collect the pieces of the omnipotent Key to Time, The Doctor, K-9 and his new assistant Romana arrive. Collecting the first segment is not going to be easy…
Director: George Spenton-Foster
Writer: Robert Holmes
7.3/10547 votes#2 - The Ribos Operation (2)
Season 16 Episode 2 - Aired 9/9/1978
Trying to obtain the first segment of the Key to Time, the Doctor and Romana are swept up in an elaborate con. The target – the homicidal Graff Vynda K.
Director: George Spenton-Foster
Writer: Robert Holmes
7.3/10542 votes#3 - The Ribos Operation (3)
Season 16 Episode 3 - Aired 9/16/1978
Prisoners of the maniacal Graff Vynda K, the Doctor and Romana must break out and pursue the first segment – even as Unstoff takes it into the most dangerous place on Ribos.
Director: George Spenton-Foster
Writer: Robert Holmes
7.4/10545 votes#4 - The Ribos Operation (4)
Season 16 Episode 4 - Aired 9/23/1978
Trapped in the catacombs between a mad warlord and ravenous monsters, the Doctor and Romana work desperately to obtain the segment of the Key to Time - and escape alive.
Director: George Spenton-Foster
Writer: Robert Holmes
7.6/10627 votes#5 - The Pirate Planet (1)
Season 16 Episode 5 - Aired 9/30/1978
Planet Zanak, unknown time. The Doctor and Romana are seeking the planet Calufrax where the second segment waits. They are in the right place and the right time… but on the wrong planet.
Director: Pennant Roberts
Writer: Douglas Adams
7.8/10544 votes#6 - The Pirate Planet (2)
Season 16 Episode 6 - Aired 10/7/1978
The Doctor begins to investigate the mysteriously wealthy planet Zanak. Mentiads, a deranged Captain, strange omens, miraculous mines – what does it all mean? And what does it have to do with the Key to Time?
Director: Pennant Roberts
Writer: Douglas Adams
7.7/10544 votes#7 - The Pirate Planet (3)
Season 16 Episode 7 - Aired 10/14/1978
The Mentiads take the Doctor, Romana and Kimus to a reunion with K9 and Mula, where they set about trying to defeat the Captain.
Director: Pennant Roberts
Writer: Douglas Adams
7.8/10549 votes#8 - The Pirate Planet (4)
Season 16 Episode 8 - Aired 10/21/1978
The Captain and Xanxia work toward their secret goals. Both depends on the pirate planet consuming one more victim - Earth.
Director: Pennant Roberts
Writer: Douglas Adams
7.6/10572 votes#9 - The Stones of Blood (1)
Season 16 Episode 9 - Aired 10/28/1978
England, the late 1970s. The Doctor and Romana arrive in search of the third segment. But the Tracer readings are erratic and something ominous is happening with an ancient stone circle...
Director: Darrol Blake
Writer: David Fisher
7.6/10511 votes#10 - The Stones of Blood (2)
Season 16 Episode 10 - Aired 11/4/1978
The quest for the Third Segment has landed the Doctor and Romana in the midst of a druidic cult centred on a stone circle. But the stones are not what they seem, and somewhere out there is a blood-thirsty Celtic goddess.
Director: Darrol Blake
Writer: David Fisher
7.6/10509 votes#11 - The Stones of Blood (3)
Season 16 Episode 11 - Aired 11/11/1978
Chased by blood-thirsty stones, the Doctor must find a way to rescue Romana. What awaits him in the theoretical absurdity of hyperspace?
Director: Darrol Blake
Writer: David Fisher
7.6/10511 votes#12 - The Stones of Blood (4)
Season 16 Episode 12 - Aired 11/18/1978
Facing a sentence of death from merciless justice machines, the Doctor must play for time while Romana tries to discover just who Vivian Fey really is.
Director: Darrol Blake
Writer: David Fisher
7.3/10562 votes#13 - The Androids of Tara (1)
Season 16 Episode 13 - Aired 11/25/1978
Arriving on Tara, Romana locates the fourth segment of the Key to Time with ease. But getting it away proves more difficult, as she is captured by the scheming Count Grendel who wants the throne of Tara for himself.
Director: Michael Hayes
Writer: David Fisher
7.2/10510 votes#14 - The Androids of Tara (2)
Season 16 Episode 14 - Aired 12/2/1978
The Doctor must employ a desperate gambit to keep the evil Grendel off the throne. And the Count has a new pawn to play - Romana.
Director: Michael Hayes
Writer: David Fisher
7.3/10513 votes#15 - The Androids of Tara (3)
Season 16 Episode 15 - Aired 12/9/1978
The battle for control of Tara turns into a duel of wits between the Doctor and Grendel. But the Count shows he has more treacherous tricks up his sleeve.
Director: Michael Hayes
Writer: David Fisher
7.3/10512 votes#16 - The Androids of Tara (4)
Season 16 Episode 16 - Aired 12/16/1978
Grendel plans two weddings and a funeral to cement his hold over Tara. The Doctor and K-9 race to foil him and save the Time Lady's life.
Director: Michael Hayes
Writer: David Fisher
6.5/10520 votes#17 - The Power of Kroll (1)
Season 16 Episode 17 - Aired 12/23/1978
The Third Moon of Delta Magna, The Future. The Doctor and Romana arrive in search of the fifth segment and are immediately swept up in a conflict between the crew of a new refinery and the embittered natives…
Director: Norman Stewart
Writer: Robert Holmes
6.6/10475 votes#18 - The Power of Kroll (2)
Season 16 Episode 18 - Aired 12/30/1978
The Doctor and Romana try to avoid being sacrificed to Kroll – just in time for the real monster to appear.
Director: Norman Stewart
Writer: Robert Holmes
6.5/10472 votes#19 - The Power of Kroll (3)
Season 16 Episode 19 - Aired 1/6/1979
The massive Kroll is awake and killing anyone in its path. And the swampies are determined to appease it – by sacrificing the Doctor and Romana.
Director: Norman Stewart
Writer: Robert Holmes
6.5/10474 votes#20 - The Power of Kroll (4)
Season 16 Episode 20 - Aired 1/13/1979
The Doctor and Romana are trapped between the monstrous Kroll and the insane refinery commander. And there is no sign of the fifth segment of the Key to Time.
Director: Norman Stewart
Writer: Robert Holmes
7.1/10508 votes#21 - The Armageddon Factor (1)
Season 16 Episode 21 - Aired 1/20/1979
Searching for the sixth segment, the Doctor and Romana land in the midst of a brutal nuclear war between the planets Atrios and Zeos.
Director: Michael Hayes
Writer: Bob Baker, Dave Martin
7.1/10453 votes#22 - The Armageddon Factor (2)
Season 16 Episode 22 - Aired 1/27/1979
Swept up in an apocalyptic war, the Doctor must help the Marshal defend his planet. But who or what controls the Marshal?
Director: Michael Hayes
Writer: Bob Baker, Dave Martin
7.0/10451 votes#23 - The Armageddon Factor (3)
Season 16 Episode 23 - Aired 2/3/1979
The Doctor meets a new enemy – the Shadow – who wants the Key to Time. And the Atrian-Zeon war is approaching an awful climax.
Director: Michael Hayes
Writer: Bob Baker, Dave Martin
7.0/10453 votes#24 - The Armageddon Factor (4)
Season 16 Episode 24 - Aired 2/10/1979
The Doctor is forced into a desperate gambit to prevent a massacre. But it is getting harder to tell friend from foe.
Director: Michael Hayes
Writer: Bob Baker, Dave Martin
7.0/10447 votes#25 - The Armageddon Factor (5)
Season 16 Episode 25 - Aired 2/17/1979
The Doctor and Romana finally venture into the Shadow's lair. The Shadow appears to hold all the cards but the Doctor has found an old friend.
Director: Michael Hayes
Writer: Bob Baker, Dave Martin
The Best Episodes of Doctor Who Season 16
Every episode of Doctor Who Season 16 ranked from best to worst. Discover the Best Episodes of Doctor Who Season 16!
The adventures of The Doctor, a time-traveling humanoid alien known as a Time Lord. He explores the universe in his TARDIS, a sentient time-traveling spaceship....
Genres:DramaAction & AdventureSci-Fi & Fantasy
Season 16 Ratings Summary
"The Ribos Operation (1)" is the best rated episode of "Doctor Who" season 16. It scored 7.4/10 based on 626 votes. Directed by George Spenton-Foster and written by Robert Holmes, it aired on 9/2/1978. This episode is rated 0.1 points higher than the second-best, "The Ribos Operation (2)".