| abstract | - In addition, this story marked the final appearances of the Inquisitor and the Valeyard as recurring characters, and a final appearance of Nicola Bryant as Peri Brown in a cameo to give her character closure under happier circumstances than what the events of Mindwarp had offered. This was also the last of the Master's annual appearances on the show; he wouldn't appear again until Survival in Season 26. Finally, the conclusion of Season 23 offered a significant revelation which gave insight on the possible origin of the Valeyard. However, after Colin Baker was dismissed from the series, the story arc between the Sixth Doctor and the Valeyard was dropped. Decades later, Big Finish Productions would resume the arc in audio story format. Season 23's finale was the final story to which longtime scriptwriter Robert Holmes contributed. He passed away from illness shortly before its completion. Unfortunately, this would cause the writing process to suffer many setbacks before entering production. The sudden demise of Holmes served as the catalyst for a notorious fallout between script editor Eric Saward and then-executive producer John Nathan-Turner. Saward, now left without Holmes, had to complete the last episode by himself. Nathan-Turner, however, rejected his script, who felt Saward's proposed cliffhanger was presented in a way that would encourage Michael Grade, the BBC controller at the time, to make it into a series finale, after Grade had already tried to cancel the series altogether. The Doctor and the Valeyard would have tumbled through the Matrix, fighting to the death, with the battle's outcome left unknown, but with the assumption that they would be locked in eternal combat if no one intervened. Interestingly, a plot similar to this was depicted in 2015 for the Sixth Doctor's long-awaited regeneration story, AUDIO: The Brink of Death. Not the first time Saward had butted heads with Nathan-Turner over creative direction, his aggravation was enough this time that he chose to resign from his position, banning use of his scripted ending in further dissent, effectively making this his last contribution to the televised series. The conclusion of the story ultimately fell in the hands of writing couple Pip & Jane Baker, who were left to figure out an ending of their own. They were prohibited access to the original script and given no bearing on how the story was meant to end, but still did what they could to wrap up the loose ends and encourage the continuation of the classic series a little longer.
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