EPISODE: Terror of the Zygons Part Three
OVERALL EPISODE NUMBER: 404
STORY NUMBER: 080
TRANSMITTED: 13 September 1975
WRITER: Robert Banks-Stewart
DIRECTOR: Douglas Camfield
SCRIPT EDITOR: Robert Holmes
PRODUCER: Philip Hinchcliffe
FORMAT: VHS: Doctor Who Terror of the Zygons
Harry lunges at the Skarasen's controls in the Zygon ship, allowing the Doctor to escape. Benton searches the pub for surveillance devices so the Broton orders the Zygons to have the monitor link, embedded in the stag's head hanging on the wall, removed. The Doctor, Brigadier & Sarah visit the Duke of Forgill and ask to depth charge the loch to destroy the monster. The Duke dismisses their suggestions. Angus, the pub landlord, discovers the bug but is disturbed by Sister Lamont from the infirmary who turns into a Zygon and kills him, removing the bug. Benton hears Angus' screams and with some men pursues the Zygon into the woods. The Doctor thinks that the Oil Company have built their base on the monster's root to the sea. They're called to the forest by Benton, but Sarah stays to research the monster in the Duke's library. The Zygon returns to it's human form, attacking a UNIT soldier and steeling his jeep. Seeing the stag's head, now missing it's eye, The Doctor deduces that the Duke, who brought the head to the pub, must be a Zygon. Sarah discovers a secret passage in the library which leads down and into the Zygon spaceship. The Duke discovers she has found the passage and left the door open. Sister Lamont arrives at the hall and Broton, disguised as the Duke orders her taken to the ship. Sarah finds Harry and, once she's sure he's him and not a Zygon, she releases him. They find the Doctor & Brigadier looking for them: The Doctor goes into the passage but is captured by the Zygons who announce to the other that they are leaving and going to take over the world. The Brigadier depth charges the lake to force the Zygon ship to the surface. The Zygon ship emerges from the water and flies off in a southerly direction.
That was a cracking episode: Another Zygon name revealed: Odda, the one impersonating Sister Lamont. As it is the Zygon's plan, beyond conquer the Earth, is still not clear. I'm not writing a lot in praise of these episodes but my goodness they are good stuff and well done. Sadly after praising an effect in the last episode I now find that the shots of the Skarasen moving past the Doctor in this one aren't that good.
The cast for this story features a few familiar faces. John Woodnutt plays both his grace, the Duke of Forgill and the Zygon Warlord Broton. He was George Hibbert in Spearhead from Space and the Draconian Emperor in Frontier in Space. He'll return as Seron in The Keeper of Traken, and will later play Sir Watkyn Bassett in the Stephen Fry & Hugh Laurie Jeeves and Wooster as well as Merlin & Mogdred in the adventure game program Knightmare. Angus, the pub landlord, is played by Angus Lennie who was Storr in The Ice Warriors and found fame as Shughie McFee in Crossroads. Robert Russell, playing The Caber was a Guard in The Power of the Daleks and Keith Ashley, a Zygon, we've recently seen as a Dalek in Genesis of the Daleks and will shortly see as a Kraal android in The Android Invasion.
Doctor Who is known for striking fear and terror into it's junior viewers so it's little surprise that the word TERROR has popped up in a few story titles:
The Keys of Marinus 4: The Snows of Terror
Reign of Terror
The Chase 4: Journey Into Terror
The Macra Terror
Terror of the Autons
Terror of the Zygons
There's a FEAR story on the horizon shortly so we'll list the other FEAR titles then.
Saturday, 31 December 2011
Friday, 30 December 2011
403 Terror of the Zygons Part Two
EPISODE: Terror of the Zygons Part Two
OVERALL EPISODE NUMBER: 403
STORY NUMBER: 080
TRANSMITTED: 06 September 1975
WRITER: Robert Banks-Stewart
DIRECTOR: Douglas Camfield
SCRIPT EDITOR: Robert Holmes
PRODUCER: Philip Hinchcliffe
FORMAT: VHS: Doctor Who Terror of the Zygons
Hearing Sarah's screams on the phone, the Doctor, Brigadier & Mister Benton rush to the infirmary where the Nurse, Sister Lamont, doesn't know where Sarah or Harry have gone. The Doctor finds Sarah in the decompression unit, but both are locked in and the pump activated. Harry has been taken to the alien spaceship, where he meets Broton, Warlord of the Zygons. Their craft crashed on Earth centuries ago and they intend to conquer Earth. They show Harry the Skarasen, a massive cyborg reptile brought as an embryo to Earth and grown here. The Doctor hypnotises Sarah and puts himself into a trace to survive the air being pumped out. At the pub, the Brigadier and UNIT troops are gassed into unconsciousness. Benton finds the Doctor & Sarah and releases them. Huckle finds the Brigadier and troops at the pub as a roaring sound is heard. Arriving back at the village the Doctor finds the whole village gassed. Broton is angry at the Doctor's survival. Huckle has found an odd piece of equipment in the wreckage which the Doctor identifies as a signalling device. Harry is taken to the Zygons' cells where his body print is copied allowing a Zygon to assume his form. Also held are Nurse Lamont, The Duke and his Gillie, The Caber. UNIT Troops discover the crushed body of a soldier on the moor. Harry wanders into the pub, takes the alien device and tries to leave but Sarah is suspicious and calls for help. UNIT soldiers & Sarah pursue him to a barn where he falls, impaling himself on a pitchfork and transforms into a Zygon before Broton remotely actives it's dispersal device. Sarah returns the homing device to the Doctor, who tells the Brigadier that he thinks the Pub is bugged. Broton orders the Skarasen to attack and activates the homing device. The Doctor takes the homing device in a jeep to draw it away from the village, but as he gets onto the moor the Jeep brakes down and the homing device attaches itself to him. The Brigadier traces the signal controlling the monster to Lock Ness as Broton commands the massive Skarasen to destroy the Doctor as it bears down on him......
It's time to give a debut to the season 13 & 14 game: Guess which film Robert Holmes is homaging this story. Nearly every story for the next two years owes a debt to some older film, usually a horror or sci fi movie. Here it's Invasion of the Body Snatchers spiced up with the legend of the Loch Ness Monster. Indeed the book of this story was calledDoctor Who & the Loch Ness Monster. Robert Banks-Stewart helps the believability of his monsters by giving them names: Their leader is Broton and the Zygon impersonating Harry is Madra. This makes them, and the other Zygons, individuals straight away. Of the non human Doctor Who races to date only the Menoptera & Optera, original Cybermen, Ice Warriors, Inter Minor officials and Sontarans have been blessed with individual names.
In Revenge I criticised the effect of the planet's surface coming towards the beacon. Two episodes later we get one of the finest effects shots yet seen in the show: The Zygon spaceship sitting under the water. You look at it and it's a perfectly believable shot.
This episode has another bit of Camfield repeat casting: Bernard G. High plays the UNIT Corporal and he was previously a soldier in The Web of Fear.
This story is set in Scotland, around Loch Ness. However the BBC, in their wisdom, decided to film the locations for this story in Sussex instead! The Doctor's visited Scotland five times on the television screen: The Highlanders, Terror of the Zygons, The Hand of Fear (School Reunion says the closing scenes are in Aberdeen), Timelash and Tooth & Claw (plus The Moonbase refers to previous visit to train under Lister in Edinburgh). Yet not once does the production venture north of the border to film! We've been to Wales to film The Abominable Snowmen, The Green Death, The Masque of Mandragora, The Pirate Planet, The Five Doctors and Delta and the Bannermen yet only two of those are set there! Then add in all the Welsh filming for the new series! Come on Doctor Who, address the balance and organise some Scottish location filming soon!
This episode of Doctor Who shed 2.3 million viewers from the previous week (down to 6.1 million from 8.4 million) which is believed due to the arrival of ITV's new science fiction series Space 1999. However the impact was short lived with the next episode returning to 8.2 million and by the end of the season Doctor Who was being watched by more than 11 million people. We'll look at Space 1999 during the next story when one of it's stars shows up in a guest role in Doctor Who.
OVERALL EPISODE NUMBER: 403
STORY NUMBER: 080
TRANSMITTED: 06 September 1975
WRITER: Robert Banks-Stewart
DIRECTOR: Douglas Camfield
SCRIPT EDITOR: Robert Holmes
PRODUCER: Philip Hinchcliffe
FORMAT: VHS: Doctor Who Terror of the Zygons
Hearing Sarah's screams on the phone, the Doctor, Brigadier & Mister Benton rush to the infirmary where the Nurse, Sister Lamont, doesn't know where Sarah or Harry have gone. The Doctor finds Sarah in the decompression unit, but both are locked in and the pump activated. Harry has been taken to the alien spaceship, where he meets Broton, Warlord of the Zygons. Their craft crashed on Earth centuries ago and they intend to conquer Earth. They show Harry the Skarasen, a massive cyborg reptile brought as an embryo to Earth and grown here. The Doctor hypnotises Sarah and puts himself into a trace to survive the air being pumped out. At the pub, the Brigadier and UNIT troops are gassed into unconsciousness. Benton finds the Doctor & Sarah and releases them. Huckle finds the Brigadier and troops at the pub as a roaring sound is heard. Arriving back at the village the Doctor finds the whole village gassed. Broton is angry at the Doctor's survival. Huckle has found an odd piece of equipment in the wreckage which the Doctor identifies as a signalling device. Harry is taken to the Zygons' cells where his body print is copied allowing a Zygon to assume his form. Also held are Nurse Lamont, The Duke and his Gillie, The Caber. UNIT Troops discover the crushed body of a soldier on the moor. Harry wanders into the pub, takes the alien device and tries to leave but Sarah is suspicious and calls for help. UNIT soldiers & Sarah pursue him to a barn where he falls, impaling himself on a pitchfork and transforms into a Zygon before Broton remotely actives it's dispersal device. Sarah returns the homing device to the Doctor, who tells the Brigadier that he thinks the Pub is bugged. Broton orders the Skarasen to attack and activates the homing device. The Doctor takes the homing device in a jeep to draw it away from the village, but as he gets onto the moor the Jeep brakes down and the homing device attaches itself to him. The Brigadier traces the signal controlling the monster to Lock Ness as Broton commands the massive Skarasen to destroy the Doctor as it bears down on him......
It's time to give a debut to the season 13 & 14 game: Guess which film Robert Holmes is homaging this story. Nearly every story for the next two years owes a debt to some older film, usually a horror or sci fi movie. Here it's Invasion of the Body Snatchers spiced up with the legend of the Loch Ness Monster. Indeed the book of this story was calledDoctor Who & the Loch Ness Monster. Robert Banks-Stewart helps the believability of his monsters by giving them names: Their leader is Broton and the Zygon impersonating Harry is Madra. This makes them, and the other Zygons, individuals straight away. Of the non human Doctor Who races to date only the Menoptera & Optera, original Cybermen, Ice Warriors, Inter Minor officials and Sontarans have been blessed with individual names.
In Revenge I criticised the effect of the planet's surface coming towards the beacon. Two episodes later we get one of the finest effects shots yet seen in the show: The Zygon spaceship sitting under the water. You look at it and it's a perfectly believable shot.
This episode has another bit of Camfield repeat casting: Bernard G. High plays the UNIT Corporal and he was previously a soldier in The Web of Fear.
This story is set in Scotland, around Loch Ness. However the BBC, in their wisdom, decided to film the locations for this story in Sussex instead! The Doctor's visited Scotland five times on the television screen: The Highlanders, Terror of the Zygons, The Hand of Fear (School Reunion says the closing scenes are in Aberdeen), Timelash and Tooth & Claw (plus The Moonbase refers to previous visit to train under Lister in Edinburgh). Yet not once does the production venture north of the border to film! We've been to Wales to film The Abominable Snowmen, The Green Death, The Masque of Mandragora, The Pirate Planet, The Five Doctors and Delta and the Bannermen yet only two of those are set there! Then add in all the Welsh filming for the new series! Come on Doctor Who, address the balance and organise some Scottish location filming soon!
This episode of Doctor Who shed 2.3 million viewers from the previous week (down to 6.1 million from 8.4 million) which is believed due to the arrival of ITV's new science fiction series Space 1999. However the impact was short lived with the next episode returning to 8.2 million and by the end of the season Doctor Who was being watched by more than 11 million people. We'll look at Space 1999 during the next story when one of it's stars shows up in a guest role in Doctor Who.
Thursday, 29 December 2011
402 Terror of the Zygons Part One
EPISODE: Terror of the Zygons Part One
OVERALL EPISODE NUMBER: 402
STORY NUMBER: 080
TRANSMITTED: 30 August 1975
WRITER: Robert Banks-Stewart
DIRECTOR: Douglas Camfield
SCRIPT EDITOR: Robert Holmes
PRODUCER: Philip Hinchcliffe
FORMAT: VHS: Doctor Who Terror of the Zygons
After 32 episodes on DVD we're back on video for this four part story which, because it's not on DVD yet, is one of the main reason I still keep a working video recorder.
At sea an oil rig is destroyed. The Doctor and his companions have arrived in Scotland and hitch a lift on the road, being picked up by His Grace, The Duke of Forghill, who takes them to the Village of Tulloch where UNIT are operating out of the local pub. The Brigadier has been talking with Mr Huckle from the oil firm. On a local beach a survivor from the oil rig is washed up. The Brigadier explains to the Doctor about three oil rigs being destroyed. Radio blackouts occur just before the rigs are destroyed. Sarah speaks to the local pub landlord but their conversation is observed on a monitor screen by alien eyes. Harry finds the survivor on the beach, but both are shot by the Duke's gillie. The Doctor & Sarah are summoned the local infirmary where Harry has been taken as the aliens direct something under the water which attacks another rig. The Doctor examines some of the wreckage and deduces that it has been bitten into by making a plaster cast of from the damage. The aliens observing them decide the Doctor must be destroyed. Harry starts to come round, leading Sarah to summon the Doctor. But as she speaks on the phone one of the aliens appears in the corridor behind her....
Ah that's decent stuff. I criticised Revenge of the Cybermen for bungling their monster reveal but it's done a lot better here with little hints - eyes and hands - before the reveal at the end of the episode. Destroyed oil rigs might make log term fans of the show automatically think Sea Devils, but as we can see it's not them.
Back to the show comes our old friend Douglas Camfield following his heart problems and disagreements with Jon Pertwee on the set of Inferno. Also returning are Nicholas Courtney, as Brigadier Lethbridge Stewart, and John Levene, as Mister Benton, making UNIT's traditional start of the season appearance. On debut here is writer Robert Banks-Stewart, who'd been writing for television since 1959 with Danger Man, The Avengers and Jason King on his CV. He'd go on to create detective dramas Shoestring and Bergerac. Banks-Stewart is the first debut author on Doctor Who since Robert Sloman and Barry Letts wrote the Daemons in 1971. Four seasons of Doctor Who have elapsed since then with the just older authors contributing to the show.
Appearing in this episode only are Hugh Martin, as Munro, who'll be back as a Priest in Vengeance on Varos and Bruce Wightman, as the Radio Operator, who was William de Tornebu in The Crusade and Scott in The Daleks' Master Plan. Yup, another actor that Douglas Camfield likes reusing.
This episode aired the last Saturday in August 1975. The previous Monday, a bank holiday, Tom Baker presented the BBC's Disney Time as The Doctor which included the Doctor being given a message by the Brigadier summoning his assistance.... which he'd already done in the previous story Revenge of the Cybermen.
OVERALL EPISODE NUMBER: 402
STORY NUMBER: 080
TRANSMITTED: 30 August 1975
WRITER: Robert Banks-Stewart
DIRECTOR: Douglas Camfield
SCRIPT EDITOR: Robert Holmes
PRODUCER: Philip Hinchcliffe
FORMAT: VHS: Doctor Who Terror of the Zygons
After 32 episodes on DVD we're back on video for this four part story which, because it's not on DVD yet, is one of the main reason I still keep a working video recorder.
At sea an oil rig is destroyed. The Doctor and his companions have arrived in Scotland and hitch a lift on the road, being picked up by His Grace, The Duke of Forghill, who takes them to the Village of Tulloch where UNIT are operating out of the local pub. The Brigadier has been talking with Mr Huckle from the oil firm. On a local beach a survivor from the oil rig is washed up. The Brigadier explains to the Doctor about three oil rigs being destroyed. Radio blackouts occur just before the rigs are destroyed. Sarah speaks to the local pub landlord but their conversation is observed on a monitor screen by alien eyes. Harry finds the survivor on the beach, but both are shot by the Duke's gillie. The Doctor & Sarah are summoned the local infirmary where Harry has been taken as the aliens direct something under the water which attacks another rig. The Doctor examines some of the wreckage and deduces that it has been bitten into by making a plaster cast of from the damage. The aliens observing them decide the Doctor must be destroyed. Harry starts to come round, leading Sarah to summon the Doctor. But as she speaks on the phone one of the aliens appears in the corridor behind her....
Ah that's decent stuff. I criticised Revenge of the Cybermen for bungling their monster reveal but it's done a lot better here with little hints - eyes and hands - before the reveal at the end of the episode. Destroyed oil rigs might make log term fans of the show automatically think Sea Devils, but as we can see it's not them.
Back to the show comes our old friend Douglas Camfield following his heart problems and disagreements with Jon Pertwee on the set of Inferno. Also returning are Nicholas Courtney, as Brigadier Lethbridge Stewart, and John Levene, as Mister Benton, making UNIT's traditional start of the season appearance. On debut here is writer Robert Banks-Stewart, who'd been writing for television since 1959 with Danger Man, The Avengers and Jason King on his CV. He'd go on to create detective dramas Shoestring and Bergerac. Banks-Stewart is the first debut author on Doctor Who since Robert Sloman and Barry Letts wrote the Daemons in 1971. Four seasons of Doctor Who have elapsed since then with the just older authors contributing to the show.
Appearing in this episode only are Hugh Martin, as Munro, who'll be back as a Priest in Vengeance on Varos and Bruce Wightman, as the Radio Operator, who was William de Tornebu in The Crusade and Scott in The Daleks' Master Plan. Yup, another actor that Douglas Camfield likes reusing.
This episode aired the last Saturday in August 1975. The previous Monday, a bank holiday, Tom Baker presented the BBC's Disney Time as The Doctor which included the Doctor being given a message by the Brigadier summoning his assistance.... which he'd already done in the previous story Revenge of the Cybermen.
Wednesday, 28 December 2011
401 Revenge of the Cybermen Part Four
EPISODE: Revenge of the Cybermen Part Four
OVERALL EPISODE NUMBER: 401
STORY NUMBER: 079
TRANSMITTED: 10 May 1975
WRITER: Gerry Davis
DIRECTOR: Michael Briant
SCRIPT EDITOR: Robert Holmes
PRODUCER: Philip Hinchcliffe
FORMAT: DVD: Doctor Who - The Cybermen Box Set (Revenge of the Cybermen & Silver Nemesis)
Lester stops Harry from removing the bomb harness. Harry explains what has happened. Stevens continues on the planned course while The Doctor, Harry & Lester attack the Cybermen in the caves with gold. Vorus & Tyrum argue over Vorus' actions. The Doctor's attack goes wrong and Lester is killed destroying the Cybermen with his bomb. The Doctor turns off the Cybermen's monitoring device. They attempt to set off the bombs remotely but Sarah interrupts them, getting herself captured. However the detonation is prevented by the Doctor's sabotage. The Doctor confers with the Vogan leaders and decides to transmat back to the station to deal with the Cybermen and rescue Sarah. The Cybermen set the Beacon on a course to collide with Voga, loading it with bombs and preparing to leave on their spaceship. The Doctor uses the Cybermat to attack the Cybermen with gold. Vorus, worried by the station's movement, launches the rocket early and is gunned down by the other Vogans. The Doctor & Sarah are captured by the Cybermen and tied up in the Beacon's control room powerless to do anything. The Cybermen leave as the Beacon moves towards Voga. The Doctor & Sarah escape their bonds and get the Vogans to divert the rocket towards the Cybership which is destroyed. The Doctor wrestles with the Ark's controls preventing it from hitting Voga. The Tardis arrives at the Ark as Harry returns by Transmat, but they all leave quickly as The Doctor finds a message from the Brigadier summoning him back to Earth ....
As "bonkers Cyberman plans" go, Revenge is nearly sensible. Capture the beacon, Transmat the humans to Voga carrying the bombs and blow them up. You're guessing they us the humans to avoid getting killed by the gold. Except they then send two Cybermen down anyway who the Doctor promptly attacks with the gold. No matter, we'll load the beacon with explosives and crash it into Voga. Well if you've that much explosive why not just transmat it down and blow the planet up from there? Except, as Lester's sacrifice shows, the Cyberbombs may not be all they're cracked up to be. You have to assume Kellmen, an exographer, had found some weak spot in Voga the Cybermen where the planets weak..... and now we're peering at the details the cracks are beginning to show. Still it's a bit more solid than Vorus' plan to blow the Cybermen up with a rocket he's only finishing as they show up! One truely dodgy special effects sequence in this episode involved Voga's planet surface on a roller being spun round in front of the camera. Unfortunately the roller is a bit small making the effect look very poor! Other than that it's not a bad episode with a nice bit of action and tension and far more Cybermen than I remember there being.....
.... which is a good thing really as we now bid farewell to the Cybermen, who we'd not seen for six and a bit year, for nearly another SEVEN. This episode was shown on 10 May 1975 and, barring an aborted cameo in Shada and a flashback in Logopolis, they wouldn't be seen till 09 March 1982 when they made their surprise comeback. In fact during the entire rest of Tom Baker's reign there's only two returning monster stories: The Sontarans in the Time Warrior and the Daleks in Destiny of the Daleks. Include the Master's appearances and this number rises, but he's more of a villain than a monster and two of those are right at the end of the fourth Doctor's reign. The majority of this period is done without any resort to the show's back catalogue of monsters, though we do get to see the Time Lords on a more regular basis.
We also good bye now, this time permanently, to Gerry Davis, co-creator of the Cybermen and former Doctor who script editor for the last year of the first Doctor and first year of the second. In the 1980s he worked in America, including collaborating on an attempt with Terry Nation on a bid to take over production of Doctor Who. He died on 31 August 1991.
Revenge of the Cybermen also marks the end of the shortest season (so far) in Doctor Who's history at 20 episodes, beating the 25 episodes for Seasons 7 & 8. Even if Terror of the Zygons, recorded at the end of season 12 but eventually shown at the start of season 13, had been shown with season 12 it would have only been 24 episodes long. As it was the practice of holding a story over to the start of the next season was commonplace in the early seventies. The short season here enabled filming to resume earlier than usual in the summer of 1975 and for the show to return not in January 1976 but in September 1975, giving that year 35 episodes of Doctor Who, the most since 1968.
OVERALL EPISODE NUMBER: 401
STORY NUMBER: 079
TRANSMITTED: 10 May 1975
WRITER: Gerry Davis
DIRECTOR: Michael Briant
SCRIPT EDITOR: Robert Holmes
PRODUCER: Philip Hinchcliffe
FORMAT: DVD: Doctor Who - The Cybermen Box Set (Revenge of the Cybermen & Silver Nemesis)
Lester stops Harry from removing the bomb harness. Harry explains what has happened. Stevens continues on the planned course while The Doctor, Harry & Lester attack the Cybermen in the caves with gold. Vorus & Tyrum argue over Vorus' actions. The Doctor's attack goes wrong and Lester is killed destroying the Cybermen with his bomb. The Doctor turns off the Cybermen's monitoring device. They attempt to set off the bombs remotely but Sarah interrupts them, getting herself captured. However the detonation is prevented by the Doctor's sabotage. The Doctor confers with the Vogan leaders and decides to transmat back to the station to deal with the Cybermen and rescue Sarah. The Cybermen set the Beacon on a course to collide with Voga, loading it with bombs and preparing to leave on their spaceship. The Doctor uses the Cybermat to attack the Cybermen with gold. Vorus, worried by the station's movement, launches the rocket early and is gunned down by the other Vogans. The Doctor & Sarah are captured by the Cybermen and tied up in the Beacon's control room powerless to do anything. The Cybermen leave as the Beacon moves towards Voga. The Doctor & Sarah escape their bonds and get the Vogans to divert the rocket towards the Cybership which is destroyed. The Doctor wrestles with the Ark's controls preventing it from hitting Voga. The Tardis arrives at the Ark as Harry returns by Transmat, but they all leave quickly as The Doctor finds a message from the Brigadier summoning him back to Earth ....
As "bonkers Cyberman plans" go, Revenge is nearly sensible. Capture the beacon, Transmat the humans to Voga carrying the bombs and blow them up. You're guessing they us the humans to avoid getting killed by the gold. Except they then send two Cybermen down anyway who the Doctor promptly attacks with the gold. No matter, we'll load the beacon with explosives and crash it into Voga. Well if you've that much explosive why not just transmat it down and blow the planet up from there? Except, as Lester's sacrifice shows, the Cyberbombs may not be all they're cracked up to be. You have to assume Kellmen, an exographer, had found some weak spot in Voga the Cybermen where the planets weak..... and now we're peering at the details the cracks are beginning to show. Still it's a bit more solid than Vorus' plan to blow the Cybermen up with a rocket he's only finishing as they show up! One truely dodgy special effects sequence in this episode involved Voga's planet surface on a roller being spun round in front of the camera. Unfortunately the roller is a bit small making the effect look very poor! Other than that it's not a bad episode with a nice bit of action and tension and far more Cybermen than I remember there being.....
.... which is a good thing really as we now bid farewell to the Cybermen, who we'd not seen for six and a bit year, for nearly another SEVEN. This episode was shown on 10 May 1975 and, barring an aborted cameo in Shada and a flashback in Logopolis, they wouldn't be seen till 09 March 1982 when they made their surprise comeback. In fact during the entire rest of Tom Baker's reign there's only two returning monster stories: The Sontarans in the Time Warrior and the Daleks in Destiny of the Daleks. Include the Master's appearances and this number rises, but he's more of a villain than a monster and two of those are right at the end of the fourth Doctor's reign. The majority of this period is done without any resort to the show's back catalogue of monsters, though we do get to see the Time Lords on a more regular basis.
We also good bye now, this time permanently, to Gerry Davis, co-creator of the Cybermen and former Doctor who script editor for the last year of the first Doctor and first year of the second. In the 1980s he worked in America, including collaborating on an attempt with Terry Nation on a bid to take over production of Doctor Who. He died on 31 August 1991.
Revenge of the Cybermen also marks the end of the shortest season (so far) in Doctor Who's history at 20 episodes, beating the 25 episodes for Seasons 7 & 8. Even if Terror of the Zygons, recorded at the end of season 12 but eventually shown at the start of season 13, had been shown with season 12 it would have only been 24 episodes long. As it was the practice of holding a story over to the start of the next season was commonplace in the early seventies. The short season here enabled filming to resume earlier than usual in the summer of 1975 and for the show to return not in January 1976 but in September 1975, giving that year 35 episodes of Doctor Who, the most since 1968.
| YEAR | # EPISODES |
| 1963 | 6 |
| 1964 | 45 |
| 1965 | 46 |
| 1966 | 46 |
| 1967 | 44 |
| 1968 | 41 |
| 1969 | 25 |
| 1970 | 25 |
| 1971 | 25 |
| 1972 | 27 |
| 1973 | 28 |
| 1974 | 24 |
| 1975 | 35 |
| 1976 | 22 |
| 1977 | 30 |
| 1978 | 28 |
| 1979 | 26 |
| 1980 | 18 |
| 1981 | 12 |
| 1982 | 26 |
| 1983 | 23 |
| 1984 | 24 |
| 1985 | 13 |
| 1986 | 14 |
| 1987 | 14 |
| 1988 | 13 |
| 1989 | 15 |
Tuesday, 27 December 2011
400 Revenge of the Cybermen Part Three
EPISODE: Revenge of the Cybermen Part Three
OVERALL EPISODE NUMBER: 400
STORY NUMBER: 079
TRANSMITTED: 03 May 1975
WRITER: Gerry Davis
DIRECTOR: Michael Briant
SCRIPT EDITOR: Robert Holmes
PRODUCER: Philip Hinchcliffe
FORMAT: DVD: Doctor Who - The Cybermen Box Set
Episode 400? Wow.
Sarah & Harry are taken to Tyrum. Kellman briefs the Cybermen on Voga. He goes to Voga, ostensibly to check the Transmat is working. The Cybermen intend to destroy Voga so Stevens, Lester & The Doctor are sent to Voga by Transmat with powerful Cyberbombs strapped to them. Kellman attempts to find Vorus but is captured by Tyrum's men. The Cybermen escorting the Doctor & the humans are attacked by Vogans. Kellman tells Tyrum of Vorus' plan to launch a rocket at the beacon destroying the remaining Cybermen. The Cybermen move through the caves killing any Vogan they find as the Doctor & the humans move towards their target. Sarah goes transmats back to the beacon to warn the Doctor. Vorus prepares to launch his Skystriker rocket at the beacon but fears he has run out of time now the Cybermen have arrived with their bombs. Harry & Kellman attempt to find the Doctor & his party but cause a cave in killing Kellman and knocking the bomb carriers out. Harry attempts to free The Doctor from his bomb harness little knowing that the harness is booby trapped......
There aren't that many Cybermen in this episode but you get an idea of how powerful they're meant to be as the two on Voga move through the caves seemingly impervious to everything the Vogans throw at them. Where's the so called Glitter Guns that we hear about during this episode? Given that the Cybermen have showed up you'd expect them to be armed with an appropriate weapon quick enough. Meanwhile the Cybermen coerce someone into doing their dirty work for them sending the Doctor, Stevens & Lester off to Voga strapped into booby trapped bombs. That's not going to end well. The idea that the Cybermen have been lured here by the ability to destroy a threat to them but it actually being a trap to destroy the Cybermen appeals to me. There's a couple of lovely touches with the transmat in this episode as the Doctor beams down playing with a yoyo and Sarah's doing something with her hands, actions that are continued from departure to destination giving a continuity even though one point was shot in studio and the other on location some weeks apart.
Location filming for this story was conducted at Wookey Hole in Somerset (itself an actual location in the Doctor Who New Adventure novel Blood Heat) between the 18th-21st November 1974. The filming there was plagued by accidents@ an electrician broke his leg, Elisabeth Sladen's motorboat went out of control throwing her into the water where she nearly drowned and the stuntmen who rescued her was injured getting her out of the water. Some members of the cast & crew attributed the incidents to a local curse but in reality most of the incidents can be ascribed to the small amount of air in the caves being consumed by a larger than usual number of people.
The location filming for this story has been homaged by The League of Gentlemen in the fifth episode of their first television series. Mark Gatiss, a future Doctor Who writer and actor, plays a cave guide in the fictional Stump Hole Cavern and at one point says
OVERALL EPISODE NUMBER: 400
STORY NUMBER: 079
TRANSMITTED: 03 May 1975
WRITER: Gerry Davis
DIRECTOR: Michael Briant
SCRIPT EDITOR: Robert Holmes
PRODUCER: Philip Hinchcliffe
FORMAT: DVD: Doctor Who - The Cybermen Box Set
Episode 400? Wow.
Sarah & Harry are taken to Tyrum. Kellman briefs the Cybermen on Voga. He goes to Voga, ostensibly to check the Transmat is working. The Cybermen intend to destroy Voga so Stevens, Lester & The Doctor are sent to Voga by Transmat with powerful Cyberbombs strapped to them. Kellman attempts to find Vorus but is captured by Tyrum's men. The Cybermen escorting the Doctor & the humans are attacked by Vogans. Kellman tells Tyrum of Vorus' plan to launch a rocket at the beacon destroying the remaining Cybermen. The Cybermen move through the caves killing any Vogan they find as the Doctor & the humans move towards their target. Sarah goes transmats back to the beacon to warn the Doctor. Vorus prepares to launch his Skystriker rocket at the beacon but fears he has run out of time now the Cybermen have arrived with their bombs. Harry & Kellman attempt to find the Doctor & his party but cause a cave in killing Kellman and knocking the bomb carriers out. Harry attempts to free The Doctor from his bomb harness little knowing that the harness is booby trapped......
There aren't that many Cybermen in this episode but you get an idea of how powerful they're meant to be as the two on Voga move through the caves seemingly impervious to everything the Vogans throw at them. Where's the so called Glitter Guns that we hear about during this episode? Given that the Cybermen have showed up you'd expect them to be armed with an appropriate weapon quick enough. Meanwhile the Cybermen coerce someone into doing their dirty work for them sending the Doctor, Stevens & Lester off to Voga strapped into booby trapped bombs. That's not going to end well. The idea that the Cybermen have been lured here by the ability to destroy a threat to them but it actually being a trap to destroy the Cybermen appeals to me. There's a couple of lovely touches with the transmat in this episode as the Doctor beams down playing with a yoyo and Sarah's doing something with her hands, actions that are continued from departure to destination giving a continuity even though one point was shot in studio and the other on location some weeks apart.
Location filming for this story was conducted at Wookey Hole in Somerset (itself an actual location in the Doctor Who New Adventure novel Blood Heat) between the 18th-21st November 1974. The filming there was plagued by accidents@ an electrician broke his leg, Elisabeth Sladen's motorboat went out of control throwing her into the water where she nearly drowned and the stuntmen who rescued her was injured getting her out of the water. Some members of the cast & crew attributed the incidents to a local curse but in reality most of the incidents can be ascribed to the small amount of air in the caves being consumed by a larger than usual number of people.
The location filming for this story has been homaged by The League of Gentlemen in the fifth episode of their first television series. Mark Gatiss, a future Doctor Who writer and actor, plays a cave guide in the fictional Stump Hole Cavern and at one point says
This particular cavern might be familiar from it’s countless appearances on the small screen. In 1974 you couldn’t move down here for Cyber Men. In fact, in an amusing incident, Tom Baker sprained his ankle on that rock there…A live version of this sketch can be found on YouTube but I'd suggest you don't watch it at work.
Monday, 26 December 2011
399 Revenge of the Cybermen Part Two
EPISODE: Revenge of the Cybermen Part Two
OVERALL EPISODE NUMBER: 399
STORY NUMBER: 079
TRANSMITTED: 26 April 1975
WRITER: Gerry Davis
DIRECTOR: Michael Briant
SCRIPT EDITOR: Robert Holmes
PRODUCER: Philip Hinchcliffe
FORMAT: DVD: Doctor Who - The Cybermen Box Set
The Doctor escapes from the room and hearing Sarah's scrams rushes to the crew room where he finds her having been bitten by a Cybermat. The Doctor & Harry take her to the Transmat to use it to purge the poison from her system but they find the pentallion drive removed and the Transmat not functioning, concluding Kellman is responsible and working for the Cybermen. The Doctor jury rigs a replacement circuit while Stevens & Lester go to arrest Kellman who is now armed. Sarah & Harry are transmatted to Voga but the circuit explodes stranding them there. Harry finds gold, which is abundant on the planet, but his curiosity gets them into trouble when they are found and captured by the Vogans. Lester & Stevens capture & disarm Kellman. The Doctor explains to Lester & Stevens that the Cybermen are allergic to gold because it clogs their breathing apparatus. The Doctor threatens Kellman with the Cybermat as the Cybermen approach the station. Harry & Sarah are taken to Vorus who seems to know a lot about what has been happening on the beacon and tells them only four humans were meant to be left alive. Vorus is summoned by councillor Tyrum. Kellman tells the Doctor where the missing pentallion drive is. Tyrum sends his militia into the gold mines to relieve Vorus' guardians under protest from Vorus. Fighting breaks out between the two factions. The Doctor reactivates the transmat but using it fails to return Sarah & Harry who escape from their gold chains and are taken to Tyrum. The Cybership nears the station and docks. Stevens, Lester & The Doctor attempt to stop them but the Cybermen open fire and all three are gunned down!
It takes a while for the Cybermen to properly show up in this story. They pop up here and there through the first two episodes but don't get to interact with anyone else until the end of the episode when they storm the beacon. So half way through the story and effectively they've only just showed up. For a monster that I've not seen for six years I'd be wanting a bit more a bit sooner. Gerry Davies, who's been busy writing Doomwatch since his last Doctor Who (1967's The Tomb of the Cybermen), has used this structure with the Cybermen before: They're not fully revealed in either The Moonbase or Tomb of the Cybermen till the end of the second episode. As we've said this is the first proper Cybermen story for six and half years, although they had brief cameos in The War Games, Mind of Evil & Carnival of Monsters. As is traditional for the Cybermen they've had a redesign. Essentially these Cybermen are the Invasion version wearing the Moonbase/Tomb chest units with cabling on the limbs replaced by ribbed vacuum cleaner hose which also surrounds the tubes projecting from the head. For the first time we get a designated Cyberleader, who has a black helmet with a silver face plate. These Cybermen are allergic to gold, which apparently clogs their breathing apparatus..... which is a little strange since we saw Cybermen operating in a vacuum in The Moonbase & Wheel in Space so I would have thought that they didn't need to breather. The gold allergy joins a lengthy list of Cyber weaknesses which also includes radiation, gravity, plastic solvents and emotions.
Neither of the Cybermen with their names listed in speaking roles have played the monsters before but both have been in Doctor Who previously. The Cyberleader, Christopher Robbie was in the Mind Robber as the Karkus while the credited Cyberman Melville Jones was a guard in The Time Monster.
Onto the Vogan cast members in this story: Playing Vorus is David Collings on his Doctor Who debut. He'll return as Poul in The Robots of Death (directed by Michael Briant) and Mawdryn in Mawdryn Undead. He's best known to telefantasy fans for playing Silver in Sapphire & Steel. His rocket scientist Magrik is played by Michael Wisher who we've just seen in Genesis of the Daleks as Davros although the story was recorded after Revenge of the Cybermen. See Genesis of the Daleks episode 2 for a complete list of his Doctor Who roles. Vogan Elder Tyrum is a final Doctor Who role for Kevin Stoney who was Mavic Chen in The Daleks' Master Plan and Tobias Vaughan in The Invasion, both directed by Douglas Camfield. In 1984 his death was erroneously reported by fan publication Doctor Who Bulletin so it was a great shock to fans when he appeared on stage at a 1987 convention! He eventually passed away in 2008, aged 86, after a long battle with skin cancer. Brian Grellis is Sheprah and we'll see him again as Safran in The Invisible Enemy and the Megaphone Man in Snakedance.
OVERALL EPISODE NUMBER: 399
STORY NUMBER: 079
TRANSMITTED: 26 April 1975
WRITER: Gerry Davis
DIRECTOR: Michael Briant
SCRIPT EDITOR: Robert Holmes
PRODUCER: Philip Hinchcliffe
FORMAT: DVD: Doctor Who - The Cybermen Box Set
The Doctor escapes from the room and hearing Sarah's scrams rushes to the crew room where he finds her having been bitten by a Cybermat. The Doctor & Harry take her to the Transmat to use it to purge the poison from her system but they find the pentallion drive removed and the Transmat not functioning, concluding Kellman is responsible and working for the Cybermen. The Doctor jury rigs a replacement circuit while Stevens & Lester go to arrest Kellman who is now armed. Sarah & Harry are transmatted to Voga but the circuit explodes stranding them there. Harry finds gold, which is abundant on the planet, but his curiosity gets them into trouble when they are found and captured by the Vogans. Lester & Stevens capture & disarm Kellman. The Doctor explains to Lester & Stevens that the Cybermen are allergic to gold because it clogs their breathing apparatus. The Doctor threatens Kellman with the Cybermat as the Cybermen approach the station. Harry & Sarah are taken to Vorus who seems to know a lot about what has been happening on the beacon and tells them only four humans were meant to be left alive. Vorus is summoned by councillor Tyrum. Kellman tells the Doctor where the missing pentallion drive is. Tyrum sends his militia into the gold mines to relieve Vorus' guardians under protest from Vorus. Fighting breaks out between the two factions. The Doctor reactivates the transmat but using it fails to return Sarah & Harry who escape from their gold chains and are taken to Tyrum. The Cybership nears the station and docks. Stevens, Lester & The Doctor attempt to stop them but the Cybermen open fire and all three are gunned down!
It takes a while for the Cybermen to properly show up in this story. They pop up here and there through the first two episodes but don't get to interact with anyone else until the end of the episode when they storm the beacon. So half way through the story and effectively they've only just showed up. For a monster that I've not seen for six years I'd be wanting a bit more a bit sooner. Gerry Davies, who's been busy writing Doomwatch since his last Doctor Who (1967's The Tomb of the Cybermen), has used this structure with the Cybermen before: They're not fully revealed in either The Moonbase or Tomb of the Cybermen till the end of the second episode. As we've said this is the first proper Cybermen story for six and half years, although they had brief cameos in The War Games, Mind of Evil & Carnival of Monsters. As is traditional for the Cybermen they've had a redesign. Essentially these Cybermen are the Invasion version wearing the Moonbase/Tomb chest units with cabling on the limbs replaced by ribbed vacuum cleaner hose which also surrounds the tubes projecting from the head. For the first time we get a designated Cyberleader, who has a black helmet with a silver face plate. These Cybermen are allergic to gold, which apparently clogs their breathing apparatus..... which is a little strange since we saw Cybermen operating in a vacuum in The Moonbase & Wheel in Space so I would have thought that they didn't need to breather. The gold allergy joins a lengthy list of Cyber weaknesses which also includes radiation, gravity, plastic solvents and emotions.
Neither of the Cybermen with their names listed in speaking roles have played the monsters before but both have been in Doctor Who previously. The Cyberleader, Christopher Robbie was in the Mind Robber as the Karkus while the credited Cyberman Melville Jones was a guard in The Time Monster.
Onto the Vogan cast members in this story: Playing Vorus is David Collings on his Doctor Who debut. He'll return as Poul in The Robots of Death (directed by Michael Briant) and Mawdryn in Mawdryn Undead. He's best known to telefantasy fans for playing Silver in Sapphire & Steel. His rocket scientist Magrik is played by Michael Wisher who we've just seen in Genesis of the Daleks as Davros although the story was recorded after Revenge of the Cybermen. See Genesis of the Daleks episode 2 for a complete list of his Doctor Who roles. Vogan Elder Tyrum is a final Doctor Who role for Kevin Stoney who was Mavic Chen in The Daleks' Master Plan and Tobias Vaughan in The Invasion, both directed by Douglas Camfield. In 1984 his death was erroneously reported by fan publication Doctor Who Bulletin so it was a great shock to fans when he appeared on stage at a 1987 convention! He eventually passed away in 2008, aged 86, after a long battle with skin cancer. Brian Grellis is Sheprah and we'll see him again as Safran in The Invisible Enemy and the Megaphone Man in Snakedance.
Sunday, 25 December 2011
398 Revenge of the Cybermen Part One
EPISODE: Revenge of the Cybermen Part One
OVERALL EPISODE NUMBER: 398
STORY NUMBER: 079
TRANSMITTED: 19 April 1975
WRITER: Gerry Davis
DIRECTOR: Michael Briant
SCRIPT EDITOR: Robert Holmes
PRODUCER: Philip Hinchcliffe
FORMAT: DVD: Doctor Who - The Cybermen Box Set
The Doctor, Sarah & Harry materialise on Nerva Beacon, with the time ring that brought them there vanishing. They immediately find a number of dead bodies left where they had fallen. In a control room beacon operator Warner wards a spaceship away due to a plague infection. A request for information is referred to Commander Stevens who tells Warner to lie. The civilian on the station Professor Kellman questions how much longer Stevens can run the station with just him, Warner & Lester left alive. The Doctor explains to Sarah & Harry they've arrived in an earlier point in the Ark's history when it was still a navigational beacon. Unseen by then a silver creature moves between the bodies. Warner picks up an alien transmission. He thinks it may have come from the Asteroid Voga that they orbit but Kellman insists Voga is lifeless. The Doctor unlocks the door unsealing the section they were in which alerts Warner. Lester & Stevens investigate. On Voga the body of the being making the transmission is taken to Vorus, a Vogan leader, who is planning something with Magrik. Magrik fears the Cybermen may be monitoring them. Warner is attacked by the silver creature and a network of red lines grows on his face. Kellman seizes the recording Warner made, but is disturbed by the Doctor's party arriving next door. They are apprehended by Stevens & Lester, and Kellman shows them Warner. Kellman wants them killed as plague carriers. Kellman monitors the Doctor & Stevens: The Doctor is convinced it's not a plague and wonders about the missing tape. Lester tells them that this is the 79 day of the plague and the station has been isolated during this time. The Doctor recognises the name Voga as the planet of gold that was a key player in the war with the Cybermen. Kellman contacts his allies by a concealed radio: The Cybermen direct their ship towards the station. Harry finds puncture marks on Warner's body and the Doctor begins to suspect what has caused the plague. He visits Kellman's room and searches it discovering the monitoring device & transmitter, but is forced to hide when Kellman returns setting a trap electrifying the floor causing smoke to fill the room. As Sarah waits for the Doctor's return she is attacked by the silver creature which bites her neck......
Huzzah, at long last over six years after their last appearance the Cybermen are back. Unfortunately the story mucks their reveal up something chronic. Yes, I know they're in the title but.. They get name checked by the Vogans before they are shown, and then the reveal is three of them standing around in their spaceship. A little wasted perhaps, no big end of episode reveal as they crash through the airlock. Once you know that the Cybermen are involved the rest of the story elements fall into place: The silver creature is some form of Cybermat (Tomb of the Cybermen, Wheel in Space) and the virus is similar to that used in the Moonbase. However since all three stories were by some distance in the past reusing them is perfectly fine. And, once you remove the botched Cyberman reveal, so is this episode.
Warner shuffles off this mortal coil during this episode so we probably aught to talk about the actor who plays him now, Alec Wallis, who was previously Leading Telegraphist Bowman in The Sea Devils which, like Revenge of the Cybermen, was directed by Michael Briant. We'll do the rest of the beacon's crew now while we're on the subject. Ronald Leigh-Hunt plays Commander Stevenson and we saw him as Commander Radnor in The Seeds of Death. William Marlowe play Lester. He was previously criminal Harry Mailer in The Mind of Evil. Many publications claim he was married to another performer in that story, Fernanda Marlowe, purely on the basis that they share the same surname but this isn't the case. He was married to Catherine Schell (Countess Scarlioni in City of Death) at the time both of his Who appearances were filmed but later married Roger Delgado's widow Kismet. Jeremy Wilkin, playing Kellman, is the only member of the cast with no other Doctor Who appearances to his name. However he was the voice of Virgil Tracy in the second series of Thunderbirds, Captain Ochre & the original Captain Black in Captain Scarlet and was in the very first episode of Blake's 7, The Way Back, as Dev Tarrant.
Lester is a bit trusting isn't he: 2 minutes after meeting the Doctor & friends, with air of suspicion still surrounding them he gives Sarah his gun! And yes, your eyes are not deceiving you, the thing hanging in the back of Vorus' rooms is what will later become known as the Seal of the High Council of the Time Lords. Designer Roger Murray-Leach worked on this story and the Deadly Assassin where he reused the design in the Gallifreyan Capitol giving it the association it's had ever since. Revenge of the Cybermen reuses several sets from Ark in Space, notably the corridor contained in the beacon's ring and the transmat room. The stories were filmed back to back, with Sontaran Experiment preceding them and Genesis of the Daleks following, to allow this to happen.
Four days after this episode aired, on 23rd April 1975, William Hartnell died. He'd been suffering from arteriosclerosis for a number of years, then had a number of strokes during the early part of 1975 and died peacefully in his sleep of heart failure on 23 April 1975.
OVERALL EPISODE NUMBER: 398
STORY NUMBER: 079
TRANSMITTED: 19 April 1975
WRITER: Gerry Davis
DIRECTOR: Michael Briant
SCRIPT EDITOR: Robert Holmes
PRODUCER: Philip Hinchcliffe
FORMAT: DVD: Doctor Who - The Cybermen Box Set
The Doctor, Sarah & Harry materialise on Nerva Beacon, with the time ring that brought them there vanishing. They immediately find a number of dead bodies left where they had fallen. In a control room beacon operator Warner wards a spaceship away due to a plague infection. A request for information is referred to Commander Stevens who tells Warner to lie. The civilian on the station Professor Kellman questions how much longer Stevens can run the station with just him, Warner & Lester left alive. The Doctor explains to Sarah & Harry they've arrived in an earlier point in the Ark's history when it was still a navigational beacon. Unseen by then a silver creature moves between the bodies. Warner picks up an alien transmission. He thinks it may have come from the Asteroid Voga that they orbit but Kellman insists Voga is lifeless. The Doctor unlocks the door unsealing the section they were in which alerts Warner. Lester & Stevens investigate. On Voga the body of the being making the transmission is taken to Vorus, a Vogan leader, who is planning something with Magrik. Magrik fears the Cybermen may be monitoring them. Warner is attacked by the silver creature and a network of red lines grows on his face. Kellman seizes the recording Warner made, but is disturbed by the Doctor's party arriving next door. They are apprehended by Stevens & Lester, and Kellman shows them Warner. Kellman wants them killed as plague carriers. Kellman monitors the Doctor & Stevens: The Doctor is convinced it's not a plague and wonders about the missing tape. Lester tells them that this is the 79 day of the plague and the station has been isolated during this time. The Doctor recognises the name Voga as the planet of gold that was a key player in the war with the Cybermen. Kellman contacts his allies by a concealed radio: The Cybermen direct their ship towards the station. Harry finds puncture marks on Warner's body and the Doctor begins to suspect what has caused the plague. He visits Kellman's room and searches it discovering the monitoring device & transmitter, but is forced to hide when Kellman returns setting a trap electrifying the floor causing smoke to fill the room. As Sarah waits for the Doctor's return she is attacked by the silver creature which bites her neck......
Huzzah, at long last over six years after their last appearance the Cybermen are back. Unfortunately the story mucks their reveal up something chronic. Yes, I know they're in the title but.. They get name checked by the Vogans before they are shown, and then the reveal is three of them standing around in their spaceship. A little wasted perhaps, no big end of episode reveal as they crash through the airlock. Once you know that the Cybermen are involved the rest of the story elements fall into place: The silver creature is some form of Cybermat (Tomb of the Cybermen, Wheel in Space) and the virus is similar to that used in the Moonbase. However since all three stories were by some distance in the past reusing them is perfectly fine. And, once you remove the botched Cyberman reveal, so is this episode.
Warner shuffles off this mortal coil during this episode so we probably aught to talk about the actor who plays him now, Alec Wallis, who was previously Leading Telegraphist Bowman in The Sea Devils which, like Revenge of the Cybermen, was directed by Michael Briant. We'll do the rest of the beacon's crew now while we're on the subject. Ronald Leigh-Hunt plays Commander Stevenson and we saw him as Commander Radnor in The Seeds of Death. William Marlowe play Lester. He was previously criminal Harry Mailer in The Mind of Evil. Many publications claim he was married to another performer in that story, Fernanda Marlowe, purely on the basis that they share the same surname but this isn't the case. He was married to Catherine Schell (Countess Scarlioni in City of Death) at the time both of his Who appearances were filmed but later married Roger Delgado's widow Kismet. Jeremy Wilkin, playing Kellman, is the only member of the cast with no other Doctor Who appearances to his name. However he was the voice of Virgil Tracy in the second series of Thunderbirds, Captain Ochre & the original Captain Black in Captain Scarlet and was in the very first episode of Blake's 7, The Way Back, as Dev Tarrant.
Lester is a bit trusting isn't he: 2 minutes after meeting the Doctor & friends, with air of suspicion still surrounding them he gives Sarah his gun! And yes, your eyes are not deceiving you, the thing hanging in the back of Vorus' rooms is what will later become known as the Seal of the High Council of the Time Lords. Designer Roger Murray-Leach worked on this story and the Deadly Assassin where he reused the design in the Gallifreyan Capitol giving it the association it's had ever since. Revenge of the Cybermen reuses several sets from Ark in Space, notably the corridor contained in the beacon's ring and the transmat room. The stories were filmed back to back, with Sontaran Experiment preceding them and Genesis of the Daleks following, to allow this to happen.
Four days after this episode aired, on 23rd April 1975, William Hartnell died. He'd been suffering from arteriosclerosis for a number of years, then had a number of strokes during the early part of 1975 and died peacefully in his sleep of heart failure on 23 April 1975.
Saturday, 24 December 2011
397 Genesis of the Daleks Part Six
EPISODE: Genesis of the Daleks Part Six
OVERALL EPISODE NUMBER: 397
STORY NUMBER: 078
TRANSMITTED: 12 April 1975
WRITER: Terry Nation
DIRECTOR: David Maloney
SCRIPT EDITOR: Robert Holmes
PRODUCER: Philip Hinchcliffe
FORMAT: DVD: Doctor Who - Genesis of the Daleks
Sarah & Harry save the Doctor from the Dalek mutant but as he stands ready to blow the incubator room up he's unsure of his actions:
As usual the last episode of the story ramps the action up a bit with a few exterminations and a couple of nice explosions but first we get the Doctor's debate as to if she destroy the Daleks: Davros wants the ultimate power, here the Doctor does his best to refuse it. Oddly when the Dalek destroys the Incubation room later the Doctor almost downplays the significance. Then there's Davros learning that valuable lesson that so many Doctor Who characters have: Never trust the Daleks. His creations turn on him and he ends up pleading for them to use one of the very traits that he himself ordered eliminated from their makeup. He's been one of the very best Doctor villains and, like his creations, has been comprehensibly destroyed on his first appearance. The Daleks were back a little under a year after their first appearance but it takes Davros slightly longer to return. Many think he never should have and would have preferred him confined to just this one appearance as the Daleks seem weaker with him in later stories. Maybe that then is the true outcome of the Doctor's mission: he's somehow caused Davros' survival, perhaps warning him during that recorded session of the Daleks' history of treachery, and Davros' presence in the future disrupts the Daleks and dilutes their effectiveness.
You have to laugh at the time ring getting lost in the corridor: It's an old fashioned Terry Nation "this has happened to the Tardis to keep the heroes trapped here" plot line :-)
One last returning cast member for us to consider: John Gleeson, the speaking Thal Soldier, will return as Charles Winlett in The Seeds of Doom in just under a year. The Daleks & Davros however would have to wait much longer: They wouldn't be back until September 1979's Destiny of the Daleks. But the next story sees the return of a monster that's been absent from the show, bar brief cameos, for over six years!
Genesis of the Daleks is something special, not just because it's really Doctor Who's only go at an origin story for one of it's monsters. It's a superb tale from start to finish, darker than most with possibly the best villain the show has ever seen. I'd argue that it'd not a particularly good Dalek story though as the creatures themselves are hardly in it and for much of the time are reduced to mindless shock troops in Davros' hands (hand?) till they take charge of their destiny in the closing moments of the story. It's highly thought of by Doctor Who fans but I suspect the one of the reasons it's not exhorted as "the best Doctor Who story" is our over familiarity with it. It's been repeated FOUR times by the terrestrial BBC:
It seems almost every time the BBC do a repeat run that Genesis is what they reach for leading to a little bit of "oh know, not Genesis again, why aren't they repeating Invasion of the Blagblasters?" But it's Tom Baker, arguably the most popular classic Doctor Who, Sarah Jane Smith, arguably the best companion, Davros, arguably the best villain the series has had and The Daleks who are by someway the best monsters.
And we continue to lap Genesis of the Daleks up even if it's not on the television. Terrance Dicks' 1976 novelization is reputed to be the best selling Target book. It's the only Doctor Who story to have a record released of it's soundtrack - I played the cassette version over and over as a child - and it's since been re-released on CD several times. It was initially released on video as a double pack with The Sontaran Experiment in October 1991 (alongside the Deadly Assassin) then resurfaced in a WHSmiths exclusive boxset alongside Davros' other appearances in Destiny of the Daleks, Resurrection of the Daleks, Revalation of the Daleks & Remembrance of the Daleks. The BBC isn't keen on releasing DVD sales figures that often but up to December 2007 the Doctor Who - Genesis of the Daleks DVD had sold 81,000 copies since it's release on April 26th 2006. By comparison The Five Doctors, released in 1999, had sold 61,000 copies in the eight years to the same date. Genesis of the Daleks was re-released in Doctor Who : The Davros Collection DVD set, again containing all five of Davros' on screen appearances but also including the Big Finish stories he features in.
OVERALL EPISODE NUMBER: 397
STORY NUMBER: 078
TRANSMITTED: 12 April 1975
WRITER: Terry Nation
DIRECTOR: David Maloney
SCRIPT EDITOR: Robert Holmes
PRODUCER: Philip Hinchcliffe
FORMAT: DVD: Doctor Who - Genesis of the Daleks
Sarah & Harry save the Doctor from the Dalek mutant but as he stands ready to blow the incubator room up he's unsure of his actions:
The Doctor: If someone who knew the future, pointed out a child to you and told you that that child would grow up totally evil, to be a ruthless dictator who would destroy millions of lives... could you then kill that child?However Gharman interrupts telling them about the meeting which they attend. Hovering at the back they retrieve their possessions, including the Time Ring, from Ronson's desk but noticing Nyder leaving the room they follow him to Davros' office where they struggle, forcing him to reveal where the tape of the Doctor's Dalek knowledge is kept, destroying it with a Dalek gun. Nyder escapes, locking them in the office where they realise the Time Ring must have been dropped in the corridor outside. Through a viewscreen showing the main lab they witness Davros calling for those who support him to stand with him, and then see the remainder, including Gharman & Kavell, gunned down by Daleks. Sevrin, worrying about his friends, has entered the Bunker and frees them. The Doctor sends him, Sarah & Harry to the surface where Bettan is preparing to blow up the Bunker. He returns to the Incubator room which is destroyed when a Dalek rolls over the exposed detonation cables triggering an explosion. Davros notices the automated Dalek production line has been started and, questioning who ordered it, discovers a Dalek initiated the action. He asks Nyder to turn it off but he is gunned down by the Daleks. The Doctor flees from the Bunker, with Bettan detonating the explosives destroying the Daleks pursuing him and sealing the Bunker. They access the Bunker's closed circuit tv system and witness the extermination of the remaining Kaled scientists, Davros pleading with his creations and his own extermination at their hands. The lead Dalek instructs his troops
Sarah: We're talking about the Daleks; the most evil creatures ever invented! You must destroy them! You must complete your mission for the Time Lords!
The Doctor: Do I have the right? Simply touch one wire against the other, and that's it. The Daleks cease to exist. Hundreds of millions of people, thousands of generations can live without fear, in peace... and never even know the word "Dalek".
Sarah: Then why wait? If it was a disease or some sort of bacteria you were destroying, you wouldn't hesitate!
The Doctor: But if I kill... wipe out a whole intelligent life-form... then I become like them. I'd be no better than the Daleks.
We are entombed, but we live on. This is only the beginning. We will prepare. We will grow stronger. When the time is right, we will emerge and take our rightful place as the supreme power of the universe!!!The Doctor, Sarah & Harry bid goodbye to Sevrin & Bettan and as they activate the Time Ring to take them back to the Tardis the Doctor contemplates their mission
Failed? No, not really. You see, I know that although the Daleks will create havoc and destruction for millions of years, I know also that out of their evil must come something good.Remember during episode 1 I said I'd done the episode summary from memory? Well apart from a few minor details I managed the same for all six episodes of this story!
As usual the last episode of the story ramps the action up a bit with a few exterminations and a couple of nice explosions but first we get the Doctor's debate as to if she destroy the Daleks: Davros wants the ultimate power, here the Doctor does his best to refuse it. Oddly when the Dalek destroys the Incubation room later the Doctor almost downplays the significance. Then there's Davros learning that valuable lesson that so many Doctor Who characters have: Never trust the Daleks. His creations turn on him and he ends up pleading for them to use one of the very traits that he himself ordered eliminated from their makeup. He's been one of the very best Doctor villains and, like his creations, has been comprehensibly destroyed on his first appearance. The Daleks were back a little under a year after their first appearance but it takes Davros slightly longer to return. Many think he never should have and would have preferred him confined to just this one appearance as the Daleks seem weaker with him in later stories. Maybe that then is the true outcome of the Doctor's mission: he's somehow caused Davros' survival, perhaps warning him during that recorded session of the Daleks' history of treachery, and Davros' presence in the future disrupts the Daleks and dilutes their effectiveness.
You have to laugh at the time ring getting lost in the corridor: It's an old fashioned Terry Nation "this has happened to the Tardis to keep the heroes trapped here" plot line :-)
One last returning cast member for us to consider: John Gleeson, the speaking Thal Soldier, will return as Charles Winlett in The Seeds of Doom in just under a year. The Daleks & Davros however would have to wait much longer: They wouldn't be back until September 1979's Destiny of the Daleks. But the next story sees the return of a monster that's been absent from the show, bar brief cameos, for over six years!
Genesis of the Daleks is something special, not just because it's really Doctor Who's only go at an origin story for one of it's monsters. It's a superb tale from start to finish, darker than most with possibly the best villain the show has ever seen. I'd argue that it'd not a particularly good Dalek story though as the creatures themselves are hardly in it and for much of the time are reduced to mindless shock troops in Davros' hands (hand?) till they take charge of their destiny in the closing moments of the story. It's highly thought of by Doctor Who fans but I suspect the one of the reasons it's not exhorted as "the best Doctor Who story" is our over familiarity with it. It's been repeated FOUR times by the terrestrial BBC:
| Annual Christmas Repeat 85-minute compilation | 27 December 1975 | BBC 1 |
| Doctor Who & The Monsters two 45-minute episodes | 26 July to 2 August 1982 | BBC 1 |
| 30th anniversary repeats | 8 January to 12 February 1993 | BBC 2 |
| Aborted Pertwee Repeats | 1 to 29 February 2000 | BBC 2 |
It seems almost every time the BBC do a repeat run that Genesis is what they reach for leading to a little bit of "oh know, not Genesis again, why aren't they repeating Invasion of the Blagblasters?" But it's Tom Baker, arguably the most popular classic Doctor Who, Sarah Jane Smith, arguably the best companion, Davros, arguably the best villain the series has had and The Daleks who are by someway the best monsters.
And we continue to lap Genesis of the Daleks up even if it's not on the television. Terrance Dicks' 1976 novelization is reputed to be the best selling Target book. It's the only Doctor Who story to have a record released of it's soundtrack - I played the cassette version over and over as a child - and it's since been re-released on CD several times. It was initially released on video as a double pack with The Sontaran Experiment in October 1991 (alongside the Deadly Assassin) then resurfaced in a WHSmiths exclusive boxset alongside Davros' other appearances in Destiny of the Daleks, Resurrection of the Daleks, Revalation of the Daleks & Remembrance of the Daleks. The BBC isn't keen on releasing DVD sales figures that often but up to December 2007 the Doctor Who - Genesis of the Daleks DVD had sold 81,000 copies since it's release on April 26th 2006. By comparison The Five Doctors, released in 1999, had sold 61,000 copies in the eight years to the same date. Genesis of the Daleks was re-released in Doctor Who : The Davros Collection DVD set, again containing all five of Davros' on screen appearances but also including the Big Finish stories he features in.
Friday, 23 December 2011
396 Genesis of the Daleks Part Five
EPISODE: Genesis of the Daleks Part Five
OVERALL EPISODE NUMBER: 396
STORY NUMBER: 078
TRANSMITTED: 05 April 1975
WRITER: Terry Nation
DIRECTOR: David Maloney
SCRIPT EDITOR: Robert Holmes
PRODUCER: Philip Hinchcliffe
FORMAT: DVD: Doctor Who - Genesis of the Daleks
Unwilling to see his friends tortured the Doctor surrenders his knowledge of the Dalek's future defeats to Davros who has Nyder record the information onto tape. After they have finished, Sarah & Harry are taken to the cells & imprisoned with Gharman while the tape is secured in Davros' office by Nyder. Karvel approaches the cells to speak with the prisoners. Davros & the Doctor debate the Daleks together:
This episode is dominated by the debate between Davros & The Doctor, reproduced in full thanks to Wikiquote. It's a fabulous scene, letting you in to Davros' mind, removing any doubt that what he's doing is purely for the survival of his species. It's interesting comparing that with the Doctor's thought process in the next episode....
Of the three events mentioned by the Doctor the "Dalek Invasion of Earth in the Year 2000" is the only one we've seen, a reference to the first Doctor story which is confirmed when the Doctor talks about the Daleks' mining Earth's Magnetic Core. The second statement that the "Daleks were defeated by a virus that attacked their cables of their electrical system" seems to refer to an unseen invasion of Mars, but a very similar virus will be concocted by the Movellans and seen in Resurrection of the Daleks. As yet we haven't seen a fleet from the planet Hyperion intercepting a Dalek invasion of Venus in Space Year 17,000.....
OVERALL EPISODE NUMBER: 396
STORY NUMBER: 078
TRANSMITTED: 05 April 1975
WRITER: Terry Nation
DIRECTOR: David Maloney
SCRIPT EDITOR: Robert Holmes
PRODUCER: Philip Hinchcliffe
FORMAT: DVD: Doctor Who - Genesis of the Daleks
Unwilling to see his friends tortured the Doctor surrenders his knowledge of the Dalek's future defeats to Davros who has Nyder record the information onto tape. After they have finished, Sarah & Harry are taken to the cells & imprisoned with Gharman while the tape is secured in Davros' office by Nyder. Karvel approaches the cells to speak with the prisoners. Davros & the Doctor debate the Daleks together:
The Doctor: Davros, for the last time, consider what you are doing. Stop the development of the Daleks!The Doctor shuts off his life support system in an attempt to force Davros to destroy the Daleks, but Nyder arrives saving his master and has the Doctor returned to the cells by guards. However they are overpowered by Harry & Gharman. Gharman goes raises the opposition against Davros who orders Nyder to surrender to the opposition and organise a meeting between him and their leaders. Meanwhile the Doctor & his friends go to the incubator room to destroy the Dalek embryos. Davros asks to address a full meeting of the elite where a vote will be taken. As the Doctor is laying charges in the room he is assaulted by one of the creatures that attempts to strangle him.....
Davros: Impossible! It is beyond my control. The workshops are already fully automated to produce the Dalek machines.
The Doctor: It's not the machines. It's the minds of the creatures inside them! Minds that you created. They are totally evil!
Davros: Evil?!? No! No, I will not accept that. They are conditioned simply to survive. They can survive only by becoming the dominant species. When all other life forms are suppressed - when the Daleks are the supreme rulers of the universe - then, you will have peace. Wars will end. They are the power not of evil, but of good.
The Doctor: Davros, if you had created a virus in your laboratory, something contagious and infectious that killed on contact, a virus that would destroy all other forms of life; would you allow its use?
Davros: It is an interesting conjecture.
The Doctor: Would you do it?
Davros: The only living thing... The microscopic organism... reigning supreme... A fascinating idea.
The Doctor: But would you do it?
Davros: Yes; yes. To hold in my hand, a capsule that contained such power. To know that life and death on such a scale was my choice. To know that the tiny pressure on my thumb, enough to break the glass, would end everything. Yes! I would do it! That power would set me up above the gods! And through the Daleks, I shall have that power!
This episode is dominated by the debate between Davros & The Doctor, reproduced in full thanks to Wikiquote. It's a fabulous scene, letting you in to Davros' mind, removing any doubt that what he's doing is purely for the survival of his species. It's interesting comparing that with the Doctor's thought process in the next episode....
Of the three events mentioned by the Doctor the "Dalek Invasion of Earth in the Year 2000" is the only one we've seen, a reference to the first Doctor story which is confirmed when the Doctor talks about the Daleks' mining Earth's Magnetic Core. The second statement that the "Daleks were defeated by a virus that attacked their cables of their electrical system" seems to refer to an unseen invasion of Mars, but a very similar virus will be concocted by the Movellans and seen in Resurrection of the Daleks. As yet we haven't seen a fleet from the planet Hyperion intercepting a Dalek invasion of Venus in Space Year 17,000.....
Thursday, 22 December 2011
395 Genesis of the Daleks Part Four
EPISODE: Genesis of the Daleks Part Four
OVERALL EPISODE NUMBER: 395
STORY NUMBER: 078
TRANSMITTED: 29 March 1975
WRITER: Terry Nation
DIRECTOR: David Maloney
SCRIPT EDITOR: Robert Holmes
PRODUCER: Philip Hinchcliffe
FORMAT: DVD: Doctor Who - Genesis of the Daleks
The Doctor is rendered unconscious by the electric current. He recovers in time to watch helplessly as the missile launch and destroy the city he's sent his friends to. Davros watches the destruction from his Bunker and orders a retaliation that starts with the death of the arch traitor, the Thal spy Ronson who is gunned down by a squad of Daleks who are then sent to the Thal city. Davros orders new chromosomal variations introduced into the Daleks which Gharman objects to. Under a general amnesty the Doctor is released but as he is escorted out of the city by the Thal Bettan the Daleks enter and begin exterminating all the Thals. The Doctor urges Bettan to round up the survivors, gather explosives and meet him at the Kaled bunker. Travelling back through the wasteland he meets Sarah, Harry & Sevrin who were delayed getting to the Kaled city and survived the attack. Gharman meets Kavill and urges him to act against Davros. The Doctor sends Sevrin to Bettan while he, Sarah & Harry attempt to get back into the bunker. Gharman has a secret meeting with Nyder to voice his concerns at the Daleks but after telling Nyder who else is worried Nyder reveals it's a trap he's fallen into. The Doctor, Sarah & Harry are intercepted entering the bunker and taken for interrogation. With his companions wired up to pain inducing machines the Doctor is instructed to reveal the reason for every future Dalek defeat to Davros.
The irony is not lost on me that Ronson, who 2 episodes earlier saves The Doctor from becoming the first victim of a Dalek, does himself become the Daleks' first victim in this episode. Of course he doesn't stay their sole victim for long as the Daleks go on the rampage in the Thal city, mowing down the celebrating Thals. Daleks always look good in corridors and it's no exception here as we get what's probably the closest thing we'll ever see to the massacre in Power of the Daleks 6. Then there's for me one of the enduring images of this serial: The Doctor and Bettan hiding in the trenches, a Dalek towering over them framed against the night sky with the light from the destroyed Thal city in the background. After that it all quietens down somewhat for the rest of the episode. The big deeds have been done, the Thals (can we lay their deaths at the Time Lords' feet too?) & the Kaleds have been wiped out, the Daleks exist.
Joining us this episode is Harriet Philpin as Bettan, the *only* female guest artist in the entire serial. Those male scientists in the Kaled bunker are in trouble if there's no women there to prolong their species with. There again they've got to last beyond the Daleks returning home yet! She was in the opening episode of Blake's 7 series 2: Deliverance as an Alta, one of the race that built the Liberator. She's also the wife in the original R-White's Lemonade Advert! Playing the Muto Sevrin is Stephen Yardley who'll return as Arak in Vengeance on Varos. He's probably best known for his role as Ken Masters in Howard's Way alongside many other Doctor Who participants. We'll look at that either during Resurrection of the Daleks or Attack of the Cybermen.
OVERALL EPISODE NUMBER: 395
STORY NUMBER: 078
TRANSMITTED: 29 March 1975
WRITER: Terry Nation
DIRECTOR: David Maloney
SCRIPT EDITOR: Robert Holmes
PRODUCER: Philip Hinchcliffe
FORMAT: DVD: Doctor Who - Genesis of the Daleks
The Doctor is rendered unconscious by the electric current. He recovers in time to watch helplessly as the missile launch and destroy the city he's sent his friends to. Davros watches the destruction from his Bunker and orders a retaliation that starts with the death of the arch traitor, the Thal spy Ronson who is gunned down by a squad of Daleks who are then sent to the Thal city. Davros orders new chromosomal variations introduced into the Daleks which Gharman objects to. Under a general amnesty the Doctor is released but as he is escorted out of the city by the Thal Bettan the Daleks enter and begin exterminating all the Thals. The Doctor urges Bettan to round up the survivors, gather explosives and meet him at the Kaled bunker. Travelling back through the wasteland he meets Sarah, Harry & Sevrin who were delayed getting to the Kaled city and survived the attack. Gharman meets Kavill and urges him to act against Davros. The Doctor sends Sevrin to Bettan while he, Sarah & Harry attempt to get back into the bunker. Gharman has a secret meeting with Nyder to voice his concerns at the Daleks but after telling Nyder who else is worried Nyder reveals it's a trap he's fallen into. The Doctor, Sarah & Harry are intercepted entering the bunker and taken for interrogation. With his companions wired up to pain inducing machines the Doctor is instructed to reveal the reason for every future Dalek defeat to Davros.
The irony is not lost on me that Ronson, who 2 episodes earlier saves The Doctor from becoming the first victim of a Dalek, does himself become the Daleks' first victim in this episode. Of course he doesn't stay their sole victim for long as the Daleks go on the rampage in the Thal city, mowing down the celebrating Thals. Daleks always look good in corridors and it's no exception here as we get what's probably the closest thing we'll ever see to the massacre in Power of the Daleks 6. Then there's for me one of the enduring images of this serial: The Doctor and Bettan hiding in the trenches, a Dalek towering over them framed against the night sky with the light from the destroyed Thal city in the background. After that it all quietens down somewhat for the rest of the episode. The big deeds have been done, the Thals (can we lay their deaths at the Time Lords' feet too?) & the Kaleds have been wiped out, the Daleks exist.
Joining us this episode is Harriet Philpin as Bettan, the *only* female guest artist in the entire serial. Those male scientists in the Kaled bunker are in trouble if there's no women there to prolong their species with. There again they've got to last beyond the Daleks returning home yet! She was in the opening episode of Blake's 7 series 2: Deliverance as an Alta, one of the race that built the Liberator. She's also the wife in the original R-White's Lemonade Advert! Playing the Muto Sevrin is Stephen Yardley who'll return as Arak in Vengeance on Varos. He's probably best known for his role as Ken Masters in Howard's Way alongside many other Doctor Who participants. We'll look at that either during Resurrection of the Daleks or Attack of the Cybermen.
Wednesday, 21 December 2011
394 Genesis of the Daleks Part Three
EPISODE: Genesis of the Daleks Part Three
OVERALL EPISODE NUMBER: 394
STORY NUMBER: 078
TRANSMITTED: 22 March 1975
WRITER: Terry Nation
DIRECTOR: David Maloney
SCRIPT EDITOR: Robert Holmes
PRODUCER: Philip Hinchcliffe
FORMAT: DVD: Doctor Who - Genesis of the Daleks
Sarah is saved by Sevrin and they continue their climb but are caught by the Thals as they reach the top of the rocket. Davros continues to order improvements to the Daleks. Kavell, the scientist in charge of communications, tells Ronson that his prisoners have been seen in the Kaled city and confides in Ronson that he has doubts about the work they are doing. However their conversation catches Nyder's attention. The Doctor & Harry make it to the Kaled city where they brief the Kaled leaders on what Davros is doing. Nyder informs Davros of the meeting in the city and that Ronson's prisoners are there. The councillors refuse to close down the Bunker but agree to stop Davros 's work while an investigation is carried out. General Ravon gives the Doctor & Harry news of Sarah's escape attempt and tells them how to get into the Thal city. Davros agrees to the investigation but is angered by his leaders actions. Entering the city they find Davros & Nyder there, giving the Thal leaders the formula for the dome covering the Kaled city and how to penetrate it. The Doctor & Harry free Sarah, Sevrin and the remaining slaves. They leave for the Kaled city, with the Doctor remaining behind to sabotage the Thal rocket, but he touches an electrified grid and is electrocuted.
We now get to see the lengths that Davros will go to for his project, so certain is he that it's the future of his race that he's willing to sacrifice all of the surviving Kaled people so that the Daleks will continue. But follow the chain of events back. Davros acts in this way because of the Kaled councillor's enquiry. The enquiry is sparked by the Doctor. Is the Doctor (and thus are the Time Lords) responsible for the annihilation of the Kaled people? Of course we know that Davros isn't to be trusted and most viewers can probably predict what lies in the Thals' immediate future. Davros' commissioning of twenty new Dalek units in this episode might be a bit of a clue....
Odd things in this episode: There's an Ice Warrior body shell in the cave that the Doctor & Harry exit the bunker through. If General Ravon knows of a secret passage into the Thal city then why hasn't a crack commando team of Kaleds stormed it years ago? Also consider the geography in the story: the cities appear to be relatively close to each other. If so how have they managed to sustain a war for so long? I suppose they could have started out a much further distance apart and are now trapped together in the only habitable regions of the radiation scarred Skaro.
Two of the actors in this episode have a connection: They were both in Allo Allo, the BBC Comedy about the French Resistance. Guy Siner plays General Ravon (also seen in Episode 1). In Allo Allo he played Lieutenant Gruber. He's also had roles in Babylon 5 and Star Trek Enterprise making him, I believe, the only person to appear in all three shows. On the other side of the conflict here is Hilary Minster, playing a Thal Soldier, was Marat in Planet of the Daleks making him the only person to play two different Thals in Doctor Who. Meanwhile in Allo Allo he played Gruber's superior General von Klinkerhoffen. Other Who actors to be involved in Allo Allo include Carmen Silvera (as Edith Artois) who was in The Celestial Toymaker as Clara the Clown, Mrs. Wiggs, and the Queen of Hearts, and appeared as Ruth in Invasion of the Dinosaurs. John D Collins (who was Flight Lieutenant Fairfax) was Talor in Ark of Infinity. Meanwhile Ivor Roberts, playing Kaled leader Mogran, has roles in two other David Croft sitcoms. His opposite number Michael Lynch, the Thal Politician, was prevbiously Spencer in The War Games. Tom Georgeson, playing Kavell, returns as the Detective Inspector in Logopolis but has a significant number of recognisable roles to his name.
Joining the production in this episode are Roy Skelton, providing the Dalek voices and Cy Town as a Dalek operator. Both have fulfilled these roles in several previous Doctor Who stories. Making his only appearance in a Dalek shell is Keith Ashley who'll be back as a Zygon in Terror of the Zygons and a Kraal android in The Android Invasion. Finally another Thal guard is regular extra Max Faulkner.
OVERALL EPISODE NUMBER: 394
STORY NUMBER: 078
TRANSMITTED: 22 March 1975
WRITER: Terry Nation
DIRECTOR: David Maloney
SCRIPT EDITOR: Robert Holmes
PRODUCER: Philip Hinchcliffe
FORMAT: DVD: Doctor Who - Genesis of the Daleks
Sarah is saved by Sevrin and they continue their climb but are caught by the Thals as they reach the top of the rocket. Davros continues to order improvements to the Daleks. Kavell, the scientist in charge of communications, tells Ronson that his prisoners have been seen in the Kaled city and confides in Ronson that he has doubts about the work they are doing. However their conversation catches Nyder's attention. The Doctor & Harry make it to the Kaled city where they brief the Kaled leaders on what Davros is doing. Nyder informs Davros of the meeting in the city and that Ronson's prisoners are there. The councillors refuse to close down the Bunker but agree to stop Davros 's work while an investigation is carried out. General Ravon gives the Doctor & Harry news of Sarah's escape attempt and tells them how to get into the Thal city. Davros agrees to the investigation but is angered by his leaders actions. Entering the city they find Davros & Nyder there, giving the Thal leaders the formula for the dome covering the Kaled city and how to penetrate it. The Doctor & Harry free Sarah, Sevrin and the remaining slaves. They leave for the Kaled city, with the Doctor remaining behind to sabotage the Thal rocket, but he touches an electrified grid and is electrocuted.
We now get to see the lengths that Davros will go to for his project, so certain is he that it's the future of his race that he's willing to sacrifice all of the surviving Kaled people so that the Daleks will continue. But follow the chain of events back. Davros acts in this way because of the Kaled councillor's enquiry. The enquiry is sparked by the Doctor. Is the Doctor (and thus are the Time Lords) responsible for the annihilation of the Kaled people? Of course we know that Davros isn't to be trusted and most viewers can probably predict what lies in the Thals' immediate future. Davros' commissioning of twenty new Dalek units in this episode might be a bit of a clue....
Odd things in this episode: There's an Ice Warrior body shell in the cave that the Doctor & Harry exit the bunker through. If General Ravon knows of a secret passage into the Thal city then why hasn't a crack commando team of Kaleds stormed it years ago? Also consider the geography in the story: the cities appear to be relatively close to each other. If so how have they managed to sustain a war for so long? I suppose they could have started out a much further distance apart and are now trapped together in the only habitable regions of the radiation scarred Skaro.
Two of the actors in this episode have a connection: They were both in Allo Allo, the BBC Comedy about the French Resistance. Guy Siner plays General Ravon (also seen in Episode 1). In Allo Allo he played Lieutenant Gruber. He's also had roles in Babylon 5 and Star Trek Enterprise making him, I believe, the only person to appear in all three shows. On the other side of the conflict here is Hilary Minster, playing a Thal Soldier, was Marat in Planet of the Daleks making him the only person to play two different Thals in Doctor Who. Meanwhile in Allo Allo he played Gruber's superior General von Klinkerhoffen. Other Who actors to be involved in Allo Allo include Carmen Silvera (as Edith Artois) who was in The Celestial Toymaker as Clara the Clown, Mrs. Wiggs, and the Queen of Hearts, and appeared as Ruth in Invasion of the Dinosaurs. John D Collins (who was Flight Lieutenant Fairfax) was Talor in Ark of Infinity. Meanwhile Ivor Roberts, playing Kaled leader Mogran, has roles in two other David Croft sitcoms. His opposite number Michael Lynch, the Thal Politician, was prevbiously Spencer in The War Games. Tom Georgeson, playing Kavell, returns as the Detective Inspector in Logopolis but has a significant number of recognisable roles to his name.
Joining the production in this episode are Roy Skelton, providing the Dalek voices and Cy Town as a Dalek operator. Both have fulfilled these roles in several previous Doctor Who stories. Making his only appearance in a Dalek shell is Keith Ashley who'll be back as a Zygon in Terror of the Zygons and a Kraal android in The Android Invasion. Finally another Thal guard is regular extra Max Faulkner.
Tuesday, 20 December 2011
393 Genesis of the Daleks Part Two
EPISODE: Genesis of the Daleks Part Two
OVERALL EPISODE NUMBER: 393
STORY NUMBER: 078
TRANSMITTED: 15 March 1975
WRITER: Terry Nation
DIRECTOR: David Maloney
SCRIPT EDITOR: Robert Holmes
PRODUCER: Philip Hinchcliffe
FORMAT: DVD: Doctor Who - Genesis of the Daleks
Sarah is found in the wasteland by two Mutos who argue as to if they should kill her. The Doctor & Harry are taken to the bunker where the Time Ring is confiscated along with the Doctor's other possessions and they are questioned by Senior Researcher Ronson. The Mutos are in turn found by Thals who shoot one when he tries to escape and capture the other, Sevrin, and Sarah. The Doctor & Harry are present when Davros demonstrates his Mark 3 Travel machine which the Doctor identifies as a primitive Dalek, missing it's gun stick, which is then fitted in front of the audience and the machine turned over to total self control. It recognises the Doctor as an alien and decides to exterminate him, but is stopped by Ronson who deactivates the machine earning Davros' wrath. Sarah & Sevrin are put to work with loading the Thals' last great missile with explosives, designed to penetrate the dome covering the Kaled city, putting them at risk of distronic toximia. Ronson visits the Doctor & Harry in the cells expressing his concern for Davros' experiments which Davros announces shall henceforth be known as a Dalek. He shows them where Davros is incubating the Dalek creatures. Ronson helps the Doctor & Harry escape so they can reach the Kaled city and warn their leaders what Davros is doing. Sarah leads an escape attempt climbing up the gantry supporting the rocket, but the Thals discover what's happening and open fire on the escapees. Attempting to get to safety Sarah misjudges her jump onto the rocket and plummets towards the floor....
It's amazing how little coincidences crop up: There's lots of stuff to do with the ends of episodes connected with this part of the story! The start of this episode is odd as there's no reprise of the end of the previous episode, which is generally unusual but Director David Maloney also did it on Planet of the Daleks. The end of the episode is unusual too it's the first use of a freeze frame in Doctor Who as Sarah falls. And then slap bang in the middle of the action is a scene that aught to have been an episode cliffhanger but isn't as the Dalek points it's gunstick at the Doctor and says exterminate. It's a fabulous scene, the laboratory demonstration of the Mark III Travel Machine but the Doctor's "very primitive, but undeniably a Dalek" is a bit odd as it's *obviously* a Dalek, albeit one missing it's gunstick. Maybe if they'd have stripped the Dalek down removing the power slats and painted it silver, like the original Daleks, the statement would have made more sense. As it is the Power Slats, mounted round the shoulders, pose a problem as they're missing from the first two `Dalek stories so you're left asking what happened to those Daleks to loose them and, given that you see the prototype Dalek in the wasteland with Davros & Garhman, how did the Daleks in The Daleks loose their mobility and become confined to the city?
Davros is a towering design triumph though. Half human (well half Kaled) and effectively half Dalek thanks to the black base housing his life support machine. His scarred and twisted features are one of the best masks the show has made and Michael Wisher's performance brings the character to life (he also provides the Dalek voice in this episode). Reputedly he rehearsed the role with a paper bag over his head before the mask was made. Wisher was previously seen in The Ambassadors of Death as John Wakefield, Terror of the Autons as Rex Farrel, Carnival of Monsters as Kalik, and Frontier in Space, Planet of the Daleks & Death to the Daleks as Dalek voices. Before this story was filmed he recorded the following story, Revenge of the Cybermen, in which he played Magrik. He'll return in Planet of Evil as Morelli and voice of Ranjit. His henchman, Nyder, is played by
Peter Miles who we saw in Doctor Who and the Silurians as Dr. Lawrence and Invasion of the Dinosaurs as Professor Whitaker. Lead scientist Gharman is played by Dennis Chinnery who was Albert C. Richardson in The Chase and will be Sylvest in The Twin Dilemma. His CV includes many noted cult shows including The Prisoner & Survivors while James Garbutt, Ronson , has an extensive career in television. Two Doctor regulars are involved in this episode too: John Scott Martin is the Dalek Operator while regular extra Pat Gorman is a Thal Soldier. Incidentally the radiation suited Thal guard is clutching what is actually a gun first used by the Drahvins in Galaxy Four ten years earlier!
OVERALL EPISODE NUMBER: 393
STORY NUMBER: 078
TRANSMITTED: 15 March 1975
WRITER: Terry Nation
DIRECTOR: David Maloney
SCRIPT EDITOR: Robert Holmes
PRODUCER: Philip Hinchcliffe
FORMAT: DVD: Doctor Who - Genesis of the Daleks
Sarah is found in the wasteland by two Mutos who argue as to if they should kill her. The Doctor & Harry are taken to the bunker where the Time Ring is confiscated along with the Doctor's other possessions and they are questioned by Senior Researcher Ronson. The Mutos are in turn found by Thals who shoot one when he tries to escape and capture the other, Sevrin, and Sarah. The Doctor & Harry are present when Davros demonstrates his Mark 3 Travel machine which the Doctor identifies as a primitive Dalek, missing it's gun stick, which is then fitted in front of the audience and the machine turned over to total self control. It recognises the Doctor as an alien and decides to exterminate him, but is stopped by Ronson who deactivates the machine earning Davros' wrath. Sarah & Sevrin are put to work with loading the Thals' last great missile with explosives, designed to penetrate the dome covering the Kaled city, putting them at risk of distronic toximia. Ronson visits the Doctor & Harry in the cells expressing his concern for Davros' experiments which Davros announces shall henceforth be known as a Dalek. He shows them where Davros is incubating the Dalek creatures. Ronson helps the Doctor & Harry escape so they can reach the Kaled city and warn their leaders what Davros is doing. Sarah leads an escape attempt climbing up the gantry supporting the rocket, but the Thals discover what's happening and open fire on the escapees. Attempting to get to safety Sarah misjudges her jump onto the rocket and plummets towards the floor....
It's amazing how little coincidences crop up: There's lots of stuff to do with the ends of episodes connected with this part of the story! The start of this episode is odd as there's no reprise of the end of the previous episode, which is generally unusual but Director David Maloney also did it on Planet of the Daleks. The end of the episode is unusual too it's the first use of a freeze frame in Doctor Who as Sarah falls. And then slap bang in the middle of the action is a scene that aught to have been an episode cliffhanger but isn't as the Dalek points it's gunstick at the Doctor and says exterminate. It's a fabulous scene, the laboratory demonstration of the Mark III Travel Machine but the Doctor's "very primitive, but undeniably a Dalek" is a bit odd as it's *obviously* a Dalek, albeit one missing it's gunstick. Maybe if they'd have stripped the Dalek down removing the power slats and painted it silver, like the original Daleks, the statement would have made more sense. As it is the Power Slats, mounted round the shoulders, pose a problem as they're missing from the first two `Dalek stories so you're left asking what happened to those Daleks to loose them and, given that you see the prototype Dalek in the wasteland with Davros & Garhman, how did the Daleks in The Daleks loose their mobility and become confined to the city?
Davros is a towering design triumph though. Half human (well half Kaled) and effectively half Dalek thanks to the black base housing his life support machine. His scarred and twisted features are one of the best masks the show has made and Michael Wisher's performance brings the character to life (he also provides the Dalek voice in this episode). Reputedly he rehearsed the role with a paper bag over his head before the mask was made. Wisher was previously seen in The Ambassadors of Death as John Wakefield, Terror of the Autons as Rex Farrel, Carnival of Monsters as Kalik, and Frontier in Space, Planet of the Daleks & Death to the Daleks as Dalek voices. Before this story was filmed he recorded the following story, Revenge of the Cybermen, in which he played Magrik. He'll return in Planet of Evil as Morelli and voice of Ranjit. His henchman, Nyder, is played by
Peter Miles who we saw in Doctor Who and the Silurians as Dr. Lawrence and Invasion of the Dinosaurs as Professor Whitaker. Lead scientist Gharman is played by Dennis Chinnery who was Albert C. Richardson in The Chase and will be Sylvest in The Twin Dilemma. His CV includes many noted cult shows including The Prisoner & Survivors while James Garbutt, Ronson , has an extensive career in television. Two Doctor regulars are involved in this episode too: John Scott Martin is the Dalek Operator while regular extra Pat Gorman is a Thal Soldier. Incidentally the radiation suited Thal guard is clutching what is actually a gun first used by the Drahvins in Galaxy Four ten years earlier!
Monday, 19 December 2011
392 Genesis of the Daleks Part One
EPISODE: Genesis of the Daleks Part One
OVERALL EPISODE NUMBER: 392
STORY NUMBER: 078
TRANSMITTED: 08 March 1975
WRITER: Terry Nation
DIRECTOR: David Maloney
SCRIPT EDITOR: Robert Holmes
PRODUCER: Philip Hinchcliffe
FORMAT: DVD: Doctor Who - Genesis of the Daleks
On a battlefield gas masked soldiers are mown down in a hail of bullets. The Doctor steps out of mist who meets with a Time Lord who has intercepted his transmat beam. They have a mission for the Doctor: he is to go to Skaro towards the end of the Thal Kaled war and attempt to avert the creation of the Daleks, affect their development or learn of some weakness. He is given a time ring to return him to Nerva Beacon and the Tardis and sent to Skaro with Sarah & Harry. After finding bodies on the battlefield, and narrowly escaping a minefield they are caught in a gas attack surviving only by stealing gas masks from bodies. The Doctor & Harry are captured by Kaleds but Sarah is left for dead. The Doctor & Harry are interrogated by General Ravon and attempt to escape but are swiftly recaptured by Security Commander Nyder & his men. A recovered Sarah wanders through wasteland and stumbles across a secret test. A man, confined to a sophisticated wheelchair & life support system is identified by his colleague as Davros, the Kaleds' chief scientist. They activate a machine hidden in shadow which Sarah recognises..... a Dalek. They test it's weapon system by ordering it to "Exterminate" causing it to open fire on a series of targets. Davros is pleased and tells his colleague "now we can begin".
Haven't done that for a while (Spearhead from Space 1 I think): that was written without needing to see the episode again, it's so etched on my memory. For many people this will be THE Doctor Who story it's been repeated so often. And quite rightly so! Familiarity may have bred contempt amongst fans but this is something special. From it's wonderfully atmospheric beginning through it's war zone locations, filmed at Betchworth Quarry in Surrey, it's Nazi like Kaleds - Nyder's even wearing an Iron Cross in this episode - and the final scene where we meet Davros, a man confined to a Dalek base like wheelchair & life support system and see the prototype Dalek unveiled, missing it's sucker arm but armed with a gun and, we presume, using it for the first time this is a fabulous episode. There's some nice title touches in it too, especially the Doctor's turning his pockets out. Significantly this is the first time we see a Dalek gun fire a ray from it's end. Previously we've just had a negative effect over the thing being exterminated.
One actor appears in this episode alone: John Frankly-Robbins plays the Time Lord (later named as Ferrain in the New Adventures novels). He was also in Star Trek: The Next Generation as Macias in Pre-emptive Strike the penultimate episode of the series, The Dean in the TV Adaptation of Terry Pratchett's Hogfather and Atticus in the eight episode of I, Claudius: Reign of Terror.
Genesis of the Daleks is, as the name implies, an origin story for the Daleks. We know the bare bones of the story anyway from the first Dalek story: The Thals were engaged in a nuclear war with the ancestors of the Daleks. Here we find that the conflict has been continuing for years and both sides are reduced in strength and technology with genetic mutations appearing which get exiled into the wastelands. There's been two attempts at doing a Dalek origin story before: one in the TV Century 21 Dalek comic strip (credited to Terry Nation, but believed to be written by David Whitaker and another in The Radio Times, but this the first attempt to do so on screen. Nation's first attempt at a Dalek story for this season had been rejected by outgoing script editor Terrance Dicks and producer Barry Letts for being too derivative of his earlier stories and it was they who suggested the Dalek origin as a replacement. What we get out is a much darker story than recent Nation Dalek scripts....
You have to consider the enormity of what the Time Lords have asked the Doctor to do: averting the creation of the Daleks would be a massive shift to the time stream and seams contrary to the Time Lords' insistence that history could not be changed. If you remove the Daleks then the Doctor's personal Time Line would be substantially altered. This isn't a little tweak here and there, this is major surgery. You have to wonder if they *knew* that the Doctor couldn't possibly succeed but had discovered somehow that he'd been there and so sent him on the mission just to fulfil the demands of history.
OVERALL EPISODE NUMBER: 392
STORY NUMBER: 078
TRANSMITTED: 08 March 1975
WRITER: Terry Nation
DIRECTOR: David Maloney
SCRIPT EDITOR: Robert Holmes
PRODUCER: Philip Hinchcliffe
FORMAT: DVD: Doctor Who - Genesis of the Daleks
On a battlefield gas masked soldiers are mown down in a hail of bullets. The Doctor steps out of mist who meets with a Time Lord who has intercepted his transmat beam. They have a mission for the Doctor: he is to go to Skaro towards the end of the Thal Kaled war and attempt to avert the creation of the Daleks, affect their development or learn of some weakness. He is given a time ring to return him to Nerva Beacon and the Tardis and sent to Skaro with Sarah & Harry. After finding bodies on the battlefield, and narrowly escaping a minefield they are caught in a gas attack surviving only by stealing gas masks from bodies. The Doctor & Harry are captured by Kaleds but Sarah is left for dead. The Doctor & Harry are interrogated by General Ravon and attempt to escape but are swiftly recaptured by Security Commander Nyder & his men. A recovered Sarah wanders through wasteland and stumbles across a secret test. A man, confined to a sophisticated wheelchair & life support system is identified by his colleague as Davros, the Kaleds' chief scientist. They activate a machine hidden in shadow which Sarah recognises..... a Dalek. They test it's weapon system by ordering it to "Exterminate" causing it to open fire on a series of targets. Davros is pleased and tells his colleague "now we can begin".
Haven't done that for a while (Spearhead from Space 1 I think): that was written without needing to see the episode again, it's so etched on my memory. For many people this will be THE Doctor Who story it's been repeated so often. And quite rightly so! Familiarity may have bred contempt amongst fans but this is something special. From it's wonderfully atmospheric beginning through it's war zone locations, filmed at Betchworth Quarry in Surrey, it's Nazi like Kaleds - Nyder's even wearing an Iron Cross in this episode - and the final scene where we meet Davros, a man confined to a Dalek base like wheelchair & life support system and see the prototype Dalek unveiled, missing it's sucker arm but armed with a gun and, we presume, using it for the first time this is a fabulous episode. There's some nice title touches in it too, especially the Doctor's turning his pockets out. Significantly this is the first time we see a Dalek gun fire a ray from it's end. Previously we've just had a negative effect over the thing being exterminated.
One actor appears in this episode alone: John Frankly-Robbins plays the Time Lord (later named as Ferrain in the New Adventures novels). He was also in Star Trek: The Next Generation as Macias in Pre-emptive Strike the penultimate episode of the series, The Dean in the TV Adaptation of Terry Pratchett's Hogfather and Atticus in the eight episode of I, Claudius: Reign of Terror.
Genesis of the Daleks is, as the name implies, an origin story for the Daleks. We know the bare bones of the story anyway from the first Dalek story: The Thals were engaged in a nuclear war with the ancestors of the Daleks. Here we find that the conflict has been continuing for years and both sides are reduced in strength and technology with genetic mutations appearing which get exiled into the wastelands. There's been two attempts at doing a Dalek origin story before: one in the TV Century 21 Dalek comic strip (credited to Terry Nation, but believed to be written by David Whitaker and another in The Radio Times, but this the first attempt to do so on screen. Nation's first attempt at a Dalek story for this season had been rejected by outgoing script editor Terrance Dicks and producer Barry Letts for being too derivative of his earlier stories and it was they who suggested the Dalek origin as a replacement. What we get out is a much darker story than recent Nation Dalek scripts....
You have to consider the enormity of what the Time Lords have asked the Doctor to do: averting the creation of the Daleks would be a massive shift to the time stream and seams contrary to the Time Lords' insistence that history could not be changed. If you remove the Daleks then the Doctor's personal Time Line would be substantially altered. This isn't a little tweak here and there, this is major surgery. You have to wonder if they *knew* that the Doctor couldn't possibly succeed but had discovered somehow that he'd been there and so sent him on the mission just to fulfil the demands of history.
Sunday, 18 December 2011
391 The Sontaran Experiment Part Two
EPISODE: The Sontaran Experiment Part Two
OVERALL EPISODE NUMBER: 391
STORY NUMBER: 077
TRANSMITTED: 01 March 1975
WRITER: Bob Baker & Dave Martin
DIRECTOR: Rodney Bennett
SCRIPT EDITOR: Robert Holmes
PRODUCER: Philip Hinchcliffe
FORMAT: DVD: Doctor Who - The Sontaran Experiment
The Sontaran identifies himself as Field Major Styre and he kills Roth declaring his intention to test Sarah. Vural, Krans & Erak pull the Doctor out the pit but as they do the robot attacks capturing them. Harry finds a fourth human chained to the cliff. The prisoner has been put there so the Sontaran can see how long it takes for him to die. Styre interrogates Sarah not believing her story. The Doctor finds Harry's escape route from the pit. Harry tries to free Sarah but finds her protected by a forcefield. Styre communicates with his Marshall reporting that the humans are weak. He induces fear in Sarah but the Doctor arrives and breaks the forcefield, removing the fear inducer. Styre attacks the Doctor and renders him unconscious. The robot arrives with the human prisoners. Vural is angry he has been captured because he has served Linx. Harry finds Sarah, then the Doctor and finally the prisoner who has now died. Styre records that the subject took nine days to die when deprived of fluid. The recovered Doctor finds Harry and leaves him to look after Sarah. Vural is subjected to an experiment where Krans & Erak must hold a gravity bar away from his chest. The robot attacks the Doctor who destroys it with his sonic screwdriver. The Doctor engages Styre in combat while Harry sabotages his ship and Sarah frees the three humans. Vural is killed rescuing the Doctor. The weakened Styre returns to his ship, to recharge, which drains the remainder of Styre's energy and explodes due to Harry's sabotage. The Doctor speaks with the Marshall telling him Styre is dead and his plans are ruined. Krans & Erak wait for the Nerva colonists to arrive as the Doctor, Harry & Sarah vanish in the transmat bound for the Ark.....
... or so they think, but we'll get there tomorrow. My wife Liz has big problems with this episode and to be honest I can see her point: Styre's experiments are pretty nasty for Saturday teatime, as was the idea of a human being eaten from the inside in the previous story. Looking at it now it seems odd that it took till the fourth story this season for the show to fall foul of Mary Whitehouse and the Nation Viewers & Listeners Association.
This is the first 2 part Doctor who story since the Rescue the Rescue in January 1965 and the shortest story since the single part Mission to the Unknown in October that year. The format would have a revival in the Fifth Doctor's era as it's used to push a season purely made of four part stories up to the 26 episode length required. As it is two 25 minute episodes of Doctor Who, when you remove one set of titles and a recap are almost the same length as modern single episodes. Oddly despite the short length of the story there's still time for some time wasting as first Harry then the Doctor fall into the pit dug by Roth. And if you've got a 2 part story why wait till the end of episode 1 to reveal your monster thus limiting it's appearance to just the second episode? (watch later as King's Demons makes nearly exactly the same error!) I'm also forced to wonder why Krans & Erak don't just put the gravity bar down when Styre's back is turned... I guess the bonds round their hands are tied to it. And I did giggle at Styre's "I shall kill you all now .....but first I have more important tasks to perform." Head in hands. No wonder this species has been getting nowhere fighting the Rutans for thousands of years.
While I liked Ark In Space I can't really show much enthusiasm for this story I'm afraid. Possibly because I know what's coming next.... But one element that does work in the story's favour is it's all location filming on Dartmooor at Headland Warren and Hound Tor. On the first day at the later location Tom Baker, recording his second story as Doctor Who, slipped while performing a fight scene with Styre and broke his collar bone. He was taken to Torquay hospital while filming continued with stuntman Terry Walsh disguised as the Doctor. Fitted with a neck brace all of Baker's remaining front on shots were done with the scarf disguising the support. The incident was something of a baptism of fire for the show's still new leading actor and it's new producer, Philip Hinchcliffe, who was recording his first story. (Ark in Space was recorded after it's onscreen successor The Sontaran Experiment)
The Sontaran Experiment was novelised by Ian Marter. It was repeated on Friday 9th July 1976 as a compilation edition. Sontaran Experiment was released on video in a 2 pack with Genesis of the Daleks during October 1991 on the same day as The Deadly Assassin. I'm pretty sure I picked these up in advance of the official release at a London comic mart, then being held at the TUC building in central London. The Sontaran Experiment was released on DVD on the 9th October 2006 as a budget release at a cheaper price. It was also included in the Doctor Who : Bred for War Boxset which collects Sontaran Experiment with the other three Sontaran stories: The Time Warrior, The Invasion Of Time & The Two Doctors. Bred for War was released on 5th May 2008 to tie in with their return in the fourth series of the new Doctor Who.
Come back tomorrow as we start the Doctor who story that's probably been seen by more people than any other...... It's time for Genesis of the Daleks!
OVERALL EPISODE NUMBER: 391
STORY NUMBER: 077
TRANSMITTED: 01 March 1975
WRITER: Bob Baker & Dave Martin
DIRECTOR: Rodney Bennett
SCRIPT EDITOR: Robert Holmes
PRODUCER: Philip Hinchcliffe
FORMAT: DVD: Doctor Who - The Sontaran Experiment
The Sontaran identifies himself as Field Major Styre and he kills Roth declaring his intention to test Sarah. Vural, Krans & Erak pull the Doctor out the pit but as they do the robot attacks capturing them. Harry finds a fourth human chained to the cliff. The prisoner has been put there so the Sontaran can see how long it takes for him to die. Styre interrogates Sarah not believing her story. The Doctor finds Harry's escape route from the pit. Harry tries to free Sarah but finds her protected by a forcefield. Styre communicates with his Marshall reporting that the humans are weak. He induces fear in Sarah but the Doctor arrives and breaks the forcefield, removing the fear inducer. Styre attacks the Doctor and renders him unconscious. The robot arrives with the human prisoners. Vural is angry he has been captured because he has served Linx. Harry finds Sarah, then the Doctor and finally the prisoner who has now died. Styre records that the subject took nine days to die when deprived of fluid. The recovered Doctor finds Harry and leaves him to look after Sarah. Vural is subjected to an experiment where Krans & Erak must hold a gravity bar away from his chest. The robot attacks the Doctor who destroys it with his sonic screwdriver. The Doctor engages Styre in combat while Harry sabotages his ship and Sarah frees the three humans. Vural is killed rescuing the Doctor. The weakened Styre returns to his ship, to recharge, which drains the remainder of Styre's energy and explodes due to Harry's sabotage. The Doctor speaks with the Marshall telling him Styre is dead and his plans are ruined. Krans & Erak wait for the Nerva colonists to arrive as the Doctor, Harry & Sarah vanish in the transmat bound for the Ark.....
... or so they think, but we'll get there tomorrow. My wife Liz has big problems with this episode and to be honest I can see her point: Styre's experiments are pretty nasty for Saturday teatime, as was the idea of a human being eaten from the inside in the previous story. Looking at it now it seems odd that it took till the fourth story this season for the show to fall foul of Mary Whitehouse and the Nation Viewers & Listeners Association.
This is the first 2 part Doctor who story since the Rescue the Rescue in January 1965 and the shortest story since the single part Mission to the Unknown in October that year. The format would have a revival in the Fifth Doctor's era as it's used to push a season purely made of four part stories up to the 26 episode length required. As it is two 25 minute episodes of Doctor Who, when you remove one set of titles and a recap are almost the same length as modern single episodes. Oddly despite the short length of the story there's still time for some time wasting as first Harry then the Doctor fall into the pit dug by Roth. And if you've got a 2 part story why wait till the end of episode 1 to reveal your monster thus limiting it's appearance to just the second episode? (watch later as King's Demons makes nearly exactly the same error!) I'm also forced to wonder why Krans & Erak don't just put the gravity bar down when Styre's back is turned... I guess the bonds round their hands are tied to it. And I did giggle at Styre's "I shall kill you all now .....but first I have more important tasks to perform." Head in hands. No wonder this species has been getting nowhere fighting the Rutans for thousands of years.
While I liked Ark In Space I can't really show much enthusiasm for this story I'm afraid. Possibly because I know what's coming next.... But one element that does work in the story's favour is it's all location filming on Dartmooor at Headland Warren and Hound Tor. On the first day at the later location Tom Baker, recording his second story as Doctor Who, slipped while performing a fight scene with Styre and broke his collar bone. He was taken to Torquay hospital while filming continued with stuntman Terry Walsh disguised as the Doctor. Fitted with a neck brace all of Baker's remaining front on shots were done with the scarf disguising the support. The incident was something of a baptism of fire for the show's still new leading actor and it's new producer, Philip Hinchcliffe, who was recording his first story. (Ark in Space was recorded after it's onscreen successor The Sontaran Experiment)
The Sontaran Experiment was novelised by Ian Marter. It was repeated on Friday 9th July 1976 as a compilation edition. Sontaran Experiment was released on video in a 2 pack with Genesis of the Daleks during October 1991 on the same day as The Deadly Assassin. I'm pretty sure I picked these up in advance of the official release at a London comic mart, then being held at the TUC building in central London. The Sontaran Experiment was released on DVD on the 9th October 2006 as a budget release at a cheaper price. It was also included in the Doctor Who : Bred for War Boxset which collects Sontaran Experiment with the other three Sontaran stories: The Time Warrior, The Invasion Of Time & The Two Doctors. Bred for War was released on 5th May 2008 to tie in with their return in the fourth series of the new Doctor Who.
Come back tomorrow as we start the Doctor who story that's probably been seen by more people than any other...... It's time for Genesis of the Daleks!
Saturday, 17 December 2011
390 The Sontaran Experiment Part One
EPISODE: The Sontaran Experiment Part One
OVERALL EPISODE NUMBER: 390
STORY NUMBER: 077
TRANSMITTED: 22 February 1975
WRITER: Bob Baker & Dave Martin
DIRECTOR: Rodney Bennett
SCRIPT EDITOR: Robert Holmes
PRODUCER: Philip Hinchcliffe
FORMAT: DVD: Doctor Who - The Sontaran Experiment
The Doctor, Sarah & Harry materialise in a circle of silver spheres in the middle of moorland. The Doctor repairs the refractors on the transmat equipment while Sarah & Harry explore. The Doctor is observed by some humans while Harry gets trapped in a hole. One of the humans, Zake, is chased by a robot and falls to his death. The Doctor investigates and is stunned by Zake's friends and thus is missing when Sarah returns for help. Harry escapes through a tunnel and is nowhere to be seen when Sarah returns. Another human, Roth, saves Sarah from the robot and tells of the alien, who controls the robot, who is hiding in the rocks who is capturing and torturing them. Vural, Krans & Erak interrogate the Doctor. They don't believe he came from Nerva station. The Doctor spots an alien device embedded in the clothing of Vural. Roth is scared of returning to the camp because he knows Vural has been captured by the alien and released. He distracts the other enabling Sarah to release the Doctor. They return to the pit seeking Harry, which the Doctor falls into. Harry has escaped from the pit and finds a spherical silver space ship. He sees the robot return with the captured Sarah & Roth. The alien emerges from it's ship, which Sarah identifies as Linx.....
Not a bad episode, but I'm left wondering a few things: Why is everyone suddenly referring to the Ark as Nerva? I don't recall hearing it called that in the Ark in Space - did I miss something? And how did the Transmat station get to Earth? After how ever many thousand years you wouldn't expect them to be still functioning. Maybe they were launched from the Ark when the first human was revived...... It's a nice touch insinuating that they've materialised on the site of central London with Trafalgar Square and Picadilly both being mentioned, a conceit that script editor Robert Holmes would reuse some years later in the first four parts of Trial of a Time Lord.
Glyn Jones, playing Krans, is unique amongst the entire credited cast of the original series of Doctor Who: he's the only person to both act and write for the show, having previously penned The Space Museum. Vural you may recognise from elsewhere as the actor, Donald Douglas was in the 1980 Blake's 7 episode Rumours of Death as Major Grenleee. Both Peter Walshe, playing Erak, and Brian Ellis, playing the prisoner in the second episode, return in The Masque of Mandragora as a pikeman and brother respectively. Zake is regular stuntman Terry Walsh, who as we'll see ended up doing some extra work during this serial. Returning to the show for his third and final appearance is Kevin Lindsay as Styre and, in episode 2, The Marshal. He previously played the Sontaran Linx in the The Time Warrior as well as Cho Je in Planet of the Spiders. Here' the Sontaran mask is modified to removed the breathing difficulties Lindsay suffered during the Time Warrior. He died of his heart condition on 26th April 1975 9 days after his forty ninth birthday.
OVERALL EPISODE NUMBER: 390
STORY NUMBER: 077
TRANSMITTED: 22 February 1975
WRITER: Bob Baker & Dave Martin
DIRECTOR: Rodney Bennett
SCRIPT EDITOR: Robert Holmes
PRODUCER: Philip Hinchcliffe
FORMAT: DVD: Doctor Who - The Sontaran Experiment
The Doctor, Sarah & Harry materialise in a circle of silver spheres in the middle of moorland. The Doctor repairs the refractors on the transmat equipment while Sarah & Harry explore. The Doctor is observed by some humans while Harry gets trapped in a hole. One of the humans, Zake, is chased by a robot and falls to his death. The Doctor investigates and is stunned by Zake's friends and thus is missing when Sarah returns for help. Harry escapes through a tunnel and is nowhere to be seen when Sarah returns. Another human, Roth, saves Sarah from the robot and tells of the alien, who controls the robot, who is hiding in the rocks who is capturing and torturing them. Vural, Krans & Erak interrogate the Doctor. They don't believe he came from Nerva station. The Doctor spots an alien device embedded in the clothing of Vural. Roth is scared of returning to the camp because he knows Vural has been captured by the alien and released. He distracts the other enabling Sarah to release the Doctor. They return to the pit seeking Harry, which the Doctor falls into. Harry has escaped from the pit and finds a spherical silver space ship. He sees the robot return with the captured Sarah & Roth. The alien emerges from it's ship, which Sarah identifies as Linx.....
Not a bad episode, but I'm left wondering a few things: Why is everyone suddenly referring to the Ark as Nerva? I don't recall hearing it called that in the Ark in Space - did I miss something? And how did the Transmat station get to Earth? After how ever many thousand years you wouldn't expect them to be still functioning. Maybe they were launched from the Ark when the first human was revived...... It's a nice touch insinuating that they've materialised on the site of central London with Trafalgar Square and Picadilly both being mentioned, a conceit that script editor Robert Holmes would reuse some years later in the first four parts of Trial of a Time Lord.
Glyn Jones, playing Krans, is unique amongst the entire credited cast of the original series of Doctor Who: he's the only person to both act and write for the show, having previously penned The Space Museum. Vural you may recognise from elsewhere as the actor, Donald Douglas was in the 1980 Blake's 7 episode Rumours of Death as Major Grenleee. Both Peter Walshe, playing Erak, and Brian Ellis, playing the prisoner in the second episode, return in The Masque of Mandragora as a pikeman and brother respectively. Zake is regular stuntman Terry Walsh, who as we'll see ended up doing some extra work during this serial. Returning to the show for his third and final appearance is Kevin Lindsay as Styre and, in episode 2, The Marshal. He previously played the Sontaran Linx in the The Time Warrior as well as Cho Je in Planet of the Spiders. Here' the Sontaran mask is modified to removed the breathing difficulties Lindsay suffered during the Time Warrior. He died of his heart condition on 26th April 1975 9 days after his forty ninth birthday.
Friday, 16 December 2011
389 The Ark in Space Part Four
EPISODE: The Ark in Space Part Four
OVERALL EPISODE NUMBER: 389
STORY NUMBER: 076
TRANSMITTED: 15 February 1975
WRITER: Robert Holmes
DIRECTOR: Rodney Bennett
SCRIPT EDITOR: Robert Holmes
PRODUCER: Philip Hinchcliffe
FORMAT: DVD: Doctor Who - The Ark In Space
Vira attacks the Noah Wirrn allowing the Doctor to escape. The Noah Wirrn airs his race's grievances against the humans who destroyed their breading colonies. They desire to bread in the humans to gain their technological knowledge. The Doctor proposes electrifying the cryogenic chamber and Sarah proposes using the Ark's transport ship's power. Sarah agrees to take the cable through the ducting, but gets stuck and only wiggles free when the Doctor taunts her. They link the cable and repel the Wirrn trying to access the suspended animation chamber. Noah offers them safe passage off the Ark threatening to cut off the oxygen supply. The Doctor appeals to the human part of Noah but he refuses. Wirrn attempt to board the transport ship but Rogin drives them off by running the engines. The Wirrn spacewalk round the Ark to the transport ship. The ship's controls are set to automatic and the humans retreat to the Ark. Rogin sacrifices himself to save the Doctor and launch the transport ship. The human part of Noah seizes control and destroys the transport ship. Vira begins to revive the rest of the humans on the Ark, while the Doctor use the Ark's teleport system to travel to Earth to repair a power fault on the system......
That's not a bad episode at all, though the eventual solution of luring the Wirrn into the shuttle then launching it is a bit pulled out the hat. The concept of Noah fighting the Wirrn from within has been present throughout the story so it's nice to see him make one final bid to stop them that succeeds.
Several people have pointed out over the years the strong resemblance of this story to Alien: crew in suspended animation, alien growing inside human, crew all killed until only one woman is left alive.... I like Ark in Space as a story, it's competent enough, but doesn't do it for me like other stories do. I am aware though that it's a great favourite of many.
Ark in Space was the first story novelised by Ian Marter. It was repeated as a 70-minute compilation on 20th August 1975 starting a series of summer repeats for the program that would last until the mid 1980s. It was was released on Video initially as a compilation edition and then later episodically. The DVD release was the first to include optional computer generated shots to replace contemporary model work - see The Restoration Team website's Ark In Space article for an example. It works well here, but some other shows haven't had such good or subtle replacements.
OVERALL EPISODE NUMBER: 389
STORY NUMBER: 076
TRANSMITTED: 15 February 1975
WRITER: Robert Holmes
DIRECTOR: Rodney Bennett
SCRIPT EDITOR: Robert Holmes
PRODUCER: Philip Hinchcliffe
FORMAT: DVD: Doctor Who - The Ark In Space
Vira attacks the Noah Wirrn allowing the Doctor to escape. The Noah Wirrn airs his race's grievances against the humans who destroyed their breading colonies. They desire to bread in the humans to gain their technological knowledge. The Doctor proposes electrifying the cryogenic chamber and Sarah proposes using the Ark's transport ship's power. Sarah agrees to take the cable through the ducting, but gets stuck and only wiggles free when the Doctor taunts her. They link the cable and repel the Wirrn trying to access the suspended animation chamber. Noah offers them safe passage off the Ark threatening to cut off the oxygen supply. The Doctor appeals to the human part of Noah but he refuses. Wirrn attempt to board the transport ship but Rogin drives them off by running the engines. The Wirrn spacewalk round the Ark to the transport ship. The ship's controls are set to automatic and the humans retreat to the Ark. Rogin sacrifices himself to save the Doctor and launch the transport ship. The human part of Noah seizes control and destroys the transport ship. Vira begins to revive the rest of the humans on the Ark, while the Doctor use the Ark's teleport system to travel to Earth to repair a power fault on the system......
That's not a bad episode at all, though the eventual solution of luring the Wirrn into the shuttle then launching it is a bit pulled out the hat. The concept of Noah fighting the Wirrn from within has been present throughout the story so it's nice to see him make one final bid to stop them that succeeds.
Several people have pointed out over the years the strong resemblance of this story to Alien: crew in suspended animation, alien growing inside human, crew all killed until only one woman is left alive.... I like Ark in Space as a story, it's competent enough, but doesn't do it for me like other stories do. I am aware though that it's a great favourite of many.
Ark in Space was the first story novelised by Ian Marter. It was repeated as a 70-minute compilation on 20th August 1975 starting a series of summer repeats for the program that would last until the mid 1980s. It was was released on Video initially as a compilation edition and then later episodically. The DVD release was the first to include optional computer generated shots to replace contemporary model work - see The Restoration Team website's Ark In Space article for an example. It works well here, but some other shows haven't had such good or subtle replacements.
Thursday, 15 December 2011
388 The Ark in Space Part Three
EPISODE: The Ark in Space Part Three
OVERALL EPISODE NUMBER: 388
STORY NUMBER: 076
TRANSMITTED: 08 February 1975
WRITER: Robert Holmes
DIRECTOR: Rodney Bennett
SCRIPT EDITOR: Robert Holmes
PRODUCER: Philip Hinchcliffe
FORMAT: DVD: Doctor Who - The Ark In Space
The voice of the chief Earth Minister echoes on a recording played through the space station. Noah, struggling against the alien form taking him over, orders everyone revived and taken to Earth before the Wirrn take over and places Vira in command. Harry sets to work reviving more of the remaining humans. Vira & the Doctor seek Noah and encounter him with his arm and much of his head changed. They dissect the Wirrn body they have removing it's brain and connecting it to a monitor which shows it approaching the station and then electrocuting itself. The Larvae emerges from hiding and kills technician Lycett but is driven back using fusion guns. They use the station's transmat to escape to the control centre of the station but after Rogin & Harry travel a power drain occurs and the oxygen pumps are stopped. The Doctor goes to the solar stack to reactivate the power where he finds an open cocoon and is approached by the Wirrn that Noah has become.....
Now we're into classic "base under siege" territory as the Doctor and the small group of humans are trapped and picked off one by one. We've not done this for AGES, possibly as far back as The Seeds of Death. The only thing that's spoiling it for me is that the Wirrn Larvae are so obviously bubble wrap!
The only one of the humans in this story to have appeared before or since in Doctor Who is Rogin played by Richardson Morgan who was Corporal Blake in The Web of Fear. However the two Wirrn operators have been in many thing: Stuart Fell was in both The Curse of Peladon & The Monster of Peladon as Alpha Centauri, the Planet of the Spiders as a tramp, The Android Invasion as a Kraal, The Brain of Morbius as the Morbius Monster, The Masque of Mandragora as an entertainer, The Invasion of Time as a Sontaran and State of Decay as Roga. Nick Hobbs meanwhile was also in both Peladon stories, as Aggedor and was recently Mr Nainby in new series episode Amy's Choice.
OVERALL EPISODE NUMBER: 388
STORY NUMBER: 076
TRANSMITTED: 08 February 1975
WRITER: Robert Holmes
DIRECTOR: Rodney Bennett
SCRIPT EDITOR: Robert Holmes
PRODUCER: Philip Hinchcliffe
FORMAT: DVD: Doctor Who - The Ark In Space
The voice of the chief Earth Minister echoes on a recording played through the space station. Noah, struggling against the alien form taking him over, orders everyone revived and taken to Earth before the Wirrn take over and places Vira in command. Harry sets to work reviving more of the remaining humans. Vira & the Doctor seek Noah and encounter him with his arm and much of his head changed. They dissect the Wirrn body they have removing it's brain and connecting it to a monitor which shows it approaching the station and then electrocuting itself. The Larvae emerges from hiding and kills technician Lycett but is driven back using fusion guns. They use the station's transmat to escape to the control centre of the station but after Rogin & Harry travel a power drain occurs and the oxygen pumps are stopped. The Doctor goes to the solar stack to reactivate the power where he finds an open cocoon and is approached by the Wirrn that Noah has become.....
Now we're into classic "base under siege" territory as the Doctor and the small group of humans are trapped and picked off one by one. We've not done this for AGES, possibly as far back as The Seeds of Death. The only thing that's spoiling it for me is that the Wirrn Larvae are so obviously bubble wrap!
The only one of the humans in this story to have appeared before or since in Doctor Who is Rogin played by Richardson Morgan who was Corporal Blake in The Web of Fear. However the two Wirrn operators have been in many thing: Stuart Fell was in both The Curse of Peladon & The Monster of Peladon as Alpha Centauri, the Planet of the Spiders as a tramp, The Android Invasion as a Kraal, The Brain of Morbius as the Morbius Monster, The Masque of Mandragora as an entertainer, The Invasion of Time as a Sontaran and State of Decay as Roga. Nick Hobbs meanwhile was also in both Peladon stories, as Aggedor and was recently Mr Nainby in new series episode Amy's Choice.
Wednesday, 14 December 2011
387 The Ark in Space Part Two
EPISODE: The Ark in Space Part Two
OVERALL EPISODE NUMBER: 387
STORY NUMBER: 076
TRANSMITTED: 01 February 1975
WRITER: Robert Holmes
DIRECTOR: Rodney Bennett
SCRIPT EDITOR: Robert Holmes
PRODUCER: Philip Hinchcliffe
FORMAT: DVD: Doctor Who - The Ark In Space
The Doctor's activities start to revive the humans bringing one of their leaders Vira round. She revives Sarah, and their leader Lazar, nicknamed Noah. Vira tells them of the solar flares that destroyed all life on Earth. The Doctor tells her that they have overslept by many thousands of years and shows her the insect body. Elsewhere in the station a larvae creature crawls through the darkness. The Doctor investigates a power fault in the solar stack and finds the creature's trail, then it's cocoon as it starts to change. Vira discovers one of their number is missing. Noah holds the Doctor at gunpoint claiming "Earth is ours" then shoots him. The creature starts to emerge from it's cocoon. Noah encounters it in the solar stack and shoots it but as it falls it touches him on the hand. The recovered Doctor, Sarah & Harry go looking for Noah but he finds them and holds them at gunpoint again. Recently revived crewman Libri is scared of Noah when he sees him. A seemingly disorientated Noah orders the resuscitation stopped and leaves. The Doctor finds the remains of an egg shell in Dune's suspended animation pod and tells them that Dune has been consumed by the creature. Noah takes Libri's gun from him and shoots him. He notices his left hand has begun to change .....
That's not bad. We cover why the humans are there and firmly establish the threat to them. Noah's behaviour might seem a little odd but the last few moments make it clear why: he's been infected by the creature and is starting to change. Is that the series first use of a bubble wrap monster on the larvae form crawling around?
Although Ark in space was the second Fourth Doctor story broadcast it's the third made. Robot was made at the tail end of the Season 11 recording block. The first story in the Season 12 filming black was the Sontaran Experiment, an 2-part all location story. The same director, Rodney Bennet, then helms this story, written by Robert Holmes when the original scripts written by Doctor Who veteran John Lucarotti weren't quite what the production team was looking for. Next up was the season's fifth story, the Revenge of the Cybermen, which as we will see shares some of the same sets followed by Genesis of the Daleks and Terror of the Zygons, which ended up being held back for the start of the show's 13th season. So although Ark in Space is the first story to bear the name of the show's new producer, Philip Hinchcliffe, it's the second that he filmed. Having come from a script writing & editing background at ITV, Doctor Who was Hinchcliffe's first foray into producing. At the time of writing he and Derrick Sherwin are the only two of the original series of Doctor Who's nine producers still living.
OVERALL EPISODE NUMBER: 387
STORY NUMBER: 076
TRANSMITTED: 01 February 1975
WRITER: Robert Holmes
DIRECTOR: Rodney Bennett
SCRIPT EDITOR: Robert Holmes
PRODUCER: Philip Hinchcliffe
FORMAT: DVD: Doctor Who - The Ark In Space
The Doctor's activities start to revive the humans bringing one of their leaders Vira round. She revives Sarah, and their leader Lazar, nicknamed Noah. Vira tells them of the solar flares that destroyed all life on Earth. The Doctor tells her that they have overslept by many thousands of years and shows her the insect body. Elsewhere in the station a larvae creature crawls through the darkness. The Doctor investigates a power fault in the solar stack and finds the creature's trail, then it's cocoon as it starts to change. Vira discovers one of their number is missing. Noah holds the Doctor at gunpoint claiming "Earth is ours" then shoots him. The creature starts to emerge from it's cocoon. Noah encounters it in the solar stack and shoots it but as it falls it touches him on the hand. The recovered Doctor, Sarah & Harry go looking for Noah but he finds them and holds them at gunpoint again. Recently revived crewman Libri is scared of Noah when he sees him. A seemingly disorientated Noah orders the resuscitation stopped and leaves. The Doctor finds the remains of an egg shell in Dune's suspended animation pod and tells them that Dune has been consumed by the creature. Noah takes Libri's gun from him and shoots him. He notices his left hand has begun to change .....
That's not bad. We cover why the humans are there and firmly establish the threat to them. Noah's behaviour might seem a little odd but the last few moments make it clear why: he's been infected by the creature and is starting to change. Is that the series first use of a bubble wrap monster on the larvae form crawling around?
Although Ark in space was the second Fourth Doctor story broadcast it's the third made. Robot was made at the tail end of the Season 11 recording block. The first story in the Season 12 filming black was the Sontaran Experiment, an 2-part all location story. The same director, Rodney Bennet, then helms this story, written by Robert Holmes when the original scripts written by Doctor Who veteran John Lucarotti weren't quite what the production team was looking for. Next up was the season's fifth story, the Revenge of the Cybermen, which as we will see shares some of the same sets followed by Genesis of the Daleks and Terror of the Zygons, which ended up being held back for the start of the show's 13th season. So although Ark in Space is the first story to bear the name of the show's new producer, Philip Hinchcliffe, it's the second that he filmed. Having come from a script writing & editing background at ITV, Doctor Who was Hinchcliffe's first foray into producing. At the time of writing he and Derrick Sherwin are the only two of the original series of Doctor Who's nine producers still living.
Tuesday, 13 December 2011
MORE 2012 DVD pre orders !
Updating the post for 5th December, Amazon have some more Doctor Who pre orders up:
2nd January: UNIT Files: Invasion of the Dinosaurs & The Android Invasion
23rd January: The Sensorites
13th February: Revisitations 3 (The Tomb of the Cybermen, The Three Doctors and the Robots of Death)
5th March: Face of Evil
26th March: The Dæmons
It's believed the remaining three McCoy stories are in the works, with Greatest Show in the Galaxy appearing by itself and the other two, Dragonfire & The Happiness Patrol, appearing in an Ace boxset. And then there's The Reign of Terror with episodes 4 & 5 animated.
2nd January: UNIT Files: Invasion of the Dinosaurs & The Android Invasion
23rd January: The Sensorites
13th February: Revisitations 3 (The Tomb of the Cybermen, The Three Doctors and the Robots of Death)
5th March: Face of Evil
26th March: The Dæmons
It's believed the remaining three McCoy stories are in the works, with Greatest Show in the Galaxy appearing by itself and the other two, Dragonfire & The Happiness Patrol, appearing in an Ace boxset. And then there's The Reign of Terror with episodes 4 & 5 animated.
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