295 Colony in Space: Episode Three

EPISODE: Colony in Space: Episode Three
OVERALL EPISODE NUMBER: 295
STORY NUMBER: 058
TRANSMITTED: 24 April 1971
WRITER: Malcolm Hulke
DIRECTOR: Michael Briant
SCRIPT EDITOR: Terrance Dicks
PRODUCER: Barry Letts
FORMAT: VHS: Doctor Who - the Master Tin Set: Colony In Space & The Time Monster but DVD release due on October 3rd
Episode Format: 525 video

The Doctor attacks Morgan seizing the remote control for the robot. The Colonists are struggling to restore power when IMC move their ship closer to the colony, announcing their presence. IMC Captain Dent summons an adjudicator, but the Doctor returns saying he was attacked by the robot. The Doctor tries to repair the generator while Norton denounces his story. Winton & Jo try to find evidence on the IMC ship but Norton radios Dent to tell him they are there. The Doctor restores the power back to the colony. Jo & Winton are imprisoned in a primitive dwelling chained to a drilling explosive to ensure the Doctor's co-operation. Winton escapes, but Jo is recaptured. Winton is saved from pursuing guards by Caldwell, then incites the colonists to attack the IMC ship. Caldwell arranges Jo's release to prevent the attack, but she's seized by the primitives. The Doctor helps colonists get into the ship to capture the crew. The Doctor & Ashe search for Jo, finding her guard's body. Jo is taken to the Primitive's underground city....

What possessed Jo to try to break into the IMC ship? Honestly..... Caldwell's dissatisfaction with IMC's polices is coming over nicely and while you hope the Adjudicator's arrival will help to resolve the Colonists' issues their actions here won't have done them any favours. Of course you're very much getting the feel that the system is bent in IMC's favour anyway from what you hear from both sides in this story. But don't forget: there's a tinsy hanging plot thread from the first episode: Why has the Doctor been sent here by the Time Lords in the first place?

We've seen Human colonies before in Doctor Who. The Ark is all about the remainder of the human race travelling to a new world, whereas the Doctor visits established colonies on Vulcan, in the Power of the Daleks, the unnamed planet in the Macra Terror and the Issigri Mining Corporation's base on Ta. Interestingly all three of these worlds show or mention Mining taking place in connection with the Colony. Here the focus is on living and there's conflict with those who want to mine. We'll return to Earth colonies in The Mutants, The Planet of the Spiders, The Ark in Space & The Sontaran Experiment (kind of), The Face of Evil, The Robots of Death, The Sunmakers, State of Decay, Kinda & Snakedance, Frontios, Revelation of the Daleks & The Happiness Patrol. In addition to these, there's many planets the Doctor visits inhabited by civilisations that could be human colonies that have evolved & changed or that might be actually be humanoid primitives that have evolved into a form similar to Humans - in most cases it's just no clear but I think we can be sure about the Kaleds, Thals, Time Lords & Sisterhood of Kahn aren't Earth originated humans! Insinuating that would be opening a whole can of worms that I don't want to go near!