My Short Trips comp entry is this years Christmas short Story.

Enjoy

Short Story (The Outpost)

One of my Entries into the Big Finish "Short Trips" Comp. Longer story in the Christmas TDP

Also

Messages from other Podcasters and a Chritmas Doctor Who Update

Superbly Put together Fanzine.

Thought youd like to see it

The Prion star system contains two habitable planets which have supported civilisations: Zolfa-Thura, a desert world devoid seemingly of life structures bar five giant screens; and Tigella, a jungle world inhabited by the humanoid, white haired Tigellans. The structure of Tigellan society is based on two castes: the scientific Savants, led by the earnest Deedrix; and the religiously fanatical Deons, led by Lexa. The latter worship the Dodecahedron, a mysterious twelve-sided crystal which they see as a gift from the god Ti. The Savants, however, have utilised its power as an energy source for their entire civilisation. The planet’s leader, Zastor, mediates between the two factions, whose tensions have grown greater as the energy source has begun to fluctuate. When Zastor’s old friend the Fourth Doctor gets in touch, the weary leader invites him back to Tigella to investigate and help. When the Doctor, Romana and K-9 try to land the TARDIS on Tigella someone intervenes, trapping them in a time bubble known as a chronic hysteresis, causing them to repeat their words and actions over and over again.

The culprit is Meglos, the last Zolfa-Thuran, a cactus creature who has remained hidden below the surface of his planet in a secret structure. He has summoned a band of ramshackle space pirates called Gaztaks to help him in an audacious plan, and their leaders Grugger and Brotodac are greedy enough to try. Meglos wants to steal the Dodecahedron back from Tigella, as it is a Zolfa-Thuran energy source of immense power. To aid him, Meglos uses an Earthling captured for him by the Gaztaks to occupy and take on humanoid form: and the humanoid form he chooses is the Doctor, whom he has trapped in the bubble. While the hysteresis persists Meglos gets the Gaztaks to take him to Tigella, and infiltrates the city in his new identity. Zastor greets “the Doctor” warmly as an old friend, asking him to examine the Dodecahedron, but others are less sure, especially Lexa.

The Doctor and Romana break out of the bubble by throwing it out of phase, and then land the TARDIS on Tigella – but in the middle of the hostile jungle rather than near the city. As the Doctor heads off to find Zastor, Romana stumbles across the dangerous vegetation – deadly bell plants – and then the Gaztaks, waiting patiently for Meglos to return to their spaceship. She gives them the slip after a while and heads off to the city herself.

Meglos has used his time as the Doctor to access and steal the Dodecahedron, shrinking it to minute size. Not all goes smoothly, however, as the Earthling fights back against his occupation, causing green cactus spikes to break out on his skin. When the Tigellans sound the alarm Meglos hides away but the real Doctor arrives at the same time and is accused of theft. His bewilderment and charm are little defence as both Savants and Deons start to panic as the energy levels of the city start to fail. Lexa uses the situation to her own ends. Zastor and Deedrix are arrested in a Deon coup, with other Savants expelled to the hostile surface of the planet, while the Doctor himself is prepared for sacrifice to Ti.

The doors of the city are sealed, with Meglos still trapped inside, with a hostage Savant named Caris for company. She soon gets the upper hand when the Earthling tries another bout of resistance. In a subsequent mix up Romana overpowers Caris, letting Meglos escape and reunite with the Gaztaks, who have staged an attack on the city to rescue him. The Dodecahedron is in his possession and the pirates soon blast off back to Zolfa-Thura – though three Gaztaks, half the crew, have been lost.

The real Doctor has by now been able to prove to the Tigellans he did not steal the artefact and there is a doppelgänger at work. Lexa realises her mistake but does not live long to regret it when she is shot dead by a wounded Gaztak who was left behind. The Doctor, Romana, Caris and Deedrix head with K9 for the TARDIS, determined to follow the Gaztak ship.

Grugger’s ship touches down on Zolfa-Thura and Meglos wastes no time in restoring the Dodecahedron to full size and placing it at a spot equidistant between the Screens. He reveals his race perished in a civil war over the control of the crystal, which can power a weapon strong enough to destroy planets. At Grugger’s urging Meglos decides to use the weapon again and to aim it at Tigella.

When the Doctor arrives he plays Meglos at his own game and tries a little impersonation. The situation becomes so confused the Gaztaks lose track of which one is which, enabling the Doctor to change the settings of the super-weapon. Meglos abandons the Earthling, leaving a bemused man watching a cactus creature reassert himself in his laboratory. Meglos knows the Doctor has realigned the weapon. The creature is unable to stop the Doctor fleeing back to the TARDIS, taking the Earthling with him, and is also unable to persuade Grugger not to fire the weapon. From the TARDIS the Doctor and his friends witness the destruction of Zolfa-Thura, the Gaztaks, Meglos and the Dodecahedron.

Caris and Deedrix return to rebuild Tigella, recognising with Zastor and the Deons that old enmities must be put aside and a new society forged. The Doctor and Romana depart and prepare to take the Earthling home, but as they are leaving Romana receives a message from the Time Lords that she must return to Gallifrey…

A re issue of the First TDP Promo as part of the build up to the 150th TDP!

Issue Three of the Fish Fingers and Custard - A Doctor Who Fanzine

With My article about Bob The Builder being a Time Lord

Starring Sylvester McCoy and Sophie Aldred with Philip Olivier

(Duration: 120' approx)

CAST:

Sylvester McCoy (The Doctor), Sophie Aldred (Ace), Philip Olivier (Hex), Michael Brandon (CP Doveday), Kate Terence (Dr Freya Gabriel), Stuart Milligan (Emerson Whytecrag), Alex Lowe (Professor August Corbin), Sam Clemens (Slade), Duncan Wisbey (Captain Akins)

SYNOPSIS:

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Part One Edit

Sarah Jane faces her saddest day, as she realises that no one can defend the Earth forever. She’s saved the world so many times, but must now hand over the task to safer hands. Clyde and Rani are distraught, and the forces of darkness gather as the inevitable day approaches.

Part Two Edit

Sarah Jane has gone – but a new regime begins at Bannerman Road! Clyde and Rani must face the fact that nothing lasts forever – but can they still unite as a team, to face a new and deadly threat from outer space? Or is the old gang finished for good?

Plot Edit

Part One Edit

A meteor hurtles towards Earth. Mr Smith redirects it to safer co-ordinates, and says it will contain germ pathogens. The gang hurry to neutralise it and stop the germs escaping. The meteorite reads all clear, then a strange woman appears, claiming to be saving the world. She drives off in a red sports car, and Clyde points out that she is doing the same thing as Sarah Jane. Sarah Jane does not look pleased.

They find the woman has just moved in across the street and go to find out who she is. She behaves coldly towards them, telling them to get out of her house. Her name is Ruby White, and she sees them as amateurs. She moved to Ealing because of all the alien activity- Trueman, the bubbleshock factory, rhinos in police cars and alien plant life. Sarah Jane decides to stay away from Ruby, but keep her eyes open.

The next day, Gita waves to Sarah Jane on her way home. Sarah Jane says she has to make Lukes tea, and then realises he is at university. Clyde and Rani go to check that she is alright. She calls Luke, just two hours after she last spoke to him, and can't remember K9's name. Rani suggests she take a holiday and visit Luke, when Mr Smith gives a red alert. A fleet of Dark Horde warriors are heading for Earth. They trace the scan beam and lock on to the attic to neutralise enemy technology. Mr Smith diverts the teleport to an uninhabited area. Sarah Jane starts acting out of character, giving Clyde a gun and saying they must protect the Earth by any means.

An advance party of three warriors lands on Earth. Sarah Jane plans to use a device to overload their sensors. She asks Clyde for the sonic lipstick, but he said she told him to bring the gun (which isn't even charged). Sarah Jane has made a big mistake. Then Ruby arrives and tosses spheres to both Rani and Clyde. She uses an artificial intelligence to project the Dark Horde with a stronger version of themselves; their logical reaction was to flee. Clyde suggests calling the AI 'Mr White'.

They take Ruby back to the attic, where Mr White gets along well with Mr Smith. Sarah Jane says she'd be glad to have an adult friend. Whilst explaining to Ruby how she became involved with aliens, Sarah Jane forgets the Doctor's name for a moment, something she can't believe she did. She orders Mr Smith to medi-scan her; he tells her there is evidence of brain tissue deterioration. Sarah Jane takes this to mean she is now too old to continue defending the Earth. Ruby makes friends with Clyde and Rani, who are eager to show off their knowledge of aliens, and Sarah Jane feels very left out.

Sarah Jane asks Ruby to take over the duty of protecting the Earth, offering her the house, Mr Smith and Clyde and Rani. Ruby agrees. Sarah Jane goes to leave, not even bothering to tell Luke she is going, and orders Mr Smith to wipe her voice from the command program so she can no longer order him. She realises something is wrong and begs Ruby to help her. Instead, Ruby teleports her to a 'secret cellar' which houses her stomach. She reveals that she is the one making Sarah Jane ill, draining her life force. She is a Katesh, whose race devours peoples thrills and emotions. She targeted Sarah Jane as she has the most exciting life on Earth. Mr White is making a farewell message for Clyde and Rani so they will believe Sarah Jane has gone because 'she' will tell them. Ruby's stomach drains Sarah Jane directly, as Ruby gloats about how she will feast on the Earth...

Part Two Edit

Ruby explains that rather than stop aliens, she will help them, and feed on the excitement and terror that humanity will feel. Back in the attic, Clyde and Rani watch Mr Whites faked video. Clyde can't believe she has just gone, and blames Rani for putting the idea of a 'holiday' in her head. Mr Smith starts acting strangely, trying to give Clyde a warning- 'Beware Ruby'. Ruby shuts down Mr Smith and teleports Clyde to her spaceship. It was once her prison, until she reprogrammed it's game console (Mr White). Ruby leaves Clyde in the prison to suffocate.

Rani tries to call Clyde, and then hears a knock at the door. She opens it to find Luke. K9, who is back in Oxford, tracks Clydes phone to space. Rani goes to place the phone near Mr White so K9 can reset him and free Mr Smith from his influence, as well as rescue Clyde. Clyde leaves a message on his phone for the others to find and collapses. Rani distracts Ruby, who isn't convinced, but luckily K9 manages to reset Mr White in time. Clyde and Rani go to rescue Sarah Jane. Ruby corners them in the cellar and threatens to devour them completely.

Luke arrives and gives Ruby a warning to leave Earth. When she refuses, Mr White sends a hologram, so everyone on Earth sees a meteor hurtling straight for them. Ruby cannot handle the sudden inrush of emotions and thrills from 6 billion people. The stomach swells, then shrinks and releases all the energy it took from Sarah Jane back into her. Sarah Jane sends Ruby back to her prison ship, but Ruby swears to get revenge on her. Luke takes them all out for a treat, and Sarah Jane says that although the universe is full of amazing things, they have stiff competition on Earth.

Cast Edit

• Sarah Jane Smith - Elizabeth Sladen
• Clyde Langer - Daniel Anthony
• Rani Chandra - Anjli Mohindra
• Mr Smith - Alexander Armstrong
• Luke Smith - Thomas Knight
• K9 Mark IV - John Leeson (Part 2 Only)
• Gita Chandra - Mina Anwar
• Haresh Chandra - Ace Bhatti
• Ruby White - Julie Graham
• Mr White - Eddie Marsan

Crew Edit

to be added

References Edit

• Ruby refers to Sarah Jane's area as "The Ealing Triangle", a play on the Bermuda Triangle, an area in the North Atlantic Ocean, where a number of planes and sea vessels have mysteriously vanished over the years.
• Ruby mentions she has a bio damper.

Story notes Edit

to be added

Ratings Edit

to be added

Myths Edit

• Luke and K9 will return. This was proven true

Filming locations Edit

to be added

Production errors Edit

to be added

Continuity Edit

• Clyde is once again splattered with alien slime. (SJA: Revenge of the Slitheen, Enemy of the Bane, The Gift, The Nightmare Man)
• Ruby White mentions in passing the events of SJA: Invasion of the Bane, Secrets of the Stars, Prisoner of the Judoon and The Gift.

Starring Mark McDonnell, Hannah Smith and Barnaby Edwards

(Duration: 240' approx)

CAST:

Mark McDonnell (Liam Barnaby), Hannah Smith (Samantha Thorn), Barnaby Edwards (Paul Hunt), Jo Castleton (Hazel Trahn), Ian Brooker (Yan), Ian Hallard (Chessman), Andrew Dickens (Milo Taggart), Toby Hadoke (Louis Richter), Martin Trent (Merced), Cal Jaggers (Becca Trahn),  Jess Robinson (Janice Webb), Stuart Crossman (The News), Nicholas Briggs (Cyber Voices)

SYNOPSIS:

CHRONOLOGICAL PLACEMENT:

This story is set after the events of Cyberman, the first series.

NOTE:
CDs only available as a boxed set. Box cover enhanced with silver foil. CD 5 is a behind-the-scenes

Plot

[edit] Part 1

Sarah Jane, Rani and Clyde are lured by an article to a shop where an alien has been sighted. When they arrive, they are met by the mysterious shopkeeper and his parrot. The Shopkeeper needs their help to save the Earth. They need to find three pieces made of chronosteen, a metal forged in the Time Vortex which can reshape destiny, before it is too late. They can be found at key points of the Earth's history. The Shopkeeper is able to open a time window, into which Sarah Jane, Rani and Clyde are forced. They are transported in time to three different eras, and each must face danger alone.

Rani ends up in the Tower of London on 19 July 1553, to be a lady-in-waiting to Lady Jane Grey, who is about to be usurped by Mary I. It is the final day of her reign. Rani and Lady Jane easily become friends. Mary's army have reached London. Rani discovers a plot to kill Lady Jane that very night.

Clyde ends up in an English coastal village in 1941 during World War II. He meets George, an adolescent evacuee, who has spotted three Wehrmacht soldiers on the beach. They are now the only people who can save Britain from an invasion. They hide in the church, but are found. The Germans have a hammer - Thor's Hammer. With this they can block radar systems and start the invasion of Britain.

Sarah Jane ends up in a house haunted by ghosts in 1889. She meets the girl Emily Morris, who is looking for the ghosts. At eight o'clock the "haunting" begins. They hear a woman talk and children playing with fire. The "ghosts" are not from the past, but the future, where a fire will start and kill the children. Sarah Jane and Emily must find a way to stop this from happening.

[edit] Part 2

Rani stops Lady Mathilda from killing her with the dagger of Chronosteen. Mathilda wanted to make Lady Jane a martyr to inspire the Protestants to rise up against Mary. Rani stays with Jane until the latter is taken to the keep. She promises Lady Jane that she will not be forgotten by history or by her. Taking the dagger, Rani disappears through the time window. Jane believes that Rani is an angel and, reasoning that angels speak only the truth, goes to her death confident that she will be remembered.

Clyde distracts the Wehrmacht with his mobile phone, claiming it to be a sophisticated bomb; George is able to use that moment to snatch Thor's Hammer. The pair lock themselves in a chamber below the bell tower, and repeatedly chime the bell to alert the townsfolk and Home Guard of the emergency. The Germans dash back to the beach but are captured by the Home Guard. George asserts his duty and desire to join the military as soon as he is of age, dismissing Clyde's request that he wait until 1945; Clyde implores him to be careful before disappearing into the time window. George arives on the beach and poses armed for a photograph with the German troops whose capture he and Clyde had facilitated. George survives combat and goes on to contribute significantly to the post-war development of radar, for which he is honoured late in life by the Queen.

Sarah Jane resets the clock to eight o'clock and the "haunting" continues. This time they see the future nanny talking on a mobile telephone. The children are locked in a room playing with a candle. Emily manage to call out to the children and they hear her. It is her fear when she lost her mother that connects her with them. Emily uses this ability to turn the key in the lock and the children escape. Sarah Jane, now holding the key, starts disappearing through the time window, but Emily takes the key and won't let go. When Sarah Jane returns the time window has become critical and without the key, the world will be sucked into the time vortex. At this moment a woman appears at their side with the key. The time window closes. The Shopkeeper, without explanation of the whole thing, bids them farewell and disappears with his parrot called Captain.

The woman is Angela Price, a granddaughter of Emily. She has been told to come to the shop shown in the article on this exact day and give the key back. While walking out of the shop, Clyde compliments Rani's makeover into Tudor dress.

interview featurette.

 SJSA 4.2 4.3 and 4.4

Part 1

A teenage girl enters an asylum, and approaches The Vault of Secrets. She tries to access it, but only has one disc. She is then confronted by The Alliance of Shades, so she escapes, injures herself and falls over. Androvax exits her body, and escapes. The Alliance of Shades (a.k.a Men In Black) arrive at the scene, and scan the unconscious girl. The Veil is declared no longer in her.

Sarah Jane, Clyde and Rani are in the attic, speaking to Luke on webcam, and Mr Smith interferes with a NASA space probe on Mars, to prevent it discovering an ancient and deadly civilisation.

Gita and her husband Haresh have joined B.U.R.P.S.S. (The British UFO Research and Paranormal Studies Society) due to Gita's encounter with the Judoon and Androvax in the past. When the couple arrive home on Bannerman Road, Gita spots Androvax entering Sarah Jane's front garden.

Haresh arms himself and goes to investigate, and encounters Sarah Jane, Rani and Clyde. Haresh leaves after a conversation with them, and Androvax enters Rani's body. Sarah Jane scans for alien activity, and realises Rani has been taken over. Sarah Jane and Clyde chase her/him to the attic, and order Mr Smith to contain him after exiting Rani's body.

They discover that Androvax is dying, having escaped a prison in a swamp and been poisoned by an alien viper. He intends to free 100 of his people from cryogenic sleep in The Vault of Secrets - the last survivors of the Veil species, aside from Androvax himself.

Ocean Waters, the founder of B.U.R.P.S.S., arrives with Minty to scan for alien activity by picking up Beta particles. Sarah Jane uses her Sonic lipstick to deactivate this device.

The three of them go to investigate at a mental asylum, where they encounter the base of the Men In Black. They are detected, and the Men In Black go to confront them. They discover that Ocean Waters was abducted in 1972 and encountered the Men In Black. The Men In Black then arrive to confront them, and activate their robotic hands. They tell Sarah Jane she must hand over Androvax and their disc, or prepare to be incinerated.

The gang arrive home, where they agree with Androvax to let him use Clyde's body. They then speak to Ocean and Minty. Ocean turns out to have the other disc required to enter the Vault, and she recalls past encounters with the Men In Black and Mister Dread. Then the Men In Black arrive and tell them they must prepare to be incinerated.

[edit] Part 2

The incineration is averted, Androvax escapes and enters Gita's body. Gita leaves for the Vault, and is followed by Mister Dread, Sarah Jane, Rani and Clyde. Sarah Jane causes Mister Dread's car to malfunction, so he acquires a new one.

They all arrive at the asylum, where Rani and Clyde rescue Gita. Androvax then leaves and encounters Sarah Jane. Sarah Jane refuses to help him because when the Veil are reawakened and leave Earth, the spaceships will cause Earth to explode, ending the human civilisation. Sarah Jane's body is then taken over by Androvax.

Clyde jumps away from an incineration blast from two Men In Black, and the two men destroy each other. Rani explains to her mother about aliens, and how Sarah Jane, she and Clyde have encountered them. Mister Dread is placed into his capsule and made to sleep. Androvax goes to the Vault, in Sarah Jane's body, pretending to be her. He/she opens the Vault, revealing many spaceships, much to Gita's surprise. Androvax then leaves Sarah's body, and locks himself inside the Vault, which uses a Transmat to make it bigger on the inside. The team awaken Mister Dread, who gives up 450 years of his energy to allow Androvax and his race to leave Earth without harming anybody, by being beamed into space.

Mister Dread now lacks power, and declares his mission terminated. He erases the memory of Gita, who intends to tell the world about their experiences, and goes to sleep in his capsule. The team return home, and Ocean and Minty arrive to ask about the Men In Black. Sarah Jane denies everything and Gita says she doesn't believe in aliens. Minty and Ocean say that the aliens have won again and decide to leave. In outer space, Androvax flies away to find a new world, having saved his species.

Sarah Jane, Rani and Clyde are talking to Luke via webcam but are interrupted when Mr Smith alerts them that a UNIT armed forces convoy is converging on the house. The commanding officer, Colonel Karim, informs the group that the Doctor is dead, despite Sarah Jane's protests that it can't be possible. It is claimed that the Doctor died in the Wastelands of the Crimson Heart, where he had saved the lives of 500 children from the Scarlet Monstrosity. A race called the Shansheeth ^[3] have retrieved the body and are holding a funeral for the Doctor at UNIT Base 5, buried underground at the foot of Mount Snowdon. Sarah Jane still believes that the Doctor must be alive, and so goes along to search for evidence that it is a hoax.

Upon arrival at the base they find that a small number of other mourners have been invited, as few survive their encounters with the Doctor. Many also couldn't make it including the Brigadier, who is stranded in Peru. The team also find, to their surprise a Groske working in the base, a blue skinned cousin of the Graske race they have had problems with in the past. The Doctor's body is to be blasted into space via a huge rocket, built by the Groske. They proceed to the ceremony of remembrance, however Clyde's left hand develops a growing blue electric charge, which he is unnerved at. At the ceremony, music is played which recalls memories for all about the Doctor; for Sarah Jane it is memories of the Third and Fourth Doctors, while for Rani and Clyde it is their encounters with the Doctor at Sarah Jane's wedding. Clyde then realises that the charge is Artron energy, which he had previously carried after touching the vanishing TARDIS at the wedding. The ceremony is interrupted by the clumsy arrival of Jo Jones (née Grant), as she drops a vase of flowers. She is accompanied by her grandson, Santiago. The two former companions chat, as do the children, and both women agree that they are sure that the Doctor must still be alive.

In their dormitory, the two women make a list of enemies that might try to fake the Doctor's death, while the children leave and wander round the base. Outside the room, Clyde again receives a shock on his hand and reveals the affliction to the other two. They encounter the lead Groske again, who informs them that the rising artron energy signals that an unidentified someone is getting closer and closer. Clyde, desperate to find out more pursues the Groske down an air vent, where they watch as the Shansheeth plot to make the two companions relive their days with the Doctor and therefore drain their minds for an unknown purpose, killing them in the process. The Shansheeth play music down the ventilation shafts to the former companions, where they start to recollect their adventures with the Doctor. The children are discovered by the Shansheeth when another artron energy discharge gives away their position.

The children flee and run into Sarah Jane and Jo who sense they are in trouble. After recollecting what the Shansheeth are doing, they are surprised to hear an adult male talking through Clyde's mouth. However, the next minute Clyde appears normal. He then gains the Doctor's hand before seemingly morphing into the Doctor. The Doctor, now in the UNIT base, explains that he used Clyde's residual Artron Energy to make a complicated swap of 10,000 light years. The result of this is, as the Doctor realises, is that he can fight the Shansheeth while Clyde however is where the Doctor just was: trapped in danger on an alien world. Sarah Jane realises that the man standing before them is the Doctor's newest incarnation shortly before the Shansheeth catch up with the group where the Doctor confronts them. A Shansheeth quips that they will ensure their announcement of the Doctor's death is correct this time, they then proceed to launch a beam of energy from their claws at him, causing him to yelp in pain and collapse to the floor.

[edit] Part 2

The Doctor disappears and Clyde reappears—they have swapped places again. Clyde, Jo, Rani, Santiago and Sarah Jane run away from the Shansheeth to safety, the Doctor swapping places again with Clyde part way. The Doctor, Jo and Sarah swap places with Clyde and go to the alien planet, where they talk. The Doctor says that he visited Jo before he regenerated and told Jo that he had been into her future and seen her thirteenth grandchild. The Doctor works on perfecting the machine which allowed them to swap places with Clyde. When fixed, it can transport them without needing to swap with Clyde. Clyde and Rani talk with Santiago, who reveals he hasn't spoken to his parents in six months. Colonel Karim meanwhile is with the Shansheeth, and they are plotting to use Jo and Sarah Jane's memories of the TARDIS to create a new TARDIS Key, so the Shansheeth can stop death across the universe by interfering with the timelines and so that Colonel Karim, in return, shall visit the stars because she has nothing left for her on Earth.

Rani, Santiago, Clyde and a Groske try to get through the ventilation shafts, but Colonel Karim heats the shafts up, until the children are in danger of roasting. The Doctor, Jo and Sarah Jane go to the rescue, but Jo and Sarah Jane are kidnapped and the Doctor must go on alone. Sarah Jane and Jo are strapped up and the Memory Weave is used on them. Their minds are scanned and they begin remembering the TARDIS, these memories generate a new TARDIS Key as the Shansheeth and Colonel Karim make their intentions clear.

The Doctor, Rani, Clyde, Santiago and a Groske come to the room Sarah Jane and Jo are in and tell them to remember other experiences. Sarah Jane and Jo both remember past encounters with the Doctor and all the creatures and enemies they met. Jo remembers all the countries she has been to as Sarah Jane remembers her battles with aliens. The memory weave overloads and explodes, the room is on fire. Sarah Jane and Jo hide in the lead coffin and shut themselves inside to survive the explosion. Later, they are taken to Sarah Jane's house, alive and well. Jo and Sarah Jane talk with the Doctor inside the TARDIS; Jo mentions the Time Lords and the Doctor mentions a foreshadowing (that if he ever were to die, the universe would shiver). He then allows them to leave, and demateralises. Jo and Santiago leave for Norway, and the trio are left behind, where Sarah Jane tells them of Tegan Jovanka, Ben Jackson, Polly, Harry Sullivan, Ace, Ian Chesterton and Barbara Wright. They say that with friends like themselves, the Doctor will never die.

Rani and Clyde are the only people left in the world and are trying to find other people. This episode includes red and yellow robots that try to attack Clyde and Rani.

After detecting an alien energy source, Clyde and Rani go to bed while Mr Smith tries to trace it. But in the morning, Rani realises that her parents are missing and so is Sarah Jane and everyone on Bannerman Road.

Starring Sylvester McCoy and Sophie Aldred with Philip Olivier
(Duration: 120' approx)

CAST:

Sylvester McCoy (The Doctor), Sophie Aldred (Ace), Philip Olivier (Hex), Stephen Chance (Sir William Abberton), Maggie O’Neill (Captain Lysandra Aristedes), Philip Dinsdale (Sergeant Jarrod), Ingrid Oliver (Helen/Oracle)

SYNOPSIS:
1999: Leaving her infant son behind, a young mother named Cassandra Schofield departs Bolton, seeking a better life amid the lights of London.

2004: Despite the best efforts of the time-travelling Doctor, 'Cassie' Schofield dies on Dartmoor, a vampirised victim of the sinister organisation called The Forge.

2021: All grown up, and a nurse at St Gart's Hospital, Thomas Hector Schofield – known as 'Hex' – meets, and becomes a companion to, that time-travelling Doctor… but remains unaware that his alien friend knew his mother, and watched her die.

1854: In the Crimean War, Hex takes a bullet, and is seriously injured. The Doctor promises to return him to St Gart's.

2025: Now. In a London ravaged by a deadly contagion… destiny awaits.

Starring Sylvester McCoy and Sophie Aldred
(Duration: 120' approx)

CAST:

Sylvester McCoy (The Doctor), Sophie Aldred (Ace), Maggie Stables (Evelyn), Ian Reddington (Nobody No One), John Dorney (Corporal/Novice), Alison Thea-Skot (Ayl-San/Faber/Nurse), Andrew Dickens (Captain Stillwell/Applin/Tour Guide), Harriet Kershaw (Ann-the-Van/Story Speaker/Webster)

SYNOPSIS:
"The future folds into the past. The homeless hero has fallen. Now begins the time of three tales: The Tale of the Herald. The Tale of the Hidden Woman. The Tale of the Final Speaker. When the last tale is told, all the lights shall fail. The world will end."

21st century London: Nobody No One, the extra-dimensional Word Lord, is again running amok. Only this time, he's unbeatable – and a terrible tragedy is about to unfold.

It is written.
AUTHOR:     Steven Hall
    DIRECTOR:    Ken Bentley
SOUND DESIGN:    Richard Fox and Lauren Yason     MUSIC:    Richard Fox and Lauren Yason
COVER ART:    Simon Holub
    NUMBER OF DISCS:    2
RECORDED DATE:    28/29 April 2010     RELEASE DATE:    31 October 2010
PRODUCTION CODE:    7W/N     ISBN:    978-1-84435-499-3

   
   
   

Info to follow

Plot

In Antarctica, scientists Charles Winlett and Derek Moberley discover a pod buried in the permafrost, and take it back to their camp. John Stevenson, the base botanist identifies it as vegetable-based and estimates it has been buried in the ice for some twenty thousand years.

Back in London, Richard Dunbar of the World Ecology Bureau shows the Doctor photographs of the pod. Although he feels that the Doctor cannot help them, his superior Sir Colin Thackeray insisted. The Doctor examines the pictures and believes it to be extraterrestrial. He tells Dunbar to contact the expedition by their regular video link, and tell them not to touch it until he arrives.

Back at the base, Stevenson discovers that the pod is growing larger and he believes it is absorbing ultraviolet radiation. In England, Dunbar visits the estate of millionaire Harrison Chase. Chase's estate is filled with thousands of plants, and he considers it his mission to protect the plant life of Mother Earth. Dunbar has come to show him pictures of the pod, its possible extraterrestrial origin and hints that such a valuable specimen could easily disappear.... for a price. Dunbar gives Chase the location of the pod. Chase calls for one of his men, Scorby, telling him to take Keeler along.

At the base, Winlett is half asleep near the pod when it opens up. A frond-like tentacle whips out and stings his arm, causing Winlett to collapse in pain. When Stevenson and Moberley find him, Winlett's face is covered with green hives. The Doctor and Sarah arrive at the base. In the sickbay, Winlett's body temperature and pulse are dropping rapidly. His face and body are now covered with a green fungus, and its growth is accelerating. The Doctor asks for a blood test on Winlett, who is growing increasingly monstrous, and examines the now-empty pod. Stevenson acknowledges that it may be his fault; convinced that the pod was alive, he placed it under a lamp. Outside the base, the Doctor digs at the ice, uncovering another pod. Noting that the pods travel in pairs, the Doctors transfers it to the base freezer. On analysis, Winlett's blood is found to contain no blood platelets, but instead has schizophytes — microscopic organisms akin to plant bacteria.

The sound of engines is heard, and Moberley and Stevenson go meet what they presume is the medical team. The Doctor tells Sarah that Winlett is turning into a Krynoid, a kind of galactic weed that settles on planets and eats the animal life. Stevenson and Moberley escort two men —Scorby and Keeler— into the base. The new arrivals claim that their private plane got lost and wound up at the base. The Doctor leaves to check on Winlett, taking the others and leaving Scorby and Keeler alone.

Moberly is killed by the now muated Winlett. Transformed into a Krynoid it flees the base and shelters in the outside generator hut. Scorby and Keeler -employees of Chase- hold the Doctor and others at gunpoint as they steal the remaining pod. Scorby and Keeler set up a bomb in the generator and escape in their plane. The Doctor and the others get free, but are attacked by the Krynoid, which kills Stevenson. The Doctor and Sarah flee the base as the bomb creates a chain reaction and destroys the whole area.

Regaining consciousness in the snow, the Doctor and Sarah are picked up by a team from South Bend in their Snow Cat vehicle. Meanwhile, Scorby and Keller return to Chase in England with the second pod. Dunbar is angered at how far Chase had gone to secure the pod, but warns Chase that the Doctor and Sarah are still alive, and are scheduled to meet with him and Sir Colin in two hours.

At the meeting, the Doctor and Sarah describe how well planned the theft of the pod was, but the Doctor believes that the two men were stooges. The discovery of the pod had only been reported to the Ecology Bureau, so the leak must have come from them. He tells Dunbar to arrange for him to go to the Botanic Institute. As they leave the building, a driver meets them claiming to be their ride. However, the limousine stops in the countryside, and the driver orders them out at gunpoint. With a bit of teamwork, the Doctor manages to jump the driver and punch him out. The Doctor and Sarah search the car, and find a painting by Amelia Ducat, one of the world's leading flower artists. When they visit her, Ducat tells them that the owner of the painting is Harrison Chase, and that he never paid her for the painting.

Keeler, who is a botanist himself, unsuccessfully tries to convince Chase to stop the experiments on the pod. Chase orders him to inject the pod with fixed nitrogen. Dunbar calls Chase and tells him that his driver is in the hospital, so when the Doctor and Sarah try to sneak into the mansion, they are spotted by some guards and Scorby, who capture them.

The Doctor and Sarah are brought before Chase, and despite having Scorby's gun at his head, the Doctor asks Chase grimly to hand over the pod. Chase politely refuses: He has the greatest collection of plants in the world, and when the pod flowers, it will be his crowning achievement. Before he executes them, Chase decides to show the Doctor and Sarah around the mansion, and his plant laboratory.

Keeler notes that the pod is growing, and tells Hargreaves, the butler, to summon Chase to the annex. There, Chase tells Keeler to inject more nitrogen into the pod. Scorby escorts the Doctor and Sarah into the gardens to kill them, but the two manage to overpower Scorby. The Doctor uses rope to lower Sarah down the wall so she can go and warn Sir Colin while he returns to the house to examine the pod. However, Sarah gets captured again.

The Doctor makes his way back into the mansion while Sarah is escorted by Scorby back to Chase. The Doctor watches through the skylight, horrified as Chase orders Sarah forced down to a chair, grabbing her arm and pinning it next to the pod. He wants to know what happens when the Krynoid touches human flesh. The Doctor rescues Sarah and in the confusion, a frond from the pod stings Keeler's arm. Keeler begs Chase to get him to a hospital, but Chase is more fascinated with the transformative process than saving Keeler's life. Chase and Hargreaves take Keller to the nearby cottage.

When the Doctor returns to the empty laboratory, he is captured by Scorby and a guard, who take him to the compost room. Scorby activates the crusher, remarking that Chase recycles everything. The main gate calls the house: Amelia Ducat is here demanding her money. To avoid a fuss, Chase agrees to see her. Meanwhile, Sarah has entered the cottage, and sees Keeler, who is still lucid, although covered with the Krynoid growth. She escapes back to the house and while in hiding, attracts Ducat's attention and asks her to take a message to Sir Colin. Outside, Ducat enters a car with Sir Colin and Dunbar inside, and tells them what Sarah said. Dunbar, realising he has made a terrible mistake, says he will go in and get the Doctor. He tells Sir Colin that, if he does not return in half an hour, to return to London and call UNIT.

Sarah finds her way into the compost room and turns off the crusher just in time to save the Doctor. Hargreaves finds that Keeler has now almost completed his transformation, and runs in a panic as the creature frees itself. In the mansion, Dunbar pleads with Chase to abandon the experiment as Hargreaves reports Keeler's transformation to Chase. Dunbar says that this has gone far enough, and he is going to get help. Chase tells Scorby to stop him.

Scorby pursues Dunbar through the grounds as the Doctor and Sarah find Keeler missing from the cottage. The Doctor takes a sword from over the fireplace and they leave to search for the Krynoid. Dunbar runs into the monster, which is far larger than the Winlett creature was, and no longer even humanoid. He shoots at it uselessly, and is held fast by the surrounding plant life as the Krynoid kills him. Dunbar's screams attract the attention of Scorby and the guards as well as the Doctor and Sarah. The latter get there first, the Doctor drawing the sword above Dunbar's body as the Krynoid lurches towards them. They manage to escape to a cottage and barricade themselves in. The Krynoid speaks using Keeler’s voice, demanding that the Doctor come out and join it and it will spare the others. Scorby is more than willing to give up the Doctor until Sarah Jane points out that without the Doctor they have no chance. The Doctor suggest Scorby rig up a bomb so they can all escape while the Krynoid is distracted.

Sir Colin gets through to Major Beresford for assistance and sends Amelia home.

Scorby throws his improvised bomb out an upstairs window and the Doctor makes a run for it. The Krynoid goes in pursuit, but the Doctor escapes in the limousine, leaving the Krynoid behind. Scorby tries to find Chase at the greenhouse and discovers where he is from Hargreaves. They begin barricading the windows in preparation for the Krynoid’s attack. Chase makes his way through the grounds and confronts the Krynoid. It notices him and he approaches, taking photographs. It moves toward him as Chase claims he doesn’t mean it harm.

The Doctor arrives at the Bureau as Major Beresford warns he can’t do anything without evidence. The Doctor warns the Krynoid can channel its power through other plants, turning vegetation against humans. He shows them a series of reports of deaths of people near Chase’s estates being killed by plants. He then calls Sarah Jane and tells them Beresford is preparing to attack the Krynoid with a laser gun, but the Krynoid cuts the phone wires. Chase arrives and tells them that it’s the plants’ world, and humans are only parasites. He goes to the manor to develop his photographs, then begins speaking to the plants in his greenhouse.

Scorby, Sarah Jane, and Hargreaves go in to confront Chase and he speaks of how the world will be made perfect. They can’t get through to him as he talks about how he is one with the plants and animals are the enemy. Sarah Jane notices that the plants are closing in on them. The Doctor and a UNIT soldier drive onto the grounds while the plants overwhelm Sarah Jane and the others and start to strangle them.

The Doctor and the UNIT soldier, Sgt. Henderson, arrive and brought chemical plant-killer. They dispose of the plants, saving Scorby and Sarah Jane while the older Hargreaves is dead. Chase runs away and the Doctor and the others make their way into the lab and start removing the plants. But once they're outside Chase locks the door behind them and they can only gaze in horror as the now enormous Krynoid towers over them. UNIT soldiers arrive and open fire with their laser gun, distracting the Krynoid so that the Doctor and his group can get to another door. The Doctor believes that Chase is possessed by the Krynoid and determines to find him and eliminate the threat he poses to them from within.

After they leave, Chase slips back into the laboratory and destroys the loudspeaker system. Unable to find the millionaire, the others return to the laboratory and the Krynoid tries to break its way in. Scorby starts to panic and wants to run, but the Doctor warns him that every plant on the grounds is under the Krynoid’s control. Meanwhile, Chase puts Henderson in the compost machine and activates it, killing the unconscious soldier.

The Doctor works to repair the loudspeaker system as the Krynoid renews its attack, and Scorby panics and runs for it. He tries to make his way across the grounds through fields of hostile plants and makes his way across a shallow pond, but the plants grab and pull him underwater, killing him.

The Doctor and Sarah Jane realize that Henderson is gone and Sarah Jane goes to look for the soldier. She makes her way to the compost machine room and Chase confronts her, telling him he’s become part of the plant world thanks to the Krynoid. Chase plans to support the Krynoid and refers to humanity as parasites, then attacks Sarah Jane and knocks her unconscious.

Beresford contacts the Doctor, who warns they have 15 minutes until the Krynoid germinates, spreading its seeds across England. The Doctor tells them to launch an air strike before it’s too late, and regardless of the fact he and Sarah Jane are at ground zero.

Chase has tied up the unconscious Sarah Jane and starts feeding her into the compost machine. The Doctor arrives, sends Chase flying, and shuts off the machine to untie Sarah Jane. He gets her out but Chase turns the machine back on and throws himself at the Doctor, and the two struggle inside the machine’s bin. The Doctor manages to climb out as Chase is pulled into the machine despite the Doctor’s efforts to save him.

The RAF launches a sighting run as Beresford and Sir Colin look for any signs of the Doctor. Sarah Jane and the Doctor can’t get out through the plant life covering the house but the Doctor rigs a steam pipe and they blast their way out. They make their way through the hostile plant life and take refuge in a clearing filled with cut-down trees, as the RAF opens fire and destroys the Krynoid along with the mansion.

[edit] Continuity

• The serial marks the final appearance of UNIT (bar a brief appearance in The Five Doctors) until Battlefield (1989). None of the established UNIT characters are seen in this story, as it was felt that there was too little material to warrant bringing back Brigadier Lethbridge-Stewart and Sergeant Benton.^{[citation needed]}
• Cuttings of the Krynoid from this story are kept, leading to the events in the Eighth Doctor audio story for Big Finish entitled Hothouse.

[edit] Production

• Location shooting at Chase's estate took place at Athelhampton House in Athelhampton, Dorset.
• A few weeks before the serial was due to begin its original transmission, the master tape for the first episode was found to be missing. A brief panic ensued and producer Philip Hinchcliffe began planning a re-edit of the second episode allowing the story to begin at this point, but the tape of the opening episode was eventually located, having been misplaced in the tape storage system (apparently due to having been incorrectly numbered.^{[citation needed]})
• After a long association with Doctor Who this story was director Douglas Camfield's last involvement with the show.
• This is the third serial of the programme to shoot exterior location scenes on Outside Broadcast (OB) videotape rather than film; the previous two were Robot and The Sontaran Experiment.

[edit] Outside references

This story has parallels with The Quatermass Experiment an alien invader from another planet transforms a human and the giant form of the monster swamps a building; The Thing from Another World where a research base is terrorized by a plant-humanoid and the short story of which the film was based, Who Goes There? (the Antarctic setting); The Day of the Triffids (more killer plants);and The Avengers 1965 episode "Man-Eater of Surrey Green" (rich eccentric English killer; male and female investigators of the paranormal; an extraterrestrial killer plant). The Doctor's dialogue with Amelia Ducat about the car boot and model homages Oscar Wilde's The Importance of Being Earnest.^[4]

[edit] In print

Doctor Who book
Doctor Who and the Seeds of Doom
Series	Target novelisations
Release number	55
Writer	Philip Hinchcliffe
Publisher	Target Books
Cover artist	Chris Achilleos
ISBN	0-426-11658-5
Release date	17 February 1977
Preceded by	Doctor Who and the Carnival of Monsters
Followed by	Doctor Who and the Dalek Invasion of Earth

A novelisation of this serial, written by Philip Hinchcliffe, was published by Target Books in February 1977. The book is heavily edited with several screen sequences removed entirely, including Amelia Ducat's visit to Chase's manor in episode four and the final TARDIS sequence in Antarctica. A slightly "Americanized" version of Hinchcliffe's novel was released as #10 in the Pinnacle Book series in March 1980 with a foreword by Harlan Ellison and a cover illustration by David Mann.

[edit] Broadcast and commercial release

It was planned that this story would be the last of three omnibus editions transmitted over the November/December 1976, the first two, Pyramids of Mars and The Brain of Morbius went out as planned but the Seeds of Doom omnibus was replaced in the schedules by Gerry Anderson's pilot film The Day After Tomorrow (also known as Into Infinity). It is unknown why this occurred, but it is known that although the director, Douglas Camfield, had completed his editing notes, which still exist^{[citation needed]}, the serial was not edited into omnibus form until all surviving serials were in the 1980s. This serial was released on VHS in August 1994; the story is planned for release on DVD on 25 October, 2010 and will feature a commentary by Tom Baker, John Challis and producer Phillip Hinchcliffe. Music from this serial was released on the CD Doctor Who: Terror of the Zygons.

[edit] References

[edit] External links

• The Seeds of Doom at BBC Online
• The Seeds of Doom at Doctor Who: A Brief History Of Time (Travel)
• The Seeds of Doom at the Doctor Who Reference Guide
• BBC Assistant Floor Manager Susan Shearman talks about working on The Seeds of Doom

Reviews

• The Seeds of Doom reviews at Outpost Gallifrey
• The Seeds of Doom reviews at The Doctor Who Ratings Guide

Target novelisation

• Doctor Who and the Seeds of Doom reviews at The Doctor Who Ratings Guide
• On Target — Doctor Who and the Seeds of Doom

Taken from the TTZ site.

with thanks

Ladies, Gentlemen, Trees and Multiforms it is with great pleasure that I announce Issue 8 of The Terrible Zodin is now live and available for free download.

Apologies that we're 2 days behind the promised date, I won't bore you with the technical details of the problems we have but must crave your indulgence that anything past Page 73 will be prone to the occasional typo. We will in time upload a corrected version being the perfectionists that we are but now you're all terribly excited to just get on and read!

This issue is dedicated to the period between production of TV series 1990 - 2003. Whilst many call it The Wilderness Years I hope this issue proves it was anything but. Indeed I hope you're sitting comfortably because TTZ8 is a whopping Target novelization sized 104 pages!

We bring you the concluding part of our interview with Paul Cornell and have a new exclusive interview with Lance Parkin. We sing the praises of the New Adventures, debate canon, dissect the theme tune and throw ourselves in to the Timelash!

Regular columnists Tony Gallichan and Steve Sautter are on board and we're pleased to announce a new member to join their roster, the mysterious Susie Who who'll be coming from the perspective of a casual viewer rather than a hardcore fan.

I could go on and on (I've not mentioned Adric, Ianto, Drashigs, Fitz and fellow fanzines) but why not just read it yourself.

Please click below to download this issue and get ready... for the Cyberman Walk.

What type of Chapion does Michael Moorckock write about

a)Eternal
b) Endless
c)Imortal

Entries in by Haloween!

tin-dog@hotmail.co.uk

another fab Fanzine for you

From Big Finish Trilogy of Tegan Turlough and Nissa

 The Full Podcasting Panel from Whooverville 2

I attended the Whoovers fantastic convention; Whooverville 2 this last weekend,  the 5th of September 2010! I had an amazing time last year and I can't wait for this year's event!

Ebay

"cyberman deco"

item number

260658917159

Plot

[edit] Synopsis

Whilst in flight the TARDIS is attacked by the evil Rani, a renegade Time-Lady. The TARDIS crash-lands on the planet Lakertya. On the floor of the console room, the Doctor begins his sixth regeneration. In his post-regenerative confusion the Doctor is separated from his young companion Mel and tricked into assisting the Rani in her megalomaniac scheme to construct a giant time manipulator. Lost on the barren surface of the planet, Mel has to avoid the Rani's ingenious traps and her monstrous, bat-like servants, the Tetraps. She joins forces with a rebel faction among the Lakertyans, desperate to end the Rani's control of their planet. The Doctor must recover his wits in time to avoid becoming a permanent part of the Rani's plan to collect the genius of the greatest scientific minds in the Universe, of which she has captured many including Einstein, in order that she can create a time manipulator, which would allow the Rani to control time anywhere in the universe, at the expense of all life on Lakertya. The Doctor manages to foil her plan and free the Lakertyans of her evil control. The Rani, however, escapes in her TARDIS but it has been commandeered by the Tetraps who take her prisoner. The Doctor takes all the captured geniuses on board the TARDIS so that he can return them home.

[edit] Continuity

• Although this was the first story to feature the Seventh Doctor, it was written in anticipation of Colin Baker returning as the Sixth Doctor. When he declined to even film the regeneration sequence, Sylvester McCoy instead wore his predecessor's costume and a blond curly wig and filmed the sequence himself.
• A number of spin-off media have provided additional explanation for the Doctor's regeneration including the Virgin New Adventures novels Timewyrm: Revelation, Love and War by Paul Cornell, Head Games by Steve Lyons, all of which speculate that the Seventh Doctor's 'essence' drove the Sixth Doctor to pilot the TARDIS into the Rani's tractor beam to become Time's Champion and prevent himself from becoming the Valeyard, and the Past Doctor Adventures novel Spiral Scratch by Gary Russell, which features the Sixth Doctor sacrificing much of his energy to prevent a pan-dimensional being from destroying creation, leaving him in a weakened physical condition before the Rani's attack.
• The Seventh Doctor tries on several earlier Doctors' costumes: the Second Doctor's fur coat, the Third Doctor's smoking jacket, the Fourth Doctor's coat and scarf and the Fifth Doctor's cricket outfit, as well as other costumes. He also wears the Sixth Doctor's patchwork coat for much of the first episode, the first example of a Doctor wearing his previous self's clothes for a prolonged period rather than quickly changing after regeneration.
• It is never explained how the Rani escaped the predicament in which she had last been seen in The Mark of the Rani (trapped with the Master in her TARDIS and a rapidly-growing Tyrannosaurus rex embryo). The novelisation of Time and the Rani by Pip and Jane Baker claims that the rapidly-growing dinosaur snapped its neck on the ceiling of the Rani's TARDIS and died instantly, while the novel State of Change reveals that the Master escaped the TARDIS by separating the console room from the rest of the ship, forcing the Rani to cannibalise other controls in her TARDIS to pilot it prior to the events of the novel, although the canonicity of this claim is unclear.
• The Doctor states that he and the Rani are 953, in line with frequent (presumably approximate) claims by previous Doctors to be 900. However, in the new series, the Ninth Doctor reverted to the 900 figure, the Tenth Doctor claimed to be 903 and later 906 and the Eleventh Doctor 907.

[edit] Production

[edit] Preproduction

• This story's working title was Strange Matter.^[5]
• The Loyhargil, lightweight substitute for strange matter, is an anagram of "holy grail".
• Amongst the famous Humans the Doctor mentions towards the end as he explains to Mel the severity of the Rani's plans are Elvis and Mrs Malaprop (a fictional character). This is a reference to the Seventh Doctor's frequent use of Malapropisms throughout this story.
• Ken Trew created the Seventh Doctor's costume, based on a 1930s golfing design.

[edit] Casting

• Wanda Ventham and Donald Pickering previously appeared together in The Faceless Ones. Donald Pickering also appeared in The Keys of Marinus. Wanda Ventham also appeared in Image of the Fendahl.

[edit] Production

• The story features a pre-credits sequence where the TARDIS crash-lands on Lakertya. This is only the third time in the series history that there was a pre-credit sequence. Castrovalva (1982) and The Five Doctors (1983) were the first two stories to have a "cold opening". Only one more story of the original series, Remembrance of the Daleks would feature a pre-credits teaser, although this practice became commonplace from "The End of the World" onwards (the 1996 TV movie featured a short sequence incorporated into the title sequence).
• The main location used for the planet Lakertya including the exterior of the Rani’s laboratory was Cloford Quarry, in Somerset.

[edit] Post-Production

• This story was the first time the Doctor Who title sequence was created with a computer. Many of the effects, like the bubble Mel is trapped in, were realised in the same manner.
• Keff McCulloch arranged the new opening theme. It was used until the end of the regular run of the series. A new logo for the series was also introduced with this story along with a new opening credits sequence that moved away from the "starfield" motif introduced in 1980. The new theme arrangement marked the first time since the First Doctor's era that the theme's "middle eight" section was regularly heard during the opening credits (the previous two arrangements used the middle eight during the closing credits only). As with the opening sequence from the Sixth Doctor era, the Seventh Doctor's opening does not use a static image of the Doctor, but rather one with limited animation: the image starts as a scowl, then the Doctor winks and smiles. McCoy wears makeup that gives his face and hair a silver/grey appearance.

[edit] Commercial releases

The story was released on VHS in July 1995. The story is also to be released on DVD on September 13th 2010. It features a commentary by Sylvester McCoy, Bonnie Langford, Pip and Jane Baker.

[edit] In print

Doctor Who book
Time and the Rani
Series	Target novelisations
Release number	128 (initial printings erroneously have it numbered 127)
Writer	Pip and Jane Baker
Publisher	Target Books
ISBN	0-491-03186-6
Release date	December 1987 (Hardback) 5th May 1988 (Paperback)
Preceded by	The Mysterious Planet
Followed by	Vengeance on Varos

A novelisation of this serial, written by Pip and Jane Baker, was published by Target Books in December 1987.

[edit] References

[edit] External links

• Time and the Rani at BBC Online
• Time and the Rani at the Doctor Who Reference Guide
• Time and the Rani at Outpost Gallifrey

[edit] Reviews

• Time and the Rani reviews at Outpost Gallifrey
• Time and the Rani reviews at The Doctor Who Ratings Guide

[edit] Target novelisation

• On Target — Time and the Rani

The Fifth Doctor and Turlough are drawn to the planet Sarn by Kamelion, where they encounter the Master in one of his diabolical plans to tap the power of the Numismaton gas.

[edit] Plot

On the desert world of Sarn, robed natives worship the fire god Logar and follow the Chief Elder, Timanov, who demands obedience. Those who dissent are known as Unbelievers, and two of them, Amyand and Roskal, cause unrest when they claim to have ventured to the top of the sacred fire mountain but not found Logar. One of the Sarns, Malkon, is known as the Chosen One because of the unusual double triangle symbol burnt into his skin: he is also unusual for having been found as a baby on the slopes of the fire mountain.

The same triangle symbol is found on a metal artefact uncovered in an archaeological dig in Lanzarote overseen by Professor Howard Foster. His stepdaughter Perpugilliam (usually called "Peri") Brown is bored with the dig and wants to go travelling in Morocco and when he seeks to prevent this she steals the strange artefact and tries to swim for freedom. Fortunately for her the TARDIS has landed nearby – responding to a distress call sent by the strange artefact - and Turlough sees her drowning and rescues her. Going through her possessions as she recovers he finds the artefact and acknowledges the same triangle symbol is burnt into his own flesh. The Doctor returns to the TARDIS after attempting to triangulate the source of the signal being emitted by the artefact, and the ship dematerialises, seemingly on its own. It soon arrives on Sarn and the Doctor and Turlough set off to explore.

The Doctor's other companion, the android Kamelion, has meanwhile made mental contact with its old controller, the Master, who attempts to assert his control and change Kamelion's appearance from that of Howard. Kamelion tries to warn Peri of the Master but the Time Lord succeeds in gaining control. She flees the TARDIS with the creature in pursuit as the rumblings of the volcanoes of Sarn gather ferocity.

In the Sarn colony Timanov has damned the Unbelievers to be sacrificed to appease Logar and stop the tremors. They flee to a secret base in the mountains which is filled with seismological apparatus and which the Doctor and Turlough stumble across. The Doctor informs the Unbelievers that the tunnels, which have been their refuge are volcanic vents which will soon fill with molten lava. It is also established that Turlough is of the same race as those who colonised the planet, and when the indigenous people see his Misos Triangle, they greet him as a second Chosen One. Turlough realises Malkon may be his brother and becomes even more worried when Peri turns up and mentions the Master.

Another important figure in Sarn mythology is the Outsider, a promised prophet, and the Master/Kamelion fulfils this role admirably. He convinces Timanov of the appropriateness of harsh action and when the Doctor arrives with the Unbelievers they are all seized for burning. However, Malkon and Peri arrive shortly afterward and end this assault, though not before Malkon has been injured. Turlough is aghast when he finds his relative has been shot and the Doctor presses him for as much information as he has on the strange circumstances of Sarn. It seems it is a long abandoned Trion colony planet, and that Turlough, a Trion, suspects some of his family were sent here after a revolution against the hereditary leading clans of his homeworld. He supposes his father died in a crash but that Malkon survived, while he himself was sent in exile to Brendan School In England, overseen by a Trion agent masquerading as a solicitor in Chancery Lane.

The Master/Kamelion has meanwhile seized Peri and uses her to transport a black box into the control room of his TARDIS. It contains a miniature Master – the real thing – who has been shrunken and transformed by a disastrous experiment with his Tissue Compression Eliminator. The Master thus re-established the psychic link with Kamelion to gain the power of movement and has manoeuvred the robot to Sarn so that he can take advantage of the restorative powers of the Numismaton gas within the fire mountain.

Turlough realises the imminent volcano bursts will destroy the Sarn colony so nobly uses a functioning communication unit to get in touch with Trion and plead for a rescue ship to evacuate Sarn. In doing so he abandons his own freedom. When the ship later arrives, the Sarns all depart, along with Turlough and Malkon. They have both been pardoned in an amnesty issued by the new Sarn government. The only one to remain on the planet and face the erupting volcanoes is Timanov, now sure to die, his faith in tatters.

The Doctor meanwhile succeeds in weakening the Master's hold of Kamelion, and interrupts the numismaton experiment. He adds calorific gas to the numismaton surge and seemingly burns the Master alive. The Doctor also puts the terminally wounded Kamelion out of its misery. He returns to the TARDIS with a heavy heart, but with a new companion, Peri, for company.

[edit] Cast notes

• Mark Strickson has also reprised the role of Turlough in the audio plays by Big Finish Productions and penned the introduction to the spin-off novel Turlough and the Earthlink Dilemma (1986).
• Promotional photographs taken during production include a shot of Peter Davison wearing a tuxedo and holding a gun, with Nicola Bryant standing next to him in a bikini, in a parody of James Bond.^[2]

[edit] Continuity

• This was the last story to feature Mark Strickson as Turlough. He returned for the Fifth Doctor's regeneration scene in The Caves of Androzani. Turlough was the last male companion of the Doctor on screen until Adam Mitchell joined the TARDIS crew briefly at the end of the Ninth Doctor episode "Dalek" in 2005. Strickson has said that had he realised that the next season would involve stories consisting of two 50-minute episodes, he would not have departed from the series. He felt that Turlough was not receiving enough development because the 25-minute format necessitated more frequent cliffhangers and therefore less character development.
• This serial was originally intended as the swan song for Anthony Ainley as the Master since his contract with the show had come to an end, hence the "death" of the character in the numismaton flames at the story's climax. As a deliberate tease for the audience, the Master's truncated final line is "Won't you even show mercy to your own -", with him apparently being killed by the gas just as he is about to reveal the true nature of his relationship to the Doctor. However, the Master reappeared in the following season's The Mark of the Rani without explanation as to how he survived the flames. Script Editor Eric Saward cut from The Mark of the Rani the explanation for the Master's survival provided by writers Pip and Jane Baker but the explanation is in their novelisation of the serial.)
• It was decided that because of the climate of Lanzarote, where the serial was filmed, the cast would have to alter their usual costumes. Although Peter Davison started the story wearing his cricketer outfit, for the rest of the story, he wore a different pair of trousers with question mark braces and a beige floral waistcoat. Strickson shed his usual school uniform in favour of a blue pin-stripe shirt and tan shorts with a pair of swim briefs underneath. Nicola Bryant also wore a pink bikini beneath her clothes to which she stripped down for a couple of scenes, the first time a companion had been seen to wear a two-piece swimsuit since Sarah Jane Smith in the Third Doctor story Death to the Daleks.
• Peri's mother and her friend Mrs Van Gysegham, both mentioned in this story, appear in the 2006 audio drama The Reaping.
• Although Kamelion dies in this story, he makes a posthumous reappearance in the audio Circular Time.
• This is the only story in the Peter Davison era in which Janet Fielding made no appearance as Tegan Jovanka though she is briefly mentioned in episode 1. She left the TARDIS crew in the previous serial Resurrection of the Daleks, and appears in the Fifth Doctor's regeneration sequence in following adventure, The Caves of Androzani, as a hallucination.

[edit] Production

• The working title for this story was The Planet of Fear.
• The decision to make Peri the daughter of a wealthy American family was inspired by the popularity of the Dallas and Dynasty soap operas.
• Nicola Bryant was cast in part because she held dual citizenship in the United States - because she was married to an American - and the UK.^[6]

[edit] In print

Doctor Who book
Planet of Fire
Series	Target novelisations
Release number	93
Writer	Peter Grimwade
Publisher	Target Books
Cover artist	Andrew Skilleter
ISBN	0-426-19940-5
Release date	14 February 1985
Preceded by	Frontios
Followed by	The Caves of Androzani

A novelisation of this serial, written by Peter Grimwade, was published by Target Books in October 1984. A prologue juxtaposing the crash of the vessel Professor Foster is salvaging with the crash of the Trion ship carrying Turlough's family to Sarn opens the novelisation. The Master's teasing last line " Won't you save your own..." is removed.

[edit] Broadcast and VHS release

• This story was released on VHS in September 1998.
• The DVD was released in June 2010, with commentary by Peter Davison, Nicola Bryant, Mark Strickson and Fiona Cumming, as part of the box set Kamelion Tales along with The King's Demons. It also contained a Special Edition edit of the story overseen by director Fiona Cumming.

[edit] References

[edit] External links

• Planet of Fire at BBC Online
• Planet of Fire at Doctor Who: A Brief History Of Time (Travel)
• Planet of Fire at the Doctor Who Reference Guide

Reviews

• Planet of Fire reviews at Outpost Gallifrey
• Planet of Fire reviews at The Doctor Who Ratings Guide

Target novelisation

• On Target — Planet of Fire

Synopsis

The Fifth Doctor, Tegan Jovanka and Vislor Turlough become involved with intrigue at the Court of King John.

[edit] Plot

In 1215, the Court of King John of England is at the castle of Sir Ranulf Fitzwilliam to extort more taxes, and when the lord refuses to pay the King insults him. To defend his honour his son Hugh takes on the King’s champion, Sir Gilles Estram, in a joust. The latter wins easily, though the joust is disturbed by the arrival of the TARDIS. The Doctor, Tegan, and Turlough are greeted as demons and welcomed by the King.

Having established the date, the Doctor concludes the King is not himself - in fact, he is not the King at all, as he is actually in London taking the Crusader’s Oath. Sir Geoffrey de Lacy, the cousin of Sir Ranulf, arrives at the castle and confirms he knows the King is in London. Sir Gilles is about to torture him as a liar during a royal banquet when the Doctor intervenes. It seems the King's champion is not who he claims to be, either: Sir Gilles sheds his disguise and reveals himself to be the Doctor’s arch nemesis, the Master. He flees in his own TARDIS, which had been disguised as an iron maiden.

The King knights the Doctor as his new champion, and he is given run of the castle. After a series of mishaps, including the death of Sir Geoffrey at the Master’s hands, the Doctor confronts the King and the Master and discovers the truth. The monarch is really Kamelion, a war weapon found by the Master on Xeriphas, which can be mentally controlled and used to adopt disguises and personas. Disguised as King John, the Master intends that Kamelion will behave so appallingly so as to provoke a rebellion and topple the real King from his throne, thus robbing the world of Magna Carta, the foundation of parliamentary democracy. It is a small plan on the Master’s usual scale, but nevertheless particularly poisonous to the normal progress of Earth society.

The Doctor resolves the situation by testing the Master in a battle of wills for control over Kamelion. He takes control of the robot and steals it away in the TARDIS, thus foiling the Master’s scheme. Kamelion reverts to its robot form and thanks the Doctor for his assistance and rescue.

[edit] Continuity

• For dating of this serial, see chronology of the Doctor Who universe.
• Every story during Season 20 had the Doctor face an enemy from each of his past incarnations. The old enemy for this story was the Master, who faced the third, fourth and fifth incarnations of the Doctor. This story pointedly^{[citation needed]} doesn't reveal how the Master escaped the events of his last story Time-Flight (1982).
• This story marked the first appearance of Kamelion as voiced by Gerald Flood. Freelance effects designer Richard Gregory and software designer Mike Power gave a demonstration of the robot prototype for Nathan-Turner and Saward. Nathan-Turner was so impressed he commissioned scriptwriter Terence Dudley to develop a storyline to introduce Kamelion into the series. However, shortly after filming, Power died in a boating accident and no one was able to continue his work. Subsequently, Kamelion's made only two appearances before being written out of the series.
• In the story, the Master disguises himself as Sir Gilles Estram; Estram being an anagram of "Master". The Master adopted numerous pseudonyms in the course of the series, usually to be plays on the word "Master". Other examples include "Colonel Masters", The Rev. Mr. Magister," and "Professor Thasceles", as well as the unfortunate Tremas, whose body the Master stole. In order to hide the Master's involvement in the story, the first episode and Radio Times listed Estram as being played by "James Stoker", an anagram of "Master's Joke".
• This story marks the last appearance of the TARDIS console room set which had been in use since The Invisible Enemy. A new console room would debut in the next story The Five Doctors, although the console itself would be reused as the Second Doctor's console in The Two Doctors.

[edit] Production

• The working titles for this story were The Android, The Demons, A Knight's Tale and Demons Keeper.
• Producer John Nathan-Turner originally wanted the Master to appear in two stories every season. However, due to production problems, he was forced to settle for one Master story per season.
• Part One of this story was billed by the BBC as the six hundredth episode of Doctor Who.^{[citation needed]}
• Some scenes were filmed on location at Bodiam Castle, which was not built until 1385.

[edit] Outside references

• The Master's TARDIS is disguised as an iron maiden. The earliest iron maiden known to historians is the Iron Maiden of Nuremberg, which was built in 1515, 300 years after the setting of this story.
• The Doctor's claim that King John wanted the Magna Carta as much as his nobles and that he could have defeated the barons easily is historically untrue. John signed the Magna Carta after it became clear that he could not suppress the Baron's Revolt, and immediately appealed to the pope to release him from his oath to support the Charter's terms.

[edit] In print

Doctor Who book
The King's Demons
Series	Target novelisations
Release number	108
Writer	Terence Dudley
Publisher	Target Books
Cover artist	David McAllister
ISBN	0-491-03642-6
Release date	February 1986 (Hardback) 10th July 1986 (Paperback)
Preceded by	The Mark of the Rani
Followed by	The Savages

A novelisation of this serial, written by Terence Dudley, was published by Target Books in February 1986.

[edit] Broadcast and VHS release

The serial was repeated on BBC One in July 1984 on consecutive Fridays (06/07/84 & 13/07/84). This story was released on VHS in November 1995 in a box set along with a special edition of the subsequent serial The Five Doctors and a postcard book. This story and Planet of Fire were released in a Kamelion-themed box set on 14 June 2010. The DVD contained two commentaries, one with Peter Davison, Isla Blair and Eric Saward, and another with Director Tony Virgo on Part One.

[edit] References

The Doctor and Ace visit England in 1988, where three rival factions - the Cybermen, a group of Nazis and a 17th century sorceress named Lady Peinforte - are attempting to gain control of a statue made of a living metal, validium, that was created by Rassilon as the ultimate defence for Gallifrey.

[edit] Synopsis

(This is based on the Extended Version presented on the VHS release rather than that originally broadcast.)

South America, 22 November 1988. In an office full of Nazi imagery, a man looks at a computer screen displaying details on which he sees "Landing Location, Windsor, Grid Ref: 74W 32N, November 23, 1988". He tells his superior, De Flores, who is preparing to shoot a parrot with a bow and arrow.

Windsor, England, 1638. A finely dressed woman is shooting pigeons with a bow and arrow whilst her servant looks on. In her house, an elderly mathematician is performing complex calculations. The woman enters and demands to know how long his work will take, but he is too engrossed in his work to answer her. She goes to the fireplace, and picking up a poisoned arrow, hands it to her servant and tells him to put it with the others. He enquires after a silver arrow, and she replies that she will deal with that arrow personally.

Back in the Nazi office, De Flores addresses a group of followers, telling them they are at the turning point of history. He proposes a toast to the fourth Reich, before taking a silver bow from a display case, preparing to board an aircraft.

In space, a comet is seen from which a glowing energy emanates… Back in Windsor, the mathematician finally reveals the result of his calculations to the woman, telling her that the Nemesis comet circles the earth every 25 years, and its decaying trajectory means that it will eventually fall to Earth from the point where it originally departed — the meadow outside. This will occur on 23 November 1988.

At a jazz performance by Courtney Pine, the Seventh Doctor and Ace relax and enjoy the music. Ace's newspaper has a story about a comet heading to Earth, but she is more interested in the football results. The Doctor hears a bleeping from his pocket watch, and wonders of what it is trying to remind him. Pine's performance ends to applause and Ace asks him to sign a tape for her. As they head back to the TARDIS, a concealed marksman raises a gun towards them. At the sound of gunfire, Ace and the Doctor duck down and retreat quickly towards the TARDIS, but have to jump in the river to escape their pursuers. Two men arrive wielding guns and wearing headsets, but assuming they must have got their targets leave again. The Doctor and Ace then struggle back on to the riverbank, safe now.

In 1638, the mathematician dreams of great inventions that he could discover. The lady tells her servant to bring forth the potion, and he replies that they only require the final ingredient, human blood. They look meaningfully towards the mathematician…

The Doctor fetches out a new tape deck that he has built to replace the one of Ace's that had been destroyed by the Daleks. This one however, can do much more than play tapes. Telling Ace that his reminder had a terminal rating meaning some planet somewhere is facing imminent destruction, an image of the planet Earth appears on the tape deck…

In 1638, the woman and her servant drink their magic potion and begin and are surrounded by a glowing miasma, and beginning to travel forwards through time. They appear in present day Windsor in the middle of a crowded cafe.

Admitting that he has known about the possible destruction of Earth for 350 years, the Doctor and Ace take a quick trip in the TARDIS to Windsor Castle. In its basement, the Doctor tells Ace he is looking for a silver bow.

As the comet finally hits Earth, the Stuart woman's arrow begins to pulsate with light. In the castle, the Doctor and Ace feel the force of the impact. The Doctor tells Ace that it is the return to Earth of a comet called Nemesis, and then reveals that it was he who had launched it into space in the first place. Led by their glowing bow, the group of Nazis head towards the comet in a van. De Flores is in no rush to retrieve the Nemesis yet, as the comet will be too hot due its descent through the atmosphere. He tells his soldiers they will wait in a hotel leaving British police to guard the site, unaware of the true power of the Nemesis. In the castle, Ace finds a card telling the history of the bow, relating how it disappeared in 1788, and that unless a place is kept in the castle for its return, the entire silver statue will return to destroy the world. The Doctor tells her that the statue has indeed returned with that purpose. At this point, the lights dim, and Ace thinks it is a power cut.

Travelling back in time to 1638, the Doctor and Ace go to the time travelling woman's house in Windsor. Seeing the corpse of the mathematician, the Doctor hurriedly covers it with a cloth so that Ace does not see it. The Doctor sees the mathematician's calculations and is impressed that he had been able to work out when the Nemesis comet will return to Earth, only months since the Doctor's previous visit. The Doctor reveals that the woman — Lady Peinforte — made the Nemesis statue depicting herself out of a silver metal that fell to Earth in the meadow outside her house. The Doctor sees a chessboard, the game is going rather badly. He tells Ace that Peinforte managed to travel forward in time to 1988 using the arrow and a rudimentary knowledge of time travel, but mostly black magic. He says that she has a nose for secrets. The Doctor tells Ace the statue is made of a living metal — Validium — which is capable of great destruction.

Peinforte and her servant Richard withdraw from the statue to assess the strength of the police guarding it. The police are having their own problems, their radios are not working, the batteries are dead. Around the comet crash site, vents emerge from the ground spewing gas, causing the policemen to choke and fall unconscious.

The TARDIS materialises outside Windsor Castle in 1988. The Doctor and Ace follow a group of tourists on a guided tour. Seeing a no entry sign, they sneak into the castle. Hearing the bark of dogs, they see a woman coming towards them with several corgis. Although the Doctor does not recognise the woman, Ace immediately realises that it is the Queen Elizabeth II and drags him into hiding. However, when she tells him who it was, he races after the Queen, saying they need the armed forces and police on their side, and what better person could they ask? The Doctor and Ace are seized by security guards before they can get anywhere near the Queen. The Doctor informs them that they got into the castle by travelling in time and space, but they are incredulous. The Doctor tells them the fate of every living person is in danger, but the guards do not believe him. The Doctor dons a pair of oversized glasses and glaring at them intones, "you will believe me! you will let us go!" Distracted by this spectacle, the Doctor and Ace flee into the corridors of the castle. As they run, Ace sees a portrait of herself hanging on a stairwell wall. When she says she does not remember this happening, the Doctor tells her that it has not happened yet.

Richard asks Peinforte what she will do when she gains control of the Nemesis, and she replies that first she will exact revenge on that "predictable little man". She predicts that he will soon arrive, and tells Richard she knows the secret of the "nameless Doctor."

De Flores and his Nazis make their move for the Nemesis comet and see the unconscious policemen. He takes the bow case and places it on the comet, and within the Nemesis statue begins to glow. The Doctor and Ace arrive, and De Flores demands they hand over the arrow. The Doctor reveals that the bow and arrow give the Validium metal critical mass. The Doctor confronts De Flores and asks if he has observed the advanced technology, which has been used to attack the policemen, and the power blackouts that have been occurring over the last few days. De Flores threatens to shoot Ace if they do not tell him where the arrow is, but at this moment a large spacecraft lands near the crash site. The doors open and from within emerge a troop of Cybermen…

The Cyberleader recognises the Doctor, even though his appearance has changed, and tells the onlookers that the Cybermen had predicted his presence. The Nazis open fire on the Cybermen but their bullets are ineffective. The Cybermen open fire and drive the Nazis away. The Doctor says that this happened before, but before it was the Roundheads and Lady Peinforte. Peinforte shoots one of the Cybermen with a bow and arrow. De Flores finds one of her arrows and sees that it is gold-tipped. Peinforte and Richard withdraw, allowing the Nazis and the Cybermen to fight it out, hoping to retrieve the Nemesis in the aftermath. In the confusion, the Doctor and Ace manage to seize the silver bow and return to the TARDIS. Peinforte sees this and tries to shoot them, but her arrow thuds into the TARDIS door just as it dematerialises.

While Peinforte and Richard enter the town of Windsor, the Cybermen begin to cut the Nemesis statue free of the comet. The Doctor and Ace go back to Peinforte's house in 1638. The body of the mathematician has gone, and the chess pieces have also been moved. The Doctor tells Ace that although the mathematician was a genius, he had needed a little help to get started. The Doctor picks up a piece of paper from the desk and throws it into the fireplace. Making a further move on the chessboard, they leave.

Materialising back in the present day, the Doctor explains that Validium was created on Ancient Gallifrey by Omega and Rassilon as the ultimate defence. Some of it however left Gallifrey, and now they must stop Peinforte or anyone else reuniting the statue, the bow and the arrow. Using the bow to lead them, they proceed in the direction of the statue.

In Windsor, Peinforte and Richard are confronted by two thugs, who think they are mugging social workers. The Doctor finds and questions them later; they had been left naked in a tree.

As Richard is terrified by the sight of a bizarre creature, a llama, Peinforte tells him that if he does not help her retrieve the Nemesis, she will abandon him in this future time. He then sees that they are standing by a memorial statue. She tells him that it is his tomb, placed in the grounds of her own burial place. The arrow starts glowing and they realise that that is where the Cybermen have taken the Nemesis statue. As they scour the tomb for Nemesis, the Cybermen prepare to attack, but realising they are armed with gold arrows retreat. Opening up her grave, they see that it does not contain her bones.

Ace destroys the Cybermen vehicle with Nitro-9 explosive. De Flores strikes a deal with the Cyberleader to kill Peinforte and Richard in exchange for a share of control of Earth after its conquest. The Cybermen have no intention of honouring the deal, and plan to kill the Nazis after the death of Peinforte.

The Doctor tells Ace that every time the Nemesis comet approached Earth in its 25 year orbit, it caused destruction: in 1913, the eve of the First World War; 1938, Hitler annexes Austria; 1963 Kennedy assassinated, and now it is 1988. They use the tape deck scanner trying to find the cyber-fleet.

Opening up the grave fully, Peinforte gazes upon her own image shown on the Nemesis statue. However, De Flores and his man arrives with guns, and Richard has only one arrow left. In fear, he hands over the arrow to De Flores and drags Peinforte away leaving the Nazis in control of Nemesis. De Flores believes he now has all three parts of the Validium. Placing the arrow in the statues hands, it becomes more animated. The Cybermen arrive and ask De Flores where the bow is. When he opens the case he sees that he does not have it at all.

The Doctor sees a chameleon and realises the Cyber-fleet is shrouded, and making the adjustment to the tape deck reveals the entire fleet of Cyber-warships, thousands of them…

The Doctor decides to activate the Validium by taking the bow to the crypt. When Ace seems frightened, the Doctor tells her she can wait in the TARDIS, but she refuses and wants to accompany the Doctor.

Meanwhile, De Flores realises he has overplayed his hand and tries to negotiate with the Cyberleader. The Cyberleader orders his lieutenant to kill De Flores, but he throws gold dust in the leader's face and flees. The other Nazi however turns on De Flores and offers him to the Cybermen, asking to be made into a Cyberman himself. The two Nazis are then taken to be prepared for Cyber-conversion. As the Doctor and Ace arrive at the crypt, the jazz tape finishes playing and the Cybermen's communications begin working. The Doctor enters the crypt holding the bow, and manoeuvring past the Cybermen with Ace places the bow in the Statue's hands but snatches it away again. The statue awakens and begins to follow the bow.

Going back to 1638, the Doctor continues his chess game against his unknown opponent. Ace asks him who brought the Validium to Earth in the first place, and what is really going on but he remains silent. Taking a bag of gold coins, they leave.

Peinforte begins to rant about all power being hers and her intent to retrieve the Nemesis. They come to the road, and attempt to hitch a lift in a passing car. Richard stands with his thumb out but no cars stops for them. Seeing this fail, Peinforte steps into the middle of the road. A large car stops, and an American woman offers to take them into Windsor. She tells them that she is in England discovering her roots. Revealing she is descended from the 17th century Remington family, Peinforte calls them thieves and swindlers. Mentioning a Dorothea Remington, the American woman recognises the name, and Peinforte knows that Dorothea died in 1621 from a slow poison.

With the Cybermen set off after the Nemesis and the Doctor, De Flores is released from his bonds by his man, who had deceived the Cybermen into thinking he had betrayed the Nazi leader. Meanwhile, the Doctor and Ace materialise inside the hangar containing the comet. Soon the Nemesis statue arrives, and the Doctor gives it the bow. The Nemesis speaks to Ace telling her that it was fashioned by Peinforte into its current beautiful form, but that it has also had horrific forms in the past, and will again in the future. The Cybermen arrive and Ace shoots one down using a gold coin and a catapult. The Cybermen pursue her, but she manages to elude them. The Doctor sets the trajectory of the rocket sled containing the Nemesis, headed for the Cyber-fleet. Ace becomes trapped on a gantry between two Cybermen and the Cyberleader, with only a single remaining gold coin. The Cybermen lift their guns to shoot her, but she fires the gold coin at the Cyberleader and ducks, causing the other two Cybermen to shoot each other instead. The Nemesis asks the Doctor if she must destroy the entire Cyber-fleet, to which he says that she must. She asks the Doctor whether she will be needed again, or whether she will have her freedom, but the Doctor hushes her.

Ace arrives down from the gantry, but is surrounded by two more Cybermen. They demand that the Doctor hands the bow over to them, but the Doctor threatens to destroy the bow if they harm her. Placing it in front of the rocket sled engines, he grabs Ace. As the two Cybermen advance towards them, the engines fire killing the two Cybermen. However, up on the gantry the Cyberleader plucks the gold coin from its chest unit. De Flores arrives and picks up the bow. He speaks to the Nemesis, but she remains silent. The Cyberleader raises his gun and shoots De Flores dead, and demands that the Doctor hands over the bow. At this point, Peinforte and Richard arrive. Demanding the bow for herself, she asks Ace who the Doctor is, and whether she knows where he came from. Ace says that nobody knows who the Doctor is, but Peinforte says that she does. When Ace asks how, she says the Nemesis told her. The Doctor asks what will happen if he gives her the bow, to which Peinforte replies his power will be hers, but his secrets remain his own. Appearing to concede defeat, the Doctor says he is surrendering, but not to Peinforte, rather to the Cybermen. Peinforte threatens to reveal his secrets, so he calls her bluff. She says that she will tell them of Gallifrey, of the Old Time, the time of Chaos. However, the Cyberleader says that the secrets of the Time Lords are of no interest of the Cybermen.

The Cyberleader tells the Doctor to cancel the Nemesis's destructive capabilities. The Doctor asks the statue if she understands the Cyberleader's instructions, and she replies "perfectly". The triumphant Cyberleader tells the Doctor to set that statue's course to rendezvous with the Cyberfleet. He tells them that the Earth will become their new base planet, the new Mondas. Launching the Nemesis, Peinforte screams and throws herself into the rocket sled and merges with the Nemesis. The rocket sled takes off and heads out into space. It arrives in the midst of the Cyber-fleet and there is an enormous explosion, destroying all of the Cyber-warships. The Cyberleader asks how it is possible, and the Doctor replies that he merely asked if Nemesis had understood the instruction, but had not said anything about obeying them. The Cyberleader prepares to kill the Doctor, but Richard grabs the gold-tipped arrow from the TARDIS door, and stabs it into the Cyberleader's chest unit, finally killing it.

The Doctor and Ace return Richard to 1638. There, Richard and a Stuart woman perform a concert for them. Ace asks the Doctor who he really is, but he just puts a finger to his lips and listens to the music…

[edit] Continuity

[edit] The Doctor

In this story, Lady Peinforte claims to be the only one to know the Doctor's true identity. When Ace says she knows the Doctor is a Time Lord, Peinforte shakes her head conspiratorially. Neither this nor any further televised story elaborates, although in a deleted scene from Remembrance of the Daleks, the Doctor claims to be "far more than just another Time Lord"; further omissions from Survival would have featured the Master challenging the Doctor's identification as a Time Lord. These elements are all part of what fans have dubbed the Cartmel Masterplan, a long-term scheme by the show's script editor to return some mystery to the show by way of questioning certain aspects of continuity — in particular the Doctor's character. Although the series was cancelled before the plan could run its course, its spirit was continued in the subsequent New Adventures novel line. (See The Other.)

[edit] Cybermen

Although the Cybermen's weakness to gold was established in Revenge of the Cybermen (1975), the Cybermen in Silver Nemesis are far more vulnerable than usual. In Earthshock, broadcast only six years earlier, the Doctor had to grate gold filings directly into the Cyber Leader's chest unit then shoot it several times before it was defeated. In this serial, even a low-velocity impact with a gold (or gold plated) object proves instantly fatal to the Cybermen.

This is the last appearance of the Cybermen in the Classic series.

[edit] Recurring Themes

The Doctor comments, with apparent seriousness, that Lady Peinforte can use black magic, the first time the series refers to magic as anything more than trickery. The Curse of Fenric later implies that Fenric himself had to some degree manipulated these events, leaving open the question as to whether Peinforte used magic or merely believed she was doing so.

[edit] Production

• Working titles for this story included The Harbinger and Nemesis.^[5]
• Permission was refused for filming at Windsor Castle. Scenes set there were instead shot at Arundel Castle.^[5]

[edit] Locations

• The scenes at the Gas Works where The Doctor and Ace meet and combat the Cybermen were filmed on the site that later became The O₂ (formerly the Millennium Dome)

[edit] Casting

• Fiona Walker previously played Kala in The Keys of Marinus.
• The first episode of this serial features a brief guest appearance by the British jazz musician Courtney Pine as himself.
• In this serial, the Doctor briefly encounters Queen Elizabeth II, played by an actress. The producers attempted to get the real monarch to appear on the programme (just as members of the British Royal Family had appeared as themselves on Coronation Street), but arrangements could not be agreed.^{[citation needed]}

[edit] Broadcast and reception

Episodes two and three were the second and third respectively of the series ever to be premiered outside of the United Kingdom (the first being The Five Doctors), being shown as part of a compilation broadcast of the story on New Zealand's TVNZ, after part one had shown in the UK but prior to the other two being transmitted there.^[5]

Silver Nemesis inspired the first section of Kylie Minogue's concert Fevertour 2002^{[citation needed]}. This section called Silvanemesis includes a lot of futuristic details such as robotic dancers and the transformation of Kylie into a Cyberwoman. Her stylist and friend William Baker recognised having been widely inspired by the series Doctor Who in his work.^{[citation needed]} Kylie joined David Tennant in the 2007 Doctor Who Christmas Special, "Voyage of the Damned", playing the companion Astrid Peth.

[edit] Commercial releases

• On 3 May 1993 an extended version of this three-part serial was released on VHS. Apart from featuring footage not shown in the original broadcast, the video included a short documentary looking back at the production of the adventure.
• This serial will be released on DVD as part of a Box Set with Revenge of the Cybermen on August 9th 2010 ^[6]
• The DVD will include only the original three part broadcast version, much to the consternation of a number of Doctor Who fans who consider the extended version to be the definitive one. Instead, the footage from the extended version will be included in the deleted scenes section.

The Only Con Held in a shed!

The Whoovers are a friendly group of people from across Derbyshire drawn together by one thing - an admiration of the television series Doctor Who and its various spin-offs. We usually meet on the first Friday of each month and after the very friendly and informal meeting we usually retire to The Old Spa Inn just up the road on Abbey Street to continue the discussions. The meetings are full of fun stuff like quizzes, the chance to see various rare clips from the shows history, The Zero Room - our version of Room 101, Desert Island Docs (our version of Desert Island Discs) and a raffle to win Doctor Who merchandise. Many of the members are extremely knowledgeable about the series, but you certainly don't need to be an expert to attend or even enjoy the meetings. From time to time the meetings even invite a special guest from the world of Doctor Who - actors, writers, directors, etc. You get the chance to meet the people who make Doctor Who, get their autograph and even have your photo taken with them. The group also organises occassional excursions - 'Wholidays' - to places of 'Who' interest and have also just held our very first Doctor Who convention - Whooverville - which included a whole handful of special guests. Sound sad and geeky? - Far from it! The content of the meetings varies from serious (though never desperately so) to downright hilarious. The Whoovers is only one of many fan groups which meet regularly up and down the country, but we happen to think it's one of the very best. Whether you're a new fan or an old one, come along and you'll be made most welcome!

Fab Free fanzine with a little bit by me.

something for the summer

Revenge of the Cybermen was the fifth and final story of Season 12 (although it was not originally intended as the finale). The story saw the return of the Cybermen as lead villains for the first time since the 1968 story The Invasion, and their only appearance (barring flashbacks) until Earthshock in Season 19.

It was further significant for being the first Doctor Who story released on home video.

edit Synopsis

Everyone but a few men of the crew of Nerva Beacon have been killed by Cybermats. The Doctor realises that the Cybermen are close by and are hoping to destroy the planet Voga, the famous planet of gold. Gold is lethal to the Cybermen and Voga must be destroyed to enable their survival. The Doctor is captured and is sent to Voga with two humans, all three with bombs strapped to them. The Cybermen hope to detonate them in a sensitive spot in order to destroy Voga. But the Doctor manages to defuse the bombs, so instead the Cybermen decide to fill Nerva Beacon with bombs and crash into Voga. But the Doctor gets to Nerva and prevents it from destroying the planet of gold. Meanwhile the Cybermen retreat into their ship and the Vogans destroy it with a missile of their own.

edit Plot

[edit] Part One

The Doctor, Harry and Sarah Jane use the Time Ring, spinning their way through time and space back to Space Station Nerva. They land back in the control room they left when they last beamed down to Earth, but Sarah notices the TARDIS is not there. The Doctor tells Sarah that the time ship is drifting back in time towards them and they just need to wait for her to catch up. A door slides open, revealing a dead body, and many more beyond, littering the outer ring of the station.

In a communications room, crewman Warner warns off an approaching spaceship away from Nerva Beacon, which is under quarantine due to a plague. Professor Kellman, a planetary surveyor, asks Commander Stevenson how long they can run a 50-man station with three men, but the other officer, Lester, thinks they can continue to manage. Nerva is on a 30-year assignment to warn ships away from Voga, the new asteroid it is orbiting, until its presence is updated on all the starcharts of inbound ships.

The time travellers find a sealed door leading to Section Q. The Doctor surmises that this is the same station they left, but thousands of years in the past, before the solar flares that devastated Earth. As the Doctor tries to get through the door, the trio fail to see a silver, snake-like creature — a cybermat — crawling around the bodies behind them.

Somewhere else, an alien tries to contact Nerva, and barely gets through to Warner before he is shot by two more of his own kind. The only place the signal could have come from is Voga, but Kellman tells Warner that he set up the transmat station there and spent six months cataloguing its rocks. Voga had drifted into the solar system 50 years before and had been captured by Jupiter's gravity. An asteroid of that size drifting between star systems could not support life and he warns against going down to Voga and spreading the plague. Warner logs the call anyway. The Doctor manages to open the sealed door, which activates an alarm.

On Voga, Vorus, leader of the Guardians of the mines, orders his men to bury the dead Vogan that was shot earlier. Magrik, his aide, tells him that the dead Vogan was frightened of Vorus's plan. Vorus tells him that they can trust their agent on Nerva. Gold buys humans, and they have more gold on Voga than in the rest of the galaxy. The reason the agent had not contacted them is probably because the Cybermen are monitoring transmissions.

In the communications room, the Cybermat attacks Warner, biting him before it is thrown off. Warner collapses, glowing veins appearing on his face while Kellman enters and pulls the magnetic log tape from the console. Meanwhile, the Doctor, Harry and Sarah have reached the forward control room, mere seconds before Lester and Stevenson enter levelling their weapons at them. The door behind them slides open to reveal the communications room, and Kellman brings Stevenson to Warner's fallen form.

When Stevenson sees that his crewman has the plague, he prepares to shoot Warner to stop the infection's spread, but the Doctor stops him. The Doctor lies, saying that they are a medical team sent from Earth, and convince Stevenson to let Harry examine Warner. They take Warner to the crew quarters as Kellman returns to his own room and spies on the Doctor and Stevenson in the communications room using an assembled device. Stevenson tells the Doctor about the asteroid, formerly named Neo Phobos, but renamed Voga by Kellman. The Doctor recognises the name: Voga, the Planet of Gold, and realises that Cybermen are involved. Stevenson says the Cybermen died out centuries before, but the Doctor points out they merely vanished after attacking Voga at the end of the last Cyber-War. Hearing all this, Kellman contacts a Cybership nearby, its crew commanded by a Cyber Leader with a black helmet. The ship moves towards Nerva.

Warner is dead. When the Doctor examines the body he finds two puncture wounds, indicating that Warner was injected with poison and confirming the Doctor's suspicion that there is no plague. The Doctor says that if he had seen Warner earlier he might have been able to use Nerva's transmat to filter out the poison from his system. The Doctor has another suspicion; investigating Kellman's quarters, he finds the communications device as well as some gold. The Doctor hides when Kellman returns, but Kellman realises that someone has been inside the room. He sabotages the room, electrifying the floor and sending gas pouring up from it. Keeping off the floor, the Doctor reaches the door to open it with his sonic screwdriver. Meanwhile, Sarah is attacked by the cybermat.

[edit] Part Two

The Doctor escapes Kellman's room and hears Sarah scream. He throws the Cybermat to the floor and kills it with some gold dust, but Sarah has already been bitten. The Doctor carries her to the transmat chamber, handing her to Harry, and prepares to beam them down to Voga and back. However, Kellman has taken the transmat's pentalium drive. The Doctor reconfigures the transmat to bypass the sabotaged system while Stevenson and Lester go and confront Kellman. On Voga, Vorus observes a giant rocket, the Sky Striker. He tells Magrik that his agent has informed them that the Cybermen are heading for the beacon. Vorus wants the Sky Striker fitted with its bomb head in four hours.

Obseving the incoming craft via radar

The Doctor jury rigs the transmat, and Harry and Sarah beam down to Voga. With the poison filtered out, Sarah instantly recovers. As Harry notices that the cavern floor is littered with gold, Vogans arrive and capture them. Harry and Sarah are brought before Vorus, who wants to know who is still alive on Nerva. However, the answers will have to wait. Harry and Sarah are taken away while Vorus answers a call from Councillor Tyrum, who arranges for them to meet.

Lester and Stevenson capture Kellman. The Doctor explains that the Cybermen fear Voga because gold, as a non-corrodible substance, plates their breathing apparatus and suffocates them. The Doctor cannot get Harry and Sarah back without the pentalium drive, but Kellman feigns ignorance, trying to buy time until the Cybermen arrive. The Doctor uses a control box he found in Kellman's room to activate a Cybermat, threatening Kellman with it until he reveals that the drive is around his neck.

Harry and Sarah are chained up in a cave, where Harry notes that the chains are solid gold, which is soft metal that perhaps they can file through. Meanwhile, Tyrum tells Vorus that he knows that aliens have come to Voga. He also knows that Vorus wants Voga to emerge as a trading power again and not hide from the Cybermen, who apparently disappeared centuries ago. Because of this, Tyrum no longer trusts Vorus or the Guardians, and will send his Militia to take over the mines. Vorus is furious, but Tyrum says his troops have orders to crush any resistance.

Fighting breaks out in the mines between the Guardians and the Militia. Vorus tells Magrik to keep Tyrum from finding out about the Sky Striker, and to kill the two humans immediately. Harry and Sarah have managed to free themselves, however, and get away before the execution team arrives. They are pursued by more Guardians, who fire at them. Harry and Sarah are cornered and about to be shot when Militia troops appear, forcing the Guardians to stand down.

The Doctor has repaired the transmat, but is unable to lock on to Harry and Sarah as they have left the receptor circle. At that point, Lester detects an incoming ship, but it does not respond to their signals. As the Cybership docks, the Doctor recognises it for what it is, but is unable to lock the hatch. The Cybermen come through, impervious to gunfire, and shoot all three men down.

[edit] Part Three

The Cyber Leader tells Kellman that the three men are not dead, merely neutralised, as they are necessary to their plan. Kellman set the transmat receptors mere yards from a shaft that leads into the core of Voga. As the environment is hostile to Cybermen, the three men will carry explosives down to Voga and destroy the asteroid. Kellman insists on going down to Voga first to check that the transmat is functioning properly and the Cyber Leader beams him down. There, he runs into some Militia. Not realising the distinction between them and the Guardians, he demands to see Vorus and is taken away while trying to warn them that they are all in danger. Meanwhile, Harry and Sarah are brought before Tyrum and tell their story. When Harry mentions the cybermats, Tyrum asks Harry and Sarah to accompany him to confront Vorus.

The Doctor wonders what Kellman's reward is, if it is not Voga's gold. He taunts the Cyber Leader, saying that the Cybermen were finished once humans discovered their weakness to gold and ended the Cyber-Wars. Cyber Leader tells the Doctor that is the reason why Voga must be destroyed before the Cybermen begin their campaign again. The Cyber Leader says that Kellman was promised the rule of the solar system after the Cybermen had conquered it.

With Cyberbombs strapped to their backs, the Doctor, Lester and Stevenson are briefed. They are to plant the bombs in the core of the planet, after which they have 14 minutes to return and escape via transmat. If they try to remove their harnesses before they reach the target zone, a secondary explosion will kill them. Their progress will be followed by radar. The three beam down, accompanied by two Cybermen. Militia arrive and start to fire on the Cybermen, who make short work of the Vogans. None of the three men believe that the Cyber Leader will keep his word about letting them escape, but they have to keep moving towards the target zone as they are being monitored. On Nerva, the Cyber Leader declares that Kellman is of no further use to them.

Tyrum questions Kellman, who tells him that he and Vorus were working to lure the Cybermen to the beacon, which Vorus has targeted with a rocket. At that moment, a Militia man arrives to tell Tyrum about the arrival of the Cybermen, and how their weapons are useless. Kellman urges them to use the rocket. Tyrum orders his men to use every weapon they can while he speaks to Vorus. Harry tells Sarah to get back to Nerva and warn the Doctor while he tries to stop the rocket from being fired.

When Tyrum tells Vorus about the Cybermen on Voga, he shows Tyrum the Sky Striker, which he has been working on for two years. However, with the Cybermen already on Voga, they have no time to get it ready. Vorus claims his plans were to just free his people from the fear of the Cybermen and bring them back into the light. Tyrum scoffs, seeing as Vorus has allied himself with Kellman, a double agent and murderer, motivated only by the promise of gold. Harry suggests finding another way into the core to stop the bombs.

The Cybermen continue their slaughter of the Vogans as the bomb timer ticks down even further. Sarah transmats back to Nerva, where she overhears the Cybermen monitoring the three men's progress. However, the deeper the three men go, the heavier the concentration of gold interferes with the radar. The men continue onward, however to the centre of the asteroid.

Harry and Kellman, meanwhile, are crawling down a cross shaft towards the same location. With the exit blocked, Harry pushes against the rocks, causing a rock slide. Kellman pushes Harry out of the way, but is crushed to death by a boulder, while on the other side, rocks rain down on the Doctor. Harry exits the shaft and finds the Doctor unconscious. Not realising the danger, Harry tries to unbuckle the Doctor's harness.

[edit] Part Four

Destruction of the Cybership

Fortunately, Harry is stopped by Lester. The Doctor awakens and conceives a plan. Stevenson will continue on and create a radar trail, while the rest use the cross shaft to surprise and attack the Cybermen with gold. The Doctor and Harry jump the two Cybermen, trying to push gold dust into their chest plates. However, the Cybermen are too strong, and Harry and the Doctor are forced to retreat. Lester leaps onto the Cybermen and undoes his harness, the explosion killing both himself and the Cybermen.

With the loss of contact, the Cyber Leader orders immediate detonation. Sarah tries to stop them but is thrown to the floor. However, when the button is pressed, no explosion follows. The Doctor has managed to disarm the countdown device, which allows him to release his harness safely. With Sarah tied up, the Cyber Leader now plans to send Nerva, loaded with more Cyberbombs, into Voga's centre to destroy it.

Magrik tells Vorus that the Sky Striker is now ready, but before he can launch it, the Doctor asks them to give him 15 minutes to transmat to Nerva and deal with the Cybermen himself, armed with a bag of gold dust. If he does not contact them by that time, then they can launch the rocket.

The Doctor reaches Nerva and frees Sarah while the Cybermen are loading the bombs. He takes the Cybermat and its control box, filling the Cybermat with gold dust. The Doctor sends the Cybermat to attack a Cyberman, injecting him with the dust and killing him. As Nerva begins to move towards Voga, Vorus sees this and attempts to fire the rocket. Tyrum shoots Vorus, but as the Guardian dies, he triggers the launch.

The Doctor and Sarah's attack on the remaining Cybermen fails; The Doctor is forced by the Cyberleader to tie himself and Sarah up and they are left to perish in the crash. However, the Sky Striker is approaching just as fast. The Doctor manages to untie them both with a trick learned from Harry Houdini, and contacts Voga, instructing them to steer the rocket towards the Cybership that is just leaving. The Sky Striker veers away from Nerva and destroys the Cybership instead. However, the beacon is still on a collision course. The Doctor manages to unlock the gyro controls, skimming Nerva just above Voga's surface until they reach the other side of the asteroid and open space.

The TARDIS materialises in the control room just as Harry arrives via transmat. The Doctor tells his companions to hurry up; he's received a message from Brigadier Lethbridge-Stewart through the space-time telegraph the Doctor left him, which means it, is a grave emergency. Although Harry asks if they should say good-bye to the Commander, Sarah tells him not to argue. The three rush into the TARDIS and it dematerialises.

edit Cast

• The Doctor - Tom Baker
• Sarah Jane Smith - Elisabeth Sladen
• Harry Sullivan - Ian Marter
• Commander Stevenson - Ronald Leigh-Hunt
• Lester - William Marlowe
• Kellman - Jeremy Wilkin
• Tyrum - Kevin Stoney
• Vorus - David Collings
• Warner - Alec Wallis
• Magrik - Michael Wisher
• Sheprah - Brian Grellis
• Cyberleader - Christopher Robbie
• First Cyberman - Melville Jones

edit Crew

• Assistant Floor Manager - Rosemary Hester, Russ Karel
• Costumes - Prue Handley
• Designer - Roger Murray-Leach
• Film Cameraman - Elmer Cossey
• Film Editor - Sheila S Tomlinson
• Incidental Music - Carey Blyton, Peter Howell
• Make-Up - Cecile Hay-Arthur
• Producer - Philip Hinchcliffe
• Production Assistant - John Bradburn
• Production Unit Manager - George Gallaccio
• Script Editor - Robert Holmes
• Special Sounds - Dick Mills
• Studio Lighting - Derek Slee
• Studio Sound - Norman Bennett
• Theme Arrangement - Delia Derbyshire
• Title Music - Ron Grainer
• Visual Effects - Jim Ward

edit References

[edit] Cybermen

• The Doctor says to the Cybermen, "You've no home planet, no influence, nothing.", which may refer to either Mondas or Telos.
• The Doctor refers to the Cybermen calling them "total machine creatures".

[edit] Metals

• The Cybermen plan to destroy Voga because of its high density of gold.

[edit] Space stations

• The Doctor, Sarah and Harry have been to the 'beacon' before, in the future when it becomes Nerva Beacon.

[edit] Transport technology

• Phobic energy is associated with recent transmat use.

[edit] Time travel

• The Doctor's TARDIS has been travelling back through time to reach the Doctor and his companions.
• Once the Doctor and his companions have finished using the time ring, it disappears.

[edit] Weapons

• During the Cyber-Wars, the glittergun was used to great effect by humanity.
• The Armageddon Convention banned Cyberbombs, two of which could destroy Voga.

edit Story notes

A new Cybermat.

• This story features a new form of Cybermat.
• This is the first story to feature the Cyber-Leader.
• The BBC Radiophonic Workshop's Peter Howell, later to become one of the series' regular incidental music composers, made his uncredited debut on this story when he was asked by producer Philip Hinchcliffe to add to, and enhance, the score provided by Carey Blyton.
• This story had a working titles of; The Revenge Of The Cybermen, Return Of The Cybermen, additionally;

• Part 1 had a working title of: The Beacon In Space
• Part 2 had a working title of: The Plague Carriers
• Part 3 had a working title of: The Gold Miners
• Part 4 had a working title of: The Battle For The Nerva

• A number of sets in this story were reused from The Ark in Space, which was recorded immediately before it.
• The Cybermen's voices were provided for the first time by the actors inside the costumes.
• Five of this story's guest cast had played notable roles earlier in Doctor Who's history:

• Kevin Stoney in The Daleks' Master Plan and in the previous Cyberman story, The Invasion
• Christopher Robbie in The Mind Robber
• Ronald Leigh-Hunt in The Seeds of Death
• William Marlowe as Harry Mailer in The Mind of Evil.
• Michael Wisher would go on to play Davros in Genesis of the Daleks, which came after Revenge of the Cybermen in production order even though it was aired prior to this serial.

• The Vogan seal is reused by designer Roger Murray-Leach in The Deadly Assassin.
• Between the broadcast of Episodes 1 and 2, William Hartnell, the First Doctor, passed away. Ironically he died during broadcast of a serial that served to reintroduce the Cybermen -- his final solo appearance as the Doctor occurred during the serial that introduced them.

[edit] Ratings

• Part 1 - 9.5 million viewers
• Part 2 - 8.3 million viewers
• Part 3 - 8.9 million viewers
• Part 4 - 9.4 million viewers

[edit] Myths

to be added

[edit] Filming locations

• Wookey Hole Caves, Wells, Somerset
• BBC Television Centre (Puppet theatre, TC1, TC8), Shepherd's Bush, London

[edit] Production errors

• The symbol seen hanging in the Vogan audience chamber (and smaller versions on the Vogan costumes), would later be re-used in The Deadly Assassin, and become better known thereafter as the Seal of Rassilon. (The Time Lords may have had some influence on Voga during the time before their Non-Intervention policy.)
• The launching of the Skystriker is represented by rather obvious NASA stock footage of a Saturn V rocket taking off.
• The Doctor was wearing a long brown coat and hat at the end of the previous story, but they've vanished when he materializes.
• Lester wears his interplanetary Space command insignia upside down.
• When the Doctor enters the TARDIS in episode four the paper printout of the space/time telegraph can be seen hanging on a hook just inside the door.
• At the end of the story, the Cyber-ship explodes into flames, yet oxygen is need for fire, and The Cybermen do not breathe, as seen in The Moonbase so why would the cybermen have oxygen on there ship? they may take prisoners

edit Continuity

• This story takes place after the Cyber-Wars, which started in 2526 in DW: Earthshock. The Cybermen of that story look at video of past encounters with the Doctor and watch him deliver the "no planet" line. It later becomes clear (Attack of the Cybermen) that the Cybermen have had access to time travel technology.
• The Cybermen's first home planet Mondas was destroyed in DW: The Tenth Planet, while their second home planet Telos was destroyed in BFA: Telos, which was made some time after this story.
• The discrepancy over how many moons Jupiter should have is resolved in EDA: To the Slaughter.

edit Timeline

• This story occurs after MA: A Device of Death
• This story occurs before ST: Nanomorphosis

edit Home video and audio releases

[edit] DVD releases

• This story was first released on DVD in the UK on 9th August 2010 as part of the Cybermen boxset. The one disc set includes a restored version of the story, as well as the following special features:

• Commentary by Elisabeth Sladen (Sarah Jane), David Collings (Vorus) and Philip Hinchcliffe (Producer).
• The Tin Man And The Witch
• Cheques, Lies And Videotape
• BBC News Location Report
• Coming Soon Trailer
• Radio Times Billings
• Production Subtitles
• Photo Gallery

• Editing for DVD release completed by Doctor Who Restoration Team.

[edit] VHS and Betamax releases

Revenge of the Cybemen will be released on DVD in the UK on 9th August 2010, along with Silver Nemesis. Released on VHS and Betamax as Doctor Who: Revenge of the Cybermen. This story was the first Doctor Who story to be released to the home video market.

• UK October 1983 (edited)
• UK May 1984 (edited)
• UK April 1999 (unedited)
• Australia January 1987 (edited)
• Australia December 1999 (unedited)
• US December 1986 (movie format)
• Japan December 1983 (movie format)