 Like "The Krotons", this story was a late replacement for another, "The Dream Spinner" by Paul Wheeler. Robert Holmes was asked to write this story given very little notice.
As well as being the penultimate story of the Second Doctor’s era, this story sadly has the distinction of being the latest story produced that is mostly lost, though it is also considered lacklustre by many fans.
Episode one holds the record of having the most time before the appearance of The Doctor and his companions (except "Mission to the Unknown" when none of the regulars appeared).
Episode one was also the final episode recorded in Lime Grove Studio D, marking the end of an association which dated back to the very first story "An Unearthly Child". Episode one also saw the addition to the crew of a floor assistant named John Turner. More commonly credited as John Nathan-Turner, he would become the shows' Producer a decade later.
As of episode two, the show moved to a new recording home - the more modern Television Centre Studio 4 (TC4). Episode two was also captured on 35mm film instead of videotape to make the editing process easier. The remaining episodes of this story were also recorded in TC4 with the exception of episode five which saw a temporary shift to TC6.
Patrick Troughton, Frazer Hines and Wendy Padbury were all away on location filming "The War Games" during the recording of episode six and so appear only in pre-filmed inserts. This thus became the only sixties episode apart from "Mission to the Unknown" to have none of the regulars present for a studio recording.
This is Peter Bryant last story as Producer. During this time former Script Editor Derrick Sherwin was already taking on more and more of Peter Bryant's responsibilities as he prepared to take over the post himself. Peter Bryant left the BBC in the early Seventies and became an executive producer for an independent production company. He later became a literary agent before passing away in May 2006, following an illness.
This was the only Doctor Who story that Michael Hart directed. He had also worked on series such as Z Cars and Softly, Softly and his career would continue with credits on programmes including Crossroads and Thirty Minute Theatre.
Vocals were performed in the incidental music by Mary Thomas, with instrumentals by Terrance MacDonagh and Eric Allen, adding to the Dudley Simpson score.
This story is reputed to contain some fine model effects courtesy of designer John Wood. John Wood was at this point a freelancer but had previously worked for the BBC, where his assignments had included designing the sets for "The Web Planet", "The Chase" (with Raymond P Cusick), "The Myth Makers" and "The Celestial Toymaker".
The story title, episode number and writer's caption credits for each episode are shown in black against a white background following (except in episode one) the reprise from the previous episode.
All episodes of this story, except for episode two are missing from the BBC archives. Pre-filmed inserts from episode one do exist, as well as the audio soundtrack for all episodes.
In 1998, an episode of this story was discovered in the collection of an amateur video enthusiast. The episode is the earliest known existing off-air domestic videotape recording of an episode of Doctor Who, unfortunately it is of the already-existing second episode.
A novelisation of this story, written by Terrance Dicks, was published by Target Books in March 1990. It was the last Second Doctor story to be published by Target. It was also the last novelisation written by Terrance Dicks.
| |
|
The Firsts:
The first Doctor Who story to be directed by Michael Hart.
Nicholas Bullen's first involvement in the show as Costume Designer.
|
|
(Position = 158 out of 159)
(Position = 195 out of 200)
