 This story is the sixth and final story of Season Thirteen, and marked The Doctor's final major involvement with UNIT.
This story was originally planned to have four episodes, according to author Robert Banks Stewart, and was intended to follow a two-part story by Eric Pringle called "The Angurth". When this fell through, Robert Banks Stewart wrote the full six parts, including reworking the opening to include the two-episode prologue set in Antarctica.
This story continues the theme for this season where all the stories contain elements attributed to classic horror and science fiction films. The first two episodes are heavily influenced by Howard Hawks' 1951 film The Thing from Another World (an isolated Antarctic base terrorised by a plant-humanoid). While the rest of the story has a strong similarity to the: The Quatermass Experiment (alien parasites infecting and transforming a human, the giant form of the monster swamps a building and is attacked by the military), The Day of the Triffids (moving, killer plants) and the 1965 The Avengers episode "Man-Eater of Surrey Green" (rich eccentric English killer, investigators of the paranormal and an extraterrestrial killer plant).
Despite this story marking the final appearance of UNIT, until the 1989 Seventh Doctor story "Battlefield" (not counting this organisation’s references in the 1982 Fifth Doctor story "Time-Flight" and the brief appearance in the 1983 Twentieth Anniversary Special "The Five Doctors"), 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 The Brigadier and Sergeant Benton. The Brigadier’s absence is explained by him again being in Geneva. For this story UNIT's forces are commanded by Major Beresford (who The Doctor already knows) and Sergeant Benton was replaced by Sergeant Henderson. Although The Doctor worked with UNIT in later stories (continuing into the show’s revival in 2005), this is the last story to date in which The Doctor is explicitly shown to be working for UNIT.
UNIT had been a Doctor Who fixture since the 1968 Second Doctor story "The Invasion" and had played a key role during the Third Doctor’s era, but had been slowly phased out since Producer Philip Hinchcliffe and Script Editor Robert Holmes took the reins of the programme.
"The Seeds of Doom" was writer Robert Banks Stewart's final Doctor Who story, although he would contribute ideas toward "The Talons of Weng-Chiang", the closing story of Season Fourteen. Robert Banks Stewart continued working in television as a writer, script editor and producer, helping to develop programmes like Bergerac and The Darling Buds of May.
After a long association with Doctor Who this story was also the final involvement in the show for Director Douglas Camfield. He did submit a story idea called "The Lost Legion" soon after recording of "The Seeds of Doom" was completed, but this did not make it into production. Douglas Camfield continued to direct episodes of shows including: The Onedin Line, Shoestring and The Sweeney.
This is the third Doctor Who story to shoot exterior location scenes on Outside Broadcast (OB) videotape rather than film to facilitate the special effects needed to realise the expanding Krynoid. The previous stories, recorded using OB videotape rather than film, were the Season Twelve, Fourth Doctor stories "Robot" and "The Sontaran Experiment".
Location shooting for Harrison Chase's estate took place at Athelhampton House in Athelhampton, Dorset and the entrance to the BBC Television Centre in Shepherd's Bush, London was used for the entrance to the World Ecology Bureau.
Production of this story was plagued with problems including a flu epidemic hitting the cast and an actor being injured in a car crash and having to be replaced.
The most serious problem was when, a few weeks before this story 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 fortunately the tape of the opening episode was eventually located, having been misplaced in the tape storage system (apparently due to having been wrongly numbered).
Harry Fielder appeared as an uncredited Guard in the third episode.
It is revealed that the Krynoid is a ‘galactic weed’ and has been buried in the Antarctic ice for at least 20,000 years.
The Doctor is heard to state that he is the President of the Galactic Flora Society.
The Doctor again gives his age as 749.
The Doctor's dialogue with Amelia Ducat about the car boot and model is a homage to Oscar Wilde's The Importance of Being Earnest.
The costume for the humanoid stage of the Krynoid was created by taking one of the surviving Axon costumes from 1971 Third Doctor story "The Claws of Axos" and spraying it green.
A scene of Arnold Keeler strapped to a bed, struggling to resist eating a plate of raw meat as the Krynoid within him slowly takes control, was cut by Producer Philip Hinchcliffe as being too terrifying.
Once again, Doctor Who came under fire from Mary Whitehouse of the National Viewers' and Listeners' Association, who criticised this story’s violent content and its inclusion of a Molotov cocktail.
It was planned that this story would be the last of three omnibus editions transmitted during November and December 1976, the first two, "Pyramids of Mars" and "The Brain of Morbius" were broadcast as planned but the omnibus of "The Seeds of Doom" was replaced in the schedules by Gerry Anderson's pilot film The Day After Tomorrow (aka Into Infinity). The reason for this is not known.
A novelisation of this story, written by Philip Hinchcliffe, was published by Target Books in February 1977. This book is heavily edited with several screen sequences removed entirely, including Amelia Ducat's visit to Harrison Chase's manor in episode four and the final TARDIS sequence in Antarctica. A slightly Americanised version of this novel was also released in the USA Pinnacle Book series in March 1980 with a foreword by Harlan Ellison and a cover illustration by David Mann.
In the Big Finish Productions audio story "Hothouse", written by Jonathan Morris, it is revealed that cuttings of the Krynoid from this story were taken – so leading to the events in this Eighth Doctor audio story released in April 2009.
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The Lasts (Subject to Future Stories):
The last story of Season Thirteen.
The last story to feature UNIT as a main element of a story until 1989.
The last Doctor Who story written by Robert Banks Stewart.
The last Doctor Who story directed by Douglas Camfield.
George Gallacio's last involvement in the show as Production Unit Manager.
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(Position = 13 out of 159)
(Position = 16 out of 200)
