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The Twin Dilemma

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Synopsis

Mestor

A race of giant gastropods has taken over the planet Jaconda. Their leader, Mestor, now intends to cause an enormous explosion in order to spread his people's eggs throughout the galaxy, and he kidnaps juvenile twin geniuses from Earth to work out the necessary mathematical equations.

Space fighters led by Lieutenant Hugo Lang are dispatched to get the twins back, but they come under attack and Lang is the sole survivor when his ship crashes on the asteroid Titan 3.

Source: BBC DVD

General Information

Season:	Twenty One
Production Code:	6S
Story Number:	136
Episode Numbers:	623 - 626
Number of Episodes:	4
Percentage of Episodes Held:	100%
Working Titles:	"A Stitch in Time" and "A Switch in Time"
Production Dates:	January - February 1984
Broadcast Started:	22 March 1984
Broadcast Finished:	30 March 1984
Colour Status:	Colour
Studio:	BBC Television Centre (TC3 and TC8)
Location:	Springwell Quarry (Rickmansworth, Hertfordshire) and Gerrards Cross Sand and Gravel Quarry (Gerrards Cross)

Writer:

Anthony Steven

Director:

Peter Moffatt

Producer:

John Nathan-Turner

Script Editor:

Eric Saward

Editor:

Ian McKendrick

Production Assistant:

Christine Fawcett

Production Associate:

June Collins

Assistant Floor Managers:

Beth Millward and Stephen Jeffery-Poulter

Designer:

Valerie Warrender

Costume Designer:

Pat Godfrey

Make-Up Designer:

Denise Baron

Cameramen:

John Baker and John Walker

Lighting:

Don Babbage

Visual Effects:

Stuart Brisdon

Incidental Music:

Malcolm Clarke

Special Sounds (SFX Editor):

Dick Mills

Studio Sounds:

Scott Talbott

Title Sequence:

Sid Sutton

Title Music:

Ron Grainer and the BBC Radiophonic Workshop. Arranged by Peter Howell

Number of Doctors:

The Doctor:

Colin Baker (The Sixth Doctor) (Newly Regenerated)

Number of Companions: 1The Companion: Nicola Bryant (Peri) Additional Cast: Maurice Denham (Edgworth/Azmael), Kevin McNally (Hugo Lang), Edwin Richfield (Mestor), Gavin Conrad (Romulus), Andrew Conrad (Remus), Dennis Chinnery (Sylvest), Barry Stanton (Noma), Oliver Smith (Drak), Helen Blatch (Fabian), Dione Inman (Elena), Seymour Green (Chamberlain), Roger Nott (Prisoner), John Wilson (Jocondan Guard)Setting: Asteroid Titan 3 and Planet Joconda Villain: Mestor

The Episodes

No.	Episodes	Broadcast (UK)	Duration	Viewers (Millions)	In Archive
623	Part 1	22 March 1984	24'42"	7.6	PAL 1" colour videotape
624	Part 2	23 March 1984	25'09"	7.4	PAL 1" colour videotape
625	Part 3	29 March 1984	24'27"	7.0	PAL 1" colour videotape
626	Part 4	30 March 1984	25'04"	6.3	PAL 1" colour videotape

Total Duration

1 Hour 39 Minutes

Audience Appreciation

Average Viewers (Millions)

7.1

Doctor Who Magazine Poll (1998)	43.68% (Position = 159 out of 159)
Doctor Who Magazine Poll (2009)	38.44% (Position = 200 out of 200)
Doctor Who Magazine Poll (2014)	40.18% (Position = 241 out of 241)
Doctor Who Magazine Poll (2023)	Position = 8 out of 8

Archives

All four episodes exist as PAL 1" colour videotapes.

Notes

This story is mainly remembered for being a very sketchy opening for the Sixth Doctor, with some electrifying scenes between Colin Baker and Nicola Bryant, but let down by an undeniably shoddy script and totally un-engaging storyline.

Apart from the couple of lines in the closing scene of the previous story, "The Caves of Androzani", this story is the first full-length story for Colin Baker as the Sixth Doctor. Colin Baker had been acting professionally earning numerous credits on both stage and television. His most famous role was as the villainous Paul Merroney in The Brothers, while other appearances included the Blake’s 7 story "War and Peace", and the 1983 Fifth Doctor story "Arc of Infinity" (playing the part of Commander Maxil). Ironically in this earlier story Colin Baker has a scene in which he gets to shoot the Fifth Doctor.

When offering Colin Baker the role of the Sixth Doctor, Producer John Nathan-Turner was keen to avoid a repeat of Peter Davison’s brief three-year tenure on the show, and so signed Colin Baker to a four-year contract (even this was far shorter of Colin Baker’s stated intent to break Tom Baker’s record of seven seasons on Doctor Who). Script Editor Eric Saward, however, was less than pleased with John Nathan-Turner’s choice of actor, feeling that Colin Baker was being miscast in the role.

Unusually, John Nathan-Turner had decided to star the new Doctor in the final story of Season Twenty One, instead of holding him over to lead off the next year. The producer felt that this would give the public an opportunity to get used to the new star, instead of leaving them waiting for nine months until Season Twenty Two started.

This was the second time a new incarnation of The Doctor had a whole story after a regeneration that took place mid season (the other being the regeneration from the First Doctor to the Second Doctor, in the 1966 story "The Tenth Planet", in Season Four).

When developing the character of the Sixth Doctor as usual, a contrast was desired with the previous incarnation, and so it was decided to make the new Doctor a very unpredictable, argumentative, boisterous individual, prone to spouting old English poetry and theatre, and possessed of a vast repository of obscure vocabulary. Colin Baker was keen to make viewers initially suspicious of this incarnation of The Doctor, but who would gradually earn their trust over the course of his time on the programme.

The Fifth Doctor’s first story, "Castrovalva", in 1982 had seen the newly regenerated Doctor appear very feeble. This time around, John Nathan-Turner and Eric Saward decided the regenerated Time Lord should be very manic and prone to enormous mood swings. Veteran scriptwriter Anthony Steven, with whom John Nathan-Turner had worked with on All Creatures Great and Small, was approached.

Anthony Steven produced an idea entitled "A Stitch in Time" (which was then changed to "A Switch in Time" before becoming "The Twin Dilemma"). Anthony Steven though made very slow progress on his scripts and when they were finally delivered, Eric Saward discovered numerous problems, especially with the final two episodes. With Anthony Steven now taken ill, Eric Saward was forced into having to rewrite them considerably and in a very short amount of time. At least one aspect of Anthony Steven’s original script featured the Jaconda and Gastropods being dropped totally early in the fourth episode without resolution to the plot, with the final battle taking place in another dimension against a being called Azlan who was controlling Mestor all along.

This story became Anthony Steven’s only contribution to Doctor Who. He died in 1990.

The director assigned to this story was Peter Moffatt, who had last worked on the Twentieth Anniversary special "The Five Doctors".

The biggest problem encountered was putting together the cast - especially finding twin boys to play the parts of Remus and Romulus. Peter Moffatt actually favoured casting two girls, but John Nathan-Turner was unhappy with the change of gender. At the last minute Peter Moffatt was approached by an agent representing Andrew and Gavin Conrad (the latter going by the stage name ‘Paul Conrad’ to avoid confusion with another actor named Gavin Conrad and because Equity laws prohibited actors sharing the same name). Peter Moffatt though was unimpressed by the boy’s acting ability and lack of experience, but reluctantly hired them all the same.

The character of Azmael was inserted into the story at the prompting of unofficial fan adviser Ian Levine, who had suggested The Doctor meet his old mentor, referred to in the 1972 Third Doctor story "The Time Monster" and the 1980 Fourth Doctor story "State of Decay". Unfortunately, Anthony Steven misunderstood the nature of The Doctor’s relationship with the character. Eric Saward had intended for Azmael to be the hermit to whom The Doctor had spoken in his youth. Anthony Steven instead made Azmael a former academy tutor of The Doctor. The Hermit character had already been introduced as K'anpo Rinpoche in the 1974 Third Doctor story "Planet of the Spiders".

As had occurred many times before, production was affected by industrial action at the BBC. This story was due to begin production with a three-day studio session beginning in January 1984. But when the BBC was hit by yet another strike - this time by scenery shifters - a massive rescheduling of recording time had to be carried out. This resulted in the preceding story, "The Caves of Androzani", to be allocated the final two days of the first studio block originally allocated to "The Twin Dilemma".

Unlike the previous season when that season’s finale "The Return" had to be abandoned altogether because of industrial action (it eventually became this season’s "Resurrection of the Daleks"), John Nathan-Turner managed to prevail upon his superiors to obtain extra days in the studio to finish "The Twin Dilemma", arguing on the basis of the importance of a new Doctor’s first adventure.

This story therefore eventually went into the studio about a month later than intended and, unusually, the location filming, at two quarries in Hertfordshire, was done not in advance of the studio recording but between the two studio blocks.

This story debuts a new opening and closing sequence to herald the arrival of the Sixth Doctor. It was created by Sid Sutton, with the assistance of Terry Handley and was much like the previous one but slightly ‘enhanced’. The basic starfield scheme, he had devised in 1980, was maintained but with the addition of a rainbow effect. Sid Sutton also used two images of Colin Baker to make The Doctor appear to smile. Prior to this, the opening sequences of the Second, Third, Fourth, and Fifth Doctor eras had incorporated a still photograph of the lead actor (William Hartnell - the First Doctor - never had his face appear in the opening titles). This limited animation would continue with the opening sequence for the Seventh Doctor after which incorporating the incumbent’s face was dropped (subsequent doctors instead had the current actor’s name appear in the opening credits - along with the names of actors who played the companions or other key characters. Sid Sutton also revised the neon logo, changing the colour and making the overall shape somewhat curvier.

The theme music though remains the same as the version that was introduced in 1980.

Three Gastropod costumes were made for the story by Richard Gregory of the freelance effects firm Imagineering. The one made for Mestor was more sophisticated than the other two, featuring an animated mouthpiece, and the mask was designed to be easily removable as the actor, Edwin Richfield, suffered from claustrophobia.

Among the clothing The Doctor looks for in the wardrobe are the fur coat worn by the Second Doctor in the Twentieth Anniversary special "The Five Doctors," and a velvet jacket similar to that worn by the Third Doctor. Tegan’s coat can also seen.

It has been revealed that Colin Baker preferred a black velvet outfit, but John Nathan-Turner vetoed this on the grounds that it was too similar to The Master’s costume. Instead, the producer wanted something totally tasteless to replace the Fifth Doctor’s understated cricketing garb. Therefore Costume Designer Pat Godfrey had to go back to the drawing board several times before finally devising something with which John Nathan-Turner was happy with. Pat Godfrey’s only other requirements were that blue was not to feature in his patterns (so as not to interfere with Colour Separation Overlay effects) and that the question-mark-collar Nathan-Turner had introduced in 1980 be maintained. Only years later would Nathan-Turner finally admit that the Sixth Doctor's garish clothing was in fact a mistake, and worked against the show.

It was Colin Baker who decided to wear a cat badge on his lapel - he would change this often. It has been revealed that the cat badge worn for this story was hand-made and painted by Suzie Trevor, and purchased from a specialist badge shop in central London. For each subsequent story, The Doctor was to wear a different cat badge to symbolise that he was a ‘travelling cat of different walks’.

Playing the part of Professor Edgworth was distinguished actor Maurice Denham.

As well as playing the lead role Colin Baker also provides, though uncredited, the voice of a Jacondan at Freighter Control in the third episode.

Dennis Chinnery had previously appeared as Albert C. Richardson in the 1965 First Doctor story "The Chase" and as Gharman in the 1975 Fourth Doctor story "Genesis of the Daleks".

Edwin Richfield had previously appeared as Captain Hart in the 1972 Third Doctor story "The Sea Devils".

The part of Fabian was originally envisaged as a male character, and the Jocondan Chamberlain as a female one.

The Doctor is unusually violent at the start of this story, even attempting to strangle Peri. The intention was to create a Doctor that was initially unlikeable, but would gradually reveal a kind-hearted soul (glimpsed in "Revelation of the Daleks"). This was also intended to be a contrast to the instantly likeable Fourth and Fifth Doctors. However, in later interviews, director Peter Moffatt said that the original idea was merely to have The Doctor in a much more energetic state than he was during the Fifth Doctor’s début story "Castrovalva". Colin Baker however, revealed during a 2003 documentary celebrating the show’s 40th anniversary that ‘the idea was that over the many, many years I would be playing the part, the outer layers would gradually peel away, revealing the kind-hearted soul’.

Shortly before The Doctor assaults Peri in a paranoid rage, he quotes the line ‘One morn a Peri at the gate of Eden stood disconsolate’. He then asks Peri to identify its author. The answer is Thomas Moore, in his poem "Lalla Rookh".

The Doctor’s attempt to strangle Peri marks the first (and to date only) time on television that The Doctor has intentionally attempted to kill a companion (his destruction of Kamelion, in "Planet of Fire" doesn’t count as Kamelion was an android).

While still in his post regeneration confusion The Doctor mentions former companion Tegan Jovanka when recalls her in the second episode. The Doctor is heard to say to Peri ‘Brave heart, Tegan’.

Azmael doesn’t recognise the regenerated Doctor (whereas on most other occasions other Time Lords do). As The Doctor states that he has regenerated twice since his last encounter with Azmael this means they must have last met during The Doctor’s fourth incarnation. The Doctor also states that he was the best teacher he ever had.

The transmat beam is seen to leave behind a dusty residue, an effect also produced by the transmat used in the 2005 Ninth Doctor story "Bad Wolf/The Parting of the Ways".

This was the last story to feature 25-minute episodes until Season Twenty Three.

This story contains a number of errors. Namely: After The Doctor regenerates, a smudge of mud disappears from his sweater; when the twins are playing equations, they suddenly move about a metre apart so that they have room to turn around and face each other; no explanation is given to why the kidnappers stop off on Titan 3; no explanation is given to why Azmael calls himself Edgeworth; the computer terminal in the safe house on Titan 3 is seen to wobble when Peri spots the bomb and The Doctor walks away to have a look; Azmael kept a slug-killing potion hanging around, but he never thought of using it.

The biggest errors though are the Revitalising Modulator machine which sends Peri ten seconds back in time, and thus... back to the TARDIS. (Only if the TARDIS is exactly on the same line of planetary rotation, and exactly ten seconds of rotation away) and putting three planets in the same orbit, surely would not, even if fluffed, ‘blow a hole in the universe’.

Since broadcast fandom has held this story in a very low light, and it is commonly regarded as one of the worst stories in the whole history of the show. The review of the story in Doctor Who: The Television Companion describes this story as ‘painful to watch’, describing The Doctor’s erratic behaviour as ‘forced and artificial, and succeeds only in alienating the viewer’. The review also argues the script ‘leaves much to be desired’ and that the direction is uninteresting, giving the whole story ‘a rather tacky, B-movie feel to it’. Russell T Davies, the first Executive Producer of the revived show, has even commented that this story was ‘the beginning of the end’ of Doctor Who.

A 1998 poll by Doctor Who Magazine ranked this story the second worst of all time (the Thirtieth-Anniversary Children In Need special "Dimensions in Time" was ranked lowest). And in 2009 readers of the Doctor Who Magazine were invited to vote for their favourite of the 200 stories made to-date at that time. This story came in at 200 making it the reader’s least favourite Doctor Who story (it also finished last in every single age group that voted). Ironically, this dubious honour was achieved at about the same time this story was released to DVD.

A novelisation of this story, written by Eric Saward, was published by Target Books in March 1985. The cover illustration was originally due to feature Colin Baker. However, when Colin Baker’s agent enquired about a royalty, the decision was taken to not feature him on the cover and a replacement was commissioned. This adaptation is also notable for Eric Saward’s convoluted attempt at explaining in detail how the regeneration process works.

This story was released on DVD in September 2009. This was the last Colin Baker story to be released on DVD. This release also completed an entire run of stories from a single Doctor for the first time, in the DVD range of stories in the original run of the show.

The first two instalments of the BBV Stranger video series appears to borrow the premise of The Doctor’s desire to become a hermit to atone for mistakes he has made. Since The Stranger is played by Colin Baker and his companion Miss Brown is played by Nicola Bryant, it is often viewed as a ‘What-if’ scenario, despite the fact that the BBV production could not legally use the Doctor Who characters.

First and Last

The Firsts:

Colin Baker's first full story as the Sixth Doctor.

The first (and thankfully only) story in which The Doctor has intentionally attempted to kill a companion.

The first Doctor Who story to be written by Anthony Steven.

The Lasts (Subject to Future Stories):

The last story of Season Twenty One.

The last Doctor Who story written by Anthony Steven.

The last Sixth Doctor story to be released on DVD.

The Plot

WARNING: May Contain Spoilers

Hide Text

Newly Regenerated

The Doctor’s recent regeneration has left him mentally unstable and to the alarm of Peri, his travelling companion, he starts behaving erratically. Firstly when he goes to the wardrobe, to look for a new outfit, he changes from his cricket attire for an outfit of clashing colours, including a multicoloured patchwork frock coat to which he immediately takes a shine. The Doctor though takes offence when Peri points out to him that he could not go outside wearing such awful clothes.

Then, when they are back in the Console Room, The Doctor has a funny turn and he starts to quote a poem about a Peri - a good and beautiful fairy in Persian mythology, but one which used to be evil. This results in The Doctor accusing Peri of being evil, and of being an alien spy. Then without any warning he rushes towards her and then tries to throttle her. Peri is completely caught off-guard and is unable to stop him Luckily for Peri, who is close to death, The Doctor catches a sight of his own manic face in a mirror and he collapses in a heap, releasing Peri.

On recovering from her ordeal Peri tries to get The Doctor to realise that he has just tried to kill her. The Doctor though initially denies he could be capable of such an act, but seeing how terrified of him she is, he decides, so as to avoid putting others at risk, he must become a hermit on the desolate asteroid of Titan 3.

Choosing New Clothes
Choosing New Clothes

Meanwhile on Earth, mathematical genius twin brothers Romulus and Remus have been kidnapped by a Professor Edgeworth. The kidnapping is soon discovered and a squadron of space fighters, under the command of Lieutenant Hugo Lang, is sent to pursue the space freighter on which Professor Edgeworth is escaping with the twins. The space fighters though are attacked, leaving Lieutenant Lang as the sole survivor when his space ship crashes on the asteroid Titan 3.

Soon afterwards the TARDIS lands there, and The Doctor and Peri find Lieutenant Lang in the wreckage and they bring him back to the TARDIS to recuperate. The Doctor then reluctantly agrees to investigate a distant dome, which is in fact where Professor Edgeworth has taken the twins as a halfway safe house on his journey to the planet Joconda.

Peri and The Doctor
Peri and The Doctor

The Doctor and Peri arrive at the dome only to be captured by Professor Edgeworth’s two Jocondan guards, Noma and Drak. They are taken to Professor Edgeworth who The Doctor recognises as a retired Time Lord whose real name is Azmael. Azmael had ruled Joconda since his retirement, but the planet has now fallen under the control of a race of giant Gastropods - slug-like creatures from Jocondan mythology - led by Mestor, who is now forcing Azmael to do his bidding.

The Doctor and Peri are left sealed in the dome as Azmael and the others leave for Joconda. When they are alone, they discover that the dome has been set to self-destruct - an action taken by Noma without Azmael’s knowledge. The Doctor hastily adapts a Revitalising Modulator to transmit his and Peri’s molecules back in time to the TARDIS and thus escape the destruction of the dome. To his amazement, it works.

Together with Lieutenant Lang, who has recovered from his injuries, The Doctor and Peri journey to Joconda, where they are soon captured and imprisoned with Azmael. Mestor claims to need the twins’ mathematical prowess to provide the energy equations required to realise his plan of placing the Jocondan sun’s outer two planets into orbit around Joconda, thus providing a ready-made larder facility. To balance the gravitational forces, Mestor wants all three planets to occupy the same space, but in different time periods, one Jocondan day apart.

Peri is Strangled
Peri is Strangled

The Doctor though realises that as the two outer planets are small, the gravitational differences will pull them into the sun and cause a massive explosion. He correctly deduces that this is Mestor’s real plan, as the explosion will activate millions of his eggs and send them out into space to fall on to other worlds, thus populating the whole of space with the giant slugs.

The Doctor tries to destroy Mestor by throwing at him a vial of corrosive chemicals from Azmael’s laboratory, but the attempt is thwarted when the creature raises a force shield around itself. Mestor now wants to possess The Doctor’s body, and to prove that he is capable of doing so he attempts to mind-link with Azmael.

However, while Mestor is distracted, The Doctor hurls a second vial of chemicals at Mestor, and this time The Doctor strikes his target. Azmael then triggers his thirteenth and last regeneration, and Mestor’s mind, having nowhere to flee now that his body has been destroyed, dissipates into nothingness. Unfortunately Azmael’s act of sacrifice means that he too dies.

With the threat from the Gastropods over The Doctor and Peri return to the TARDIS. Lieutenant Lang though, elects to stay on Joconda to help the Jocondans rebuild their planet. As The Doctor prepares to return the twins to Earth, Peri tells The Doctor off for being rude, The Doctor reminds her that he is an alien, with alien sensibilities: ‘Whatever else happens, I am The Doctor - whether you like it or not!’.

The Doctor with Mestor

The Jocondans

Romulus and Remus with Edgeworth

The Doctor and Edgeworth

Lieutenant Lang

Discovering the Gastropod Eggs

Mestor Kills Edgeworth

The Doctor and Peri

Quote of the Story

'Well, look at me. I'm old, lacking in vigour, my mind's in turmoil. I no longer know if I'm coming, have gone, or even been. I'm falling to pieces. I no longer even have any clothes sense... Self-pity is all I have left.'

The Doctor

Release Information

Format	Title	Release Date (UK)	Code Number	Cover Art	Remarks
VHS	The Twin Dilemma	May 1992	BBCV 4783	Andrew Skilleter	Released by Woolworths
VHS	The Twin Dilemma	February 1993	BBCV 4783	Andrew Skilleter	General release
VHS	The Colin Baker Years	March 1994	BBCV 5324	Photo	Clip only Introduced and commented on by Colin Baker
DVD	The Twin Dilemma	September 2009	BBCDVD 2598
CD	The 50th Anniversary Collection	December 2013		Photo-montage	Original Television Soundtracks

In Print

Format	Title	Release Date (UK)	Publisher	Author	Cover Art	Remarks
Novel	The Twin Dilemma	March 1986	Target No. 103	Eric Saward	Andrew Skilleter	ISBN: 0-426-20155-8
Novel	The Twin Dilemma	January 1993	Target No. 103	Eric Saward	Andrew Skilleter	Virgin new cover reprint. ISBN: 0-426-20155-8
CD	The Twin Dilemma	January 2012	Target No. 103	Eric Saward	Andrew Skilleter	Audio version of the Target Novel read by Colin Baker.

Doctor Who CMS Magazine (In Vision)	Issue 77 (Released: April 1998)
Doctor Who Magazine - Preview	Issue 87 (Released: April 1984)
Doctor Who Magazine - Review	Issue 91 (Released: August 1984)
Doctor Who Magazine - Archive	Issue 270 (Released: October 1998)
Doctor Who Magazine - Time Team	Issue 390 (Released: January 2008)
Doctor Who Magazine - The Fact of Fiction	Issue 446 (Released: May 2012)
Doctor Who Magazine Special - Archive	1984 Winter Special (Released: 1984)
Doctor Who DVD Files	Volume 127 (Released: November 2013)

Photo Gallery

The Doctor and Companion

The Sixth Doctor

Peri

On Release

Woolworths VHS Video Cover

VIDEO

VHS Video Cover

VIDEO

Colin Baker Years VHS Video Cover

VIDEO

DVD Cover

VIDEO

The 50th Anniversary Collection Cover

AUDIO

In Print

Target Book Cover

NOVEL

Reprinted Virgin Book Cover

NOVEL

Target Audio CD Cover

Magazines

Doctor Who CMS Magazine (In Vision): Issue 77

Doctor Who Magazine - Preview: Issue 87

Doctor Who Magazine - Review: Issue 91

Doctor Who Magazine - Archive: Issue 270

Doctor Who Magazine - Time Team: Issue 390

Doctor Who Magazine - The Fact of Fiction: Issue 446

Doctor Who Magazine Special - Archive: 1984 Winter Special

Doctor Who DVD Files: Volume 127

Who's Who

Who Me

Episodes of the
Fifth Doctor

Season 21

References

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