Doctor Who 10x10

Directed by Paul Bernard

Vera Fusek as President of Earth • Peter Birrel as Draconian Prince • Ray Lonnen as Gardiner • Barry Ashton as Kemp • James Culliford as Stewart

The Doctor and Jo are taken to Earth, where both humans and Draconians believe them to be a spy for the other side.

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1. '\'\Accused of being Draconian spies, Jo and the Doctor are taken back to Earth.

2. This episode was first shown on 3 March, 1973, and was seen by 7.8 million viewers.

3. In 1973, Doctor Who was ten years old: It had been a long life for a television programme.

4. Then Richard Henwood came along with a proposal that changed their minds.

5. He was the commissioning editor of Target, the newly-launched children's imprint of Tandem Books.

6. and he wanted to run book versions of more recent adventures.

7. to assess the impact of the books on the viewing figures.

8. Hulke (1924-79) began writing for television in his mid-30s.

9. He wrote in most of the medium's typical genres, mainly for the ITV companies.

10. Jo is now in her third series as the Doctor's assistant: She knows the routine.

11. The '\'\terrific idea" was Katy Manning's: It's an unscripted rehearsal improvisation.

12. Likewise, Jon Pertwee coined the '\'\perishing panda" phrase.

13. '\'\They've constructed a new kind of reality," says the Doctor in the script.

14. One person watching this episode in 1973 was Andrew Osborn, the BBC's Head of Drama Series.

15. He hadn't seen Doctor Who for a while , and he was favourably impressed.

16. The episode was '\'\remarkably good", he told his colleagues at the regular programme review meeting.

17. Have you been paying attention to Jo's knees? Then you'll have noticed

18. that she has put on a pair of tights between episodes!

19. The script describes General Williams as '\'\a handsome, striking man in his mid-forties,

20. '\'\a lifelong professional soldier now involved in politics because of his high rank.

21. '\'\He is a strong, dominating personality, formal and stiff-necked, but no fool."

22. The actors were asked to play a tension between him and the President.

23. Partly this is professional, but it may also have a personal dimension.

24. The director of 'Frontier in Space' was Paul Bernard (1929-97).

25. He trained as a painter, and first broke into television as a scenic designer.

26. In that capacity, he shuttled between the BBC and the independent television companies,

27. His first production as director was an episode of Z Cars broadcast live on April Fools' Day, 1964.

28. After finishing 'Frontier in Space', he went to work at Thames Television,

29. where he directed the entire first series of The Tomorrow People (1973), touted as ITV's answer to Doctor Who.

30. Gardiner is played by Dorset-born actor Ray Lonnen,

31. who tended to play characters who were professional, masculine, and decent

32. By the time he made 'Frontier in Space', he had begun his occasional appearances

33. as a detective sergeant in Z Cars, which eventually grew into a semi-regular role.

34. He was later best known as a British agent in the spy series The Sandbaggers (1978-80).

35. The Doctor is even more of an old hand with the mind probe than he makes out in this scene.

36. Regular viewers would have remembered his previous encounter with the device in 'Day of the Daleks'.

37. The leg was Jon Pertwee's unscripted embellishment.

38. Pertwee enjoyed playing two-handed character-based scenes like this one.

39. a '\'\self-opinionated bore", as he once told the press.

40. Most of the video screens you'll see in this serial, like the one on the bridge of the cargo ship C982,

41. A microphone boom rushes in to catch the Doctor's line, and casts its shadow across him.

42. On 14 April, 1972, three days after he wrote his preliminary storyline,

43. Malcolm Hulke was commissioned to produce a revised version, with a 1 May deadline.

44. But, people being people, the wording sometimes shifted a bit on the production documents.

45. Some of the paperwork refers to it as 'Frontiers in Space',

46. Those weren't alternative titles, just old-fashioned human error!

47. (Well, 'Frontieres of Space' might have been a crew member's joke rather than a mistake,

48. Paul Bernard imagined the setting here as a futuristic citadel.

49. In reality, it is the Royal Festival Hall arts complex on the south bank of the Thames.

50. Bernard chose it as a location because he so disliked the modern, brutalist style of the architecture.

51. Its ugliness, in his eyes, made it the perfect representation of a futuristic prison.

52. The shoot took place on Sunday 10 September, 1972.

53. The choice of a Sunday was for practical reasons.

54. There were fewer people about.

55. Originally they were to be the people of Andromeda, not the Draconians.

56. As Hulke at first imagined them, they were physically much more similar to human beings.

57. The main difference is the Andromedans' distinctive, aquiline facial features.

58. When it was decided to make the Draconians more obviously alien beings,

59. Hulke introduced elements of classical Japanese culture to the characterisation.

60. Inscrutability is an attribute conventionally ascribed to Easterners by occidentals,

61. The Draconian Prince is played by Peter Birrel (1935-2004).

62. You can see him without his make-up in episodes of Man in a Suitcase,

63. A few months after 'Frontier in Space', he played a Spanish hotelier in the sitcom The Fenn Street Gang.

64. In line with the mid-twentieth-century screen convention that a Jewish actor can play any ethnic group,

65. He even played an Italian national for an Italian production company, in Around the World in 80 Days (1989).

66. If you think the mask looks odd around his upper lip, that's because he's wearing it over his own moustache.

67. The Draconians' beards, however, were all prosthetics.

68. A routine task during studio recording of any television programme

69. was to make the opening and closing title sequences.

70. This entailed running the generic film of the programme's title graphics and music,

71. Four sets of titles were finally recorded on the last studio day, 1 November.

72. It was only ten minutes' work, but it took place after 10 p.m.,

73. and thereby generated the inevitable apologetic overrun memo from Barry Letts.

74. That left two episodes - this one and Part 6 - without any closing titles.

75. Unfortunately, they put in the wrong set of slides and, in effect, re-recorded the credits for Part 1.

76. In consequence, the Newscaster and Draconian Space Pilot from Part 1 get a second mention,

77. Until now, that is...

78. Look at the way the light falls in this film sequence.

79. The long shadows betray the fact that shooting took place early in the morning.

80. The President is played by Czech actress Vera Fusek.

81. She left Prague as a teenager to escape the February Revolution of 1948, which saw the Communists take over.

82. In 1952, she moved to the USA for four years.

83. In Ohio, she played Miranda in the first Western production of The Tempest to use the Sibelius score.

84. She then played Hecuba and Antigone in New York and also made her television debut there.

85. She crossed back over the Atlantic in 1956 to film the steamy thriller, Escape in the Sun, in Kenya.

86. Thereafter, she worked predominantly in Britain.

87. Notable stage roles included the title character's mother in The Diary of Anne Frank (1956-7)

88. And Marie Antoinette in The Magnificent Egotist (1957).

89. A solid professional career in British television and film included appearances in

90. The Third Man (1959), The Four Just Men (1960), and The Troubleshooters (1968).

91. Barbara Kidd's original plan was to give the Draconians a futuristic version of platform shoes.

92. She glued several sets of soles together to create a '\'\stack" effect.

93. Unfortunately, the footwear wasn't designed for the rigours of a muddy, wet location in an English autumn.

94. On the planet of the Ogrons, the Draconian Prince found his shoes disintegrating underneath him!

95. So for the studio scenes, Barbara Kidd had to make some new ones from different materials.

96. Take a moment to appreciate the contrasts between the individual Draconians' make-up.

97. So the Prince is not only the most powerful character in the room, but also the youngest.

98. The Doctor is played by Jon Pertwee (1919-96),

99. except when it's his stunt double, Terry Walsh.

100. The script calls for a startled Draconian gardener.

101. There follows an extended hunt through the embassy's formal gardens.

102. The Doctor vaults the embassy wall, which has '\'\DRAGONS GO HOME" daubed on the outside.

103. But there are Earth guards waiting for him in the street.

104. That sequence was shot on 13 September, 1972, the production's last day on location.

105. A private house in Highgate served as the embassy.

106. It was the home of Paul Bernard's fellow television director Naomi Capon.

107. Once the house was chosen, the scripted sequence was reworked to suit the location.

108. All was not well when the film crew arrived at the South Bank on the Sunday morning.

109. The usual Bankside population of drunks and vagrants were sleeping rough exactly where they wanted to film.

110. Send in the Ogrons!

111. The actors, already in full costume, were asked to clear the area.

112. Also seen in this episode were:

113. Jim Delaney, Pat Gorman, Jamie Griffin

114. Steve Ismay, Clinton Morris, Wolf van Jurgen

115. Bill Burridge, Ray Millar, Kevin Moran, Terry Sartain

116. David Billa, Terence Denville, Emmett Hennessey

117. Derek Hunt, Brian Nolan, Dennis Plenty, George Ribitt

118. - On your feet. - Hmm, why?

119. You heard me. Move.

120. Not unless you give me some good reason.

121. The President wants you. Is that good enough?

122. Perhaps she believed you?

123. Are you sure it's the President and not another ridiculous interrogation?

124. I said move!

125. Come on, Jo, perhaps we can convince them after all.

126. Move, Jo! Get up! Run!

127. Quickly, the Doctor!

128. But you don't understand!

129. It's the Draconians. They've got the Doctor.

130. We must demand the immediate withdrawal of the Draconian embassy.

131. Break off diplomatic relations completely?

132. What diplomatic relations?

133. The embassy staff have behaved like criminals.

134. We don't know that the ambassador was behind this.

135. The attackers were Draconians. They were clearly seen.

136. The Draconian embassy tricked you into moving the prisoners,

137. then mounted an armed attack in order to rescue their agents.

138. - Is the girl here? - She's outside now.

139. Bring the girl in. I wish to question her.

140. And the closing of the Draconian embassy?

141. I do not intend to break off diplomatic relations.

142. But surely there's no alternative once this news gets out.

143. Then it mustn't, General Williams.

144. It is your responsibility to ensure

145. a complete security blackout on this incident.

146. Very well, Madam. Under protest.

147. You can go.

148. Come forward, my dear.

149. You realise that the escape of your colleague

150. has left you in a very serious position?

151. But he didn't escape, he was kidnapped!

152. He was rescued by your Draconian paymasters.

153. The wisest course you can take now is to make a full confession.

154. Remember your colleague has left you to your fate.

155. But you've got it all wrong!

156. You see, the Doctor was pleased when you sent for him

157. because he wanted to talk to you. And...

158. We have eye-witness reports on what occurred.

159. We need to know how you came to work for the Draconians.

160. When were you recruited?

161. How many agents do they have on Earth?

162. What are their plans?

163. If you tell us everything,

164. I'll promise I'll see to it personally that you will be treated leniently.

165. But I don't know what you're talking about.

166. Look, we told you the truth when we first came here.

167. We're not working for the Draconians.

168. We're wasting time.

169. I suggest you let me apply depth interrogation techniques without delay.

170. Look, you can use your mind probe or whatever.

171. I'm telling you the truth.

172. Well, I must say it's very nice of you gentlemen to invite me here.

173. And where is Miss Grant?

174. Your companion is still with your fellow Earthmen.

175. Don't you realise what you've done?

176. You've now finally convinced them that we're both Draconian agents.

177. There is no need to maintain this pretence.

178. We know that you are both agents of the Earth government.

179. You're part of a plot against the Draconian empire.

180. My dear chap, I've already been through all this

181. with the President of Earth. She thinks I'm working for you.

182. - You are working for General Williams. - I'm what?

183. General Williams hates our people.

184. Once before, he caused war between us and the Earthmen.

185. Now he plans to do so again.

186. And such a war would be madness since both empires will be destroyed.

187. Yes, I couldn't agree with you more.

188. That's exactly what I've been trying to say to you.

189. The Earth cargo ship was not attacked by Draconians.

190. It was not attacked at all. The whole story is a lie!

191. I can assure you that it was attacked, but by Ogrons.

192. - Ogrons? - Yes.

193. Some third party's employing them

194. trying to make trouble between Earth and Draconia.

195. If you tell us the details of General Williams' plan,

196. we shall be able to expose him to your President.

197. There will still be a chance for peace.

198. My dear chap, nobody is more devoted to the cause of peace than I am.

199. But I cannot tell you something that I don't know.

200. We have mind-probing techniques

201. just as efficient as those employed by you Earthmen.

202. If you do not speak now, we shall force you to confess.

203. Don't you realise you're completely on the wrong tack?

204. There is a plot, yes.

205. But the Earthmen are not behind it, any more than you are.

206. Take him away!

207. No!

208. Stop him!

209. Halt!

210. Hello, Jo.

211. Doctor, where've you been?

212. I've been paying a brief but unwilling visit to the Draconian embassy.

213. And I'm afraid I had to leave in rather a hurry

214. and found myself back here.

215. What happened?

216. Well, believe it or believe it not, Jo,

217. they think we're working for General Williams and trying to provoke a war.

218. Oh, no!

219. Yes, Earth is blaming Draconia and Draconia is blaming Earth.

220. - And both sides are blaming us. - That's about it.

221. What's the matter?

222. Well, that sound, the one I heard on the cargo ship.

223. I think I can hear it again.

224. JO: Ogrons!

225. You, come!