Doctor Who 10x18

Directed by David Maloney

Bernard Horsfall as Taron • Prentis Hancock as Vaber • Tim Preece as Codal • Jane How as Rebec • Alan Tucker as Latep

The Doctor and his friends escape from the Dalek base, prompting the Daleks to devise a plan to wipe them out.

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1. "Escaping from the Daleks, Jo and the Doctor and the Thals move through the jungle,

2. "hunted by Dalek patrols, and the ferocious life-forms of the hostile planet."

3. This episode's draft title was:

4. The full-size, double-sided jabolite door was made by the contractor Art Ideals.

5. The Daleks are "baffled", according to the script, and "start to ferret around everywhere".

6. The actors got stuck halfway up the chimney and ended up swinging on their kirby wires.

7. Jon Pertwee made a manly effort to bump into Rebec,

8. but he only managed to achieve a close encounter with Taron.

9. The bulbous rod on each Dalek's dome is the creature's eye.

10. This sequence was filmed at Ealing on 4 and 5 January, 1973.

11. The actors were hoisted up using flying gear supplied by Eric Dunning.

12. The camera was mounted on a crane and was elevated in synch with the actors.

13. Though eight Dalek props were used in this episode, the cast includes only three Dalek operators.

14. This means that you will only ever see three moving Daleks in any shot.

15. The Dalek in the background is an empty casing, designated a "Dalek Goon" in the camera script.

16. Another hapless Dalek falls foul of the planet Spiridon's bumpy terrain.

17. In the next shot, see if you can spot how the map is cunningly attached to the Dalek's sucker.

18. Double-sided sticky tape has many useful applications, even in a hostile alien jungle!

19. The first Dalek operator is a little heavy-handed moving his dome.

20. Working inside a Dalek involved a good deal of multi-tasking.

21. The operators here have one hand up to turn the dome, and the other on the button that flashes the lights.

22. The rock face was made by the firm Zircon out of eighteen large sheets of PVC.

23. The four bombs cost £70. The moving parts made them relatively expensive.

24. You're about to see Jo get a knock on the head. But if you look carefully,

25. you'll also see Katy Manning brace herself beforehand.

26. Note the colour of the anti-gravity disc.

27. It will look different in the shaft shots later on: The design was changed after the model filming was done.

28. In a moment, we'll cut to a close shot to conceal the stage hands lifting the Dalek "goon" from beneath.

29. 'Planet of the Daleks' entered what you might call pre-pre-production before the script was written.

30. The preliminary booking for the rehearsal room was made on 21 July, 1972.

31. In September, David Maloney put in the usual batch of requests for the personnel he wanted.

32. But this time, the Design Department had already organised its work roster and had taken note

33. that John Hurst had wanted to do a Doctor Who for some time - so he got the gig.

34. This is a model.

35. Jon Pertwee makes a small but significant error in his next line.

36. He means "ascent", not "descent"!

37. Pre-production included two key scenic servicing meetings to discuss the sets and props.

38. These took place on 7 and 19 December, 1972.

39. Terry Nation imagined a brickwork structure here, not a metal one.

40. David Maloney asked for a shot down the shaft using in-and-out camera movements.

41. He was hoping to recreate an effect used by Alfred Hitchcock in Vertigo (1958).

42. And indeed, fear of heights is this week's common phobia.

43. Have you been paying attention to the model Dalek's anti-gravitation disc?

44. It is now clear, enabling you to see the Dalek silhouetted on top.

45. This was the only television serial to feature a Dalek flying on an anti-gravity disc,

46. but Terry Nation had previously introduced the idea of Daleks mounted on flying "hoverbouts"

47. in the 1960s Dalek annuals, where his imagination was less constrained by television budgets.

48. "The total shattering destruction of the monster in a cloud of debris".

49. Make-up supervisor Jean McMillan was concerned that the Dalek operators' heads might be visible through the mesh.

50. So she insisted that they had to wear make-up like everyone else.

51. This surprised The cast's two experienced Daleks, Murphy Grumbar and John Scott Martin.

52. As scripted, Jo starts this scene asleep under cover of some bushes.

53. The script calls for Jo to be "inarticulate with joy".

54. Terry Nation often liked to name characters after members of his family.

55. His daughter's name was Rebecca.

56. Katy Manning developed this fast-talking schtick in rehearsal, adding somewhat to her scripted lines in the process.

57. At one point during camera rehearsals, she and Jon Pertwee decided they needed a break.

58. More schtick: They worked some "unscheduled silences" into their lines.

59. The actors got a rest while the technicians looked for a fault in the sound systems!

60. Rebec is played by Jane How.

61. A season with the Royal Shakespeare Company followed in 1975-6.

62. In middle age she was often cast at the posher end of the spectrum,

63. with notable roles as titled ladies in Bad Girls (2001), Daniel Deronda (2002), and Poirot (2008).

64. She was also a memorable regular in EastEnders (1986-7), playing the mistress of "Dirty Den".

65. Every so often, the two sides of her repertoire came together in a series of roles as royal "indiscretions",

66. from Alice Keppel (mistress of King Edward VIl) in Graham Greene's The Return of A. J. Raffles (RSC, 1975)

67. Here's another thing reworked from the first Dalek serial,

68. in which the Daleks plan to use radiation to wipe out all non-Dalek life on the planet.

69. All the effects work on the serial was contracted to an outside firm, Westbury Design and Optical.

70. Clifford Culley was one of the firm's directors.

71. The first actor to be cast was Prentis Hancock His contract was issued on 5 December.

72. Next up was Hilary Minster on 7 December, followed the next day by the trinity of Dalek operators.

73. Also contracted on 14 December were Jane How, Tim Preece And Michael Wisher.

74. Roy Skelton Came on board the next day, 15 December,

75. and the main cast was completed on 18 December, when Alan Tucker Was contracted.

76. When production started in January 1973, one principal contract remained to be issued:

77. Tony Starr wasn't required until the final studio session, so he got his contract on 15 February.

78. The Spiridon extras were supplied by the Associated Plays and Players Agency.

79. They were typically engaged only a few days before they were needed in studio.

80. He suggested to Nation that they had now become excessively militaristic through their fear of the Daleks.

81. Dicks asked Nation to write in a scene in which the Doctor makes the point,

82. "that it's too high a price to pay to defeat your enemy if it means you become like him,

83. "and that some Thals are in danger of becoming as ruthless as the Daleks".

84. One thing Nation didn't accept was Dicks's idea of how this conversation might come about.

85. He proposed that Taron should face a situation in which the success of the mission

86. depends on sacrificing the lives of his fellow Thals.

87. Taron opts to be ruthless,

88. but the Doctor intervenes and persuades him to take a more humane point of view.

89. That was Dicks's preferred scenario, but Nation felt it didn't fit his characterisation of Taron,

90. so in the event, Taron only talks hypothetically of such a situation, rather than actually encountering it.

91. It was also Dicks's idea to variegate the setting here, moving the action away from the jungle into more open country.

92. Dicks was also keen to introduce a romance for Jo and it would have to be with one of the Thals.

93. As he told Nation, "I don't think she can build up much of a relationship with a Spiridon!"

94. Latep was originally named Patel.

95. The consonants were shuffled at a late stage to avoid having two Patels in two consecutive serials.

96. At the executive review the following Wednesday, he commended "another successful episode".

97. When the camera pans left, see if you notice anything peculiar about the foliage.

98. And who's that in blue sneaking around in the background?

99. If you missed it first time, look at the plants to the right of Jo.

100. They seem to be growing in large tubs.

101. In the next shot, see if you can spot a mysterious intruding shadow on the sky backdrop.

102. It appears momentarily to Jo's right.

103. It's an unplanned early appearance of a mechanical device used for an effect coming up.

104. Here's the scheduled shadow shot.

105. Later in 1973, sound effects man Dick Mills incorporated the distinctive animal background noises from this scene

106. Taron is played by Bernard Horsfall

107. He was an actor David Maloney admired and cast as often as he could, usually in commanding, imposing roles.

108. he remembered Horsfall's stature - he stood 6'3" tall - and hired him.

109. In 1970, Horsfall also played the Black Knight in Maloney's production of Ivanhoe.

110. Regular television viewers would also, according to age and taste, have recently seen him playing

111. Later in 1973, he was the "token adult" hero in the final series of the junior spy thriller Freewheelers.

112. His television career peaked with his leading role in the Second World War series, Enemy at the Door (1978-80),

113. in which he played a compromised doctor on the Nazi-occupied island of Guernsey.

114. The 21 st century saw him mainly in semi-retirement in the Western Isles of Scotland,

115. but in 2009 he returned to England to play the jailer Frosch in Die Fledermaus for the London Lyric Opera.

116. Never mind what the Daleks are saying, and never mind what's inside the box: Just look at the box itself.

117. On the right you can see the reflection of somebody moving about in the studio.

118. Preliminary plans to make the box in Perspex were shelved, and vitrone, a PVC-based compound, was used instead.

119. In January 1972, six months before this episode was written,

120. the BBC's Audience Research Department published a report on television violence.

121. Doctor Who ranked as the BBC's single most violent "dramatic fiction" series.

122. "Violence" was defined, in bureaucratic English, as

123. "any act(s) which may cause physical and/or psychological injury, hurt, or death

124. "to persons, animals, or property, whether intentional or accidental".

125. The researchers found that each episode of Doctor Who featured an average of four such "act(s)".

126. The Head of Audience Research, B. P. Emmett, wasn't surprised.

127. He told the press: "Any adventure serial would be pretty sure to come high up on the list.

128. His original intention was that Taron should lead all the surviving Thals on the expedition to stop Vaber.

129. The episode was to end with a massacre by the Daleks, leaving the Doctor and Jo to carry the last two episodes alone.

130. Terrance Dicks vetoed the mass He wanted most of the Thals kept alive for the conclusion.

131. He suggested that they should find a way to repair their spaceship, enabling them to return to Skaro after all.

132. The Head of Serials, Ronald Marsh, always kept a close eye on Doctor Who

133. and Dicks knew that he would insist upon a safe homecoming for the heroes.

134. "In the present climate of opinion," he explained ruefully to Nation,

135. "we have to be very careful about violence, massacres, and gloom."

136. And that's why you're not seeing a massacre right now!

137. Also unseen in this episode were:

138. David Billa, Terence Denville

139. Ronald Gough, Kevin Moran, Geoff Witherick be honest, you're afraid.

140. Miro would have taken action by now, he was a real commander,

141. and he wouldn't have had her hanging around our necks.

142. Latep!

143. I am still in command here

144. and, like it or not, you will obey orders.

145. And believe me, Vaber, if you don't, I shan't hesitate to kill you.

146. Now, let's all get some rest.

147. Latep, go back to your post.

148. The bacteria are multiplying.

149. We have calculated that after the release of the culture

150. into the atmosphere,

151. it will totally contaminate the planet within the space of one Spiridon day.

152. All plant life will wither and die.

153. All un-immunised animal life will die

154. within one hour of inhaling the contaminated air.

155. Approved. Continue with preparations.

156. The most virulent form of the bacteria

157. will be ready for release in half a Spiridon day.

158. Report.

159. Spiridon slaves report

160. aliens believed to be hiding at the Plain of Stones.

161. Order all search units into that area.

162. I obey.

163. Latep! Doctor!

164. Codal! Codal!

165. - Where's Vaber? - He was sitting over there.

166. - Doctor, the bombs have gone. - What?

167. He left this.

168. "I'll do what I have to do alone."

169. He doesn't stand a chance.

170. That's the last of the explosives.

171. We've got to stop him.

172. I intend to.

173. - Codal, will you come with me? - Hmm.

174. Doctor, would you stay here?

175. - If that's what you want. - Thanks.

176. He'll be heading for the ventilator shaft.

177. Yeah. We'll be back as soon as we can.

178. Latep, stay here. Come on.

179. Be careful, Taron.

180. - Have you still got your guns with you? - Yes.

181. That's good. Keep them handy, will you?

182. Look around you.

183. Take him to the Daleks.