The desert planet Zolpha-Thura, the 1980s. Giant intelligent megalomaniac cactus Meglos is planning to conquer the galaxy but first it needs the dodecahedron, a powerful energy source currently on the planet Tigella. To get it back Meglos recruits a band of galactic mercenaries and hatches a cunning scheme requiring it to impersonate the Doctor...
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1. 'Meglos' was transmitted after
'The Leisure Hive' as the second story
of Doctor Who's 1980-1 season.
2. This was the first of nine seasons
produced by John Nathan-Turner -
formerly production unit manager,
responsible for budgetary matters.
3. It was the only season on which
Christopher Hamilton Bidmead worked
as script editor - the other main
permanent production team member.
4. It was also notable
as Tom Baker's last season
as the series' longest-serving Doctor.
5. The Doctor's robot dog K9 was
incapacitated in 'The Leisure Hive'
when he trundled into the sea
at Brighton beach.
6. This is not the only time K9
will be out of action in 'Meglos'.
7. Like some other contributors
to the show, writers John Flanagan
and Andrew McCulloch
found the character problematic,
8. primarily because, as a highly
knowledgeable computer with
a powerful blaster, he afforded too easy
a way out of trouble for the heroes.
9. Hence the perceived need
to sideline him from the action.
10. The Doctor's previous visit to Tigella
was not seen in any transmitted
Doctor Who story.
11. There have been numerous
such unseen adventures mentioned
in the course of the series' history.
12. John Nathan-Turner and
Christopher H. Bidmead were both keen
to bring a new approach to Doctor Who.
13. They were backed by Barry Letts,
a past Doctor Who director and producer,
who served as executive producer
on this season.
14. Letts performed the usual editorial
function of the Head of Department,
to ease the latter's workload.
15. He felt Doctor Who had become too silly
of late and wanted it to have more
serious dramatic themes
and a firmer scientific basis.
16. This closely chimed with the ideas of
Bidmead - not only a scriptwriter
but also a sometime science journalist.
17. Bidmead wanted the fantastical
characters of the Doctor
and his companions to be placed
in scientifically credible stories.
18. This would entail, amongst other
things, clamping down on Tom Baker's
habitual comedic ad libbing.
19. Nathan-Turner shared this aim.
He also wanted to bring in new writers
and directors and give the show
a fresher, slicker visual style.
20. Nathan-Turner and Bidmead in any case
had no choice but to start afresh
on script commissions:
21. The only suitable story ideas in
reserve were those that ultimately
became 'The Leisure Hive'
and 'State of Decay'.
22. Bidmead's favoured style of
storytelling is well illustrated here
through the Savants' scientific debate
around their race's dilemma -
23. that is, whether to remain underground
or return to the surface.
24. The conflict between the Savant science
and the Deon religion likewise
exemplifies the more thoughtful
dramatic themes favoured by Letts.
25. This first scene with the Deons
introduces their high priestess, Lexa,
played by Jacqueline Hill.
26. Hill was better known to Doctor Who
fans for her role as Barbara Wright, the
Doctor's first human female companion,
from 1963 to 1965.
27. Director Terence Dudley later recalled
that it was his idea to cast Hill
as Lexa - they were old acquaintances.
28. Nathan-Turner did not object
to the idea, as he saw the potential
for some good publicity.
29. He later decided that
it had been a mistake to bring back
a former series regular in a new role,
and resolved not to repeat the move.
30. Hill herself enjoyed playing Lexa.
31. She had resumed acting in 1978 after
taking a 12-year break to raise her son
and daughter with her husband,
director Alvin Rakoff.
32. She effectively retired in the
mid-1980s after falling ill with cancer,
and died in 1993.
33. Costume designer June Hudson later said
that she had intended Lexa to appear
like a medieval queen crossed
with an Eastern monster-goddess.
34. Hence the character's long, flowing
robes and extravagant headdress.
35. To play the Tigellan leader Zastor,
mediating between the Savant and Deon
factions, Dudley cast Edward Underdown.
36. Underdown was a distinguished character
actor in his early seventies.
37. He had previously been cast by Dudley
as a commune leader in an episode
of the Terry Nation-created
1970s BBC drama series Survivors.
38. At the time 'Meglos' was produced,
Underdown was in poor health.
39. He was unable to ingest solids and
arrangements had to be made for him
to take food via a tube.
40. He found the role very taxing,
and it proved to be his last.
He died in December 1989.
41. This story began as a two-page outline
submitted by Flanagan and McCulloch
at Bidmead's invitation.
42. A scene breakdown was then
commissioned, under the title 'Meglos',
on 29 February 1980.
43. The four scripts were commissioned
about a week later.
44. The scripts went through a number of
drafts under the working titles 'The
Golden Star', 'The Golden Pentangle'
and 'The Last Zolfa-Thuran'.
45. The original title 'Meglos'
was restored for transmission.
Nathan-Turner favoured this,
as it was shorter and snappier.
46. The writers were unfamiliar
with Doctor Who, so Bidmead
refined the storyline himself.
47. Bidmead also performed
some significant script rewrites.
48. Flanagan was educated at Ripley Tech
and then trained as an actor for three
years at London's Central School
of Speech and Drama.
49. After a year in repertory at the Bristol
Old Vic as assistant stage manager,
his first screen role
was in Yorkshire TV's Parkin's Patch.
50. He then had a year at the
Stables Theatre, run by Granada TV,
and 15 months as a journalist
for that company's Granada Reports.
51. Returning to acting,
he won TV roles in Play for Today,
The Sounding Brass, The Sweeney
and Softly, Softly. ; Task Force.
52. He was also a regular for six years in
Granada's Crown Court, and had
a 1978 film role in Sweeney 2.
53. McCulloch similarly trained in acting at
the Central School of Speech and Drama,
where he and Flanagan met
and became friends.
54. They began writing together in 1977,
specialising in comedy,
55. such as a pilot for an unmade sitcom,
Bricks Without Mortar,
about some incompetent builders.
56. The surface of Tigella's sister planet
Zolfa-Thura was realised
principally through model work.
57. The model shots were video-recorded
in the same studio session
as the live action elements.
58. Model and live action elements
were electronically combined
using Colour Separation Overlay (CSO).
59. Recent advances in CSO allowed
for the characters to retain shadows.
60. The once-problematic "fringing" around
overlaid elements was also much reduced.
61. Note here a trip by one of the extras!
62. CSO panning shots such as this could now
be achieved using a refinement
known as Scene-Sync.
63. This involved the moves of the two
cameras - the one shooting the models
and the one shooting the live action -
being computer synchronised.
64. This was the first use of Scene-Sync
on a British TV production - keeping
Doctor Who in the vanguard
of new effects techniques.
65. However, the process proved very
time-consuming in the studio.
66. Terence Dudley also found he needed to
oversee these scenes on the studio floor
rather than from the director's
usual place in the gallery.
67. All this contributed to a belief on
Dudley's part that the whole production
was pressed for time.
68. Unusually for Doctor Who of this era,
'Meglos' had no film inserts
pre-shot on location
or at the BBC's Ealing film studios.
69. This meant that all the material for
all four episodes had to be recorded
during the two three-day studio sessions
at Television Centre.
70. Dudley felt he had far less rehearsal
time - particularly camera rehearsal
time in the studio - than was needed
for a production of this scale.
71. He also felt that Tom Baker tended
to waste time, mainly through
self-indulgent discussion of his
and others' character motivations.
72. Consequently Dudley found this first
experience of directing Doctor Who
a generally unhappy one
that he did not wish to repeat.
73. However, he would go on to make further
contributions to the show in the
different capacity of a scriptwriter.
74. He wrote 'Four to Doomsday' (1982),
'Black Orchid' (1982)
And 'The King's Demons' (1983)
For Peter Davison's Doctor -
75. and, before those, the pilot
'A Girl's Best Friend' (1981) for the
intended spin-off 9 and Company.
76. 'A Girl's Best Friend' would include
a further role for veteran actor Bill
Fraser, who here plays General Grugger.
77. Grugger's band of space pirates, the
Gaztaks, were conceived by the writers
to avoid the cliché of alien adversaries
with a uniform look.
78. John Flanagan later said that
the Gaztaks were conceived
as a band of hardened looters
with no planet of their own.
79. They had captured miscellaneous bits of
technology from different civilisations,
80. so they were physically similar
but wore different things,
making them a "raggle-taggle" bunch.
81. June Hudson picked up on this
"magpie people" idea in her
eclectic costumes for the Gaztaks.
82. The costume elements came mainly
from BBC stock.
83. Some had been used in Doctor Who before.
84. For instance, Lieutenant Brotadac's
coat had once belonged to Pletrac
in 'Carnival of Monsters' (1973).
85. Another of the Gaztaks has a helmet
worn by Sholakh
in 'The Ribos Operation' (1978).
86. Grugger's hat is the one worn
by the Graff in that same story,
augmented with a car hubcap.
87. Brotadac's name is an anagram
of "bad actor".
88. This was a joke by the writers,
who felt that bad actors
were often cast in parts such as this.
89. They were a little embarrassed
when the role went to Frederick Treves,
whom they considered a fine actor.
90. The writers liked the "jokey" idea
of having Meglos appear as a cactus
91. or, more precisely, a "xerophyte" -
the scientific term for a plant able
to survive in an environment
with little water.
92. Bidmead, though, saw this as an
example of an approach he disliked:
"Monster first, story later".
93. As with the Gaztaks, the writers
were keen to avoid making the Tigellans
a race of undifferentiated aliens
like the Daleks or Cybermen.
94. Hence their decision to present
two separate factions, mediated
by Zastor, and to have divisions
even within those factions.
95. The conflict between Deons and Savants
was inspired by real life issues.
96. It seemed to the writers that, on Earth
at present, the tension between religion
and science had yet
to be satisfactorily resolved,
97. so there was no reason
why the same tension
should not hang over other planets.
98. The Savant/Deon divide was emphasised
by their contrasting costumes;
but the Savants' white tops
caused lighting problems.
99. The first of the two Television Centre
recording sessions for this story
took place from 25 to 27 June 1980
in Studio 6.
100. The second was from 10 to 12 July
in Studio 3. Scenes were rehearsed
and then immediately recorded
throughout the days and evenings.
101. There were also two gallery-only
sessions in Studio 6 for adding
video effects shots, on 15 and 31 July.
102. The video editing for the first
two episodes took place
on 18, 19 and 24 July.
103. The remaining video editing for Parts
3 and 4 was done on 23 and 24 August.
104. Sypher dub sessions for the soundtrack
were on 16 and 26 August
for Parts 1 and 2
105. and on 9 and 10 September
for the second half of the serial.
106. These scenes in Meglos's lab were shot
in the second studio session,
as were all the other Zolfa-Thura scenes
for all four episodes.
107. As usual for this era of the
series' history, recording took place
not in story order but set-by-set.
108. Thus all the TARDIS scenes
were also taped in the second session.
109. The script had Grugger use a chair here.
110. The mechanism effecting the rise
and fall of the TARDIS's central column
had often caused problems
in the studio over the years.
111. It is particularly noisy in this story,
and can be heard in the background
throughout the TARDIS scenes.
112. Romana's mention of baryons references
a real scientific concept.
113. In nuclear physics, baryons are
particles made up of three quarks.
114. The Tigellans' Dodecahedron
was referred to in earlier script drafts
as the "Pentagram",
suggesting magical associations.
115. This accounts for the working title
'The Golden Pentangle',
"pentangle" being synonymous
with "pentagram" - a five-pointed star.
116. As scripted, Meglos was to have stated
that in restart mode the Dodecahedron's
power would be raised merely
"to the power of five".
117. Malicious plants are a staple idea
of science fiction, particularly
of the more lurid kind,
and Meglos was not Doctor Who's first.
118. Flanagan and McCulloch were no doubt
aware also of a long tradition
of fantastical stories involving
plant-human hybridisation.
119. Another instance of this phenomenon
is about to be depicted here.
120. This explains why Meglos has
commissioned the Gaztaks to bring
their Earthling captive to Zolfa-Thura.
121. What is never made clear, though,
is why Meglos needs
a native of the planet Earth -
122. as opposed to any other humanoid,
such as a Tigellan, who would
presumably have been much easier
to bring to Zolfa-Thura.
123. Christopher Owen, cast to play
the Earthling, has an extensive list
of TV and film acting credits,
running from the mid-1960s.
124. Since the early 1970s he has also been
a successful playwright.
125. The script envisaged that Meglos
and the Earthling would be held
in two transparent cylinders
that descended from the ceiling -
126. one cactus-shaped, one man-shaped.
127. The items in the lab
were taken from BBC stock.
128. So were the geometrically-patterned
wall flats. These had seen prior use
in Doctor Who, most recently
in 'The Horns of Nimon' (1979-80).
129. Such reuse of stock props and set
elements was commonplace
in Doctor Who and other BBC dramas
as a budget-saving measure.
130. Although transmitted second in
Doctor Who's season, 'Meglos'
was actually the third story to be made.
131. It was preceded into the studio not
only by 'The Leisure Hive' but also
by the fourth-transmitted story,
'State of Decay'.
132. This was mainly because the scripts
for 'State of Decay' could be got ready
for recording more quickly.
133. Note here a studio crew member's
reflection in the front panel
of Meglos's cabinet -
134. always a hazard with reflective
surfaces on a TV recording.
135. Advance rehearsals for 'Meglos'
took place, as usual in this era
of Doctor Who, at the
BBC rehearsal rooms in Acton -
136. a high-rise building colloquially
referred to by all those involved in
BBC productions as the "Acton Hilton".
137. The rehearsals for the first studio
session ran from 14 to 24 June 1980.
Those for the second session ran
from 30 June to 9 July.
138. The writers conceived of Grugger
and Brotadac as dim-witted rogues,
with the latter in particular being,
in Flanagan's words, "very stupid".
139. Frederick Treves picked up on this and
suggested extra bits of comic business
during the rehearsals.
140. In this sequence, the cactus form
of Meglos is made to collapse
through two effects techniques.
141. First, air is sucked out from within
the hollow cactus model using a pump.
142. Secondly, a vertical rod attached inside
the cactus model is pulled downwards
from below to collapse it in on itself.
143. The spiky countenance of the humanoid
Meglos was achieved by covering the
actor's face in translucent green latex.
144. The needles were from ears of barley.
145. The script says simply:
"Meglos has been transfused into
and taken over the Earthling's body."
146. No make-up was used on the actor's
hands; he simply wore latex gloves
covered with the same kind of needles.
147. This story is highly unusual in that the
Doctor and his companion have not even
reached the action by the end of Part 1.
148. It will not be until well into Part 2
that the TARDIS finally materialises
on Tigella.
149. New walls were made for the TARDIS
interior set for this season as the old
ones had suffered a lot of wear and tear
from repeated use.
150. 'Meglos' was the first story
in which the new walls, still bearing
the familiar pattern of roundels,
were seen on screen.
151. However, they had already been
used once before in the studio,
for the out-of-story-sequence
recording of 'State of Decay'.
152. 'Meglos' was one of Lalla Ward's
last stories as Romana.
153. She had agreed with Nathan-Turner
that she should leave part-way
through the season.
154. She felt that Doctor Who was
now being aimed less at children
and more at teenagers and young men.
155. She saw this change not so much
as a reflection of Nathan-Turner's
or Bidmead's personal style,
156. but more as a result of the show's
perceived need to compete with Star Wars
(1977) and the type of science fiction
it had popularised.
157. Another factor was that her personal
and professional lives
were becoming intertwined:
158. She and Tom Baker were in an on-off
relationship that would ultimately lead
to a short-lived marriage.
159. The "chronic hysteretic loop" idea might
have reminded viewers in 1980 of scenes
in 'The Armageddon Factor' (1979).
160. In the latter story, a spaceship about
to launch an attack was held
in a time loop, with moments of time
being constantly "replayed".
161. Viewers might also have recalled similar
repeating scenes caused by a "crack
in time" in 'City of Death' (1979).
162. It was Tom Baker's idea that the Doctor
should trip while walking around
the TARDIS control room.
163. He thought this would serve as an
amusing visual mnemonic to emphasise
the repetitive nature of actions
in the time loop.
164. A similar function was served by the
sound effect of K9's circuits suffering
an electrical short.
165. Bidmead decided that the term "chronic
hysteresis" should be used
instead of "time loop".
166. This was because he considered it
more interesting.
167. Romana's repeated line,
"Blast! Here we go again", ostensibly
refers to the failure of K9's circuits
168. but also neatly signals
the start of another iteration
of the looped sequence.
169. The story takes a twist as, somehow,
Meglos assumes the face - and clothes -
of the Doctor.
170. The "evil doppelganger" is another
staple ingredient of science fiction
and action-adventure stories,
171. and one that long-time viewers would
have recalled featuring in a number
of earlier Doctor Who serials.
172. This episode was originally transmitted
at 6.16 p.m. On BBC-1
on Saturday 27 September 1980.
173. It won an audience of 5 million,
opposite US import Buck Rogers
in the 25th Century on ITV.
174. This put it in a lowly 105th place in
the chart of all TV programmes
transmitted during that week.
175. It had an Appreciation Index figure of
61%; a mediocre reception, particularly
for a drama programme.
87 —> 00:20:13,996
(GENERAL GRUGGER EXCLAIMS)
176. Where did you put the magnetic tweezers?
177. In a cave.
178. - A sort of shrine.
- Where?
179. Tigella.
180. - What?
- The magnetic tweezers.
181. Oh. Oh, yes.
182. Thanks.
183. I think I've almost done it.
184. Mind you, it's hardly surprising
they're in awe of the thing.
185. After all,
their whole way of life depends on it.
186. Oh, blast. Here we go again.
187. What's the matter?
188. Well, now his probe circuit's jammed.
189. Well, that's easy, just waggle his tail.
190. All right, I've tried everything else.
191. K9: Thank you, Mistress.
Repairs complete.
192. Well done, Romana. Well done.
193. You're becoming very accomplished
at all this.
194. Becoming? I was fully qualified
when I arrived.
195. (WHISPERS) K9!
196. What do you know about
the Prion planetary system?
197. K9: The only viable civilisation
was Zolfa-Thura.
198. They destroyed themselves in global war.
Planet now featureless desert.
199. Good boy, K9.
200. So now Tigella's all that's left?
201. K9: Affirmative.
202. Oh, blast. Here we go again.
203. What's the matter?
204. Well, now his probe circuit's jammed.
205. Well, that's easy. Just waggle his tail.
206. All right. I've tried everything else.
207. K9: Thank you, Mistress.
Repairs complete.
208. Flies trapped in amber.
209. Not even the Doctor can escape
a chronic hysteretic loop.
210. A what?
211. I've caught him
inside a fold of time.
212. Oh, uh-huh, that's good.
213. His only respite is the short period
when he loops back to the start.
214. Round and round
for all eternity!
215. Oh, blast. Here we go again.
216. What's the matter?
217. Well, now his probe circuit's jammed.
218. Well, that's easy. Just waggle his tail.
219. All right. I've tried everything else.
220. K9: Thank you, Mistress.
Repairs complete.
221. That's the third time. What's happening?
222. The Tardis appears to be
functioning normally.
223. Yes, then what? Repeated time cycles?
224. Oh, no.
225. Couldn't be a chronic hysteresis,
could it?
226. Chronic hysteresis?
227. I hope not.
228. If it is, we'll be stuck here forever.
229. Yes.
230. Oh, blast. Here we go again.
231. This Meglos can bend time?
232. Right. In a loop.
233. I've never heard
of that, have you?
234. It doesn't matter how it's done.
235. The point is
the Doctor doesn't get to Tigella.