Doctor Who 18x8

Directed by Terence Dudley

With the Doctor about to be ritualistically sacrificed to appease the god Ti for stealing the dodecahedron, Meglos and the pirates return to Zolfa-Thura with the dodecahedron to fire up an ancient weapon and blast Tigella out of existence.

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1. Running to just 19 minutes and 30 seconds, Part Four of 'Meglos' is one of the shortest episodes of Doctor Who ever,

2. and one of the few to fill only a 20-minute slot on its original BBC-1 transmission.

3. This is despite yet another unusually long reprise of the end of the previous episode.

4. 'Meglos' was the only transmitted Doctor Who serial by John Flanagan and Andrew McCulloch.

5. They later wrote several drafts of a story called 'Project "4G"', a.k.a. 'Project Zeta Plus' and 'Project Zeta-Sigma'.

6. This was meant to be the debut serial for Peter Davison's Doctor,

7. but it was dropped at a late stage in favour of Christopher H. Bidmead's 'Castrovalva'.

8. Subsequently Flanagan and McCulloch continued to pursue parallel careers as writers and as actors.

9. They wrote some plays for the theatre

10. and episodes of HTV/Goldcrest's Robin of Sherwood (1986) And the BBC/Cinema Verity series Sleepers (1991).

11. The large "stone" above the Doctor was made of a type of expanded polystyrene with the trade name Jablite.

12. This easily-sculpted material was often used on Doctor Who - and many other BBC productions - for making props and set elements.

13. The "stone" was too large to be carved from one block of Jablite, so a number were fixed together, then finished to give a stone look.

14. The horizontal seam between two of the blocks can be seen in the shot after the breaking of the second rope.

15. The reprise of the end of Part 3 finally comes to a close, almost three minutes into Part 4.

16. The set designer for 'Meglos' was Philip Lindley.

17. His only other Doctor Who credit was on 'The Android Invasion' (1975).

18. His other BBC work included Lorna Doone (1976), Rings on their Fingers (1980),

19. Goodbye Darling (1981), The Tripods (1984) and Alexei Sayle's Stuff (1989).

20. In the script, the ropes suspending the stone are hacked through with an axe rather than burnt with a torch.

21. All the shots of the torch burning the ropes were taped after this scene,

22. to be edited into place later.

23. This was the last time the sacrificial set-up with the stone was needed.

24. One of the four Gaztaks killed on Tigella has somehow reappeared -

25. as emphasised by this camera angle.

26. The dialogue now makes it explicit that only three died on Tigella - a glaring inconsistency with the end of Part 3.

27. The shrinking of the Dodecahedron, and its return to normal size in a later scene, presumably entail energy transfers -

28. in line with Einstein's formula E equals MC squared, as previously referenced in the 1971 story 'The Dæmons'.

29. Long-time viewers may have recalled that when the alien Dæmon and his spaceship underwent size transformations,

30. the expansions were accompanied by an absorption of energy, and the miniaturisations by a release of it.

31. No such absorptions or releases seem to occur in this story, but the energy could be stored in Meglos's redimensioner unit.

32. Some scripted material was cut from the end of this scene prior to recording, even though the episode was under-running.

33. Romana notes that the screens of Zolfa-Thura were mentioned in all the history books.

34. Zastor then decides to evacuate the city, and the others all agree.

35. Lastly, the Doctor asks Romana to tell him everything she can recall about the screens.

36. Now five Gaztaks can be glimpsed in the background behind Brotadac and Grugger,

37. so two more of those killed on Tigella have been mysteriously resurrected!

38. The surface of Zolfa-Thura was last seen early in Part Two.

39. A small section of sandy ground was created full-size in the studio, as seen here,

40. but most of the planet surface scenes were again achieved using CSO to combine live action and model shots.

41. Meglos seems to go slightly see-through here -

42. demonstrating that, although much improved over the years, this electronic technique still had its limitations.

43. Tom Baker's decision to give up the role of the Doctor appears to be referenced in an in-joke here.

44. The idea of Brotadac coveting Meglos's coat may have been inspired by a convention found in thrillers,

45. in which a villain will sometimes steal a man's coat or other possessions after killing him.

46. This may ultimately derive from the old custom that the executioner got to keep the hanged man's clothes.

47. This elaborate model was the responsibility of Steve Drewett, the visual effects designer on 'Meglos'.

48. His only other Doctor Who credit in that capacity came on 'The Two Doctors' (1985).

49. He also supervised effects on numerous episodes of Blake's 7 (1980),

50. The Day of the Triffids (1981), Gulliver in Lilliput (1982) And The Tripods (1984).

51. He also worked on the 1990 movie Memphis Belle.

52. As scripted, this scene opens with the Doctor and Romana discussing the screens of Zolfa-Thura.

53. Deedrix then quashes Lexa's suggestion that she should accompany them to the other planet.

54. This was cut before recording, as a follow-on from the cut to the previous scene on Tigella.

55. The authors killed off Lexa at the suggestion of the production team, as they felt she had become redundant in the story.

56. The cuts to the last two Tigella scenes were probably made to avoid repetition in the final scripts:

57. The Doctor and Romana had already discussed the Zolfa-Thuran screens in the opening TARDIS scene that Bidmead had added to Part 1.

58. The name 'Meglos' was derived by the writers from the word "megalomania",

59. the appropriateness of which becomes quite apparent here.

60. For the earlier scene of the Gaztaks on the surface of Zolfa-Thura, the lighting levels were reduced to indicate that it was dusk outside.

61. Now night has fallen.

62. The aim was to provide the greatest possible contrast to the pulsating glow of the restored Dodecahedron.

63. Deedrix and Caris show no shock at having seen the TARDIS's remarkable internal dimensions,

64. nor at having been rapidly transported to Zolfa-Thura.

65. This rather blasé reaction to the TARDIS by guest characters later became commonplace in 1980s Doctor Who.

66. The use of musical leitmotifs to distinguish between the disguised Meglos and the Doctor is largely discontinued in this episode,

67. leaving the distinction to be conveyed mainly by the different performance that Tom Baker gives in each of the two roles.

68. This will become increasingly important as Meglos and the Doctor will repeatedly cross paths in the following scenes,

69. and eventually come face to face for a dramatic confrontation.

70. A visual difference between the characters is created initially by Meglos having discarded his copy of the Doctor's coat,

71. hence the significance previously attached to the garment in the scripts.

72. However, the difference will be short-lived, as the Doctor prepares to dispense with his coat too.

73. The cleverness of the Doctor's trick on the Gaztak here will be undercut in the next laboratory interior scene,

74. as the Gaztak will seem to have abandoned his supposed task of holding up the screen after just a couple of minutes.

75. Tom Baker admired his new costume for this season but strongly disliked the question-mark collar motif favoured by John Nathan-Turner.

76. This story's video effects supervisor was Dave Jervis, one of a small team who regularly handled this aspect of Doctor Who.

77. His many other BBC credits include cult favourites such as The Hitch-Hiker's Guide to the Galaxy (1981),

78. The Life and Loves of a She Devil (1986) And Red Dwarf (1997).

79. In later years he worked in the art department on shows such as Channel 4's annual The Big Fat Quiz of the Year.

80. The script envisaged that, from the time the laboratory rose up, the Dodecahedron would be "firing beams of light out toward the screens".

81. This idea was dropped to simplify the video effects required.

82. K9 must have been recharged en route to Zolfa-Thura. As in Part 2, he is not shown actually emerging from the TARDIS.

83. Frederick Treves (Brotadac) was born in 1925 and trained at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art (RADA).

84. He was a teenage sailor in the Merchant Navy during the Second World War, and was awarded the British Empire Medal for bravery.

85. A distinguished character actor, he made his TV debut in the early 1950s and has dozens of credits to his name, often as lords or senior soldiers.

86. He has also had many film, theatre and radio roles.

87. His great-uncle, also named Frederick Treves, is famous as the surgeon who discovered and befriended the "Elephant Man", John Merrick.

88. Fittingly, Treves the younger took a role in the David Lynch biopic, The Elephant Man (1980).

89. The fine detailing needed on the model of Meglos's laboratory can be clearly seen in this sequence.

90. Part 4 features the story's largest body of complex CSO work.

91. Unlike in Part 1, no Scene-Sync is used:

92. All the CSO shots here are static.

93. Doctor Who's use of Scene-Sync was considered a "trial run" for the process.

94. The BBC was interested in exploiting it more extensively on the forthcoming drama series, The Borgias (1981).

95. Consequently the effect was not charged to the Doctor Who budget.

96. The experiment was judged successful enough for Scene-Sync to be implemented in The Borgias as planned.

97. However, John Nathan-Turner did not consider it sufficiently beneficial to warrant further use in Doctor Who on a paid-for basis.

98. This shot was achieved by recording the two halves separately with a locked-off camera, then mixing them together.

99. The Gaztaks' assorted weapons were Visual Effects Department stock items,

100. including guns from 'The Pirate Planet' (1978), 'The Armageddon Factor' (1979) And 'The Horns of Nimon' (1979-80).

101. The figure in the foreground here is a double.

102. Behind-the-scenes contributors to this story who were not listed in the closing credits included:

103. Assistant Floor Manager (second studio session): Alex Bridcut.

104. Director's Assistant (second studio session): Karen Loxton.

105. Floor Assistant: Alan Sandbrook.

106. Grams Operator: Andrew Hunter.

107. Camera Crew: 11.

108. Show Working Supervisor: Chick Hetherington.

109. Scene Crew: A3.

110. Costume Assistant: Sarah Leigh.

111. Make-up Assistants: Catherine Whitefield, Margaret Magee, Jan Lee, Janet Philips.

112. Design Assistant: Mary Greaves.

113. The number of Gaztak subordinates has settled down to a consistent three since the continuity lapses earlier in the episode.

114. This scene, however, is the last in which any of them features.

115. As always, the ray from K9's nose was added in post-production.

116. So was the ray's effect on the spaceship's security door in the following sequence. (Look at the black mark it leaves behind.)

117. This is the story's only scene to address the underlying motivation for Meglos's destructive actions.

118. The issue remains essentially unresolved, as Meglos simply brushes aside the Doctor's questions,

119. and they then get sidetracked by the burning through of the door.

120. A pre-cut polystyrene version of the door was substituted to allow for it to be pulled open.

121. This gives rise to a "blooper" when Romana places her hands on the still smoking-hot door edges.

122. The visual effect of the door cutting was the very last action to be recorded for the story.

123. The script here read: "The colour and cactoid characteristics drain rapidly from the hybrid creature,

124. "collecting on the floor beneath his feet as a green transparent fluid".

125. A physical "thing" was substituted for this proposed fluid during production discussions.

126. This season of Doctor Who consisted of 28 episodes in total - two more than had been allocated for some years previously.

127. John Nathan-Turner had requested the extra two episodes as it meant the season could be made up entirely of four-part stories -

128. the ideal length, in his view.

129. Nathan-Turner wanted the seven stories to have a great diversity in their look and style.

130. In the case of 'Meglos', one of his aims was to have a very fast-moving story.

131. In hindsight, though, he felt it was very "traditional" and disappointingly "run of the mill".

132. However, many of the crew found it a happy story to work on, with a good atmosphere in studio.

133. The final product also had its admirers. Peter Howell, for instance, considered it a particularly good story.

134. In this one shot, beams are shown emanating from the Dodecahedron.

135. The script reads: "The scene vanishes in a roaring white-out".

136. The rehearsal script of this scene differed slightly from the final recording script.

137. In the earlier version, Romana says: "Gallifrey. A message has just come through from the Time Lords. A sort of summons."

138. The Doctor replies: "Summons! They wouldn't dare..."

139. The scene then continues as in the final version.

140. This episode was first transmitted at 5.44 p.m. On BBC-1 on Saturday 18 October 1980.

141. It gained 4.7 million viewers - the same as Part Three - and its chart position was 127th.

142. The Appreciation Index figure was 62%.

143. Production information subtitles written by Stephen James Walker.