1. "The Doctor faces the unknown dangers
of an alien planet."Copy !req
2. This episode was first broadcast
on 10 April 1971 and was watched
by 7.6 million viewers.Copy !req
3. A little lower than
the previous week's episode,
despite being shown an hour later.Copy !req
4. We open with a model shot.Copy !req
5. "Not Earth, although an Earth-type
planet with swirling cloud formation,"
says the script.Copy !req
6. It's the as yet unnamed planet
of the Time Lords. Or "a simple set made
to appear large by CSO backing".Copy !req
7. The seated character is identified
in the script and credits
as the Third Time Lord.Copy !req
8. This is the Second Time Lord.Copy !req
9. And here's the First.Copy !req
10. Remember who's who.
We'll identify the actors later.Copy !req
11. The dematerialisation circuit prop was
constructed for 'Terror of the Autons'
at the start of the season.Copy !req
12. The Doctor's jewellers' eyeglass
was introduced in the same story.Copy !req
13. As will be a regular occurrence
in late stories, this is a different
Lab set from those seen previously.Copy !req
14. The Master had featured in the three
previous stories of the 1971 season.Copy !req
15. At the end of the previous story,
'The Claws of Axos' he had regained
the use of his own Tardis.Copy !req
16. The impressive door
in the background hereCopy !req
17. was sold off in a sale of BBC sets
and props at the end of 1971.Copy !req
18. Nicholas Courtney
Was contracted for the entire 1971
season on 8 April 1970.Copy !req
19. The contract indicated that
he might not appear in every episode
of the 25-episode run.Copy !req
20. As of 6 January 1971, this first episode
was to have been his only appearance
in 'Colony in Space',Copy !req
21. but by the 27th of the month
he gained an additional appearance
at the end of the story.Copy !req
22. This is an in-joke reference
to the career of Roger Delgado,
the actor playing the Master.Copy !req
23. His Spanish ancestry and Mediterranean
looks often caused him to be cast
as swarthy foreigners.Copy !req
24. These included the Spanish Ambassador
in the ITC swashbuckler
Sir Francis Drake (1961-2).Copy !req
25. He also played a similar role in Queen's
Champion, the BBC's 1958 serial set
on the eve of the Spanish Armada.Copy !req
26. The serial's cast also featured
a jobbing actor named Barry Letts,
who was now Doctor Who's producer.Copy !req
27. Inside the blue box was a tatty cupboard
full of cigarette ends,Copy !req
28. but the actors moved to a new set
during a recording pause.Copy !req
29. Malcolm Hulke just invented
this new "explanatory" phrase.Copy !req
30. You may be wondering why the console
appears a nice pale green colour.Copy !req
31. In April 1971, most TV viewers
were still watching in monochrome.Copy !req
32. The take off sound was scripted
to appear as soon as the column moved.Copy !req
33. Cut to Camera 2 on Tardis.Copy !req
34. The "popping" can be explained by
the fact that the ship is being operated
by the Time Lords. Or as a mistake.Copy !req
35. This dialogue was to have been said
as the Tardis noise began...Copy !req
36. Look behind the Doctor: There's
a horizontal join in the wall flat.Copy !req
37. The photographic background photo flat
had been used since the mid-1960s.Copy !req
38. In the background we can hear the Tardis
flying sound being played in live
from a grams record.Copy !req
39. This is a filmed insert
of swirling light patterns.Copy !req
40. This is the same planet we saw earlier
on the Time Lord screen.Copy !req
41. It's spelt in the script as "Uxarieus".Copy !req
42. The robot you will see in a momentCopy !req
43. was made by the special prop contractor
Magna Models.Copy !req
44. Remember the device fitted to the back.
You won't see it again.
Later we'll explain why not.Copy !req
45. It was envisaged by Malcolm Hulke
as a man-shaped robot holding a device
similar to mine-sweeping equipment.Copy !req
46. It was actually based on a JCB excavator
and cost £450.
The wheels buckled when it was moved.Copy !req
47. Visual effects man lan Scoones
was inside the robot on location.Copy !req
48. The scanner is a 22-inch colour monitor
hired from Radio Rentals of Wembley.Copy !req
49. It's where they were, anyway.
It was a caption slide taken
during the location work.Copy !req
50. We are about to hear what happens when
they fade down the sound effects record.Copy !req
51. You may care to note Jo's very vogue
1971 false eyelashes.Copy !req
52. The first petrol-driven motor car
dated from 1885.Copy !req
53. In the early 1970s, the Doctor used
a different switch every time
he opened the doors.Copy !req
54. There is a small set built
outside the doors.Copy !req
55. The camera angle avoided
showing it earlier.Copy !req
56. He says "stranded on one planet"
in the script.Copy !req
57. This is Jo's first trip in the Tardis,
but Doctor Who has travelled
in time too.Copy !req
58. The rest of the season was shown at 6.10
instead of 5.15 p.m.Copy !req
59. but also to reach out towards
a slightly older audience.Copy !req
60. In the script, he takes Jo's hand
and leads her outside.Copy !req
61. Talking of comic strips... Readers of
the Radio Times were already familiar
with the events of this episode so far,Copy !req
62. including the scripted fact that
"alternate petals of the flower
are different colours".Copy !req
63. Stuntman Dinny Powell is playing
this Primitive.Copy !req
64. This whole sequence was the first filmed
for the story, around 9 a.m.
On Wednesday 10 February 1971.Copy !req
65. The script indicates that here
we were supposed to have
the Doctor's view of a small hillock.Copy !req
66. It's the one the film crew are now
standing on behind the camera.Copy !req
67. They are all standing inside
the Old Baal Pit,
near St Austell in Cornwall.Copy !req
68. One of the things excavated there
was raw clay.Copy !req
69. All the outside scenes were to be
recorded there over a five-day period.Copy !req
70. The door looks a bit wobbly.Copy !req
71. The rocket and dome are both models
brought to the location.Copy !req
72. It's a forced perspective shot: The top
of the mountain is actually only
around 15 feet above ground level.Copy !req
73. The script notes that the rock
is veined with minerals.Copy !req
74. "His gun is a kind of
advanced rocket rifle."Copy !req
75. It's not too clear, but we are inside
the big cliff-top dome with the rocket
beside it.Copy !req
76. The photo on the desk is presumably
the late wife of the colony leader,
Robert Ashe.Copy !req
77. It's actually a publicity photo
of the actress Susan Jameson, of whom
we shall hear more in the next episode.Copy !req
78. David Winton is described in the script
as "one of the younger colonists".Copy !req
79. The dome was scripted as one big open
space with stairs to a higher level.Copy !req
80. Plastic crates of stores were to be
dotted around inside the plastic dome.Copy !req
81. Perhaps by accident, the open area
rather resembles the main prison set in
'The Mind of Evil', two stories earlier.Copy !req
82. "I am not a professional mineralogist,"
he should have said.Copy !req
83. As scripted, he was to say
"mining companies".Copy !req
84. "Combines" implies a much bigger
and more profit-based enterprise.Copy !req
85. John Line (playing Martin in the
previous scene) was a busy actor
who appeared in many well-known series:Copy !req
86. Emergency Ward 10 (1962-64), Z Cars
(1965), Out of the Unknown (1965),Copy !req
87. The Onedin Line (1971), Colditz (1973),
and Secret Army (1978).Copy !req
88. He acted opposite John Ringham
Twice more.Copy !req
89. First in Moody and Pegg (1974) and
again in A Tale of Two Cities in 1980.Copy !req
90. The latter was also directed by Michael
Briant and produced by Barry Letts.Copy !req
91. The rather confined nature
of many of the sets in this storyCopy !req
92. leads to a number of boom microphone
shadows being apparent on screen.Copy !req
93. Here's one on the Doctor's hair.Copy !req
94. Then it moves away
to catch Leeson's next line.Copy !req
95. The script indicates that
he breaks Leeson's grip on his arm.Copy !req
96. It's one way of doing it...Copy !req
97. Leeson's line was scripted
to be said by Ashe.Copy !req
98. This episode was recorded
on Friday 5 March 1971 in Studio 4
at BBC Television Centre.Copy !req
99. It was a short recording session
from 8:30 to 10 p.m.Copy !req
100. There was a brief recording "Pausette"
next, to set up the film insert.Copy !req
101. The four Primitive extras here were:Copy !req
102. Terry Walsh, Dinny Powell, Alf Joint
and Mike Horsburgh.Copy !req
103. "A simple canteen-like area.
With one or two trestle tables."Copy !req
104. What looks like tomato soup replaces
the thin gruel that Hulke suggested.Copy !req
105. The dialogue in the background
was scripted to take place separately
after Jane leaves.Copy !req
106. This couple are Mr and Mrs Martin.Copy !req
107. Their vision of a bleak and grey future
Earth will be returned to many times
in the next few years,Copy !req
108. particularly in 'Day of the Daleks'
and 'The Mutants'
And 'Frontier in Space' (1973).Copy !req
109. The set was scripted with a serving
hatch, rather than being "self-service".Copy !req
110. Note how she carefully takes only
a little soup - they are running low
in supplies.Copy !req
111. At this point some of you will probably
be thinking, "Oh look,
it's Gail from Coronation Street".Copy !req
112. Mary Ashe is a pre-Gail role for
Helen Worth, but it was far from being
her earliest television appearance.Copy !req
113. 2 March 2472 will actually be
a Wednesday, unless something unexpected
happens to the Gregorian calendar.Copy !req
114. As scripted, she presses a button
and a fully made-up bed slides out
of the wall.Copy !req
115. Nutrient-rich cover crops like peas
and beans are planted to encourage
other plants to grow in difficult soil.Copy !req
116. The first home microwave oven
went on sale in 1967,
though they were still a rarity in 1971.Copy !req
117. David Webb was a frequent face
on television, seen in The Avengers
,Copy !req
118. Pennies From Heaven (1978), Blake's 7
, Minder (1984)
And roles through to the 21 st century.Copy !req
119. Jane Leeson was Sheila Grant's
second part in Doctor Who.Copy !req
120. She had previously provided the Quark
voices in 'The Dominators' (1968).Copy !req
121. And now..."The low growl of a monster."Copy !req
122. The same fate befell the indigenous
population in America's mid-west
in the 19th Century.Copy !req
123. We'll discover later
why the "giant" lizard looks like
a small gecko in close-up.Copy !req
124. The effect was recorded at the end of
the studio day using a blue CSO screen
to overlay Leeson onto the film.Copy !req
125. The listless lizard was pre-filmed
at Ealing film studios.Copy !req
126. Despite the apparent danger,
there doesn't seem to be much urgency
in her manner.Copy !req
127. Note that she says "who are you?",
rather than "what are you?"Copy !req
128. There is now a studio recording break
so that Camera 1 can move over
to the Main Dome entrance.Copy !req
129. Take a look at the map.
It shows a very rough approximation
of the location in Cornwall.Copy !req
130. The "Main Dome" towards the left
is approximately where the Leesons' dome
was erected.Copy !req
131. There appear to be 24 surrounding domes,Copy !req
132. and, at the centre of the map,
the ruined buildings
we shall see in Episode 3.Copy !req
133. As the first trip away from Earth
in two years, this was seen as something
of a relaunch for Doctor Who.Copy !req
134. Let us now recall the Time Lords
we saw at the start of the episode.Copy !req
135. All three have Doctor Who pedigrees
outside this episode.Copy !req
136. Peter Forbes-Robertson
In 'The Power of the Daleks' (1966),
and as the Chief Sea Devil in 1972.Copy !req
137. John Baker returned as the
servant Ralph in 1982's 'The Visitation'Copy !req
138. Graham Leaman also appeared
in 'The Macra Terror' (1967),
'Fury from the Deep' (1968),Copy !req
139. played the Ice Warrior Grand Marshal
in 'The Seeds of Death' (1969),Copy !req
140. and another Time Lord
in 'The Three Doctors' in 1972-3.Copy !req
141. There was now a recording break.Copy !req
142. Recording continued after that break
with another scene on the dome set,
to save moving the cameras.Copy !req
143. The set has been wrecked as though
it had been attacked by clawed monsters.Copy !req
144. The triangular pattern of the walls
is a 1948 design by Buckmaster Fuller.Copy !req
145. He called this linked modular design
a geodesic dome.Copy !req
146. A survival dome of this nature
was erected at the US scientific base
in the South Pole in 1975.Copy !req
147. It was the director's suggestion to use
this design, instead of the tents
that were originally scripted.Copy !req
148. He was scripted to hold up
some smashed furniture.Copy !req
149. Imperial weights and measures,
including feet and inches,
were still in use in 1971.Copy !req
150. It is now the next morning.Copy !req
151. This is the scene recorded out
of sequence, mentioned a moment ago.Copy !req
152. Standing in the back and muttering
in this scene are:Copy !req
153. Charles Pickess, Ken Halliwell,
Bob Blaine,Copy !req
154. Alan Peters, Brian Gilmar,
and John Ceasar.Copy !req
155. One of them is wearing a spacesuit
left over from
'The Ambassadors of Death' (1970).Copy !req
156. In the 1971 series, it became possible
for the first time to post-dub sound
onto a finished master tape.Copy !req
157. Previously all effects and music had
to be recorded in advanceCopy !req
158. and played into studio live
during recording.Copy !req
159. This episode was dubbed on 5 April,
a month after recording.Copy !req
160. The Doctor's urge to kill
is a little worrying.Copy !req
161. Omitted was his insistence that
they should not "run like children
from terrors in the night".Copy !req
162. Some dialogue in Ashe's next speech
was slightly revised for recording.Copy !req
163. Originally he urged them
to "keep pulling together".Copy !req
164. "The Doctor here will help us
with the agricultural problems..."
But he was cut off early.Copy !req
165. The new arrival is "emaciated, in rags,
wild-eyed", says the script.Copy !req
166. Since 1965, BBC-1 had featured
a regular Saturday-night Western movie,
often of some vintage.Copy !req
167. Ten minutes and one Tom and Jerry
cartoon after this episode, you could
see Tribute to a Badman (1956):Copy !req
168. The story of a young man who has headed
west in search of a new life,Copy !req
169. and a bad man who will ultimately
realise the error of his ways
and change sides...Copy !req
170. If you stay with this story,
you will see similar things happening.Copy !req
171. Curiously, the next five weeks' Westerns
will be similarly prescient...Copy !req
172. We now ramble towards
another recording break,Copy !req
173. as recording moves to
the Leeson dome set to shoot some scenes
we've already watched.Copy !req
174. The first of the looting primitives
has found part of a broken radio.Copy !req
175. The second was scripted to find
a tin opener, but he seems
more engrossed in a hardback book.Copy !req
176. These two studio primitives are played
by Pat Gorman and Les Clark.Copy !req
177. Remember the name Pat Gorman:
You'll be reading it again.Copy !req
178. Four days after this episode,
viewers could see Jon Pertwee being
surprised by another imposing figure.Copy !req
179. He was the subject of ITV's
This is Your Life programme
on 14 April 1971.Copy !req
180. He was tricked into attending
a last-minute pre-filming session
for this story on 3 March.Copy !req
181. Katy Manning was in on the plot,
but Pertwee was furiousCopy !req
182. when Eamonn Andrews, the host of
This is Your Life, arrived in one of the
IMC buggies, apparently ruining a take.Copy !req
183. Pertwee was then whisked away to
an ITV studio to have family and friends
say nice things about him.Copy !req
184. The Doctor is about to cut a sliver
of wood from the broken furniture to
take it away in a test tube for testing.Copy !req
185. The ending of this episode
was slightly revised for recording.Copy !req
186. As Malcolm Hulke wrote it, the Doctor
hears a mechanical sound and looks up.Copy !req
187. "A section of the plastic wall is torn
down from outside." (As scripted, we're
in a large plastic tent, remember.)Copy !req
188. After that cliffhanger, recording
for the day concluded with the effects
shot of Leeson with the giant lizard.Copy !req
189. The credit for "voice"
is a billing error.
some sleep.Copy !req
190. Sleep? How do you expect me to...
Doctor!Copy !req
191. I repeat, Leeson's dome.
Do you read me?Copy !req
192. I read you. We're on our way.Copy !req
193. Be careful.Copy !req
194. How long did you say you'd been
on this planet?Copy !req
195. Just over a year.Copy !req
196. And you found no sign
of these creatures then?Copy !req
197. There's no animal life,
just a few birds and insects.Copy !req
198. Well, there is now.Copy !req
199. Robert, there's nothing
you could have done.Copy !req
200. They were both dead when we got here.Copy !req
201. Did you see the creatures?Copy !req
202. We caught a glimpse of one
as we arrived.Copy !req
203. Everyone blazed away like mad.Copy !req
204. - And what happened?
- Nothing.Copy !req
205. It didn't even seem to notice.Copy !req
206. - You must have missed.
- What, all of us?Copy !req
207. We tried to get in closer
but it just disappeared,Copy !req
208. vanished into the darkness.Copy !req
209. It'll be daylight soon,Copy !req
210. perhaps we shall be able to pick up
some tracks or bloodstains.Copy !req
211. I doubt it.Copy !req
212. Come and take a look
at these claw marks, gentlemen.Copy !req
213. Well, what about them?Copy !req
214. Are you trying to tell me these were
made by a giant lizard, Winton?Copy !req
215. Yes, it must have been at least
20 foot high.Copy !req
216. - 20 foot high?
- Yes.Copy !req
217. Then will you kindly tell me
how a creature 20 feet highCopy !req
218. came through that door?Copy !req
219. Why can't you admit defeat, Ashe?Copy !req
220. We've got to get back to Earth.Copy !req
221. If we go back to Earth, we'll be
worse off than we were before.Copy !req
222. All our savings have gone into this.Copy !req
223. Then we must move on to another planet.Copy !req
224. If we stay here, we'll be dead.Copy !req
225. I'm not sure that we can move on.
Our spaceship was old when we bought it.Copy !req
226. It may not survive another trip.Copy !req
227. Oh, Robert, why won't you admit
your mistakes?Copy !req
228. We've invested a year of our lives
in this place.Copy !req
229. We've got the beginnings of a colony.Copy !req
230. Our food stocks are getting lower
all the time.Copy !req
231. We can't even support ourselves.Copy !req
232. All right, we've got problems,
but they can be overcome.Copy !req
233. Ashe is perfectly right.Copy !req
234. There is no reason why this planet
should not support a thriving colony.Copy !req
235. I suppose you're
an expert in agriculture?Copy !req
236. Yes. Yes, as a matter of fact, I am.Copy !req
237. Then why won't my crops grow?Copy !req
238. Because they are being inhibited
by some unnatural force.Copy !req
239. We must track it down and overcome it.Copy !req
240. But two people have been killed,
or have you forgotten that?Copy !req
241. Killed by creatures that vanish
without trace?Copy !req
242. Look, we saw something.Copy !req
243. Whatever it was you saw
can be destroyed.Copy !req
244. This colony is our only hope.
If we leave, we'll have nothing.Copy !req
245. If we stay, we may have a future.Copy !req
246. - Why won't you...
- He's right.Copy !req
247. We've put too much work
into this place to leave.Copy !req
248. What if these animals attack again?Copy !req
249. - We fight back.
- Good.Copy !req
250. Now, what about the rest of you?Copy !req
251. Are you willing to give it another try?Copy !req
252. Well, if there really is a chance.Copy !req
253. There is if we stick together.Copy !req
254. Now, what we've got to do
is to organise patrols for the domes.Copy !req
255. The Doctor here will help us...Copy !req
256. Robert, wait!Copy !req
257. One of the patrols found him wandering
in the South Sector.Copy !req
258. Get some water, somebody. Quickly!Copy !req
259. Where are you from?Copy !req
260. Can you understand what I say?Copy !req
261. It's all right, old chap.
You're amongst friends now.Copy !req
262. Who are you?
Where did you come from?Copy !req
263. Colony.Copy !req
264. Come from colony.Copy !req
265. What colony?Copy !req
266. Long way from here.Copy !req
267. You mean there's another colony
on this planet?Copy !req
268. I've been wanderingCopy !req
269. long time...Copy !req
270. Months.Copy !req
271. These other colonists, where are they?Copy !req
272. Dead.Copy !req
273. All dead.Copy !req
274. Giant lizards.Copy !req
275. Lizards?Copy !req
276. Came from nowhere. Killed everything.Copy !req
277. I'm the only one left.Copy !req
278. I hope you find
what you're looking for, Doctor.Copy !req
279. - I certainly hope you're right.
- No!Copy !req
280. No.Copy !req
281. He is our friend.Copy !req
282. These are ours. You must leave them.Copy !req
283. Do they have a language of their own?Copy !req
284. I've never heard them speak,
but they seem to understand what I say.Copy !req
285. Extraordinary.Copy !req
286. It must be some
rudimentary telepathic ability.Copy !req
287. Are they friendly?Copy !req
288. Depends on how you treat them.Copy !req
289. We had two colonists killed
when we first moved here.Copy !req
290. You must go now.Copy !req
291. Just what are you looking for, Doctor?Copy !req
292. I have no idea.Copy !req
293. Possibly some evidence to convince
your colonists to stay.Copy !req
294. Yes, I thought I'd won them over
until that man turned up.Copy !req
295. Now I don't know how long
I can hold them.Copy !req
296. - Just play for time.
- Yes.Copy !req
297. Well, I'd better get back there
to see what's happening.Copy !req
298. Can you find your own way back?Copy !req
299. Yes.Copy !req
300. Oh, yes. Of course.Copy !req
301. Right, I'll leave you to it, thenCopy !req
302. and be careful.Copy !req