Doctor Who 8x9

Directed by Timothy Combe

Roger Delgado as The Master • Richard Franklin as Mike Yates • John Levene as Sergeant Benton • William Marlowe as Harry Mailer • Patrick Godfrey as Major Cosworth

The Doctor is forced to help the Master control the mind parasite while Yates finds out where the Thunderbolt has been taken only to be captured by the Master's men.

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1. This episode was first shown on 27 February 1971, and was seen by 7.6 million viewers.

2. In the breakdown, you'll remember, the Doctor and Jo are about to be gunned down by a group of convicts.

3. The prisoners are stopped in their tracks when the box generates the image of their worst nightmares:

4. A gallows with the body of an executed convict swinging from it.

5. Someone - usually the Doctor - being attacked by the Machine.

6. This dematerialisation shot was intended to be pre-recorded on the Friday evening of the Episodes 3 and 4 studio session.

7. However, it had to be abandoned that evening when they ran out of time.

8. It was rescheduled for the Friday evening of the Episodes 5 and 6 studio session,

9. when it was done immediately after the remounted Episode 3 scenes featuring the Master's smoke bomb attack.

10. As usual, the main recording was done in story order on the Saturday evening,

11. with particularly complicated scenes being pre-recorded on the Friday evening.

12. This was filmed on 28 October 1970 at Dover Castle.

13. The pilot's blue beret indicates that he is either a United Nations or an RAF man.

14. On both evenings of this studio session, recording overran by five minutes.

15. On the Friday this was due simply to the amount and complexity of what needed to be done,

16. including the remount of scenes from Episode 3.

17. In the draft script, Cosworth was a Captain, not a Major.

18. There was originally a location-filmed scene in which the Doctor is recaptured by the prisoners.

19. Barnham is more debilitatingly scrupulous in the draft:

20. In the draft, the missile has come back to the prison and Mike Yates with it.

21. Yates finds the workshop where the convicts are readying the missile for firing, and a gun battle ensues.

22. The Doctor and Jo arrive, and Jo joins in with a riot gun. "Welcome to Dodge City," says Yates.

23. Yates is running out of ammunition,

24. Yates hesitates before complying - after all, the console is government property!

25. The real reason was rather different:

26. Only real uniformed servicemen were allowed to handle it.

27. Another location sequence was cut immediately before this studio scene.

28. Filmed outside the Alland Grange Lane hangar on 29 October 1970, it showed the Master leaving in his car.

29. As before, one of the five cameras was mounted on a tower.

30. This enabled shots to be taken of the upper level of the prison set for the remounted Episode 3 scenes.

31. then the camera was put on top by a fork-lift truck.

32. The original plan was to use Television Centre Studio 4 for this last studio session.

33. That would have created a difficulty, as Studio 4 was going to be in use the afternoon before,

34. for a live broadcast of the children's magazine show Blue Peter.

35. This was to be done between 5.50 and 6.50 p.m., after Blue Peter was de-rigged,

36. and the cost charged to Doctor Who's budget.

37. not only for erecting the camera tower but also for putting up the sets and getting them correctly lit.

38. The second saw the Doctor and Jo being taken back to their cell.

39. An unusual aspect of Don Houghton's scripts for this story is the relatively passive role given to the Doctor and Jo.

40. Both of them have been held captive for long periods,

41. and Jo has been at Stangmoor for the whole of the story thus far.

42. They have now resorted to playing draughts to amuse themselves.

43. Jo's victory here appears to pay homage to a scene in Laurel and Hardy's Brats (1930).

44. She was a less scientifically knowledgeable but more eager adventurer,

45. Being younger, shorter and more vulnerable than Liz, she was the type of co-star Jon Pertwee himself favoured:

46. One that the Doctor could take under his metaphorical wing and watch over.

47. He likened this to the situation of a mother hen protecting its chick.

48. Her down-to-earth nature and lack of specialist expertise also made Jo a good audience identification figure,

49. in keeping with the more family-friendly direction in which Barry Letts was steering the show.

50. In the draft, it's the Master's theory, not the Doctor's.

51. although some sections would be marked as not for publication to avoid revealing too much.

52. This story sees the sole appearance of UNIT's Major Cosworth, described in the script as "a precise, fussy man".

53. Actor Patrick Godfrey Had one prior Doctor Who role, as Tor in 'The Savages' (1966).

54. This setting did not feature in Don Houghton's original story breakdown.

55. His draft and final scripts referred to it as "UNIT mobile HQ".

56. The draft described it as "rigged out like a WWII command vehicle with banks of radios,

57. "map tables and perhaps a couple of radar screens.

58. But when the exterior is glimpsed in Episode 6 it looks more like a large shed.

59. This episode was reviewed in the 4 March 1971 edition of The Stage and Television Today. ;

60. James Towler said he thought the story was terrific.

61. Enter Alan Chuntz, a stuntman - so you can guess what's going to happen now...

62. Don Houghton imagined a somewhat smaller coil.

63. At one point, the Master uses it to control Mailer by playing on his greatest fear:

64. "Any more of that Mailer, and I'll fit this coil over your head like a noose!"

65. In the event, the design of the Keller Machine dictated a larger loop.

66. As scripted, that scene opened with the Doctor already wearing the visor and gloves.

67. In the draft, it was a heavy-duty welder's helmet, which would mostly have obscured his face.

68. These are the same chaps we saw before in Episode 2. But they're now joined by

69. Koquillion,

70. The shots of the Doctor ensnaring the Machine with the coil were all recorded continuously.

71. The intercut shots of the Master at the controls were done afterwards.

72. The sequence was edited into the right order in post-production.

73. The videotape editing was carried out over six dates: 21, 22, 23, 29 and 31 December 1970 and 4 January 1971.

74. The videotape editor was Sam Upton.

75. The Master closes the doors, and we see that the dial on the Machine is quivering on red.

76. We are back now to material taped during the main Saturday evening recording,

77. as is the case for the remainder of Episode 5's studio scenes.

78. In the breakdown, the latter stages of this episode are very different.

79. It then descends to the workshop floor and spots the Doctor hiding beside the missile lorry.

80. This leads to the cliffhanger:

81. "With a roar of fury the creature lurches towards him.

82. "The Master sees that the Doctor is to be the victim - and gives out with a laugh of triumph.

83. "The Gorgon reaches out for the Doctor - as he retreats towards the cab of the lorry.

84. "Jo and Mike watch helplessly as the thing prepares to attack the Doctor."

85. The script specifies "a dusty bit of bread and jam".

86. The Doctor finds it quite repulsive.

87. The Tower of London was used as a prison in the 16th and 17th Centuries.

88. The prisoners were noblemen, so they didn't have cells: They had rooms.

89. He was imprisoned in the Tower for two months in 1592, but didn't find potatoes in America until afterwards.

90. James I sent him back to the Tower in 1603, and this time he stayed there for thirteen years.

91. There is no evidence to suggest that he ever had a mysterious two-hearted room- mate.

92. This sequence of UNIT breaking into Stangmoor was shot at Dover Castle over 26 and 27 October 1970.

93. This was later attributed by the props department to "condensation".

94. This sequence affords a rare opportunity for the Brigadier to go undercover in disguise.

95. The Brigadier's character, like the Doctor's, was being somewhat softened under Barry Letts's stewardship.

96. In the 1970 series, he was a shrewd, no-nonsense professional soldier,

97. and his relationship with the Doctor was based as much on mutual convenience as on friendship.

98. In the 1971 series, as things got rather cosier, the Brigadier was often a focus for humour.

99. This process continued in later years: He became increasingly befuddled by the Doctor's scientific explanations;

100. and fewer concessions were made to military realism, evident In a gradual lengthening of his hair.

101. It had been very hard to obtain permission for Doctor Who to film at Dover Castle.

102. The Castle remained open to the public on the filming days.

103. Visitors had to be excluded from the actual filming areas while work was in progress.

104. They gave them nicknames:

105. Batman and Robin.

106. A number of classical allusions were included by Don Houghton in his story.

107. The original title, 'The Pandora Machine', referenced a Greek myth.

108. We've already seen that UNIT's radio call signs were taken from the names of Roman gods.

109. The story breakdown featured Gorgons - another Greek myth.

110. And, in the script, this scene has the Doctor repeating another classical parallel drawn earlier by the Brigadier:

111. "They probably used the old Trojan Horse trick," he tells Jo.

112. It was the last work done that day, and the daylight was starting to fail.

113. Timothy Combe got all the wide shots he wanted, but no close-ups to use as cut-ins.

114. When Barry Letts was sent the day's film rushes for review, he was dissatisfied with this lack of close-ups.

115. He also learned of another issue:

116. One of the rolls of camera negative had been scratched, making part of the filmed material unusable.

117. Letts arranged for the crew to return to Dover Castle for an unplanned extra day to do a reshoot.

118. With a budget covering only four walk-on cast, Combe and some of his crew donned costumes to swell the numbers.

119. Here's Tim Combe.

120. Union members amongst the crew fortunately turned a blind eye to this irregular activity.

121. Katy Manning was needed only for the first day of the Dover Castle filming, 26 October 1970, for two scenes:

122. The Doctor and Jo arriving at Stangmoor, and a scene intended for episode six that was ultimately cut.

123. Mailer's line was added during rehearsals, to point up what's about to happen.

124. The cliffhanger is different in the draft script.

125. The rocket is ready and primed. Controlled by the Master, it rises to its vertical firing position.

126. The episode ends on a close-up of the Master's finger,

127. hovering above the firing button.

128. Prisoner extras featured in the studio scenes of this episode were:

129. Michael Ely, Roger Marsden, Les Clark,

130. Alan Chuntz, Mike Stevens, Billy Horrigan,

131. Val Musetti and Michael Carter.

132. Charles Marriott was a UNIT soldier extra.

133. Prisoner and UNIT soldier extras seen in film sequences were:

134. Tony Jenkins, Robert Bald, Dennis Balcombe, Billy Horrigan,

135. Max Diamond, Les Clark, Bob Blaine, Les Conrad,

136. Michael Carter, Charles Marriott and lan Elliott.

137. The fight arranger was Derek Martin, and stunts on film were performed by:

138. Terry Walsh, Marc Boyle, Roy Scammell and Mike Stevens.