Inspirations - The Ark

Briefly called "The Space Ark", this story is the first to feature a woman's name in the writing credits. Such a pity that she never actually wrote any of it. The given authors are Paul Erickson and his then partner Lesley Scott. Scott may have thrown some ideas into the mix, but Erickson was sole writer.
The idea of a massive, generational spaceship was one of producer John Wiles' earliest notions for the programme. After he and Donald Tosh commissioned this story, they moved on. Wiles retains producer credit but the making of the episodes fell to his replacement. The new producer behind the scenes is Innes Lloyd - reluctantly, as he hates science fiction - and the new story editor is Gerry Davis, who still receives on screen credits to this day, thanks to a certain biomechanical race he co-creates in a few month's time.
The other day I watched a rerun of When Worlds Collide - the 1951 George Pal movie. In this, a rogue planet and a star are found to be hurtling towards the Earth. The planet will pass by, causing the sort of disturbances that would cause a Silurian to take to hibernation. A plan is hatched for a number of spaceships to carry a small number of people and animals to the new planet before the star strikes and destroys the Earth. In this instance, these space arks only have to travel a short distance to their new home. The Russian scientist Konstantin Tsiolovsky had written in 1928 that the future of the human race depended on it upping sticks and going to a new home which had a longer shelf life. Stephen Hawking is saying the same thing today.
In The Ark, we also have the destruction of the Earth, but this time it is supposed to be the natural end of the planet, millions of years in the future. We all know that the sun will expand, but here it is claimed that the planet will fall into the sun. We only see it smoking.
A new home has been identified - Refusis II - and the whole population of Earth is going there. Most are miniaturised and in hibernation for the voyage, as it is supposed to take 700 years. Going along for the ride are the Monoids - mute monocular reptilian beings who sought refuge on Earth, and whose origins are obscure.

The TARDIS arrives on the Ark just as it is about to embark on its journey. The crew meet the human Guardians who will stay awake during the initial stage of the voyage, followed by their descendants. The ship lands in the area where plants and animals dwell - and Dodo, on her first trip - thinks that they are in Whipsnade Zoo. She has a cold, and this starts to affect the Guardians and the Monoids, as well as Steven. This far in the future - the 57th Segment of Time - the common cold no longer exists, and there is no immunity to it amongst the space travellers. We then have a couple of episodes in which the Doctor has to come up with a cure. This is reminiscent of the middle part of The Sensorites. The cure is found, and the Doctor and his companions leave as the Earth is destroyed and the Ark sets off for Refusis II.
Back when this story was broadcast, the programme did not have distinct story titles and episode counts. Viewers did not know how long an adventure was going to last. There had been a couple of two- and seven-parters, a lot of four- and six-parters, plus the massive 12 part Dalek epic. You only knew you had moved on to a new story when the TARDIS left and arrived somewhere else, and a different writer's credit appeared.
So it would have come as a surprise to those watching when, at the end of part two, the TARDIS materialises back in the same location.
It turns out that Dodo's cold has had consequences. This is the first time the programme has shown that the Doctor's travels can have an impact after he and his companions have moved on. Once the show starts to have sequels, this will happen more often, though the best example is a story which is a follow-up to an unscreened adventure - The Face of Evil.

700 years later, the Monoids have taken over, enslaving the Guardians. There are human collaborators, whilst the rest are safely locked up in the Security Kitchen. (Later, one of Salamander's enemies will be held in a makeshift Security Corridor). A kitchen seems a strange place to hold prisoners, what with all the cutting / chopping / skewering / burning implements they usually contain. Perhaps they don't use these any more, as new potatoes and chicken wings can be created by dropping a pill into a pot of water. The Monoids can now talk, by means of a device around their neck, and they have heat prod weapons which the humans helped them develop. Why they thought they needed weapons is anyone's guess.
Bizarrely, the humans have not altered their outfits in 7 centuries. I know things can come back into fashion, but this is ridiculous.
The reversal of roles seems to be payback for the first couple of episodes, though at no time do we see the Monoids enslaved in any way. Yes, they seem to be assigned some of the more menial tasks, but they are hardly slaves. The Commander certainly sees them as friends.
Some have tried to read a race message into the Human / Monoid situation. It is hardly apartheid or segregation. Rather, the Monoids are asylum seekers, welcomed to Earth as refugees.
The second half of the story is a more straightforward evil aliens runaround. Monoid One plans to kill the humans and take the new planet for the exclusive use of his own kind. The planet isn't uninhabited, however, and the invisible Refusians help the Doctor and the humans whilst the Monoids almost wipe each other out in an internecine struggle.
The Doctor and his companions depart for the second time, leaving the humans and the Monoids to co-exist on the planet, alongside the Refusians.

Up until 2005, this was clearly Doctor Who's depiction of the end of the world. Then Russell T Davies wrote The End of the World. This clearly looks entirely different. There is no mention of an Ark setting off for a new world, and the planet blows up as the sun is allowed to expand after being kept in check. The Ark must show an earlier evacuation of the planet, and fandom has looked to the events of The Mysterious Planet for the answer. In this, the planet is moved by the Time Lords, resulting in a fireball wiping out the surface. This might be what happens here - meaning that the High Council of Time Lords at least gave the population a bit of warning.
In The Ark, the Doctor states that it is millions of years in the future, rather than billions. The internal dating - those Segments of Time - doesn't help us. The Commander seems to think just about everything the Doctor has seen fits into the first segment. The Daleks are mentioned - but we don't know which Dalek adventure he is referring to.
The Guardians are a wet lot, and you can't help but think of Douglas Adams and the Golgafrincham B Ark, full of all the people the planet wanted rid of.
To end with, a quick word about the new companion. Dodo is supposed to come from the north of England, and was scripted as such. The powers that be objected and insisted that she speak with more of an RP accent. As such, Jackie Lane's accent wanders a bit, and at times she does sound a lot more Northern, though its hard to tell as she does a lot of "'oldin' the dose" cold acting.
Next time - fun and games for Steven and Dodo, but the Doctor isn't feeling himself.