Synopsis:
The TARDIS materialises on a narrow ledge, then tumbles down into a ravine...
A few weeks later, the travellers have appropriated a nearby villa where they are living a life of relative luxury. The owner is away, campaigning in Gaul. They are close to the heart of the Roman Empire, in the year 64 AD. The TARDIS is unharmed, and they can return to it anytime they wish.
One day Barbara and Vicki visit the market in the local town and come to the attention of a man named Sevcheria and his assistant Didius. They are slave traders. From a stall holder they learn that the women are from Britannia, as they mentioned Londinium. They are disappointed at the quality of the slaves they have procured so far and would like a few more before reaching Rome - and the people from the villa would suit them perfectly...
That afternoon, the Doctor announces that he is going alone to visit Rome, but Vicki talks him into letting her go with him. He rejects the suggestion by Ian and Barbara that they should also accompany him in case of trouble.
A few hours later, the Doctor and Vicki come upon the corpse of an old man, hidden in the bushes by the side of the road. She recognises him as a musician who had played his lyre at the market that morning. The Doctor picks up this instrument as they notice a lone Centurion approach, seemingly searching the undergrowth. When he sees them he takes note of the lyre and assumes the Doctor to be the dead man - the famous Corinthian musician Maximus Pettulian, who is reported to be coming to Rome to play at the court of the Emperor. He offers to escort them to the nearby mansio where they can spend the night. The Doctor is happy to allow the mistaken identity to stand. He suspects that the soldier was expecting to find a dead body, and has been surprised to find "Maximus" still alive.
At the villa, Sevcheria and Didius break in. In the confusion, Barbara accidentally knocks Ian out and both are captured. They find themselves chained up and taken away for sale in Rome. A merchant happens to come across the traders and buys Ian as a galley slave. Sevcheria refuses to sell Barbara, as he knows she will fetch a better price in the city.
At the mansio, the Centurion confronts Ascaris - the mute assassin who had earlier murdered Maximus Pettulian. He accuses him of having failed and gives him one last chance to kill the musician.
Ascaris creeps into the room where the Doctor and Vicki are staying...
Next episode: All Roads Lead to Rome
Written by: Dennis Spooner
Recorded: Friday 18th December, 1964 - Riverside Studio 1
First broadcast: 5:40pm, Saturday 16th January 1965
Ratings: 13 million / AI 53
Designer: Raymond P Cusick
Director: Christopher Barry
Additional cast: Derek Sydney (Sevcheria), Nick Evans (Didius), Dennis Edwards (Centurion), Barry Jackson (Ascaris), Edward Kelsey (Slave Buyer), Margot Thomas (Stall Holder), Bart Allison (Maximus Pettulian)
Ancient Rome had been one of the intended backdrops to a Doctor Who story almost from the outset.
More than one writer had contemplated a story revolving around either the departure of the Romans from Britain around 410 AD, or Julius Caesar's first landing in the country in 55 BC - thus tying the story to home shores.
Now that the series was established, Verity Lambert insisted that it should still experiment and push boundaries. New story editor Dennis Spooner was known for comedic writing (like his friend Terry Nation he was also a failed stand-up comedian), and together they decided on a story which had a higher comedy element. This runs through the whole story, but is seen at its most extreme in the farce elements of the third instalment.
William Hartnell welcomed this development as he was a great lover of comedy. Before being typecast as gangsters and tough army types, he had maintained a steady career in low budget comedy movies before WWII.
The British angle was dropped as the big Hollywood blockbuster Quo Vadis became the main inspiration. This 1951 movie had starred Peter Ustinov as the Emperor Nero, with Robert Taylor and Deborah Kerr as, respectively, a Roman soldier a Christian woman who he falls in love with, at the time when the Emperor was persecuting this troublesome sect. Patricia Laffan had played Poppaea, famously walking around with a cheetah on a leash.
The film was based on an 1896 novel by Polish Nobel Laureate Henryk Sienkiewicz.
At the time Spooner was planning his episodes, Quo Vadis was also providing the inspiration for another cinematic masterpiece. A near neighbour of his was actor Jim Dale, who was currently filming Carry On Cleo at Pinewood Studios. Dale invited him along to the studio to watch some of the filming, which provided him with more inspiration owing in part to the episodic nature of the Carry On... movie.
The same researcher would work on both the Carry On... and the Doctor Who story.
In terms of similarities, we have the main characters coming from Britain but being turned into slaves in Rome, plus an assassination plot against the Emperor ("Infamy! Infamy! They've all got it in for me..!"), as well as a lot of farcical goings-on in palace corridors.
The Carry On... film simply wanted to cash in on the big biblical epic movies such as Quo Vadis in general, but ignored that actual storyline. If anything it was the 1963 Burton / Taylor movie Cleopatra which it really aimed to mock.
The stage musical A Funny Thing Happened On The Way To The Forum also provided some inspiration, which we will look at under a later episode.
In these early years of the series, attempts are still being made to educate as well as entertain. The Doctor discusses the efficiency of Roman water transportation methods, and we see the domestic life of wealthy Romans reflected in the dinner which the TARDIS crew enjoy. We are told about Londinium being the capital of the province of Britannia.
Ian quotes from Shakespeare's Julius Caesar - "Friends, Romans, countrymen...", from Act 3 Scene 2. He also quotes Cicero with "O tempora! O mores!", which translates as "Oh the times! Oh the customs!".
There is some bad history as well. Outside of a city, a Roman villa wasn't just a big house. It was an entire agricultural estate, which functioned all year round whether the owners were on site or not. There is no way the TARDIS crew would have found a whole empty property like this, devoid of servants and slaves.
It is also claimed that the owner is away campaigning in Gaul. There had been no campaigns in that region for many years. The owner's name - Flavius Guiscard - isn't right for the period. Spooner took the surname from an 11th Century Norman adventurer.
There will be more bad history to come...
In rehearsals, Hartnell told O'Brien "This will be your first exploitation" instead of "exploration".
It was quite late in the day that the fight in the villa was rewritten to have Barbara accidentally knock out Ian. Originally it was to have been Sevcheria who struck the blow. The script for Part Four had to be amended to accommodate this change.
Following the recording of this episode, the cast and crew embarked on a one week holiday for Christmas, to reconvene for rehearsals on 28th December.
- The strong viewing figures continue, though the AI score drops to only 53.
- For the first time in the series, the title of story editor is changed to script editor. This was on documentation only, as this story did not have a named story / script editor thanks to Dennis Spooner also being the writer.
- The model work of the falling TARDIS was filmed at Ealing on Tuesday 17th November 1964.
- A mansio was an official government way station, designed as a resting place for officials who were travelling across the Empire. With their Centurion escort, the Doctor and Vicki would have used such an establishment rather than a conventional inn.
- Nick Evans had previously operated Daleks in The Dalek Invasion of Earth, in which he had also been the Slyther.
- Edward Kelsey would become well known for portraying Joe Grundy in The Archers radio soap. An old friend of the director, Barry used him in two of his later Doctor Who stories - The Power of the Daleks and The Creature from the Pit.
- Barry Jackson, who would return to the series as Time Lord Drax, under the alternative name of Jack Barry was also a fight arranger who performed a theatrical gladiator routine with a partner. During one of their shows he was accidentally stabbed for real.
- Richard Martin was originally slated to direct this story, before it was added to The Rescue as a single 6 week production block.
- This was the only non-science fiction story which Ray Cusick got to design for - and his least favourite. As a continuation of the recording block which began with The Powerful Enemy, a lot of money had already been spent. He does provide a very effective villa setting (although some of the busts are anachronistic - featuring later Emperors or even Victorians).
- The Radio Times feature on the opening episode of The Romans:
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