Captain of the Train Guards in Marb Station on the planet Ravolox. This was actually the remains of Marble Arch Underground station, on the Earth of the far future after it had been moved through space by the Time Lords. The station acted as a survival chamber for some of the population, which had been destroyed with the surface when the planet was displaced. Merdeen was in charge of security and one of his roles was to enforce the periodic culls of the population, as resources were scarce. These were the orders of Drathro, who remained unseen in an inner chamber. Only Merdeen was permitted to communicate with him via intercom.
However, Merdeen was secretly allowing those scheduled to die to escape onto the surface, where they joined the primitive Tribe of the Free, ruled by Queen Katryca. One of his Train Guards - a young man named Grell, whom he had once mentored and saw as his eventual replacement - discovered his secret and threatened to inform Drathro. Merdeen was forced to kill him.
Merdeen then helped the Doctor overthrow Drathro - really the L3 robot - and the population of Marb Station were able to abandon it for life on the surface.
Played by: Tom Chadbon. Appearances: Trial of a Time Lord Parts 1 - 4 aka The Mysterious Planet (1985).
- Chadbon, who must have guested on every well-known British drama series of the last 50 years, had previously played private investigator Duggan in City of Death.
- He first came to the public's attention playing Nerys Hughes' fiancé in sitcom The Liver Birds.
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