M is for... Minyans

An ancient humanoid race who encountered the Time Lords not long after they had achieved their mastery over time travel. At this stage in their history they believed that they could use their great powers to help developing races. One of these was the Minyans of the planet Minyos.

They provided advanced technology and other assistance. However, the Minyans were unable to absorb and manage this help. Their society advanced too rapidly for them to adapt to the changes, and it eventually broke down.

With powerful weapons now at their disposal, they almost destroyed themselves in civil war. This event caused the Time Lords to adopt their policy of non-intervention.

By way of recompense, they gave the Minyan survivors rejuvenation technology and a new home was established on another world - Minyos II. Unable to reproduce naturally, the Minyans sought their genetic race banks, but the ship carrying these - the P7E - had gone missing.

A commander named Jackson was despatched to locate it. His crew comprised Orfe, Herrick and Tala.

Their quest lasted thousands of years, but they eventually found the P7E in a region of space in which gravitational forces created new planets. The ship they sought was now at the heart of a new planetoid.

In the interim, the society on the P7E had degenerated. The ship's computer - Oracle - had developed an insane personality and now ruled like a god. Many of the crew's descendants were enslaved, oppressed by a tyrannical elite.

The Doctor and his companion Leela arrived on Jackson's ship - the R1C - just as it found the P7E, and they helped him retrieve the race banks from the Oracle. They left for Minyos II with the freed slave workers, whilst the computer and its elite were destroyed when the P7E was blown apart by explosives intended for Jackson's ship.

Played by: James Maxwell (Jackson), Alan Lake (Herrick), Jonathan Newth (Orfe), Imogen Bickford-Smith (Tala), Jimmy Gardner (Idmon), Norman Tipton (Idas). 

Appearances: Underworld (1977).

• Underworld is based on the Greek myth of Jason and the Argonauts. This is reflected in the names: Jackson / Jason, Herrick / Heracles, Orfe / Orpheus, Tala / Atalanta. For Minyos read Minos, for RIC read Argos, and for P7E read Persephone, etc.
• Jimmy Gardner first appeared in the series back in 1964, in Marco Polo.
• Bickford-Smith's agent gained publicity for their client by claiming that she was a new Doctor Who companion.