What's Wrong With... Planet of the Spiders

The original intention for the final story of Season 11 had been the final defeat of the Master, but the tragic death of Roger Delgado put paid to that.

The story which did round off the season would also bring to a close the tenure of Jon Pertwee as Third Doctor. Terrance Dicks was already handing over to Robert Holmes, and Barry Letts would have only one more story as Producer before he also stood down.

This "end of term" set-up brought mixed blessings.

Over the years, whilst out filming or attending events like the Boat Show on publicity duties, Pertwee and Letts had come across various novel modes of transport (generally small, one-man vehicles). Mental notes were taken to use them in the show at some point. Pertwee was a real petrol-head, who had raced cars and owned a speedboat at his Ibiza holiday home (as well as one of those hydrofoils seen in The Sea Devils).

For his star's last outing, since Letts was directing as well as having co-written the story, an epic chase sequence was set up, taking up most of the second episode. This would involve various methods of transport including Bessie, the new "Whomobile", a small hovercraft and a gyrocopter. 

This is seen by many as an over-indulgent sequence, unnecessary to the overall plot. Lupton could simply have been chased along a road in a jeep for a few minutes.

What particularly annoys those who find this sequence a lengthy irrelevance is that the Spider ends up teleporting Lupton to safety anyway. Why couldn't it have done this in the first place?

Two other indulgences here are Letts'. His Buddhist beliefs are very high in the mix, with all the characters - including the Spiders - embodying Buddhist principles. He knows what it all means, but we aren't blessed with this knowledge.

It's also his last chance to play with CSO for a while, and there are some particularly nasty examples of it. Sarah's arrival on Metebelis III is a prime instance. Seemingly some later in the show was so bad it couldn't be used. This led to some drastic re-editing, which is why the end of Part 5 / beginning of Part 6 is such a mess. As the final episode opens, we seem to have jumped way back into the previous one. We then get totally new scenes before the remainder of the Part 5 cliff-hanger.

There is some dodgy plotting in Part 1, as we never seem to know on what day things are happening. It appears that the theatre show attended by the Doctor and Brigadier must have been first thing in the morning, as it seems to coincide with Sarah first visiting the meditation centre. Events must happen over at least two days, but there is no sense of this.

Of all the places (and times) to make contact with on Earth, the Spiders just happen to pick one which has an ex-member of UNIT staying, as well as the current companion of the very man who used to possess the blue crystal visiting for the day - and the person he gave it to has just decided to return it to him. That's a lot of coincidences.

(An even bigger coincidence is a member of the theatre audience also being an attendee of the meditation centre. And Letts thought we wouldn't notice).

The crystals have made the Spiders bigger and very smart - but how have they been able to give them the ability to time travel?

Metebelis III has been spoken about since Season 10. It has always been the famous Blue Planet. When seen in The Green Death it was indeed very blue looking - but looks just like Earth here. It is now supposed to be famous for its blue moonlight, but we have night scenes here - which don't look particularly blue.

Professor Clegg witnesses Drashigs when he handles the sonic screwdriver. However, the Doctor had the sonic he used in The Carnival of Monsters confiscated when sent to the lunar penal colony in Frontier in Space, and there is no way the Master would have allowed him to retrieve it.

Nicholas Courtney's eyeline does not match the floating tea tray. Why does he continue to look round the room when he has already decided to give Clegg his wristwatch?

The Spiders' ability to sense the crystal varies enormously - with Lupton's spotting it 80 miles away, then failing to spot it in a cupboard in the same building as itself.

For a Buddhist, Barry Letts could be a bit of a snob - especially where country folk are concerned. Here, one indication of Tommy's mind-boost is the loss of his accent, replaced by some BBC Received Pronunciation. We also have the problem of an increased capacity for learning compared with an ability to do things he hasn't had a chance to learn yet. 

Not as bad as the previous story, but there is some quite noticeable use of Terry Walsh in the fight scenes.

Hard to believe, I know, but RADA had an acting prize named in honour of Jenny Laird (Nesca). One of its recipients was Richard Franklin...

DWM 585 & Series 14 (and Beyond)

The new issue of Doctor Who Magazine comes with a huge double-sided poster, featuring the Dalek cover image and a shot of David Tennant's 14th Doctor.

Inside, Russell T Davies gives some important news about future developments for the series.

Series 14 will comprise 8 episodes, to be followed by a Christmas Special in December 2024. RTD then goes on to say he is using "Christmas" as a placeholder for any part of the festive period, so it could be New Year or any day in between. There is also going to be a 2023 festive episode (which might be the third of the 60th Specials).

He also promised no more gap years. Talking about the new shorter seasons, he does give a "watch this space" caveat - strongly hinting that there will be other content to plug the gaps (such as the rumoured Monsters spin-off we presume).

Countdown to 60: More Daleks!

More Daleks in the third of this series. Significant things will tend to happen in their stories.

In the closing seconds of the episode World's End, a Dalek glides up from the depths of the River Thames.

For the first time the series had revisited an element of its own past. It is where Doctor Who really begins to develop a mythology.

We already had a story arc - the efforts of the Doctor to get teachers Ian and Barbara back to late 20th Century London. In doing so, we had seen a series of unrelated adventures on alien planets or in our planet's past.

Now we have the inhabitants of one of those alien planets return to threaten the Doctor once again - and this time they have come to invade us. The Daleks become the first recurring monsters, in the series' first ever 'Invasion Earth' scenario. The universe isn't infinite - the Doctor has started to have further meetings with alien races and individuals. We'll begin meeting the Daleks on a regular basis from now on, and lots of other races start queuing up to invade the Earth - so much so that the Doctor will eventually have to be based there for a while...

RTD's XYZ Poser

Production on Series 14 officially got under way yesterday - or was it the Christmas / New Year Special? Thing is, we know that there are going to be three 60th Anniversary Specials, but only two of these are definitely David Tennant / Catherine Tate ones (the Meep one and the Toymaker one). We have no idea of the third's plot, or what dates these are going to be shown on. One will definitely be on the 23rd November, but the third might well be a festive episode. I suspect RTD will want to retake the Christmas slot, as New Year didn't necessarily add huge numbers to the viewing figures.

Millie Gibson tweeted at the weekend that she has now moved to Cardiff, but Gatwa wasn't there yesterday for Day One of his new reign - he was attending an event in London.

No doubt things will get properly under way later this week - so expect the costume reveal any time now.

Today RTD posed a cryptic message on Instagram: "Who is the X, what is the Y, and what the hell is the spinning Z!?!"...

Inspirations: Human Nature / Family of Blood

Three series in, and the programme finally looks for inspiration from the Virgin New Adventure (VNA) novels. Dalek had taken its inspiration from a Big Finish audio - Jubilee - and another audio - Spare Parts - had also been the source of a small element of Rise of the Cybermen / The Age of Steel.

The VNA books had kept the flame alive during the first five and a half years in which the series had been off the air, and proven so successful that the BBC took the licence back to produce their own books on the back of the 1996 TV Movie.

At one point, fans had envisaged the VNAs as the template for a revived series. However, they tended to be overly reliant on continuity and were clearly pitched at an older demographic than "family friendly".

Russell T Davies had looked to some of the VNA writers when bringing the series back in 2005. He had contributed to the range himself. 

Mark Gatiss and Paul Cornell would write for Series 1. Gareth Roberts would join the team later. Steven Moffat had been invited to submit a story for the VNA range, but walked away when he heard that they were not considering past Doctor stories.

One of Paul Cornell's novels was Human Nature, published in May 1995. Fellow writer Kate Orman had helped with the story.

This was a Seventh Doctor story, as were all the VNAs. Ace had moved on and he was now accompanied by proto-River Song Bernice Summerfield (known as Benny, previously created by Cornell). She is grieving a loss from the previous book, and the Doctor decides to make himself human in order to understand her emotions. This is a major difference from the TV adaptation, as here the Doctor becomes human by choice, and not as a result of the alien threat. The aliens - the Aubertides - take advantage of the situation rather than cause it.

The setting of a boys' public school just before World War I is the same, and the book includes a psychic teenager named Tim (though his surname is Dean), and another boy named Hutchinson. 'John Smith' also falls in love with a woman named Joan Redfern - though she is a teacher rather than school matron.

There is a distinct lack of Scarecrows in the novel, however. These were added to the TV story to provide a monster. Rather than take over the bodies of local people, the Aubertides - of which there are six - are shapeshifters. Their short lifespan is present in the book.

Rather than use a pocket watch, it is in a cricket ball that the Doctor hides his Time Lord identity in the book. The whole business of the Chameleon Arch was there to set up the big reveal of the villain for the series finale.

The fob watch had been hidden in plain sight since 2005. It had been part of the TARDIS console, seen in a few close-ups.

Daughter of Mine's red balloon was a book reference. There, it had been a sentient weapon which attacked people.

Whilst the first episode of the TV adaptation uses the title of the book, the second half takes the title Family of Blood. There is no real reason for this, as 'blood' has no significance to the plot whatsoever.

The Doctor's dream diary - his Journal of Impossible Things - has images of a number of aliens (including a Dalek, Cyberman, Auton, Slitheen, Moxx of Balhoon) as well as an image of Rose Tyler. There are some pictures of earlier Doctors as well, including the Eighth - the first time that this incarnation has been acknowledged in the revived series. In Queer As Folk, RTD had the main character - based loosely on himself - pointedly state that this incarnation didn't count.

The Family are likened to the mayfly due to their brief lifespan. This insect, of the class of Ephemeroptera, is related to the most ancient forms of insect such as the dragonfly. They hatch any time between Spring and Autumn - not just in the month of March. Aristotle and Pliny the Elder noted their short lifespan. The reason for this is that most are born unable to eat. They are born merely to reproduce and continue the species. One particular type of mayfly has a female which lives only 5 minutes on average.

The Public School setting is a favourite one in English drama - particularly in the period immediately pre-World War I. It allows writers to examine the class-ridden British society of the time - the twilight of Empire - and to comment on the horrors of war and loss of innocence, as many of the pupils are destined to die on the fields of France and Belgium in huge numbers. Notable dramas include To Serve Them All My Days (1972, by RF Delderfield - dramatised by the BBC in 1980 with Matthew Waterhouse in the cast) and Goodbye Mr Chips (first filmed on the eve of the next war, starring Robert Donat).

Father of Mine is said to have been imprisoned in chains made from dwarf star alloy. This substance was first mentioned in Warriors' Gate, when it was the material which Rorvik's privateer was made from.

John Smith tells Joan that his parents were called Sydney and Verity - from Sydney Newman and Verity Lambert, two of the pioneers of Doctor Who.

His skill with a cricket ball derives from his Fourth and, especially, his Fifth incarnations. The First Doctor didn't even recognise the game when he saw it in the episode Volcano. Presumably it was his exile on Earth that led to him developing an interest in watching and playing the sport.

Joan thinks that Gallifrey might be a place in Ireland. This is a continuation of an old joke by writers Bob Baker and Dave Martin, who used it in both The Hand of Fear and The Invisible Enemy.

At one point it had been intended that Martha would have originated from this time period, before being made another contemporary companion.

DWM Yearbook

Published on Thursday 1st December, the latest DWM Special is the 2023 Yearbook.

As with previous years, the series in all its various media is reviewed for the 12 months just gone. As far as the TV series goes, this means the three Specials (Eve of the Daleks, Legend of the Sea Devils and The Power of the Doctor). The Redacted radio series is sure to feature. Audios and books are also covered, and we normally get an In Memoriam section as well.

This issue will also be taking an overview of the entire Thirteenth Doctor era in the form of an episode guide.

A postal strike in the UK at the end of last week will mean many of us are still waiting for our subscriber copies.

The latest regular issue will be out this week (Thursday 8th) but so far we haven't seen the cover or contents. They no longer have the preview panel in the previous month's issue. Keep an eye on @DWMtweets - the magazine's official Twitter account - for up-to-date info.

Episode 48: Day of Reckoning

Synopsis:

As the resistance members begin their attack on the saucer, the Dalek commander orders that the Doctor's conversion operation continues...

As he lies unconscious beneath the robotising machinery, the Doctor is guarded by a Roboman. Another approaches, but he is actually one of the rebels - Baker - wearing a captured helmet. He attacks the guard, who is killed by Tyler. He instructs Baker to get the Doctor off the ship.

Unfortunately, Dortmun's bombs have proven to be ineffectual. Many of the rebels are killed. Ian has been freed from his cell, but is unable to evacuate the saucer due to the Daleks blocking the main access ramp. He decides to hide on board.

His friends become separated in the confusion. David and Susan go to hide by one of the old plague cemeteries, whilst Barbara makes her way back to their hideout with Jenny.

Tyler arrives and tells Dortmun of his failure. Convinced that the Daleks will now destroy London, he decides to leave on his own. 

Barbara elects to stay and help Dortmun, who suggests that they relocate to a secondary base at the old transport museum. Jenny reluctantly agrees to accompany them. The journey will mean crossing the city and traversing one of the bridges.

The saucer takes off and Ian decides to come out of hiding beneath a floor plate. He is confronted by a Roboman who proves to be Craddock - the man who had shared a cell with him. He is saved by the intervention of a man named Larry. Craddock falls against the robotising equipment and is electrocuted. Larry and Ian dispose of the body out of a waste chute. Larry explains that he has stowed away deliberately. This ship is heading for Dalek mine workings in Bedfordshire, and he believes that is where his brother has been taken.

Susan is reunited with her grandfather when Baker brings him to the cemetery. He is still groggy from being sedated on the saucer. As Baker leaves, intent on heading out of London, he stumbles into a Dalek patrol and is killed.

Barbara, Jenny and Dortmun make a hazardous daylight journey across central London, electing to cross the river at Westminster Bridge. Their journey takes them up Whitehall, through Trafalgar Square and west to Kensington, where the transport museum is located.

Ian is told by Larry that his brother had a theory that the Daleks were seeking to isolate the Earth's magnetic core, which is why they are mining in Bedfordshire. The saucer lands and they slip out via the waste chute, then seek somewhere to hide.

A patrol of Daleks approaches the museum and Dortmun elects to go outside alone with a brace of his bombs. They fail to destroy the Daleks, and he is exterminated.

At the cemetery the Doctor is annoyed that Susan is following David's guidance. The young man disarms him, however, by deferring to his advice. The Doctor decides to follow David's plan anyway - to head north to Bedfordshire in search of other rebels. They will rest for a time before setting off on their trek.

They fail to notice a pair of Robomen placing a massive explosive device at the head of the alleyway, only a few metres from where they are hiding...

Next episode: The End of Tomorrow

Data:

Written by: Terry Nation

Recorded: Friday 2nd October 1964 - Riverside Studio 1

First broadcast: 5:40pm, Saturday 5th December 1964

Ratings: 11.9 million / AI 59

Designer: Spencer Chapman

Director: Richard Martin

Additional cast: Graham Rigby (Larry)

Critique:

This episode is the one which most people remember from this story, thanks to the considerable amount of location filming on show. This depicted the Daleks at a number of famous London landmarks. It was this material which was used to create a TV trailer for the opening instalment.

Filming took place on Sunday 23rd August, first thing in the morning to try to avoid the activity of the waking city. As there would be no dialogue, Richard Martin dispensed with a sound crew.

One of the series' iconic images is of a quartet of Daleks trundling across Westminster Bridge, with the Houses of Parliament in the background. Watching the actual episode, you might be very disappointed to find that this image does not appear. All we get is a long-distance view of the top of a Dalek moving along the bridge.

What we do see are shots of a Dalek on the Albert Embankment, on the south side of the Thames. Filmed next to St Thomas' Hospital, this allows a view of the Parliament buildings opposite.

The action had begun at dawn in Trafalgar Square. Spencer Chapman had used 'Blanco' (a type of whitewash) to mark certain of the landmarks, suggestive of Dalek signposting. This proved harder to wash off than Spencer thought.

Dalek operator Nick Evans explained on the DVD documentary that there were some people ("Hippies") sleeping in the square from their Saturday nights out, and police had to move them on. It was quicker and easier for the operators to move the Daleks manually from Trafalgar Square to the Embankment via Whitehall, rather than take them apart and put them on a truck to transport to the new location. Evans also explained that he and his fellow Daleks made use of their casings to secretly relieve themselves, taking turns to position themselves over a drain.

The final location was around the Albert Hall and Albert Monument, by Hyde Park. This was too far for the operators to move their Daleks manually, so this time they did have to be transported by lorry.

Despite the early start, the cameras picked up some unwanted movement in the back of some shots. A vehicle can be seen passing St Martin-in-the-Fields at Trafalgar Square, and a group of pedestrians can be seen in the distance as the trio run round the Albert Hall.

Ann Davies wears a balaclava for these scenes. This is because she still had her dark hair and knew that it was to be dyed blonde for the studio work (to differentiate her from Susan). Thus, the balaclava simply hid this fact.

A major mishap occurred during the studio recording. As Richard McNeff (Baker) supported William Hartnell down the saucer ramp during the afternoon camera rehearsals, the ramp bounced and McNeff stumbled forward. He and Hartnell collided with a camera - Hartnell's back hitting its pedestal. The ramp had been damaged by the Robomen extras and others failing to break step when marching up and down it (wobbly bridge syndrome).

Paralysed momentarily, Hartnell was seen by the BBC doctor. He recovered sufficiently to make the recording in the evening but next day he went home and saw his own doctor, who prescribed a week in bed. As such he would miss rehearsals and recording for the fourth instalment, and David Whitaker took the lead on rewrites.

This episode sees the first appearance of the Black Dalek, after the oddly coloured "Saucer Commander" from the week before. This would become the senior Dalek for the remainder of the Hartnell era, before a return in the Davison era. It is sometimes referred to as the Supreme Dalek / Dalek Supreme. It is claimed to be the commandant of the mine workings (another allusion to World War II and Nazi POW / labour camps). However, we also see it on the saucer before it has left London - suggesting it was on the ship all the time. The "Saucer Commander" has simply disappeared.

Trivia:

• Audience figures actually fall by half a million now that the Daleks have arrived. This might have been down to families engaged in Christmas shopping and other festive events.
• This is one of the longest episodes we've seen so far at nearly 27 minutes (26' 50").
• The filming of the iconic Westminster Bridge scene was recreated for the 50th Anniversary drama An Adventure In Space And Time (below). Written by Mark Gatiss, this featured his partner Ian Hallard as director Richard Martin. The sequence was also recreated for the 30 Years in the TARDIS documentary in 1993. One of the people operating a Dalek on that day was Mark Gatiss...

• Radio Times carried a second feature on the story to accompany Day of Reckoning, this time concentrating on writer Terry Nation and his creations: