The Madman and his Blue Box: Another take on the Doctor

The Next Doctor

The search for the next Doctor was proving rather problematic. Derek Sherwin in an interview in 1989 commented

“I actually really wanted Brian Blessed, he had turned down the role when Pat (Patrick Troughton) took over from Bill (William Hartnell), and he had such an enthusiastic screen presence. However he was heavily involved with “The Aphrodite Inheritance” and we couldn’t make the dates work.

Disappointed I then thought of John Pertwee, as he had just finished Dad’s Army (ITTL Jon Pertwee was Captain Mainwaring not Arthur Lowe) but he was involved in bringing Worzel Gummidge to the screen.

It was becoming a real problem especially as Harry’s health was not up to another series.”

“We considered Bernard Cribbins, Richard Briers and Richard Beckinsale all of whom would have made excellent Doctors but for various reasons it was not to be.”

“We were becoming slightly desperate when finally we contacted Dennis Waterman. He thanked us for thinking about him for the part but wasn’t interested himself, however he knew somebody who was!”

“To be honest we were surprised. Although an outstanding actor he had a certain image especially after his previous successful roles. However he was looking for something completely different. We did a screen test and afterwards both I and John (John Nathan Turner) looked at each other and breathed a sigh of relief, we had finally found our next Doctor!”
 
Next Doctor pt II

The name of the actor who was to play the sixth Doctor was announced in the BBC Evening News on Friday 12th January 1979 just before Doctor Who started again after its customary break over Xmas and New Year on the 13th.

John Nathan Turner, who was acting as Assistant Producer to Derek Sherwin recounted in 1993.

“It was actually quite amusing. The Mirror and the Sun both went for the obvious.

“Sorvad, SHUT IT!!!”

The Mail however went for something a little more oblique

“I’m the Doctor, son, and I haven't had any dinner. You've kept me waiting, so unless you want a kicking you tell me where those Daleks are."

They all made a play on his previous character. However he was quite determined that his Doctor would not be like that character. With 20:20 hindsight you can see the beginnings of his other famous character in his portrayal of the Doctor.”

NOTE: I presume that it is glaringly obvious who plays the Sixth Doctor ITTL;)
 
Check Broadcast Sat 13th,20th, 27th Jan and 3rd Feb 1979

The Doctor and Romana are bickering.

“I don’t know why but I just know that we have to go there and then!” states Romana.

The Doctor rolls his eyes

“Very well, I could never win an argument with you so I won’t try now!”

The Doctor sets the controls and the TARDIS materialises.

The Doctor and Romana leave the TARDIS.

“Well here we are, Freedom City, one of the few places not under Commonwealth control. Not that many will be soon! Now why are we here?”

They start bickering again and do not notice as they collide with a group of three people (Gareth Thomas, Jacqueline Pearce and Jan Chappell). After some apologies they go their separate ways although Romana catches one of the women looking strangely at them.

“She was a telepath” notes Romana.

“Well I hope she didn’t get too much from you she’d never recover!” retorts the Doctor.

They start bickering again when suddenly the Doctor falls silent.

“What is it?” asks Romana.

“Over there, what is that man wearing?”

Romana looks surreptitiously at the man that the Doctor indicates.

“Ah, unusual ear pieces!”

“Indeed very similar to what I saw on Earth on my last visit there. You were right to bring us here!”

Romana raises an eyebrow

“Are you sure that you’re well? You’ve just admitted that I was right!”

“Don’t worry I won’t do it again!”

Once again they start bickering but they notice more and more people around them are wearing the earpieces.

“We’re being hunted.” notes the Doctor.

“No we’re not we’re being shepherded” replies Romana.

“Where to?”

“Here I suspect.”

They have come to a rather nondescript building. They are passed by a rather annoyed man (Stephen Yardley). Looking around the Doctor says

“Shall we?”

“Why not?”

So they both enter the building. They are greeted by a man (Denis Carey).

“Ah, he is expecting you. This way please.”

The Doctor and Romana follow the man into a back room. They see a man standing in the corner (John Woodvine).

“Oh hello Goth” says the Doctor “Have you stabilised?”

“Goth glares at him

“After three attempts, Doctor.”

The Doctor looks stunned

“But that makes this”

“Yes, Doctor, this is my final regeneration.”

Goth walks to Romana and kisses her hand

“Greetings Lady Romana”

“Greetings Lord Goth”

Romana looks at the two of them.

“I can cut the tension with a knife. What is it between you two?”

“There was an accident and Goth got caught in the after effects.” answers the Doctor.

“That is one interpretation” retorts Goth.

“Well you did intend me to be the victim” replies the Doctor.

Goth inclines his head

“True, and although I wish my revenge, Doctor, this is neither the time nor the place.”

He shrugs

“I need your help.”

“What?”

“I was planning something but it has been overtaken by events. The Daleks are coming and in greater force than ever before. I have lost control of many of my men to them.”

“They’ve overridden your signal”

Goth nods.

“And you were always better at this kind of tinkering than I!”

Goth shows the Doctor and Romana his equipment. The Doctor examines it and then looks up in alarm.

“Goth, if you are wearing the control earpieces take them out NOW!”

Goth makes to do so but stops. He seems to be fighting himself.

“Doctor I can’t do it. Something is trying to control me.”

The Doctor takes out his sonic screwdriver and points it at Goth.

“If I just..”

Romana grabs his arm

“Doctor it’s too late!”

Goth has gained a vacant look. Then he says

“I must capture the Predator”

Then suddenly he is back to his normal self.

“Run you two, I cannot maintain myself for long!”

The Doctor and Romana turn and run. They are pursued by Goth’s former operatives but who are now, the Doctor presumes, controlled by the Daleks. In escaping from them they run through various buildings. In the last one they pass through a room in which a man and a woman (Aubrey Woods and Carolyn Seymour) are talking.

“Excuse us” shouts the Doctor in passing.

Thy run through a casino. As they pass one game the Doctor indicates two men (Paul Darrow and Michael Keating).

“They’re cheating!”

“How?” asks Romana

“Miniaturised Computer! If we had more time I’d do something about it, but look one of them has found us!”

They rush out and board the TARDIS.

“Where to now?” asks Romana.

“We have no choice, we have to find the Daleks!” replies the Doctor.
 
The Circles of Power Broadcast Sat 10th, 17th and 24th Feb1979

The Doctor is very surprised at where the TARDIS has materialised.

“Why here and now?” he muses aloud.

“Can’t you control this old wreck?” questions Romana.

“Don’t listen to her, old girl” says the Doctor soothingly, patting the console.

“She sometimes seems to know where we need to go better than I” he replies to Romana.

“Come on”

They leave the TARDIS to find themselves in the Doctor’s old lab in UNIT HQ. The Doctor waves at a camera.

“I’m back”

Within a few seconds the Brigadier appears accompanied by RSM Benton.

The Brigadier looks relieved at seeing the Doctor but looks askance at Romana.

“A new companion, Doctor?”

“Oh, don’t worry about her. Despite how she can sound she is quite intelligent!”

“Quite intelligent! I finished top of my year at the Academy. My name is Romana by the way. I’m a Time Lord like the Doctor.”

“Another one” sighs the Brigadier

“What is it about Earth that keeps attracting them?”

“I don’t know what you mean Brigadier. Anyway what is the problem?”

“How did you..Oh never mind.”

The Brigadier tells the Doctor and Romana what has happened. A new communications satellite, designed by Sir Walter Llewellyn, has been launched to link computers across Europe and America. However, it has been sabotaged by a radical scientist named Tilverton, who believes his inventions are being suppressed by commercial concerns. There has been an escalating number of computer-related incidents across the globe -- including the release of robotic “sensorspheres” which can induce amnesia in any person not wearing special earpieces.

“What ear pieces?” asks the Doctor

“These” replies the Brigadier, who reaches into a pocket and pulls two small devices out.

“We have standing orders to wear these, but I keep thinking about the incident at Midsummer Verney, so wear them as little as possible as do all my men.”

“Very wise” comments the Doctor as he examines the ear pieces.

He passes them to Romana.

“Remind you of anything?”

Romana looks at them in horror.

“These are far too advanced for this backwater planet at this time! They look like what Goth and his followers were wearing.”

“Indeed the ones that the Daleks managed to control.”

Romana looks at the Doctor.

“Should we be talking openly about them?”

The Brigadier snorts

“Even here and now on this backwater we’ve had to deal with Daleks, and Autons and Cybermen.”

“Calm down Brigadier. She doesn’t mean to insult you.”

Romana nods

“My apologies Brigadier.”

The Brigadier is only slightly mollified but continues.

“I have an appointment with Llewellyn in an hour. Would you come with me, Doctor?”

“Of course Brigadier. Romana, would you stay here and investigate these ear pieces.”

“Of all the”

Romana pauses

“You suspect something don’t you? Very well but it will be like using stone knives.”

The Doctor smiles

“This used to be my lab, there are bronze knives!”

He turns to Benton

“If things go wrong, follow Romana’s suggestions as you would mine.”

Benton looks at the Brigadier, who nods.

“The Doctor trusts her, so do as she says in an emergency.”

As the Doctor and Brigadier are being driven to his appointment, the Brigadier asks

“Just who is that woman? She treats you like..”

“At one time she WAS my wife, Brigadier. Time Lord relationships get complicated with regeneration. However I trust her implicitly.”

“Good enough for me! Ah, we’ve arrived.”

They are taken into an office where they meet Llewellyn (Peter Jeffrey). The Doctor is introduced as Dr. John Smith.

They talk about the situation when suddenly sensospheres appear.

“Why neither of you appears to be wearing your earpieces despite standing orders” notes Llewellyn.

As the two sit stunned by the spheres Llewellyn places earpieces in both the Brigadier’s and Doctor’s ears.

“That’s better” smiles Llewellyn. He pushes a button and another person enters the room. It is Goth (John Woodvine).

“Well, well, well. You’ve caught the Doctor! Now you will serve the Daleks Doctor!”

Meanwhile Romana has been trying to find a way to subvert the earpieces. She has examined the storerooms at UNIT HQ and found the equipment that she needs. Finally she succeeds.

“We just need to test this on others” she notes to Benton.

The Doctor and Brigadier return.

“Benton, all men are to put in their ear pieces” orders the Brigadier.

“Yessir”

Benton and the men all put in their ear pieces. They immediately turn to hold Romana. The Doctor advances on her holding a pair of the ear pieces.

“Soon she will be with us!”

Romana kicks backwards and Benton falls on the device that she had built triggering it.

There is a high pitched whine and all the people fall over clutching their ears. After a few moments they are all stunned on the floor except Romana. She walks around the room collecting the ear pieces. The Doctor is the first to recover.

“Thank you” is all that he says.

Rapidly the others recover.

“Well that was NOT pleasant” remarks the Brigadier.

“No” replies the Doctor

“However now we know their plan”

At Romana’s questioning look the Doctor explains that Llewellyn leads a secret cabal called the Circles of Powers. Tiverton is a scapegoat. Llewellyn plans to use the global chaos triggered by the spheres to ignite a third World War and rule over what is left.

“However his plan has been hijacked by the Daleks. They would rule after World War III, not Llewellyn, even he has been suborned to their cause via the earpieces.”

“What do we do Doctor?” asks the Brigadier.

Just then he receives a phone call and turns white.

“Brigadier” queries the Doctor.

“That was Geneva, all nuclear powers have armed their missiles! We have roughly 5 minutes before Armageddon!”

The Doctor suddenly jumps into action.

“Romana hook your device into the computer. Now if they still use the same codes as last time, yes they do! Right I’m in! Turn on that machine!”

Romana does so. Now all they can do is wait. The phone rings again. The Brigadier answers, he smiles in relief.

“They’ve all stood down. Although everybody is accusing everybody else!”

“Business as usual then!”

They go to Llewellyn’s offices. They find him and most of his men comatose.

“They had been connected to the ear pieces too long” whispers a voice. Goth staggers into view

“As have I. You saved me Doctor, now to repay the debt.”

Goth weakly scribbles some numbers on a notepad and passes it to the Doctor. He slumps

“Farewell”

Goth dies.

“Doctor?” asks the Brigadier

“These are co-ordinates for the thirtieth century.”

“We’ve just been there!”

“Yes Romana but we have to go back.”

They return to UNIT HQ. The Brigadier takes a message.

“There’s an incident at the Nunton Nuclear Complex. I could use your help.”

“No” answers the Doctor.

The Brigadier looks at him strangely.

“You’ll understand when you get there, Brigadier. For now let’s just say that I would be really breaking the rules of time if I went. I’ll go and sort this mess out!”

A light dawns in the Brigadier’s eyes.

“Ah, you’re already there! Anyway farewell Doctor and Romana.”

The Doctor and Romana take their leave in the TARDIS.
 
A Bird in the Hand Broadcast Sat March 3rd, 10th, 17th and 24th 1979

The Doctor inputs the co-ordinates given to him by Goth into the TARDIS.

“This should be interesting” he tells Romana.

“Oh, why?” she asks.

“We’re going to Draconia.”

“Hmm, marginally less backward, I suppose.”

“Don’t say that to them!” cautions the Doctor.

The TARDIS lands in an empty room and the Doctor and Romana get out.

“This used to be the Throne Room” notes the Doctor

“Well at least it was last time I was here.”

“When was that?” asks Romana.

“About 900 years ago.”

“They won’t remember you then!”

The Doctor doesn’t reply but then two Draconians ( Philip Madoc and Neville Jason) enter the room. The Doctor and Romana hide behind the old throne.

“Is all prepared”

“Yes, Your Highness.”

“Good. It is time that I took over from my father and lead the Empire to a glorious future conquering the Commonwealth.”

“The humans will revere you as their liberator from tyranny, Your Highness.”

“That’s as may be, but it’s less important than…”

The Prince’s voice fades as he finally notices the TARDIS.

“It can’t be!”

“What can’t, Your Highness?”

“That, you fool!” snarls the Prince (Neville Jason).

“It’s just a blue box, Your Highness. Oh!”

“Exactly, "Karshtakavaar" is supposed to travel in a blue box.”

“But he hasn’t been seen since the Dalek War, Your Highness.”

“Well there is always a first time. He might change everything!”

“What can one man do, Your Highness?”

“Change the course of history! He’s done it twice to us. Who knows how many times to others!”

The Prince ponders

“Everything is in motion so he can’t change it now. Proceed!”

“Yes, Your Majesty”

The two Draconians leave and the Doctor and Romana emerge from their hiding place.

“Changes the course of History?” queries Romana.

“Never mind that! Did you see what the flunky had in his ears?”

Romana nods

“Those earpieces again!”

“The Daleks are obviously trying to forment a war between the Draconians and the Commonwealth. Why? Of course! The Arab option!”

Romana looks at the Doctor

“The what?”

“In Earth’s seventh century, two evenly matched Empires fought a long war which severely weakened both. The Arabs broke out and conquered much of both Empires because neither was able to resist them. The Daleks tried this once before about 300 years ago. It didn’t work then”

“Because of you, I suppose”

“And surprisingly the Master!”

Romana arches an eyebrow.

“Well, he’s not all bad!”

“Hmm, well what are we going to do?”

“Find the Emperor and put an end to this nonsense!”

“I fear not Karshtakavaar” comes a voice.

Unseen by them the flunky (Philip Madoc) had returned to the room. He points a disrupter at them.

“As there have been no sightings of you I thought that you might be here. Unfortunately killing you may not stop you given what my Masters have said about you but you can still be of use. Come with me.”

“Why should we do that?” asks the Doctor.

A squad of Draconian guards enter the room.

“That’s why” replies the flunky.

The flunky and his guards escort them to the current throne room. The prince is arguing with the Emperor.

“What is this?” demands the Emperor (Neil McCarthy).

“Commonwealth assassins, Your Majesty, sent to destabilise us.”

The Doctor coughs and the Emperor looks at him.

“My life at your command”

“How dare you” starts the Prince but is silenced by the Emperor raising a hand

“There is only one who looks like a human who can say that and live. Are you claiming to be him?”

“Yes, Your Majesty. The fifteenth Emperor awarded me that privilege.”

The Emperor beckons him forward. The flunky panics draws a disrupter and fires at the Doctor. He hits him squarely in the back. The flunky is shot and killed by the Emperor’s guards. The Emperor kneels by the Doctor

“Look in his ears, Your Majesty, he was being controlled by the Daleks.” Whispers the Doctor.

The Prince does so and stands up

“He does, Your Majesty”

Another Draconian fires at the Emperor but the Doctor manages to shield the Emperor and is hit again.

“Long live the Dalek Emperor” says the Draconian before turning the gun on himself. A guard looks at him

“He has the earpieces too, Your Majesty.”

“Arrest all who have such earpieces and summon the fleet. This is an insult that must be answered!”

The Doctor weakly attempts to stand, he fails so the Prince helps him up.

“They will be attacking the Commonwealth soon. Go to their aid despite all that has happened between you.”

“It shall be so Karshtakavaar. My son shall lead the fleet. However you are wounded I shall send for medics.”

“No it is too late for that, get me to my TARDIS it is in the old throne room."

In an unprecedented display the Emperor and the Prince carry the Doctor to the TARDIS. Romana opens the door openly crying and they put the Doctor inside whilst keeping their eyes closed.

“Farewell my lady” says the Emperor

“Karshtakavaar shall again be honoured amongst our peoples.”

“What does that mean?” asks Romana.

“In Terran, “The Oncoming Storm” replies the Prince.

“An all too apt name I fear.”

Romana takes her leave and operates the TARDIS. The Doctor has started to glow.

“Here we go” mutters Romana

“I wonder who will be next?”

The glow intensifies and the Doctor changes form. The first thing that Romana notices about the new Doctor is his eyebrows! They are quite heavy and have a distinct kink.
 
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Series 14

The BBC hierarchy were happy with the viewing figures but had concerns. Viewing figures peaked at 10 million with A Misstep in Time but during Reunion fell to 8 million and only rose to 9 million for the last story A Bird in the Hand. Harry H Corbett was visibly getting more ill as the series went on and indeed after filming had stopped was admitted to hospital suffering from exhaustion (at least that was what was announced publically).

Hinchcliffe and Holmes were being replaced by Sherwin and Read and they were given explicit instructions that stories should be never any longer than 4 episodes in the future and also that the tone should be lightened.

On the plus side the bickering between the Doctor and Romana was well received and the revelation that at one point (presumably before he left Gallifrey) she had been his wife was actually actively praised by fans and critics alike.

There were some concerns about tying Doctor Who to Blakes 7 but again this was accepted by fans of both series especially as you could watch either without needing excessive knowledge of the other (anyway Blakes 7 fans tended to be older Doctor Who fans).

The one downside was no Daleks. Terry Nation had indeed written a Dalek episode but as it depended on the finale to Blakes 7 second series it was held over to be a story for the first series of John Thaw’s tenure as the Doctor.

All was set for Series 15 and there was great speculation as to how John Thaw would portray the Doctor. His take was to be very different to Harry H Corbett’s!
 
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Blake’s 7 Series 2

Series 2 aired on BBC1, Tuesdays, mostly 7:20 p.m., 9 January to 3 April 1979. Producer: David Maloney. It averaged 8.14 million viewers on original airing in the UK, with an average chart position of 49, a drop of over a million viewers on that of Series 1.

The episodes were as OTL except Gambit which now reflects the events of the Doctor Who episode “Check” and as the series goes on an increasing number of Commonwealth functionaries are wearing strange earpieces.

Cast

Roj Blake Gareth Thomas

Kerr Avon Paul Darrow

Jenna Jacqueline Pearce

Cally Jan Chappell

Vila Michael Keating

Gan David Jackson

Servalan Carolyn Seymour

Travis Stephen Yardley

Zen and Orac Peter Tuddenham

1 "Redemption"

Blake becomes obsessed with Orac's prediction of the destruction of the Liberator. However, there are more pressing matters when the ship comes under attack by its alien creators, "The System", who want their property back. After fleeing, Liberator's control systems shut down; Blake heads to engineering to fix the problem but is attacked by a "living" wire cable with a mind of its own. Meanwhile, Liberator is remote-piloted to The System's space station and the crew are taken prisoner. With Orac's help, the crew escapes The System who send out another attack ship which looks exactly like the Liberator; Blake now wonders which Liberator Orac had predicted seeing destroyed.

2 "Shadow"

The crew arrives at Space City where Blake seeks contact with the criminal organisation Terra Nostra as possible resistance allies, but their leader Largo may have loyalty to the enemy. Meanwhile, an alien entity takes possession of Orac through his dimensional logic circuits and disrupts Cally's empathic powers, driving her to madness. Blake and his crew then rush to the desert planet Zondar to seek the heavily guarded source of the drug known as "Shadow", which is the basis of Terra Nostra's power and the only help for Cally.

3 "Weapon"

The Commonwealth is in pursuit of a powerful weapon called the IMIPAK, (Induced Molecular Instability Projector and Key), a beam rifle that marks a living target with a point of unstable matter that the firer can use to kill the target later as they choose with a special hand-held remote. Its designer, a paranoid defector named Coser, is on the run; Servalan hires a "psycho-strategist" named Carnell to profile Coser and determine where he is hiding. Servalan also has beings called the Clone Masters create a living copy of Blake, with whom Coser is expected to meet in order to steal the weapon for her. Once in possession of it, she marks Blake, Avon, and Gan so that their only hope for survival is to outrun the IMIPAK's million-mile triggering signal.

4 "Horizon"

At the edge of the galaxy, Liberator nearly collides with a Commonwealth freighter. Blake is curious to know why the ship is so far from home and decides to follow it to a mysterious planet called Horizon. Teleporting down, Blake and Jenna discover a secret mining operation and are captured for interrogation. Gan and Vila go down to find them but are captured as well. All are forced to work in a dangerous mine while Blake tries to urge Ro, the planet's leader, that the Commonwealth is manipulating him and enslaving his people. Meanwhile, Avon considers taking the Liberator and leaving them all behind, but Cally won't hear of it and goes down to find the others. Avon asks Orac what his chances are of surviving against the Commonwealth alone.

5 "Pressure Point"

Blake decides to strike a major blow to the Commonwealth by going to Earth and destroying "Control", the main computer nerve centre for the entire government. Blake hopes the act will allow the resistance groups led by a former Commonwealth officer, Kasabi, to launch an all-out attack against the Commonwealth command. Blake's plan gets under way, but the Commonwealth has discovered the plan and captures Kasabi, forcing her daughter Veron to liaise with Blake, but trapping him with most of his crew. They eventually escape and manage to break into Control, only to discover that the building is empty and the computers housed there were removed 30 years previously. Gan is killed during their escape.

6 "Trial"

Servalan must answer to the mishandling of the Blake affair, and she tries to have Travis eliminated by setting him up on charges of mass murder before he can testify against her. Elsewhere, distraught over losing his friend Gan, Blake goes to an uninhabited planet to "think". Believing Blake has run out on them, Avon tries to persuade the others to abandon him once and for all. Down on the planet, Blake encounters a creature called Zil who warns that he will be "absorbed" by "the Host". In space, Zen detects unusual tectonic movement on the planet and Orac determines the entire planet is a living entity, which feeds on its surface lifeforms. After being rescued, Blake decides to send a clear message to the Commonwealth that he has not given up, by launching a bold assault against Servalan's headquarters. The attack ironically allows Travis—who has been found guilty of the charges and sentenced to death—a means of escape, and he forces Servalan to help him get away.

7 "Killer"

On the planet Fosforon, Avon and Vila sneak into Q-Base, a Commonwealth com-station, looking for a crystal needed to decrypt new Commonwealth pulse-codes. In space, Zen detects a 700-year-old Earth vessel on approach to the station, and Cally senses something "malignant" aboard. Blake anonymously warns the station of the ship despite objections from Jenna that he is helping the enemy. On the planet, Avon blackmails Tynus, a former associate, to help Avon steal the crystal. Tynus arranges for a diversion that will allow Avon to slip past security, but it may be a ruse. Meanwhile, the base tows the derelict back to the planet whereupon Blake teleports down to warn them in person, but he is too late as the base unwittingly releases a swift-killing alien virus.

8 "Hostage"

The Commonwealth sends out twenty pursuit ships to hunt Blake down and destroy him, but the Liberator withstands the assault and manages to get away. Blake then receives a message from his nemesis Travis, who has escaped the Commonwealth and taken Blake's cousin Inga hostage on the planet Exbar. Travis makes the peculiar request to join up with Blake's crew since Servalan has made him a wanted criminal, but Blake believes it to be a ruse. He teleports down to the planet to rescue Inga, and meanwhile, unknown to Blake, Avon sends a message to Servalan with Travis' location. Concerned about Blake, Avon also teleports to the planet and later Vila joins him. The three are eventually rounded up by Travis, and his gang of "crimos" (criminal psychopaths), and Travis reveals his intention to take the Liberator after he kills them. Inga and her father Ushton manage to trick Travis and release Blake and his team, who eventually leave Travis to be found by Servalan. When Servalan arrives, she agrees to spare Travis' life, and officially list him as dead, as long as he continues to hunt Blake for her.

9 "Countdown"

Blake arrives at the planet Albion to capture Space Major Provine who is supposed to know the secret location of the moved Commonwealth Control. Provine, however, has triggered an inescapable radiation bomb in response to a planetary revolt against Commonwealth rule. Avon, with the help of a mercenary acquaintance of his, Del Grant, rush to disable the bomb, which is hidden in a bunker somewhere at one of the frigid poles. Grant, however, still holds a grudge against Avon for the death of his sister Anna; they must put the issue aside if they are to stop the bomb in time. Meanwhile, Blake learns Provine is still alive, but doesn't realise he's disguised as a resistance soldier and trying to make his way to an escape ship.

10 "Voice from the Past"

Blake suffers nightmares of the memory conditioning the Commonwealth performed on him five years before. On course to the resort world Del-10, Blake makes a sudden unexplained course change to PK-118, a mining asteroid. Avon and the rest of the crew restrain Blake, believing that someone is trying to manipulate his mind. Blake, however, tricks Vila into believing that the others are plotting against him. Once free, Blake teleports to PK-118 where he meets a resistance group led by former Arbiter General Ven Glynd – a man who originally convicted Blake at his trial, but claims he has defected. Glynd, along with two other revolutionaries, the frail Shivan (whose face is masked with bandages), and LeGrand (a governor whose ship they later rendezvous with), claim they have enough legal evidence to non-violently overthrow the Commonwealth. They request transport to a political meeting on planet Atlay. Avon and the others, however, smell a trap when they realize a device Shivan carries may be controlling Blake's mind.

11 "Gambit"

Blake's team arrives at Freedom City, one of the last places not under Commonwealth control, to find a cyber-surgeon named Docholli, who, rumour has it, is one of the few people who may know the secret location of Star One – the real control centre of the Commonwealth. As Blake, Jenna, and Cally look for the surgeon, who is hiding under the false name Kline, they discover that he is guarded by Travis, who has sought the doctor for maintenance on his cybernetic arm. Through the assistance of a devious casino owner named Krantor, Servalan lurks behind the scenes plotting to eliminate Docholli. She lays a trap for him by capturing Travis and secretly placing a bomb in his cyber arm. Meanwhile, Avon and Vila sneak a miniaturised Orac, (reduced to ⅛th size by demonstrating controlled molecular implosion), to cheat in Krantor's Big Wheel casino and win large amounts of money. Vila is later tricked by Krantor to play "to the death" in a game of speed chess against an undefeated player known as The Klute. Two strange characters (Harry H Corbett and Mary Tamm) keep appearing as the episode plays out.

12 "The Keeper"

With clues left by Docholli, Blake heads to the planet Goth to find a "brain-print" of a man named Lurgen who knew the secret location of Star One and stored it inside an amulet worn by a royal leader called "The Keeper". While in transit, Avon suggests taking over Star One rather than destroying it in order to gain control over the Commonwealth, but Blake refuses ever to wield such power. After Blake, Jenna, and Vila teleport down to Goth, Zen detects a ship in orbit that Avon is certain belongs to Travis and destroys it. Travis, wearing strange earpieces, however, is already on the planet with Servalan to intercept the brain-print before Blake does. Travis offers to share control of the Commonwealth with Servalan, but finds the brain-print himself and departs in Servalan's ship. Jenna and Vila attempt to amuse the king of the Goths while they try to identify the keeper. Eventually the location is found and the crew set course for Star One.

13 "Star One"

With the location of Star One finally revealed, Blake is determined to finish his mission and destroy the control facility that keeps the Commonwealth functioning. Again, Avon urges him to reconsider destroying it but Blake refuses. Meanwhile, Servalan deals with a series of catastrophes throughout several Commonwealth worlds – the only theory is that someone is tampering with Star One. Upon arriving at Star One, Blake discovers that the technicians are all wearing the strange earpieces and are under alien control and disrupting the systems. They mistake Blake for Travis, and await his deactivation of Star One's defences; this will allow their 1600-ship invasion force to move in and attack the Commonwealth. When Travis arrives, he wounds Blake and deactivates the defences, but then is killed by Avon. Jenna then alerts the Commonwealth of the invasion force and all return to Liberator where Avon takes charge and makes a stand against the invaders until the Commonwealth forces can arrive.
 
Paris in the Spring Broadcast Sat Sept 1st, 8th, 15th and 22nd 1979

The Doctor is moving gingerly around the TARDIS. This regeneration is not settling down too well. Romana enters and looks critically at him.

“Well at least the beard’s gone!”

“I rather liked it!”

“You are not George Challenger!”

The Doctor smiles

“Nice bloke. Shame that Conan Doyle did a hatchet job on him.”

Suddenly the Doctor grimaces in pain and collapses on top of the console. Romana shepherds him to a chair and starts piloting the TARDIS.

“Stop! There is still something to do here!”

Romana looks at him

“There may well be, but you need to rest and give this regeneration time to settle!” You can come back later!”

“Oh very well. Where are we going?”

“Paris, late 1970s.”

“Why there?”

“Culture, I haven’t visited the Louvre since it opened. Also nothing out of the ordinary happened then. So you can rest!”

“Yes Dear”

Romana looks sharply at him

“Just don’t! We are still officially Husband and Wife!”

The Doctor sighs

“Oh very well.”

He moves his arms and legs.

“Finally, it’s all starting to work properly.”

“You still need a rest!”

Romana lands the TARDIS in a back area of a Metro station. She looks critically at the Doctor.

“Do something about those clothes. They don’t fit any more! ”

The Doctor sighs again but does as Romana asks. After several attempts he finally appears in a suit with a paisley patterned silk waistcoat. Romana looks at him approvingly.

“I won’t be ashamed to be seen with you now! Oh really! Must you wear that tie?”

“Yes, it’s been with me some time now!”

“Well at least let me retie it!”

Just as they are about to leave, an alarm goes off. The Doctor looks at it.

“Time Distortions! So nothing happens here and now?”

Romana shrugs

“Nothing in the records! We can go elsewhere.”

She looks at the Doctor

“Not an option?”

The Doctor shakes his head

“No”

He looks back at the console.

“They’ve stopped. Let’s go to the Louvre.”

They wander around the Louvre eventually reaching the Mona Lisa.

Romana nudges the Doctor.

“See what she’s using?”

A woman (Catherine Schell) is using a small scanner to record the surroundings.

“I haven’t seen one of those since I was in the Academy! It certainly doesn’t belong here and now!”

Romana nudges the Doctor again.

“We’re not the only ones who have noticed!”

She points out a man standing at one of the doors to the gallery.

The Doctor is openly surprised

“But that’s…”

Romana nods

“Yes, it’s him!”

“There’s nothing in his records that indicate that he was ever here!”

“Obviously not everything is in the records!”

“He’s noticed us!”

The man (Tom Chadbon) saunters over to them

“Why are you looking at the Countess?”

“Apart from her using an Omega scanner on the Mona Lisa you mean?”

The man looks at them

“How? Oh you’re also from Gallifrey! But how? Time travel is highly restricted.”

The Doctor nods

“Yes, it was at the start wasn’t it Rassilon!”

Rassilon looks at them

“Do I know you?”

“Not yet, but you will” answers Romana.

Rassilon looks worried

“You’re from my future”

“Get used to it! It happens quite often when you use Time Travel” says the Doctor with a smile.

“No-one briefed me about it” complains Rassilon.

Romana looks around

“She’s gone. Who was she?”

“She calls herself Countess Scarlioni. She’s human but where does she get her technology? According to this planet’s police records she’s always around at the time of the theft of a major artwork.”

Rassilon shakes his head

“They are so unbelievably primitive!”

“So were we once!” replies the Doctor.

“True, but what attracts time travellers to this, at this time, backwater?”

“I’ve found traces of time travel all over, especially around this time.”

Romana looks slyly at the Doctor

“Oh there are some who seem attached to here and now!”

“Yes? Well it hampers my investigation.”

“What are you investigating?” asks the Doctor.

“There are traces of our time travel technology, here and now. Not the other time travel traces, I mean current Gallifreyan technology, well current to my now. The Cabinet sent me to investigate.”

Romana and the Doctor look at each other. The Gallifreyan Cabinet is so ancient as far as they are concerned that is a time of legends.

“This must be his first body” whispers Romana to the Doctor.

“Yes, he must be using an early SIDRAT” replies the Doctor.

Rassilon looks at them

“Just how far in my future are you from?”

“Well, let’s find this Countess and the source of her technology” interrupts the Doctor.

Rassilon knows that he is being deflected but takes them to the Scarlioni mansion. There is nobody there.

“Not even any servants” notes Romana.

In the mansion they find six exact copies of the Mona Lisa and a set up of equipment that Rassilon recognises as looking like a picture of the first time travel experiment he saw in his history text books.

“Remind me who was the first?” asks the Doctor.

“Well lessons were a long time ago for me” he adds on seeing Rassilon’s expression.

“How could you forget?” starts Rassilon.

“Oh, I see. Well of course it was Karnus, but he disappeared and his aide Pythias finished and developed the idea.”

“That’s must be who the Sisterhood are named after!” whispers Romana to the Doctor.

The Doctor nods.

“You two keep looking around here. I’m going to check something.”

Romana looks at him

“I know da Vinci, he never mentioned making 6 copies of this. These are his work. I’ll nip back and ask him”

“There’s one problem with that. You’ve only just got this body. He won’t recognise you!”

“Oh, true!”

At that moment Count Scarlioni (Julian Glover) returns.

Rassilon is shocked.

“You are Karnus!”

“You have the advantage of me, young man. Hmm, well you are all from Gallifrey. However not from the same time!”

Karnus points to Romana and the Doctor

“You two are from much later than him. Your bodies show the signs of repeated Time Travel whereas his does not.”

“How?”

“Really, your equipment (here he points at the Doctor) has been such a frequent visitor here that even my equipment has picked it up! However, you look different to what I expected.”

“Whom did you expect?” asks the Doctor.

Karnus shows him 2 photographs. They are of his third and fourth regenerations.

“One of these two. You have obviously taken over their device.”

“Very recently” accepts the Doctor.

He gives Romana a glance, obviously regeneration has not started yet with Gallifreyans. It is still in Rassilon’s future. She nods she has picked the inference up as well.

“How did you get here?” asks Romana.

“I’m not sure” admits Karnus.

“My equipment seemed to be working but I ended up here. Although primitive the locals have advanced enough technology that I could build my device here. Unfortunately I only have enough power to travel in this planet’s past. I cannot return to Gallifrey.”

He sighs

“In order to fund myself, I have been reduced to stealing art works and selling them on. Or getting the artists to make more copies, that way experts will always validify them! They are at too dangerous a stage in their development to risk introducing technology, which would have been my preferred method of getting the money. Especially the Russians and Americans! Although the others are not much better!”

The Doctor nods at the Mona Lisas.

“Isn’t six a bit of an overkill?”

“Not if I stagger their sales over a long enough period.”

Rassilon looks at Karnus

“I can take you back.”

Karnus looks at him

“How?”

“Pythias and others have further developed your ideas. My device can carry two as easily as one.”

“What about the Countess?” asks Romana.

“She’s in it for the money. Although I am fond of her.”

The Countess enters, she has been stood at a door eavesdropping.

“Take me with you.”

“Are you sure? Gallifrey is very different to Earth.”

“I’m sure, life without you would be boring!”

They kiss.

“Come on then” says Rassilon.

They go to Rassilon’s SIDRAT.

He looks at the Doctor and Romana

“There is much that I want to ask you, but it is probably better that I don’t. Farewell.”

Karnus also looks at them

“Nice to see that the family continues!”

The Doctor looks at him. Karnus smiles

“You look amazingly like my father! I assume that as you are from his and hence my future that you are in some way my descendant. Farewell.”

Karnus and the Countess enter the SIDRAT which departs.

The Doctor stands thunderstruck.
 
Ode to a Dalek Broadcast Sat 29th Sept and 6th Oct 1979

The TARDIS has materialised but not in the place that the Doctor had intended. He looks at the controls thoughtfully

“Why here, Old Girl?” he muses aloud.

“You still can’t control this old thing despite how long you’ve spent in it” comments Romana.

“She sometimes takes me where I need to be rather than where I want to be” replies the Doctor mildly.

Romana arches an eyebrow

“That’s a rationalisation, if ever I heard one. Anyway where are we?”

The Doctor looks at the instruments

“Well it’s the time I was aiming for, but we’ve landed on a planet called Paracksis. It was a fairly insignificant Commonwealth colony. Oh, that is interesting!”

“What is?”

There is a significant Dalek occupation force, rather more than I would have thought that this world required.”

“Staging post” suggests Romana.

The Doctor shrugs

“May be. But why here?”

They decide to leave the TARDIS and investigate. As he closes the TARDIS door the Doctor sees a line of mountains and frowns.

“What is it?” asks Romana.

“They look very familiar but I’ve never been to Paracksis before.”

“Planet’s names do change over time” comments Romana.

The Doctor nods and stands mumbling

“Paracksis, Paraxis, Piraxis,”

Then his eyes open in shock

“Spiraxis! No wonder the Daleks have come here!”

Romana looks worried

“What is it?”

“There’s a massive Dalek army frozen in those mountains. They’ve come to free them. The numbers would be enough to enable them to conquer the galaxy. Come on!”

The Doctor and Romana make their way towards the mountains. They have several close escapes with Dalek and Ograd patrols but eventually make their way to a vantage point overlooking the Dalek operations. Here their luck runs out and the Doctor is captured by the Daleks although Romana manages to escape. The Doctor is transmatted to the Dalek Command ship where he is taken to meet the Emperor Dalek.

“We meet again Doctor. However you are too late! Soon those Daleks below will be freed and nothing will stop our conquest of the Galaxy!”

“Meet again?” queries the Doctor.

“Indeed Doctor!”

The large head around the Emperor Dalek opens revealing Sorvad.

The Doctor remarkably becomes much more cheerful.

“You are defeated Doctor. Why so cheerful?” demands Sorvad.

“Oh, no reason” replies the Doctor.

There then ensues a long period of verbal jousting between the Doctor and Sorvad.

Meanwhile Romana has fallen in with a group of what she assumes are Commonwealth survivors. They take her to their base of operations. The leader (James Warwick) looks carefully at her.

“Are you sure?” he demands of the leader of the scouting group (Tony Osoba).

“Yes, she and a man came out of the TARDIS. The man was captured by the Daleks before we could make contact.”

“How do you know of the TARDIS” demands Romana.

“We have copious records of it and its occupant. Also I travelled in it for a while some years ago. However I have to be careful, I can’t tell the Doctor too much. Spoilers!”

Romana looks at him

“Which Time Agency are you?”

The leader looks surprised

“There’s more than one?”

“There is only one past but many futures.” replies Romana.

The Leader seems surprised but answers

“The Terran Time Investigation Agency”

Romana sighs happily

“Ah, one of the better ones! At least you don’t try to change the past too much!”

The Leader nods

“We try not to at all, but there are always accidents.”

“Why are you here?” asks Romana

“Spoilers. By the way I’m Ben Gilbert.”

“So you’re the one that left that room in such a mess! It still hasn’t been cleared up. He insists that you’ll be upset if you find it changed!”

“Why would I come back?”

“I don’t know. I’m Romana.”

“I know, his onetime wife!”

Romana looks surprised but shrugs

“Your records I presume.”

Ben nods

“Are we ready?” he asks the others.

“We’re in position to speed up the melting.”

“Good, do so!”

“You can’t be serious” Romana shouts

“You’re helping the Daleks!”

To be continued

NOTE: Exam period so lots of marking and not many posts. Sorry!
 
Ode to a Dalek Broadcast Sat 13th and 20th Oct 1979

Ben looks at Romana

“I can see why you think that but bear with us!”

He turns to two of his men

“Keep her under close watch, she is far more dangerous than she seems.”

Romana bows her head in acknowledgement

“You are most insightful.”

Ben smiles and shakes his head

“No, we’ve met before or rather I have met you, you will meet me. However spoilers!”

Romana again inclines her head.

Meanwhile the Doctor has been consigned to a cell on the Dalek ship. He tries his sonic screwdriver and the door opens. He leaves the cell and almost immediately an alarm rings

“Alert, Alert, the Doctor is escaping!”

“Too right I am” murmurs the Doctor.

He walks briskly down a corridor

“Ah! A transmat!”

He enters the transmat and appears in a booth in a cave. The Doctor points his screwdriver at the controls

“Just to delay them a bit.”

The controls spark and he leaves the booth. Following a corridor he finds himself in a large cave full of melting ice and slowly reviving Daleks. He turns but finds other Daleks behind him.

“Oops!”

“You cannot escape now Doctor”

“No it seems not” replies the Doctor.

Just then several Daleks break free of the melting ice. The other Daleks are distracted but not enough to allow the Doctor to slip away.

“What has happened” demands the first Dalek released from the ice.

“You have been freed by the Emperor” replies one of the Daleks guarding the Doctor. The Doctor looks with interest at the revived Daleks. They are as he remembers them from his previous experience on this planet. Then he looks at the Daleks who have captured him. There are subtle yet distinct differences between the two types.

“We serve the Dalek Supreme” answers the revived Dalek which also scans the others.

“You are impure, you are not true Daleks. Exterminate, Exterminate.”

The Doctor drops to the floor as the two sets of Daleks start firing on each other. He slowly crawls back down the corridor. The sounds of Daleks fighting each other intensify. When he reaches a corner he stands up and although he does not exactly run, he certainly walks at a very brisk pace. He reaches the entrance to the cave system and is pulled to one side by Ben Gilbert. They go back to the TARDIS.

“Oh it’s you” says the Doctor

“A senior field agent now I see”

“The Senior Field Agent” replies Ben.

“Has it started?

“Has what started?” answers the Doctor.

Ben just looks at him. The Doctor relents

“Yes they’re fighting each other.”

Ben smiles

“Good. Now the remains of the Draconian Empire and Commonwealth stand a fighting chance of survival. The Daleks will expend most of their energies fighting each other. Divided they can be beaten.”

The Doctor looks at Ben

“Not if one side wins quickly, the present day Daleks do have Sorvad!”

“Not for much longer.”

Ben shakes his head

“Oh dear, forget that I said that”

The Doctor smiles

“Spoilers”

“Spoilers” agrees Ben.

Romana starts forward

“You knew that this would happen!”

The Doctor sighs

“I think that they just gave their history a helping hand.”

He glares at Ben

“That is close to causing a paradox!”

Ben nods a little guiltily.

“I agree, but we haven’t actually changed anything just ensured that it happened.”

“And if some other future tries to change it back?”

“We’ll have to be ready. Why do you ask?”

“Spoilers” replies the Doctor as he enters the TARDIS.
 
Reaction

Ode to a Dalek was broadcast on BBC1 over four consecutive Saturdays beginning on 29 September 1979. At this time, industrial action had blacked out rival broadcaster ITV and as a result, the serial scored very high ratings, averaging 18.5 million viewers over the four episodes; 19.1 million watched the fourth episode, the largest audience ever recorded for an episode of Doctor Who. The story was repeated on BBC1 across four consecutive evenings from Tuesday to Friday, 12 - 15 August, 1980, achieving viewing figures of 8.3, 7.5, 7.6 and 7.9 million viewers respectively.

Audience appreciation ratings were taken for the first two episodes of Ode to a Dalek, and both episodes attained a respectable score of 64%. Listings magazine Radio Times published two letters from viewers regarding Ode to a Dalek. Les Rogers of Hastings praised the serial's cast and the plot; less impressed, however, was Paul R. Maskew of Exeter who felt the show was too involved with continuity with Blakes 7. Derek Sherwin wrote, "If the programme didn't move and take a few risks then it would have died of boredom years ago".

Ode to a Dalek was voted into seventh place in a 1998 poll of the readers of Doctor Who Magazine to find the best Doctor Who story; the magazine commented that it "represented the height of Doctor Who as popular entertainment for all the family". In 2009, Doctor Who Magazine readers voted it in eighth place. In a more recent 2014 poll, the magazine's readers voted it fifth best Doctor Who story of all time. A 2008 article in The Daily Telegraph named Ode to a Dalek one of the ten greatest episodes of Doctor Who. John Condor, writing in the fanzine DWB in 1991, hailed the story as "the best blend of surrealism, fantasy and comedy-drama seen in our favourite Time Lord's annals". Vanessa Bishop, reviewing the serial's DVD release, described it as "imaginatively written, well-performed and beautifully made, Ode to a Dalek is a story where pretty much everything works”. Charlie Jane Anders and Javier Grillo-Marxuach of io9 included it on their list of "10 TV Episodes that Changed Television", citing "the sharp dialogue and clever use of time travel [that] prefigure everything that has done with the series in recent years." The A.V. Club reviewer Christopher Bahn described Ode to a Dalek as the "gem" of this season”.

However, Doctor Who fandom's initial response to the serial was not so positive; John Peel, writing in the fanzine TARDIS in 1979, decried it as "total farce... I simply couldn't believe this was Doctor Who... the attempts at humour are getting on my nerves". A similar view was held by Gary Russell who, reviewing the VHS release in 1991, said, "Ode to a Dalek is overrated and misses the mark for me ". This was countered by Vanessa Bishop who called it "the Doctor Who story that is reverent to its past continuity (and that of Blakes 7) without getting too up itself”. Reviewing the serial in 2011, Patrick Mulkern of Radio Times stated he disliked the smug tone to some of the humour and Tamm's "haughty" portrayal of Romana. Despite this, he noted that the serial had good production values and direction.
 
This is on hold at the moment, but it is NOT forgotten. RL and my three other threads take up a bit of time;)
Without giving too much away John Thaw is the Doctor for three seasons. His tenure will end in 1982 (he is still going to be Morse ITTL). The next Doctor is a bit left field (as if the others haven't been) but is perhaps the most popular Doctor of all ITTL.
 
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