Time-Flight (TV story): Difference between revisions

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{{Infobox Story
{{Infobox Story SMW
|name= Time-Flight
|image                 = FiveAndKalid.jpg
|image= FiveAndKalid.jpg
|novelisation          = Time-Flight (novelisation)
|series=[[Doctor Who television stories|''Doctor Who'' television stories]]
|series                 = [[Doctor Who television stories|''Doctor Who'' television stories]]
|season number= [[Season 19]]
|season number         = Season 19 (Doctor Who 1963)|
|story number=122
|season serial number  = 7
|doctor=Fifth Doctor  
|story number           = 122
|companions= [[Nyssa]], [[Tegan Jovanka|Tegan]]
|doctor                 = Fifth Doctor
|enemy= {{Ainley|c}}, the [[Plasmaton]]s
|companions             = [[Tegan Jovanka|Tegan]], [[Nyssa]]
|setting= [[Heathrow Airport]], [[1982]] and [[Distant past|140,000,000 BC]]  
|enemy                 = The [[Tremas Master]]
|writer= [[Peter Grimwade]]
|setting               = [[Heathrow Airport]], [[January]] [[1982]] and [[Distant past|140,000,000 BC]]  
|director= [[Ron Jones]]
|writer                 = Peter Grimwade
|producer= [[John Nathan-Turner]]
|director               = [[Ron Jones]]
|novelisation= Time-Flight (novelisation)
|producer               = [[John Nathan-Turner]]
|epcount=4
|epcount               = 4
|broadcast date= [[22 March (releases)|22 March]] - [[30 March (releases)|30 March]] [[1982 (releases)|1982]]
|broadcast date         = 22 March - 30 March 1982
|network=[[BBC One|BBC1]]
|network               = BBC1
|format= 4x25-minute episodes
|format                 = 4x25-minute episodes
|production code= [[List of production codes|6C]]
|serial production code = [[List of production codes|6C]]
|prev= Earthshock (TV story)  
|prev                   = Earthshock (TV story)
|next= Arc of Infinity (TV story)  
|next                   = Arc of Infinity (TV story)
|made prev= Earthshock (TV story)  
|made prev             = Earthshock (TV story)
|made next= Snakedance (TV story)}}
|made next             = Snakedance (TV story)
'''''Time-Flight''''' was the seventh and final story of [[season 19]] of ''[[Doctor Who]]''.
|thwr = 48
}}
{{Big toc}}
'''''Time-Flight''''' was the seventh and final serial of [[Season 19 (Doctor Who 1963)|season 19]] of ''[[Doctor Who]]''.


For those interested in viewing statistics, it's a highly significant story, because different surveys of audience reaction have produced widely varying results. The most statistically valid of these measures — the actual television ratings — show that episode one was the most successful episode in [[John Nathan-Turner]]'s entire [[producer]]ship. The 26th-most-watched episode of [[British]] television in the week of initial transmission, it was the only time he cracked the top 30. However, the story also shed about two million viewers from beginning to end.
For those interested in viewing statistics, it's a highly significant story, because different surveys of audience reaction have produced widely polarising results. The most statistically valid of these measures — the actual television ratings — show that part one was the most successful episode in [[John Nathan-Turner]]'s entire [[producer]]ship. The 26th-most-watched episode of [[British]] television in the week of initial transmission, it was the only time he cracked the top 30. However, the story also shed about two million viewers from beginning to end.


Fan opinion — which, of course, is never the subject of truly valid statistical investigation — has changed dramatically over the years. Those who responded to [[DWM 69]]'s season 19 poll held it in reasonably high regard, placing it as the fourth-best serial of the year, ahead of ''[[Castrovalva (TV story)|Castrovalva]]'', ''[[Four to Doomsday (TV story)|Four to Doomsday]]'' and ''[[Kinda (TV story)|Kinda]]''. Decades later, those fans responding to [[DWM 413]]'s "Mighty 200" poll in 2009 cited it as the 196th of the 200 stories that were then produced. A part of the explanation for this massive shift in negative momentum may be that fan leaders such as [[Paul Cornell]] and [[David J. Howe]] savaged the story in references works like ''[[The Discontinuity Guide]]'' and ''[[The Television Companion]]'', whose influence multiplied when [[BBCi]], and later [[BBC Online]], incorporated those opinions into the [[Doctor Who website|official ''Doctor Who'' website]]. Thus people skimming the official site in the 2000s and 2010s could well believe that opinion of the [[British Broadcasting Corporation|BBC]] runs along the lines of, "Somebody, somewhere should have thrown this script in the bin the moment it had [[Concorde]] crash landing in [[Jurassic]] [[England]]..."  
Fan opinion — which, of course, is never the subject of truly valid statistical investigation — has changed dramatically over the years. Those who responded to [[DWM 69]]'s season 19 poll held it in reasonably high regard, placing it as the fourth-best serial of the year, ahead of ''[[Castrovalva (TV story)|Castrovalva]]'', ''[[Four to Doomsday (TV story)|Four to Doomsday]]'' and ''[[Kinda (TV story)|Kinda]]''. Decades later, those fans responding to [[DWM 413]]'s "Mighty 200" poll in 2009 cited it as the 196th of the 200 stories that were then produced. Similarly, fan response to the "first 50 years" poll in [[DWM 474]] in 2014 cited it as the 237th out of the 241 stories up to that point in time, and the 60th anniversary poll in [[DWM 591]] saw it join the others as the consistently lowest-ranked Fifth Doctor story. A part of the explanation for this massive shift in negative momentum may be that fan leaders such as [[Paul Cornell]] and [[David J. Howe]] savaged the story in references works like ''[[The Discontinuity Guide]]'' and ''[[The Television Companion]]'', whose influence multiplied when [[BBCi]], and later [[BBC Online]], incorporated those opinions into the [[Doctor Who website|official ''Doctor Who'' website]]. Thus people skimming the official site in the 2000s and 2010s could well believe that opinion of the [[BBC]] runs along the lines of, "Somebody, somewhere should have thrown this script in the bin the moment it had [[Concorde]] crash landing in [[Jurassic]] [[England]]..."


Narratively, the story contained what appeared, at the time of transmission, to be the final appearances of both [[Adric]] and [[Tegan Jovanka|Tegan]]. The former appeared as an apparition to satisfy [[Matthew Waterhouse]]'s contract, and to allow him to be listed in the ''[[Radio Times]]'' as appearing in ''Time-Flight''.  Because the last two episodes of ''Earthshock'' and the first two of ''Time-Flight'' were in the same issue of ''Radio Times'', this allowed the BBC to conceal his ''[[Earthshock (TV story)|Earthshock]]'' death from readers.  Meanwhile, Tegan was left behind at [[Heathrow Airport]] at the conclusion of the episode. This appeared to end her story, since many stories that year had begun with a gag about trying to get her back to Heathrow. However, because modern viewers — even those who have never seen ''Time-Flight'' — almost certainly know that this is ''not'' the character's final outing, the episode four [[cliffhanger]] is now robbed of much of its power.  
Narratively, the story contained what appeared, at the time of transmission, to be the final appearance of [[Tegan Jovanka|Tegan]]. Tegan was left behind at [[Heathrow Airport]] at the conclusion of part four. This appeared to end her story since many stories that year had begun with an on-going attempt to get her back to Heathrow. She would later return at the beginning of the next season. It also serves as [[Adric]]'s last regular appearance (albeit only as a hallucination), after his death in the previous serial ''[[Earthshock (TV story)|Earthshock]]''. This episode followed directly after the death of Adric and attempted to show the TARDIS crew coping with his loss, but noticeably downplayed their reactions, coming off a story that ended on the highly emotional bombshell that Adric was killed.


== Synopsis ==
== Synopsis ==
While investigating a vanishing [[Concorde]] at Heathrow Airport, the Doctor and his companions are thrown millions of years back in time, when a mysterious alien called Kalid is trying to control the ancient powers of the Xeraphin.
While investigating a vanishing [[Concorde]] at Heathrow Airport, the Doctor and his companions are thrown millions of years back in time, where a mysterious alien called Kalid is trying to control the ancient powers of the Xeraphin.


== Plot ==
== Plot ==
=== Part one ===
=== Part one ===
On a regular flight from [[New York City|New York]] to [[London]], a [[Concorde]] designated [[Golf Victor Foxtrot]] (GVF) is nearing [[Heathrow Airport]] when its signal breaks up. All trace of the aircraft is lost - the Concorde has disappeared. Arriving at Heathrow shortly afterward, still grieving for [[Adric]], the [[Fifth Doctor]], [[Nyssa]] and [[Tegan Jovanka|Tegan]] are enlisted by Department [[C19]] to help in the investigation of the missing craft.
On a regular flight from [[New York City|New York]] to [[London]], a [[Concorde]] designated [[Golf Victor Foxtrot]] (GVF) is nearing [[Heathrow Airport]] when its signal breaks up. All trace of the aircraft is lost — the Concorde has disappeared.
[[File:Timeflight_ep1.JPG|left|thumb|Aboard the [[Concorde]]]]
The trio board a similar Concorde, [[Golf Alpha Charlie]], and follow the same flight path to try to discover the cause of the disappearing Concorde. The [[the Doctor's TARDIS|TARDIS]] is stowed on board. [[Stapley]], the Concorde's captain, and his senior crew welcome them aboard. The Doctor finds traces of disturbance. Although they arrive safely at Heathrow, they find they have travelled a hundred forty million years into the past.  


The crew believe they have landed in modern Heathrow. The Doctor and Nyssa urge them to challenge this perception and realise the reality of the empty landscape. It is distorted by huge amounts of psychokinetic energy. They spy Victor-Foxtrot on the empty plain. Beyond it is an impressive citadel in the far distance and the remains of an alien spacecraft.  
Having dropped [[Scott (Earthshock)|Scott]], [[Briggs (Earthshock)|Briggs]] and [[Berger (Earthshock)|Berger]] off safely in their own time, and with the [[Cyberman|Cyber]]-fleet dispersed, the [[Fifth Doctor]], [[Nyssa]] and [[Tegan Jovanka|Tegan]] prepare to depart 26th century [[Earth]]. When Tegan tries to persuade the Doctor to travel back and rescue [[Adric]] from the doomed [[Briggs' freighter|freighter]], the Time Lord angrily tells her and Nyssa that, even with [[the Doctor's TARDIS|the TARDIS]], there are [[fixed point in time|laws of time]] he cannot break and they should never ask him to do such a thing again. After this angry outburst, the Doctor explains, more gently this time, that they must accept Adric is dead. He hastens them to move straight from their grief to acceptance, knowing that Adric would not want the group to mourn him. He also notes Adric's life wasn't wasted; Adric died trying to save others, just like his brother, [[Varsh (Full Circle)|Varsh]], and had made a choice in sacrificing himself. Nyssa and Tegan finally accept Adric's death and remark that they will miss him.


The Doctor and his friends find the crew and passengers of the first Concorde. They are moving his TARDIS toward the Citadel on the instructions of an alien entity. Everyone is totally immersed in the illusion of a modern Heathrow - all, that is, save one passenger, [[Hayter|Professor Hayter]]. He has resisted the illusion. [[Andrew Bilton]] and [[Roger Scobie]], Stapley's flight crew, succumb to the illusion. They head for the Citadel with the TARDIS and the other confused passengers. Their progress is marshalled by the [[Plasmaton]]s - blobs of protein from the atmosphere, assembled from random particles that are held together by the same kinetic energy.
The Doctor suggests a visit to [[the Great Exhibition]] of [[1851]] to cheer them up, towards which they depart. En route, they encounter heavy turbulence and are forced to materialise. The Doctor, Nyssa and Tegan find themselves hovering over a runway at Heathrow. They dematerialise again and end up in a terminal at Heathrow where, thanks to the Doctor using his [[UNIT]] credentials, they are enlisted by Department [[C19]] to help in the investigation of the missing aircraft.
 
The trio board a similar Concorde, [[Golf Alpha Charlie]], and follow the same flight path to try to discover the cause of the disappearing Concorde. The TARDIS is stowed on board. [[Stapley]], the Concorde's captain and his senior crew welcome them aboard. During the flight, the Doctor finds traces of disturbance. When the Concorde lands and everyone departs, they believe they have landed safely back at Heathrow.
 
Suddenly, Nyssa screams. Seeing a number of skeletons, she realises that something is wrong. The Doctor notices as well, but Tegan and the crew still believe they have are at modern Heathrow. The Doctor and Nyssa urge them to challenge this perception and they realise the reality of the empty landscape. They have travelled a hundred and forty million years into the past, into the [[Jurassic|Jurassic era]]; it has been distorted by huge amounts of psychokinetic energy. They spot the missing Concorde, Victor-Foxtrot, on the empty plain. Beyond it is an impressive citadel in the far distance and the remains of an alien spacecraft.
 
The Doctor and his friends find the crew and passengers of the first Concorde, who are moving the TARDIS toward the Citadel on the instructions of an alien entity. Everyone is totally immersed in the illusion of a modern Heathrow — all, that is, save one passenger, [[Hayter|Professor Hayter]], who has resisted the illusion. [[Andrew Bilton]] and [[Roger Scobie]] follow the people carrying the TARDIS, but are captured and transported to the Citadel where they are hypnotised. The GVF crew's progress is marshalled by the [[Plasmaton]]s — blobs of protein from the atmosphere, assembled from random particles that are held together by the same kinetic energy.


=== Part two ===
=== Part two ===
[[File:Timeflight_ep2.JPG|thumb|right|The face behind [[The Master|Kalid]]]]
The force in charge of this strange domain is [[Tremas Master|Kalid]], who seems to be an oriental mystic. He uses a glowing green globe to control psychokinetic energy and shape the prehistoric landscape of [[Earth]].
The force in charge of this strange domain is [[The Master|Kalid]]. He seems to be an oriental mystic. He uses a glowing green globe to control psychokinetic energy and shape the prehistoric landscape of [[Earth]].  


Nyssa has a particular empathy with this energy. She starts getting visions and hearing voices. They are unwelcome to Kalid. He tries to cut her off from the others with a protoplasmic shield. Tegan stays with Nyssa while the Doctor ventures on to the Citadel with Hayter and Stapley. There they find the crew of Victor-Foxtrot, blindly trying to remove the walls of a sealed chamber.  
Nyssa has a particular empathy with this energy, and she starts getting visions and hearing voices. They are unwelcome to Kalid, and he tries to cut her off from the others with a protoplasmic shield. Tegan stays with Nyssa while the Doctor ventures on to the Citadel with Hayter and Stapley. There they find the crew of Victor-Foxtrot, blindly trying to remove the walls of a sealed chamber.


Stapley and Hayter try to free the others from the mental illusion. The Doctor heads to the Citadel and meets Kalid. The green-tinged magician has evidently brought a slave force to prehistoric Earth. He taps into the psychokinetic powers of the place and uses the energies to menace Hayter, Stapley and the others to try to secure the Doctor’s cooperation in entering his TARDIS.
Stapley and Hayter try to free the others from the mental illusion while the Doctor heads to the Citadel, where he meets Kalid. The green-tinged magician has evidently brought a slave force to prehistoric Earth. He taps into the psychokinetic powers of the place and uses the energies to menace Hayter, Stapley and the others to try to secure the Doctor's cooperation in entering his TARDIS.


This exertion has broken Kalid’s mental hold over the plasmatons around Nyssa. They disperse. Nyssa and Tegan follow the former’s instincts. They enter the Citadel and quickly enter the chamber that has been closed to Kalid and the mentally deluded passengers. Nyssa throws an artefact into the centre of a tank-like structure in the centre of the sealed room. The results are immense. Kalid’s mental channelling is interrupted and he collapses in agony. His disguise falls away to reveal the Master.
This exertion has broken Kalid's mental hold over the Plasmatons around Nyssa and they disperse. Nyssa and Tegan follow the former's instincts and proceed through the Citadel. Along their way, they come across [[Adric]], who warns that he will die again if Nyssa and Tegan continue onwards, and urges them to retreat. However, Nyssa outs Adric as a mere apparition upon noticing his star-shaped badge for mathematical excellence, which the Doctor destroyed when he lethally ground it into the Cyber-Leader's ventilation unit aboard the TARDIS. Knowing this, they press on, causing "Adric" to dissipate with a scream. Continuing on, they encounter apparitions of the [[Melkur]], who was [[The Keeper of Traken (TV story)|destroyed]] on [[Traken]]; and the disfigured [[Terileptil]], who was [[The Visitation (TV story)|burnt to death]] in 17th-Century [[London]]; Nyssa and Tegan respectively denounce the villains' existence and continue. Eventually, they enter a chamber in the Citadel that has been closed to Kalid and the mentally deluded passengers. Nyssa throws an artefact into the centre of a tank-like structure in the centre of the sealed room. The results are immense. Kalid's mental channelling is interrupted and he collapses in agony. Hayter opens the base of a console and discovers mere electronics were the source of Kalid's power. Suddenly, Kalid rises from the floor, divesting himself of a mask and costume, revealing himself to be the Master in disguise, who observes that the Doctor never understands...


=== Part three ===
=== Part three ===
[[File:Timeflight_ep3.JPG|thumb|left|The [[Xeraphin]]]]
The Master is trapped in this time zone and is looking for a way out, but he needs a new source of power for his TARDIS. The power in the closed chamber could be it, but the passengers are taking too long to get to it. He forces the Doctor to give him the key to the TARDIS and steals the craft to try to enter the chamber another way. The Doctor and Hayter rush to the chamber to reach it first. As they do, the Concorde passengers finally break through the wall.
The Master is trapped in this time zone. He is looking for a way out and needs a new source of power for his TARDIS. The power in the closed chamber could be it, but the passengers are taking too long to get to it. He forces the Doctor to give him the key to the TARDIS and steals the craft to try to enter the chamber another way. The Doctor and Hayter rush to the chamber to reach it first. As they do, the Concorde passengers finally break through the wall.


Inside, the Doctor and Hayter are reunited with Nyssa and Tegan. The sarcophagus at its centre holds a being of immense power. However, it has a split personality . It has let itself be used by the Master and Nyssa. Nearby are small shrunken bodies. The Doctor identifies them as the [[Xeraphin]], a race of ancient beings believed destroyed during the [[Vardon-Kosnax War]].  
Inside, the Doctor and Hayter are reunited with Nyssa and Tegan. The sarcophagus at its centre holds a being of immense power. Nearby are small shrunken bodies, which the Doctor identifies as the [[Xeraphin]], a race of ancient beings believed destroyed during the [[Vardon-Kosnax War]]. Instead, the entire race seems to have transformed itself into a single gestalt intelligence in the tank. Hayter sacrifices himself to the creature to let it communicate and is absorbed into the entity.


Instead, the entire race seems to have transformed itself into a single gestalt intelligence in the tank. It has phenomenal psychic abilities. Hayter sacrifices himself to the creature to let it communicate. He is absorbed into the entity.  
The Xeraphin manifest as [[Anithon]]. It explains how they came to Earth to escape the war in the crashed spaceship on the plains. The Xeraphin were so harmed by radiation that they shed their bodies and became a single entity. The Xeraphin built the Citadel and planned to re-emerge from the sarcophagus once the radiation danger was over, but the Master's arrival disturbed the balance. The gestalt has developed a split personality of good and evil. Each side competes for their tremendous power but yearns to become a proper species once again.


The Xeraphin manifest as Anithon. It explains the entity came to Earth to escape the war. It came in the crashed spaceship on the plains. The Xeraphin were so harmed by radiation that they shed their bodies and became a single entity. The Xeraphin built the Citadel and planned to re-emerge from the sarcophagus once the radiation danger was over. The Master’s arrival disturbed the balance. The gestalt has developed a split personality of good and evil. Each side competes for their tremendous power, but yearns to become a proper species once again.
The Doctor has left the coordinate override switched on, and Captain Stapley has performed sabotage. The TARDIS won't take the Master into the central chamber. His next gambit is to build an induction loop to remotely access the sarcophagus and exert his will over it. The "evil" side of the Xeraphin responds. Within moments the sarcophagus is in the Master's TARDIS, providing him with a new power source.
 
The Doctor has left the coordinate override switched on, and Captain Stapley has performed sabotage. The TARDIS won't take the Master into the central chamber. His next gambit is to build an induction loop to remotely access the sarcophagus and exert his will over it. The bad Xeraphin responds. Within moments the sarcophagus is in the Master’s TARDIS, a new power source.


=== Part four ===
=== Part four ===
The Master tries to flee in his ship, with those passengers still deluded with him as slaves. He leaves the Doctor and his friends stranded. However, due to the sabotage by the Captain, the Master cannot leave prehistoric Earth. After some chaffering over missing parts, the Doctor has all the passengers released and some parts taken from his own TARDIS. In return, the Master gets a new temporal limiter.
The Master tries to flee in his ship, taking with him those passengers still deluded, as slaves. He leaves the Doctor and his friends stranded. However, due to the sabotage by the Captain, the Master cannot leave prehistoric Earth. After some chaffering over missing parts, the Doctor has all the passengers released and some parts taken from his own TARDIS. In return, the Master gets a new temporal limiter.


Everyone leaves prehistoric Earth. The second Concorde is made serviceable. It carries Stapley, his crew and the passengers from the other Concorde to Heathrow. The Doctor reverses the track of the time contour and brings the plane back to Heathrow with his TARDIS. The Doctor programmed the temporal limiter he gave the Master to arrive after he did. When the Master tries to land, the Doctor's TARDIS is already in the spot. He bounces the Master's TARDIS away. The evil Time Lord is sent to modern-day [[Xeriphas]], where the Doctor hopes the Xeraphin will exact their revenge.
The second Concorde is made serviceable and the crew and the passengers from the other Concorde return to Heathrow. The Doctor reverses the track of the time contour and brings the plane back to Heathrow with his TARDIS. The Doctor reveals that he programmed the temporal limiter he gave the Master to arrive after he did, and when the Master tries to land, the Doctor's TARDIS is already in the spot. He bounces the Master's TARDIS away into the [[Time Vortex]], sending it to modern-day [[Xeriphas]], where the Doctor hopes the Xeraphin will exact their revenge.


In a rush to leave, the Doctor and Nyssa head off in his TARDIS. They assume that now Tegan is back in her beloved Heathrow she will be happy to stay. Her sorrow as she sees the TARDIS dematerialise tells a different story.
In a rush to leave, the Doctor and Nyssa head off in the TARDIS. They assume that now Tegan is back in her own time, she will be happy to stay. However, her sorrow as she sees the TARDIS dematerialise tells a different story.


== Cast ==
== Cast ==
Line 78: Line 82:
* [[Nyssa]] - [[Sarah Sutton]]
* [[Nyssa]] - [[Sarah Sutton]]
* [[Tegan Jovanka]] - [[Janet Fielding]]
* [[Tegan Jovanka]] - [[Janet Fielding]]
* {{Ainley|c}} - Leon Ny Taiy/[[Anthony Ainley]]
* [[Kalid]] - [[Leon Ny Taiy]]
* [[Captain]] [[Stapley]] - [[Richard Easton]]
* Flight Engineer [[Roger Scobie|Scobie]] - [[Keith Drinkel]]
* First Officer [[Andrew Bilton|Bilton]] - [[Michael Cashman]]
* [[Horton]] - [[Peter Dahlsen]]
* [[Sheard]] - [[Brian McDermott]]
* Captain [[Urquhart]] - [[John Flint]]
* [[Andrews (Time-Flight)|Andrews]] - [[Peter Cellier]]
* [[Angela Clifford]] - [[Judith Byfield]]
* Professor [[Hayter]] - [[Nigel Stock]]
* Professor [[Hayter]] - [[Nigel Stock]]
* Captain [[Stapley]] - [[Richard Easton]]
* [[Andrew Bilton]] - [[Michael Cashman]]
* [[Roger Scobie]] - [[Keith Drinkel]]
* [[Adric]] - [[Matthew Waterhouse]]
* [[Adric]] - [[Matthew Waterhouse]]
* [[Andrews (Time-Flight)|Andrews]] - [[Peter Cellier]]
* [[Angela Clifford]] - [[Judith Byfield]]
* [[Anithon]] - [[Hugh Hayes]]
* [[Anithon]] - [[Hugh Hayes]]
* Captain [[Urquhart]] - [[John Flint]]
* [[Horton]] - [[Peter Dahlsen]]
* [[Sheard]] - [[Brian McDermott]]
* [[Zarak]] - [[André Winterton]]
* [[Zarak]] - [[André Winterton]]
* [[Tremas Master|The Master]] - [[Anthony Ainley]]


== Production Crew ==
=== Uncredited cast ===
* Passengers -  [[Leslie Adams]], [[Leslie Weeks]], [[Richard Atherton]], [[Simon Joseph]], [[Jim Morris]], [[Charles Millward]] [[Brychan Powell]], [[Edward Fraser]],  [[Clark Stephens]], [[George Romanov]], [[Tony Snell]], [[Dan Long]], [[Lionel Sansby]], [[Doctor Who and the Silurians uncredited cast|Alison McGuire]], [[Jane Bough]] [[Graham Jarvis]], [[Fred Redford]], [[Val McCrimmon]], [[Tim Oldroyd]], [[Sylvia Holmes]], [[Ann Higgins]], [[Gary Dean]], [[Jay Roberts]], [[Beverley Jennings]] [[Jackie Noble]], [[Margaret Pilleau]]  ([[DWM 294]]
* [[Dave Culshaw]] - [[Barney Lawrence]] ([[DWM 294]])
* Fight Engineer - [[Richard Bonehill]] ([[DWM 294]])
* First Officer - [[David Rogue]] ([[DWM 294]])
* Supervisors - [[Ken Sedd]], [[Douglas Stark]] ([[DWM 294]])
* Terminal Security Officer - [[Ron Gregory]] ([[DWM 294]])
* Policemen - [[James Muir]], [[Pat Gorman]], [[Les Conrad]], [[Derek Suthern]] ([[DWM 294]])
* Security Men - [[Steven Ismay|Steve Ismay]], [[Tommy Windward]], [[John Cannon]], [[Reg Woods]], [[Ridgewell Hawkes]] ([[DWM 294]])
* [[Plasmaton|Plasmations]] - [[Graham Jarvis]], [[Martin Grant]], [[Steve Fideli]], [[Christopher Holmes|Chris Holmes]], [[Giles Melville]], [[Paul Heasman]], [[Mykel Mills]], [[Nigel Tisdall]] ([[DWM 294]])
 
== Crew ==
* [[Assistant Floor Manager]] - [[Lynn Richards]]
* [[Assistant Floor Manager]] - [[Lynn Richards]]
* [[Costumes]] - [[Amy Roberts]]
* [[Costumes]] - [[Amy Roberts]]
Line 98: Line 114:
* [[Film Cameraman]] - [[Peter Chapman]]
* [[Film Cameraman]] - [[Peter Chapman]]
* [[Film Editor]] - [[Mike Houghton]]
* [[Film Editor]] - [[Mike Houghton]]
* [[Film sound|Film Sound]] - [[John Gatland]]
* [[Incidental Music]] - [[Roger Limb]]
* [[Incidental Music]] - [[Roger Limb]]
* [[Make-Up]] - [[Dorka Nieradzik]]
* [[Make-Up]] - [[Dorka Nieradzik]]
* [[Production Assistant]] - [[Joan Elliott]]
* [[Production Assistant]] - [[Joan Elliott]]
* [[Production Associate]] - [[Angela Smith]]
* [[Production Associate]] - [[Angela Smith]]
* [[Production Manager]] - [[Liz Mace]]
* [[Senior cameraman|Senior Cameraman]] - [[Alec Wheal]]
* [[Special Sounds]] - [[Dick Mills]]
* [[Special Sounds]] - [[Dick Mills]]
* [[Studio Lighting]] - [[Eric Wallis]]
* [[Studio Lighting]] - [[Eric Wallis]]
* [[Studio Sound]] - [[Martin Ridout]]
* [[Studio Sound]] - [[Martin Ridout]]
* [[Visual Effects]] - [[Peter Logan]]
* [[Technical manager|Technical Manager]] - [[Peter Granger]]
* [[Video effects|Video Effects]] - [[Dave Chapman]]
* [[Videotape editor|Videotape Editor]] - [[Rod Waldron]]
* [[Vision Mixer]] - [[Nigel Finnis]]
* [[Visual Effects Designer]] - [[Peter Logan]]
* [[Script Editor]] - [[Eric Saward]]
* [[Script Editor]] - [[Eric Saward]]
* [[Writer]] - [[Peter Grimwade]]
* [[Writer]] - [[Peter Grimwade]]
* [[Producer]] - [[John Nathan-Turner]]
* [[Producer]] - [[John Nathan-Turner]]
* [[Director]] - [[Ron Jones]]
* [[Director (crew)|Director]] - [[Ron Jones]]


== References ==
=== Uncredited crew ===
* [[Make-up assistant|Make-Up Assistant]] - [[Wendy Freeman]] ([[INFO]]: ''Time-Flight'')
* [[Floor assistant|Floor Assistant]] - [[Charles Beeson]] ([[INFO]]: ''Time-Flight'')
* [[Design assistant|Design Assistant]] - [[Derek Evans]] ([[INFO]]: ''Time-Flight'')
* [[Production secretary|Production Secretary]] - [[Jane Judge]] ([[INFO]]: ''Time-Flight'')
* [[Grams operator|Grams Operator]] - [[Tony Revell]] ([[INFO]]: ''Time-Flight'')
* [[Visual effects assistant|Effects Assistant]] - [[George Reed (crew)|George Reed]] ([[INFO]]: ''Time-Flight'')
* [[Studio engineer|Studio Engineers]] - [[Phil Irons]], [[Chris Nickolls]] ([[INFO]]: ''Time-Flight'')
* [[Graphics]] - [[Ian Hewett|Ian Hewitt]] ([[INFO]]: ''Time-Flight'')
* [[Lighting chargehand|Lighting Chargehands]] - [[Norman Fuggles]], [[Ted Gogarty]] ([[INFO]]: ''Time-Flight'')
* [[Costume dresser|Dressers]] - [[Mervin Bezar|Mervyn Bezar]], [[Robin Smith (dresser)|Robin Smith]], [[Heather Williams]] ([[INFO]]: ''Time-Flight'')
* [[Show working supervisor|Show Working Supervisor]] - [[Bill Lovely]] ([[INFO]]: ''Time-Flight'')
* [[Booker]] - [[Sarah Bird]] ([[INFO]]: ''Time-Flight'')
* [[Booking assistant|Booking Assistant]] - [[Sheila Hodges]] ([[INFO]]: ''Time-Flight'')
* [[Props buyer|Props Buyer]] - [[Al Huxley|Alan Huxley]] ([[INFO]]: ''Time-Flight'')
 
== Worldbuilding ==
=== Cricket ===
=== Cricket ===
* ''Time-Flight'' is a [[serial]] with several [[cricket]]ing references.  The Doctor's suggestion for how to get over the death of [[Adric]] involves going to [[The Great Exhibition]] of [[1851]] to watch some cricket legends play. He says he wants to see a few [[over (cricket)|over]]s with [[John Wisden|Wisden]] and [[Fuller Pilch|Pilch]]. At the end of the story, he claims to have hit a [[straight six into the pavilion]] by putting his TARDIS in the space where [[the Master's TARDIS|the Master's]] was materialising, forcing the Master to go back into the [[time vortex]].
* The Doctor suggests going to [[The Great Exhibition]] of [[1851]] to watch some cricket legends play. He says he wants to see a few [[over (cricket)|overs]] with [[John Wisden|Wisden]] and [[Fuller Pilch|Pilch]].
* The Doctor claims to have hit a [[straight six into the pavilion]] by putting his TARDIS in the space where [[the Master's TARDIS|the Master's]] was materialising, forcing the Master to go back into the [[Time Vortex]].
 
=== Food and drink ===
* Hayter suggests Angela should think of [[fish and chips]], in order to ground herself in reality.


=== Individuals ===
=== Individuals ===
* The Doctor mentions [[Varsh]] in relation to [[Adric]]'s death.
* The Doctor mentions [[Varsh (Full Circle)|Varsh]] in relation to [[Adric]]'s death.
* Sir [[John Sudbury]] is the Doctor's contact within UNIT's department C19.
* Sir [[John Sudbury]] is the Doctor's contact within UNIT's department C19.
* When Nyssa and Tegan try to reach the sanctum, images of [[Adric]], the [[Melkur]] and a [[Terileptil]] appear in order to dissuade them from going on any further.
* When Nyssa and Tegan try to reach the sanctum, images of [[Adric]], the [[Melkur]] and the disfigured [[Terileptil]] appear in order to dissuade them from going on any further.
* [[Dave Culshaw]] is a flight attendant on Golf Victor Foxtrot.
* [[Dave Culshaw]] and [[Angela Clifford]] were on Golf Victor Foxtrot.


=== Organisations ===
=== Organisations ===
* The Doctor mentions [[UNIT]]. He name drops [[Brigadier Lethbridge-Stewart]] and wonders if he's a general by now.
* The Doctor mentions [[UNIT]]. He name drops [[Alistair Gordon Lethbridge-Stewart|Brigadier Lethbridge-Stewart]] and wonders if he's a general by now.


=== TARDIS ===
=== TARDIS ===
* [[The Master's TARDIS]] has a working [[chameleon circuit]], but its [[dynormorphic generator]] has been exhausted, leaving him stranded on prehistoric [[Earth]] where he has made a deal with the [[Xeraphin]].
* [[The Master's TARDIS]] has a working [[chameleon circuit]], but its [[dynamorphic generator]] has been exhausted, leaving him stranded on prehistoric [[Earth]] where he made a deal with the [[Xeraphin]].
* The TARDIS interior can be levelled with reference to its exterior doorway. Nyssa says that she wishes they had "known about that when we were on [[Castrovalva]]".
* The TARDIS interior can be levelled with reference to its exterior doorway. Nyssa says that she wishes they had "known about that when we were on [[Castrovalva]]".


=== Time travel ===
=== Time travel ===
* Tegan and Nyssa ask the Doctor to turn back in time and save Adric's life. The Doctor says [[fixed point in time|he can't]].
* The Master generates a [[time contour]] to capture the Concorde.
* The Master generates a [[time contour]] to capture the Concorde.
=== Vehicles ===
* [[Golf Victor Foxtrot]] (the callsign of the first Concorde) is left behind on prehistoric Earth.


== Story notes ==
== Story notes ==
* Working titles for this story were ''Zanadin'' and ''Xeraphin''.
* Working titles for this story were ''Zanadin'', ''Xeraphin'' and ''Flight into Time''. ([[DWM 472]])
* [[British Airways]] were given a copy of the script before filming. They asked for changes to parts that could be considered detrimental to the company, including one line where a flight attendant refers to the passengers as "punters". ([[DCOM]]: ''Time-Flight'')
* [[British Airways]] were given a copy of the script before filming. They asked for changes to parts of the story that could be considered detrimental to the company, including one line where a flight attendant refers to the passengers as "punters". ([[DCOM]]: ''Time-Flight'')
* This story is perhaps the only evidence of product placement throughout the whole of ''Doctor Who''. ''Time-Flight'' was the first television story allowed to film at Heathrow Airport and the first to be allowed to film in an actual Concorde aircraft.
* This story is perhaps the only evidence of product placement throughout the whole of ''Doctor Who''. ''Time-Flight'' was the first television story allowed to film at Heathrow Airport and the first to be allowed to film in an actual Concorde aircraft.
* Anthony Ainley is credited as 'Leon Ny Taiy' in Part One's credits to disguise the fact that Kalid was actually the Master. 'Leon Ny Taiy'  is an anagram of 'Tony Ainley'.
* [[Anthony Ainley]] is credited under the pseudonym Leon Ny Taiy in part one's credits to disguise the fact that Kalid was actually the Master. "Leon Ny Taiy" is an anagram of "Tony Ainley", a similar trick to disguising the identity of the Portreeve in ''[[Castrovalva (TV story)|Castrovalva]]''.
* Nigel Stock (Professor Hayter) is credited as 'Hayter' in ''Radio Times''.
* [[Nigel Stock]] (Professor Hayter) is credited as "Hayter" in ''Radio Times''.
* The story follows on directly from ''[[Earthshock]]'', at the conclusion of which companion [[Adric]] was killed aboard a space freighter which crashed into the Earth. At the beginning of this story, Nyssa and Tegan plead with the Doctor to go back and save him, but the Doctor refuses. In Part 2, Waterhouse makes a cameo appearance as an apparition version of Adric. Waterhouse stated in an interview it was a good point to leave, as ''Time-Flight'' "was a terrible story".
* The story follows on directly from ''[[Earthshock (TV story)|Earthshock]]'', at the conclusion of which companion [[Adric]] was killed aboard a space freighter which crashed into the Earth. At the beginning of ''Time-Flight'', Nyssa and Tegan plead with the Doctor to go back and save him, but the Doctor refuses on the grounds that, even with the TARDIS, there are laws of time that cannot be broken. In part two, Waterhouse makes a cameo appearance as an apparition version of Adric. Waterhouse stated in an interview it was a good point to leave, as ''Time-Flight'' "was a terrible story".
* Adric's cameo as an apparition in this story both satisfied [[Matthew Waterhouse|the actor's]] contract and [[John Nathan-Turner]]'s intent that the story contain Waterhouse in the combined cast list for parts one/two in ''[[Radio Times]]'', which was printed a week early, to maintain the surprise of Adric's death in the preceding story, ''[[Earthshock (TV story)|Earthshock]]''. ([[DOC]]: [[THWR 97]]).
* Plans were underway for [[AudioGO]] to produce an audiobook of the [[Time-Flight (novelisation)|novelisation of this story]] narrated by [[Matthew Waterhouse]]. Although Waterhouse agreed to participate, the demise of AudioGO put paid to the project. ([[DOC]]: [[THWR 97]]).
* When the TARDIS first lands in the terminal building at Heathrow, a woman announces over the speaker system that Air Australia apologises for the delay of one of its flights. At the end of the story, when Tegan is walking through the terminal, the same woman announces that the Air Australia flight is ready for boarding.
* When the TARDIS first lands in the terminal building at Heathrow, a woman announces over the speaker system that Air Australia apologises for the delay of one of its flights. At the end of the story, when Tegan is walking through the terminal, the same woman announces that the Air Australia flight is ready for boarding.
* This serial marks the end of the Doctor trying to get Tegan home.
* [[Peter Davison]] considers this to be the worst story of his tenure, stating it was a "very good story, but we had run out of money. We filmed the prehistoric landscape of Heathrow Airport in Studio 8 [at TV Centre] with a model Concorde in the back of the studio. The monsters were bits of foam. We didn't do the story justice." He found it frustrating knowing that what they were rehearsing was going to "look like a pile of crap". The story's low budget would explain why Heathrow Airport's Air Traffic Control as depicted on-screen consists of only two men in a small room.
* [[Janet Fielding]] claimed on the [[DVD]] commentary that she didn't remember it being this bad until she re-watched it.
* [[Sarah Sutton]] disliked the story, largely because she had no idea what was going on in it.
* [[Terence Alexander]], [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peter_Arne Peter Arne], [[Keith Barron]], [[Brian Blessed]], [[John Carson]], [[Michael Craig]], [[Paul Darrow]], [[Peter Gilmore]], [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_Gothard Michael Gothard], [[John Hallam (actor)|John Hallam]], [[Terrence Hardiman]], [[Del Henney]], [[Glyn Houston]], [[Martin Jarvis]], [[William Lucas]], [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Conrad_Phillips Conrad Phillips], [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anthony_Valentine Anthony Valentine] and [[Frank Windsor]] were considered for the role of Captain Stanley.
* [[Bernard Archard]], [[Geoffrey Bayldon]], [[John Carson]], [[Peter Cushing]], [[Maurice Denham]], [[Michael Gough]] and [[William Lucas]] were considered for the role of Professor Hayter.
* [[Dallas Adams]], [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sean_Arnold Sean Arnold], [[Colin Baker]], [[Andrew Burt]], [[Tom Chadbon]], [[Michael Cochrane]], [[Ian Collier]], [[Forbes Collins]], [[Eric Deacon]], [[Jack Galloway]], [[Richard Heffer]], [[Paul Jerricho]], [[Ian McCulloch]], [[Clive Merrison]], [[Terry Molloy]], [[Edward Peel]], [[Martin Potter]], [[Jeff Rawle]], [[Carl Rigg]], [[Patrick Ryecart]], [[Malcolm Stoddard]], [[Donald Sumpter]], [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_Swann_(actor) Robert Swann], [[Malcolm Tierney]] and [[Stephen Yardley]] were considered for the roles of Scobie, Bilton and Sheard.
* [[Eric Saward]] wanted the Master to be killed off in this story, as he felt the character had outlived his welcome.
* During one meeting, [[Peter Grimwade]] ran an errand with [[Christopher H. Bidmead]] at Heathrow Airport, which inspired the notion of involving Concorde. Bidmead thought that this would be a nice way to bridge the writer's fantastical notions with reality, while Grimwade himself hoped it might lead to a chance to ride aboard Concorde. 
* Some of the character surnames in the story had to be changed because negative checks by the BBC's Legal Department revealed there were actual British Airways employees with those names. Irving became Markham and then Urquhart, while Rathbone became Stapley. Flight Engineer Tulley was subsequently rechristened Scobie.
* [[Peter Grimwade]] originally submitted the script for [[Season 18 (Doctor Who 1963)|Season 18]], where it would have served as the season finale.
* [[Sarah Sutton]] recalled that it was very cold on location, so much that it drove [[Janet Fielding]] to tears.
* [[Ron Jones]] claimed that it was impossible to realise a prehistoric heath indoors, but acknowledged that it would have taken too long and been expensive to do outdoors.
* [[Eric Saward]] felt the script could have worked with a more dynamic director.
* The Concorde used for the production was G-BOAC, the flagship of the BA fleet at the time. The registry can be read from the radar screen in the ATC scenes. The other registry, G-BAVF, was not a Concorde, but a Beechcraft 58 twin-engined light executive aircraft.
* When playing the Master disguised as Kalid, [[Anthony Ainley]] demanded that he be given a bald cap to wear over his wig.
* [[Peter Grimwade]] hoped to direct his script himself, but he was assigned to direct [[Earthshock (TV story)|''Earthshock.'']]
* [[Andrew Morgan]] was asked to direct, but he was unimpressed by the script and was then offered another opportunity he found more enticing.
* A scratch was subsequently discovered on some of the Concorde footage. Since there was no way to re-record the material, judicious edits were required.
* In addition to the work at Heathrow, [[Ron Jones]] had hoped that some of the scenes on the prehistoric heath might also be filmed on location or, alternatively, at [[Ealing Studios|the BBC Television Film Studios]] He was disappointed to learn that the budget would not permit this.
* There was considerable unhappiness regarding the Plasmaton costumes, which had been constructed by the freelance firm [[Imagineering]]. The intent had been to create something inhuman, but insufficient thought had been given to the eyesight of those wearing the outfits. Unable to see, the Plasmaton performers had to remain virtually immobile, and were scarcely able to generate a sense of menace.
* Part three ran short, so [[Eric Saward]] asked [[Peter Grimwade]] to develop a further seven minutes of action, so Grimwade provided various new and extended scenes, including more material involving Bilton and Stapley spying on the Master, and later trying to pilot the TARDIS; and additional exposition about the Xeraphin.
* A double stood in for [[Anthony Ainley]] during Kalid's transformation at the end of this episode so Ainley could prepare for the rest of the scene. The double nearly choked to death when his mouth and nose began to fill with the green fluid.
* According to Eric Saward, it took several hours for the production team to decide if the title of the story should be hyphenated or not. ([[DCOM]]: ''Time-Flight'')


=== Ratings ===
=== Ratings ===
* Part One - 10.1 million viewers
* Part one - 10.1 million viewers
* Part Two - 8.5 million viewers
* Part two - 8.5 million viewers
* Part Three - 9.1 million viewers
* Part three - 9.1 million viewers
* Part Four - 8.3 million viewers
* Part four - 8.3 million viewers


Episode 1 marked the last time the classic series exceeded 10 million viewers. By its final season, viewership would have dropped to the 3-4 million range. Discounting the 1996 TV movie, a rating exceeding 10 million viewers would not be achieved again until ''[[Rose (TV story)|Rose]]''.
Part one marked the last time the classic series exceeded 10 million viewers. By the final seasons, viewership had dropped to the 3-4 million range. Discounting the 1996 TV movie, a rating exceeding 10 million viewers would not be achieved again until ''[[Rose (TV story)|Rose]]''.
 
=== Myths ===
* Tegan was written out at the end of the story as [[Janet Fielding]]'s contract expired. When [[John Nathan-Turner]] was able to re-sign her, ''[[Arc of Infinity (TV story)|Arc of Infinity]]'' was rewritten to have Tegan re-joining the Doctor. (''There's nothing to indicate this''.)


=== Filming locations ===
=== Filming locations ===
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=== Production errors ===
=== Production errors ===
{{discontinuity}}
{{discontinuity}}
* Heathrow airport is clearly visible in the background, as the plane takes off from the Jurassic period.
* Heathrow Airport is clearly visible in the background as the aircraft takes off from the Jurassic period.
* When the Master re-enters his TARDIS in part four, the TARDIS prop visibly wobbles.


== Continuity ==
== Continuity ==
* The Master last appeared on screen in [[TV]]: ''[[Castrovalva (TV story)|Castrovalva]]''. At the end of that story, the Doctor thought that he might have been destroyed when the illusory city of [[Castrovalva]] vanished.
* The Doctor, Tegan and Nyssa discuss Adric's death. ([[TV]]: ''[[Earthshock (TV story)|Earthshock]]'') The Doctor says he died trying to save lives, like his brother [[Varsh (Full Circle)|Varsh]]. ([[TV]]: ''[[Full Circle (TV story)|Full Circle]]'')
* Tegan reappears in [[TV]]: ''[[Arc of Infinity (TV story)|Arc of Infinity]]''.
* The Doctor thought that the Master might have been destroyed when the illusory city of [[Castrovalva]] vanished. ([[TV]]: ''[[Castrovalva (TV story)|Castrovalva]]'')
* The Doctor quells possible hostility from airport security by name-dropping UNIT. He wonders if [[Alistair Gordon Lethbridge-Stewart]] is a general by now. At this point, the Brigadier has not been seen since ''[[Terror of the Zygons (TV story)|Terror of the Zygons]]'' in [[1975]].
* Tegan will later rejoin the Doctor and Nyssa. ([[TV]]: ''[[Arc of Infinity (TV story)|Arc of Infinity]]'')
* The TARDIS previously landed in the future location of Heathrow in [[TV]]: ''[[The Visitation (TV story)|The Visitation]]'', but in [[August]] [[1666]].
* The TARDIS previously landed in the future location of Heathrow, but in [[August]] [[1666]]. ([[TV]]:''[[The Visitation (TV story)|The Visitation]]'')
* In [[1966]], the [[Second Doctor]] and companions visited another [[London]] airport, [[Gatwick Airport]]. ([[TV]]: ''[[The Faceless Ones (TV story)|The Faceless Ones]]'')
* Upon commenting on prehistoric London's cold weather, the Doctor states that "at times like this, I wish I still had [[The Doctor's scarf|my scarf]]." ([[TV]]: ''[[Robot (TV story)|Robot]]'' - ''[[Castrovalva (TV story)|Castrovalva]]'')
* When Nyssa and Tegan try to reach the sanctum, images of Adric, the [[Melkur]] ([[TV]]: ''[[The Keeper of Traken (TV story)|The Keeper of Traken]]'') and a [[Terileptil]] ([[TV]]: ''[[The Visitation (TV story)|The Visitation]]'') appear in order to dissuade them from going on any further.
* On [[20 July]] [[1966]], the [[Second Doctor]] and his companions [[Ben Jackson]], [[Polly Wright]] and [[Jamie McCrimmon]] visited another [[London]] airport, [[Gatwick Airport]]. ([[TV]]: ''[[The Faceless Ones (TV story)|The Faceless Ones]]'')
* When Nyssa and Tegan try to reach the sanctum, images of Adric, the [[Melkur]] ([[TV]]: ''[[The Keeper of Traken (TV story)|The Keeper of Traken]]'') and the disfigured [[Terileptil]] from London in [[1666]] ([[TV]]: ''[[The Visitation (TV story)|The Visitation]]'') appear in order to dissuade them from going on any further.
* Nyssa mentions that the Master killed her father [[Tremas]]. ([[TV]]: ''[[The Keeper of Traken (TV story)|The Keeper of Traken]]'')
* Nyssa mentions that the Master killed her father [[Tremas]]. ([[TV]]: ''[[The Keeper of Traken (TV story)|The Keeper of Traken]]'')
* The Doctor tries to take Nyssa and Tegan to the Great Exhibition in [[London]] in [[1851]], but they arrive at Heathrow Airport. Later in his personal timeline, the [[Eighth Doctor]] and his companions [[Charlotte Pollard|Charley Pollard]] and [[C'rizz]] would visit the Great Exhibition, where Charley met and befriended the elderly [[Arthur Wellesley|Duke of Wellington]]. ([[AUDIO]]: ''[[Other Lives (audio story)|Other Lives]]'')
* The Doctor tries to take Nyssa and Tegan to the Great Exhibition in [[London]] in [[1851]], but they arrive at Heathrow Airport. Later in his personal timeline, the [[Eighth Doctor]] and his companions [[Charley Pollard]] and [[C'rizz]] would visit the Great Exhibition, where Charley met and befriended the elderly [[Arthur Wellesley|Duke of Wellington]]. ([[AUDIO]]: ''[[Other Lives (audio story)|Other Lives]]'') During his [[eleventh incarnation]], the Doctor would later return to the Great Exhibition in the company of [[Amy Pond]] and [[Rory Williams]] and encounter the [[Hypothetical Gentleman]]. On that occasion, he mentioned that he had to be careful not to run into himself. ([[COMIC]]: ''[[Hypothetical Gentleman (comic story)|Hypothetical Gentleman]]'')
* The Doctor tells Nyssa and Tegan that he cannot travel back in time and save Adric as his death is part of established events. He previously told Adric himself the same after [[Autumn Tace]] was killed by the [[Star Man|Star Men]]. ([[AUDIO]]: ''[[The Star Men (audio story)|The Star Men]]'')
* [[Gevaudan]] previously detected Nyssa's psychic abilities. ([[AUDIO]]: ''[[Zaltys (audio story)|Zaltys]]'')
* The [[Eighth Doctor]] would later recall his Fifth incarnation reading a newspaper while in Heathrow Airport in January 1982, confirming that this story occurred in January. ([[AUDIO]]: ''[[Divine Intervention (audio story)|Divine Intervention]]'')


== Home video and audio releases ==
== Home video and audio releases ==
Line 174: Line 247:
This story was originally released in a double-pack with ''[[Arc of Infinity (TV story)|Arc of Infinity]]'' in Region 2 and Region 4, but released singly in Region 1.
This story was originally released in a double-pack with ''[[Arc of Infinity (TV story)|Arc of Infinity]]'' in Region 2 and Region 4, but released singly in Region 1.


The R2 and R4 cover art of this story and ''Arc of Infinity'' shows the "Peter Davison Years" as 1981-1984. All other Davison-era releases have claimed the years as 1982-1984, in deference to the January, 1982 broadcast of ''[[Castrovalva (TV story)|Castrovalva]]''. However, there is justification for calling the era 1981-1984, as that's the period of time Davison actually worked on the programme. Like [[Jon Pertwee]], Davison fell victim to the [[BBC]]'s decision to push back the premiere of his first series to the start of the new calendar year. Neither actor is generally credited for their first year on the job, making their eras appear a little shorter than they actually were. While Pertwee only filmed about half of [[Season 7]] in 1969, almost everything of [[Season 19]] was filmed in 1981. Indeed, Davison's first work on the series — his [[regeneration]] scene — had been filmed on [[9 January (production)|9 January]] 1981, almost a full year prior to the release of ''Castrovalva''. Ironically, the only part of Davison's initial year ''not'' filmed in 1981 was ''this'' story. All told, Davison's time in front of the cameras as the Doctor lasted from 9 January 1981 to [[12 January (production)|12 January]] 1984 — almost precisely the three-year tenure he had been advised by [[Patrick Troughton]] to undertake.
The R2 and R4 cover art of this story and ''Arc of Infinity'' shows the "Peter Davison Years" as 1981-1984. All other Davison-era releases have claimed the years as 1982-1984, in deference to the January 1982 broadcast of ''[[Castrovalva (TV story)|Castrovalva]]''. However, there is justification for calling the era 1981-1984, as that's the period of time Davison actually worked on the programme. Like [[Jon Pertwee]], Davison fell victim to the [[BBC]]'s decision to push back the premiere of his first series to the start of the new calendar year. Neither actor is generally credited for their first year on the job, making their eras appear a little shorter than they actually were. While Pertwee only filmed about half of [[Season 7 (Doctor Who 1963)|Season 7]] in 1969, almost everything of [[Season 19 (Doctor Who 1963)|Season 19]] was filmed in 1981. Indeed, Davison's first work on the series — his [[regeneration]] scene — had been filmed on [[9 January (production)|9 January]] 1981, almost a full year prior to the release of ''Castrovalva''. Ironically, the only part of Davison's initial year ''not'' filmed in 1981 was ''this'' story. All told, Davison's time in front of the cameras as the Doctor lasted from 9 January 1981 to [[12 January (production)|12 January]] 1984 — almost precisely the three-year tenure he had been advised by [[Patrick Troughton]] to undertake, and the length of his three-year contract.


* Region 2 - [[6 August (releases)|6 August]] [[2007 (releases)|2007]]
* Region 2 - [[6 August (releases)|6 August]] [[2007 (releases)|2007]]
::PAL - BBCDVD2327
::PAL - BBCDVD2327


* region 4 [[5 September (releases)|5 September]] 2007
* Region 4 - [[5 September (releases)|5 September]] 2007
::PAL -
::PAL -


* Region 1 - [[6 November (releases)|6 November]] 2007
* Region 1 - [[6 November (releases)|6 November]] 2007


Contents:
==== Special features: ====
* Commentary by actors [[Peter Davison]] (the Doctor), [[Janet Fielding]] (Tegan), [[Sarah Sutton]] (Nyssa) and script editor [[Eric Saward]].
* Commentary by actors [[Peter Davison]] ([[Fifth Doctor|the Doctor]]), [[Janet Fielding]] ([[Tegan Jovanka|Tegan]]), [[Sarah Sutton]] ([[Nyssa]]) and script editor [[Eric Saward]]
* ''[[Mouth on Legs]]'' - Actress Janet Fielding talks about playing Tegan Jovanka.
* ''[[Mouth on Legs (documentary)|Mouth on Legs]]'' - Actress Janet Fielding talks about playing Tegan Jovanka
* Deleted Scenes.
* Deleted Scenes
* ''[[Jurassic Larks]]'' - Behind-the-scenes action from the studio recording sessions.
* ''[[Jurassic Larks]]'' - Behind-the-scenes action from the studio recording sessions
* Out-takes - Fluffs and technical gaffs from the story's production.
* Out-takes - Fluffs and technical gaffs from the story's production
* Interview - A short interview with the story's writer, the late [[Peter Grimwade]].
* Interview - A short interview with the story's writer, the late [[Peter Grimwade]].
* 1983 [[Doctor Who annual|''Doctor Who'' annual]] (PDF DVD-ROM)
* ''[[Doctor Who Annual 1983|The Doctor Who Annual 1983]]'' - (PDF DVD-ROM)
* ''Radio Times'' Listings.
* ''[[Radio Times]]'' Listings
* Programme Subtitles.
* Programme Subtitles
* Photo Gallery - Includes unreleased incidental music by [[Roger Limb]].
* Production Subtitles
* Coming Soon Trailer.
* Photo Gallery - Includes unreleased incidental music by [[Roger Limb]]
* Coming Soon trailer - ''[[The Time Warrior (TV story)|The Time Warrior]]''


Notes:
==== Notes: ====
* Editing for DVD release completed by [[Doctor Who Restoration Team]].
* Due to a printing error, the words "Tegan and" are bolder than usual in the synopsis on the back cover of some of the releases.
* Similarly, due to a printing error, "Coming Soon trailer" is listed twice in the Special Features list on the back cover of some of the releases.
* Editing for DVD release completed by the [[Doctor Who Restoration Team]].


<gallery position=center captionalign=center hideaddbutton="true" >
<gallery position="center" captionalign="center" hideaddbutton="true">
File:Bbcdvd-timeflight.jpg|DVD Region 2 UK cover
File:Bbcdvd-timeflight.jpg|DVD Region 2 UK cover
File:Time flight region4.jpg|DVD Region 4 AUS cover
File:Time flight region4.jpg|DVD Region 4 AUS cover
File:DrWho TimeFlight.jpg|DVD Region 1 US cover
File:Time-flight.jpg|DVD Region 1 US cover
</gallery>
</gallery>


==== Box set ====
==== Box set ====
<gallery position=center captionalign=center hideaddbutton="true" >
<gallery position="center" captionalign="center" hideaddbutton="true">
File:Dvd-r2-teganbox.jpg|DVD Region 2 UK cover
File:Dvd-r2-teganbox.jpg|DVD Region 2 UK cover
File:Time-Flight and Arc of Infinity DVD boxset Australian cover.jpg|DVD Region 4 Australian cover
File:Time-Flight and Arc of Infinity DVD boxset Australian cover.jpg|DVD Region 4 Australian cover
Line 213: Line 289:


=== Video releases ===
=== Video releases ===
<gallery position=center captionalign=center hideaddbutton="true" >
<gallery position="center" captionalign="center" hideaddbutton="true">
File:Time-Flight VHS UK cover.jpg|VHS UK cover
File:Time-Flight VHS UK cover.jpg|VHS UK cover
File:Time-Flight VHS US cover.jpg|VHS US cover
File:Time-Flight VHS US cover.jpg|VHS US cover
Time-Flight.jpg|VHS AUS cover
Time-Flight.jpg|VHS AUS cover
</gallery>
</gallery>
=== Digital releases ===
* The story is available for streaming in Canada & the US through BritBox or Amazon Instant Video in the UK.
* It is also available to download through iTunes.


== External links ==
== External links ==
* {{bbcepguideclassic|timeflight/|Time-Flight}}
* {{bbcepguideclassic|timeflight/|Time-Flight}}
* {{radiotimes|2012-01-21/time-flight}}
{{dwcast}}
{{dwcast}}
* {{dwrefguide|who_6c.htm|Time-Flight}}
{{dwrefguide|who_6c.htm|Time-Flight}}
* {{briefhistory|serials/6c.html|Time-Flight}}
* {{briefhistory|serials/6c.html|Time-Flight}}
* {{locguide|timeflight|Time-Flight}}
* {{locguide|timeflight|Time-Flight}}
* [http://doctor-who-collectors.wikia.com/wiki/Time-Flight_%26_Arc_of_Infinity The Doctor Who Collectors Wiki - '''Time-Flight & Arc of Infinity''']
{{DWTV}}
{{DWTV}}
{{Master stories}}
{{Tremas Master stories}}
 
{{TitleSort}}
{{TitleSort}}
{{ImageLinkTV}}


[[Category:Articles that were originally Wikipedia forks]]
[[Category:Articles that were originally Wikipedia forks]]
[[Category:Doctor Who (1963) television stories]]
[[Category:Doctor Who (1963) television stories]]
[[Category:Fifth Doctor television stories]]
[[Category:Tremas Master television stories]]
[[Category:The Master television stories]]
[[Category:Stories set on Earth]]
[[Category:1982 television stories]]
[[Category:Season 19 stories]]
[[Category:Season 19 stories]]
[[Category:Stories set in the 1980s]]
[[Category:Stories set in the distant past]]
[[Category:Stories set in the distant past]]
[[Category:Stories set in London]]
[[Category:Stories set in London]]
[[Category:Four part serials]]
[[Category:Four part serials]]
[[Category:Pseudo-historical stories]]
[[Category:Terileptil stories]]
[[Category:Stories set in 1982]]


[[de:{{StoryTitle}}]]
[[de:Time-Flight]]

Latest revision as of 11:28, 3 August 2024

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Time-Flight was the seventh and final serial of season 19 of Doctor Who.

For those interested in viewing statistics, it's a highly significant story, because different surveys of audience reaction have produced widely polarising results. The most statistically valid of these measures — the actual television ratings — show that part one was the most successful episode in John Nathan-Turner's entire producership. The 26th-most-watched episode of British television in the week of initial transmission, it was the only time he cracked the top 30. However, the story also shed about two million viewers from beginning to end.

Fan opinion — which, of course, is never the subject of truly valid statistical investigation — has changed dramatically over the years. Those who responded to DWM 69's season 19 poll held it in reasonably high regard, placing it as the fourth-best serial of the year, ahead of Castrovalva, Four to Doomsday and Kinda. Decades later, those fans responding to DWM 413's "Mighty 200" poll in 2009 cited it as the 196th of the 200 stories that were then produced. Similarly, fan response to the "first 50 years" poll in DWM 474 in 2014 cited it as the 237th out of the 241 stories up to that point in time, and the 60th anniversary poll in DWM 591 saw it join the others as the consistently lowest-ranked Fifth Doctor story. A part of the explanation for this massive shift in negative momentum may be that fan leaders such as Paul Cornell and David J. Howe savaged the story in references works like The Discontinuity Guide and The Television Companion, whose influence multiplied when BBCi, and later BBC Online, incorporated those opinions into the official Doctor Who website. Thus people skimming the official site in the 2000s and 2010s could well believe that opinion of the BBC runs along the lines of, "Somebody, somewhere should have thrown this script in the bin the moment it had Concorde crash landing in Jurassic England..."

Narratively, the story contained what appeared, at the time of transmission, to be the final appearance of Tegan. Tegan was left behind at Heathrow Airport at the conclusion of part four. This appeared to end her story since many stories that year had begun with an on-going attempt to get her back to Heathrow. She would later return at the beginning of the next season. It also serves as Adric's last regular appearance (albeit only as a hallucination), after his death in the previous serial Earthshock. This episode followed directly after the death of Adric and attempted to show the TARDIS crew coping with his loss, but noticeably downplayed their reactions, coming off a story that ended on the highly emotional bombshell that Adric was killed.

Synopsis[[edit] | [edit source]]

While investigating a vanishing Concorde at Heathrow Airport, the Doctor and his companions are thrown millions of years back in time, where a mysterious alien called Kalid is trying to control the ancient powers of the Xeraphin.

Plot[[edit] | [edit source]]

Part one[[edit] | [edit source]]

On a regular flight from New York to London, a Concorde designated Golf Victor Foxtrot (GVF) is nearing Heathrow Airport when its signal breaks up. All trace of the aircraft is lost — the Concorde has disappeared.

Having dropped Scott, Briggs and Berger off safely in their own time, and with the Cyber-fleet dispersed, the Fifth Doctor, Nyssa and Tegan prepare to depart 26th century Earth. When Tegan tries to persuade the Doctor to travel back and rescue Adric from the doomed freighter, the Time Lord angrily tells her and Nyssa that, even with the TARDIS, there are laws of time he cannot break and they should never ask him to do such a thing again. After this angry outburst, the Doctor explains, more gently this time, that they must accept Adric is dead. He hastens them to move straight from their grief to acceptance, knowing that Adric would not want the group to mourn him. He also notes Adric's life wasn't wasted; Adric died trying to save others, just like his brother, Varsh, and had made a choice in sacrificing himself. Nyssa and Tegan finally accept Adric's death and remark that they will miss him.

The Doctor suggests a visit to the Great Exhibition of 1851 to cheer them up, towards which they depart. En route, they encounter heavy turbulence and are forced to materialise. The Doctor, Nyssa and Tegan find themselves hovering over a runway at Heathrow. They dematerialise again and end up in a terminal at Heathrow where, thanks to the Doctor using his UNIT credentials, they are enlisted by Department C19 to help in the investigation of the missing aircraft.

The trio board a similar Concorde, Golf Alpha Charlie, and follow the same flight path to try to discover the cause of the disappearing Concorde. The TARDIS is stowed on board. Stapley, the Concorde's captain and his senior crew welcome them aboard. During the flight, the Doctor finds traces of disturbance. When the Concorde lands and everyone departs, they believe they have landed safely back at Heathrow.

Suddenly, Nyssa screams. Seeing a number of skeletons, she realises that something is wrong. The Doctor notices as well, but Tegan and the crew still believe they have are at modern Heathrow. The Doctor and Nyssa urge them to challenge this perception and they realise the reality of the empty landscape. They have travelled a hundred and forty million years into the past, into the Jurassic era; it has been distorted by huge amounts of psychokinetic energy. They spot the missing Concorde, Victor-Foxtrot, on the empty plain. Beyond it is an impressive citadel in the far distance and the remains of an alien spacecraft.

The Doctor and his friends find the crew and passengers of the first Concorde, who are moving the TARDIS toward the Citadel on the instructions of an alien entity. Everyone is totally immersed in the illusion of a modern Heathrow — all, that is, save one passenger, Professor Hayter, who has resisted the illusion. Andrew Bilton and Roger Scobie follow the people carrying the TARDIS, but are captured and transported to the Citadel where they are hypnotised. The GVF crew's progress is marshalled by the Plasmatons — blobs of protein from the atmosphere, assembled from random particles that are held together by the same kinetic energy.

Part two[[edit] | [edit source]]

The force in charge of this strange domain is Kalid, who seems to be an oriental mystic. He uses a glowing green globe to control psychokinetic energy and shape the prehistoric landscape of Earth.

Nyssa has a particular empathy with this energy, and she starts getting visions and hearing voices. They are unwelcome to Kalid, and he tries to cut her off from the others with a protoplasmic shield. Tegan stays with Nyssa while the Doctor ventures on to the Citadel with Hayter and Stapley. There they find the crew of Victor-Foxtrot, blindly trying to remove the walls of a sealed chamber.

Stapley and Hayter try to free the others from the mental illusion while the Doctor heads to the Citadel, where he meets Kalid. The green-tinged magician has evidently brought a slave force to prehistoric Earth. He taps into the psychokinetic powers of the place and uses the energies to menace Hayter, Stapley and the others to try to secure the Doctor's cooperation in entering his TARDIS.

This exertion has broken Kalid's mental hold over the Plasmatons around Nyssa and they disperse. Nyssa and Tegan follow the former's instincts and proceed through the Citadel. Along their way, they come across Adric, who warns that he will die again if Nyssa and Tegan continue onwards, and urges them to retreat. However, Nyssa outs Adric as a mere apparition upon noticing his star-shaped badge for mathematical excellence, which the Doctor destroyed when he lethally ground it into the Cyber-Leader's ventilation unit aboard the TARDIS. Knowing this, they press on, causing "Adric" to dissipate with a scream. Continuing on, they encounter apparitions of the Melkur, who was destroyed on Traken; and the disfigured Terileptil, who was burnt to death in 17th-Century London; Nyssa and Tegan respectively denounce the villains' existence and continue. Eventually, they enter a chamber in the Citadel that has been closed to Kalid and the mentally deluded passengers. Nyssa throws an artefact into the centre of a tank-like structure in the centre of the sealed room. The results are immense. Kalid's mental channelling is interrupted and he collapses in agony. Hayter opens the base of a console and discovers mere electronics were the source of Kalid's power. Suddenly, Kalid rises from the floor, divesting himself of a mask and costume, revealing himself to be the Master in disguise, who observes that the Doctor never understands...

Part three[[edit] | [edit source]]

The Master is trapped in this time zone and is looking for a way out, but he needs a new source of power for his TARDIS. The power in the closed chamber could be it, but the passengers are taking too long to get to it. He forces the Doctor to give him the key to the TARDIS and steals the craft to try to enter the chamber another way. The Doctor and Hayter rush to the chamber to reach it first. As they do, the Concorde passengers finally break through the wall.

Inside, the Doctor and Hayter are reunited with Nyssa and Tegan. The sarcophagus at its centre holds a being of immense power. Nearby are small shrunken bodies, which the Doctor identifies as the Xeraphin, a race of ancient beings believed destroyed during the Vardon-Kosnax War. Instead, the entire race seems to have transformed itself into a single gestalt intelligence in the tank. Hayter sacrifices himself to the creature to let it communicate and is absorbed into the entity.

The Xeraphin manifest as Anithon. It explains how they came to Earth to escape the war in the crashed spaceship on the plains. The Xeraphin were so harmed by radiation that they shed their bodies and became a single entity. The Xeraphin built the Citadel and planned to re-emerge from the sarcophagus once the radiation danger was over, but the Master's arrival disturbed the balance. The gestalt has developed a split personality of good and evil. Each side competes for their tremendous power but yearns to become a proper species once again.

The Doctor has left the coordinate override switched on, and Captain Stapley has performed sabotage. The TARDIS won't take the Master into the central chamber. His next gambit is to build an induction loop to remotely access the sarcophagus and exert his will over it. The "evil" side of the Xeraphin responds. Within moments the sarcophagus is in the Master's TARDIS, providing him with a new power source.

Part four[[edit] | [edit source]]

The Master tries to flee in his ship, taking with him those passengers still deluded, as slaves. He leaves the Doctor and his friends stranded. However, due to the sabotage by the Captain, the Master cannot leave prehistoric Earth. After some chaffering over missing parts, the Doctor has all the passengers released and some parts taken from his own TARDIS. In return, the Master gets a new temporal limiter.

The second Concorde is made serviceable and the crew and the passengers from the other Concorde return to Heathrow. The Doctor reverses the track of the time contour and brings the plane back to Heathrow with his TARDIS. The Doctor reveals that he programmed the temporal limiter he gave the Master to arrive after he did, and when the Master tries to land, the Doctor's TARDIS is already in the spot. He bounces the Master's TARDIS away into the Time Vortex, sending it to modern-day Xeriphas, where the Doctor hopes the Xeraphin will exact their revenge.

In a rush to leave, the Doctor and Nyssa head off in the TARDIS. They assume that now Tegan is back in her own time, she will be happy to stay. However, her sorrow as she sees the TARDIS dematerialise tells a different story.

Cast[[edit] | [edit source]]

Uncredited cast[[edit] | [edit source]]

Crew[[edit] | [edit source]]

Uncredited crew[[edit] | [edit source]]

Worldbuilding[[edit] | [edit source]]

Cricket[[edit] | [edit source]]

Food and drink[[edit] | [edit source]]

  • Hayter suggests Angela should think of fish and chips, in order to ground herself in reality.

Individuals[[edit] | [edit source]]

  • The Doctor mentions Varsh in relation to Adric's death.
  • Sir John Sudbury is the Doctor's contact within UNIT's department C19.
  • When Nyssa and Tegan try to reach the sanctum, images of Adric, the Melkur and the disfigured Terileptil appear in order to dissuade them from going on any further.
  • Dave Culshaw and Angela Clifford were on Golf Victor Foxtrot.

Organisations[[edit] | [edit source]]

TARDIS[[edit] | [edit source]]

Time travel[[edit] | [edit source]]

  • The Master generates a time contour to capture the Concorde.

Story notes[[edit] | [edit source]]

  • Working titles for this story were Zanadin, Xeraphin and Flight into Time. (DWM 472)
  • British Airways were given a copy of the script before filming. They asked for changes to parts of the story that could be considered detrimental to the company, including one line where a flight attendant refers to the passengers as "punters". (DCOM: Time-Flight)
  • This story is perhaps the only evidence of product placement throughout the whole of Doctor Who. Time-Flight was the first television story allowed to film at Heathrow Airport and the first to be allowed to film in an actual Concorde aircraft.
  • Anthony Ainley is credited under the pseudonym Leon Ny Taiy in part one's credits to disguise the fact that Kalid was actually the Master. "Leon Ny Taiy" is an anagram of "Tony Ainley", a similar trick to disguising the identity of the Portreeve in Castrovalva.
  • Nigel Stock (Professor Hayter) is credited as "Hayter" in Radio Times.
  • The story follows on directly from Earthshock, at the conclusion of which companion Adric was killed aboard a space freighter which crashed into the Earth. At the beginning of Time-Flight, Nyssa and Tegan plead with the Doctor to go back and save him, but the Doctor refuses on the grounds that, even with the TARDIS, there are laws of time that cannot be broken. In part two, Waterhouse makes a cameo appearance as an apparition version of Adric. Waterhouse stated in an interview it was a good point to leave, as Time-Flight "was a terrible story".
  • Adric's cameo as an apparition in this story both satisfied the actor's contract and John Nathan-Turner's intent that the story contain Waterhouse in the combined cast list for parts one/two in Radio Times, which was printed a week early, to maintain the surprise of Adric's death in the preceding story, Earthshock. (DOC: THWR 97).
  • Plans were underway for AudioGO to produce an audiobook of the novelisation of this story narrated by Matthew Waterhouse. Although Waterhouse agreed to participate, the demise of AudioGO put paid to the project. (DOC: THWR 97).
  • When the TARDIS first lands in the terminal building at Heathrow, a woman announces over the speaker system that Air Australia apologises for the delay of one of its flights. At the end of the story, when Tegan is walking through the terminal, the same woman announces that the Air Australia flight is ready for boarding.
  • This serial marks the end of the Doctor trying to get Tegan home.
  • Peter Davison considers this to be the worst story of his tenure, stating it was a "very good story, but we had run out of money. We filmed the prehistoric landscape of Heathrow Airport in Studio 8 [at TV Centre] with a model Concorde in the back of the studio. The monsters were bits of foam. We didn't do the story justice." He found it frustrating knowing that what they were rehearsing was going to "look like a pile of crap". The story's low budget would explain why Heathrow Airport's Air Traffic Control as depicted on-screen consists of only two men in a small room.
  • Janet Fielding claimed on the DVD commentary that she didn't remember it being this bad until she re-watched it.
  • Sarah Sutton disliked the story, largely because she had no idea what was going on in it.
  • Terence Alexander, Peter Arne, Keith Barron, Brian Blessed, John Carson, Michael Craig, Paul Darrow, Peter Gilmore, Michael Gothard, John Hallam, Terrence Hardiman, Del Henney, Glyn Houston, Martin Jarvis, William Lucas, Conrad Phillips, Anthony Valentine and Frank Windsor were considered for the role of Captain Stanley.
  • Bernard Archard, Geoffrey Bayldon, John Carson, Peter Cushing, Maurice Denham, Michael Gough and William Lucas were considered for the role of Professor Hayter.
  • Dallas Adams, Sean Arnold, Colin Baker, Andrew Burt, Tom Chadbon, Michael Cochrane, Ian Collier, Forbes Collins, Eric Deacon, Jack Galloway, Richard Heffer, Paul Jerricho, Ian McCulloch, Clive Merrison, Terry Molloy, Edward Peel, Martin Potter, Jeff Rawle, Carl Rigg, Patrick Ryecart, Malcolm Stoddard, Donald Sumpter, Robert Swann, Malcolm Tierney and Stephen Yardley were considered for the roles of Scobie, Bilton and Sheard.
  • Eric Saward wanted the Master to be killed off in this story, as he felt the character had outlived his welcome.
  • During one meeting, Peter Grimwade ran an errand with Christopher H. Bidmead at Heathrow Airport, which inspired the notion of involving Concorde. Bidmead thought that this would be a nice way to bridge the writer's fantastical notions with reality, while Grimwade himself hoped it might lead to a chance to ride aboard Concorde. 
  • Some of the character surnames in the story had to be changed because negative checks by the BBC's Legal Department revealed there were actual British Airways employees with those names. Irving became Markham and then Urquhart, while Rathbone became Stapley. Flight Engineer Tulley was subsequently rechristened Scobie.
  • Peter Grimwade originally submitted the script for Season 18, where it would have served as the season finale.
  • Sarah Sutton recalled that it was very cold on location, so much that it drove Janet Fielding to tears.
  • Ron Jones claimed that it was impossible to realise a prehistoric heath indoors, but acknowledged that it would have taken too long and been expensive to do outdoors.
  • Eric Saward felt the script could have worked with a more dynamic director.
  • The Concorde used for the production was G-BOAC, the flagship of the BA fleet at the time. The registry can be read from the radar screen in the ATC scenes. The other registry, G-BAVF, was not a Concorde, but a Beechcraft 58 twin-engined light executive aircraft.
  • When playing the Master disguised as Kalid, Anthony Ainley demanded that he be given a bald cap to wear over his wig.
  • Peter Grimwade hoped to direct his script himself, but he was assigned to direct Earthshock.
  • Andrew Morgan was asked to direct, but he was unimpressed by the script and was then offered another opportunity he found more enticing.
  • A scratch was subsequently discovered on some of the Concorde footage. Since there was no way to re-record the material, judicious edits were required.
  • In addition to the work at Heathrow, Ron Jones had hoped that some of the scenes on the prehistoric heath might also be filmed on location or, alternatively, at the BBC Television Film Studios He was disappointed to learn that the budget would not permit this.
  • There was considerable unhappiness regarding the Plasmaton costumes, which had been constructed by the freelance firm Imagineering. The intent had been to create something inhuman, but insufficient thought had been given to the eyesight of those wearing the outfits. Unable to see, the Plasmaton performers had to remain virtually immobile, and were scarcely able to generate a sense of menace.
  • Part three ran short, so Eric Saward asked Peter Grimwade to develop a further seven minutes of action, so Grimwade provided various new and extended scenes, including more material involving Bilton and Stapley spying on the Master, and later trying to pilot the TARDIS; and additional exposition about the Xeraphin.
  • A double stood in for Anthony Ainley during Kalid's transformation at the end of this episode so Ainley could prepare for the rest of the scene. The double nearly choked to death when his mouth and nose began to fill with the green fluid.
  • According to Eric Saward, it took several hours for the production team to decide if the title of the story should be hyphenated or not. (DCOM: Time-Flight)

Ratings[[edit] | [edit source]]

  • Part one - 10.1 million viewers
  • Part two - 8.5 million viewers
  • Part three - 9.1 million viewers
  • Part four - 8.3 million viewers

Part one marked the last time the classic series exceeded 10 million viewers. By the final seasons, viewership had dropped to the 3-4 million range. Discounting the 1996 TV movie, a rating exceeding 10 million viewers would not be achieved again until Rose.

Myths[[edit] | [edit source]]

  • Tegan was written out at the end of the story as Janet Fielding's contract expired. When John Nathan-Turner was able to re-sign her, Arc of Infinity was rewritten to have Tegan re-joining the Doctor. (There's nothing to indicate this.)

Filming locations[[edit] | [edit source]]

Production errors[[edit] | [edit source]]

If you'd like to talk about narrative problems with this story — like plot holes and things that seem to contradict other stories — please go to this episode's discontinuity discussion.
  • Heathrow Airport is clearly visible in the background as the aircraft takes off from the Jurassic period.
  • When the Master re-enters his TARDIS in part four, the TARDIS prop visibly wobbles.

Continuity[[edit] | [edit source]]

Home video and audio releases[[edit] | [edit source]]

DVD releases[[edit] | [edit source]]

This story was originally released in a double-pack with Arc of Infinity in Region 2 and Region 4, but released singly in Region 1.

The R2 and R4 cover art of this story and Arc of Infinity shows the "Peter Davison Years" as 1981-1984. All other Davison-era releases have claimed the years as 1982-1984, in deference to the January 1982 broadcast of Castrovalva. However, there is justification for calling the era 1981-1984, as that's the period of time Davison actually worked on the programme. Like Jon Pertwee, Davison fell victim to the BBC's decision to push back the premiere of his first series to the start of the new calendar year. Neither actor is generally credited for their first year on the job, making their eras appear a little shorter than they actually were. While Pertwee only filmed about half of Season 7 in 1969, almost everything of Season 19 was filmed in 1981. Indeed, Davison's first work on the series — his regeneration scene — had been filmed on 9 January 1981, almost a full year prior to the release of Castrovalva. Ironically, the only part of Davison's initial year not filmed in 1981 was this story. All told, Davison's time in front of the cameras as the Doctor lasted from 9 January 1981 to 12 January 1984 — almost precisely the three-year tenure he had been advised by Patrick Troughton to undertake, and the length of his three-year contract.

PAL - BBCDVD2327
PAL -

Special features:[[edit] | [edit source]]

Notes:[[edit] | [edit source]]

  • Due to a printing error, the words "Tegan and" are bolder than usual in the synopsis on the back cover of some of the releases.
  • Similarly, due to a printing error, "Coming Soon trailer" is listed twice in the Special Features list on the back cover of some of the releases.
  • Editing for DVD release completed by the Doctor Who Restoration Team.
  • DVD Region 2 UK cover

    DVD Region 2 UK cover

  • DVD Region 4 AUS cover

    DVD Region 4 AUS cover

  • DVD Region 1 US cover

    DVD Region 1 US cover

Box set[[edit] | [edit source]]

  • DVD Region 2 UK cover

    DVD Region 2 UK cover

  • DVD Region 4 Australian cover

    DVD Region 4 Australian cover

Video releases[[edit] | [edit source]]

  • VHS UK cover

    VHS UK cover

  • VHS US cover

    VHS US cover

  • VHS AUS cover

    VHS AUS cover

Digital releases[[edit] | [edit source]]

  • The story is available for streaming in Canada & the US through BritBox or Amazon Instant Video in the UK.
  • It is also available to download through iTunes.

External links[[edit] | [edit source]]

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