The Leisure Hive (TV story): Difference between revisions
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== Plot == | == Plot == | ||
=== Part 1 === | |||
The Fourth Doctor, having yet again failed to pilot the TARDIS to Brighton Pavilion, snores loudly on a deck chair as Romana and K9 discuss alternate holiday options. K9 is badly damaged when he runs into the sea trying to fetch Romana's beach ball. | |||
Romana convinces the Doctor to go to [[Argolis]], home of the famed [[Leisure Hive]]. Argolis had been nearly annihilated by a brief but devastating war with the [[Foamasi]], but the surviving [[Argolin]]s have built the domed holiday palace, offering anti-gravity racquetball among other delights. | |||
However, the Hive has run into financial dire straits. The chief executive, [[Morix]], ageing and near death, is pondering a buy-out offer from Earth businessmen [[Brock (The Leisure Hive)|Brock]] and [[Klout]], who represent the Foamasi, but his hotheaded son [[Pangol]] will hear nothing of it. Morix dies and is succeeded by [[Mena]], who herself is getting old. Meanwhile, an alien presence has infiltrated the Hive. | |||
The Doctor and Romana arrive and watch a demonstration of the Hive's newest offering, the [[Tachyon Recreation Generator]], but the demonstration goes horribly awry when a volunteer from the crowd is torn apart inside the machine. | |||
The Doctor and Romana realise the recordings of the experiments have been faked. The Doctor explores the Tachyon Recreation Generator, and when an alien turns the machine on, the Doctor appears to be torn limb from limb. | |||
== Cast == | == Cast == | ||
Revision as of 05:20, 4 September 2012
The Leisure Hive was the first story of Season 18 of Doctor Who as well as the first serial produced by John Nathan-Turner. He immediately instituted a number of radical new changes to the series.
The title sequence was redone with a 'star-field' motif. Delia Derbyshire's arrangement of the Doctor Who theme was abandoned in favour of an electronic version of the signature music. These wholesale alterations to the programme's opening sequence would, with relatively minor adjustments, remain in place until season 24. At the same time, Nathan-Turner decided to end composer Dudley Simpson's long association with the programme. He chose the BBC Radiophonic Workshop to handle the incidental music for Hive.
Hive also brought a new look for the Fourth Doctor. His coat and trademark multi-coloured scarf were replaced with burgundy versions of the clothing. The new question mark motif - premiered here on the Doctor's shirt collar - would persist throughout Nathan-Turner's era.
Narratively, Hive was an unusual story in that it was commissioned directly by the producer rather than the script editor, because Christopher H. Bidmead was not yet hired. New executive producer Barry Letts also had a significant hand in shaping the story's outline.[1]
Synopsis
The Doctor and Romana arrive on Argolis in search of a peaceful holiday at the famed Leisure Hive. Instead they become embroiled in both a takeover scheme by the Argolins' historic enemy the Foamasi and the machinations of Pangol, the child of the Generator.
Plot
Part 1
The Fourth Doctor, having yet again failed to pilot the TARDIS to Brighton Pavilion, snores loudly on a deck chair as Romana and K9 discuss alternate holiday options. K9 is badly damaged when he runs into the sea trying to fetch Romana's beach ball.
Romana convinces the Doctor to go to Argolis, home of the famed Leisure Hive. Argolis had been nearly annihilated by a brief but devastating war with the Foamasi, but the surviving Argolins have built the domed holiday palace, offering anti-gravity racquetball among other delights.
However, the Hive has run into financial dire straits. The chief executive, Morix, ageing and near death, is pondering a buy-out offer from Earth businessmen Brock and Klout, who represent the Foamasi, but his hotheaded son Pangol will hear nothing of it. Morix dies and is succeeded by Mena, who herself is getting old. Meanwhile, an alien presence has infiltrated the Hive.
The Doctor and Romana arrive and watch a demonstration of the Hive's newest offering, the Tachyon Recreation Generator, but the demonstration goes horribly awry when a volunteer from the crowd is torn apart inside the machine.
The Doctor and Romana realise the recordings of the experiments have been faked. The Doctor explores the Tachyon Recreation Generator, and when an alien turns the machine on, the Doctor appears to be torn limb from limb.
Cast
- The Doctor - Tom Baker
- Romana - Lalla Ward
- Mena - Adrienne Corri
- Morix - Laurence Payne
- Brock - John Collin
- Pangol - David Haig
- Hardin - Nigel Lambert
- Vargos - Martin Fisk
- Guide - Roy Montague
- Klout - Ian Talbot
- Voice of Tannoy - Harriet Reynolds
- Stimson - David Allister
- Voice of Generator - Clifford Norgate
- Foamasi - Andrew Lane
Crew
- Assistant Floor Manager - Val McCrimmon
- Costumes - June Hudson
- Designer - Tom Yardley-Jones
- Executive Producer - Barry Letts
- Film Cameraman - Keith Barton
- Film Editor - Chris Wimble
- Incidental Music - Peter Howell
- Make-Up - Dorka Nieradzik
- Producer - John Nathan-Turner
- Production Assistant - Romey Allison
- Production Unit Manager - Angela Smith
- Script Editor - Christopher H. Bidmead
- Special Sounds - Dick Mills
- Studio Lighting - Duncan Brown
- Studio Sound - John Howell
- Theme Arrangement - Peter Howell
- Title Music - Ron Grainer
- Visual Effects - Andrew Lazell
References
Conflicts
- In 2250 Argolis (led by Theron) was all but destroyed by two thousand nuclear warheads in twenty minutes during a war with the reptilian Foamasi.
- The Argolin survivors, made sterile by the radiation from the war, invented the science of tachyonics "forty years ago", and built the Leisure Hive with its Experiential Grid offering variable environments.
Planets
- K9 lists all known recreational planets for Romana, ending with "Yegros Alpha: speciality, atavistic therapy of primitive asteroids. Zaakros: galaxy's largest flora collection. Zeen 4: historical re-enactments.".
- Argolis is the first of the leisure planets.
Species
- There are lodges of Formasi, the West Lodge being one such group.
Technology
- Theron's helmet
- The randomiser is left on Argolis.
Story notes
- This story is the debut of the new opening and closing title sequences, complete with "neon tube" logo, designed by the BBC's Sid Sutton, accompanied by a new Peter Howell-arranged version of Ron Grainer's theme music.
- This is John Nathan-Turner's first story as producer.
- The story had a working title of The Argolins.
- A new TARDIS exterior prop makes its debut, this time made of fibreglass rather than of wood and, with its stacked roof arrangement, somewhat truer to the design of a genuine police box than the previous version (first seen in The Masque of Mandragora).
- The Doctor's new outfit (burgundy colour) also debuts in this story.
- Beginning with this story and continuing for the next several seasons until The Five Doctors, each serial will be linked in some way, either through some reference, or directly linked.
- John Leeson returns portraying the voice of K9, having been persuaded by John Nathan-Turner to reprise the role for this season.
- This story features the first use in Doctor Who of the digital Quantel image processing system. Amongst the effects created by the use of this system was a moving shot of the TARDIS materialising on Argolis (whereas the roll back and mix technique by which the materialisation was achieved normally necessitated a completely static shot).
- The contemporary audience failed to redeem the behind-the-scenes difficulties. Not only did small audiences watch the first episode, but figures dropped each week. By week three, Doctor Who did something it hadn't done in eighteen years: it fell out of the top hundred programmes for the week it was transmitted.
- Production of the serial was extremely challenging. Tom Baker and Lalla Ward's tumultuous off-screen relationship was at a nadir, causing the mood on set to be distinctly chilly. Director Lovett Bickford's management of the shoot caused it to go so badly over budget that John Nathan-Turner was severely reprimanded by his superiors. Bickford would never work on Doctor Who again.[1]
Ratings
- Part one - 5.9 million viewers
- Part two - 5.0 million viewers
- Part three - 5.0 million viewers
- Part four - 4.5 million viewers
Filming locations
- Brighton Beach, Brighton, East Sussex
- BBC Television Centre (TC1 & TC3), Shepherd's Bush, London
Production errors
- The wires pulling K9 along the beach are particularly visible in part one.
- In episode two the top of the sonic screwdriver is nearly bent off.
- The shiny silver belts of the zero gravity squash players were a poor choice of costume accessory for the CSO effect. Because they reflect the colour of the special effects backdrop, they have a tendency to become completely invisible.
- The number of nodules on Morix's horn changes between shots during his death scene.
Continuity
- The Foamasi reappear in EDA: Placebo Effect.
- This is not the only time a story is resolved by de-ageing the Doctor's antagonist, as happens to Pangol. In DW: Boom Town, the Slitheen Margaret Blaine is regressed back into an egg by the Doctor's TARDIS.
- The Doctor is also rapidly aged in DW: The Sound of Drums.
- The planet Midnight (DW: Midnight) is also a leisure planet and its environment is also uninhabitable because of extreme radiation.
- Cellular regeneration (or "de-ageing") is performed by Professor Lazarus in DW: The Lazarus Experiment.
Home video and audio releases
CD Release
In March 2002, At the BBC Radiophonic Workshop Volume 3 was released with The Leisure Hive score in it.
CD release
DVD releases
This story was released as Doctor Who: The Leisure Hive.
Released:
- PAL - BBC DVD BBCDVD1351
- NTSC - Warner Video E2217
Contents:
- A New Beginning Documentary - A look at the radical changes made to Doctor Who by incoming Producer John Nathan-Turner.
- From Avalon to Argolis - David Fisher and Christopher H. Bidmead recall the writing of the story.
- Leisure Wear - June Hudson talks about the costumes for the story.
- Synthesising Starfields - Peter Howell and Sid Sutton recall the creation of the new titles sequence and theme arrangement.
- Blue Peter - A look at the exhibition at Longleat.
- 5.1 Mix
- Music-only Option
- Photo Gallery
- Production Subtitles
- Easter Egg - Navigate down to the second option of the first menu, press the left button to highlight a hidden Doctor Who logo and hit select. You'll then get a series of continuity announcements from the original broadcast of this story.
- Commentary: Lalla Ward, Lovett Bickford, and Christopher H. Bidmead
Notes:
- Editing for the DVD release was completed by the Doctor Who Restoration Team.
DVD UK cover
DVD Australian cover
DVD US cover
DVD Netherlands cover
VHS releases
Released as Doctor Who: The Leisure Hive.
Released:
- PAL - BBC Video BBCV5821
- NTSC - Warner Video E1135
VHS UK cover
VHS US cover
- The Lesuire Hive.jpg
VHS AUS cover
External links
- The Leisure Hive at the BBC's official site
- The Leisure Hive at the Doctor Who Reference Guide
- The Leisure Hive at Shannon Sullivan's A Brief History of Time (Travel)
- The Leisure Hive at The Locations Guide
Footnotes
