Transmat:Doctor Who

The Ark in Space

File:Sarah stuck in the conduit - Doctor Who - The Ark in Space - BBC

The Ark in Space was the second story of Season 12 of Doctor Who. It was the Fourth Doctor's first full, post-regenerative story. It proceeded from a mild-cliffhanger at the end of Robot, showing what happened after Harry Sullivan climbed into the police box in UNIT's laboratory. It importantly established the location of Nerva Beacon, which would be the narrative lynchpin of the season.

Ark had a somewhat tortuous scripting process, having slipped past two writers before its scripts were finally accepted. Both Christopher Langley and John Lucarotti tried and failed to write a script about a space station for season 12. Of the two, Lucarotti came closest. However, because he then lived on a boat anchored in the Mediterranean — and there was a postal strike afflicting Corsica — Lucarotti was essentially incommunicado to script editor Robert Holmes. It was impossible for Holmes to conduct timely consultation with the Doctor Who veteran. Lucarotti was paid fully for his work, and Holmes undertook a page one rewrite, retaining only the central conceit of Lucarotti's tale.

Despite its difficult birth, the story won kudos from the BBC Wales production staff. Russell T Davies once called Ark his favourite storyline of the 1963 version of Doctor Who. Steven Moffat considered it the best Fourth Doctor story, while Barnaby Edwards confessed to being "petrified of the Wirrn" as a child. Tom Baker himself has also stated that, of all the stories he'd filmed, The Ark in Space was his favourite.

Jane Tranter

Jane Tranter was an important advocate for the return of Doctor Who to BBC One in the early 2000s.

Donald Baverstock

Donald Baverstock was the BBC executive who set the the wheels in motion that eventually led to the creation of Doctor Who. Essentially the original commissioner of the programme, he hired Sydney Newman and later imposed a sense of financial responsibility upon its producer, Verity Lambert. By choosing to commission only a few weeks at a time, Baverstock managed to exercise very specific financial control over the production, threatening to end Doctor Who several times over the course of its first year. It was largely he that was responsible for preventing actors' salaries from massively inflating after the show became a surprise hit after the Daleks were introduced.

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Today in production history

• 1963 - Donald Baverstock's 18 October memo concerning production costs was considered, and it was decided to produce thirteen episodes with a budget of £2,500 each.
• 1965 - "The Nightmare Begins" was recorded at BBC Television Centre 3. (TCH 6)
• 1966 - Episode one of The Power of the Daleks was recorded at Riverside Studios 1. (TCH 9)
• 1969 - Location filming for Spearhead from Space took place. (REF: Doctor Who The Handbook: The Third Doctor)
• 1971 - Location filming for The Sea Devils took place. (REF: Doctor Who The Handbook: The Third Doctor)
• 1979 - Pre-filming for Shada took place at Ealing Studios. (REF: Doctor Who The Handbook: The Fourth Doctor)
• 1984 - Location filming for The Mark of the Rani took place. (REF: Doctor Who The Handbook: The Sixth Doctor)
• 2008 - The Big Finish audio story The Cannibalists was recorded at the Moat Studios.
• 2012 - The second series of Big Finish's Doctor Who spin-off Counter-Measures was recorded at the Moat Studios.
• 2014 - Big Finish's audio anthology The Third Doctor Adventures was recorded at the Moat Studios.
• 2015 - The Big Finish audio story Death and the Queen was recorded at the Moat Studios.
• 2016 - Big Finish confirmed the thirteenth series of Jago & Litefoot.
• 2017 - Bradley Walsh, Tosin Cole and Mandip Gill were officially announced as new companions Graham O'Brien, Ryan Sinclair and Yasmin Khan.
• 2018
  • Big Finish's The Paternoster Gang audio anthology Heritage 1 was recorded at the Soundhouse.
  • Big Finish announced that Jon Culshaw had been cast as Brigadier Lethbridge-Stewart, recreating the role originated by Nicholas Courtney.
• 2020 - Big Finish's audio anthology The Third Doctor Adventures: Volume Seven was recorded.
• 2021 - Big Finish's audio anthology Blood & Steel was recorded at the Soundhouse.
• 2022 - Big Finish announced the Class: The Audio Adventures audio story Secret Diary of a Rhodian Prince.

Today's releases

• 1966
  • Episode three of The Tenth Planet was broadcast on BBC1.
  • Part four of the TV Comic story Return of the Trods was published.
• 1977
  • Part four of The Invisible Enemy was broadcast on BBC1.
  • Part two of the TV Comic story The Devil's Mouth was published.
• 1992 - The script to The Dæmons was published by Titan Books.
• 1998 - DWM 271 was published by Marvel Comics.
• 2001
  • The audio story Colditz was released by Big Finish Productions.
  • Mission to the Unknown and The Daleks' Master Plan were released together by BBC Audio.
• 2005 - The anthology Short Trips: The Solar System was published by Big Finish.
• 2006 - Everything Changes and Day One were broadcast on BBC Three, marking the première of Torchwood.
• 2007 - Part two of Warriors of Kudlak was broadcast on CBBC.
• 2009
  • Part one of The Mad Woman in the Attic was broadcast on CBBC.
  • DWA 138 was published by BBC Magazines.
• 2012 - The Claws of Axos Special Edition was released on Region 2 DVD.
• 2013
  • Summer Falls and Other Stories was published by BBC Books.
  • Toby Hadoke's Who's Round 36 was released online.
• 2014
  • DWA 357 was published by Immediate Media Company London Limited.
  • Browser game The Doctor and the Dalek was released on the BBC website.
• 2015
  • The Way of the Empty Hand was released by Big Finish.
  • DWFC 57 was published by Eaglemoss Collections.
• 2016 - For Tonight We Might Die and The Coach with the Dragon Tattoo were released on BBC Three, marking the première of Class.
• 2020 - Heritage 4 was released by Big Finish.
• 2021 - The Great Sontaran War was released by Big Finish.
• 2022 - Paradise Towers was published by Obverse Books.

Today's births and deaths

• 1926 - Actor Tim Condren was born.
• 1927 - Actor James Grout was born.
• 1936 - Actor Peppi Borza was born.
• 1938 - Actor Derek Jacobi was born.
• 1965 - Writer A. L. Kennedy was born.
• 1972 - Actor Jack Melford died.
• 2006 - Actor Richard Mayes died.
• 2016 - Artist Steve Dillon died.
• 2021 - Visual effects designer Chris Lawson died.