Animal Magic (TV story)

Animal Magic
Doctor:	Fourth Doctor
Main setting:	Chloris
Key crew
Writer:	David Fisher
Director:	Robin Hellier
Producer:	Jeffery Boswall
Release details
Premiere broadcast:	1 May 1979
Premiere network:	BBC One
Production code:	5G (with The Creature from the Pit)

The 1 May 1979 episode of the educational BBC series Animal Magic, later released on the Doctor Who: The Collection — Season 17 Blu-ray boxset as simply Animal Magic, was a crossover with Doctor Who, featuring the Fourth Doctor played by Tom Baker.

Baker was explicitly playing the Doctor rather than appearing as himself (with the script going as far as to establish that the Doctor was hosting from the alien setting of the then-upcoming TV serial The Creature from the Pit. However, the story freely broke the fourth wall, with the Doctor addressing the viewers and ending on the note of telling them to watch out "next time I'm on".

Publisher's summary

Tom Baker appears in character during the 01/05/79 episode of the BBC children's wildlife programme, filmed on the planet Chloris.

Plot

The Fourth Doctor is walking through a jungle, locked in wooden stocks. Turning to the camera, he briefly explains his current predicament (having been captured by bandits on the planet Chloris) but digresses as he finds himself reminded of a conversation he had on Earth recently with "a friend of his", during which the Earthling got oddly competitive about the idea of proving that Earth is home to the most ferocious examples of animal life, from the large elephant to the dangerous puff adder. Naturally, the Doctor countered with a list of "some of the things I'd bumped into during my travels", such as the voracious Shrivenzale, the tree-sized Krynoid, or the deadly Wirrn or Fendahl. He sees that the audience isn't taking his claims seriously, but ends his spiel by telling them to watch out "next time I'm on" before walking off.

Cast

• Fourth Doctor - Tom Baker

Crew

• Writer - David Fisher
• Director - Robin Hellier
• Producer - Jeffery Boswall

References

• The Doctor describes the Krynoid as "tall as a Douglas fir and three times its circumference"

Story notes

The title card before the special.

• This story was evidently filmed during production of The Creature from the Pit, using the Chloris set. As a result, it was released on DVD with The Creature from the Pit, and later on the Season 17 The Collection Bluray box set.
• The Doctor mentions his encounter with the Shrivenzale during "the Ribos Operation", (TV: The Ribos Operation) the evil plans of the Krynoid, (TV: The Seeds of Doom) his encounter with the Wirrn in the Ark in Space, (TV: The Ark in Space) and the Fendahl. (TV: Image of the Fendahl)