Battlefield (TV story): Difference between revisions

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*[[UNIT]] appears in this story.
*[[UNIT]] appears in this story.
*The Brigadier is married to [[Doris Lethbridge-Stewart]] and has been replaced by [[Winifred Bambera]].
*The Brigadier is married to [[Doris Lethbridge-Stewart]] and has been replaced by [[Winifred Bambera]].
*The Doctor uses [[Bessie]] again.
*The Doctor uses [[Bessie]] again, and the license plate now reads "WHO 7".
*The Brigadier talks of how UNIT has been busy, acquiring bullets that would go through a [[Dalek]], and other bullets for [[Robot Yeti|Yeti]]s and robots, including [[gold]]-tipped bullets for [[Mondasian Cybermen|Cybermen]]
*The Brigadier talks of how UNIT has been busy, acquiring bullets that would go through a [[Dalek]], and other bullets for [[Robot Yeti|Yeti]]s and robots, including [[gold]]-tipped bullets for [[Mondasian Cybermen|Cybermen]]
*The Doctor and Ace use passes that he thought he would never need again. Her pass belonged to [[Liz Shaw]].
*The Doctor and Ace use passes that he thought he would never need again. Her pass belonged to [[Liz Shaw]].

Revision as of 21:34, 16 August 2008


Synopsis

The TARDIS materialises in the English countryside near the village of Carbury, where a nuclear missile convoy under the command of UNIT's Brigadier Winifred Bambera has run into difficulties. Lying on the bed of the nearby Lake Vortigern is a spaceship from another dimension containing the body of King Arthur, supposedly held in suspended animation, and his sword Excalibur.

Ancelyn, a knight from the other dimension, arrives on Earth to aid the King but is followed by his rival Mordred and the latter's mother, a powerful sorceress named Morgaine. They all recognise the Doctor as Merlin - a fact that the Time Lord attributes to events in his own future.

A battle breaks out between UNIT and Morgaine's men. Brigadier Lethbridge-Stewart has come out of retirement to assist in the crisis and ends up using silver bullets to kill the Destroyer - an awesomely powerful creature unshackled by Morgaine to devour the world - although he himself is almost killed in the process.

Morgaine tries to fire the nuclear missile but is overcome by shock when the Doctor tells her that Arthur is in fact dead. She and her son are then taken prisoner by UNIT.

Plot

to be added

Cast

Crew

References

McCoy becomes only the third Doctor to use Bessie on screen
  • UNIT appears in this story.
  • The Brigadier is married to Doris Lethbridge-Stewart and has been replaced by Winifred Bambera.
  • The Doctor uses Bessie again, and the license plate now reads "WHO 7".
  • The Brigadier talks of how UNIT has been busy, acquiring bullets that would go through a Dalek, and other bullets for Yetis and robots, including gold-tipped bullets for Cybermen
  • The Doctor and Ace use passes that he thought he would never need again. Her pass belonged to Liz Shaw.
  • The Doctor cries out 'Yeti, Autons, Daleks, Cybermen, Silurians' when trying to show Bambera that he was indeed a member of UNIT.
  • The Doctor from Morgaine's reality was called Merlin there is some implication that the Doctor is Merlin (or will be).

Story Notes

Ratings

  • Part 1 - 3.1 million viewers
  • Part 2 - 3.9 million viewers
  • Part 3 - 3.6 million viewers
  • Part 4 - 4.0 million viewers

Myths

  • The incidental music for this story was originally to have been provided by the rock group Hawkwind. (It wasn't.)

Filming Locations

Lake Vortigern, Carbury.

Discontinuity, Plot Holes, Errors

  • When Morgaine strikes Brigadier Lethbridge-Stewart's helicopter, the smoke box used for this effect can clearly be seen attached to the back of the left landing skid.
  • Set several years in Ace's future the serial shows a five pound coin in circulation. A large silver five pound coin was issued as legal tender in 1997, though these are only found in limited numbers. No mention of this coin has yet been made in episodes of the new series which is set further into the same future. Arguably this is because that future is now the present and such "futuristic" narrative devices are thus unnecessary.
  • Although this takes place some time after 1989 when it was broadcast, it would appear to take place prior to 2009-2010, the approximate timeframe of a scheduled appearance by a much older Brigadier in The Sarah Jane Adventures. This causes a continuity issues as Battlefield makes reference to there being a king on the throne, suggesting that Queen Elizabeth II has either died or abdicated by this time. Yet she is still on the throne in the timeframe of the Doctor Who revival and The Sarah Jane Adventures (per Voyage of the Damned). An attempt to reconcile this eventuality was attempted years prior to the revival when the Virgin New Adventures series established that at some point the Brigadier has his youth restored to him. It remains to be seen, however, if televised continuity will follow suit.

Continuity

  • Brigadier Lethbridge-Stewart last appeared on screen in The Five Doctors.
  • Doris was first mentioned in Planet of the Spiders.
  • The Seventh Doctor meets Lethrbidge-Stewart for the 'first time' (from the Brigadier's perspective) in NA: No Future (and then wipes his memory of the event so he could meet him for the first time in this story).

DVD and Video Releases

This story has been confirmed for DVD release on November 17th 2008.

Novelisation

Battlefield novel.jpg
Main article: Battlefield (novelisation)

External Links

Template:Season 26

TVStub.png
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