The Seeds of Doom (TV story)

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The Seeds of Doom
Doctor:	[[doctor::Fourth Doctor]]
Companion(s):	Sarah Jane Smith
Main enemy:	Krynoids, Harrison Chase
Main setting:	1973?
Key crew
Writer:	Robert Banks Stewart
Director:	Douglas Camfield
Producer:	Philip Hinchcliffe
Release details
Release number:	??
Premiere broadcast:	31st January - 6th March 1976
Format:	6 25-minute episodes
Production code:	4L

When scientists in the Antarctic uncover two mysterious seed pods, the Doctor is called in to investigate. He soon realizes they are both extraterrestrial and extremely dangerous. At the same time, however, ruthless plant-lover Harrison Chase has learned of the find and decides he must have the pods for his collection of rare and beautiful flora. And the pods themselves harbor intelligent life with sinister plans of its own…

For a detailed synopsis, see The Seeds of Doom Synopsis.

Cast

• Fourth Doctor: Tom Baker
• Sarah Jane Smith: Elisabeth Sladen
• Harrison Chase: Tony Beckley
• Richard Dunbar: Kenneth Gilbert
• Sir Colin Thackeray: Michael Barrington
• Amelia Ducat: Sylvia Coleridge
• Scorby: John Challis
• Arnold Keeler / Krynoid Voice: Mark Jones
• Hargreaves: Seymour Green
• Derek Moberley: Michael McStay
• John Stevenson: Hubert Rees
• Charles Winlett: John Gleeson
• Doctor Chester: Ian Fairbairn
• Major Beresford: John Acheson
• Sergeant Henderson: Ray Barron
• Chauffeur: Alan Chuntz
• Guard Leader: David Masterman
• Guard: Harry Fielder

Crew

• Film Editor: M A C Adams
• Designer: Jeremy Bear
• Make-Up: Ann Briggs
• Incidental Music: Geoffrey Burgon
• Director: Douglas Camfield
• Visual Effects: Richard Conway
• Studio Lighting: John Dixon
• Production Unit Manager: George Gallacio
• Title Music: Ron Grainer and the BBC Radiophonic Workshop, arranged by Delia Derbyshire
• Production Assistant: Graeme Harper
• Producer: Philip Hinchcliffe
• Script Editor: Robert Holmes
• Studio Sound: John Holmes
• Film Cameraman: Keith Hopper
• Costumes: Barbara Lane
• Special Sounds: Dick Mills
• Designer: Roger Murray-Leach
• Production Unit Manager: Janet Radenkovic
• Assistant Floor Manager: Sue Shearman
• Writer: Robert Banks Stewart
• Fight Arranger: Terry Walsh

Story Notes

• Episodes 1 and 2 are heavily influenced by Howard Hawks' 1951 film The Thing From Another World: An artifact found frozen in the Antarctic ice is revealed to be a deadly plant-like alien. The film was itself based on the short story, "Who Goes There?," written by John W. Campbell, Jr. Others have noticed a strong similarity between this story and "Man-Eater of Surrey Green," an installment of The Avengers television series of the 1960s, and also the 1953 BBC production The Quatermass Experiment.
• The serial also marked the final appearance of UNIT in the series until 1989's Battlefield (although it would be referenced in the Fifth Doctor story Time-Flight, and Brigadier Alistair Gordon Lethbridge-Stewart appeared in the 1983 story Mawdryn Undead as a retired civilian). None of the established UNIT characters are seen in UNIT's brief appearance in this story, as it was felt that there was too little material to warrant bringing back the Brigadier and Sergeant John Benton. It was also director Douglas Camfield's last involvement with Doctor Who. Camfield went on to direct other television programs and died in his sleep in 1984.
• A few weeks before the serial was due to begin its original transmission, the master tape for the first episode was found to be missing. A brief panic ensued and producer Philip Hinchcliffe began planning a re-edit of the second episode allowing the story to begin at this point, but fortunately the tape of the opening episode was eventually located, having been misplaced in the tape storage system (apparently due to having been wrongly numbered).
• A novelisation of this serial, written by Philip Hinchcliffe, was published by Target Books in February 1977.
• The costume for the humanoid stage of the Krynoid was created by taking one of the surviving Axon costumes from The Claws of Axos and spraying it green.
• The TARDIS returns to Antarctica at the end of the story, the Doctor having not re-set the coordinates - but the TARDIS never went there in the first place (he and Sarah travelled by helicopter).

Myths

• This story was originally written as a four-parter and the opening two episodes were added by script editor Robert Holmes and/or director Douglas Camfield. (It was commissioned and written as a six-parter by Robert Banks Stewart from the outset.)
• The location scenes for this story were shot at a house owned by rock star Mick Jagger. (Jagger's house, Stargroves near Newbury in Hampshire, was used as a location for Pyramids of Mars; the house seen in The Seeds of Doom is Athelhampton House in Athelhampton, Dorset.)

Quotes

Doctor: "I suppose you could call it a galactic weed, though it's deadlier than any weed you know. On most planets the animals eat the vegetation. On planets where the Krynoid gets established, the vegetation eats the animals."

Doctor: [To Sir Colin Thackeray.] "If we don't find that pod before it germinates, it'll be the end of everything. Everything, you understand? Even your pension!"

Harrison Chase: "What do you do for an encore, Doctor?" Doctor: "I win."

Harrison Chase: "The plants must win. It will be a new world. Silent and beautiful."

Amelia Ducat: [Discusses her painting (a homage to The Importance of Being Ernest)] "Where did you say you found it?" Sarah: "We found it in a car boot." Amelia Ducat: "A car boot?" Doctor: "Yes, a Daimler car boot." Amelia Ducat: "The car is immaterial!"

External links

• The Seeds of Doom episode guide on the BBC website