Dragonfire (TV story)

Dragonfire
Doctor:	[[doctor::Seventh Doctor]]
Companion(s):	Mel (Departure) Ace (Introduction, Joins)
Main enemy:	Kane
Main setting:	Iceworld
Key crew
Writer:	Ian Briggs
Director:	Chris Clough
Producer:	John Nathan-Turner
Release details
Story number:	148
Release number:	Season 24
Premiere broadcast:	23rd November - 7th December 1987
Format:	3 25-minute episodes
Production code:	7G

Synopsis

The TARDIS materialises in Iceworld, a space trading colony on the dark side of the planet Svartos. The Doctor and Mel encounter Glitz and learn that he has come here to search for a supposed treasure guarded by a dragon. Also on Svartos is Kane, a - literally - cold-blooded criminal who has been imprisoned here by his own people from the planet Proamon.

The Doctor and Mel, aided by Ace, a disaffected waitress, discover that the 'dragon' is a biomechanoid and the 'treasure' a power crystal held within its head. Kane is desperate to obtain the crystal and the Doctor uses it to bargain with him for Ace's freedom. It turns out that Iceworld is a huge spacecraft and the crystal the key that Kane needs in order to activate it.

Iceworld takes off and Kane determines to return to Proamon and take revenge on his people. The Doctor however reveals that Proamon no longer exists. Kane despairingly opens a viewing port, allowing bright light to flood into the control room and causing himself to melt.

Plot

Thw TARDIS lands on the ice planet, where the Doctor battles Cane to save the universe. Ace joins the Doctor in this 3-part story. Last appearance of Bonnue Langford as Mel and the first appearance of Solphe Aldred as Ace.

Cast

• The Doctor - Sylvester McCoy
• Mel - Bonnie Langford
• Ace - Sophie Aldred
• Sabalom Glitz - Tony Selby
• Kane - Edward Peel
• Belazs - Patricia Quinn
• Kracauer - Tony Osoba
• Customer - Shirin Taylor
• Anderson - Ian Mackenzie
• McLuhan - Stephanie Fayerman
• Bazin - Stuart Organ
• Zed - Sean Blowers
• Pudovkin - Nigel Miles-Thomas
• The Creature - Leslie Meadows
• Announcer - Lynn Gardner
• Stellar - Miranda Borman
• Archivist - Daphne Oxenford
• Arnheim - Chris MacDonnell

Crew

• Assistant Floor Manager - Christopher Sandeman
• Costumes - Richard Croft
• Designer - John Asbridge
• Incidental Music - Dominic Glynn
• Make-Up - Gillian Thomas
• Producer - John Nathan-Turner
• Production Assistant - Rosemary Parsons, Karen King
• Production Associate - Anne Faggetter
• Script Editor - Andrew Cartmel
• Special Sounds - Dick Mills
• Studio Lighting - Don Babbage
• Studio Sound - Brian Clark
• Theme Arrangement - Keff McCulloch
• Title Music - Ron Grainer
• Visual Effects - Andy McVean

References

• The Dragonfire is the power source for the Iceworld space craft.
• There are Ice Gardens below Iceworld.

• Ace was brought to Iceworld by a time storm.
• It takes more than 15 years for a star to go supernova and turn into a neutron star.

Individuals

• Ace's real name is Dorothy, she's 16 years old.

Story Notes

• Working titles for this story included; Absolute Zero, Pyramid In Space, The Pyramid's Treasure.
• Part One ends on a 'literal cliff hanger' with the Doctor hanging onto his umbrella in a seemingly pointless act.
• Script editor Andrew Cartmel encouraged his writers to read the academic media studies textbook Doctor Who: The Unfolding Text by John Tulloch and Manuel Alvarado to help acquaint themselves with the series.
• Ian Briggs actually used some short passages from Doctor Who: The Unfolding Text in the dialogue of Dragonfire.
• At one point, the character Kane would have been called Hess, but that was changed due to the news that Nazi war criminal Hess was petitioning for his release from prison.
• Although Ace is 16, the actress who plays her is in fact nearly 10 years older.
• The melting of Kane is reminiscent of the melting of the villain in the original Raiders of the Lost Ark film.

Ratings

• Part 1 - 5.5 million viewers
• Part 2 - 5.0 million viewers
• Part 3 - 4.7 million viewers

Myths

• This is the 150th Doctor Who story. (It is the 147th broadcast, although the BBC promoted it as the 150th. The production team apparently arrived at the total by counting the four segments of season twenty-three's The Trial of a Time Lord as four separate stories.) (Additionally this is listed as the 148th as Shada (TV version) is counted as a story, making this the 148th produced and the 147th broadcast)

Filming Locations

• BBC Television Centre (TC1 & TC3), Shepherd's Bush, London

Discontinuity, Plot Holes, Errors

• At the end of part one, the Doctor looks down an almost bottomless cliff of ice. By the start of the next part a little ledge has appeared, onto which Glitz is able to pull the Doctor.
• In part two, when Ace throws Nitro 9 at the 'zombies', the 'rock face' behind her is a billowing white curtain.

Continuity

• Sabalom Glitz last appeared in DW: The Ultimate Foe (part of Trial of a Time Lord)
• Ace was brought to Iceworld via a time storm, why this occurred is revealed in DW: The Curse of Fenric.
• Mel reunites with the Doctor in NA: Head Games and discovers why she left him in this story.

Timeline

• Dragonfire occurs after: ST: Special Weapons
• Dragonfire occurs before: to be added

DVD and Video Releases

to be added

Novelisation

Main article: Dragonfire (novelisation)

• Novelised as Dragonfire by Ian Briggs in 1989.

External Links

• Official BBC Episode Guide for Dragonfire
• Outpost Gallifrey Episode Guide: Dragonfire
• Doctor Who Reference Guide: Detailed Synopsis - Dragonfire
• A Brief History of Time (Travel) entry for Dragonfire

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