The Three Doctors (TV story): Difference between revisions

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== DVD, Video and Other Releases ==
== DVD, Video and Other Releases ==
'''DVD Releases'''
'''DVD Releases'''
[[Image:3docspack.jpg|right|76px]]
[[Image:Threedocsna.jpg|right|76px]]


Released as ''Doctor Who: The Three Doctors''.
Released as ''Doctor Who: The Three Doctors''.
Line 181: Line 183:
Released as ''Doctor Who: The Three Doctors''.
Released as ''Doctor Who: The Three Doctors''.


::[[UK]] Release: [[August]] [[1991]] / [[US]] Release: [[January]] [[1992]]
Released:
*[[UK]] [[August]] [[1991]]
::PAL - [[BBC Video]] BBCV4650
::PAL - [[BBC Video]] BBCV4650
*[[US]] [[January]] [[1992]]
::NTSC - [[CBS/FOX Video]] 3405
::NTSC - [[CBS/FOX Video]] 3405
::NTSC - [[Warner Video]] E1100
::NTSC - [[Warner Video]] E1100

Revision as of 04:01, 3 March 2007

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The Time Lords find themselves beseiged by a mysterious enemy inhabiting the antimatter universe on the other side of the black hole from which they draw their power. They enlist the Doctor in his first three incarnations to battle this foe, who turns out to be a legend from the Time Lords's remote past.


Summary

A superluminal signal is sent to Earth, carrying with it an unusual energy blob that seems intent on capturing the Doctor. In the meantime, the homeworld of the Time Lords is under siege, with all the power sustaining it being drained through a black hole. Trapped and desperate, the Time Lords do the unthinkable and break the First Law of Time, allowing the Doctor to aid himself by summoning his two previous incarnations from the past.

Unfortunately, the Doctor's first incarnation is trapped in a time eddy, unable to fully materialize, and can only communicate via viewscreen, but the Doctor's second incarnation joins the third in investigating the origins of the creature and the black hole, while UNIT headquarters faces an attack by the gel-like alien creatures.

The First Doctor deduces the black hole is a bridge between universes, and the other two Doctors allow the TARDIS to be swallowed up by the energy creature, which transports them, Dr Tyler, Jo Grant, Sergeant Benton and Brigadier Lethbridge-Stewart into an antimatter universe created by the legendary Time Lord Omega, a solar engineer who created the supernova that powers Time Lord civilization, but was considered killed in the explosion. In actuality, he had been transported to the antimatter universe, where his will and thought turned the formless matter into physicality. Trapped, due to the fact that his will is the only thing maintaining reality, he vowed revenge on the Time Lords who left him stranded.

It is clear that the exile has made Omega quite insane. Along with his revenge, he has summoned the Doctors here to take over the mental maintenance of the antimatter universe so he can escape. However, the Doctors discover that years of exposure to the corrosive effects of the black hole's singularity have destroyed Omega's physical body - he is trapped forever. Driven over the edge by this discovery, Omega now demands that the Doctors share his exile.

The Doctors escape briefly, and offer Omega a proposition. They will give him his freedom if they send the others back to the positive matter universe. Omega agrees, and when that is done, the Doctors offer Omega a force field generator containing the Second Doctor's recorder, which had fallen in it prior to the transport through the black hole. Omega knocks the generator over in a rage and the unconverted positive matter recorder falls out of the force field. When the recorder comes into contact with the antimatter universe, it annihilates everything in a flash, returning the Doctors in the TARDIS to the positive matter universe. The Third Doctor explains that death was the only freedom anyone could offer Omega.

With the power now restored to the Time Lords, they are able to send the First and Second Doctors back to their respective time periods. As a reward, the Time Lords give the Third Doctor a new dematerialization circuit for the TARDIS and restore his knowledge of how to travel through space and time.


References

Aladdin, antimatter, black hole, the Beatles, Cybermen, jelly baby, recorder, singularity, supernova, "Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star", Yeti,

Cast & Characters

Crew


Notes

  • William Hartnell's last appearance as the Doctor before his death in 1975. Hartnell was too ill to play a more active role in the story. Instead his scenes were filmed in Ealing Television Film Studios while he read his lines from cue cards. The script was rewritten with the explanation that the First Doctor was stuck in a time eddy due to the power drain caused by Omega.
  • The first appearance of Omega. Originally Omega's name was supposed to be Ohm, the word resulting from turning "who" upside-down. Ohm was later used as the name of an ancient Gallifreyan god in The Infinity Doctors.
  • Original plans were for Jamie McCrimmon and Zoe Heriot to appear in the story. However, Frazer Hines was unable to take time out from Emmerdale Farm for filming, and the idea of additional companions received objections from Jon Pertwee, who felt too many characters would detract from the story.
  • The end of the Doctor's exile on Earth. This also marks the beginning of the gradual phasing out of UNIT on the series, as the Doctor spends more and more time away from 20th century Earth.

Influences

To be added.

Ratings

  • Episode 1 - 9.6m viewers
  • Episode 2 - 10.8m viewers
  • Episode 3 - 8.8m viewers
  • Episode 4 - 11.9m viewers

Statistics on Repeat and non UK Broadcasts

Myths

Location Filming

Continuity

Quotes

  • The First Doctor assessing his successors: "Oh, so you're my replacements, - a dandy and a clown."
  • The Second Doctor: "We have to keep it confused, feed it useless information, - I wonder if I have a television set handy."
  • The Second Doctor summarizing Omega's use of the singularity: "I see, so you just think of a thing, rub your magic lamp over there and shali-kamali-ka-zoop, there it is! That's clever, I say that's jolly clever!"
    • Omega's reaction (addressed to the Third Doctor): "Are you certain you two are of the same intelligence?"

Story Arcs

Discontinuity

  • The fact that he has been brought into his own future and telepathicly linked with the Third Doctor leads to questions of the Second Doctor learning of his eventual capture, trial, and exile by the Time Lords. Season 6B is an attempt to reconcile the issues arising from this plot hole.

More Info

DVD, Video and Other Releases

DVD Releases

File:3docspack.jpg
Threedocsna.jpg

Released as Doctor Who: The Three Doctors.

Released:

PAL - BBC DVD BBCDVD1144
NTSC - Warner Video E1925

Contents:

Notes: Also released in the UK in a limited edition boxset, including a miniature Bessie model car.

Video Release

Released as Doctor Who: The Three Doctors.

Released:

PAL - BBC Video BBCV4650
NTSC - CBS/FOX Video 3405
NTSC - Warner Video E1100

External Links

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