Mawdryn Undead (TV story): Difference between revisions

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{|border=2 align=right
{{Infobox TV|
|+ '''Mawdryn Undead'''
story name= Mawdryn Undead|
| '''Season:''' || [[Season 20|20]]
image=[[Image:Mawdryn Undead.jpg|250px]]|
|-
series=[[Doctor Who]] -<br/>[[TV stories|TV Stories]] |
| '''Doctor:''' || [[Fifth Doctor]]
number=  |
|-
doctor=[[Fifth Doctor]] |
| '''Companion''' || [[Nyssa]]
companions= [[Nyssa]]<br>[[Tegan]] <br>[[Turlough]] (Introduction)<br>[[Brigadier Lethbridge-Stewart]]|
|-
enemy= [[Black Guardian]]<br>[[Mawdryn]]<br>[[Turlough]] |
| || [[Tegan]]
year= [[1977]],<br>[[1983]] |
|-
writer= [[Peter Grimwade]] |
| || [[Turlough]]
director= [[Peter Moffatt]] |
|-
producer= [[John Nathan-Turner]] |
| '''Original Airdate:''' || [[1st February]] - [[9th February]] [[1983]]
broadcast date= [[1st February]] - [[9th February]] [[1983]] |
|-
format= 4 25-minute episodes |
| '''Format:''' || 4 25-minute episodes
production code= [[6F]] }}
|-
| '''Production Code:''' || 6F
|-
| '''Writer:''' || [[Peter Grimwade]]
|-
| '''Director:''' || [[Peter Moffatt]]
|-
| '''Producer:''' || [[ John Nathan-Turner]]
|-
|}
 
 


== Cast ==
A [[warp ellipse]] draws the [[TARDIS]] off course. The [[Fifth Doctor]]'s [[companion]]s are separated from him not in [[space]], but in [[time]], and he has to deal with a treacherous schoolboy named [[Turlough]]. But why does the Doctor's old friend [[the Brigadier]] not remember him at all?




== Summary ==
In [[1983]], the former [[Brigadier Lethbridge-Stewart]] teaches mathematics at [[Brendon Public School]], where [[Turlough]] is a student. In the aftermath of a car accident, Turlough is contacted by the sinister [[Black Guardian]], whom [[Fourth Doctor|the Doctor]] thwarted during the quest for the [[Key to Time]]. Seeking revenge, the Black Guardian offers Turlough transportation off [[Earth]] if he will kill the Doctor.


Meanwhile, the [[Fifth Doctor]], [[Tegan Jovanka|Tegan]] and [[Nyssa]] have problems of their own. The [[TARDIS]] is caught in a [[warp ellipse]] and materializes on board a [[starliner]] locked in a perpetual orbit in [[time]] and [[space]]. Turlough, under the Black Guardian's instructions, transports himself onto the liner from Earth by means of a [[transmat]] capsule and encounters the TARDIS crew. The Doctor travels to Earth via transmat, taking Turlough with him, to get rid of the transmat interference that is trapping the TARDIS on the liner. Unfortunately, when the TARDIS tries to materialize on Earth, it vanishes. The Doctor meets the Brigadier at the Brendon school, but is puzzled when his old comrade-in-arms does not remember their time together at first. When the Doctor says he has to find Tegan and his TARDIS, the Brigadier remembers meeting her in [[1977]]. The Doctor realizes that the TARDIS is right there - just six years earlier - and tries to get the Brigadier to remember the events that led to his nervous breakdown in 1977.


== Crew ==
In 1977, Tegan and Nyssa encounter the transmat capsule, but inside is an [[alien]]-looking [[human]]oid whom they initially believe is the Doctor, horribly injured. Meeting the younger Brigadier, they bring him and the alien back to the starliner, which is actually the prison of a group of alien scientists who had been trying to discover the [[Time Lord]] secret of [[regeneration]]. As Mawdryn, the leader of the group explains, they only succeeded in trapping themselves in a cycle of perpetual mutation and regeneration and now long for [[death]]. When the Doctor finds out that there are two Brigadiers aboard, he has to try to keep the two apart lest the resulting energy discharge prove catastrophic.


Trying to leave in the TARDIS, the Doctor discovers that Tegan and Nyssa have been infected by the same malady as Mawdryn and his compatriots. The only cure, it seems, is to do what Mawdryn demands: the Doctor must give up the energy from his remaining regenerations. Hooking himself up to Mawdryn's apparatus, the Doctor is about to sacrifice himself when the two Brigadiers meet and touch hands, causing a discharge of temporal energy at precisely the right instant. Tegan and Nyssa are cured, the alien scientists succeed in ending their undead existence, and the Doctor remains a Time Lord. The younger Brigadier, however, will not remember his time with the Doctor until they meet again in [[1983]]...


After returning the Brigadiers to their respective time zones, Turlough asks if he can join the Doctor in his travels. The Doctor agrees, apparently not realizing he is taking an assassin into the fold.


== References ==


== Bad Guys ==
[[Harry Sullivan]], [[Jo Grant]], [[Liz Shaw]], [[Mara]], [[NATO]], Queen [[Elizabeth II]], [[Sarah Jane Smith]], Sergeant [[John Benton|Benton]], [[Silver Jubilee]], [[UNIT]], [[Yeti]]


== Cast ==
*[[Fifth Doctor|The Doctor]] - [[Peter Davison]]
*[[Tegan Jovanka]] - [[Janet Fielding]]
*[[Nyssa]] - [[Sarah Sutton]]
*[[Turlough]] – [[Mark Strickson]]
*[[Brigadier Lethbridge-Stewart]] – [[Nicholas Courtney]]
*The [[Black Guardian]] – [[Valentine Dyall]]
*Headmaster – [[Angus MacKay]]
*[[Ibbotson]] -  [[Stephen Garlick]]
*Dr [[Runciman]] - [[Roger Hammond]]
*Matron - [[Sheila Gill]]
*[[Mawdryn]] – [[David Collings]]
*[[Mutant]]s - [[Peter Walmsley]], [[Brian Darnley]]




 
== Crew ==
== Story Notes ==
*[[Studio Lighting]] - [[Don Babbage]]
*[[Visual Effects]] - [[Stuart Brisdon]]
*[[Production Associate]] - [[June Collins]]
*[[Costumes]] - [[Richard Croft]]
*[[Title Music]] - [[Ron Grainer]] and the [[BBC Radiophonic Workshop]]
*[[Theme arrangement]] - [[Peter Howell]]
*[[Film Cameraman]] - [[Godfrey Johnson]]
*[[Incidental Music]] - [[Paddy Kingsland]]
*[[Production Assistant]] - [[Valerie Letley]]
*[[Special Sounds]] - [[Dick Mills]]
*[[Make-Up]] - [[Carolyn Perry]], [[Sheelagh Wells]]
*[[Studio Sound]] - [[Martin Ridout]]
*[[Costumes]] - [[Amy Roberts]]
*[[Designer]] - [[Stephen Scott]]
*[[Assistant Floor Manager]] - [[Ian Tootle]]
*[[Film Editor]] - [[Chris Woolley]]
*[[Writer]] - [[Peter Grimwade]]
*[[Script Editor]] - [[Eric Saward]]
*[[Director]] - [[Peter Moffatt]]
*[[Producer]] - [[John Nathan-Turner]]




==Notes==
*Every story during [[Season 20]] had [[the Doctor]] face an enemy from each of his past incarnations. For this trilogy, the enemy was the [[Black Guardian]], who last faced the [[Fourth Doctor|fourth incarnation]] of the Doctor at the conclusion of the [[Key to Time]] saga in "[[The Armageddon Factor]]" ([[1979]]).
*The Doctor cites the "[[Blinovitch Limitation Effect]]" (first mentioned in the [[Third Doctor]] serial, "[[Day of the Daleks]]") as the reason for the temporal energy discharge resulting from the meeting of the two Brigadiers. However, the Effect must not apply to [[Time Lord]]s, or at least can be mitigated, as the Doctor has met and made physical contact with his prior incarnations on several occasions.
*The original intent of the production team was for the character of [[Ian Chesterton]], one of the original regulars from the series' first two seasons from [[1963]]-[[1965|65]], to return for a guest appearance in this story, hence the school setting as Chesterton was a science teacher. However, actor [[William Russell]] proved to be unavailable. Some consideration was given to using instead the character of [[Harry Sullivan]], who was a regular in the programme for a season in the mid-[[1970s]], before the return of Lethbridge-Stewart was eventually decided upon.
*[[David Collings]], who played Mawdryn, also appeared in the [[Tom Baker|Fourth Doctor]] serials "[[Revenge of the Cybermen]]" as [[Vorus]] and "[[The Robots of Death]]" as [[Poul]], and would himself play an alternate Doctor in [[Big Finish Productions]]' ''[[Doctor Who Unbound]]'' audio play, "[[Full Fathom Five]]."
*The [[Black Guardian Trilogy]] continues in the serial "[[Terminus (TV story)|Terminus]]".


=== Myths ===
=== Myths ===
''To be added.''


== Statistics ==
=== Ratings ===
 
''To be added.''
 
 
=== Broadcast Dates ===
 
 
 
 
=== Duration ===
 
 
 
=== [[Ratings]] ===
 
 




== Continuity ==
== Continuity ==
 
*[[The Doctor]] last encountered the [[Black Guardian]] in "[[The Armageddon Factor]]," in which he also hinted that what he thought was the [[White Guardian]] in "[[The Ribos Operation]]" may have been the Black Guardian posing as his counterpart.
 
*At the story's opening, [[Tegan]] is still unsure if she is finally free of the [[Mara]], a reference to the previous story, "[[Snakedance]]."
 
*[[Turlough]]'s origins are finally explained in "[[Planet of Fire]]."
 
== Cultural References ==
 
 




=== Influences ===
=== Influences ===
 
''To be added.''
 




== Location Filming ==
== Location Filming ==
 
''To be added.''




== Quotes ==
== Quotes ==
 
[[The Brigadier]]:"Someone just walked on my grave."
:[[The Doctor]]: "Perhaps it was a [[Yeti]], ''Colonel'' Lethbridge-Stewart."




== Story Arcs ==
== Story Arcs ==
*The [[Black Guardian Trilogy]]




== Discontinuity ==


 
*"Mawdryn Undead" has the unfortunate distinction of contributing to one of the biggest and most widely discussed contradictions in the ''Doctor Who'' universe: the "[[UNIT dating controversy]]".
== Errors and Plot Holes ==
*"Mawdryn Undead" also makes the first explicit statement in the series that the current Doctor is the fifth incarnation, contradicting earlier stories such as "[[The Brain of Morbius]]" where previously unseen incarnations were apparently shown.
 






== More Info ==
== More Info ==
* [[Mawdryn Undead Synopsis | Story Synopsis]]
* [[Mawdryn Undead Transcript | Story Transcript]]


* [[Mawdryn Undead Novelization | Story Novelization]]
* [[Mawdryn Undead Novelization | Story Novelization]]


* [[Mawdryn Undead DVD | DVD Release]]
* [[Mawdryn Undead Video | Video Release]]




== External Links ==
== External Links ==
 
*[http://www.bbc.co.uk/cult/doctorwho/episodeguide/mawdrynundead/castcrew.shtml Cast and Crew list, on the BBC website]
*{{Wikipedia|Mawdryn_Undead}}




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[[Category:Television stories]]
[[Category:Television stories]]
[[Category:Doctor Who stories]]
[[Category:Doctor Who stories]]

Revision as of 00:45, 16 February 2006


A warp ellipse draws the TARDIS off course. The Fifth Doctor's companions are separated from him not in space, but in time, and he has to deal with a treacherous schoolboy named Turlough. But why does the Doctor's old friend the Brigadier not remember him at all?


Summary

In 1983, the former Brigadier Lethbridge-Stewart teaches mathematics at Brendon Public School, where Turlough is a student. In the aftermath of a car accident, Turlough is contacted by the sinister Black Guardian, whom the Doctor thwarted during the quest for the Key to Time. Seeking revenge, the Black Guardian offers Turlough transportation off Earth if he will kill the Doctor.

Meanwhile, the Fifth Doctor, Tegan and Nyssa have problems of their own. The TARDIS is caught in a warp ellipse and materializes on board a starliner locked in a perpetual orbit in time and space. Turlough, under the Black Guardian's instructions, transports himself onto the liner from Earth by means of a transmat capsule and encounters the TARDIS crew. The Doctor travels to Earth via transmat, taking Turlough with him, to get rid of the transmat interference that is trapping the TARDIS on the liner. Unfortunately, when the TARDIS tries to materialize on Earth, it vanishes. The Doctor meets the Brigadier at the Brendon school, but is puzzled when his old comrade-in-arms does not remember their time together at first. When the Doctor says he has to find Tegan and his TARDIS, the Brigadier remembers meeting her in 1977. The Doctor realizes that the TARDIS is right there - just six years earlier - and tries to get the Brigadier to remember the events that led to his nervous breakdown in 1977.

In 1977, Tegan and Nyssa encounter the transmat capsule, but inside is an alien-looking humanoid whom they initially believe is the Doctor, horribly injured. Meeting the younger Brigadier, they bring him and the alien back to the starliner, which is actually the prison of a group of alien scientists who had been trying to discover the Time Lord secret of regeneration. As Mawdryn, the leader of the group explains, they only succeeded in trapping themselves in a cycle of perpetual mutation and regeneration and now long for death. When the Doctor finds out that there are two Brigadiers aboard, he has to try to keep the two apart lest the resulting energy discharge prove catastrophic.

Trying to leave in the TARDIS, the Doctor discovers that Tegan and Nyssa have been infected by the same malady as Mawdryn and his compatriots. The only cure, it seems, is to do what Mawdryn demands: the Doctor must give up the energy from his remaining regenerations. Hooking himself up to Mawdryn's apparatus, the Doctor is about to sacrifice himself when the two Brigadiers meet and touch hands, causing a discharge of temporal energy at precisely the right instant. Tegan and Nyssa are cured, the alien scientists succeed in ending their undead existence, and the Doctor remains a Time Lord. The younger Brigadier, however, will not remember his time with the Doctor until they meet again in 1983...

After returning the Brigadiers to their respective time zones, Turlough asks if he can join the Doctor in his travels. The Doctor agrees, apparently not realizing he is taking an assassin into the fold.

References

Harry Sullivan, Jo Grant, Liz Shaw, Mara, NATO, Queen Elizabeth II, Sarah Jane Smith, Sergeant Benton, Silver Jubilee, UNIT, Yeti

Cast


Crew


Notes

Myths

To be added.

Ratings

To be added.


Continuity


Influences

To be added.


Location Filming

To be added.


Quotes

The Brigadier:"Someone just walked on my grave."

The Doctor: "Perhaps it was a Yeti, Colonel Lethbridge-Stewart."


Story Arcs


Discontinuity

  • "Mawdryn Undead" has the unfortunate distinction of contributing to one of the biggest and most widely discussed contradictions in the Doctor Who universe: the "UNIT dating controversy".
  • "Mawdryn Undead" also makes the first explicit statement in the series that the current Doctor is the fifth incarnation, contradicting earlier stories such as "The Brain of Morbius" where previously unseen incarnations were apparently shown.


More Info


External Links


Television

Previous story:
Snakedance 		Next story:
Terminus
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