Nightmare of Eden (TV story)
Synopsis
The TARDIS arrives on the space liner Empress which has become locked together with a private ship, the Hecate, after colliding with it on emerging from hyperspace.
The Doctor and Romana meet the scientist Tryst, who has with him a Continuous Event Transmuter (CET) machine containing crystals on which are stored supposed recordings of planets that he and his team have visited.
Someone on board the liner is smuggling the dangerously addictive drug vraxoin, and to complicate matters the interface between the two ships allows some monstrous Mandrels from the mud-swamps of Eden to escape from the CET machine - which does not merely take recordings but actually displaces whole planetary areas into its crystals.
The smugglers are revealed to be Tryst and the Hecate's pilot, Dymond. Vraxoin is in fact the material into which the Mandrels decompose when they are killed. The Doctor thwarts this plan, separates the two ships and returns the Mandrels to Eden.
Plot
to be added
Cast
- The Doctor - Tom Baker
- Romana II - Lalla Ward
- Voice of K9 - David Brierley
- Tryst - Lewis Fiander
- Dymond - Geoffrey Bateman
- Captain Rigg - David Daker
- Stott - Barry Andrews
- Della - Jennifer Lonsdale
- Fisk - Geoffrey Hinsliff
- Costa - Peter Craze
- Secker - Stephen Jenn
- Crewmen - Richard Barnes, Sebastian Stride, Eden Phillips
- Passengers - Annette Peters, Lionel Sansby, Peter Roberts, Maggie Petersen
Crew
- Director - Alan Bromly
- Director - Graham Williams (Graham Williams decided to dispense with Alan Bromly's services toward the end of the story's second studio session and directed the remainder himself, without on-screen credit.)
- Assistant Floor Manager - Val McCrimmon
- Costumes - Rupert Jarvis
- Designer - Roger Cann
- Incidental Music - Dudley Simpson
- Make-Up - Joan Stribling
- Producer - Graham Williams
- Production Assistant - Carolyn Montagu
- Production Unit Manager - John Nathan-Turner
- Script Editor - Douglas Adams
- Special Sounds - Dick Mills
- Studio Lighting - Warwick Fielding
- Studio Sound - Anthony Philpott
- Theme Arrangement - Delia Derbyshire
- Title Music - Ron Grainer
- Visual Effects - Colin Mapson
- Writer - Bob Baker
References
- Vraxoin is also known as XYP, it is a fungus, it induces apathy.
- Mandrels when electrocuted turn into Vraxoin.
- The Empress, with 900 passengers, commutes between Station 9 and Azure in the Western Galaxy.
- Examples of life from various planets are stored in the Continuous Event Transmuter (CET), including Eden, Gidi, Zil, Bros, Vij, Darp, Lvan and Ranx.
- Galactic Salvage Insurance, whom the Doctor claims to work for, was formed in London in 2068 and was liquidated in 2096.
- Stott is a Major in the intelligence section of the Space Corps.
- The Doctor asks whether the CET features a spatial integrator, a transmutation oscillator, a hologistic retention circuit or a dimensional osmosis damper.
- Tryst and Dymond plan to smuggle vraxoin with an Enchooka laser.
Story Notes
- Vraxoin was originally called 'xylophilin', but was changed so as not to sound appealing to children.
- This story had the working title of Nightmare of Evil.
Ratings
- Part 1 - 8.7 million viewers
- Part 2 - 9.6 million viewers
- Part 3 - 9.6 million viewers
- Part 4 - 9.4 million viewers
Myths
to be added
Filming Locations
- BBC Television Centre (Studio 6), Shepherd's Bush, London
Discontinuity, Plot Holes, Errors
- In episode two, when K9 seals up the wall panel, a hand emerges to hold the thing in place.
- When Della gets shot in the face in episode four, she clutches her stomach.
Continuity
- The CET machine recalls elements of the miniscope seen in DW: Carnival of Monsters.
Novelisation
- Main article: Doctor Who and the Nightmare of Eden'
- Novelised as Doctor Who and the Nightmare of Eden by Terrance Dicks.
See also
to be added
DVD and Video Releases
this episode is currently available on iTunes US
External Links
- BBC Episode Guide to Nightmare of Eden
- Outpost Gallifrey Episode Guide: Nightmare of Eden
- Doctor Who Reference Guide: Detailed Synopsis - Nightmare of Eden
- A Brief History of Time (Travel) Guide: Nightmare of Eden
