Galaxy 4 was the first story of the third season of Doctor Who, although it was recorded after The Time Meddler as part of the series' second recording block. Its third episode, "Air Lock", achieved the highest ratings of any episode between the final episode of The Web Planet and the final episode of The Three Doctors. Indeed, "Air Lock" is one of the few episodes from pre-BBC Wales Doctor Who to have ranked amongst the top fifteen shows of its initial broadcasting week.[1]
It is the earliest non-historical story to have missing episodes. Until the recovery of "Air Lock" in 2011,[2] it was notable for the extreme paucity of its surviving material. Because no telesnaps were taken during broadcast, photographic evidence for this story was effectively limited to publicity shots (with only one photograph of the Rills) and a six minute excerpt from "Four Hundred Dawns".
Actor Peter Purves has been outspoken in his distaste for the serial, which was originally written for Ian, Barbara and Vicki. He has frequently opined that his character, companion Steven Taylor, was not well-served because the hurried rewrite mostly transferred Barbara's lines to him, resulting in a "feminisation" of Steven's character.
Synopsis
The Doctor, Vicki and Steven arrive on an arid planet where they meet the beautiful Drahvins and the hideous Rills. Each have crash-landed after a confrontation in space. The latter prove to be friendly, compassionate explorers; the former are a group of dull-witted cloned soldiers terrorised by the intelligent, warlike matriarch Maaga.
Both ships are damaged, the Drahvins' craft being irreparable. The Rills' is almost ready to take off; despite being unable to breathe the oxygen atmosphere, they employ efficient robot drones, which Vicki nicknames 'Chumblies'. Despite numerous offers by the Rills to take Maaga and her crew to safety, Maaga refuses their aid. When the planet is discovered to be on the point of disintegration, Maaga attempts to force the time travellers to help her not only to steal the Rills' ship but also to kill the Rills. Instead, the Doctor allows the Rills to draw power from the TARDIS in order to refuel and escape, leaving the Drahvins to their fate.
Plot
Four Hundred Dawns (1)
The First Doctor, Vicki and Steven Taylor arrive on an eerily silent, unnamed planet and encounter curious small robots which Vicki names Chumblies. It is unclear whether the robots are hostile. One is disabled by a party of female cloned Drahvins, from the planet Drahva in Galaxy Four.
The travellers are brought to the Drahvins' spaceship. The Drahvins are dominated by their leader, Maaga, who treats her soldiers with bullying contempt. The Drahvins are at war with the reptilian Rills, the masters of the Chumblies. Each race has a crashed spaceship on this planet. However, the Rills have told them the planet will explode in fourteen planetary cycles (referred to as "dawns"). With the Drahvin ship irreparable, Maaga and her warriors are keen to capture the Rill ship, which they believe is almost functional again. She paints a picture of the Drahvins as victims, but the Doctor has witnessed some of the Drahvin behavior and is dubious.
A Chumbley appears outside the ship, but the Drahvins repel it. The Doctor questions the motives of the Rills, warning the Drahvins of the planet's destruction, and offers to confirm the information. Maaga gratefully agrees, but insists that one of them remain with them on the ship; Vicki volunteers.
The Doctor and Steven return to the TARDIS, after watching a Chumbley unsuccessfully try to gain access to it. The Doctor is horrified to discover that the Rills' estimation was wrong: the planet will explode in only two dawns.
Trap of Steel (2)
The Doctor and Steven are prevented from leaving the TARDIS immediately because the Chumblies return, this time trying heavy explosives. This also fails to gain them access. Once it is safe, the Doctor and Steven run back to the Drahvins' ship to try to rescue Vicki. Upon their arrival, they muse on the inferior structure of the ship.
The Doctor decides not to tell Maaga the truth; he confirms the Rills' estimation. Maaga asks the Doctor and friends to help in their quest to capture the Rill ship. The travellers express their scepticism and refuse to help. Maaga decides to use threat and force. In so doing, she forces the Doctor to admit the true situation. He and Vicki, under great duress, are forced to journey to the Rill ship, while Steven is held hostage.
The Doctor and Vicki work out how to evade Chumbley sentries. They observe what looks like a drill-rig outside the Rill building. The Doctor is most impressed with its structure, musing that the Rills must be far more advanced than the Drahvins. Once inside they smell some sort of gas; it is familiar. Vicki eventually realises it is ammonia.
Arriving in a central chamber, they discover the spaceship's outer hull. Meanwhile, as they light-heartedly observe a dormant Chumbley, Vicki turns and lets out a blood-curdling scream.
Air Lock (3)
Alien eyes peer at the Doctor and Vicki through a window. With Chumblies moving towards the chamber, the intruders make a dash for it. An iron grille slams down, imprisoning Vicki inside the base. The Doctor decides to try to disable the ammonia gas converter, hoping that its importance to the Rills will allow him to help Vicki escape.
The Drahvin clones want to go on patrol, but Maaga orders them not to. Maaga is disgusted that she is the only one able to think for herself. She imagines being able to escape, while ensuring the Rills and the travellers are destroyed with the planet; she relishes the thought. Maaga then relents and sends one Drahvin on patrol to find the Doctor and Vicki.
Vicki is brought before the Rill leader, the one she saw before, as it sits obscured behind the window. The Rills use the Chumblies to transmit their thoughts; the Rills are telepathic. After Vicki admits what they were charged to do, the Rill reveals that they had offered to take the Drahvins with them. This despite the fact that the Drahvins had attacked them in space, which caused the conflict that made both ships crash. The Rill uses mental projection to allow Vicki to see what really happened: they tried to help an injured Drahvin, but then Maaga appeared, fired at them, then killed the injured soldier.
The Rills are extremely reticent to let Vicki see them completely, believing it best as their appearance would be too shocking. Also, it reveals that they remain behind the window to keep the ammonia that they breathe inside. Vicki, suddenly concerned for the Rills, runs outside and prevents the Doctor from wrecking their converter. After talking with the Rill, the Doctor decides he too will help them, allowing them power from the TARDIS to charge their ship.
Meanwhile, Steven attempts escape from the Drahvins, and half-succeeds. He makes it outside the cabin, but discovers Chumblies outside the ship. Believing he is surrounded by enemies, he locks himself in the airlock of the ship. Maaga cruelly starts to pump the air out.
A Chumbley reports to the Rill about Steven's predicament, and the Doctor and Vicki accompany two Chumblies back to the Drahvin ship. En route, they encounter the patrolling clone, but they take it prisoner after it fires on a Chumbley.
Steven decides he'd rather face the Chumblies... but he can no longer leave, because the air pressure has locked the door. Steven begins to suffocate.
The Exploding Planet (4)
A Chumbley fires an ammonia bomb into the ship and another releases Steven from the airlock. The Drahvins try to retaliate, but the Chumblies have them covered. They remain on guard outside. Maaga plans an escape.
Upon their return to the Rill central chamber, the Doctor notes to his friends that only about six hours remain until the planet is destroyed. Meanwhile, Steven talks with the Rill and his scepticism at their benevolence is evaporated. He helps connect the power at his end, while the Doctor and Vicki head to the TARDIS to connect there. Conversion of power from the TARDIS begins... slowly.
A Drahvin disables the Chumbley guard. Maaga and her soldiers make for the Rill ship as the first tremors of the planet are felt. The Chumblies are mostly able to fend off the Drahvins; one infiltrates the base but is soon dealt with.
The Doctor, Vicki, and Steven are finally allowed to see the Rills as they are. The Doctor is glad of it and stresses his respect for them, their intelligence and their character. Once the power transfer is completed, they say their goodbyes. The Rill sends a Chumbley to accompany the TARDIS crew to their ship.
The Rills safely take off. The Doctor and company reach and take off in the TARDIS. The Drahvins are left behind as the sun rises for the last time.
Safely inside the TARDIS, the Doctor pines for time to rest from his wearying adventures. Vicki, nursing an injured ankle, notices a planet on the scanner and wonders what could be happening there...
It is the planet Kembel. Unbeknownst to the travellers, Jeff Garvey has awakened in a dense jungle, remembering only that he "must kill" . . .
Cast
- The Doctor - William Hartnell
- Steven Taylor - Peter Purves
- Vicki - Maureen O'Brien
- Maaga - Stephanie Bidmead
- Drahvin One - Marina Martin
- Drahvin Two - Susanna Carroll
- Drahvin Three - Lyn Ashley
- Chumblies - Jimmy Kaye
- Chumblies - William Shearer
- Chumblies - Angelo Muscat
- Chumblies - Pepe Poupee
- Rill Voice - Robert Cartland
- Chumblies - Tommy Reynolds
- Garvey - Barry Jackson
- Rills - David Brewster, Peter Holmes, Brian Madge, Bill McAllister (all uncredited)
Crew
- Writer - William Emms
- Director - Derek Martinus
- Producer - Verity Lambert
- Script Editor - Donald Tosh
- Designer - Richard Hunt
- Assistant Floor Manager - Marjorie Yorke
- Assistant Floor Manager - Sue Willis
- Costumes - Daphne Dare
- Make-Up - Sonia Markham
- Production Assistant - Angela Gordon
- Special Sounds - Brian Hodgson
- Studio Lighting - Derek Hobday
- Studio Lighting - Ralph Walton
- Studio Sound - George Prince
- Theme Arrangement - Delia Derbyshire
- Title Music - Ron Grainer
References
- The Doctor and Vicki refer to their trip to Xeros in The Space Museum.
Story notes
- The working title for this story was The Chumblies. (REF: The First Doctor Handbook)
- The continuity from this story continues through until The Daleks' Master Plan: at the end of episode 4, Vicki complains of a sprained ankle. As she contemplates the planet Kembel on the scanner, we move to a short scene with Garvey as he begins his transformation into a Varga plant. Garvey as a Varga later threatens Cory and Lowrey in Mission to the Unknown. When we next see the TARDIS at the beginning of The Myth Makers, Vicki still has the problem with her ankle. Finally, after taking off at the conclusion of The Myth Makers, the Doctor discovers Cory's reel of tape on Kemble during the first episode of The Daleks' Master Plan. Mission thus presents an unusual example of the story-to-story narrative flow that was commonplace in the Hartnell era.
- All four episodes of this story were thought lost, with only very limited material being held in the BBC archive. Episode 3 was recovered in July 2011,[3] and its return was announced on 11 December 2011. [2]
- Six minutes worth of footage exists from "Four Hundred Dawns". The surviving clips come from a number of sources including a Lively Arts documentary Whose Doctor Who.
- Ian Levine claimed that the Doctor Who Appreciation Society obtained legal permission to privately screen this serial at a convention in 1978, only to find that the BBC had junked the episodes about three weeks prior.[4] Later research subsequently showed this to be mistaken, as the DWAS never held any agreement to show the serial, and BBC Enterprises appear to have junked at least one of the episodes by the end of 1976.[5]
- The soundtrack for the serial is intact and has been released commercially by BBC Audio, with linking narration provided by Peter Purves.
- The appearance of the Rills and the characters' reaction to it is similar to, if not based upon, Journey Into Space: Operation Luna.
- The Drahivns' use of clones was likely inspired by the novel Brave New World.
- The BBC partly own the rights to the Drahvins as they were jointly credited to William Emms and Verity Lambert; Emms created the (originally male) Drahvins, whilst Lambert made them female.
- The Bonzo Dog Doo Dah Band's 1968 song 'Beautiful Zelda' included lyrics about "Beautiful Zelda from Galaxy Four", perhaps inspired by Galaxy 4.
- The stock music used for the soundtrack was performed by an experimental group called Les Structures Sonorés. They performed their music on glass tubes. Some of the same music was used in The Web Planet.
Ratings
- Four Hundred Dawns - 9.0 million viewers
- Trap of Steel - 9.5 million viewers
- Air Lock - 11.3 million viewers
- The Exploding Planet - 9.9 million viewers
Myths
- A late change to the casting of the voice actor meant that Anthony Paul was credited in the Radio Times as providing the voice of the Rills for episode 3. (Robert Cartland was correctly named in the Radio Times.)
- William Emms was a school teacher who wrote in his spare time. (Although he had been a school teacher he had been working as a full-time writer for the four years before writing Doctor Who.)
Filming locations
All episodes were filmed at BBC Television Centre TC4, London, UK
Production errors
- In Air Lock, the Rill twice refers to the robots as "Crumblies."
Continuity
- Vicki refers to events of DW: The Space Museum.
- The Drahvins are part of the alliance of "everything, that all ever hated you" in DW: The Pandorica Opens. (The Drahvins themselves are not seen, only mentioned. Their spaceship may perhaps be among those seen arriving, albeit unidentified on-screen.)
Timeline
- This story takes place after ST: The Schoolboy's Story
- This story takes place before ST: Planet of the Bunnoids
Home video and audio releases
- Audio Release - An audio release of the of the television story remastered was released in 1999 by BBC Audiobooks with linking narration by Peter Purves on CD.
- Video Release - A six-minute clip appears in the documentary The Missing Years, part of The Ice Warriors VHS box set.
- DVD Release - On Disc 1 of the Lost in Time DVD box set there is an 8mm off-air clip, while Disc 3 contains a six-minute clip in an updated version of the documentary The Missing Years.
- The BBC have recovered episode 3, "Air Lock". 2 Entertain has promised a commercial release in 2012.[2]
- A reconstruction of this story has been made using the available images and audio by Loose Cannon Productions.
Novelisation and its audiobook
- Main article: Galaxy Four (novelisation)
- This story was novelised as Galaxy Four by William Emms in 1986.
Script book
- In July 1994, Titan Books published the scripts for the serial as part of its Doctor Who: The Scripts line of books.
External links
- Galaxy 4 at the BBC's official site (with video clips)
- Galaxy 4 at the Doctor Who Reference Guide
- Galaxy 4 at Shannon Sullivan's A Brief History of Time (Travel)
- Transcript of Galaxy 4
- Galaxy 4 entry at Encyclopaedia of Fantastic Film and Television
- Loose Cannon Productions reconstruction of Galaxy 4
Footnotes
