The Rescue (TV story)

It was notable for several behind-the-scenes reasons. It was the first story to have a new, regular cast member, being Maureen O'Brien's first appearance as Vicki Pallister. Its second part, "Desperate Measures", was the first episode of Doctor Who to break into the top ten most-watched programmes of the week — something Doctor Who wouldn't regularly do until re-invented by BBC Wales. Indeed, it remains one of the programme's highest-charting episodes, even taking into account episodes from the 2005 revival.

The Rescue boasted some narrative firsts. This was the first time the Doctor had arrived on a planet other than Earth and claimed to have been there before. It was also the first story to give us a name for how the the TARDIS moves. According to the Doctor in "The Powerful Enemy", the TARDIS doesn't land – it materialises.

Summary

The Doctor, Ian and Barbara arrive on the planet Dido. A crashed ship is terrorised by the monster Koquillion, but things are not what they seem...

Plot

The Powerful Enemy (1)

In the middle of a desolate planet we encounter a crashed ship. A young girl by the name of Vicki excitedly bursts into the room of her friend Bennett to inform him that a rescue ship is coming for them. Bennett says that the rescue ship is not due to be with them for days yet but Vicki argues that she has seen it on their radar. Before she leaves Bennett he warns her about Koquillion, stating that he will be back today. Vicki leaves to radio the ship who confirms they are 69 hours away. This confuses Vicki as there is definitely some kind of ship that has landed on her planet.

Back at the TARDIS Barbara and Ian are discussing that the ship seems to have stopped but are concerned as it happened whilst the Doctor was asleep. They wake him and discover that they have landed on a planet that is vastly different from Earth yet still safe for humans. Before they leave the TARDIS the Doctor goes to talk to Susan, but he remembers she is no longer travelling with them. Barbara comforts him. Ian and Barbara go to explore whilst the Doctor takes a rock sample. Ian and Barbara comment on the changes they are seeing in the Doctor, such as his sleeping through a landing and not wanting to explore the planet with them. Ian puts it down to age but Barbara thinks he is missing Susan. As they move a large hideous creature is seen to approach the TARDIS.

Ian and Barbara come to a cliff where they can look down on the crashed rocket. As they turn to tell the Doctor, they are met by the creature who is very hostile to them. He demands that the Doctor be sent for. Ian goes to get him and while he is gone the creature throws Barbara off the cliff and then causes a cave-in using a staff that he carries with him. This cave-in traps the Doctor and Ian in the cave.

Inside the TARDIS the Doctor has discovered that he has landed on the planet Dido, which he has visited before and he is eager to get out and visit the inhabitants of the planet. At this point he hears the cave-in. He goes out to find Ian half conscious. When Ian tells him of the creature the Doctor is concerned. The inhabitants of the Dido that he left last were peaceful. However Ian says that creatures can change. The Doctor and Ian head off to find a way out.

Back at the crashed ship Vicki seems to be interrupted from doing something by a noise outside. She looks out the window and grabs some rocks and begins to sort through them. The creature, Koquillion, bursts through the door demanding why Vicki had left the ship and what she was doing. She insists that she was just collecting rocks and shows them to the creature. He knocks them out of her hand, saying that it is not safe for her to go more than 50 yards from her ship - he justifies this by saying that another ship had recently landed on Dido and the inhabitants of that ship had been killed by his species. It would appear that Koquillion is protecting Vicki and Bennett from a similar fate. When Koquillion is gone Vicki rushes to her bed and pulls back a blanket to reveal Barbara whom she has saved from the cliff edge. Barbara is shocked by the news that her two friends have been reported dead but listens to the story of how Vicki got here and how she and Bennett came to be under the thrall of Koquillion. When the crew originally crash landed a meeting was called between the crew and Koquillion's species. Vicki couldn't go as she was ill. At this meeting all the men were slain by Koquillion's species. When Vicki awoke she found Bennett nearly crippled and saved him. Ever since then Koquillion has been protecting them from a similar fate. Bennett is introduced to Susan once Koquillion has left.

Meanwhile as the Doctor and Ian go through the network of caves, the Doctor speaks of the species that he knew before he left. To them war was a foreign concept and there were only 100 of them so life was worshipped. The two men plough on; as they skirt along a ledge a deafening noise bursts through the cave. They look down and discover a creature in the pit waiting for one of them to stumble and fall. As the men move along the ledge they find a hand hold. As Ian reaches for it, it moves away in his hand. It is revealed to be a booby trap, and large sharp metal prongs start to come out from the wall edging him closer and closer to being plunged into the pit.

Desperate Measures (2)

Ian quickly manages to skirt around the bars holding him in before the razor sharp points push him towards the creature below. The Doctor and Ian figure out how to retract the spikes and continue on towards light.

Bennett, after meeting Barbara, fainted from the energy exerted in lifting himself up from his bed. Barbara shares a plot with Bennett and Vicki whereby they use Barbara as bait and they shoot Koquillion with a gun that Vicki and Bennett have on hand. Bennett reacts angrily to this, saying that if that happens they will be wide open from an attack from the Dido people. As Barbara goes to put Bennett back to bed Vicki goes outside. Unbeknownst to her the creature in the pit has found a way out of the cave. When Barbara returns she sees the danger that Vicki is in and rushes out with the gun, shooting the creature dead. Much to Barbara's confusion, Vicki is distraught about this. She explains that the creature was 'Sandy,' her pet, and that she has trained it to be tame and come out for food at certain hours of the day. Vicki's outburst is brought to an abrupt end when they are interrupted by the Doctor and Ian. After a bit of introduction, the Doctor is also on the receiving end of Vicki's ire when he suggests a way of catching Koquillion and bringing an end to his rule over them. Vicki resents being told what to do by strangers and shouts at him. Barbara and Ian leave the Doctor to talk to Vicki. They decide that if Bennett agrees they will go ahead with it. Vicki shows the Doctor where Bennett sleeps and leaves him to talk to him. As the Doctor tries to enter Bennett's room, he hears Bennett's voice call out saying that he wants to be left alone. The Doctor tries to talk him over but there is no response. The Doctor forces his way into the room to find it empty. During his examination he discovers a tape recorder linked to the door so that if someone tries to enter, it automatically plays the message asking to be left alone. He also discovers an intercom system over which he hears Barbara and Vicki, who have now made up, discussing the fact that for all his eccentricities the Doctor seems to excude trust. Ian then goes on to tell Vicki that the Doctor's space craft travels not only through time but also through space. Vicki struggles to get her head around the fact that this makes Ian and Barbara 500 years old.

Back in Bennett's room, the Doctor discovers a trap door and goes down it to explore where it may lead. He finds himself in some sort of a temple where he finds sacramental clothes in a chest. A figure walks up behind him - it is Koquillion, but the Doctor greets him in the name of Bennett. He explains it is blasphemy for someone who is not from Dido to wear their religious garb and that he should take it off. Koquillion takes off his mask to reveal himself as Bennett. Bennett explains that before the ship crashed he was put under ship arrest for murdering another crew member. When the ship crashed he took advantage of this and arranged a meeting between the crew and the Dido people. Once there he blew everyone up, human and Dido alike. The Doctor is outraged at such behaviour. When Bennett threatens the Doctor's life, the Doctor turns on him with Koquillion's staff. The two men scuffle and Bennett pins the Doctor to the ground, strangling him - when two Dido people attack a startled Bennett. They herd him, astounded, towards the ledge of the cliff where he falls to his death.

The Doctor wakes and finds himself back in his TARDIS. Ian and Barbara explain that they found him outside the cave unconscious and used his TARDIS key to allow themselves back in. He explains the whole story to the pair. He asks where Vicki is and learns that she is waiting outside. The Doctor goes out and explains the whole situation to her. She is shocked that Bennett could have killed the whole crew like that. The Doctor asks if she would like to travel with him rather than stay there with the Dido people. He leaves her to make her decision. When he re-enters the TARDIS Ian and Barbara have had the same idea. Vicki comes in and takes the Doctor up on his offer.

As the TARDIS leaves Dido, the two remaining Dido people enter the ship and destroy the intercom system so that the approaching rescue ship will never find the planet.

The TARDIS has arrived at a new location, but materialises on the edge of a cliff. The Doctor shouts a warning to his companions, and the travellers grab hold of the console as the Ship slowly topples and falls over the edge...

Cast & Characters

The Doctor - William Hartnell
Ian Chesterton - William Russell
Barbara Wright - Jacqueline Hill
Vicki - Maureen O'Brien
Bennett / Koquillion - Ray Barrett
Space Captain - Tom Sheridan
Sand Beast/Sandy - Tom Sheridan (uncredited)
Inhabitant of Dido - John Stuart (uncredited)
Inhabitant of Dido - Colin Hughes (uncredited)

Crew

References

Planets

The Doctor tells Ian and Barbara about a previous visit to the planet Dido.
Vicki left Earth for the planet Astra in 2493.
Vicki's mother had recently died and her father was about to start a new job on Astra.

Species

Ian mentions he would rather face the Daleks than Koquillion any day.

TARDIS

The Doctor instructs Barbara to use Number 4 Switch to open the doors.
The TARDIS is furnished with an Eames Lounge Chair, where the Doctor is napping during the landing.

Story notes

This is the first episode featuring Vicki. She was the first regular character to be added since the original cast (Barbara, Ian, Susan, and the Doctor).
The Doctor, perhaps because he missed his recently-departed grand-daughter, asked Vicki to come with him and the others, thus making her the first companion that the Doctor was seen to willingly invite to travel in the TARDIS. Being invited to travel with him would later become an important hallmark of the Doctor's companions.
All episodes exist in 16mm telerecordings.
Negative film prints of both episodes exist and were recovered by the BBC in 1978.
Telesnaps of this story are held by private collectors.
The story was originally known as Doctor Who and Tanni. It was originally intended that the new companion would be named Tanni. Other names previously thought up for Vicki were: Valerie, Millie and Lukki. The name Tanni was still in use when the following story, The Romans was written. Ultimately, this was worked into the narrative of Doctor Who universe. In PDA: Byzantium!, it's revealed that Vicki's mother had considered naming her Tanni, before settling on Vicki.
Vicki's last name is not revealed in this story, nor is it ever mentioned on screen in any future stories. This places Vicki in the select company of Polly, Mel and Ace as Earth companions whose last names are never revealed on screen. Spin-off media have given Vicki the last name Pallister.
Koquillion was originally credited as Sydney Wilson (a combination of Sydney Newman and Donald Wilson) to hide his true identity.
This story leads directly into The Romans.
"Desperate Measures" was the first episode of Doctor Who to make the UK's top 10 most watched programs list.
The 1973 Radio Times 10th anniversary special called the story "The Powerful Enemy" as it titled all the early stories by the title of the first episode. Some subsequent listings repeated this, as did the story's broadcast on some American PBS stations.
During the scene in which Jacqueline Hill fired a gun at Vicki's pet, she was injured, suffering shock and a sore face. This occurred when the explosive connected to the wooden gun went off with more force than expected.
"The Rescue" is also the original broadcast title of episode 7 of The Daleks.
Tom Sheridan, who played the Space Captain heard but not seen in this story, was also inside the Sand Monster costume.
"The Powerful Enemy" boasts the first occasion on which a sound effect is laid over footage of the TARDIS re-materialising. Prior to this, exterior shots of the TARDIS landing had implied that the ship appeared soundlessly in a new environment. Although the precise sound of "re-materialisation" — with its distinctive, final "thud" — would not be finalised until The Three Doctors, this was the start of an important convention of the TARDIS. People on the outside can hear it coming and going. Without this innovation, the teaser from DW: The Christmas Invasion, for example — in which Jackie and Mickey respond solely to the sound of the TARDIS — wouldn't have been possible. It is revealed in the same episode that this sound comes from leaving the emergency brake on, suggesting the Doctor may have neglected to release it when leaving Susan on Earth in the previous story, and forgotten to do so ever since.

Ratings

"The Powerful Enemy" - 12.0 million viewers
"Desperate Measures" - 13.0 million viewers

Myths

The inhabitants of Dido are known as Didonians.

There is no evidence provided in the episode to support this. In fact, the Doctor calls them "Dido people".

Vicki is from the planet Dido.

This error has been mentioned in numerous places, but the story establishes that she is from Earth.

Filming locations

Model filming took place at Ealing Television Film Studios.
Studio filming took place at Riverside Studio 1, Hammersmith, London.

Production errors

If you'd like to talk about narrative problems with this story — like plot holes and things that seem to contradict other stories — please go to this episode's discontinuity discussion.

There is no back in the TARDIS prop used and consequently the cave wall is visible behind. It is not cave wall but some silvery reflective crumpled material which is also visible inside the police box prop in episode 4 of 'The Space Museum'.
In episode 2 a stage hand can be seen behind Vicki's pet.
When Barbara fires at Vicki's pet, the firework can be seen to fall off the gun.
During the first episode, one of the TARDIS windows on the front falls inwards and is leaning in for the rest of the episode and the next.

Continuity

Reference is made to Susan's departure DW: The Dalek Invasion of Earth, and at one point the Doctor calls for Susan, momentarily forgetting that she has gone. This is the first time, but far from the last, that the Doctor will speak the names of past companions in error, though it is the last time he would speak so sadly about a departed companion.
The Doctor, Ian and Barbara talk about how they met in An Unearthly Child.
The crew discuss their previous problems with caves which occured during An Unearthly Child, The Daleks, Marco Polo and The Keys of Marinus.

Timeline

This story takes place after ST: A Long Night
This story takes place before PDA: Byzantium!

Home video and audio releases

Video releases

This story was released as Doctor Who: The Rescue/The Romans.

UK cover
US cover
AUS cover

Both the "Next Episode" caption and the lead-in to The Romans have been removed from episode 2.

It was released as a double tape with The Romans.

UK Release: September 1994 / US Release: March 1996

PAL - BBC Video BBCV5378 (2 tapes)

NTSC - Warner Video E1313 (2 tapes)

NTSC - CBS/FOX Video 8338 (2 tapes)

DVD releases

This story was released on DVD alongside The Romans in February 2009 (UK) and July 2009 (North America). For the release, the episodes have been reprocessed via computer to restore the original videotaped look of the production. The next episode caption has been restored to episode 2.

The Rescue DVD.jpg

Region 2 Cover
The Rescue/The Romans Region 2 box set

Contents:

Mounting the Rescue - production featurette.
Photo Gallery
Production Notes
PDF content: Raymond Cusick's original design drawings, Radio Times listings.
Audio Commentary by actor William Russell (Ian Chesterton), director Christopher Barry, and designer Raymond Cusick, moderated by Toby Hadoke.

For additional extras on this DVD set, see The Romans.

Rear Credits:

Starring William Hartnell, Jacqueline Hill and Maureen O'Brien
Written by David Whitaker
Produced by Verity Lambert
Directed by Christopher Barry
Incidental Music by Tristram Cary

Notes:

Editing for DVD release completed by Doctor Who Restoration Team.

External links