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Frontier in Space (TV story)

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Synopsis

The Doctor and Jo are caught up in the escalating tension between planets Earth and Draconia, and discover that the Master is secretly working to provoke the two sides into all-out war.

Plot

The TARDIS arrives in the year 2540 on board an Earth spaceship, which then comes under attack. The crew perceive the Doctor, Jo and the attackers as Draconians, whose empire currently rivals Earth's for control of the galaxy. The Doctor and Jo, however, see that the attackers are really Ogrons.

The Ogrons stun everyone on board and steal the ship's cargo - including the TARDIS. Accused by the Earth authorities of spying for the Draconians, the Doctor is sent to the Lunar Penal Colony on the Moon while Jo is placed in the custody of a Commissioner from Sirius 4 - actually the Master. The Master rescues the Doctor and locks him and Jo up aboard a stolen police spaceship.

Once in flight, the ship is intercepted by the Draconians. Taken to Draconia, the Doctor is able to convince the Emperor of the Master's scheme to provoke a war using the Ogrons and a hypnotic device that makes those affected see whatever they most fear.

Jo is recaptured by the Master and taken to the Ogrons' home planet, where he also has the Doctor's TARDIS. The Doctor follows with General Williams - an emissary from the President of Earth - and a Draconian Prince. Behind the Master's plot are the Daleks, who want a war to break out so that they can invade in the aftermath. The Doctor and his party are placed in the Master's custody as the Daleks leave to prepare their forces, but they manage to escape.

Williams and the Draconian Prince depart to warn their respective peoples of the Daleks' intentions. The Doctor, though, is injured in the confusion. Jo helps him into the TARDIS, where he sends a telepathic message to the Time Lords...

Cast

Crew

References

  • There are brief appearances of a Drashig, a Sea Devil and a mutant when the Master uses his fear machine on Jo.
  • Jo mentions again the uncle that got her a job at UNIT and the lack of romance involved in it and the drudgery involved. Friends and family think she goes on glamorous secret agent missions. She compares the Brigadier, unfavourably, to James Bond. (Like the Doctor, she appears to have a monologue in order to cover the Doctor's escape.)
  • In a moment of leisure, the Master relaxes with a copy of the H.G. Wells novel The War of the Worlds. He characterises the Daleks, his ostensible allies, privately, as "stupid tin boxes".
  • The Doctor's sonic screwdriver can't undo bolts, unless the polarity of the power source is reversed, making it into an electromagnet.

The Doctor

  • The Doctor once served as a delegate at the Third Intergalactic Peace Conference, though en route he got waylaid by Medusoids who used the mind probe on him and discovered that he was on his way to meet a giant rabbit, a pink elephant and a purple horse with yellow spots, all delegates at the Third Intergalactic Peace Conference.
  • Circa the year 2040, the Doctor helped the Draconians with a space plague and so they receive him as an honoured guest. He tells Jo the story of his trial by the Time Lords, his forced regeneration and his exile to Earth, though perhaps mainly as a way to conceal the fact that he meanwhile manages to cut his way out of an iron cell. The Master says that the Doctor "does not fear death".

Story Notes

  • This story had the working title: Frontiers in Space
  • An unfortunate error was made at the time of production, whereby one of the on-screen cast credit slides for Episode One was inadvertently substituted for one of those from Episode Two. This resulted in Lawrence Davidson (Draconian First Secretary) and Timothy Craven (Cell Guard) not being credited on-screen for Episode Two, though they were credited in Radio Times, and Louis Mahoney (Newscaster) and Roy Pattison (Draconian Space Pilot) being repeated – even though their characters appeared only in Episode One.
  • Assistant floor manager John Bradburn plays the 'Ogron eater' monster seen on the Ogrons' planet.
  • This story marks Roger Delgado's last appearance in Doctor Who. On 18th June 1973 he was killed in a car crash in Turkey while on the way to the location for a film called Bell of Tibet. As a result of Delgado's death, the writers chose not to cast a new actor in the role of the Master and instead abandoned future plans for the character's interaction with the Third Doctor. The Master would eventually return several years later in The Deadly Assassin but would not become a regularly recurring villain again until The Keeper of Traken during which the part was passed to Anthony Ainley, who would become a recurring guest star during the final seasons of the original series.
  • Episode Six had to be revised after it was delivered by director Paul Bernard. Barry Letts greatly disliked the way the Ogron Eater had been realized by the production team, and tried to limit its inclusion in the serial. Unfortunately, it was center stage in the final moments of Episode Six, and the only way to get rid of it was to film a corrective pick-up on the first day of studio recording for Planet of the Daleks. This meant that, technically, Episode Six contained some work by Planet director, David Maloney. However, this did not alter Bernard's sole directing credit for the episode.

Ratings

  • Episode 1 - 9.1 million viewers
  • Episode 2 - 7.8 million viewers
  • Episode 3 - 7.5 million viewers
  • Episode 4 - 7.1 million viewers
  • Episode 5 - 7.7 million viewers
  • Episode 6 - 8.9 million viewers

Myths

  • The fifth episode as seen on the BBC video release of this story, which is about a minute longer than the one originally transmitted and features the abandoned Delaware synthesiser arrangement of the theme music, is a special 'extended version'. (It is a rough cut that was prepared during the original editing of the story and never intended for public consumption.)

Filming Locations

  • Hayward Gallery, Belvedere Road, Lambeth, London
  • Fitzroy Park, Highgate, London
  • Beachfields Quarry, Cormongers Lane, Redhill, Surrey
  • South Bank Centre, Waterloo, London
  • Bray Studios, Slough
  • BBC Television Centre (Studio 3 & 4), Shepherd's Bush, London

Discontinuity, Plot Holes, Errors

  • If the Master's device makes one see one's greatest fear, why does Jo see the ship change shape in episode one? The implication is that she is seeing the effect of the device being turned on, but it's still an error; Jo wouldn't be afraid of a Draconian ship any more than any other kind of spaceship.
  • Jo splits her trousers while running to escape the Ogrons in episode three. Poor tailoring?
  • Her tights change color from scene to scene (and occasionally she isn't wearing any at all).
  • Big strings hold up the Doctor up for his spacewalk in episode six.
  • As the space walking Doctor opens the airlock in episode four there is a technician visible inside it.

Continuity

DVD, Video and Other Releases

  • VHS: Released in August 1996. BBC Video 5640
  • It will be released in 2009 along with Planet of the Daleks.

Novelisation

 
Main article: Doctor Who and the Space War

External Links

Template:Season 10

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