The Dominators (TV story)

The Dominators was the first story of Season 6 of Doctor Who.

Destroy! Destroy! Total destruction!Toba

Synopsis

When two rogue Dominators and their robotic servant Quarks land on the peaceful planet Dulkis, planning to drop a radioactive seed into the planet's core of the planet to refuel their spaceship, the Doctor, Jamie & Zoe must attempt to inspire the non-aggressive Dulcians to resist.

Plot

The Doctor must stop the dominators before they destroy the planet of Dulkas,

Cast

Crew

References

The Doctor uses his sonic screwdriver as a cutting device.
Zoe mentions both the Daleks and the Cybermen, hoping that neither will be present on Dulkis.
The Doctor has been to Dulkis before.

Story Notes

This story had the working title of; The Beautiful People
Originally a six-part story, The Dominators was edited at the script stage down to five episodes by script editor Derrick Sherwin.
The write is credited as Norman Ashby; this was a pseudonym for Mervyn Haisman and Henry Lincoln. Script editor Derek Sherwin also made a significant input to the writing of Episode 5.
Episode 3 was not identified by any caption.
Chris Jeffries doubles for Patrick Troughton in all location-shot scenes featuring the Doctor.

Ratings

Episode 1 - 6.1 million viewers
Episode 2 - 5.9 million viewers
Episode 3 - 5.4 million viewers
Episode 4 - 7.5 million viewers
Episode 5 - 5.9 million viewers

Myths

The location scenes of this story were shot on colour film as a test exercise. (They weren't. Despite persistent rumours to the contrary, the BBC did no colour filming or recording on any of the sixties Doctor Who stories.)

Filming Locations

Gerrards Cross Quarry, Buckinghamshire
Olley Sand Pit in Trottiscliffe, Kent
Ealing Television Film Studios, Ealing Green, Ealing
Model Shooting: BBC Television Centre Puppet Theatre

Discontinuity, Plot Holes, Errors

Episode three has no 'episode three' caption.
The rubble over a hatch in episode four vanishes.
The zip at the back of Zoe's skirt causes her problems on numerous occasions, being open in episodes two, three and five.
There is an obvious close up of Troughton's location double in episode five.
What happened to the rest of the Dominator's fleet at the end of the story? With Rago & Toba's mission being so vital to the war-effort wouldn't they have sent another expedition to detonate a seed capsule, or at the very least investigate what happened with a view to retaliation? They decide to cut their losses and move on to another planet, concluding that the Dulkians are more aggressive and harder to control than they originally thought.
On certain scenes (especially when the Quarks are recharging) you can see the operators hands using the Quark arms. Also (although you need to be sharp eyed to spot it) you can occassionally see the face of the person operating the Quark.

Continuity

The end of this story leads into The Mind Robber
Quarks frequently appeared in the run of the Second Doctor in TV Comic, beginning on the very day that Episode 4 of this serial initially aired. Notably, they were the proximate cause for the departure of John and Gillian from the TARDIS. The Second Doctor judged the Quarks too dangerous for John and Gillian, and enrolled them in Zebedee University rather than subjecting them to an encounter with the robots. (TVC: Invasion of the Quarks)

The implication of the comic seems to be that Quarks are more powerful than Trods, Daleks, or Cybermen, since John and Gillian had encountered these species on various occasions.

Of the six TVC stories in which Jamie appeared, the Quarks were the enemy in four. Indeed, Quarks were the dominant recurring enemy of the comic Second Doctor's era. However, the Dominators, portrayed as the "masters" of the Quarks in this serial, never appeared in TVC.

DVD, Video and Other Releases

Released on Video in episodic format. Not yet released on DVD

Novelisation

Main article: The Dominators (novelisation)

Novelised as The Dominators by Ian Marter in 1984.

External Links

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