The Pirate Planet (TV story)

The Pirate Planet was the second story of Season 16 of Doctor Who. It was the first contribution to the series of writer Douglas Adams.

Synopsis

The Doctor and Romana find that the second segment to the Key to Time is on the planet Calufrax. Yet they arrive on a planet called Zanak, which has been hollowed out and fitted with hyperspace engines, allowing its insane half-robot Captain to materialise it around other smaller planets and plunder their resources.

Plot

Part 1

File:Pirate planet part1.JPG

The power of thought grants the Mentiads invulnerability

On a mountain base, the nervous Mr. Fibuli informs the impatient Captain that a new source has been found for Vasilium. Immediate orders to mine it follow. Speaking to the people of the planet, the Captain declares a new golden age. As the people celebrate, a different group, dressed in yellow robes, mentally watch Pralix, who doesn't appear as thrilled with the Captain's announcement as everybody else.

In the TARDIS, the Key to Time tracer points the Doctor and Romana to the cold and boring planet of Calufrax. The TARDIS makes a bumpy landing, and the pair soon discover that they are not in Calufrax at all. The area they land in is deserted until they meet a local who tells them that the people of his planet are going to be rich because of the Captain. He gives Romana some diamonds, saying they can be found everywhere, and warns her and the Doctor about the Mentiads, though he leaves before he can elaborate. The Doctor finds more precious stones all around, including the extremely rare Oolion. The Doctor continues roaming, but Romana finds herself arrested by one of the Captain's guards.

Meanwhile, Pralix is now delirious, watched over by Balaton, Mula and Kimus. Balaton thinks more should be done to protect him from the Mentiads, the yellow-robed people who are trying to make telepathic contact with him. On the mountain base, the Captain is also keen to find the "rogue telepath". The Doctor appears on the scene, keen to investigate why this is not Calufrax. A group of Mentiads soon follow, but when the Doctor tries to address them, they attack him with their thoughts.

Part 2

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Not quite a linear induction corridor moves the Doctor along at a steady pace

When the Doctor wakes up, Pralix and the Mentiads are gone. K9 tells the Doctor about Romana's arrest, giving him an incentive to try to get the Bridge atop the mountain, where she has been taken by the guard. Kimus accompanies him, hoping to find a way to rescue Pralix from the Mentiads. They get up to the mountain using an air car, which moves upwards to its destination.

On the Bridge, Fibuli breaks the news to the Captain that the macromat field integrator has burnt out, and they cannot replace it themselves. He suggests one more jump to find mineral PJX 1-8, which would do the same job as the integrator. Romana is brought up to the Bridge, and the Doctor also finds his way up. The Captain isn't taking any chances, and has guns trained on them as he encourages them to lend technical assistance. Romana is confused that the tracer gives out a continuous signal wherever they go. This makes the Doctor realise what's going on. After they escape with Kimus and make their way underground, they find the ground beneath them is frozen. The Doctor explains the planet they are on, Zanak, has been hollowed out and fitted with engines so that it can transmat through space and materialise around others - such as Calufrax - to plunder their mineral wealth.

They have no time to pause however as the Captain's guards give chase from behind, but as they run, they face a group of Mentiads in front.

Part 3

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The Doctor and Kimus find the (almost) dead Queen Xanxia

The danger is nonexistant; the Mentiads are friendly, and have come to save the Doctor and his friends from the guards. The Mentiads, now including Pralix, create a force field using their psychic powers. This power the Mentiads have will not last much longer, because Zanak has come to Calufrax for its crystals which when refined can be used to block their psychic abilties. The Doctor doesn't know it yet, but the Captain is planning to materialise Zanak around Earth after mining on Calufrax is finished, because mineral PJX 1-8 (quartz) has been located there.

The Mentiads tell the Doctor that Zanak was a prosperous planet until the reign of Queen Xanxia, who supposedly had mysterious powers and galactic wars she staged were the ruin of Zanak and its people.

The Doctor and Kimus try to steal an air car but fail and are taken to the bridge. The Captain shows the Doctor his trophy room of crushed remains of planets; the Doctor's secret plan however is to break into the engine room, but while looking for it he and Kimus find a room with an old body connected to a time dam, used to slow down the flow of time, in this case just before death, using the energy Zanak acquires to keep Queen Xanxia alive. The Doctor returns to the bridge, but he is thrown overboard for his troubles.

Part 4

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Zanak tries to materialize around Earth

The Doctor survives because it was only a projection of him that walked the plank; he has figured out the final piece of Queen Xanxia's puzzle using the device he found in the room with the body. Xanxia has been using the device to create an image for herself, disguised as the Captain's nurse. Xanxia is close to immortality because of the power of Zanak, which she is using to give permanent form to her image.

The Mentiads are getting close to the bridge, expecting the Doctor to have taken control of the engine room by now, but because of the psychic interference transmitter they are disadvantaged. The Captain seals the bridge as Zanak prepares to make the jump to Earth. Since Zanak's engines were damaged when the planet materialised in the same place as the TARDIS, the Doctor escapes and tries to employ the same trick again to prevent Zanak from materialising, while the Mentiads do their best to sabotage Zanak's engines. Xanxia kills the Captain when he finally turns against her. The Doctor, Romana, and the Mentiads destroy Zanak's bridge and Queen Xanxia, ending the devastation caused by Zanak's travels. In the aftermath, the Doctor and Romana collect the second segment of the Key to Time, the remains of Calufrax, and set off to search for the next segment.

Cast

Production Crew

References

Romana was given an air car for her 70th birthday.
Romana studied the life cycle of the Gallifreyan flutterwing.
The Doctor has been operating TARDISes for 523 years.
Oolion can only be found on Bandranginus Five and Qualactin.
Earth is rich in PJX18 (Quartz).
Calufrax (the planet) was the second piece of the Key to Time.
The synchronic feedback circuit or the multi-loop stabiliser are both essential for a smooth rematerialisation of the TARDIS (according to Romana), the Doctor uses neither.

Planets

Bandraginus V
Calufrax was rich in voolium and madranite one-five.
Collactin
Granados
Qualactin
Zanak

Story Notes

This is Douglas Adams' first contribution to Doctor Who.
The original draft for this story was extremely complex: centred around a Time Lord trapped in a giant aggression-absorbing machine and several paradoxes, it had to be heavily simplified by the script editor, Anthony Read.
Vi Delmar (who played the aged Queen Xanxia) demanded an extra fee before she would remove her false teeth for filming.
According to the DVD commentary, the Doctor's accident with the console early in the story was staged to explain Baker's real-life cut lip, which was due to a dog bite.
At one point, the Doctor tells Kimus, "Don't panic," which is the tagline for Douglas Adams's The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy. The Name "Bantraginus V" is likely a reference to "Santraginus V", the home for one of the key ingredients in Pan Galactic Gargle Blaster in Adams's The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy.

Ratings

Part 1 - 9.1m viewers.
Part 2 - 7.4m viewers.
Part 3 - 8.2m viewers.
Part 4 - 8.4m viewers.

Location Filming

Dan-yr-Ogof caves in Powys, Wales.

Discontinuity

to be added

Continuity

This is the second of six linked serials that comprise the whole of Season 16, known collectively as The Key to Time.
The unconscious Doctor mumbles 'no more janis thorns' (a reference to Leela).

DVD, Video and Other Releases

DVD Releases

Released along with The Ribos Operation, The Stones of Blood, The Androids of Tara, The Power of Kroll and The Armageddon Factor as Doctor Who: The Key to Time. This October 2002 release was only in Region 1. Extras in include commentary by Bruce Purchase and Pennant Roberts, a photo gallery and production information subtitles.

Also released with same stories as Doctor Who: The Key to Time, an extras-laden box set limited to 15,000 copies in its initial UK release on 24th September 2007.

Contents:

Commentary by Tom Baker, Mary Tamm and Anthony Read
Commentary by Bruce Purchase and Pennant Roberts. (carried over from the 2002 set).
Parrot Fashion - A 30-minute documentary featuring an archive interview with writer Douglas Adams, plus cast and crew including Mary Tamm, John Leeson, Bruce Purchase and Rosalind Lloyd.
Film Inserts, Deleted Scenes & Outtakes - A collection of extra material from the story's production.
Weird Science - This spoof 1970s schools programme looks at some of the science seen in the Key to Time season.
Continuities - Off-air continuity links from the story's original transmissions.
Radio Times Billings - Listings from Radio Times (DVD-ROM PC/Mac).
Coming Soon Trailer - Planet of Evil.
Photo Gallery
Production Subtitles

Target Novelisations