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Downtime is an 1995 direct-to-video production featuring elements from the Doctor Who Universe, but not the Doctor as Reeltime did not have a licence from the BBC to use the character. The video was directed by long-time Doctor Who director Christopher Barry.
Synopsis
The Brigadier and Sarah Jane Smith investigate New World University, a sinister school run by none other than Victoria Waterfield and a gateway to Earth by the Great Intelligence which has taken over her.
Plot
Some while after Victoria had parted company with the Doctor on Earth in the 20th century (at the end of Fury from the Deep), she is lured back to the Det-Sen Monastery in Tibet (from The Abominable Snowmen) by a dream telling her she will be reunited with her late father there. Instead, she found that she had been contacted by the Great Intelligence, which still possessed the mind of Professor Travers (last seen in The Web of Fear).
Nearly fifteen years later, in the present day, Victoria is now the vice chancellor of New World University. New World is an institution that claims to offer spiritual guidance to distraught youth. In reality, however, New World is the centre of operations for the Intelligence's plan to conquer the Earth by infecting the global network of computers. Both the administration and students await the coming of a "new world" that will be heralded by the arrival of the chancellor, the Intelligence-possessed Travers.
Victoria's motives are well-meaning but misguided, having been manipulated with a promise of the "light of truth". The students themselves have been brainwashed through their computer courses and are slaves of the Intelligence. Outsiders refer to them as "chillys".
The Intelligence needs a final missing Locus to attain its goal. It believes it is in the possession of the Brigadier, but it is actually with his daughter Kate and grandson Gordon on their narrowboat.
New World attempts to gather information on the Brigadier by requesting an investigation by Sarah Jane Smith. Sarah lies about her knowledge of the Brigadier and later warns both him and UNIT. The Intelligence then arranges a meeting between the Brigadier and a corrupt UNIT captain named Cavendish.
Throughout the story the Brigadier is aided by a New World student named Daniel Hinton, a former student of his from the Brendon School. The Intelligence's conditioning failed on Hinton, though at times he is still under its influence and at one point becomes a Yeti. He can communicate with the Brigadier through the bardo or astral plane.
Cast
- Brigadier Lethbridge-Stewart - Nicholas Courtney
- Sarah Jane Smith - Elisabeth Sladen
- Victoria Waterfield - Deborah Watling
- Professor Travers - Jack Watling
- Kate Lethbridge-Stewart - Beverley Cressman
- Gordon Lethbridge-Stewart - Alexander Landen
- Daniel Hinton - Mark Trotman
- Harrods - Geoffrey Beevers
- Christopher Rice - Peter Silverleaf
- Anthony - John Leeson
- Captain Cavendish - Miles Richardson
- The Lama - James Bree
- Receptionist - Kathy Coulter
- Chilly 1 - Jonathan Clarkson
- Chilly 2 - Miles Cherry
- Lead Yeti - Richard Landen
- Yeti - David Howe, Tony Clark, Conrad Turner
- UNIT Soldiers - Stephen Bradshaw, Keith Brooks, Mark Moore, Gabriel Mykaj, John Reddington
Production crew
References
Colleges and universities
- Victoria sets up the New World University.
Individuals
- Kate Lethbridge-Stewart is from Alistair Lethbridge Stewart's first marriage to Fiona.
Organisations
- The Brigadier still maintains contact with UNIT.
Religion
- Victoria Waterfield visited the Det-Sen Monastery in the 1970s.
Vehicles
- Sarah Jane Smith drives an MG car.
Story notes
- Several actors (other than the lead cast) previously played roles in Doctor Who; John Leeson (voiced K9), Geoffrey Beevers (played several roles including the Master in DW: The Keeper of Traken).
- Additionally Miles Richardson went on to voice the character Irving Braxiatel in Big Finish Productions' range of audio dramas.
- The next on-screen appearance of the Brigadier occurred in Enemy of the Bane, a two-part story of The Sarah Jane Adventures broadcast in 2008.
Myths
to be added
Filming Locations
- University of East Anglia, Norwich
Production Errors
To Be Added
Continuity
- Sarah is still driving her MG last seen in DW: Robot.
- Sarah tells the Brigadier that the Doctor once mentioned Victoria to her as she once wore his former companion's dress in DW: Pyramids of Mars.
- Sarah returned to Earth in DW: The Hand of Fear.
- The Brigadier last appeared chronologically in DW: Mawdryn Undead, he will go on (within his own chronology) to meet the Doctor in DW: Battlefield. He would next meet Sarah Jane (on screen) in a 2008 episode of The Sarah Jane Adventures, Enemy of the Bane.
- Victoria Waterfield stopped travelling with the Doctor in DW: Fury from the Deep.
- Victoria's mother, Edith Rose, is said to have died on November 23, 1863, exactly 100 years before An Unearthly Child, the first episode of Doctor Who, was first broadcast.
DVD and Video releases
Video release
This story was released on video in 2nd September 1995. At the time of writing, it has yet to appear on DVD.
- Original video publisher's summary from rear of video tape box
"Find the Locus"
It is twenty years since The Great Intelligence last attempted an invasion of Earth, today its evil web is again reaching out towards us!
Using The New World University as its cover and the zombie-like Chilly students as its pawns, the Intelligence now seeks to control the minds of every human being.
Tangled in this new struggle are its old enemies Victoria Waterfield and Professor Travers - but whose side are they on?
Fighting alone this time, without their famous scientific advisor, The Brigadier and Sarah Jane Smith of UNIT are hard pressed to decide who is friend or foe as they search for the missing Locus which still binds the Intelligence's power.
Battle is joined as the Brigadier's own family is threatened and UNIT faces a monstrous new breed of Yeti!
Novelisation
- Main article: Downtime (novel)
Downtime is one of only two independent spin-off productions (the other being Shakedown) to be adapted as a novel. Screenwriter Marc Platt adapted his story for an entry in the Virgin Missing Adventures line of books, and the work is notable for being the only MA release not to feature the Doctor in a prominent role.
Timeline
For Victoria
- Downtime occurs after: DW: Fury from the Deep
- Downtime occurs before: CC: The Great Space Elevator
For the Brigadier
- Downtime occurs after: DWM: A Romantic Evening
- Downtime occurs before: DW: Battlefield
For Sarah Jane Smith
- Downtime occurs after: DWM: Train-Flight
- Downtime occurs before: EDA: Interference - Book One