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Earthshock (TV story)

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Earthshock was the sixth and penultimate serial of season 19 of Doctor Who. It was the final regular appearance of Matthew Waterhouse as Adric, who sacrificed himself in the closing moments of part four.

It was notable for its high ratings, the deliberately unannounced return of the Cybermen, and the death of Adric. Indeed, this serial and Time-Flight together offered producer John Nathan-Turner his highest consistent chart positions. Earthshock was the only serial in JN-T's time as the producer whose episodes were all in the top fifty of programmes watched on British television.

JN-T took a now-well-known publicity gamble with this serial by deciding that he wanted to keep the return of the Cybermen a surprise. Normally, there was a public gallery overlooking the studio floor at Television Centre which allowed public viewing of proceedings. For Earthshock, JN-T had this area closed for the duration of recording and security kept people out. Nathan-Turner also turned down a Radio Times photoshoot to mark the start of the story to ensure this secret did not leak out.

The death of Adric was also a considerable gamble since no long-running companion had ever been killed on Doctor Who before. Special, downbeat titles were commissioned for the end of part four, making the final part the only episode, as of 2018, to have no end theme music and play only silent credits.

While there is no doubt that JN-T and his team absolutely intended Adric's unambiguous death, the ending of the story has been materially changed by Big Finish's The Boy That Time Forgot, during which it was revealed Adric did not die but went on to live in a bubble universe the Fifth Doctor accidentally created, before finally crossing back into the normal universe in Victorian London.

The story got a cinema treatment in BFI Southbank on the 17 November 2018. Along with this experience, there was a Q&A with the writer Eric Saward and actor Matthew Waterhouse.[1]

As part of the 60th anniversary celebrations in November 2023, the story was re-released as the first episode of Tales of the TARDIS. Each serial within it was edited together to form a single episode. Newly filmed material with the serial's original cast bookends each episode. (TV: Earthshock)

Synopsis[[edit] | [edit source]]

A conference to unite military powers against the Cybermen is taking place and the Cybermen plot to destroy the Earth by crashing a space freighter into it. The Doctor must stop them, whatever the cost...

Plot[[edit] | [edit source]]

Part one[[edit] | [edit source]]

Lieutenant Scott and his team climb up a bleak hillside on Earth, escorting Professor Kyle to a camp set up by Scott's team. The scanning equipment at the campsite is directed at a cave to detect mammalian life forms. Kyle had been part of a scientific expedition investigating the caves for fossil remains, but the expedition has disappeared. The lack of readings suggests they are all dead. Kyle's knowledge of the tunnels is necessary to direct Scott and his team into the caves to find out what happened, while two troopers remain outside to maintain a constant scan. As they investigate, the squad is being stalked by two dark figures.

 
"I'm tired of being considered a joke".

Meanwhile, in the TARDIS, Adric begins arguing with the Doctor about the lack of attention and respect he receives compared to Tegan or Nyssa. Finally, he declares that he wishes to return to his species' new home planet of Terradon, which the Doctor loudly proclaims is not possible. However, Adric is insistent that he can calculate the coordinates to guide the TARDIS back into E-Space; to the Doctor's displeasure, Adric begins to write down his calculations.

Scott's squad splits into two groups, but a strange jangling sound comes over the communications system, and one group ceases contact. Outside, a flare appears on the outside scanner. Walters and Snyder, who remained outside, see more life-forms appear on the scanner — the TARDIS crew, who have just landed in the caves. Scott instantly assumes that the newcomers must be responsible for the deaths, especially when he is informed that one of the new life signs shows two heartbeats.

 
"Fossilised remains have been found all over the planet. [...] They seemed so secure and yet they died out virtually overnight".

While Adric computes his calculations, the Doctor has gone for a walk in the caves. With Tegan and Nyssa, he examines the fossils of dinosaurs on the cave walls, musing that he had always wanted to go back and determine exactly how they died. As the wounded party is making slow progress, Snyder goes in to help, but they are attacked by the dark figures. The jamming increases and Snyder is reduced to a pile of smoking remains. As the survivors start to investigate, they continue to be picked off one by one.

Scott and the remainder of his squad come across the Doctor and his companions and capture them. Scott accuses the Doctor of the murders and, while the Doctor tries to convince him otherwise, the dark figures continue their approach. Digging away at a recent rockfall, they discover the remains of the scientists as well as a metal hatch which begins to emit a trilling sound; Scott orders the Doctor to open the hatch. The dark figures pick up their pace and begin to attack as everyone dives for cover.

The Doctor realises that the attackers are androids, which is why they did not show up on the scans. The androids appear to be defending the hatch and shrug off the troopers' counter-attacks. Kyle recognises the sound the androids are making and realises that they were the ones who killed the scientists. As an android focuses its gaze on the Doctor, the image is transmitted elsewhere to their masters... the Cybermen. The Cyber-Leader orders the androids "Destroy them. Destroy them at once."

Part two[[edit] | [edit source]]

Inside the TARDIS, a signal is detected. Adric wanders out of the TARDIS, trying to locate the Doctor and determine the source of the signal. He is able to distract one of the androids long enough for Scott and his team to destroy it. The other one is subjected to an intense fire attack, also resulting in its destruction.

The Doctor has realised that the signal is being transmitted to whatever is inside the hatch. He runs back to the TARDIS and is able to jam the transmission, then he and Adric return with the Doctor's toolkit. Tegan and Nyssa usher the rest back into the TARDIS where they will be safe as the Doctor and Adric open the hatch to discover an explosive device within. The Doctor fiddles around with the bomb and inadvertently reactivates it, but together with Adric, disarms it before it detonates.

 
"This one calls himself the Doctor, and does nothing else but interfere".

Returning to the TARDIS, the Doctor informs the others that they are going to trace the source of the transmission. He then thanks Adric for his help in the cave and apologises for their earlier argument, telling him he's willing to try and enter E-Space. Adric apologises too for overreacting and reveals he doesn't actually want to return home, he was just trying to make a point. The Cybermen, are puzzled as to why the bomb failed to detonate. Reviewing the recorded images transmitted by the androids, they see the TARDIS. They realise the Doctor is involved, and begin to review their past encounters with the Time Lord.

Meanwhile, out in space, a freighter is being inspected by Earth security forces while replenishing its supplies and crew. However, the morale of the crew is low, kept going only because of the promise of their bonus for delivering the cargo on time. Ringway, one of the bridge crew, wonders if the bonus is worth it, with several disappearances having already taken place. Berger seems to think that it is, and suggests Ringway adopt a more cheery attitude towards the crew to maintain their morale and his.

Having arrived on board, the Doctor goes to explore the freighter with Adric deciding to tag along also. However, Berger spots the two travellers on the camera and tells the captain, a woman named Briggs. Briggs orders that Berger sound the alarm.

The Doctor and Adric hear the alarm and start back towards the TARDIS. Hearing screams, Adric and the Doctor run to investigate. Adric spots the bodies of two crewmen and goes to examine the bodies. Unknown to them, Ringway arrives behind them and raises his gun. Having examined the bodies, they turn to face an armed Ringway, who states "On this ship, we execute murderers!"

Part three[[edit] | [edit source]]

 
"Cybermen. [...] You must withdraw your men, they don't stand a chance".

Ringway escorts the two travellers to meet the captain, Briggs, who is only concerned about the bonus.

Scott and Kyle start to worry about the Doctor and Adric, although only Scott says anything. Scott announces that he wants to go find the Doctor, but Nyssa replies that the Doctor will not thank them for taking such a risk. Scott takes no notice. Tegan, also wishing to help, goes with Scott and his remaining soldiers.

The Cyber-Leader decides that it is time to take control of the freighter, and orders a unit of Cybermen to be activated. The unit marches on the bridge and is spotted on one of the monitors. Briggs orders a blockade set up outside the bridge, despite the Doctor pleading that her men won't stand a chance if they do that. Sure enough, the Cybermen effortlessly blast through the barricade. At the same time, Ringway turns on the crew and announces that he now works for the Cybermen, having grown tired of Briggs. The Doctor disarms him and closes the bridge doors before the Cybermen can get inside. Briggs seems confident that they can hold out until they get back to Earth, as there are only a few Cybermen; when Adric inquires as to how many cargo containers there are, she realises that all 15,000 are probably full of Cybermen.

 
"Our records indicate that you have a fondness for Earth".

As Scott, Tegan and the others kill one Cyberman and damage a second, the Cyber-Leader has his troops soften one of the bridge doors with a thermal lance. The Doctor taps into the antimatter storage system and uses it to stabilise the door just as a Cyberman breaks through, with the result that the Cyberman is fused into the door. The Cyber-Leader had also fitted explosive charges to the other bridge door, however. Just before it goes to detonate them, the Cyberman that escaped from Scott and Tegan crawls up. His lieutenant points out that all the crew have been accounted for and the Cyber-Leader erroneously concludes that Ringway lied about the crew numbers.

The explosives are detonated, destroying the bridge door. The Cybermen take the bridge, and the Leader has Ringway killed for his "deception". The Doctor then sourly jokes, "You never change; always the perfect guest." The Doctor and the crew members all watch as the additional Cybermen are revived, in order to deal with the other humans. As they march through the hold the Leader declares, "My army awakes, Doctor!" The Doctor looks on, horrified, as the Cybermen march through the hold...

Part four[[edit] | [edit source]]

The Cybermen fit a device to the ship's computer which locks it on course to collide with Earth. The Cyber-Leader then explains his mission — several galactic powers are going to meet on Earth that day and hold a conference that will unite them in a war against the Cybermen. Their original plan was to use the bomb to virtually destroy Earth, commandeer the freighter and use the army to kill anyone who survived. Due to the Doctor's interference, the Cyber-Leader has switched to his backup plan: crash the freighter into Earth. As it is powered by antimatter, the resulting blast will be every bit as devastating as the bomb would have been.

Tegan gets separated from Scott and his men and is eventually captured. Scott returns to the TARDIS but is followed by a pair of Cybermen. The troopers kill the Cybermen and take their guns, but Kyle is killed in the process. Tegan, meanwhile, is taken to the bridge. Noting the Doctor's reaction when she is brought into the bridge, the Cybermen comments that emotions must be a severe handicap for the Doctor. The Doctor argues that emotions are what makes life worth living — in response, the Cyber-Leader orders that Tegan be killed. The Doctor throws himself in front of Tegan, and the Cyber-Leader remarks that emotions are a disadvantage, as now he only has to threaten to kill Tegan for the Doctor to obey him.

 
"Goodbye, Doctor. Goodbye, Tegan. I'll see you soon".

Scott and the troopers leave the TARDIS again, as the Cyber-Leader decides to leave the ship in the TARDIS. Briggs, Berger and Adric are left on-board so that a few remaining Cybermen can observe their reactions, and thus better understand human weaknesses. The Doctor and Cybermen leave in the TARDIS, and Scott takes out the Cybermen guarding the bridge. Briggs wants to abandon ship, but Adric tells her that he might be able to override the device controlling the ship's computer. He overrides one segment of it and Berger tries to bring the ship out of warp, but this has an unexpected effect — the freighter jumps into a time warp and goes backwards in time. Tegan is relieved at this, believing Earth to be safe. Her relief is soon shattered when the Doctor points out that it has made the situation far worse — not only will Earth still be destroyed, but with the freighter now back in an earlier point of its history, the planet's whole existence will be nullified. The Cyber-Leader considers this to be excellent news, as his plan will still succeed.

 
"You will follow the freighter to Earth. I wish to witness the planet's final destruction".

Adric overrides another part of the control device, bringing the freighter out of warp — but still perilously close to Earth. The crew decide to abandon ship in an escape pod, but Adric refuses to leave as he is close to deactivating the controls, but Scott grabs him and marches him into the escape pod. But just before the doors close, Adric realises what he can do to deactivate the controls, and quickly jumps back on board. Those in the TARDIS see the pod take off, which the Cyber-Leader assumes is his guards abandoning ship in anticipation for the collision.

Back on the TARDIS, the Doctor points out that they have travelled back 65 million years — at about the time Earth collided with an object which killed the dinosaurs. Tegan realises that the object was really the freighter and that rather than erasing Earth's history, the explosion will form a key part of it. The Doctor boasts that the Cyber-Leader has failed in his plan, as it will not destroy Earth as he intended.

Scott informs the TARDIS crew via radio that they have evacuated the ship, but Adric is still on board. Angered that his plan has failed, the Cyber-Leader decides to kill the crew, but Tegan grabs the Leader before he can do anything, allowing the Doctor to crush Adric’s gold-plated star badge into the Leader’s chest unit, asphyxiating him. The Leader fires a shot at the crew but misses and instead, hits the TARDIS control console. The Doctor grabs the Leader’s gun, and fires several rounds into the Leader’s chest unit, killing him.

 
"Now I'll never know if I was right".

Adric is almost done with fully deactivating the control device, but is thwarted when a damaged and dying Cyberman fires a shot at him, which misses and destroys the freighter's controls instead, leaving no chance of altering the ship's course. Adric serenely muses "Now I'll never know if I was right," and stands gripping his late brother Varsh's reed belt. while Earth looms larger on the bridge's viewscreen.

The Doctor tries to operate the TARDIS controls, but the console is too badly damaged to work. Nyssa quickly shoots and kills the advancing Cyber Lieutenant that was about to kill the Doctor. With no other option, the Doctor, Nyssa and Tegan watch helplessly as the freighter collides with Earth, killing Adric. As Nyssa and Tegan mourn the loss of Adric, the Doctor can only solemnly stare, shocked at his failure to save his friend.

The episode ends with silent credits to mark Adric's death, rolled over an image of his shattered star-shaped badge.

Cast[[edit] | [edit source]]

Uncredited cast[[edit] | [edit source]]

Crew[[edit] | [edit source]]

Uncredited crew[[edit] | [edit source]]

Worldbuilding[[edit] | [edit source]]

  • Khan was part of Kyle's team.
  • Seaton is one of the troopers.

Astronomical objects[[edit] | [edit source]]

The Doctor[[edit] | [edit source]]

  • The Doctor doesn't know what killed the dinosaurs, but always meant to go back and find out.
  • The Doctor doesn't want to go back into E-Space because of the uncertainties of travelling there.

Cybermen[[edit] | [edit source]]

Objects[[edit] | [edit source]]

Spacecraft[[edit] | [edit source]]

  • The freighter functions by simulating the use of anti-matter.

TARDIS[[edit] | [edit source]]

Story notes[[edit] | [edit source]]

  • This story had the working title Sentinel.
  • Killing off Adric makes some sense story-wise. The Doctor would never purposely return to E-Space, so that would leave Adric indefinitely stuck on the TARDIS; given Adric doesn't have a place in N-Space to call home, like the rest of the companions. Nyssa did have a home, but it was destroyed.
  • Producer John Nathan-Turner was keen to keep the return of the Cybermen a surprise, and therefore ensured that this aspect was given no advance publicity — even going so far as to arrange for the studio observation galleries to be closed for the duration of recording and turning down Radio Times when they offered to feature the Cybermen in a cover photograph and article to mark the start of the story, much to Sarah Sutton's disappointment. The Cyber-Leader and Cyber-Lieutenant were also referred to as simply "Leader" and "Lieutenant" in the combined Radio Times cast for parts one/two.
  • This is the first Cybermen story which neither of their creators, Kit Pedler and Gerry Davis, had involvement with.
  • Adric's appearance in part two of Time-Flight is solely so he would be credited in the following week's issue of Radio Times, which would be published on the day Earthshock part four aired — therefore hiding his death here.
  • This is one of the few serials in which the ending credits have been changed from the regular credits. Adric's star-shaped badge for mathematical excellence is shown broken in pieces while the credits roll in silence. It was the only story in which the main theme was not used in the credits until Rosa. It's also the first time a serial has used scrolling credits since TV: The War Games and the only story in the JN-T era to do so.
  • This story features a very rare occasion where the Doctor not only uses a weapon, but also kills with it.
  • The multiple rows of marching Cybermen in part four was actually a single row duplicated and placed side by side using photographic editing.
  • One of the android costumes would later be repainted silver and used as the costume for the Raston Warrior Robot in The Five Doctors.
  • The androids were played by Barney Lawrence and Carolyn Mary Simmonds, who remained uncredited both on-screen and in Radio Times.
  • According to the research website BroaDWcast.org, there are reports that part four's silent credits were re-edited to include the regular theme music for its broadcast on the YTV network in the 1990s.[1]
  • The story was chosen by BBC America to represent the Peter Davison era during their 50th-anniversary programming. Edited into an omnibus format, it was aired by BBCA on 26 May 2013, after the debut of their homegrown special called The Doctors Revisited - The Fifth Doctor. It also aired in the United Kingdom later in the year on 26 October, along with the Revisited special, on the Watch channel.
  • Archive footage from TV: The Tenth Planet, The Wheel in Space and Revenge of the Cybermen is shown in part two. The clip from The Wheel in Space was actually used to represent the events of The Tomb of the Cybermen, which did not exist in the BBC Archives at the time. The reason for the Third Doctor's omission from the flashback clips was that he never encountered the Cybermen during his original tenure. In relation to this story, the Cybermen's 1985 encounter with the Sixth Doctor in Attack of the Cybermen would have also been part of their chronological past, as would be their 1988 encounter with the Seventh Doctor in Silver Nemesis. Neither were seen as part of the flashback clips. The real world reason for this, of course, was that although these events would have happened already in the timeline, these serials with their respective Doctors had not yet been created for the show.
  • This story also exists in the BBC archives as 2 x 50 minute compiled episodes broadcast as part of the Doctor Who and the Monsters repeat season in 1982.
  • In a 2018 interview about his career, actor Steve Morley (Walters) recalled being recognised many years later by Doctor Who fans in the shop of the former Exhibition in Llangollen.
  • While his overall opinion of the story was quite positive despite its notoriously unforgiving shooting schedule, director Peter Grimwade absolutely hated Malcolm Clarke's incidental score for the episode, and tried to get Peter Howell, whom Grimwade had worked with on Kinda earlier that season, to provide a replacement. Howell wasn't available, however, resulting in the story retaining Clarke's score.
  • Janet Fielding let out an unscripted scream during the scene in part four when the dying Cyber-Leader shoots the TARDIS console, as a stray spark had landed in her hair. As there was no opportunity to do another take, Fielding's scream remained in the finished programme.
  • This story was a favourite among the cast.
  • The Cyberscope prop was built using parts the modelmaker had scavenged from the Nostromo set constructed for Alien. Similarly, the digital readouts on the device flash up a random series of numbers which were also seen on the monitors of the Nostromo set.
  • There were some ideas flown around when the Cybermen were redesigned. Dinah Collin wanted to remove the handlebars on the Cybermen costumes, but Turner vetoed that idea as he didn't want to lose the iconic part of them (plus fan consultant Ian Levine pointed out that only the Cyber-Controllers were meant to lack handles). Another idea was to have some visible fluids in the tubes.
  • Eric Saward considered having the Cyber-Leader survive the story, providing yet another sign of the Fifth Doctor's fallibility in comparison to his predecessor, but ultimately decided against it.
  • Colin Baker, Nicholas Ball, Andrew Burt, Lewis Collins, Peter Firth, Del Henney, Gareth Hunt, Martin Jarvis, Tim Pigott-Smith, Patrick Ryecart, Martin Shaw, Patrick Stewart, David Warner, and Simon Williams were considered for Commander Scott.
  • Captain Briggs was written as a Sigourney Weaver-type in the script. Everyone was baffled by John Nathan Turner's decision to cast Beryl Reid. It's agreed that Reid did a good job, even though she didn't match the character in the script. Reid also struggled with the dialogue (she asked during recording if "warp drive" was off Earls Court). She later called it a strange experience.
  • John Nathan Turner was inspired to have the end credits roll in silence after Adric's death after seeing an episode of Coronation Street which did the same thing when character Martha Longhurst died suddenly in the Rovers Return. Peter Davison thought it was cheesy.
  • Matthew Waterhouse recalled that his last day was sad. He was filled with champagne, put in a taxi and there he burst into tears.
  • Peter Grimwade was a very "wound up" director and Eric Saward joked that if the guns on set had been real, he would have been dead.
  • At one point, the battery pack that powers the radio mic for the Cybermen slid down David Banks's face and can be seen through the perspex in some shots. The solution was to spray the perspex so it couldn't be seen.
  • There was briefly talk of Adric surviving the story at the end.
  • Matthew Waterhouse was initially appalled by the decision to kill Adric off, and he refused to speak to John Nathan-Turner for two weeks. He was particularly upset that he would now be precluded from returning at a later date. Eventually, Waterhouse was mollified by Nathan-Turner's observation that the Doctor could still encounter Adric at a time prior to his demise.
  • Peter Grimwade, Eric Saward and John Nathan-Turner were all keen that the serial should try, as much as possible, to capture the fast-paced feel of a feature film. As a result, Grimwade's final camera scripts were extremely lengthy, with part four alone running to eighty-nine scenes — far more than was normal at that time.
  • It was John Nathan-Turner's idea that the chins of the updated Cybermen were left clear so that the actors' jaws could be seen, as he felt that this would reinforce the notion that the Cybermen had once been human.

Ratings[[edit] | [edit source]]

  • Part one - 9.9 million viewers
  • Part two - 8.8 million viewers
  • Part three - 9.8 million viewers
  • Part four - 9.6 million viewers

Filming locations[[edit] | [edit source]]

  • Springwell Lock Quarry in Rickmansworth, Hertfordshire (This was the only location work, which featured at the start of the story, not featuring any of the regular cast)
  • BBC Television Centre (Studio 8), Shepherd's Bush, London

Production errors[[edit] | [edit source]]

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.
  • The opening credits for all episodes shake and vibrate violently. Even with the precise restoration by the Doctor Who Restoration Team, it is still very noticeable. This was fixed for the Blu-ray Release.
  • Actor James Warwick changes Lt. Scott's accent without narrative cause. There's a clear and inexplicable difference between his work on location and his later-recorded scenes in the studio. This fact was remarked upon by Janet Fielding and Peter Davison on the DVD commentary.
  • As Tegan complains that she's exhausted, something that looks like a stick is being waved around in the darkness. Then, as they climb the stairs on their way to the bridge, a person holding a script can be seen in the background. This fact, too, is highlighted by the DVD commentary.
  • When the Cyberman breaks through the softened bridge door, the damage to the door and the Cyberman's arm change size and position between shots.
  • When Scott returns to the TARDIS, he has three troopers, two male and one female, with him. A Cyberman grabs the woman before she can enter the TARDIS, but when Scott and the troopers come into the control room, the woman is present but one of the men is missing. Later, when the troopers leave, the woman is gone again and the missing man has reappeared.
  • In part two, the Cyber-Leader's finger misses a button on the console, but we still hear a beep anyway.
  • Near the end of this serial, Peter Davison was required to shove Adric's gold-laden badge into the Cyber-Leader's chest from behind. Through the Cyber-Leader's faceplate, a silver box can be seen pressing against David Banks's face. The Cyber costumes had radio microphones in them for recording so the modulation of the actor's voices could occur in real time. The batteries for these mikes were taped to the top inside of the actor's helmets. Over time, of course, the tape would work free and the batteries would fall out of place, resulting in the silver box seen in the Cyber-Leader's faceplate for this scene. Also, when the Cyber-Leader explodes, the wire attached to the small microphone can be clearly seen.
  • The dead crew members at the end of part two can be clearly seen breathing.
  • When Ringway is running down a corridor, supposedly in a tearing hurry, he visibly pulls up just before going out of shot.
  • Just before Tegan and the soldiers find the bodies in part three, a white baton mysteriously appears behind them — apparently placed there by a crew member.
  • The director commits a line-of-sight blocking error at the end of part one. When the Doctor is discussing the androids, Nyssa and Tegan are nowhere to be seen — yet from the android's viewpoint, they are right beside the Doctor.
  • In part four, the Cyber-Leader misses a step and visibly trips down the stairs when marching the Doctor and Tegan back to the TARDIS.
  • When Adric is attempting to crack the code on the computer just before it is destroyed, he is clearly keeping a distance from the computer as Matthew Waterhouse knows it is about to explode.
  • As a Cyberman enters the TARDIS control room from the inner door, just before Adric's death, a camera (the same one filming the previous viewpoint) can clearly be seen in the corridor beyond.
  • In part four, after Lieutenant Scott shoots the second Cyberman who enters the TARDIS, a voice saying "Now!" can be heard to cue the actor to fall to the ground.
  • In the final shot of part three, the Cyber-Leader is seen at the front of the row of Cybermen marching through the ship's hold (as evidenced by the black colour and additional detailing of his side handles) when he was shown aboard the ship's bridge with the Doctor mere seconds earlier. Additionally, the manner in which the shot is edited to show multiple rows of Cybermen simultaneously makes it appear as though there are three Cyber-Leaders in the ship's hold at once.

CGI Effects[[edit] | [edit source]]

 
The new 2003 shot of the K-T extinction event impact.

The story received a CGI Effects version in the story's 18 August 2003 DVD release. It had new laser effects by Dave Jervis and a new version of Adric's death sequence by Mike Tucker and Nick Sainton-Clark.

Deviations from original serial[[edit] | [edit source]]

Other information[[edit] | [edit source]]

  • The shape of the continents on the CGI Earth is more historically accurate to the Cretaceous period, rather than the modern day continents seen in the televised Earthshock. However, it resembles Earth of the early Cretaceous, rather than the late Cretaceous in which the K-T extinction event occurred, lacking about 50,000,000 years of continental drift.
    • Additionally, the ship is seen to crash into the region of West Africa rather than the asteroid's real life impact point in Mexico.

Continuity[[edit] | [edit source]]

Home video and audio releases[[edit] | [edit source]]

DVD releases[[edit] | [edit source]]

This story was released as Doctor Who: Earthshock.

PAL - BBC DVD BBCDVD1153
NTSC - Warner Video E2022

Contents:

Notes:

  • Editing for the DVD release was completed by the Doctor Who Restoration Team. The most prominent of these edits is to the serial's final scenes, when the freighter crashes into prehistoric Earth. The edit mainly revises the scene so that, instead of the TARDIS's monitor showing a still image of the freighter, followed by several bright flashes (meant to represent the explosion of the impact), the screen actually shows the freighter crashing into Earth, with the explosion being represented by a pulsating light over the impact site.

  • DVD Region 2 UK cover

  • DVD Region 2 UK slip-case cover

  • DVD Region 2 Netherlands cover

  • DVD Region 4 Australian cover

  • DVD Region 4 Australian slip-case cover

  • DVD Region 1 US cover

Video releases[[edit] | [edit source]]

This story was released as Doctor Who: Earthshock.

  • UK September 1992
PAL - BBC Video BBCV4840
PAL -
NTSC -

  • VHS UK cover

  • VHS Australian cover

  • VHS US cover

Audio Release[[edit] | [edit source]]

A soundtrack album of the music from this serial was released by Silva Screen Records as Earthshock: Classic Music from the BBC Radiophonic Workshop Vol. 1 (FILMCD 709). This is an edited re-release of the "BBC Records" release, "Doctor Who the Music: Volume 1". Of the 22 tracks, only three are from "Earthshock".

External links[[edit] | [edit source]]

Footnotes[[edit] | [edit source]]

  1. ↑ https://whatson.bfi.org.uk/Online/default.asp?doWork%3A%3AWScontent%3A%3AloadArticle=Load&BOparam%3A%3AWScontent%3A%3AloadArticle%3A%3Aarticle_id=C2550A60-500A-4890-BE3B-21B81EF2B0C8&BOparam%3A%3AWScontent%3A%3AloadArticle%3A%3Acontext_id=3AD6ACE9-33EC-4345-A772-36A67F20C8C0
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