Transmat:Doctor Who
The Ark in Space was the second story of Season 12 of Doctor Who. It was the Fourth Doctor's first full, post-regenerative story. It proceeded from a mild-cliffhanger at the end of Robot, showing what happened after Harry Sullivan climbed into the police box in UNIT's laboratory. It importantly established the location of Nerva Beacon, which would be the narrative lynchpin of the season.
Ark had a somewhat tortuous scripting process, having slipped past two writers before its scripts were finally accepted. Both Christopher Langley and John Lucarotti tried and failed to write a script about a space station for season 12. Of the two, Lucarotti came closest. However, because he then lived on a boat anchored in the Mediterranean — and there was a postal strike afflicting Corsica — Lucarotti was essentially incommunicado to script editor Robert Holmes. It was impossible for Holmes to conduct timely consultation with the Doctor Who veteran. Lucarotti was paid fully for his work, and Holmes undertook a page one rewrite, retaining only the central conceit of Lucarotti's tale.
Despite its difficult birth, the story won kudos from the BBC Wales production staff. Russell T Davies once called Ark his favourite storyline of the 1963 version of Doctor Who. Steven Moffat considered it the best Fourth Doctor story, while Barnaby Edwards confessed to being "petrified of the Wirrn" as a child. Tom Baker himself has also stated that, of all the stories he'd filmed, The Ark in Space was his favourite.
Think Doctor Who is just for boys? Don't you believe it. Not only was the show's very first producer a woman, but it would never have come back without the fierce advocacy of Jane Tranter and Julie Gardner. Considering her importance to Doctor Who it's somewhat ironic that Tranter's only on-screen credits are for Torchwood: Miracle Day. But Gardner, her "partner in crime", is tied only with Russell T Davies as the most prolific producer in Doctor Who history.
However, several stories have clearly taken material from comic strips — often those in Doctor Who Magazine. The Shakespeare Code contains a good amount of material from A Groatsworth of Wit, and the notion of the Doctor absorbing the time vortex in order to spare a companion was explored in both The Parting of the Ways and The Flood.
- 1970 - Studio filming for Terror of the Autons took place at BBC Television Centre 8. (REF: Doctor Who The Handbook: The Third Doctor)
- 1975 - Studio filming for The Brain of Morbius took place. (REF: Doctor Who The Handbook: The Fourth Doctor)
- 1984 - Location filming for The Mark of the Rani took place. (REF: Doctor Who The Handbook: The Sixth Doctor)
- 2005 - Untitled shooting scripts for Doctor Who series 2, episodes 12 and 13, later titled Army of Ghosts and Doomsday, were issued. (DWMSE 14)
- 2012 - The Big Finish/AudioGO audio story Vengeance of the Stones was recorded at the Moat Studios.
- 2017 - Big Finish's Torchwood audio story Believe was recorded.
- 2018 - The Big Finish audio story The Monsters of Gokroth was recorded at the Moat Studios.
- 2022 - Big Finish's Torchwood audio story Oodunnit was recorded at the Soundhouse.
- 1970 - Part eight of the TV Comic story Doctor Who and the Robot was published.
- 1996
- Damaged Goods and Speed of Flight were published by Virgin Books.
- DWM 245 was published by Marvel Comics.
- 2002 - The audio stories The Sandman[1] and Professor Bernice Summerfield and the Dance of the Dead[2] were released by Big Finish Productions.
- 2012 - Love and War was released by Big Finish.
- 2013 - DWFC 5 was published by Eaglemoss Publications Ltd.
- 2014 - The interactive story featuring the Twelfth Doctor premiered at the Doctor Who Experience.
- 2015 - The Woman Who Lived premiered on BBC One.
- 2016 - The Robot Reveal premiered on CBBC.
- 2019 - The Target Storybook was published by BBC Books.
- 1921 - Actor Walter Henry was born.[3]
- 1929 - Actor Clifford Rose was born.[4]
- 1930 - Actor Brian Peck was born.[5]
- 1939 - Actor Callen Angelo was born.[6]
- 1958 - Actor Sarah Greene was born.[7]
- 1971 - Actor Dervla Kirwan was born.[8]
- 1975 - Actor Martin Boddey died.[9]
- 1981 - Actor Jemima Rooper was born.[10]
- 1988 - Actor Valerie Taylor died.[11]
- 1994 - Actor Kit Young was born.[12]
- 2005 - Writer Robert Sloman died.[13]
- 2018 - Actor Laurence Kennedy died.[14]
- 2021 - Actor Thapelo Maropefela died.[15]
- ↑ The Sandman. Big Finish, via Internet Archive. Retrieved on 9 December 2002.
- ↑ The Dance of the Dead. Big Finish, via Internet Archive. Retrieved on 8 December 2002.
- ↑ Aveleyman
- ↑ The Guardian
- ↑ Aveleyman
- ↑ Aveleyman
- ↑ Doctor Who Guide
- ↑ Doctor Who Guide
- ↑ Aveleyman
- ↑ Famous Birthdays
- ↑ Aveleyman
- ↑ People Pill
- ↑ Doctor Who Guide
- ↑ DWMSE 51
- ↑ The South African