Colony in Space (TV story)
Colony in Space was the fourth serial of season 8 of Doctor Who. It was narratively significant for being the first off-Earth story recorded in colour. It was the first time any companion had travelled in the TARDIS with the Doctor since The War Games and therefore, Jo Grant's first visit to another planet. It introduced the Interplanetary Mining Corporation (IMC), which reappeared in several stories in other media. The story also introduced a new model of the sonic screwdriver unique to the Third Doctor. He had mentioned having one in Doctor Who and the Silurians, but this was the model's first physical appearance within a serial. Its debut here preluded the more frequent, conventional use of the sonic screwdriver as the Doctor's preferred gadget.
The Virgin Missing Adventures novel The Menagerie retconned a link between The Space Pirates and Colony through the IMC. Subtextually, the script was Malcolm Hulke's intentional science fictional comment on the struggle between European settlers and Native Americans.[1]
Colony was the first Doctor Who directorial assignment for Michael Briant, who had been a production assistant, amongst other roles, during the Innes Lloyd and Peter Bryant producerships. Briant later directed some of the most iconic serials of the 1970s, including The Robots of Death and The Sea Devils.
Synopsis
The Time Lords discover that the Master has stolen their secret file on the Doomsday Weapon. They grant the Doctor a temporary reprieve from his exile on Earth to deal with the crisis. He and Jo arrive on the planet Uxarieus and become enmeshed in a struggle between an agrarian colony and a powerful mining corporation.
Plot
Episode one
The Timelord High Counsel discuss an issue with the Doomsday Weapon - something that only they and the Master know about. They decide to use the Doctor to help them with their problem and restore his freedom for the time it takes to help them.
The Doctor is experimenting on a new dematerialisation circuit. Jo and the Brigadier try and convince him to stop. The Brigadier says that there is no sign of the Master but is called out when an agent thinks he has a trace in him. The Doctor is sceptical. Once the Brigadier leaves, the Doctor says he thinks he has fixed the dematerialisation circuit to allow him to bypass the homing control installed by the Timelords. Jo is skeptical. For the first time, the Doctor shows Jo the inside of the TARDIS. When she says that it is bigger on the inside, the Doctor explains that it is dimensionally transcendental. All of a sudden the doors close and the TARDIS starts to dematerialise. The Doctor is confuse and says it is being operated by remote control by the Timelords.
The Brigadier enters the lab to see the TARDIS dematerialise. He orders the Doctor back.
Jo thinks that the Doctor is playing a joke on her but he shows her the scanner to show they are outside the space-time continuum. Soon the planet Uxarieus rears into view. Jo wants to go back.
A robot is trundling around a planet's surface. As it moves off the TARDIS rematerialises.
Jo wants the Doctor to open the doors but he needs to check if the atmosphere is healthy. Once he has done that he opens the door. Seeing the alien landscape, Jo gets scared. She has always doubted the Doctor's stories of his travels through time and space. The Doctor says they should go for a quick look and then return. As they explore they are overlooked by a creature. They find track marks left by the robot and speculate that the planet must be inhabited. The Doctor wants to climb a hill to get a better vantage point. Jo is still scared but the Doctor convinced her to come. They find some dwellings atop all the hills. As they explore Jo turns to see a man pointing a rifle at them.
An inhabitant of the planet, Martin, argues with the leader, Ash, about something he saw last night. Ash is skeptical but sends his right hand man David to explore. The Doctor is brought in by the man with the rifle, Leeson. He suspects them to be mineralogists who want to use their planet for mining. The Doctor reassures them that they are just explorers. Ash wants to see their papers and when the Doctor cannot produce them, Ash says they will spend the night here and not return to their ship. Jane, Leeson's wife, shows Jo to the dining hall. The Doctor examines their crop records. Lesson goes to attack him but the Doctor disarms him with Venusian Karate. The Doctor says it looks like they have had a particularly poor harvest for some time and that they are far below sustainable levels. Ash's interest is piqued.
Outside, the creatures that observed the Doctor and Jo, steal the TARDIS.
In the dining hall, the colonists squabble about the merits of Uxarieus in relation to Earth as Jo and Jane enter. Martin is the most vocal. He prefers Earth despite the fact that it was overpopulated and oppressive when they left. David enters and takes Martin with him to look for the creatures he saw. Mary, Ash's daughter, introduces herself to Jo. She reveals that it is 2471 and that they arrived a year ago.
Leeson returns home and grumbles about the fact that there are no crops and that they shouldn't have come. Jane, his wife, said that on Earth they didn't have a room and now they have land. Lesson says that even Ash knows he's beaten. They here a noise outside and rush out. A huge lizard is outside. Jane radioes the main dome for help. She rushes for the rifle but is attacked.
Ash and the Doctor are talking about the history of the colony. The Doctor questions Ash's decision to stay but also says that there is no reason why the crops aren't growing. Mary rushes in and tells of the attack. Ash and the Doctor rush off. Jo tries to persuade the Doctor not to go but he is convinced. Jo asks Jane if they checked for signs of life before they colonised. She says that when they arrived there were no creatures.
By the time Ash and the Doctor arrive both Leeson and Jane are dead. One of the colonists report that they saw a lizard, twenty feet high, but as they approached it vanished into the darkness. The Doctor draws attention to some claw marks deep inside the dome and says that a creature that large could not have got so far into the building.
The colonists are having a meeting and want to leave. Ash insists that they can't move on. They argue that there is no food. The Doctor agrees with Ash and says that the crops are being inhibited by an unnatural source that they can track down and destroy. This begins to change the mind of some of the colonists. They decide to stay and fight. Patrol guards bring in a stranger that they found collapsed outside. He says he is from a colony a long way from here and has been wandering for months. He says that all of his friends have been killed by giant lizards.
The alien creatures that overlooked the Doctor and stole the TARDIS are examine things inside the Leeson's dome. As the Doctor and Ash enter they try and attack the Doctor but Ash calls them off. Ash explains that they don't speak but can understand what he wants. He says they are friendly now but we're quite hostile when they first arrived. Ash sends them away. The Doctor wants to examine the dome for evidence. Ash leaves him to find his own way back. As the Doctor starts collecting evidence he turns to see the giant robot entering the dome. Akmal
Episode two
An IMC foreman named Caldwell, holding a remote control, arrives and deactivates the robot. He apologises, claiming not to know the planet was inhabited. The Doctor accompanies Caldwell back to his ship. He meets the captain, Dent, who doesn't seem to care that people have been killed but only cares that Uxarieus is rich in duralinium, a much-needed mineral on Earth. He has Morgan accompany the Doctor back to the colony but arranges for him to meet with "an accident".
Winton shows Norton around the colony, and they watch Jim, the chief engineer, repair the power generator with the help of a Uxarien primitive. Norton, actually an IMC operative, later returns and kills them both and sabotages the generator. He accuses the primitive of killing Jim and attacking himself before he killed it in self-defence.
Caldwell complains to Dent about his ruthless methods, but Dent politely reminds him of the vast sum of money he stands to make on this mission if he stays quiet and obedient.
Morgan and the Doctor investigate the Leeson dome. The Doctor announces that he knows that the monster attacks are fakes. Another IMC robot appears, now bearing a set of lizard-like claws. As it bears down on the Doctor, Morgan pulls a gun and remarks, "Purely business, you understand, nothing personal."
Episode three
When the robot attacks him, the Doctor lunges at Morgan, grabbing the remote control. Morgan runs off, and the Doctor deactivates the robot.
Dent meets with Ashe and says he will send for an adjudicator to decide whose claim will be honoured. The Doctor returns and explains that the "monster" is actually an IMC robot with a holographic device to create the image of an enormous lizard. Dent returns to his ship and is warned by Norton that Jo and Winton are on their way to investigate his ship. When they arrive, they are captured.
The Doctor fixes the colony's power supply and goes to the IMC ship to rescue Jo. Dent explains that Jo and Winton are attached to a bomb.
They free themselves and escape with the assistance of Caldwell, who persuades the pursuing guards that he killed them. Caldwell helps Winton get back to the colony and advises the colonists to leave because it's too dangerous to stay.
When Winton returns, the colonists want to attack the IMC ship. The Doctor urges them not to attack and goes to meet Caldwell. He tries to convince Caldwell to free Jo and tells Caldwell about the colonists' attack plans. Caldwell thinks the colonists would be slaughtered if they attack.
Primitives attack the ship and take Jo away. The colonists reach the ship, with the Doctor and Winton sneaking in to find Jo. They succeed in taking the IMC guards prisoner. The Doctor learns Jo has been taken by the primitives to their underground city.
Episode four
The Doctor plans to go to the Uxarieans to get Jo back. Winton, on the IMC ship, finds evidence that IMC are behind the monster attacks. The Adjudicator's ship arrives, and he wants both sides to prepare for him. Morgan overpowers Winton and releases the rest of the IMC guards.
Jo is taken to a room in the Uxarieans' city that is filled with sophisticated equipment. The Doctor arrives at the Uxarieans' city and offers them food if they will release Jo. They bring him into the city and lock him in with Jo. He speculates that there is more than one race of Uxarieans on the planet.
The Doctor and Jo learn they are to be sacrificed and briefly escape from the nearly blind guards, but they are recaptured. The Guardian, overseer of the city and the last of the ancient Uxarieans, meets with them and lets them go.
The Adjudicator has nearly finished his hearing when the Doctor and Jo arrive. They are shocked to discover that he is actually the Master. He meets with Jo and the Doctor privately, admitting he has forged credentials but they, on the other hand, have none. He returns to the hearing and rules in favour of IMC. Winton, against Ashe's orders, wants to raid the IMC ship. He organises his ambush, but Norton warns the IMC men.
Ashe talks with the Adjudicator, who tells him an appeal will fail unless the planet has some historical value. Ashe tells him of the primitives and their city.
The IMC men arrive at the colony and the fighting begins. Caldwell sneaks away, refusing to fight. The Doctor and Jo try to stop the fighting but are threatened at gunpoint by the Master, who intends to make them the victim of "stray bullets".
Episode five
The Master hides his weapon when Ashe appears, trying to stop the fighting. The colonists gain the upper hand over the IMC men. They lock the IMC men up in their ship and force them to leave the planet.
The Doctor, seeing the Master's interest in the Uxariean city, tells Ashe that he is not the real Adjudicator, but the Master then tells Ashe that the Doctor has no credentials. The Doctor decides to inspect the Adjudicator's spaceship, which is the Master's TARDIS. They find the real Adjudicator's credentials and information on the planet, but as they leave the TARDIS, they trip an alarm, alerting the Master, who releases a sleeping gas in the TARDIS that overpowers them.
Meanwhile, Dent has also learned that the Master is not the real Adjudicator. The Master gets a map of the city from Ashe but learns that only the Doctor has been inside the city and returned. The Master revives the Doctor and uses Jo as a hostage so the Doctor will take him to the city.
The IMC ship, which has remained in orbit, lands, and the guards overpower Winton's men. Another gunfight breaks out, and ultimately the colonists surrender. Dent holds a trial and finds them guilty. Instead of execution, he orders the colonists to depart in their decrepit spaceship, aware that it likely wouldn't survive blastoff.
The Doctor and the Master arrive at the Uxariean city but don't know how to open the door. Caldwell and Morgan try to search the Adjudicator's ship and find the key. When they go inside, they try to rescue Jo. This triggers an alarm, and the Master prepares to kill Jo.
Episode six
The Doctor kicks the Master's control device away, but they are both captured by the primitives and taken into the city. They are brought to the Guardian's chamber, where the Master explains what he learned from the Time Lord files. The controls to the Doomsday Weapon, which can cause any star in the universe to go supernova, are in the Guardian's chamber. With this weapon, the Master would have absolute power over the universe, and he offers the Doctor a partnership. The Doctor, appalled, declines — he'd rather see the universe than rule it. As the Master prepares to kill the Doctor, the Guardian once again appears.
Dent and his men make sure the colonists have boarded their ship. Caldwell has rescued Jo, but they both can only watch in horror as the colonists' ship explodes shortly after takeoff. They attempt to rescue the Doctor in the underground city.
The Doctor successfully convinces the Guardian that the Doomsday Weapon is responsible for the decline and fall of the Uxariean civilisation. The Guardian allows the Doctor and Master to leave and destroys himself, the weapon, and the city. The Master escapes in his TARDIS, but the Doctor and Jo are overjoyed to learn that the colonists are safe; they escaped shortly before takeoff except for Ashe, who sacrificed himself to launch the ship. The colonists overpower Dent and his henchmen. With sufficient evidence of IMC's illegal activity, thanks to Caldwell, they are confident the real Adjudicator will rule in their favour.
The radiation from the Doomsday Weapon was the cause of their crop failures, and the Doctor assures the colonists that their future is now secure. The TARDIS returns the Doctor and Jo to UNIT seconds after they left.
Cast
- Doctor Who - Jon Pertwee
- Brigadier Lethbridge Stewart - Nicholas Courtney
- Jo Grant - Katy Manning
- Winton - Nicholas Pennell
- Ashe - John Ringham
- Leeson - David Webb
- Jane Leeson - Sheila Grant
- Norton - Roy Skelton
- Mary Ashe - Helen Worth
- Martin - John Line
- Mrs. Martin - Mitzi Webster
- Robot - John Scott Martin
- Primitive and Voice - Pat Gorman
- Time Lord - Peter Forbes-Robertson
- Time Lord - John Baker
- Time Lord - Graham Leaman
- Caldwell - Bernard Kay
- Dent - Morris Perry
- Morgan - Tony Caunter
- Holden - John Herrington
- Allen - Stanley McGeagh
- Long - Pat Gorman
- The Master - Roger Delgado
- Alec Leeson - John Tordoff
- Guardian - Norman Atkyns
- Alien Priest - Roy Heymann
- Colonist - Pat Gorman
Uncredited cast
- IMC Guard Rogers - Terry Walsh
- Stuntmen / Primitives - Terry Walsh, Dinny Powell, Alf Joint, Mike Horsburgh, Les Clark, Valentino Musetti
- Colonists - Charles Pickess, Ken Halliwell, Bob Blaine, Alan Peters, Brian Gilmar, John Caesar, Ian Elliott, Jay McGrath, Les Conrad, Clay Hunter, Charles Finch, Monique Briant
- Primitives - Les Clark, John McGrath, Derek Chafer, Stewart Anderson, Emmett Hennessy, Walter Turner, Mike Stephens
- IMC Guards - Brian Justice, Brian Gilmar, Les Clark, Keith Simon, Stewart Stephens, Mike Stephens, Bob Blaine, Jay Neill, Barry Stephens
- Stuntmen / IMC Guards - Les Clark, Mike Horsburgh, Alf Joint, Dinny Powell
- IMC console voice - Michael Briant
- Alien Priests - Stanley Mason, Antonia Moss
- Stuntmen / Colonists - Terry Walsh, Max Diamond, Billie Horrigan, Valentino Musetti (DWM 238)
Crew
- Writer - Malcolm Hulke
- Title Music - Ron Grainer and BBC Radiophonic Workshop
- Incidental Music - Dudley Simpson
- Special Sound - Brian Hodgson and BBC Radiophonic Workshop
- Film Cameraman - Peter Hall
- Film Editor - William Symon
- Visual Effects - Bernard Wilkie
- Costumes - Michael Burdle
- Make-up - Jan Harrison
- Studio Lighting - Ralph Walton
- Sound - David Hughes, Tony Millier
- Script Editor - Terrance Dicks
- Designer - Tim Gleeson
- Producer - Barry Letts
- Director - Michael Briant
References
The Doctor
- The Doctor claims to be an expert in agriculture during John Robert Ashe's plea to the colonists in part one.
Species
- The Uxarieans have mutated into three varieties, all psychic, the highest of which can communicate and teleport small items.
Technology
- IMC use tape spools.
- The Doctor uses an entertainment console to learn about living conditions on Earth.
Vehicles
- Caldwell smuggles Jo away from IMC in a space buggy.
Story notes
- The story had the working title The Colony.
- Director Michael Briant voiced the commentary accompanying a propaganda film watched by the Doctor on the IMC spaceship in episode two. This part was originally intended for Pat Gorman, who was credited on episodes one and two as "Primitive and Voice".
- The Radio Times programme listing for episode one was accompanied by a continuation of the comic strip adaptation (see Comic Strip Adaptation below) in the form of three additional black and white illustrations not included in the strip itself: the first showed the Doctor looking over a rise, with Jo in the background asking "What is it?"; the second depicted the colonists' dome and spaceship; and the third was the shadow of a mysterious humanoid figure behind the Doctor and Jo. The accompanying caption read "A new adventure for Dr. Who: 6.10".
- Michael Briant had intended that the role of Morgan be played by Susan Jameson. However, he was overruled by Head of Drama Serials Ronnie Marsh, who believed that a woman in that role wouldn't be appropriate for a family audience, (REF: The Third Doctor Handbook) as it might impart an unintended sexuality to some scenes. Because she was already signed to a contract when Marsh got involved, she was still paid her full salary.[1]
- Right after the lights to the colony go out following Norton's attack on Jim Holden and a primitive, Mary Ashe says to her father, "Don't worry, Jim'll fix it!" By coincidence, this line unintentionally name drops the title the BBC show Jim'll Fix It, which did not premiere until 1975. However, it later featured Tom Baker and Peter Cushing, who played the Fourth Doctor and Dr. Who respectively, and also devised the fourth-wall-breaking short A Fix with Sontarans.
- Pat Gorman was credited as "Primitive and Voice" on episodes one and two, but did not provide the voice. He was credited as "Primitive" on episodes four and six. In Radio Times, he was billed only as "Primitive".
- Roger Delgado was credited as "Master" on episode four and "The Master" on episodes five and six.
Ratings
- Episode one - 7.6 million viewers
- Episode two - 8.5 million viewers
- Episode three - 9.5 million viewers
- Episode four - 8.1 million viewers
- Episode five - 8.8 million viewers
- Episode six - 8.7 million viewers
Myths
- The main action of this story takes place on the planet Exarius. (The name given to the planet in Malcolm Hulke's script for Episode One is "Uxarieus".)
Filming locations
- Old Baal Clay Pit, Carclaze, Cornwall
- BBC Television Centre (Studio 3 & 4), Shepherd's Bush, London
Production errors
- In episode two, the monitor screen on board the IMC spaceship turns bright blue in every close up.
- In episode three, as Winton, while pursued by IMC guards, falls at Caldwell's feet, seagulls can be heard.
- In the last scene of episode six, after the Brigadier has repeated his "Come back at once!" line, the shadow of a crew member can be seen across his front.
- In episode four, when the diminutive leader of the Primitives, the Guardian, exits from the wall, its puppeteer, particularly his hand, is visible.
- Briant admits in the commentary track for the DVD release and in the accompanying documentary IMC Needs You! that the reason the TARDIS pops in and out of sight in episodes one and six instead of fading out is that he just didn't know it was supposed to.
- In episode one, when the Doctor and Jo are in the TARDIS, Jo is wearing a pink shirt with black stripes. Once they left the TARDIS after landing on the planet, however, she is wearing a grey shirt with black stripes. When held hostage, she is wearing the pink shirt again.
- In episode three, Winton's handcuffs open before Caldwell has even touched them.
Continuity
- This is the first time that the TARDIS travels to another planet since the Doctor's exile began. (TV: The War Games) It is only able to do so because it is under Time Lords control.
- From the Brigadier's perspective, the Doctor and Jo were only away from UNIT headquarters for seconds. Rose Tyler later admonished her mother that the TARDIS is "a time machine. I could go travelling around suns and planets and all the way out to the end of the universe, and by the time I get back, ten seconds would've passed. Just ten seconds." (TV: World War Three)
- The TARDIS was previously carried away during the Doctor's absence in his first incarnation. (TV: The Web Planet)
- Time Lords appear on their home world. They again are wearing black and white robes, as they were in the Doctor's trial. (TV: The War Games)
- The Doctor and Jo gain entry to the Master's TARDIS using the key the Doctor previously obtained. (TV: Terror of the Autons)
- This is the first time Jo Grant sees the interior of the Doctor's TARDIS. Though having been the Doctor's companion for some time, she reveals that she never really believed that the Doctor could travel in time and space. (TV: Terror of the Autons)
- The Adjudicators are expanded upon in PROSE: Lucifer Rising and Original Sin.
- The Doctor himself posed as an earth magistrate, the Examiner, on the planet Vulcan during his second incarnation. (TV: The Power of the Daleks)
Comic strip adaptation
- The opening scenes of episode one were adapted as a three-page comic strip — with the first two pages in colour, and the third in black and white — illustrated by Frank Bellamy in Radio Times (cover dated: 10-16 April 1971), which accompanied a short article by Russell Miller entitled Dr. Who zooms off into time again. The opening narrative panel for the strip referred to the previous adventure, The Claws of Axos, by its working title Vampire from Space and read, "In his last adventure, Vampire from Space, Dr. Who used his space/time machine the Tardis to save Earth from the alien parasite creature Axos by forcing it into a time-loop. But Dr. Who is afraid that the Master, who sent Axos to destroy Earth, has escaped and will fight again... now read on." The closing narrative panel read, "Who are these strange humanoid creature [i.e. the Primitives]? Is it their machine whose tracks Dr. Who has discovered — or are other forms of intelligent life on this planet? And why have the Time Lords sent the Doctor here? Don't miss the first thrilling episode of his new adventure: Saturday 6.10 BBC1 Colour."
Home video and audio releases
DVD release
The commentary was recorded in January 2011, and the DVD was released on the 24th of October, 2011.
Region 2 DVD cover
Digital releases
This story is available:
- in BBC Store (UK) as a standalone story or as part of Doctor Who bundle The Classic Series: Series 8;
- for streaming through BritBox (US) as part of Season 8 of Classic Doctor Who.
Colony in Space BBC Store cover
Series 8 BBC Store cover
VHS releases
This story was released as Doctor Who: Colony in Space.
Released:
- UK November 2001 (as part of the Master box set which also contains The Time Monster)
- Australia December 2001 (as part of the Master box set which also contains The Time Monster)
- US January 2003 (the only place it is available separately)
External links
- Colony in Space at the BBC's official site
- Colony in Space at BroaDWcast
- Colony in Space at the Doctor Who Reference Guide
- Colony in Space at Shannon Sullivan's A Brief History of Time (Travel)
- Colony in Space at The Locations Guide
- The Tardis Library see here [1] and here [2] For video release information
Footnotes
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