State of Decay (TV story)
Synopsis
The Doctor, Romana, K9 and Adric - an Outler from Alzarius who has stowed away aboard the TARDIS - arrive on a planet where the native villagers live in fear of 'the Wasting' and of three Lords named Zargo, Camilla and Aukon who rule from an imposing Tower. The Lords are soon revealed to be vampire servants of the last of the Great Vampires, a race referred to in Time Lord mythology.
The Great Vampire is about to be revived from its resting place beneath the Tower - in fact the spaceship in which the Lords, in their original human forms, came to E-Space - but the Doctor launches one of the ship's three shuttle craft and it pierces the heart of the creature, killing it. The Lords, deprived of their master, crumble to dust.
Plot
After the events of Full Circle, the Doctor's adventures in E-Space continue with the Doctor, Romana, K-9, and their newest companion/stowaway, Adric, arriving on a planet experiencing what appears to be a feudal period. The villagers live under the thrall of three lords—Zargo, Camilla, and Aukon—who dwell in a shadowy Tower. Adding further fear to their lives, they experience a yearly ritual called "the Selection," in which a sample of young villagers are taken to the tower, never to be seen again. This selection process is enforced by a thuggish band of guards led by Habris.
The Doctor and Romana venture out into the village (not knowing that Adric is following them), and discover evidence of technology considerably more advanced than the medieval level. With such technology, the Doctor and Romana wonder what happened in the course of the planet's development to cause it to evolve "backward" to its current rustic condition—to be in a "state of decay." As the two head out of the village they are seized by cloaked figures.
Their captors convey them to a secret base filled with illegal computers and other technology. Kalmar is a scientist - a heretical role in their society - and is very grateful for the Doctor's help in repairing a computer which proceeds to reveal the names and faces of the original chief officers of the spaceship Hydrax - who look exactly like the Lords of the Tower.
The Lords too have learnt of Romana and the Doctor, and Aukon sends a flock of his winged servants, bats, (aka "The Wasting") to menace them. The Doctor and Romana are now seized by Habris and his guards and taken to an audience in the Tower. Zargo and Camilla entertain them for a while, then are called away to deal with a situation called the Arising. The Doctor and Romana snoop around and discover that in fact, the great Tower in which the Lords dwell is itself the spaceship Hydrax, originally from Earth, which also was pulled into E-Space long ago.
The Doctor and Romana discover rows of drained corpses, while the craft's fuel stores are full of blood. Talk turns to vampires. They head downwards and find an amphitheatre. It is there that the Lord Aukon greets them, inviting them to become the first of the new servants of the Chosen Ones. When they refuse, they are imprisoned.
The Doctor deduces (by applying principles of consonant shifting) that the current lords' names are a corruption of the original crew names (e.g. "Sharky" becomes "Zargo"). Thus the Doctor realizes that the three lords might not be descendants, but members of the original crew themselves. He is reminded of ancient Time Lord stories of the Great Vampires, a giant race of rapacious, destructive, and powerful creatures that were ancient enemies of the Time Lords. He deduces that the Great Vampire escaped destruction at the hands of the Time Lords by somehow retreating into E-Space, and it managed eventually to gather enough power to pull the old Earth ship into this universe and corrupt the crew.
Meanwhile, Adric's attempts to mingle with the natives have led to him getting caught up in the Selection. He is put under a hypnotic trance by Aukon and accompanies him to the tower. Aukon plots to change Adric into the new Chosen.
Another rebel named Tarak attacks the Tower, freeing the Doctor and Romana. The Doctor returns to the TARDIS, while Romana stays with Tarak to search for Adric. As they try to snap Adric out of his trance, they unknowingly awaken Zargo and Camilla. Tarak is killed by Zargo, who then goes after Romana. Camilla advances on Adric.
Aukon orders them to stop. He wants Adric as a Chosen One and Romana, a Time Lord, for sacrifice at the Arising.
Romana and Adric argue about their fate. Adric says if it's a choice between death and joining the diners that means there's no sense in two of them getting the chop. Romana asks Adric if he knows what happens to vampires when they die. Adric smugly replies "But they don't die, do they Aukon!" They are taken to the bottom of the Tower.
In the TARDIS the Doctor and K-9 review the old stories about vampires. The lore that the Doctor and K-9 uncovers determines that the Great Vampires could only be defeated by metal bowships driven through their chests (rather like the wooden stakes that work on lesser vampires). He takes the craft to Kalmar's base and there uses scanning equipment to scan the Tower. Under the lake of blood he finds a restless, demonic presence, whom he determines to be the last Great Vampire. He warns it is about to be revived. Kalmar, Ivo and many other villagers agree to help.
The villagers and K9 make an assault on the Tower itself, killing collaborator guards. The Doctor heads off to the peak of the Tower. Inside, Adric reveals he was faking his conversion to arrange an escape, but is unable to revive an entranced Romana. The Doctor, in a burst of characteristic ingenuity, rigs one of the spaceship/tower's old scoutships to launch and fall back toward the ground, driving itself into the heart of the subterranean Great Vampire.
With the Great Vampire dispatched, the three vampire Lords crumble to dust. The Doctor finds Romana and Adric and they leave the planet, hoping that, now freed from the corruptive effect of the vampires, it will develop once again toward its former advanced state and even perhaps surpass it.
Cast
- Fourth Doctor - Tom Baker
- Romana II - Lalla Ward
- K9 - John Leeson
- Adric - Matthew Waterhouse
- Aukon - Emrys James
- Camilla - Rachel Davies
- Zargo - William Lindsay
- Ivo - Clinton Greyn
- Marta - Rhoda Lewis
- Tarak - Thane Bettany
- Habris - Iain Rattray
- Kalmar - Arthur Hewlett
- Veros - Stacy Davies
- Karl - Dean Allen
- Roga - Stuart Fell
- Zoldaz - Stuart Blake
Crew
- Assistant Floor Manager - Lynn Richards
- Costumes - Amy Roberts
- Designer - Christine Ruscoe
- Executive Producer - Barry Letts
- Fight Arranger - Stuart Fell
- Film Cameraman - Fintan Sheehan
- Film Editor - John Lee
- Incidental Music - Paddy Kingsland
- Make-Up - Norma Hill
- Producer - John Nathan-Turner
- Production Assistant - Rosalind Wolfes
- Production Unit Manager - Angela Smith
- Script Editor - Christopher H. Bidmead
- Special Sounds - Dick Mills
- Studio Lighting - Bert Postlethwaite
- Studio Sound - John Howell
- Theme Arrangement - Peter Howell
- Title Music - Ron Grainer
- Visual Effects - Tony Harding
References
The Doctor
- The Doctor tells Romana "There was once an old hermit from the mountains of South Gallifrey..." who used to tell him ghost stories, one of which was about the Great Vampire.
Gallifrey
- Romana used to work in the Bureau of Ancient Records and once saw a reference to the Record of Rassilon.
- The Record of Rassilon is held on magnetic card in Type 40 TARDISes.
- It speaks of bowships.
Individuals
- The Great Vampire use the science officer Anthony O'Connor as a conduit to draw the Hydrax through to E-Space.
Spacecraft
- The Earth ship Hydrax was en route to Beta Two in the Perugellis sector when it was drawn through the CVE into E-space by the Great Vampire.
- Rassilon created bowships which fired bolts of steel to kill the vampires.
Vampires
- K9's memory contains vampire legends from 17 inhabited planets.
- A directive (of Rassilon) states that the vampires are "the enemy of our people, and of all living things".
- Vampire cardiovascular systems are very complex and can only be killed by a direct blow to the heart.
- During Rassilon's war against the vampires all by one was destroyed (the Great Vampire).
Story notes
- The story was originally entitled The Witch Lords and was written by Dicks to open Season 15. At that time (mid-1977) the BBC was preparing to mount a major production of Dracula and so cancelled the story. Dicks' replacement script was Horror of Fang Rock. The script was kept and then put into production. Dicks struggled however to add Adric into it.
- This is the second story in the 'E-Space Trilogy'.
- Working titles for this story included; The Wasting, The Vampire Mutations and The Witch Lords.
- For the only time during his era as the Doctor, Tom Baker had to have his hair permed before filming commenced. It had lost its natural curl due to the actor being in ill health.
Ratings
- Part 1 - 5.8 million viewers
- Part 2 - 5.3 million viewers
- Part 3 - 4.4 million viewers
- Part 4 - 5.4 million viewers
Myths
- This story's location scenes were shot at Black Park near Iver Heath in Buckinghamshire. (They were shot at Burnham Beeches near Amersham, also in Buckinghamshire - it was Full Circle's location scenes that were shot at Black Park.)
Filming locations
- Burnham Beeches, Burnham, Buckinghamshire
- Lucas CAV, Acton, London
- KJP Trading, 250 Western Avenue, Acton, London
- BBC Television Centre (TC3 & TC6), Shepherd's Bush, London
Production errors
- In part three, Tarak bursts into the Doctor's cell, catching him across the nose with the door (Tom Baker appears slightly stunned, and misses his next cue because he was really struck by the door).
Continuity
- EDA: The Eight Doctors features a scene set just after the end of this story.
- NA: Blood Harvest is set on the same planet as this story several years following events of this story, MA: Goth Opera continues themes and events seen in both Blood Harvest and this story.
- EDA: Vampire Science also includes some mention and thematic link to this story.
Home video and audio releases
DVD releases
- State of Decay has been released as a box set alongside Full Circle and Warriors' Gate. The box set in titled The E-Space Trilogy.
Notes:
- Editing for DVD release completed by Doctor Who Restoration Team.
DVD UK box set cover
DVD Australian box set cover
DVD US box set cover
Video releases
- State of Decay was released by BBC Worldwide on video as part of a boxed set featuring; Full Circle, State of Decay and Warriors' Gate.
VHS UK box set cover
VHS Australian box set cover
VHS US box set cover
Novelisation and its audiobook
- Main article: Doctor Who and the State of Decay
- Novelised by Terrance Dicks in 1982 as Doctor Who and the State of Decay.
See also
Vampire stories
External links
- State of Decay at the BBC's official site
- State of Decay at the Doctor Who Reference Guide
- State of Decay at Shannon Sullivan's A Brief History of Time (Travel)
- State of Decay at The Locations Guide
