The Sensorites (TV story)
The Sensorites was the seventh story of the first season of Doctor Who. Though The Keys of Marinus and The Daleks had both been clear examples of science fictional Doctor Who adventures, neither had specifically stated they were in the relative future of the aufirnvr. By contrast, The Sensorites was the first story to flatly state a setting in advance of the century of broadcast.
The third episode, "Hidden Danger", had the dubious distinction of being the first episode of Doctor Who delayed because of programming from another BBC department. Just as most series of the BBC Wales version have featured a one-week gap for Eurovision, The Sensorites was interrupted for special sports programming. (REF: The First Doctor Handbook)
Narratively, certain elements of the story carried on into 21st century Doctor Who. Susan's description of her home planet was almost directly quoted by the tenth Doctor in Gridlock, and Planet of the Ood suggested a genetic kinship between the Ood and the equally telepathic Sensorites.
Summary
The Doctor, Ian, Barbara and Susan arrive in the TARDIS on board a spaceship. Their initial concern is for the ship's human crew who are suffering from telepathic interference from the Sensorites, but Susan communicates with the Sensorites and finds that the aliens are fearful of an attack from the humans and are just defending themselves. Travelling to the Sense Sphere (the Sensorites' planet) the Doctor then seeks to cure an illness the Sensorites and Ian have succumbed to, but finds that this has been caused by deliberate poisoning. The political maneuvering of the Sensorite City Administrator adds an additional threat to the TARDIS crew as he seeks to discredit and implicate them.
Plot
The TARDIS travellers land on a drifting spaceship and find the crew apparently dead. As the travellers go to leave, one of the crew members, Captain Maitland, regains consciousness and Ian Chesterton helps revive him and a crewmember, Carol Richmond. These two tell the travellers that they are on an exploration mission from Earth and are orbiting Sense-Sphere. However, its inhabitants, the Sensorites, refuse to let them leave the orbit. The Sensorites infiltrate and remove the lock of the TARDIS, while sending the Earth ship on a collision course, which the Doctor diverts. The travellers then meet John (whose mind has been broken by the Sensorites) and find out that he is Carol's fiancé.
Returning to plague the crew, the Sensorites hypnotize Carol and Maitland once more. The Doctor breaks Maitland's mental conditioning, but cannot help John. Susan's telepathic mind is flooded with the many voices of the Sensorites who remain scared of the humans and are trying to communicate with her. Meanwhile, the Doctor works out that the Sensorites attacked the human craft because John, a mineralogist, had discovered a vast supply of molybdenum on Sense-Sphere. Susan reports that the Sensorites want to make contact with travellers, asking the crew to go down to the planet with them. The Doctor refuses but Susan telepathically agrees, and departs.
The Doctor deduces that the Sensorites need plenty of light, so Ian cuts the lighting on the ship, allowing Susan to be (somewhat reluctantly) rescued. The Doctor is invited to go to Sense-Sphere to speak with their leaders, The Elders. Susan, Ian, Carol and John join him while Barbara and Maitland stay behind. John is promised that his condition will be reversed. On their journey to Sense-Sphere, the party learn that the previous Earth visitors planned to exploit Sense-Sphere for its wealth, then argued. Half of them stole the spacecraft, which exploded on take-off. The Sensorites believe that none of this party survived.
The Elders are divided over the issue of allowing these visitors to Sense-Sphere: some of them plot to kill them on arrival, but some believe that the humans can help with the disease that is currently killing many Sensorites. Led by the City Administrator, the schemers' first plot is foiled, but they continue to plot in secret. In the main conference room, Ian starts coughing violently and collapses. Suffering from the disease that has blighted the Sensorites, he is told that he will soon die.
Discovering that Ian was poisoned by drinking water from the general aqueduct, the Doctor undertakes discovery of the source and creating a cure, working with the Sensorite scientists. The City Administrator, having kidnapped the Second Elder, impersonates him and steals the new cure before it can be given to Ian, but a new one is quickly produced and Ian is cured.
Meanwhile, investigating the aqueduct, the Doctor finds strange noises and darkness. He finds deadly nightshade (the cause of the poisoning), but on going back, meets an unseen monster. Susan and Ian find him unconscious with a ripped coat, but otherwise unharmed. The scheming Sensorites kill the Second Elder and The City Administrator ascends to his position.
The City Administrator had revealed his evil plans to John while John was still unbalanced, and after his recovery he cannot remember who it was who was plotting. Susan helps him to eventually remember and identify the Administrator. The Doctor and Ian go down to the aqueduct to find the poisoners. Their weapons and map have been tampered with, leaving them lost and defenseless.
Elsewhere, Carol is abducted by the schemers and is forced to write saying she has returned to the ship. Neither Susan, John nor Barbara (who has been allowed down from the ship) believe this, so they go to investigate and find her imprisoned. Susan, John and Barbara overpower the guard and release Carol. On finding out about the tampered tools, they go into the aqueduct to rescue the Doctor and Ian. The First Elder discovers the plotters and moves to arrest and imprison them.
Ian and the Doctor discover that the monsters were actually the survivors of the previous Earth mission, and they had been poisoning the Sensorites. Their deranged Commander leads them to the surface, where they are arrested by the Sensorites. The Doctor and his party return to the city, pleading clemency for the poisoners. The leader of the Sensorites agrees and sends them back with Maitland, John and Carol to Earth, for treatment for madness.
Cast
- The Doctor - William Hartnell
- Ian Chesterton - William Russell
- Barbara Wright - Jacqueline Hill
- Susan Foreman - Carole Ann Ford
- John - Stephen Dartnell
- Carol Richmond - Ilona Rodgers
- Captain Maitland - Lorne Cossette
- First Sensorite - Ken Tyllsen
- Second Sensorite - Joe Greig
- Third Sensorite - Peter Glaze
- Fourth Sensorite - Arthur Newall
- First Elder - Eric Francis
- Second Elder - Bartlett Mullins
- First Scientist - Ken Tyllsen
- Second Scientist - Joe Greig
- Warrior - Joe Greig
- Commander - John Bailey
- First Human - Martyn Huntley
- Second Human - Giles Phibbs
- Sensorite - Anthony Rogers (uncredited)
- Sensorite - Gerry Martin (uncredited)
Crew
- Writer - Peter R. Newman
- Director - Mervyn Pinfield (episodes 1-4), Frank Cox (episodes 5-6)
- Producer - Verity Lambert
- Script Editor - David Whitaker
- Designer - Raymond Cusick
- Assistant Floor Manager - Dawn Robertson
- Assistant Floor Manager - Val McCrimmon
- Associate Producer - Mervyn Pinfield
- Costumes - Daphne Dare
- Incidental Music - Norman Kay
- Make-Up - Jill Summers
- Make-Up - Sonia Markham
- Production Assistant - David Conroy
- Special Sound - Brian Hodgson
- Studio Lighting - Peter Murray
- Studio Sound - Jack Brummitt
- Studio Sound - Les Wilkins
- Theme Arrangement - Delia Derbyshire
- Title Music - Ron Grainer
References
- Dialogue suggests the Doctor has only one heart at this stage of his life. Ian only checks one side of the Doctor's chest, nor has any medical training, it's possible he didn't notice the second heart, or that unlike later in the Doctor's life both hearts beat at the same time.
- Despite travelling together for years, the Doctor and Susan have never argued. The Doctor may be exaggerating.
- Dialogue seems to confirm Susan and the Doctor are from the same planet.
- Susan has telepathic abilities which the Doctor is not aware of. However, it is suggested that many of those on their home planet have such abilities as the Doctor suggests her skills could be perfected if she gets home.
- The Doctor and Susan's home planet is similar to Earth but the sky at night is burnt orange and the tree leaves are bright silver.
- The Doctor once argued with Henry VIII as he wanted to be sentenced to the Tower of London where the TARDIS was located.
- The Doctor and Susan encountered telepathic plants on the planet Esto.
- The Doctor mentions 19th century fashion designer Beau Brummel, claiming that he always told him he looked better in a cloak.
Story notes
- All episodes exist in 16mm telerecordings.
- Negative film prints of all episodes were recovered from BBC Enterprises in 1978.
- Jacqueline Hill does not appear in episodes 4 and 5 as she was on holiday while they were filmed.
- This story was nearly cancelled as a result of a studio dispute.
- Hidden Danger (Episode 4) was postponed for one week due the BBC's sports programme Grandstand being extended on 4th July 1964, Hidden Danger was therefore postponed and shown the following week.[1]
- Stephen Dartnell, who appears as John, had previously appeared as Yartek in The Keys of Marinus.
- John Bailey, later to feature as Edward Waterfield in 1967's The Evil of the Daleks, has a role here as the Commander.
- Designer Raymond Cusick used almost all curves in his sets for the Sense Sphere, feeling that this would give a more alien look.
- Russell T Davies has acknowledged the Sensorites as an influence on the basic concept of the Ood in The Impossible Planet and The Satan Pit. Computer readouts (and a mention by Davies in an episode commentary) revealed that the Ood sphere and Sense Sphere are part of the same star system.
Ratings
- Strangers in Space - 7.9 million viewers
- The Unwilling Warriors - 6.9 million viewers
- Hidden Danger - 7.4 million viewers
- A Race Against Death - 5.5 million viewers
- Kidnap - 6.9 million viewers
- A Desperate Venture - 6.9 million viewers
Myths
- The Humans responsible for poisoning the water supplies were part of a group called INEER. (The initials INEER were meant to be the end of the word Engineer.).
- Arthur Newall appeared in Doctor Who as a Dalek. (He in fact appeared in this story as a Sensorite.)
Filming locations
- BBC Television Centre Studio (TC3)
- Lime Grove Studios (Studio D)
Production errors
- During episode 1 while the Doctor is delivering his lines the camera hits the table in front of him.
- The drill marks are visible before Maitland starts to use the drill.
- In some scenes, the walls are visibly unstable.
- The Doctor calls Maitland "John" in episode 1.
Continuity
- The Doctor and his companions, in episode one, all talk about how a simple trip turned into one big adventure (A paraphrase of "it all started as a mild curiosity in a junkyard" from The Pilot Episode). They then recount the events of An Unearthly Child, The Daleks, Marco Polo, The Keys of Marinus and The Aztecs.
- In his tenth incarnation, the Doctor visited the Ood Sphere, located in the same galaxy as the Sense Sphere.
- The Doctor first mentions his dislike of weapons, which is very prominent in the newer series.
Timeline
Carol Richmond states that the story takes place in the 28th century.
Timeline
- This story occurs after ST: Room for Improvement
- This story occurs before CC: The Transit of Venus
Novelisation and its audiobook
- Main article: The Sensorites (novelisation)
- The story novelisation was published as Doctor Who: The Sensorites in July 1987 ISBN 0426202953. The story was written by Nigel Robinson and was number 118 in the series of 156 Doctor Who novels published by Target Books.
DVD, video and audio releases
- Video Release - Released as Doctor Who: The Sensorites
- Released as part of The First Doctor Collection boxset in the UK - BBCV7278.
- Released as part of The End of the Universe Collection in the US.
- The Sensorites was released by BBC Audio in July 2008, with linking narration by William Russell.
- Editing for VHS release completed by Doctor Who Restoration Team
- No DVD Release has been anounced since 2010
External links
- The Sensorites at the BBC's official site
- The Sensorites at the Doctor Who Reference Guide
- The Sensorites at Shannon Sullivan's A Brief History of Time (Travel)
- Encyclopedia of Fantastic Film and Television - The Sensorites
- BBC Production Information - The Sensorites (PDF)
Footnotes
- ↑ Howe, David J., Stammers, Mark, Walker, Stephen James, 1992, Doctor Who: The Sixties, Doctor Who Books, an imprint of Virgin Publishing Ltd, London, p.34
