Nightmare of Eden (TV story)
Nightmare of Eden was the fourth serial of season 17 of Doctor Who. Narratively, it was notable for its anti-drug theme, delivered in an unusually unvarnished way for Doctor Who. Though the drug was given a "sci-fi" name and origin, it was nevertheless a direct commentary on drug use and trafficking.
Eden was a notoriously difficult production, with cast and crew alike openly disagreeing with director Alan Bromly. In the end, Bromly resigned partway through the shoot while producer Graham Williams finished the programme himself; it was this incident which convinced Williams to leave the show at the end of Season 17. (DOC: The Nightmare of Television Centre)
Even though it was a disagreeable shoot, Eden did boast a few production peculiarities of note. It was the only serial ever written by Bob Baker without his usual writing partner, Dave Martin. It was also, according to Colin Mapson, the first Doctor Who serial in which the model effects were recorded on video, instead of film. (DCOM: Nightmare of Eden) Although Mapson was not enamoured of the results, Graham Williams extolled their virtues in at least one memo to his superiors. Video was very much cheaper than film, and Williams found the compromise between quality and cost acceptable. (DOC: The Nightmare of Television Centre) Nevertheless, the technique did not prove popular with Williams' successor. Most model shots in future serials would again be committed to film.
Synopsis[[edit] | [edit source]]
The TARDIS arrives on the space liner Empress, which has become locked with a private ship, the Hecate, after colliding with it on emerging from hyperspace.
The Fourth Doctor and Romana meet the scientist Tryst, who has with him a Continuous Event Transmuter (CET) machine. It contains crystals on which are stored supposed recordings of planets that he and his team have visited.
Someone on board the liner is smuggling the dangerously addictive drug vraxoin. To complicate matters, the interface between the two ships allows some monstrous Mandrels from the mud-swamps of Eden to escape from the CET machine - which does not merely take recordings, but actually displaces whole planetary areas into its crystals.
The smugglers are revealed to be Tryst and Dymond, the Hecate's pilot. Vraxoin is in fact the material into which the Mandrels decompose when they are killed. The Doctor thwarts this plan, separates the two ships and returns the Mandrels to Eden.
Plot[[edit] | [edit source]]
Part one[[edit] | [edit source]]
Two spaceships, the Empress, a cruise liner, and the Hecate, a smaller ship, collide with each other, creating an unstable area where the two ships meet. The TARDIS materialises on the Empress, and the Doctor, Romana and K9 make their way to the bridge where they see the two captains, Rigg of the Empress and Dymond of the Hecate, arguing about their losses. The Doctor thinks he knows how to separate the ships. The Doctor and K9 go to the power unit, led there by Secker, who is acting strangely and is disinterested with his work. He sneaks away, unknowingly followed by the Doctor and K9, and takes a drug out of a drawer, moments later the Doctor gets into the drawer and finds it. K9 analyses it - it is vraxoin, a deadly drug.
Meanwhile Romana and Dymond go to the first class lounge and meet members of a zoological expedition - Tryst and his assistant Della. Tryst has specimens from various planets stored on his Continuous Event Transmuter (CET). Part of the machine includes a large screen that shows the planets he's visited, but the planets on-screen are not just images. Romana understands the principle behind the machine - matter transference of dimensional control - and is not impressed.
The Doctor tells Rigg about Secker and the drug, and wonders about Tryst's travels. He meets Tryst, who seems happy to meet another scientist. The Doctor learns that one of Tryst's men died on the planet Eden. The Doctor and Rigg go to the power unit and use K9 to get to the source. Romana, alone in the lounge, plays with the controls to the CET. She looks at the projection of Eden and sees a face in the trees. Della comes in and tells her that Tryst would not like her using the machine.
Secker is looking for his drugs when he is attacked. He screams and the Doctor and Rigg find him. He has been cut by something and is taken to the sick bay. The Doctor goes to find Secker's drug but is met by someone else who shoots him and takes the drug from the Doctor's pocket.
Secker dies in the sick bay. Romana and K9 find the unconscious Doctor. When he wakes she tells him of what she saw in the CET. Romana heads back to the lounge while the Doctor, Rigg and K9 continue to cut through to the power source.
Something from the Eden projection comes out and hits Romana on her neck, causing her to lose consciousness. K9 has finally cut a hole in the wall to the power source, and when the Doctor and Rigg open the hole, a monster is behind the wall.
Part two[[edit] | [edit source]]
K9 Mark II fires at the monster and they cover the hole. Back in the control room, Rigg scans the ship for vraxoin, with negative results. They make plans with Dymond to try to separate the two ships.
While Romana is unconscious, someone comes into the lounge and then leaves. Della comes in and helps Romana. The projection of Eden is now off. While Della gets a drink for Romana, someone pours vraxoin into the drink. Rigg arrives and she gives him the drink before making another one for Romana.
The Doctor gets some equipment from the TARDIS and goes to see Romana. Tryst arrives and the Doctor expresses his concern over the CET and lists several things wrong with it. Tryst shuts it off.
Back in the control room Rigg is being affected by the drug but no one realises. K9 goes into one of the unstable areas where the two ships are joined, while the Doctor waits for him. A strange man in glasses comes through the unstable area and runs away. The Doctor chases him. They run through the Empress and enter one of the unstable areas.
Rigg, affected by the drug, accuses the Doctor and Romana of being the drug smugglers. He also claims that the Doctor is a narcotics agent.
The Doctor is attacked by the man he was chasing, and comes face to face with another of the monsters. He comes out of the unstable area where Romana is waiting. The Doctor has found a radiation wrist band from the man he was chasing. It has the name Volante - Tryst's ship - on it.
Tryst tells Della he thinks the smuggler was their crewmember who died - Stott. The Doctor and Romana learn that Rigg is affected by vraxoin. They go the CET, and Tryst offers to help. When Romana is sent away, Tryst tells the Doctor that Della is responsible for the drug smuggling.
The Doctor and Romana go to the control room, where agents from the Azurian Empire Customs question them about their involvement in the drug smuggling. One of them, Costa, searches the Doctor and finds traces of vraxoin from the sample he had in his pocket earlier. The Doctor and Romana run away, and are chased by Costa and his boss Fisk. They run to the lounge, where the CET is on and showing Eden. The Doctor takes something from the machine and they run into the projection.
Part three[[edit] | [edit source]]
As the Doctor and Romana explore the projection, they discuss the problems with Tryst's machine. The Doctor is attacked by a man-eating plant monster, but bites it in the root, which causes it to release him.
Back on the Empress, Tryst tells the agents that the selector for the machine is gone and he can't turn it off.
The Doctor and Romana are attacked by one of the monsters, but are saved by a man who shoots the monster. He identifies himself as Stott, and the monsters as Mandrels. Taking them to a safe place, he tells them he works for the Space Corps' Intelligence Section. He thought the Doctor and Romana were the drug smugglers, but overheard their conversation. He now thinks Secker may have been involved. The three of them leave the projection and end up on the Empress where K9 is.
On the Empress, passengers are being attacked and killed by Mandrels that have come out of the projection. Rigg is still acting silly and Fisk threatens to have him shot.
The Doctor works in the power room in order to separate the two ships. A Mandrel chases Romana into the room and then grabs the Doctor. K9 stuns it but the Doctor thinks it's dead. He sends Romana to the bridge and K9 to the demat gun to await his signal.
Fisk arrests Rigg. Tryst asks Fisk not to kill the Mandrels. Fisk orders that the Doctor and Romana are to be found and, if they resist, shot. After they leave, the stunned Mandrel wakes up and attacks the Doctor. After chasing the Doctor, it is electrocuted when it hits the connections the Doctor has set up. It turns into a dust-like substance which the Doctor identifies as vraxoin.
Romana reaches the control room. Rigg wants her to give him more drugs and attacks her when she can't. Fisk enters and shoots Rigg. He tells Romana she is going to be killed, and tries to stop her touching the power controls.
The Doctor signals to Romana and K9 that he is ready. K9 activates the demat gun and Romana hits the power switch. The ships start to separate, everything shakes, and the Doctor vanishes.
Part four[[edit] | [edit source]]
In the confusion, Romana escapes from Fisk. Now that the ships are separated, Dymond wants to go back to his ship but Fisk won't let him - he is wanted as a witness.
Romana meets up with Della and tells her that Stott is alive.
The Doctor wakes up on the Hecate and discovers a laser. He hides from Dymond who has returned, and discovers on Dymond's computer that he is involved in the drug smuggling. Dymond gets in a shuttle to return to the Empress, and the Doctor stows away.
The Doctor, on the Empress, is reunited with Romana and K9. Romana tells him the laser can send telecom messages and can also send a CET crystal. They realise that Tryst and Dymond are the smugglers.
The Doctor works on the CET machine, and Stott tells the agents that Tryst and Dymond are the smugglers. Tryst and Dymond temporarily hold Della, but when she escapes they shoot her. They head for the shuttle and back to the Hecate. Romana finds Della who is hurt but alive.
The guards have control of the Mandrels and herd them back to the projection. The Doctor lures them into the projection with the dog whistle. When he comes back out, they close down the machine. Romana has to rebuild the CET.
Part of the plan is to allow Tryst and Dymond to make their transfer. K9 locates the Hecate and the Doctor uses the machine to put it in the projection. Fisk's men take Tryst and Dymond out of the projection and into custody.
The Doctor and Romana make their farewells and head off to return the inhabitants of the electronic zoo to their original planets.
Cast[[edit] | [edit source]]
- Doctor Who - Tom Baker
- Romana - Lalla Ward
- Tryst - Lewis Fiander
- Rigg - David Daker
- Dymond - Geoffrey Bateman
- Della - Jennifer Lonsdale
- Secker - Stephen Jenn
- Crewman - Richard Barnes
- Voice of K9 - David Brierley
- Stott - Barry Andrews
- Fisk - Geoffrey Hinsliff
- Costa - Peter Craze
- Passengers - Annette Peters, Lionel Sansby, Peter Roberts, Maggie Petersen
- Crewman - Sebastian Stride
- Crewman - Eden Phillips
Uncredited cast[[edit] | [edit source]]
- Mandrels - Robert Goodman, Derek Suthern, James Muir, David Korff, Jan Murzynowski
- Medics - Gary Dean, Reg Turner (all DWM 273)
Crew[[edit] | [edit source]]
- Director - Alan Bromly
- Director - Graham Williams (Graham Williams decided to dispense with Alan Bromly's services toward the end of the story's second studio session and directed the remainder himself, without on-screen credit)
- Assistant Floor Manager - Val McCrimmon
- Costumes - Rupert Jarvis
- Director's Assistant - Monica Rodger
- Designer - Roger Cann
- Incidental Music - Dudley Simpson
- Make-Up - Joan Stribling
- Producer - Graham Williams
- Production Assistant - Carolyn Montagu
- Production Unit Manager - John Nathan-Turner
- Script Editor - Douglas Adams
- Senior Cameraman - Peter Hider
- Special Sounds - Dick Mills
- Studio Lighting - Warwick Fielding
- Studio Sound - Anthony Philpott
- Technical Manager - Terry Brett
- Theme Arrangement - Delia Derbyshire
- Title Music - Ron Grainer
- Videotape Editor - Rod Waldron
- Video Effects - A. J. Mitchell
- Vision Mixer - Nigel Finnis
- Visual Effects - Colin Mapson
- Writer - Bob Baker
Uncredited crew[[edit] | [edit source]]
- Make-Up Assistants - Elizabeth Hardiman, Sinikka Ikacheimo (INFO: Nightmare of Eden)
- Design Assistant - Carol Smith (INFO: Nightmare of Eden)
- Visual Effects Assistant - Chris Lawson (INFO: Nightmare of Eden)
- Props Buyer - Robert Fleming (INFO: Nightmare of Eden)
- Floor Assistant - Alison Barnett (INFO: Nightmare of Eden)
- Grams Operator - Andy Hunter (INFO: Nightmare of Eden)
- Show Working Supervisor - Chick Hetherington (INFO: Nightmare of Eden)
Worldbuilding[[edit] | [edit source]]
- Tryst and the Doctor know Professor Stein.
Businesses[[edit] | [edit source]]
- Galactic Salvage Insurance, which the Doctor claims to work for, was formed in London in 2068 and was liquidated in 2096.
Drugs and medicines[[edit] | [edit source]]
Military[[edit] | [edit source]]
- Stott is a major in the intelligence section of the Space Corps.
Planets[[edit] | [edit source]]
- Samples of life from various planets are stored in the Continuous Event Transmuter (CET), including Eden, Gidi, Zil, Bros, Vij, Darp, Lvan and Ranx.
Species[[edit] | [edit source]]
- Mandrels turn into vraxoin when electrocuted.
Spacecraft[[edit] | [edit source]]
Technology[[edit] | [edit source]]
- The Doctor asks whether the CET features a spatial integrator, a transmutation oscillator, a hologistic retention circuit or a dimensional osmosis damper.
- Tryst and Dymond plan to smuggle vraxoin with an Enchooka laser.
Influences[[edit] | [edit source]]
- The story was inspired by disaster films of the 1970s such as Airport, The Poseidon Adventure and The Towering Inferno.
Story notes[[edit] | [edit source]]
- Vraxoin was originally called "xylophilin" or "zip", but was changed so as not to sound appealing to children. Lalla Ward strongly supported this change. (DCOM: Nightmare of Eden)
- This story had the working title of Nightmare of Evil.
- This was the only Doctor Who story of the classic series that Bob Baker wrote without Dave Martin and his last contribution to the franchise until Mind Snap in 2010.
- According to accounts by visual effects designer Colin Mapson and assistant floor manager Val McCrimmon, director Alan Bromly simply didn't understand how to direct the programme efficiently — and wasn't interested in learning. Consequently he was resigned from the project in the midst of principal photography. Producer Graham Williams himself finished the project, although Barry Letts had preceded Williams as an "emergency director" of Doctor Who (for Inferno when the contracted director, Douglas Camfield, had to pull out after suffering a heart attack). Mapson, longtime veteran of the programme, flatly called it "without doubt, the most disastrous Doctor Who I've ever been involved in". When production finally wrapped, crew members were presented with T-shirts saying, "I'm Relieved the Nightmare is Over". (DOC: The Nightmare of TV Centre)
- Despite quitting midway through the production, Alan Bromly received the director's credit on all four episodes.
- The images shown on the view screen are actually recycled images of planet surfaces from the Space: 1999 episodes “The Full Circle”, “Guardian of Piri”, and "Matter of Life and Death".
- Doreen James was supposed to design the costumes, but she'd quit the series following a dispute with Lalla Ward on City of Death.
- The Continuous Event Transmuter (CET) machine was suggested by articles Bob Baker had read concerning holograms. Holography had become a practical reality in 1962, and Dennis Gabor had been awarded the 1971 Nobel Prize in Physics in recognition of his decades of pioneering work in the field.
- Graham Williams was initially concerned that the drugs plot was inappropriate for the show's timeslot.
- Visual effects designer Colin Mapson was disappointed with the videotaped modelwork, deeming it inferior to what could have been accomplished on film. Graham Williams disagreed, and wrote to BBC Head of Serials Graeme MacDonald the next day to suggest that this might become the standard approach in the future.
- The serial's stressful production drove both Graham Williams and Douglas Adams to quit the show.
- Don Henderson was considered for Dymond.
- Jack Shepherd was considered for Tryst.
Ratings[[edit] | [edit source]]
- Part one - 8.7 million viewers
- Part two - 9.6 million viewers
- Part three - 9.6 million viewers
- Part four - 9.4 million viewers
Filming locations[[edit] | [edit source]]
- BBC Television Centre (Studio 6), Shepherd's Bush, London
Production errors[[edit] | [edit source]]
- In part two, when K9 seals up the wall panel, a hand emerges to hold the panel in place.
- Also in part two, when the Doctor runs downstairs, one stair is clearly seen to slip.
- During a scene on the Bridge in part four, Geoffrey Hinsliff fluffs one of his lines, calling the character of Tryst by his own character name, Fisk — i.e. "Fisk, what would the Doctor want inside the projection [of Eden]?" (The DVD's English HoH subtitles correct the on-screen error - "Tryst, what would the Doctor want inside the projection?" - but the soundtrack remains unaltered.)
- When Della is shot by Dymond in one of the corridors in part four, the ray strikes her in the neck but Jennifer Lonsdale clutches her stomach in response.
Updated Special Effects[[edit] | [edit source]]
The story received an Updated Special Effects version in the 20 December 2021 release of Season 17 in The Collection. The effects were done by Chris Cassell and Justin T Lee.
Deviations from original serial[[edit] | [edit source]]
- All of the space shots were reworked, with CGI ships replacing the modelwork. Much of the movement of the vehicles in space was reworked to be more realistic to spacecraft.
Continuity[[edit] | [edit source]]
- The CET machine recalls elements of the miniscope seen in TV: Carnival of Monsters.
- The Doctor recalls K9 - albeit a different model - beating him at chess. (TV: The Sun Makers)
- Members of the Space Corps previously appeared in TV: The Space Pirates.
- The 456 were another race who used living creatures as a source of recreational drugs. (TV: Children of Earth: Day Four)
- The Doctor and Romana arrive in the TARDIS, using the randomiser. (TV: The Armageddon Factor)
DVD, video and other releases[[edit] | [edit source]]
Digital releases[[edit] | [edit source]]
Nightmare of Eden was released onto the iTunes Store in the US, Australia and UK in 2008/2009.
Australian iTunes store image
The story is also available for streaming in Canada &the US through BritBox or Amazon Instant Video in the UK.
Video releases[[edit] | [edit source]]
Nightmare of Eden was released on video in 1999.
VHS UK cover
VHS Australian cover
VHS US cover
DVD release[[edit] | [edit source]]
The DVD was released in April 2012 in Region 2 and May 2012 in Regions 1 and 4.
Special features[[edit] | [edit source]]
- Commentary with actors Lalla Ward (Romana) and Peter Craze (Costa), writer Bob Baker, effects designer Colin Mapson and make-up designer Joan Stribling. Moderated by Toby Hadoke
- The Nightmare of Television Centre - A look back at a somewhat troubled production with three of the behind-the-scenes crew who worked on it
- Going Solo - Writer Bob Baker talks about The Nightmare of Eden, the only Doctor Who story he wrote without his long-time writing partner, Dave Martin
- The Doctor's Strange Love - With comedian Josie Long and writers Joe Lidster and Simon Guerrier
- Ask Aspel - Lalla Ward's appearance on the popular BBC children's show
- Radio Times Listings (DVD-ROM)
- Production Information Subtitles
- Photo Gallery
- Coming Soon Trailer - Ace Adventures
Region 2 cover
Region 1 cover
Region 4 cover
It was also released as issue 134 of Doctor Who DVD Files.
External links[[edit] | [edit source]]
- Nightmare of Eden at the BBC's official site
- Nightmare of Eden at RadioTimes
- Nightmare of Eden at BroaDWcast
- Nightmare of Eden at the Doctor Who Reference Guide
- Nightmare of Eden at Shannon Sullivan's A Brief History of Time (Travel)
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