338 Frontier in Space Episode One

EPISODE: Frontier in Space: Episode One
OVERALL EPISODE NUMBER: 338
STORY NUMBER: 067
TRANSMITTED: Saturday 24 February 1973
WRITER: Malcolm Hulke
DIRECTOR: Paul Bernard
SCRIPT EDITOR: Terrance Dicks
PRODUCER: Barry Letts
RATINGS: 9.1 million viewers
FORMAT: DVD: Doctor Who - Dalek War: Frontier in Space & Planet of the Daleks
EPISODE FORMAT: 625 video

"Many of our noblemen felt it was a mistake to make a treaty with the Earthmen. Perhaps they were right. You attack our ships and when we protest, you trick us with lies and evasions. I give you a final warning. The path you are treading leads only to war. And in that war, Draconia will destroy you!"

In deep space an Earth Cargo Ship narrowly misses the Tardis in space which dematerialises and reappears in the cargo hold. Another ship draws alongside which Jo witnesses shimmer and turn into a different ship when she hears an odd noise. The crew witness it as well and identify it as belonging to the Draconians, Earth's enemies with whom an uneasy truce exists. The Doctor & Jo are found by a ship's crew member who sees them as Draconians while Jo sees him as a Drashig. They are locked in the hold while the ship is attacked and boarded. Earth is alerted while the president hears a complaint from the Draconian Prince, the ambassador to Earth, who is accusing the Earthmen of raiding their ships. General Williams mounts a rescue attempt for the attacked ship. The Draconian Prince accuses the Earthmen of provoking them to war. The Doctor works out that Jo & the crew have been subjected to ultrasonics that affect the fear centres of their brain to make them see what they fear most. The Doctor & Jo are taken to the airlock as hostages as the the aliens break through: Ogrons. The Doctor is wounded in their attack. The Doctor wakes to find Jo imprisoned and the Tardis gone. The Doctor wonders who the Ogrons are working for. They find the stunned crew members as Earth's battle cruiser draws alongside & docks. The Doctor & Jo are arrested for being stowaways & traitors

So two space going races at each other throats along a common border? Do you think it's possible that Malcolm Hulke had seen the classic Star Trek episode Balance of Terror, which introduces the Romulans and first aired in the UK on 25th October 1969, before he wrote this story? The way the Ogron ship shimmers and vanishes at the end as if it's being cloaked also adds some weight to the argument that he had. The major difference between the two stories though is that here a third party is the aggressor, making it appear to both sides as if the other is responsible and bringing them into a position of conflict:

PRESIDENT: But all these charges are false, your Highness. We are not attacking Draconian ships. We never have.
PRINCE: Our soldiers have seen the Earthmen attack us. Our cargoes have been stolen. We are Draconians. We do not lie.
PRESIDENT: The honour of your race is well known, your Highness. That is why I cannot understand your actions.
PRINCE: Actions?
PRESIDENT: You attack our ships, you steal their cargoes, you ignore our protests and just meet them with these counter charges.
PRINCE: Our charges are true but yours are false. We do not attack your ships.
PRESIDENT: This is a transcript of a distress call from one of our ships. From Earth's cargo ship number C982 on coordinate eight nine seven two, six four eight three. We are under attack by a Draconian battle cruiser, galaxy class, equipped with neutronic missiles.
PRINCE: The treaty between our two empires established a frontier in space. We have never violated that frontier. You have invaded our part of the galaxy many times.
WILLIAMS: In pursuit of your ships when they have raided ours! We've been very patient. perhaps too patient.
PRESIDENT: General Williams! I take it a rescue attempt has been mounted?
WILLIAMS: We've established an automatic procedure because of the frequency of these attacks.
PRESIDENT: Then I suggest you go and supervise the matter.
WILLIAMS: There's no need.
PRESIDENT: Please do as I say.
WILLIAMS: As you wish, Madam President.
PRINCE: Your General is insolent. We know the hatred he has always felt for our people. Long ago he caused war. Now he wishes to do so again.
PRESIDENT: He's a soldier, your Highness, and he's angry. The people of Earth are angry.
PRINCE: So are the nobles of my father's court!
PRESIDENT: I must ask you to take my personal appeal to your father, the Emperor. He must put a stop to these attacks. If Draconia has some grievances against Earth, then this is not the way to deal with them.
PRINCE: Many of our noblemen felt it was a mistake to make a treaty with the Earthmen. Perhaps they were right. You attack our ships and when we protest, you trick us with lies and evasions. I give you a final warning. The path you are treading leads only to war. And in that war, Draconia will destroy you!

Oddly years later Star Trek: The Next Generation return the favour: When the Romulans are reintroduced during the episode The Neutral Zone, they & the Federation are brought to the brink of conflict by a third party making raids along outposts on both sides, much like the Ogrons here. We don't get to see who the villains are in that Star Trek: TNG episode and it's left as a hanging plot thread to be resolved early in the next season. A writer's strike intervened and so it wasn't until a year later it's revealed that the Borg, Star Trek's version of the Cybermen, are revealed to be responsible! The TNG episode also has an on-screen Doctor Who reference, showing the names of the first six Doctors in a family tree which makes me think that maybe, just maybe, the borrowing of the story idea is intentional!

Here though the revelation that it's the Ogrons attacking the ship is botched in the worst way possible. Instead of a nice action shot of them storming in through the smouldering door, we're treated to a shot of them trying to cut through the door a minute or so beforehand. Nice one.

What it reminds me of is the reveal in Day of the Daleks that the Daleks are in charge of the Earth half way through the episode instead of keeping them behind the scenes till the end of the episode. The director of both stories is Paul Bernard, one of the few people who I've ever heard producer Barry Letts be openly critical of, so I'm inclined to lay the blame at his feet. Even if Mac Hulke & Day's writer Louis Marks had made similar errors surely the Director should have spotted something that affects the dramatic flow of the story, especially one like this that involves a fully practical special effect with the Ogrons cutting through the door? And, given that the Ogrons previous appearance in Doctor Who was as slaves to the Daleks was it a good idea to draw attention to this in the opening episode?

JO: Hey, Doctor, last time we met the Ogrons they were working for the Daleks, right? Well, you don't suppose that that
DOCTOR: No, not necessarily. No, the Ogrons are mercenaries. Other life forms use them to do their dirty work. Come on, Jo, let's go and find the crew.

Especially considering how the story plays out, albeit with a bit of a diversion on the way..... I've got a book here that says "You've got two guesses as to who's trying to provoke a war between Earth & Draconia. And they're both right!"

Applause please for how the Doctor escapes from the cell:

JO: Doctor, what are you doing?
DOCTOR: I'm reversing the polarity of my ultrasonic screwdriver's power source, thereby converting it into an extremely powerful electromagnet.
JO: Oh. What good will that do?
DOCTOR: You wait and see, Jo.

And while we're mentioning cells..... Frontier in Space has a reputation for the Doctor & Jo spending a lot of time under lock & key. We shall keep track:

1) They are locked up by the crew members on the cargo ship
2) Jo is locked up in the same cell again by the Ogrons.

More later as we progress through the story.....

Obviously an episode spent mainly in deep space is not going to be much location filming. However a still photo of Congresso Nacional in Brazil is used to represent the headquarters of Earth's Government where the scenes between the Draconian Prince and the President & General Williams take place.

Playing General Williams is actor Michael Hawkins. He'd previously appeared in the now missing Out of This World episode The Dark Star as George Chalmers and twice in Doomwatch: as Jim Bennett in the first episode The Plastic Eaters and as Michael Beavis in the Third Season episode Hair Trigger, both of which exist and can be found on The Doomwatch DVD. He later appears in Survivors as Colonel Clifford in Manhunt.

The President of Earth is played by actress Vera Fusek while the Draconian Price is actor Peter Birrel

The commander of the ship sent to rescue the freighter is Ray Lonnen. He would go on to find fame as MI6 operative Willie Caine in the espionage series The Sandbaggers and Harry Brown in Harry's Game. He married Tara Ward, who plays Preston in Warriors of the Deep, and you can hear them both interviewed in Who's Round 27.

John Rees plays freighter crewmember Hardy. He'd been in The Prisoner episode The Girl Who Was Death as the Welsh Napoleon and appears as a Sergeant in Raiders of the Lost Ark

Hi colleague Stewart is played by James Culliford. This is his last acting job: he suffered a stroke in 1972 shortly after this story was recorded. His partner was actor Alfred Lynch who later appears in the Doctor Who story The Curse of Fenric as Commander Millington.

Louis Mahoney appears as the ground breaking black Newscaster, pre-dating Trevor MacDonald's ITN appointment by 16 years. He'll return as Ponti in Planet of Evil. You can also see him in Fawlty Towers as the Doctor in The Germans and he also plays a Doctor in two episodes of The Professionals: the banned and still unbroadcast in the UK Klansmen and a later episode Black Out. In Yes Prime Minister he is the Burandan High Commissioner in A Conflict of Interest and he returned to the world of Doctor Who playing the elder Billy Shipton in Blink.

The Draconian Space Pilot seen on the monitor screen is played by Roy Pattison who returns as Zazzka in The Hand of Fear. Both Roy Pattison & Louis Mahoney only appear in episode 1, but are credited in error at the end of episode 2 due to Episode 1's credits being reused.

The Draconian that appears as an illusion for The Doctor is our old friend Bill Burridge in his final Doctor Who role! He was a Guard in the Romans, a Savage in The Savages, the Executioner Priest in The Underwater Menace, Mr Quill in Fury from the Deep and a Villager & Coven Member in The Dæmons. In Doomwatch he was a Man in Hear No Evil and Flood.

Onto the Ogrons. The DWAS Doctor Who production file says there are two in this episode: Maurice Purvis I cannot find trace of anywhere but Steve Kelly Was a UNIT Soldier in The Invasion and Ambassadors of Death. He returns as the Marshman Leader in Full Circle and a Sea Devil Warrior in Warriors of the Deep. In Blake's 7 he was a Scavenger in Deliverance, a Customer / Gambler in Gambit, a Goth Guard in The Keeper, a Hommik Warrior in Power and a Plantation Bounty Hunter in Blake. In Doomwatch he plays a Man in Re-Entry Forbidden, a Man in The Islanders and the Lieutenant in Flood. He was in two Fawlty Towers episodes: The Germans as an Ambulance Driver and Gourmet Night as a Lorry Driver.

There are a lot of Guards in this story. A LOT of them! In this episode we have one outside the President's office and at least one with Gardiner & Kemp on the rescue vessel.

Down as an Earth Guard for this episode & the next is Dennis Plenty. He'd previously been a Tavern Customer & a Guard in The Massacre, a Worker / Soldier in The War Machines, an English Soldier in the Highlanders, a Submarine Rating & Naval Base Sailor in the Sea Devils and a Solos Guard & Skybase Guard in The Mutants In this story he's also a Prison Guard in episodes 2-3 and a Presidential Guard in episode 5. He returns as a Security Guard in The Green Death, a UNIT Soldier in Invasion of the Dinosaurs, an Exxilon in Death to the Daleks, a Guard in Planet of the Spiders and a Soldier, Brethren member, Entertainer & Guard in The Masque of Mandragora. In UFO he was Lt. David Worth in Identified and one of the SHADO Mobile 1 Personnel in Computer Affair. In Doomwatch he is a Man in Flood and he's in out favourite Adam Adamant Lives! episode D for Destruction playing a RA Camp Guard and appears as a man in a 1901 photo in the later episode Black Echo. His Fawlty Towers episode is A Touch of Class where he plays a PC and he's a Technician in the Moonbase 3 episodes Achilles Heel, Castor and Pollux & View of a Dead Planet. Although he doesn't appear in the final film Plenty served as the model for the original Stormtrooper armour used in Star Wars.

Another Earth Guard is Jamie Griffin. He'd been a Trumpeter/Guard in The Time Monster and plays a 4th Presidential Guard in episode 2 of this story. He's a technician in the Moonbase 3 episode Behemoth.

337 Carnival of Monsters Episode Four

EPISODE: Carnival of Monsters: Episode Four
OVERALL EPISODE NUMBER: 337
STORY NUMBER: 066 TRANSMITTED: Saturday 17 February 1973
WRITER: Robert Holmes
DIRECTOR: Barry Letts
SCRIPT EDITOR: Terrance Dicks
PRODUCER: Barry Letts
RATINGS: 9.2 million viewers
FORMAT: DVD: Doctor Who Revisitations 2: Seeds of Death, Carnival of Monsters & Resurrection of the Daleks
EPISODE FORMAT: 625 video

"I'm sorry to have to tell you, gentlemen, but you are all in very serious trouble! You are, I take it, the representatives of authority on this planet? Then you have allowed the importation and the operation of a machine that is expressly forbidden by intergalactic law!"

The Doctor is restored to his full size. The officials tell the Doctor where he is and he's pleased to find the Tardis. He tells them they have allowed the import of a machine forbidden by intergalactic law. Vorg thinks the Doctor is a carnival performer but the Doctor berates him from using the scope to hold intelligent lifeforms. Knowing the scope is failing the Doctor retrieves a device from the Tardis which allows him to be reinserted into the machine to rescue Jo. He leaves Vorg with instructions to activate the device again later. The humans in the malfunctioning scope collapse due to the heat. The Drashigs escape from the scope and go on the rampage. Vorg finds the missing part in his baggage and uses it to reactivate the eradicator & destroy the Drashigs.

Vorg activates the Doctor's device causing the specimens inside to be returned to where they came. The Doctor & Jo materialise by the scope as it blows up. Back in 1926 Major Daly finally finishes his book as he bids Clare good night. Vorg regales Plectrac with tales of how he defeated the Drashig and then engages him in a game of chance as the Doctor & Jo leave in the Tardis.

Finally, after three episodes of being trapped in the scope with the Drashigs & the Bernice's crew, the Doctor escapes into Inter Minor and gets to interact with the rest of the characters in the story! And, thanks to the events of the last few episodes, he's rather angry!

SHIRNA: It's one of the Tellurians.
PLETRAC: Hurry, it must be eradicated!
SHIRNA: Why? He hasn't done anything wrong. Are you all right, dear?
PLETRAC: Don't touch it. It's probably crawling with germs.
VORG: He's right, Shirna. Come away. The thing must be destroyed.
PLETRAC: Eradicator detachment, one charge, maximum intensity.
KALIK: Wait!
PLETRAC: Stand aside, Kalik.
KALIK: This procedure is not in order.
PLETRAC: Not in order?
KALIK: The eradicator cannot be used without authority from the tribunal.
PLETRAC: In an emergency, it's perfectly
KALIK: One alien hardly constitutes an emergency.
PLETRAC: The function of this tribunal is to keep this planet clean. This Tellurian creature comes from outside our solar system and is a possible carrier of contagion. Furthermore the creature may be hostile.

DOCTOR: Will you kindly stop referring to me as the creature, sir, or I may well become exceedingly hostile.
PLETRAC: Silence! This tribunal is deliberating.
DOCTOR: The tribunal is not deliberating. The tribunal is arguing. And quite nonsensically, if I may say so.
PLETRAC: The tribunal will not tolerate insolence from unauthorised lifeforms.
DOCTOR: Will one of you kindly explain to me exactly where I am? Which planet, I mean?
KALIK: You are on Inter Minor.
DOCTOR: Inter Minor? Not Metebelis Three, the famous blue planet of the Acteon galaxy?
ORUM: Oh, no.
DOCTOR: I see. Oh, thank heavens the Tardis is safe, anyway.
PLETRAC: This container is yours?
DOCTOR: Yes, it is indeed. And, oh yes, just as I thought. A miniscope. Now this is outrageous! Who is responsible for this device? Is it yours?
PLETRAC: Certainly not! It is the property of this Lurman. The female is his assistant.
DOCTOR: And you, sir, you are?
PLETRAC: Chairman Pletrac of the Admissions Tribunal.
ORUM: One wonders why the tribunal is submitting to questioning by this creature. Shouldn't it be the other way round?
DOCTOR: Well, I'm sorry to have to tell you, gentlemen, but you are all in very serious trouble.
ORUM: Really? One almost admires its audacity.
DOCTOR: You are, I take it, the representatives of authority on this planet?
PLETRAC: One's authority comes direct from President Zarb himself.
DOCTOR: Then you have allowed the importation and the operation of a machine that is expressly forbidden by intergalactic law.
PLETRAC: One did not allow it! One has already ordered the deportation of the Lurmans and their machine.
DOCTOR: But for the moment the machine is here and it is in operation. Surely you'll scarcely deny that?
PLETRAC: Well, strictly speaking, one must concede that, er, in a sense
DOCTOR: Then you are responsible, are you not? As a direct result of your carelessness, my young companion is trapped inside this machine, in a situation of extreme peril.

PLETRAC: Look, one is forced to remind you that the question before this tribunal is your own eradication as a menace to public health.
DOCTOR: If you will allow me to rescue my young companion, and give what help I can to the rest of the unfortunates trapped in here, then I am prepared to overlook the entire matter.
ORUM: One is indeed overwhelmed.
DOCTOR: If not, then you'll just have to take the consequences. Let me know when you've made up your mind.

Interestingly here the Doctor does not understand Vorg's carnival speak: it's the one of the few points, if not the only point, in the series history he doesn't understand what's being spoken to him!

VORG: Marvellous, Shirna! What audacity, eh? Do you know, I do believe he's one of us?
SHIRNA: One of us? He's a Tellurian.
VORG: Of course, but I recognise the type. He's in the carnival business, I'm sure. I mean, look at his manner and look at his clothes. Don't forget that I've worked many a Tellurian fairground.
SHIRNA: You may be right. He's certainly got the style.
VORG: Oh, I'd wager on it. He's got the measure of these grey faced idiots right enough.

VORG: I bet he understands the palare. Listen to this.
SHIRNA: Eh?
VORG: The Tellurian carnival lingo. Watch. Palare la carny?
DOCTOR: I beg your pardon?
VORG: Varda the Bona Palone?
DOCTOR: I'm sorry.
VORG: Niente dinari round here, y'jills.
DOCTOR: I must apologise. I'm afraid I do not understand your language.
VORG: Oh, you understand, all right. You're a showman, the same as me, ain't you.
DOCTOR: Are you a showman, sir?
VORG: Allow me to introduce myself. I am the great Vorg! And this beautiful young lady is Shirna, my assistant.
DOCTOR: Delighted, Miss Shirna. I am the Doctor.
VORG: Doctor. Great title, you know. Doctors, Professors, always pulls them in.
DOCTOR: Tell me, sir, are you in charge of this disgraceful device?
VORG: Yes, why? Is something wrong?
DOCTOR: Yes, something is very wrong. I too have an assistant, you know, and she's trapped inside this machine. Now somehow I've got to get her out.

The twin dangers of the escaping Drashigs and the failing scope add some urgency to this final episode which provides a good resolution to the story: Kalik's coup is quashed at the start with only his blood shed, while Vorg finds himself the hero of the piece and returns to his old tricks with three magum pods and a yorrow seed to earn a living! The Bernice is returned safely home, presumably due to arrive at it's Bombay destination the next day:

DALY: Who is it?
CLAIRE: Only me. I didn't wake you, did I?
DALY: Of course not.
CLAIRE: I wouldn't want to wake you just to say goodnight.
DALY: I've been reading.
CLAIRE: Have you finished it?
DALY: Yeah. Seems like the longest book I've ever read in me life.
CLAIRE: It does seem to have been a long trip somehow. Daddy?
DALY: Hmm?
CLAIRE: Oh, nothing.
DALY: Disappointing ending, you know. Fellow became a missionary. I thought he was going to marry her.
CLAIRE: Oh, you are an old romantic, aren't you, Daddy? I'll bet half your stories about the East are just romances.
DALY: You'll see for yourself tomorrow, Claire. Bombay!
CLAIRE: I'm looking forward to that.
DALY: Don't think young Andrews is though.
CLAIRE: That's what I mean, you see. Romantic. Goodnight, Daddy.
DALY: Goodnight, my child. Sleep well.

In a nice little touch the last we see of the Bernice is Major Daly finally crossing off on the calendar the day that they've been living again and again inside the Scope!

You can say Carnival of Monsters is about things, and several issues have been suggested including immigration, television and Zoos, but above all of these it manages to be a cracking Doctor Who story. Later Doctor Who stories will try and be "about" stuff but be rubbish to watch. This is fab, and seems to have a myriad of issues underneath. While Inferno's my favourite Pertwee story it's a little long for an evening's viewing at 7 parts, so Carnival of Monsters is probably the one I watch the most, is my favourite four part Pertwee and probably my second favourite Third Doctor story.

Carnival of Monsters was repeated on BBC2 on the 16th to 19th November 1981 as part of the Five Faces of Doctor Who repeat season, but oddly shown the week before it's preceding televised story The Three Doctors! It was the first Third Doctor story I saw.

Carnival of Monsters was novelised by Terrance Dicks. My local library had a copy so it got read several times when I was younger. It was released on video in March 1995 with the alternate edit of episode 2 featuring the unbroadcast theme music. Carnival of Monsters was first released on DVD in July 2002 as the second Jon Pertwee release with a commentary by Katy Manning & Barry Letts. A special edition DVD re-release occurred on 28 March 2011 as part of Doctor Who Revisitations - Volume 2 along with the Seeds of Death and Resurrection of the Daleks. A new commentary for Carnival was recorded featuring Peter Halliday, Cheryl Hall, Jenny McCracken, Brian Hodgson (who makes his last credited appearance as providing Special Sound for this story) & Terrance Dicks moderated by Toby Hadoke. For my money it's the best commentary of the entire range with several lesser used performers getting to share their thoughts.

336 Carnival of Monsters Episode Three

EPISODE: Carnival of Monsters: Episode Three
OVERALL EPISODE NUMBER: 336
STORY NUMBER: 066 TRANSMITTED: Saturday 10 February 1973
WRITER: Robert Holmes
DIRECTOR: Barry Letts
SCRIPT EDITOR: Terrance Dicks
PRODUCER: Barry Letts
RATINGS: 9 million viewers
FORMAT: DVD: Doctor Who Revisitations 2: Seeds of Death, Carnival of Monsters & Resurrection of the Daleks
EPISODE FORMAT: 625 video

"What we all need, is something to unite us. We need a sense of purpose. We need a new leader. We need a war!"

The Drashigs pursue the Doctor & Jo by smell. Vorg tells the officials a tale of the Drashigs eating a crashed spaceship. The Doctor detonates marsh gas with sonic screwdriver to cover their escape back to the cave, aided by Vorg's physical intervention. The Doctor deduces that they are trapped in a Minicscope, a device which he had the High Council of the Time Lords ban. This one was missed from the recall. The Drashigs escape into the scope's workings as the officials try to decide what to do. Kalik admits to Orum that he hoped the Drashigs would escape which was why he suggested Vorg intervene. he hopes they escape from the machine to provoke a rebellion against his brother Zarb. The Doctor & Jo return to the Bernice for rope to escape down the shaft. Daly & Andrews hear the Drashigs and investigate, discovering Jo and capturing her. The Drashigs break through the hull bulkhead into the ship. Kalik sabotages the eradicator, hiding it's power supply in the scope to incriminate Vorg and potentially allow the Drashigs into the city. The ship's crew attack the Drashigs with explosives damaging the scope's workings. The humans resume their preset patterns, annoying Jo, as the Doctor escapes into the scope and into the outside world......

For most viewers this episode is about some rampaging monsters but we continue our little digs at television:

JO: That, that swamp place. It wasn't the real outside, was it?
DOCTOR: No. I thought it was at first, though.
JO: But that hand, that came from the real outside, didn't it? The giants were trying to help us.
DOCTOR: Yes. By jingo, I've got it! I know what this is.
JO: What?
DOCTOR: We're in a miniscope!
JO: Miniscope?
DOCTOR: Yes, you know, Jo, it's like, it's like one of those things, those glass cases that people keep colonies of ants in.
JO: Well, yes, but I don't see. Well, wait a minute. Do you mean that that Major Daly and all those people on the ship are in a sort of a peepshow?
DOCTOR: That's right, Jo, and you and I are inside its works.
JO: And outside there are people and creatures just looking at us for kicks?
DOCTOR: Very probably.
JO: They must be evil and horrible.
DOCTOR: No, not necessarily, Jo. Thoughtless, maybe.
JO: Thoughtless?
DOCTOR: Well, haven't you ever been to the zoo? Have you never kept goldfish in a bowl?
JO: Well, yes, but that's slightly different. We're not animals.
DOCTOR: We are to those creatures up there, Jo. Roll up! Roll up! Roll up! And see these funny little creatures in their native habitat! Watch them go through their funny little tricks! Poke them with a stick and make them jump!
JO: Oh, stop it, Doctor. It's not funny.
DOCTOR: No. Oh no, believe me, I'm just as angry as you are. As a matter of fact, I had a great deal to do with the banning of these miniscopes.
JO: You did?
DOCTOR: Yes, I did. I managed to persuade the High Council of the Time Lords they were an offence against the dignity of sentient lifeforms.
JO: But I thought the Time Lords never interfered?
DOCTOR: Yes, well, they don't as a rule. But, frankly, I made such a nuisance of myself. Well, they banned the things.
JO: But, well, if these Scope things were banned, how come we're inside one?
DOCTOR: I don't know. Officially, they were all called in and destroyed.
JO: And somehow this one was missed.
DOCTOR: It looks like it. The Tardis must have materialised in its compression field.
JO: So, here we are all cosily wrapped up with the other specimens.
DOCTOR: Yeah, but not for long, Jo. We'll soon get out of here.
JO: Will we? Seems to me we have a choice of being shot by those idiots on the ship, or eaten by those horrors out there.

Meanwhile the previous comical officials start to take a more sinister tone as Kalik plots against his brother Zarb.

ORUM: You expected the Drashigs to follow the Tellurians?
KALIK: They follow a scent blindly, so that primitive told us.
ORUM: What's to be gained by that?
KALIK: Possibly the world.
ORUM: What?
KALIK: The Tellurians will try to escape.
ORUM: And?
KALIK: The Drashigs will follow them.
ORUM: What good will that do any of us?
KALIK: Listen, Orum. For thousands of years, ever since the great space plague, our world has stood alone and been the stronger for it. Now Zarb is trying to change our ways.
ORUM: Because the functionaries are growing restive. They need distractions.
KALIK: What the functionaries need, Orum, what we all need, is something to unite us. We need a sense of purpose. We need a new leader. We need a war!
ORUM: How do you propose to achieve all that, Kalik?
KALIK: By leading the rebellion against my dear brother Zarb.
ORUM: Zarb's position is secure. How can a rebellion succeed?
KALIK: The Drashigs escape from the machine and then into the city. They would cause havoc before finally being destroyed. The Central Bureau would be forced to admit to serious miscalculation. And on whose part, Orum? Who would be blamed?
ORUM: President Zarb.
KALIK: Exactly. The Drashigs are only here because of Zarb's liberal-minded weakness.
ORUM: Popular feeling would be aroused against him, certainly. But you're forgetting one thing.
KALIK: What?
ORUM: The eradicator. Even if the Drashigs do escape, they'll never get into the city.

There's some fab comedy dialogue in this episode with Vorg, talking about the Scope:

SHIRNA: Look at those dials, Vorg.
VORG: What about them?
SHIRNA: They're suddenly dropping back, all of them. All the circuits.
VORG: They can't be.
SHIRNA: Well, look for yourself. It's a general power failure.
VORG: Don't be ridiculous. The power system's fully protected.
SHIRNA: Well?
VORG: Well, it can't be a power failure.
SHIRNA: The generators?
VORG: The generators were built by the old Eternity Perpetual Company. They're designed to last forever. That's why the company went bankrupt!

Onto the Bernice: Major Daly is played by Tenniel Evans who is most famous for his role in the long running radio series Navy Lark with Jon Pertwee. Seeing that Patrick Troughton was leaving Doctor Who he suggested to Pertwee the he should replace him! Later in his career Evans himself replaced Troughton in ITV comedy series The Two Of Us after Troughton's death. He had previously appeared in two Out of the Unknown episodes: season one's Sucker Bait, where he played Rodriguez and which you can see on the Out of the Unknown DVD Set, and season 2's missing The Prophet, featuring the robots from the Mind Robber, where he plays QT-1. He appeared in Yes Minister as Martin, the Foreign Secretary in The Official Visit & The Writing on the Wall

Ian Marter plays Lt John Andrews, having been previously considered for the role of UNIT Captain Mike Yates but couldn't commit to a long term engagement. However Barry Letts, Doctor Who's producer and the director of Mike Yates' introduction in Terror of the Autons, remembered Marter and cast him in this story which he also directs. Marter later goes on to play Doctor Harry Sullivan, the fourth Doctor's companion the last regular role Letts cast as producer. After Doctor he had a recurring role as Quentin Ingram in Crown Court, a series which featured many Doctor Who actors and which you can read about at the Furchester Crown Court Blog.

Likewise Jenny McCracken, who played Claire Daly, had auditioned for Letts as Jo Grant, coincidentally alongside Cheryl Hall, who plays Shirna. Both got into last 6 for role, and Letts remembered them and recalled them for this story. Some years later McCracken's agent went bust owing her a not inconsiderable amount of money. Writing to many casting directors Barry Letts was one of the few people she rang up. He immediately found a role for her in a forthcoming classic serial, which her IMDB entry suggests was Lady Bolgolam in Gulliver in Lilliput, and he continued to cast her in those productions.

The boat's captain, seen only in the location sequences in this episodes, is played by Andrew Staines making the third of his four Doctor Who appearances having been in The Enemy of the World as Benik's Sergeant & Terror of the Autons as Goodge. We'll see him again in Planet of the Spiders as Keaver, one of Lupton's gang. All four are directed by Barry Letts: While listening to the Who Talk commentary for Enemy of the World I was surprised to discover that he is the son of actress Pauline Letts, Barry's sister! (who in turn I'd seen in the BBC version of Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy) Toby Hadoke interviews him for Who's Round 160 where he reveals that his uncle usually used him as a late replacement when someone dropped out!

335 Carnival of Monsters Episode Two

EPISODE: Carnival of Monsters: Episode Two
OVERALL EPISODE NUMBER: 335
STORY NUMBER: 066 TRANSMITTED: Saturday 03 February 1973
WRITER: Robert Holmes
DIRECTOR: Barry Letts
SCRIPT EDITOR: Terrance Dicks
PRODUCER: Barry Letts
RATINGS: 9 million viewers
FORMAT: DVD: Doctor Who Revisitations 2: Seeds of Death, Carnival of Monsters & Resurrection of the Daleks
EPISODE FORMAT: 625 video

"We will shortly be seeing the prize of my collection. The Drashigs! They are, without doubt, the most evil, the most vicious and undoubtedly the most frightening form of life in the whole of the universe!"

The giant hand holding the Tardis vanish through the upper deck of the ship. Vorg pulls a small blue Tardis shaped box from the inside of the inner workings of his scope before demonstrating it to the Inter Minor officials. He shows them the Tellurians (the humans on the boat), Ogrons & Drashigs. He explains the creatures are contained in the scope and switches back to the Bernice as the Pleiosaurus arrives. The Doctor & Jo are apprehended again as Vorg increases the violence level in that zone making Andrews challenge the Doctor to a boxing match which the Doctor easily wins allowing them to escape. They open the floorplate just as they are recaptured and Vorg lowers the violence level. Shirna tells a disbelieving Vorg that she hasn't seen the Doctor & Jo before. The Doctor & Jo escape into the inner workings of the scope which fascinate the Doctor. The officials decide that the scope contains illegally imported specimens and decide to destroy it summoning an eradicator. As it is fired the inside of the scope heats up but proves resistant to the weapon. Vorg checks the scope finding the image of a Cyberman within to be fuzzy. Kalik is angry at the eradicator's inability to work and starts plotting against his brother, president Zarb. The Doctor & Jo are trying to escape from an air duct when they are stabbed at by a giant weapon: Vorg has spotted them in the Scope's workings. Kalik, believing Vorg a spy, has the Scope searched by Orum for a transmitter to "waiting Lurman battlefleets". Orum removes the Tardis which grows to it's normal size. The Doctor & Jo get into a different part of the scope where they find themselves in a cave and exit into a marshy realm. Vorg & Shirna spot them where they are attacked by the massive carnivorous Drashigs.

This episode connects the two plot strands: The Doctor & Jo, plus the humans and other specimens are trapped in Vorg's machine. As Doctor Who fans a title like "Carnival of Monsters" makes us expect a cavalcade of the Doctor's past foes: this episode is the closest we get with a guest appearance by the Ogrons, foreshadowing their imminent reappearance in the series.

We also get a brief glimpse of the Cybermen, here making their only real appearance of the Pertwee era. They get mentioned a bit, due to UNIT's thwarting of their Invasion, and appear as a still during the Doctor's flashback in Mind of Evil but this is their only original footage filmed for Pertwee's Doctor. I don't think he disliked them as such, though he did despise the Daleks with a passion, but it's rumoured one of the production team, so either Barry Letts or Terrance Dicks, wasn't their greatest fan.

KALIK: What do you call the creatures here?
VORG: The Drashigs. My little carnivores. Ho, ho, they're great favourites with the children, you know, with their gnashing and snapping and tearing at each other.

The main monsters in the story, the Drashigs, are quite effective with the puppet models built round a real dog skull giving them their effective jawline. As a rampaging monster they do the trick nicely. Their name is an anagram of Dishrags with the sound composited from sound engineer Brian Hodgson's dog and some other noises!

Carnival of Monsters was filmed in two separate locations either side of the Thames. The SS Bernice exterior scenes were recorded on the Royal Fleet Auxiliary Robert Dundas, moored at Chatham dockyards in Kent awaiting break up. Knowing this Pertwee "salvaged" the elaborate ship's compass but had to return it after it's loss was noticed.

Meanwhile the Drashig location scenes are filmed at Tillingham Marshes and the former Cardwells Quarry making Carnival of Monsters one of the only Doctor Who stories to be filmed in Essex.

When this episode was sold to Australia it went out with a new version of the theme tune on it, arranged by Brian Hodgson for the show's tenth anniversary. However all who heard it decided this arrangement was rubbish so they continued to use the existing theme. But somehow the copy Australian television stations were sent of this episode has the newer theme on it. This edit was used for the story's VHS release, and the new theme tune also appears on an earlier edit of Frontier in Space 5, also released on VHS.

You might recognise both of the Lurmans visiting Inter Minor from Sitcoms:

Leslie Dwyer is Vorg who I remember as Mr. Partridge the Punch and Judy man in Hi-De-Hi! who died in 1986 during the production of the series necessitating a reshuffle in the cast. I hadn't realised what an extensive film career he'd had! The only other thing I'd seen him in was The Sweeney episode Trojan Bus where he plays Ted Greenhead.

His assistant Shirna was played by Cheryl Hall shortly to find fame as Shirley, the girlfriend of Wolfie Smith in Citizen Smith. She was later married to her co-star in that show, Robert Lindsay. Later in life she became involved in Labour Party politics and tells a story on the Carnival of Monsters Special Edition DVD commentary of being interviewed by Shaun Ley where she was expecting to be quizzed on the issue she was supporting and he wanted to talk about Carnival of Monsters, having gained an angle that Vorg & Shirna were effectively illegal immigrants. She too appeared in The Sweeney playing Jenny in Contact Breaker.

The Ogron seen inside The Scope is stuntman Rick Lester, who was an Ogron previously in Day of the Daleks and returns in he same role in Frontier in Space. He was previously a stunt driver in The Italian Job, a role he also fills in The Sweeney episodes Chalk and Cheese, Big Brother and Stay Lucky Eh?. In Space: 1999 he was he stunt double for Martin Landau in 6 episodes but that pales before his work on the James Bond films where he's a guard in Dr. No and then performs stunts in From Russia with Love, Goldfinger, Thunderball, You Only Live Twice, On Her Majesty's Secret Service, Diamonds Are Forever, Live and Let Die, The Man with the Golden Gun, The Spy Who Loved Me, Moonraker, For Your Eyes Only, Octopussy, A View to a Kill and The Living Daylights meaning he worked on the first FIFTEEN films in the series!

The Cyberman is played by Terrance Denville, who had previously worn a Cyberman costume during The Invasion. Before that he'd been a double for Captain Blade in The Faceless Ones and then played a Foot Soldier & Alien Technician in The War Games, a Waxwork visitor/replica in Spearhead from Space, a Technician & UNIT Soldier in The Silurians and a UNIT trooper in The Three Doctors. He returns as a Guard in Frontier in Space, a Spiridon in Planet of the Daleks, an an Exxilon in Death to the Daleks and an Ice Warrior in The Monster of Peladon. He plays a Technician in Moonbase 3 Departure and Arrival, Behemoth and Outsider, appears as a Russian Security Council Member in the Pierce Brosnan James Bond film GoldenEye and appears in the Miranda episode Before I Die as an Old Man.