262 Doctor Who and the Silurians: Episode Five

EPISODE: Doctor Who and the Silurians: Episode Five
OVERALL EPISODE NUMBER: 262
STORY NUMBER: 052
TRANSMITTED: Saturday 28 February 1970
WRITER: Malcolm Hulke
DIRECTOR: Timothy Combe
SCRIPT EDITOR: Terrance Dicks
PRODUCER: Barry Letts
RATINGS: 7.5 million viewers
FORMAT: DVD: Doctor Who - Beneath the Surface (The Silurians/The Sea Devils /Warriors of the Deep)
EPISODE FORMAT: 16mm b&w film recording recoloured using 525 off air video

"He has been infected with a deadly disease which may destroy millions of his species!"

Another Silurian, the old Silurian, stops the young Silurian from attacking the Doctor. The old Silurian explains how they went into hibernation when they saw the moon approaching the Earth but the mechanism failed and they were never awakened until the Nuclear Reactor was activated. The Doctor gets the Brigadier & his men released but the Young Silurian has their scientist poison Baker with a virus and releases him. When he discovers this the Old Silurian gives the Doctor a virus sample to analyse but is then killed by the Young Silurian who proclaims that he is Leader now! The Doctor has Baker held at the centre. Masters returns to London as the centre's doctor moves Baker to the local hospital for treatment. Finding out The Doctor & the Brigadier race there to find Baker dead and the virus spreading.

I can see what Malcolm Hulke's trying to do here: He's showing us the Doctor & Old Silurian Leader trying to achieve peace:

DOCTOR: But you must see this is a highly-developed and overcrowded planet which now belongs to man.
SILURIAN: This is our planet. We were here before man. We ruled this world millions of years ago.
DOCTOR: Then why did you stay down here?
SILURIAN: A small planet was approaching the world. We calculated that it would draw off our atmosphere, destroying all life. We built this place, and suspended our lives till the atmosphere should return.
DOCTOR: A small planet? Yes, of course. But don't you see, that small planet was drawn into the Earth's orbit and became the moon? Your catastrophe never happened.

DOCTOR: But I still don't understand why you stayed down here.
SILURIAN: The hibernation mechanism was faulty. It did not function until a new energy source appeared.
DOCTOR: The power station at the research centre?
SILURIAN: Yes. We are now able to drain off its energy. But soon we shall revive our civilisation, and reclaim the Earth for ourselves.
DOCTOR: No, you mustn't, otherwise there'll be the most terrible war.
SILURIAN: You
DOCTOR: But if you trust me, I think I can persuade the humans that you are prepared to live with them on this planet in peace.
SILURIAN: There is not room for both civilisations.
DOCTOR: Oh yes, I think there is. You see, your people are used to living in extreme heat, whereas these areas on Earth are of little interest to man. I believe with your advanced technology that you could build cities in parts of the world that man has hitherto completely ignored.
SILURIAN: Would your people agree to this?
DOCTOR: Well, they're not my people, but I think I could convince them, on the condition that you release those trapped men first.
SILURIAN: Those apes have only shown hostility to us.
DOCTOR: And you to them. Someone has to make a move, otherwise this whole thing will end up in complete catastrophe.

Unfortunately everyone else is intent on killing the opposing side. On the surface Miss Dawson still wants revenge for the death of Dr Quinn:

MASTERS: Then let me ask you again. Where is the Doctor?
LIZ: He went down into the caves.
LAWRENCE: What?
LIZ: Ahead of the Brigadier. He wanted to make contact with the Silurians.
DAWSON: Make contact?
MASTERS: What was he going to say to them?
LIZ: He thought if he could warn the Silurians first.

DAWSON: He warned them? Why, the Brigadier has probably walked straight into a trap.
LIZ: He wanted to prevent bloodshed.
DAWSON: But
LIZ: He has gone down into those caves to try and help. He is risking his own life.
MASTERS: So now you expect us to send troops down there?
LIZ: No, no, no, that's the last thing he'd want.
DAWSON: Oh, never mind what your Doctor wants, he's done enough damage. Mister Masters, can't you see, you've got to get more troops and destroy these monsters.

While underground the Silurians are subject to an old vs young/cohabitation vs extermination power struggle:

YOUNG SILURIAN: He talks of sharing our planet with apes! I shall wipe them out!
SCIENTIST: You have no right to disobey him. He is our leader.
YOUNG SILURIAN: Perhaps he is no longer fit to lead us. Soon I shall be the leader. Help me, or must I destroy you too?
SCIENTIST: Very well. I will help you. When the apes used to raid our crops we used this. Millions were wiped out. Now, we could conduct an experiment on this ape.
YOUNG SILURIAN: Yes.

Fortunately the Old Silurian Leader hears of this and attempts to help the Doctor:

DOCTOR: You once had a great civilisation. I didn't realise how advanced.
SILURIAN: The other prisoner has been released.
DOCTOR: Baker? Why, that's splendid.
SILURIAN: Doctor, listen to me. He has been infected with a deadly disease which may destroy millions of his species.
DOCTOR: But this is diabolical.
SILURIAN: It is not my doing. There are those of us unwilling to share this planet.
DOCTOR: Is there any cure for this disease?
SILURIAN: No. But I have brought the bacteria. Perhaps your scientists can find a cure.
DOCTOR: Yes. Yes, of course, but you must release me at once.
SILURIAN: Come with me.

But his actions cost him his life at the hands of the young Silurian:

YOUNG SILURIAN: Why did you give him the bacteria? Do you want this species to destroy us?
SILURIAN: They will not destroy us, and we need not destroy them. Both species can live together.
YOUNG SILURIAN: That is impossible!
SILURIAN: I am the leader! I have decided!
YOUNG SILURIAN: Not any more!

YOUNG SILURIAN: He was no longer fit to lead us.

Doctor Who hasn't done much with plague and disease before: The Daleks used plague in the run up to Dalek Invasion of Earth and a common cold is a big threat in The Ark but I'm struggling to think of any other times it's come up in the first six year of the show. So it's quite shocking to see the very graphic effect it's having on Baker.

BAKER: We must blow up every entrance to those caves before the Silurians overrun us!
DOCTOR: That is precisely what we must not do.
BAKER: You!
DOCTOR: Now everyone move well away from Major Baker. Now keep right back from him. Right back.
BAKER: What are you talking about?
DOCTOR: Major Baker, you are ill. You are very, very ill.
BAKER: Oh, you don't get out of it like that. I'm placing you under arrest.
BRIGADIER: Wait
DOCTOR: Keep back from him! Look at your wrist. Look at it!

Unfortunately once again nobody listens to The Doctor:

DOCTOR: This whole place should be closed down and put in strict quarantine immediately.
LAWRENCE: It would bring the centre to a standstill.
DOCTOR: Yes, and about time too. Well I've got to get down to the research centre and try to find an antidote.
LAWRENCE: I refuse to permit this. Look, Edward, can't you stop him? This whole story is absurd.
DOCTOR: You just don't understand, do you, Doctor Lawrence?
MASTERS: I'm afraid I don't either. You say these creatures have infected us with a plague, but do you still want us to negotiate with them?
DOCTOR: That is precisely what I want. But if this bacteria isn't contained there won't be anybody left to negotiate.
LIZ: Baker's gone. Doctor Meredith's just taken him to the hospital.
DOCTOR: That's the worst thing that could have happened. Why didn't you stop him?
LIZ: I tried. He wouldn't listen.
DOCTOR: Brigadier, we've got to go down to the hospital straight away before Baker spreads that infection.
BRIGADIER: But surely hospital's the right place for Baker?
DOCTOR: Meredith does not know what he's dealing with. Nobody does! Now please, do as I say.
BRIGADIER: All right. You'll have to excuse me, sir.

Worse is to follow:

LAWRENCE: What do you want me to do?
MASTERS: This could be a national disaster. I must get back to London.
LAWRENCE: What about the research centre?
MASTERS: I'm sorry, Charles, but I intend to recommend that this centre be closed immediately.
LAWRENCE: But all my work? The delay will be crippling.
MASTERS: My report will of course exonerate you completely. I'm sure you've done everything in your power. Well, I must be going.
LAWRENCE: Are you feeling all right?
MASTERS: I didn't get any sleep last night. I'll send you a copy of my report.
LAWRENCE: Thank you, Edward.

The scenes at the Hospital were filmed at Milford Chest Hospital near many of the other locations used in the early episodes of the story.

Unfortunately the story as a whole just isn't working for me. We're on Episode 5 but it's been feeling stretched out and slow for a while now but there's still two episodes to go.

This is the only episode of the story with no Technicians in it!

Harry Swift, playing Private Robins in just this episode, had been a Scotsman in Hold/Highlander in The Highlanders.

Back to missing Pertwee episodes: As we've seen BBC Enterprises retained Black & White film copies of the first four seasons on Jon Pertwee's tenure as Doctor Who. Black & White film was the easiest method of distributing stories abroad in the seventies as many overseas broadcasters used different broadcasting systems and not many used colour. The exceptions were Australia, who bought some stories on 625 line video tape and America. America uses a different TV system to us: Ours had 625 lines, refreshed at 50 frames per second and used the PAL method of colour definition. American TV had 525 lines, refreshed at 60 frames per second and used the NTSC method of colour definition. We'll refer to these as PAL & NTSC for the sake of argument. You can convert PAL to NTSC and vice versa but always with some loss of quality somewhere along the line. Public Broadcast Stations in America & Canada took Doctor Who as converted NTSC recordings. Some of the original NTSC master tapes were recovered giving the BBC a copy of the program in colour albeit at less definition and one that could only then be played back on UK televisions by a second conversion this time back to Pal. Finally certain serials, and the Silurians is one of them, were recorded by enthusiasts off of American TV on their initial broadcast resulting in low quality tapes that do contain a colour signal that Ian Levine obtained from his contacts in the states. As these were the only colour versions of these stories the low quality tapes were kept. What happens next is such a piece of crackpot madness that you wouldn't believe it possible....

So for each Pertwee episode because there's such a range we'll be listing what format each episode is currently held in and what piece of trickery has been used to make it look better. Come back for episode 7 and I'll attempt to explain the colour recovery process which means we now have a decent looking colour copy of this story.

The quality of the colour has varied a little as the story has gone on. Episode 4 was difficult to discern what was happening in the Silurians base. That's much clearer here but I can see a slight moving banding on the scenes in the Power complex with the orangey/red background.

The day after this episode was recorded Jon Pertwee, Caroline John and Nicholas Courtney visited Ranelagh Drive in Twickenham, on the embankment of the Thames to have some publicity photos taken.

I passed this location everyday for two years on my way to college and regularly do still on the train! The bridge visible in the background is Richmond Lock and Footbridge.

Two day after this episode was broadcast the fourth Doomwatch episode Tomorrow, the Rat was shown on BBC1.

261 Doctor Who and the Silurians: Episode Four

EPISODE: Doctor Who and the Silurians: Episode Four
OVERALL EPISODE NUMBER: 261
STORY NUMBER: 052
TRANSMITTED: Saturday 21 February 1970
WRITER: Malcolm Hulke
DIRECTOR: Timothy Combe
SCRIPT EDITOR: Terrance Dicks
PRODUCER: Barry Letts
RATINGS: 8.2 million viewers
FORMAT: DVD: Doctor Who - Beneath the Surface (The Silurians/The Sea Devils /Warriors of the Deep)
EPISODE FORMAT: 16mm b&w film recording recoloured using 525 off air video

"Look, do you understand me? Well, what do your people want? How can we help you? How many are there of you? Tell us what we can do! No, wait! Wait! Wait! Unless you Silurians tell us what you want, the humans will destroy you!"

The Doctor tries to befriend the Silurian, as he calls it, but it's scared off by a noise outside. Major Baker escapes from the centre sickbay, goes down into the caves and is captured by the Silurians. The Doctor conceals the Silurians' existence from the Brigadier. The Doctor & Liz go into the caves where they find Baker's abandoned gear. The Doctor uses the signalling device he took from Doctor Quinn to enter the Silurian base. They find where Baker is held captive. He has been interrogated and is convinced they're going to invade. They see the Silurians using research centre power to revive more of their number from hibernation and find where the Silurians keep their dinosaur pet. There's another power failure at the centre as secretary Masters arrives. He tells Lawrence that the centre's future is at stake due to the problems. Lawrence wants UNIT out, believing the problem is a technical one that can be solved with more scientists. The Doctor tells the Brigadier not to take men into caves, but the Brigadier, Masters and Lawrence want to know what's going on. The Doctor explains, and wants to negotiate with Silurians, but Miss Dawson arrives and tells them that the Silurians killed Quinn. The Brigadier decides to attack the Silurians, while Miss Dawson is convinced Silurians want to destroy them. The Doctor decides to warn the Silurians, but is imprisoned with Baker. The Silurians trap the UNIT troops in the caves and, having foiled the assault, a Silurian attacks Doctor.

This is yet another episode that ends with some quality Pertwee goggle eyes gurning!

It's a horribly messy situation being presented in this story with lots of personal interests and prejudices coming to the surface: Dawson wants to kill the Silurians because they killed Quinn, Baker's convinced there are saboteurs and Lawrence is worried about his career & wants UNIT out. Masters is the first in a line of politicians/civil servants obstructing the Doctor during his stay on Earth and even the Brigadier, who's seen the Doctor save Earth three times now, is being obstinate and pig headed by not listening to him. Really there's very little to redeem almost all the human characters in this story, save for Liz Shaw, which might be one of the reasons I don't really get on with it. Still at least Masters isn't as bad as those who follow in his wake like Chinn in Claws of Axos and Walker in The Sea Devils!

We get to see the Silurians in force for the first time this episode.

Unfortunately the clarity of the colour restored video isn't terribly good, made worse by the dark lighting in the underground sets, which makes the Silurians hard to see. There's some nice clear pictures of the Silurians on the DVD though.

There's a big jump early in the episode when The Doctor calls the creature a Silurian: where did he pluck that name from? Purely on having seen the continents on the globe in episode 3 and dating them? Worse comes when Miss Dawson uses the same name later! We'll ignore it being completely the wrong era for reptiles to be walking around because the show itself cops to this in a later story.....and then gets it wrong *AGAIN*.

The Old Silurian and other unidentified Silurians are played by Dave Carter, who Katy Manning takes great pleasure in pointing out on DVD commentaries every time she spots him. He's already been Male Rebel in The Power of the Daleks and an IE guard in The Invasion and he'll be back for Inferno as a Primord, Terror of the Autons as a Museum Attendant, The Mind of Evil as a Prison Officer, The Mutants as a Skybase Guard, The Time Monster as a Roundhead Officer, Invasion of the Dinosaurs as Sergeant Duffy and The Android Invasion as Grierson. There's an Adam Adamant Lives! on his CV where he plays a Partygoer/Tourist in Death Has a Thousand Faces and an episode of The Tomorrow People, The Living Skins: Cold War where he's a Guard.

Carter's Old Silurian is on the right of the picture bellow left with Nigel Johns' Young Silurian on the left.

The late great Pat Gorman, who is in many Doctor who stories, plays the Silurian Scientist, who was trapped in Quinn's cottage. Since it's his first appearance in a Pertwee story we probably should have a ceremonial reading of his full Doctor Who credits: he was a Freedom Fighter/Rebel in Dalek Invasion of Earth, a Planetarian in Mission to the Unknown: Delegate Detective thinks he's Sentreal the black Christmas tree, a Greek Soldier in The Myth Makers, a Guard in Massacre, a Worker in The War Machines, a Monk in The Abominable Snowmen, a Guard in The Enemy of the World, a Cyberman in The Invasion, a Technician in The Seeds of Death and a Military Policeman in The War Games episode two. He will be back in the very next story as a Technician in The Ambassadors of Death, a Primord in Inferno, the Auton Leader in Terror of the Autons, Long, the Primitive and Voice in Colony in Space, a Coven Member in The The Dæmons, a Guard & Film Cameraman in Day of the Daleks, a Sea Devil in The Sea Devils, a UNIT Soldier in The Three Doctors, an Earth Guard/Presidential Guard/Sea Devil in Frontier in Space, a Global Chemicals Guard/'Nuthatch' Resident in The Green Death, a UNIT Corporal in Invasion of the Dinosaurs, a Guard in The Monster of Peladon, a Soldier in Planet of the Spiders, the Gate Guard in Robot part one, a Thal Soldier in Genesis of the Daleks, a Cyberman/Dead Crewman in Revenge of the Cybermen, a Guard in The Seeds of Doom, a Soldier/Brother in The Masque of Mandragora, a Chancellory Guard in The Deadly Assassin, a Medic in The Invisible Enemy, a Kro in The Ribos Operation, the Pilot in The Armageddon Factor, a Thug in City of Death part one, a Gundan in Warriors' Gate, a Foster in The Keeper of Traken, Grogan in Enlightenment, a Soldier in The Caves of Androzani, a Slave Worker and a Cyberman in Attack of the Cybermen. Of those it' easiest to spot his face in Abominable Snowmen, Planet of the Spiders, Robot and The Armageddon Factor! He's got several Blake's 7 appearances to his name as a Scavenger in Deliverance, Federation Trooper/Rebel in Voice from the Past, Trantinian planet hopper Captain in Gambit, Death Squad Trooper in Powerplay, Federation Trooper in The Harvest of Kairos & Rumours of Death, Hommik Warrior in Power, Helot in Traitor and a Federation Trooper in Games & Blake. We was also in Adam Adamant Lives! as a Guard in More Deadly Than the Sword, a Man at Club in Beauty Is an Ugly Word, a Coven Member in The Village of Evil, a War Office Guard/TA Soldier in D for Destruction and an S.S. Guard in A Sinister Sort of Service. He appears once in The Prisoner as a Hospital Orderly in Hammer Into Anvil and just once in Doomwatch as Man in Hear No Evil. His Porridge appearance in the second Christmas Special The Desperate Hours is another easy spot: he's the Prison Officer who comes into the loos as Fletcher and friends are sampling the contraband home brew. He was in two episodes of The Sweeney as a Flying Squad Officer in Thou Shalt Not Kill (director: D Camfield) & Latin Lady, and two The Tomorrow People stories: Worlds Away as the Vesh Hunter and War of the Empires as a US Marine. In the BBC The Day of the Triffids he played a Blind Man in episode 5 while in Douglas Camfield & Robert Holmes adaption of The Nightmare Man he played The Killer with Camfield using him again as a Legionnaire in Beau Geste. He was in The Professionals five times: as a Golfer in Killer with a Long Arm, a CI5 Agent in Close Quarters & Servant of Two Masters, a Security Man in Weekend in the Country and the Police Superintendent at inquest in Discovered in a Graveyard. He's a Policeman again in The Young Ones: Interesting and towards the end of his career Russell T Davies uses him in Dark Season as a Heavy.

One of the other background Silurians is Simon Cain who was Curly in The Enemy of the World and UNIT Soldier Private Upton in episode 7. He also appears in the Doomwatch episode Invasion as a Soldier.

Providing the Silurian voices is Peter Halliday. He was in The Invasion as Packer, and returns in The Ambassadors of Death as the Alien Voices, Carnival of Monsters as Pletrac, City of Death as Captain Tancredi's guard, and Remembrance of the Daleks as the Vicar. He appeared in two of the earliest television series A for Andromeda and The Andromeda Breakthrough as Doctor John Fleming. He too was in Out of the Unknown appearing in the sole completely surviving third season episode The Last Lonely Man, directed by Douglas Camfield where he played Patrick Wilson. This episode is also on the Out of the Unknown DVD Set. He appears in UFO as Dr. Segal in A Question of Priorities, the missing third season Doomwatch episode Say Knife, Fat Man as Rafael Dominguez, The Sweeney episode I Want the Man as Chief Insp. Gordon and the last first season episode of The Tripods as the Interrogator.

First appearing in this episode is Under Secretary Masters who is of played by course Geoffrey Palmer. In Doctor Who he'll be back as the Administrator in The Mutants. Over a long career he's been in nearly everything! Palmer features in Out of the Unknown three times playing the Chief Officer in the first episode No Place Like Earth, which you can see on the Out of the Unknown DVD Set, then returning in the third season as Gosford in 1+1=1.5 by Doctor Who author Brian Hayles and finally playing Jack Mervyn in he penultimate episode The Uninvited. He was in Doomwatch twice, as Major Sims in the second season episode Invasion, which is on The Doomwatch DVD and Chief Supt. Mallory in he missing third season episode Say Knife, Fat Man. He can be seen in The Sweeney as Commander Watson in Feet of Clay, Fawlty Towers as Dr. Price in The Kipper and the Corpse, The Professionals as Simon Sinclair in Where the Jungle Ends and Avery in The Ojuka Situation, in Clockwise as a Headmaster, Inspector Morse as Matthew Copley-Barnes in The Infernal Serpent, Blackadder Goes Forth as Field Marshal Haig in Goodbyeee, Ashes to Ashes as Lord Scarman in the eighth episode and Tomorrow Never Dies as Admiral Roebuck. He returned to Doctor Who as Hardaker in Voyage of the Damned, which was directed by his son Charles Palmer who's worked on many new series episodes.

Also seen here are Sergeant Hart, who was guarding Baker: He's played by Richard Steele who was Gorton in The War Games and will be a Guard in The Mark of the Rani. He'd been the television Quatermass and the Pit as a Sightseer in Hob.

Travis, the technician controlling the power room during the cut, is played by Ian Talbot who returns as Klout in The Leisure Hive. According to IMDB he was awarded the O.B.E. in the 2008 Queen's New Years Honours List for his services to drama as the former Artistic Director of the Open Air Theatre in Regent's Park in London, England

No new Technicians this episode, just Alex Hood, Barry Kennington, Michael Earl, Keith Ashley, Olive MacNeill and Pat Matthews from earlier episodes.

Given the large amounts of location work in the previous two episode it's something of a surprise to discover that this is the only episode of Doctor Who in the first two years of Jon Pertwee's time as the Doctor to be completely filmed in the studio with no location work.

Two day after this episode was broadcast the third Doomwatch episode Burial at Sea was shown on BBC1.

260 Doctor Who and the Silurians: Episode Three

EPISODE: Doctor Who and the Silurians: Episode Three
OVERALL EPISODE NUMBER: 260
STORY NUMBER: 052
TRANSMITTED: Saturday 14 February 1970
WRITER: Malcolm Hulke
DIRECTOR: Timothy Combe
SCRIPT EDITOR: Terrance Dicks
PRODUCER: Barry Letts
RATINGS: 7.5 million viewers
FORMAT: DVD: Doctor Who - Beneath the Surface (The Silurians/The Sea Devils /Warriors of the Deep)
EPISODE FORMAT: 16mm b&w film recording recoloured using 525 off air video

"It was like a reptile, but it walked upright like a man!"

When the humanoid creature sees Liz it flees. The Brigadier orders a manhunt over the moor. Quinn arrives at the barn behaving suspiciously. Tracks for the creature are found and end at some tire marks. The Doctor visits Quinn at his cottage, finding the heating on full blast and it's owner uncooperative. Baker bursts into a meeting between UNIT and Dr Lawrence demanding a search of the caves. He's escorted back to the sickbay by Captain Hawkins while Dr Lawrence tells the Brigadier he is displeased with UNIT's performance and has summoned under secretary Masters from the ministry. The Doctor breaks into Quinn's office, discovering a globe depicting the Earth millions of years ago. He's discovered by Miss Dawson warns Quinn. Quinn says he will keep the creature captive until he gets the scientific information he desires. The Doctor visits Quinn's cottage again and finds him dead.

Taking the signal device from him, the Doctor activates it, summoning the creature into the room.

There's some great goggle eyed Pertwee gurning at the end of the episode as he sees the Silurian for the first time!

When I watched this episode for the daily Blog, my wife Liz turned to me at the end and asked how many were left. The look on her face when I said Four said it all. At the time I felt it was just so slow this story, taking ages to go anywhere, but this time round I liked this episode. Yes it's a slow burner but things develop during it.

First Quinn unexpectedly turns up at the farm and is rather evasive with the Doctor, setting his suspicions off so the Doctor makes a house call:

QUINN: Yes?
DOCTOR: I thought you were going straight back to the research centre.
QUINN: Yes, yes, I am.
DOCTOR: Only I saw your car was still parked outside. I thought perhaps you might have been taken ill again.
QUINN: No, no, I'm perfectly all right, thank you. I just had to come back for something, that's all
DOCTOR: What a charming place. Mmm, charming. Lovely old grandfather clock. Is this the living room? Oh yes, very nice. Very nice. Had the place long, have you?
QUINN: No, I bought it a few months after I got the job here. Look Doctor, I'm sorry but I really have to be
DOCTOR: Centrally heated too, eh?
QUINN: It gets very cold up here.
DOCTOR: Yes. Still, you do keep it very warm though, don't you?
QUINN: Yes, well, the thermostat's jammed, you see. I'm having it fixed.
DOCTOR: Perhaps you'd like me to look at it for you, I like tinkering with these gadgets.
QUINN: That's very kind of you but I've already sent for the people who installed it.
DOCTOR: Good, good. Only it is rather like the reptile house in the zoo, isn't it?
QUINN: What do you mean? Eh? What do you mean?
DOCTOR: Nothing. I was just referring to the temperature of the room.
QUINN: Doctor, I'm sorry but I really must ask you to leave. There's something very urgent I have to do before I go back to the centre.
DOCTOR: Oh? Yes, yes, of course. I'm so sorry to have taken up so much of your time.
QUINN: Not at all. I'm only sorry that I seem to have been rather
DOCTOR: My word, it's just as hot out here, isn't it? You really must get that thermostat fixed, you know. Anything wrong?
QUINN: Er, no.
DOCTOR: You'd save yourself a lot of trouble if you'd let me help you. They didn't catch it, you know.

Suspicions obviously still there, The Doctor and Liz burgle Quinn's office and make some discoveries:

LIZ: Look, what exactly are we looking for?
DOCTOR: Anything. I must know more about Doctor Quinn. Hand me that paper knife, Liz, will you?
LIZ: Yes, here.
DOCTOR: Thank you.
LIZ: What do you think you're doing?
DOCTOR: Breaking open the cabinet, m'dear. He's not going to leave anything important just lying around, is he? There we are. Now then, what have we got here? Pitons, notes. What's this? Let's have a look at these.
LIZ: What's that?
DOCTOR: Some kind of a ball. It's got some markings on it. Have a look.
LIZ: It's a globe. Surely that's the shape of the west coast of America. No. No, the land mass is all bunched together

DOCTOR: What's that? Let me have a look at that. Of course. This is the world as it was before the great continental drift, two hundred million years ago. And these notes, well, they're calculations on the age of the earth, with particular reference to the Silurian era.
DAWSON: What are you doing in here? This is Doctor Quinn's private office! I shall have to inform the Director about this.
DOCTOR: That won't help Doctor Quinn, will it?
DAWSON: What are you talking about?
DOCTOR: I'm talking about the caves, Miss Dawson.
DAWSON: What about them?
DOCTOR: There's something down there, and I think Doctor Quinn knows what it is. Now look, you must tell me what you know, Miss Dawson, before anybody else gets killed. Maybe even Doctor Quinn.
DAWSON: Oh, I warned him.
DOCTOR: Warned him? Warned him about what?
DAWSON: I promised not to tell anyone, but if Doctor Quinn is in danger, I
BRIGADIER: Ah Doctor, we're due for a meeting with
DOCTOR: Yes, Miss Dawson?
DAWSON: I'm sorry, Doctor, I can't help you. If you'll excuse me.
BRIGADIER: What was all that about?
DOCTOR: Never mind, Lethbridge-Stewart, it's too late now.

Miss Dawson then goes to warn Quinn and his motives and greed for scientific fame stand revealed!

QUINN: What do you want?
DAWSON: That Doctor, the one with UNIT, I caught him searching your office.
QUINN: He had no right.
DAWSON: You can't go on like this. Don't you realise? People are being killed, and it's your fault. You've got to tell someone.
QUINN: No. Not until I'm ready.
DAWSON: Oh John, please. Please, let me tell this Doctor. He'll believe you. He wants to help you.
QUINN: He's a scientist, too. He only wants to steal the credit for my discoveries.
DAWSON: What discoveries? They haven't told you anything yet.
QUINN: They will now. I can make them.
DAWSON: You can't make them do anything.
QUINN: I've got one of them here. The one they were hunting. I've got it locked up.
DAWSON: But it might kill you. It's already killed that farmer.
QUINN: That creature in there is a scientist. With the knowledge it can give me, I can prove
DAWSON: It won't give you anything!
QUINN: Unless I get it back to the caves it will die. And I won't take it back until it tells me what I want to know.

And that desire is what presumably has led to his death, which is a shame because I rather liked his character.

BAKER: Everything! I saw this man. He must have been a saboteur. I took a shot at him, and then. And then I. Everything went black. Oh look, isn't the Brigadier taking any action?
LIZ: I'm sure he is. Just leave it to him. Look, I must go.
BAKER: Miss Shaw. Please, I have got to see the Brigadier.

Of the rest of the centre's staff Major Baker's annoying me with his insistence on saboteurs being responsible for the centre's problems and Doctor Lawrence is annoying me with his officialness, hindering UNIT's investigation, which is a shame as I enjoy other performances by both the actors involved!

DOCTOR: Look, I tell you, gentlemen, that the interference is definitely coming from those caves!
BAKER:Exactly, Doctor. This centre is being sabotaged.
BRIGADIER: Major Baker, you are supposed to be in the Sickbay.
BAKER: I am perfectly all right, thank you. I propose that we move down there in force, sir.
DOCTOR: That, Major Baker, is precisely what we must not do at this present time.
BAKER: I insist that you take some positive action.
BRIGADIER: I shall decide what action I shall take, and you, Major Baker, will return to the Sickbay and remain there till I send for you.
BAKER: Oh, this is ridiculous!
BRIGADIER: And that will be all, Major Baker. Captain Hawkins, you will accompany Major Baker to the Sickbay and see that he remains there.
HAWKINS: Sir!
LAWRENCE: Do I now take it you have arrested my security officer?
BRIGADIER: Major Baker isn't himself.
DOCTOR: I must say, Brigadier, that I'm delighted that you didn't agree with him.
BRIGADIER: Oh but I do. I intend to send for more men and mount a full scale search of those caves.
DOCTOR: Now look if you'd just give me a little more time
BRIGADIER: I'm sorry, Doctor. My mind is made up.
LAWRENCE: I advise you to do your best to achieve some kind of results in the time available to you.
BRIGADIER: Sir?
LAWRENCE: Masters, the Permanent Under-Secretary, is coming down here to conduct a personal investigation. Unless you can impress him more than you impress me, you may well find yourself transferred to some simpler duties, more within your scope.
BRIGADIER: Doctor Lawrence, as I believe I have told you before
DOCTOR: Stupid bumbling idiots, the pair of them.

Yes your eyes are not deceiving you, that is who you think it is playing Captain Hawkins, the UNIT Officer leading the search on the moorlands. Ladies and Gentlemen, the great Paul Darrow appearing in his first Doctor Who story. He was in the previous episode, but more in the background there and I struggled to get a decent shot of him!

He is of course best known as Avon in Blake's 7. He'll be back as Tekker in Timelash where he hams it up dreadfully extracting revenge on Colin Baker's performance in the Blake's 7 episode "City at the Edge of the World". We'll here a lot more about Blake's 7 later on but you can read my Blake's 7 blog where I watched all of that series.

Several of the Blake's 7 cast show up in other Doctor Who episodes: Peter Tuddenham (Zen/Orac/Slave) is in Ark in Space, Masque of Mandragora & Time & the Rani as various voices, Michael Keating (Villa) is in the Sunmakers, Brian Croucher (the Second Travis) is in Robots of Death and Jacqueline Pearce (Servalan) is in the Two Doctors. Blake's 7 was created by Terry Nation (of Daleks fame), produced by David Maloney (frequent Who director, most recently seen by us directing the War Games), script edited by Chris Boucher (who we'll hear from later) and had episodes written by Robert Holmes. The cast shared by the series is sop extensive I'd be here forever listing them all so as each of the Blake's 7 regulars listed above shows up in Doctor Who I'll list the shared cast for each of it's four seasons.

Ha! Just got the joke behind Paul Darrow's character name. The Brigadier's revolving door of Captains in his first few stories is frequently referred to as "The Interchangeable Jimmys" (Jimmy Turner in the Invasion & Jimmy Monroe in Spearhead from Space). If this character was a Jimmy too he'd be Jim Hawkins!

We get a much more extensive look at the Hankley Common location this episode as UNIT conduct their search:

The scale of the operation is made obvious by some overhead shots filmed using the same helicopter seen in the story:

It's not 100% clear on-screen, and indeed I can see one sit that thinks otherwise, but publicity photos taken at the time make it clear the helicopter used here G-AWFL is the same helicopter used in The Invasion and which returns in the next story, The Ambassadors of Death

The exterior filming at Hankley Common on Monday the 17th and Tuesday 18th November 1969 and at Sheep Hatch Farm the previous Friday, 14th November features a large number of soldiers played by different supporting artists to those used in episode 2, who were used for the studio session in the cave set on Monday 15th and Sunday 21st December 1969.

Reg Cranfield is the very first actor seen in Doctor Who: he played the policeman at the start of An Unearthly Child, replacing Frederick Rawlings who fulfilled the same role in the pilot. Cranfield then went on to play a Parisian Man in The Massacre, a settler in the Gunfighters, an Atlantean Priest & Man in the Market in The Underwater Menace and a UNIT Soldier/Bunker Man in The Invasion. He returns as a Solonian in The Mutants, a Villager in The Green Death and a Time Lord in the Deadly Assassin. He also plays a Soldier in the Adam Adamant Lives! episode D for Destruction.

Kevin Glenny had been a Thal in The Daleks as had Vez Delahunt and==> who went on to play a Galley Slave & double for the Centurion's Corpse in The Romans.

Jay McGrath was a Soldier in The Reign of Terror, and a Worker & Soldier in The War Machines. He returns as a Colonist & possibly a Primitive in Colony in Space, a SRS Scientist and a SRS Bouncer/Officer/Audience Member in Robot, a Man in Image of the Fendahl, a Priest in Androids of Tara, a Patient in Frontios, and a Dead Androgum in The Two Doctors. In Adam Adamant Lives! he was an RA Camp Guard in D for Destruction and Carry On Doctor he's a Visitor. He's in both The Sweeney, as a Detective and Contact Breaker, and it's first big screen version Sweeney! as a Man in Street. In Yes Minister he's a Restaurant Patron in Jobs for the Boys and inOctopussy he's an Auction Patron.

Derek Chafer was a Saxon in The Time Meddler, a Greek/Trojan Soldiers/People in Square in The Myth Makers, a Guard in the Massacre, a Settler in The Gunfighters, a Cyberman in The Moonbase, a Guard in Fury from the Deep, a Cyberman in The Invasion and a Miner, Issigri HQ in The Space Pirates. He returns as a Military Policeman & a Unit Soldier in The Ambassadors of Death, a Prisoner in Mind of Evil, a Primitive in Colony in Space, a Guard in Curse of Peladon, a Warrior in the Mutants, an Exillon in Death to the Daleks, a Guard in Monster of Peladon, a Soldier, Armourer & Brethren in Masque of Mandragora, a Levithian Guard in Ribos Operation a Gracht Guard in The Androids of Tara, a Skonnan Elder in Horns of the Nimon, Doctor Body Parts & a Pangol Doctor in The Leisure Hive and a Gundam in Warriors Gate. In Out of the Unknown he was a Man in 1+1=1.5 and in Doomwatch he was a Man in Project Sahara, Re-Entry Forbidden & The Red Sky. In Monty Python's Flying Circus he was a gasman in Dinsdale!

Vic Taylor was a Saxon in The Time Meddler, the Cardinal's Guard in The Massacre, a Worker/Soldier in The War Machines, an English Soldier in The Highlanders, an ATC Technician in The Faceless Ones, a Guard on Fire Escape in The Enemy of the World, and a Technician in Fury From The Deep. He returns as a Man in Pub/Coven in The Dæmons, and a Solonian in The Mutants. His Doomwatch roles were a man in Burial at Sea and a Police Constable in Fire and Brimstone. He was in Adam Adamant Lives! twice as an S.S. Man in A Sinister Sort of Service and a TA Soldier in D for Destruction.

Bill Lodge was a Rill in Galaxy Four. He returns as a Villager in The Dæmons, a Functionary in Carnival of Monsters and one of Irongron�s Men in The Time Warrior. IMDB has him down for two Doomwatch appearances as a Lab Assistant in the first episode The Plastic Eaters and a man in Spectre at the Feast.

Les Conrad had been a Tavern Customer in The Massacre, a Unit Soldier in The Invasion, a Pirate in The Space Pirates and a 1862 Union Soldier and an Alien Guard in The War Games. He returns as a UNIT Soldier, Control Room Assistant & Policeman in The Ambassadors of Death, a RSF soldier in Inferno, a UNIT soldier again in Terror of the Autons, a Prisoner & Military Policeman in The Mind of Evil, a Colonist in The Colony in Space, a UNIT Soldier in Time Monster, a Technician/Guard/Citizen in Pirate Planet, a Policeman in Timeflight, a 1983 Schoolmaster in Mawdryn Undead, a Gunrunner in Caves of Androzani, a Jacondan Guard in The Twin Dilemma, which also features his twin sons as the Sylvest twins, and a guard in Vengeance on Varos. He'd been a British Soldier in The Andromeda Breakthrough: Gale Warning, a man in Doomwatch: Burial at Sea, appears in the Blake's 7 episode Gold as a Space Princess Guard/Passenger, is a soldier in The Day of the Triffids and is a Legionnaire in the Douglas Camfield helmed classic serial of Beau Geste.

Arthur McGuire was a guard in The Massacre, an English Soldier and Scotsman in The Highlanders and a Guard on Fire Escape in The Enemy of the World. In Adam Adamant Lives! he's a Partygoer/Tourist in Death Has a Thousand Faces while in Dad's Army he was in the Backrow of the Platoon in Sgt. Wilson's Little Secret & War Dance.

Charles Erskine was a Passer-by in The Massacre, and a Workman in The Faceless Ones. He returns as a Scientist in Genesis of the Daleks. In Adam Adamant Lives! he was a TA Soldier/RA Guard in D for Destruction (1966) and in Doomwatch he was a Man in The Battery People.

Victor Munt was a Guardian in The Ark, an Inferno Customer in The War Machines, a Guard in Power of the Daleks and a UNIT Soldier & Bunker Man in The Invasion. His Man in Doomwatch is in the episode In the Dark and in Adam Adamant Lives! he was a Partygoer/Tourist in Death Has a Thousand Faces.

Crawford Lyle had been the Airport Police at the Immigration Desk in The Faceless Ones, a Warrior Monk in The Abominable Snowmen, a UNIT Soldier and a Bunker Man in The Invasion and a Technician in Seeds of Death. He returns as a UNIT Soldier in Ambassadors of Death,

Charles Finch was a Llama in The Abominable Snowmen, a Guard in Fury from the Deep and a Cyberman, UNIT Soldier and Bunker Man in The Invasion. He goes on to play a Medical Orderly in Mind of Evil, a Colonist in Colony in Space and a Man in Pub/Coven & a Villager in The Dæmons.

Bobby Beaumont was a Llama in The Abominable Snowmen, a Technician in Fury from The Deep and a UNIT Soldiers/Bunker Men in The Invasion.

Gary Dean was a Technician in The Ice Warriors, a Guard in The Enemy of the World, a UNIT Soldier in The Invasion, a German Soldier in The War Games and a Regular Army Soldier in Spearhead from Space. He returns as an Earth Control Guard in The Mutants, a Lunar Guard in Frontier in Space, a Spiridon in Planet of the Daleks, a guard in Pirate Planet, a Technician in The Armageddon Factor, a medic in Nightmare of Eden, a Passenger in Time-Flight and a Pallbearer in Remembrance of the Daleks. He was in Doomwatch as a Man in Project Sahara and Fawlty Towers as a Hotel Guest in Communication problems.

Walter Turner returns as a Primitive in Colony in Space, a Palace Guard in Androids of Tara and a Logopolitan in Logopolis. In Blake's 7 he was a Crimo in Hostage while in Doomwatch he was a Man in You Killed Toby Wren and in the 1972 Doomwatch film he was Mr. Murray.

Lionel Sansby returns as one of the Complex Personnel in Hand of Fear and a Passenger in Nightmare of Eden. He would have been a Krarg in Shada but that story was cancelled, Afterwards he returns as a Cricketer in Black Orchid, a Passenger in Time Flight, one of the Men in the Cave Crowd in Snakedance, and as a Lazar in Terminus. In Blake's 7 he was a Federation Trooper in Seek-Locate-Destroy and in Doomwatch he was a Man in No Room for Error.

Colin Thomas returns as Sole in The Face of Evil, a Mentiad in The Pirate Planet, a customer in Cafe in The City of Death, a Don in Shada - is he the only person apart from Tom Baker and James Muir in all three Douglas Adams stories, a Foster in Keeper of Traken, a Logopolitan in Logopolis, a Gallifreyan in Arc of Infinity, an Elder in Planet of Fire and a Pallbearer in Remembrance of the Daleks.

Paul Barton was the Injured Silurian's Voice in episode 2: see there for his credits. He plays a Silurian later in this story.

Tony McKinnon is in Doomwatch as a Man in Burial at Sea which also features, as another man, Brian Scott who later appears as a man in Burial at Sea and Spectre at the Feast.

Bill Leonard was in the Monty Python's Flying Circus episodes The Buzz Aldrin Show as a Hench-vicar and It's a Living as a Guest at Award Ceremony. In Doomwatch he was a Man in Project Sahara.

Charles Elkin, Ladbrow, Laurence Norburne & Raoul Johns all have no further appearances in Doctor Who

The UNIT Dog Handler is Graham Warwick from Animal Kingdom.

Three of the actors on location are down as UNIT Soldiers/Policemen 3:

Jay Neill, was previously a Kanowa Guard in The Enemy of the World. He returns as an IMC Guard in Colony in Space, a Pikeman in The Masque of Mandragora , Silvey in The Invisible Enemy and Guard Klimt in The Underworld. He made several appearances in Doomwatch as a Man in Project Sahara, Laing in The Battery People, a Man in By the Pricking of My Thumbs..., a Young Man in Flight Into Yesterday and a Man in Flood. In Monty Python's Flying Circus he was an Armoured Knight in Njorl's Saga, in Fawlty Towers he's a Bar Guest in The Wedding Party and in Yes Minister he's a Bodyguard in The Death List.

Bruce Cox is on his Doctor Who debut and returns as a Jeep Driver in Ambassadors of Death, a Driver in Inferno and an Army Driver in Invasion of the Dinosaurs.

This is the only appearance by Peter Blackburn in Doctor Who.

Likewise there are two actors down playing UNIT Drivers/Ambulance Men on location in this episode:

Dennis MacTighe was the UNIT Driver & an Ambulance Driver in Spearhead from Space. In Monty Python's Flying Circus he plays Superman's Bus Driver in How to Recognise Different Types of Trees from Quite a Long Way Away.

Richard Pickford, who's also a Police/Ambulance Man in episode 5, and then returns as a Jeep Driver in Ambassadors of Death, a Chauffeur in Day of the Daleks and a Lorry Troop Driver in The Time Monster.

Finally there's two new Technicians in this episode who both return in the next: Olive MacNeill played a Female Savage in The Savages. while Pat Matthews, who was a Gond in The Krotons, also plays a Plague Victim in episode 6 and then returns as a Technician in Inferno. If the numbers in the DWAS Production file are right they are the only technicians in this episode and both return next episode with some of the Technicians from earlier episode.

Two day after this episode was broadcast the second Doomwatch episode Friday's Child was shown on BBC1.