295 Colony in Space: Episode Three

EPISODE: Colony in Space: Episode Three
OVERALL EPISODE NUMBER: 295
STORY NUMBER: 058
TRANSMITTED: Saturday 24 April 1971
WRITER: Malcolm Hulke
DIRECTOR: Michael Briant
SCRIPT EDITOR: Terrance Dicks
PRODUCER: Barry Letts
RATINGS: 9.5 million viewers
FORMAT: DVD: Doctor Who - Colony In Space
EPISODE FORMAT: 525 video RSC

"You know this is an act of piracy punishable by death under interplanetary law?"

The Doctor attacks Morgan seizing the remote control for the robot. The Colonists are struggling to restore power when IMC move their ship closer to the colony, announcing their presence. IMC Captain Dent summons an adjudicator, but the Doctor returns saying he was attacked by the robot. The Doctor tries to repair the generator while Norton denounces his story. Winton & Jo try to find evidence on the IMC ship but Norton radios Dent to tell him they are there. The Doctor restores the power back to the colony. Jo & Winton are imprisoned in a primitive dwelling chained to a drilling explosive to ensure the Doctor's co-operation. Winton escapes, but Jo is recaptured. Winton is saved from pursuing guards by Caldwell, then incites the colonists to attack the IMC ship. Caldwell arranges Jo's release to prevent the attack, but she's seized by the primitives. The Doctor helps colonists get into the ship to capture the crew. The Doctor & Ashe search for Jo, finding her guard's body. Jo is taken to the Primitive's underground city....

What possessed Jo to try to break into the IMC ship?

NORTON: What's he talking about? Optical trickery? I've been hunted by those things. You've seen them.
WINTON: I saw something. It could have been faked.
NORTON: I tell you the man's crazy. Those creatures are real and you know it!
JO: If the Doctor says they were faked, they were faked.
WINTON: Yes, but he hasn't managed to produce any evidence, has he?
JO: Well, why don't we do something?
WINTON: Such as what?
JO: Well, we could find some proof.
WINTON: Where?
JO: We could start with the IMC spaceship.

Honestly.....

It was obvious that something wasn't right about Norton, and now his true colours & allegiance are revealed:

NORTON: Norton to IMC. Urgent message. Two colonists are about to enter your ship.

On the positive side Caldwell's dissatisfaction with IMC's polices is coming over nicely

DOCTOR: Ah, Caldwell. Working out your future bonuses?
CALDWELL: What do you want?
DOCTOR: I want your help.
CALDWELL: I work for IMC.
DOCTOR: Did you know that Captain Dent had given orders to have me killed?
CALDWELL: No.
DOCTOR: Or that they've taken Jo Grant prisoner and may kill her?
CALDWELL: Look, Dent's just bluffing to scare you into keeping quiet.
DOCTOR: Tomorrow morning, the colonists are going to attack your spaceship.
CALDWELL: Then you'd better stop them. The guards will mow them down.
DOCTOR: I know. That's why I'm here. There's something that you can do to help me.
CALDWELL: What?
DOCTOR: Release Jo Grant before the attack starts.
CALDWELL: All right, I'll do what I can. But you'd better stop that attack, Doctor. It won't be a battle, it'll be a slaughter.

MORGAN: Message from Earth Control. An Adjudicator's on his way.
DENT: Did they say who?
MORGAN: No.
DENT: Doesn't matter. Allen's still guarding the girl?
MORGAN: Yes. I'd better send someone to relieve him.
CALDWELL: Never mind about relieving that guard, Morgan. You just have the girl brought back here.
DENT: What are you talking about?
CALDWELL: Now you heard me. Have her brought back.
DENT: You're not in command of this ship.
CALDWELL: I'm in command of the mining operation. If the girl isn't brought back, the survey stops.
DENT: You'd be breaking your contract.
CALDWELL: You would have to explain to head office.
DENT: Have her brought back. Caldwell, you've just committed professional suicide.

While you hope the Adjudicator's arrival will help to resolve the Colonists' issues their actions here won't have done them any favours. First one of them breaks into the ship with Jo and then they storm it capturing the IMC crew!

Of course you're very much getting the feel that the system is bent in IMC's favour anyway from what you hear from both sides in this story.

DENT: I can assure you, Mister Ashe, I'm as surprised as you are. How long have you been here?
ASHE: More than a year now. You realize this planet has been assigned for colonisation?
DENT: No, not according to my company. We've been assigned full mineral rights.
ASHE: Then your people must have made a mistake.
DENT: Or yours. In any event, we're both here, so there's only one remedy. We shall have to send for an Adjudicator.
WINTON: Yes, we know all about that. It takes years to reach a decision, and by then you've chewed up the entire planet.
DENT: I'm sure you agree we must apply the proper procedures.

But don't forget: there's a tinsy hanging plot thread from the first episode: Why has the Doctor been sent here by the Time Lords in the first place?

We've seen Human colonies before in Doctor Who. The Ark is all about the remainder of the human race travelling to a new world, whereas the Doctor visits established colonies on Vulcan, in the Power of the Daleks, the unnamed planet in the Macra Terror and the Issigri Mining Corporation's base on Ta. Interestingly all three of these worlds show or mention Mining taking place in connection with the Colony. Here the focus is on living and there's conflict with those who want to mine. We'll return to Earth colonies in The Mutants, The Planet of the Spiders, The Ark in Space & The Sontaran Experiment (kind of), The Face of Evil, The Robots of Death, The Sunmakers, State of Decay, Kinda & Snakedance, Frontios, Revelation of the Daleks & The Happiness Patrol. In addition to these, there's many planets the Doctor visits inhabited by civilisations that could be human colonies that have evolved & changed or that might be actually be humanoid primitives that have evolved into a form similar to Humans - in most cases it's just no clear but I think we can be sure about the Kaleds, Thals, Time Lords & Sisterhood of Kahn aren't Earth originated humans! Insinuating that would be opening a whole can of worms that I don't want to go near!

Stanley McGeagh playing Allen, the guard watching over Jo, returns as Drew in The Sea Devils. He was in UFO twice as a SHADO Security Man in E.S.P. and a SHADO Guard in Mindbender

Playing IMC crewman Long is the great Pat Gorman, making what I think is his first speaking appearance in Doctor Who as a named character! So 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, a Military Policeman in The War Games episode two, the Silurian Scientist in The Silurians, a Technician in The Ambassadors of Death, a Primord in Inferno and the Auton Leader in Terror of the Autons. In he other episodes of this story he plays a Primitive. He returns as a Coven Member in 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.

Likewise, as we mentioned in episode one, this is Roy Skelton's first appearance in front of Camera as Norton. Usually a Voice Artist for he program he first appeared providing Monoid voices in The Ark episode 4: The Bomb before returning in The Tenth Planet as the Cybermen's voices, with a bonus go as the control room countdown voice. At the end of that season he finally starts work on his most famous Doctor Who role, as the Dalek voice, in The Evil of the Daleks episode 1 before playing the Computer voice in The Ice Warriors and reprising the Cyberman voice in the Wheel in Space, both in the next season. His one appearance in Patrick Troughton's final season as The Krotons' voice in The Krotons after which he didn't feature in the series again until this story. Following this he's Wester in Planet of the Daleks, invisible until his death when he is briefly seen, a story for which he also provides Dalek voices. He's called back to Doctor Who quickly as an emergency substitute playing James in The Green Death episode five after another actor fell ill. He's the Daleks' voice in Genesis of the Daleks before making two on-screen appearances under makes up as Marshall Chedaki in The Android Invasion and Rokon in The Hand of Fear. He's returns to Dalek voices in Destiny of the Daleks, where he also briefly plays K-9's voice too, before providing Dalek voices in The Five Doctors, Revelation of the Daleks and Remembrance of the Daleks. He's got an Out of the Unknown appearance to his name, providing Robot voices in The Prophet, which is the story who's robot costumes were reused for The Mind Robber and features The Stones of Blood's Beatrix Lehmann as Dr. Susan Calvin. Alas no recording of the episode survives so the only trace of it on the Out of the Unknown DVD Set is a series of off-screen images. Despite this mass of Doctor who work the roles which Skelton is most famous for are the voices of Zippy and George in Rainbow and when interviewed for Doctor who: Cybermen: The Early Years he can't resist signing off as his most famous creations!

This story is also a return for regular Dalek Operator John Scott Martin. He'd made his Doctor Who debut in The Web Planet as a Zarbi graduating to Dalek Operator in The Chase three stories later a role he'd repeated in Mission to the Unknown, The Dalek Masterplan,Power of the Daleks and Evil of the Daleks. He'll return as a Dalek in Day of the Daleks, Frontier in Space, Planet of the Daleks, Death to the Daleks, Genesis of the Daleks, The Five Doctors, Resurrection of the Daleks, Revelation of the Daleks and Remembrance of the Daleks. He also plays the Robot in Colony in Space, Charlie in The Dæmons, a Mutant in the Mutants, Hughes in The Green Death, a guard in Robot and Kriz in Brain of Morbius. His distinctive hair makes him a familiar figure amongst bit part actors in many television roles: he was in Quatermass and the Pit as a T.V. Technician in The Wild Hunt and A for Andromeda as a Lab Assistant / Man in Pub in The Message. He appears in the missing Out of the Unknown episode The Naked Sun as a robot but misses out when The Daleks turn up in Get Off My Cloud. In Doomwatch he's a Man in The Islanders and e appears in the first episode of The Tripods as the Schoolmaster. Away from science fiction he was in I, Claudius as Julia's Lover in Waiting in the Wings and a Slave in Some Justice and appears on the big screen in Pink Floyd - The Wall as a Dancing Teacher.