334 Carnival of Monsters: Episode One

EPISODE: Carnival of Monsters: Episode One
OVERALL EPISODE NUMBER: 334
STORY NUMBER: 066 TRANSMITTED: Saturday 27 January 1973
WRITER: Robert Holmes
DIRECTOR: Barry Letts
SCRIPT EDITOR: Terrance Dicks
PRODUCER: Barry Letts
RATINGS: 9.5 million viewers
FORMAT: DVD: Doctor Who Revisitations 2: Seeds of Death, Carnival of Monsters & Resurrection of the Daleks
EPISODE FORMAT: 625 video

"I just want you to admit the truth, that's all. Well, instead of swanning around some distant galaxy, we've slipped back about forty years in time and we're on a little cargo boat in the middle of the Indian Ocean!"

On the planet Inter Minor, Kalik & Orum witness the arrival of the cargo shuttle which discharges the humanoid Lurmans Vorg & Shirna from it's cargo bay along with their scope. One of the functionary workers rebels and is stunned by Kalik. The Tardis materialises in the hold of the SS Bernice in the Indian ocean: The Doctor was aiming for Metebelis III, the famous blue planet in the Acteon Group. Vorg starts his show pitch when the Scope start to show a defect. Exploring the ship they encounter the sleeping Major Daly, while his daughter Clare and her beau Lt John Andrews take a stroll round the deck. Jo finds a paper proving the date as a plesiosaurus surfaces scaring Clare. They are spotted by Daly and held prisoner by Andrews as stowaways and locked in Daly's cabin. En Route The Doctor & Jo find an odd silver hexagonal plate in the floor which Andrews can't see. The Doctor explains to Jo that the Bernice was lost at see on June 4th 1926 which is the day marked on the calender. Jo notices that the clock has gone back an hour while they've been imprisoned. Jo unlocks the door with her skeleton keys and they escape. The third member of commission, Pletrac, arrives and between them they decide to deport Vorg & Shirna. Vorg attempts to deceive them with a document they think is signed by their president Zarb but is actually signed by the Wallarian Wrestler the great Zarb. Returning to the Tardis for a device to open the deck plate, The Doctor & Jo witness the humans on the boat repeating the same things they did before. The Doctor believes they have been programmed to repeat a pattern and that the ship is part of some collection. On cue the plesiosaur arrives creating a diversion which allows the Doctor & Jo to get back to the Tardis in the hull. The Doctor goes inside to fetch his magnetic core extractor but is called out by Jo as a giant hand reaches in and removes the Tardis.

From this episode it almost seems likes there's two disconnected stories going on here:

First we have Vorg, Shirna & the three officials on Inter Minor:

Then there's The Doctor & Jo who find themselves on a boat from the 1920s

And at no point in this first episode do the stories directly cross!

The Doctor's strand has several mysterious elements built in: we know something is going to happen/has already happened to the Bernice on this day.

DOCTOR: Oh, look. Daly's been keeping track of the date. I suppose the name of this ship means nothing to you, Jo?
JO: No. Should it?
DOCTOR: Well, in its time, the SS Bernice was as famous a sea mystery as the Marie Celeste.
JO: Why? What happened?
DOCTOR: Nobody really knows. A freak tidal wave was the popular explanation, although the Indian Ocean was as flat as a millpond on that night.
JO: You mean she sank?
DOCTOR: No, she vanished, Jo. Two days out from Bombay on June the 4th, 1926, the SS Bernice just disappeared off the face of the Earth.
JO: Disappeared on June the, June the 4th? But according to that calendar, that's today.
DOCTOR: Yes, intriguing, isn't it?

We've also got an out of place plesiosaur, some odd repeating behaviour, the mysterious hexagonal deck plate and, finally, the odd giant hand to contend with!

Following Troughton smacking the Tardis console in the previous story to get it working we now have some more "delicate technical adjustments" from Vorg, who also gets to engage in a discussion about his entertainment with Plectrac:

PLETRAC: From your data discs, it appear that you travel from planet to planet performing some kind of ritual with this machine? For what purpose?
SHIRNA: We are entertainers.
PLETRAC: Entertainers? Explain the term.
SHIRNA: We put on a show. You understand?
PLETRAC: No.
VORG: Our purpose is to amuse, simply to amuse. Nothing serious, nothing political.

This is just the start of this story's comments on television!

KALIK: Amusement is prohibited. It's purposeless.
PLETRAC: Zarb is considering lifting that restriction. The latest thinking is that the latest outbreak of violence among the functionaries is caused through lack of amusement.
KALIK: Oh, more anti-productive legislation.
ORUM: Where will it end?
KALIK: One can see where it will end, Orum. Ultimately, the functionaries will take over.
ORUM: Take over?

The class system on Inter Minor is obvious, with the population divided into two groups, which seem to be different species:

PLETRAC: Another functionary has dared to ascend to the higher level.
KALIK: One witnessed the event.
ORUM: One cannot understand why they do it.
KALIK: But then one is not a functionary.
PLETRAC: It is a growing problem. As members of the official species, we must all share President Zarb's concern.
ORUM: They've no sense of responsibility. Give them a hygiene chamber and they store fossil fuel in it.

The last line is a corruption of the old phrase "give them a bath and they'll store coal in it!"

Carnival of Monsters was the first Pertwee tale I saw, and also was my introduction to Jo Grant as a companion. It was shown 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. Carnival was made before that tale though, and had an earlier production code so maybe that influenced the decision as well as the desire to show the first episode of Three Doctors on the show's eighteenth birthday. You wonder if an earlier four part Pertwee such as Spearhead from Space, which establishes the Doctor's exile on Earth, or Day of the Daleks, which feature the Doctor's mortal enemies who don't feature during the Five Faces season, might been a better story choice for Doctor Who fans following the repeat run. We'll pick the story of Five Faces with it's fifth and final story on 31st May next year.

We know all three of the actors in the Tribunal on Inter-Minor:

Peter Halliday plays Pletrac, the head of the tribunal, having already appeared in The Invasion as Packer and provided voices in both Doctor Who and the Silurians and The Ambassadors of Death. He'll be back in the 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 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: you can see that 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.

Kalik is played by Michael Wisher. We first heard him providing voices in The Seeds of Death, directed by Michael Ferguson who then used in The Ambassadors of Death as John Wakefield. It would have been there that Barry Letts first saw him and he uses him in Terror of the Autons as Rex Farrel and again here. For the next two stories, Frontier in Space & Planet of the Daleks, we'll hear his voice as a Dalek a role he continues in Death to the Daleks and, uncredited, in Genesis of the Daleks where ascends to Doctor Who superstardom as Davros, the Daleks creator. He's then back in the very next story as Magrik in Revenge of the Cybermen then two stories later in the Planet of Evil as Morelli and the voice of Ranjit. Producer & Director Barry Letts had previously used him on his Z-Cars story The Saint of Concrete Canyon and he later appears in Moonbase 3 as Harry Sanders in Departure and Arrival.

Lastly Terence Lodge plays Orum. He was Medok in The Macra Terror and returns as Moss, another member of Lupton's gang in the Letts directed Planet of the Spiders. He was in several episodes of THE An Age of Kings series of William Shakespeare history plays and Barry Letts later uses him again as Mr. Spenlow in the Classic Serial version of David Copperfield

Playing the Functionary that ascends to the balcony and is shot by Kalik is stuntman Stuart Fell. He had previously been a UNIT soldier & Auton in Terror of the Autons, UNIT staff member & a photographer in The Mind of Evil, a UNIT Soldier & Axon in The Claws of Axos, Alpha Centauri in The Curse of Peladon and a Guard, Sailor & Sea Devil in The Sea Devils. He returns as Alpha Centauri in The Monster of Peladon, the Tramp in Planet of the Spiders part two who the Doctor drives the hovercraft over, a Guard in Planet of the Spiders, a Wirrn Larvae in The Ark in Space part two & Wirrn Operator in The Ark in Space, Double for Styre in The Sontaran Experiment part one, The Kraal in The Android Invasion part three, the Monster in The Brain of Morbius, Forking peasant / Guard / Acolyte in The Masque of Mandragora, a Policeman, Coolie & the Giant Rat in Talons of Weng Chiang, a Guard in The Sun Makers, a Sontaran in The Invasion of Time, a Shrivenzale in the Ribos Operation, Roga in State of Decay, a Castrovalvan Warrior in Castrovalva, a masked villager in The Visitation and a Cyberman in The Five Doctors plus he did stunts in Terror of the Autons, was fight arranger in The Talons of Weng-Chiang, more stunts in The Ribos Operation & Full Circle and served as fight arranger again in State of Decay. In Blake's 7 he was Dortmunn in Mission to Destiny, a Subterron in Project Avalon, a Goth Warrior in The Keeper, a Sarran in Aftermath, a Labourer in The Harvest of Kyros, a Guard in City at the Edge of the World, a Federation Trooper in Rumours of Death, a Guard in Moloch, a Gunman in Death-Watch, a Link in Terminal & Rescue and a Hommik Warrior in Power plus he was the stunt coordinator for Project Avalon, The Keeper, Aftermath, Volcano, The Harvest of Kyros, City at the Edge of the World, Rumours of Death, Moloch, Death-Watch, Terminal, Rescue & Power. He plays a man in the Doomwatch episode Spectre at the Feast. He's in The Empire Strikes Back as a Snowtrooper and does stunts in Return of the Jedi. He also does stunt work on the Roger Moore James Bond films For Your Eyes Only, Octopussy & A View to a Kill. And so much more.

Of the remaining Functionaries, two are known to us: Murphy Grumbar was first a Dalek, credited as Peter Murphy, in The Daleks & The Dalek Invasion of Earth, then as Murphy Grumber he's Dalek in The Space Museum, Mechanoid in The Chase, a Dalek in The Evil of the Daleks, a Dalek in Day of the Daleks, Arcturus in The Curse of Peladon and a Gell Guard in The Three Doctors, which was filmed after this story. He returns as a Dalek in Frontier in Space, Planet of the Daleks and finally in Death to the Daleks where he's miscredited as Murphy Grunbar.

Bill Lodge was a Rill in Galaxy Four, a Passserby in Spearhead from Space, a UNIT Soldier in Doctor Who and the Silurians and a Villager in The Dæmons. He returns in The Time Warrior as one of Irongron’s Man. 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.

This episode was repeated as part of the Five Faces of Doctor Who on Monday 16TH November 1981 at 17:40. Immediately following that on BBC2 at 18:05 the third episode of series 2 of The Adventure Game aired. The guests for this episode were David Singmaster, Sue Cook & Philip Sheppard. Then on BBC One at 19:20 was the eighth episode of Blake's 7's fourth season Games.

333 The Three Doctors: Episode Four

EPISODE: The Three Doctors: Episode Four
OVERALL EPISODE NUMBER: 333
STORY NUMBER: 065 TRANSMITTED: Saturday 20 January 1973
WRITER: Bob Baker & Dave Martin
DIRECTOR: Lennie Mayne
SCRIPT EDITOR: Terrance Dicks
PRODUCER: Barry Letts
RATINGS: 11.9 million viewers
FORMAT: DVD: Doctor Who Revisitations 3: The Tomb of the Cybermen, The Three Doctors & The Robots of Death
EPISODE FORMAT: 625 video

"I created this world through the power of my will. I created the organisms which brought you here. This is the source of the light stream you travelled along, and I created it. I alone! Omega! And it is not enough. None of it is enough. I am still trapped. As trapped as I was the moment I arrived in this, this desolation."

The Second Doctor interrupts the conflict saving the Third as the humans escape to UNIT HQ. Omega wishes to be free but can't escape because the singularity needs to be controlled. For him to leave someone must take his place: The Doctor. The Doctors remove Omega's protective gear but find that there's nothing underneath because the singularity has eaten his body away. Just his will remains. Enraged at this discovery he begins to destroy his world allowing the Doctors to flee and shelter with the humans in the Tardis. On the Time Lord planet conditions have become critical. The First Doctor appears on the monitor screen and confers with his other selves coming up with a plan to use the Tardis' force field generator. Trying to remove it they discover the Second Doctor's recorder lodged in the force field generator. They contact Omega with an offer of freedom for him. They use the Tardis to travel to Omega's palace where they bargain with him to return the humans to Earth. One by one they pass through the singularity and are returned home. They offer Omega the force field generator. He knocks it aside in anger releasing the still positive matter recorder from within. The explosion creates a new source of energy for the Time Lords to use. The Tardis appears in UNIT HQ which had been returned to Earth with it's occupants once Omega's will was released. The First Doctor speaks with his other selves then first he and then the second Doctor vanish.

THIRD DOCTOR: Well, here we are, back safe and sound.
SECOND DOCTOR: Quite a party.
FIRST DOCTOR: Yes, well, the party's over now. You young men and I go back to our time zones. Though considering the way things have been going, well, I shudder to think what you'll do with out me.

SECOND DOCTOR: Goodbye. Well, goodbye, everybody. Goodbye. It's been so nice to meet me.
THIRD DOCTOR: Yes, I see what you mean. I hope I don't meet me again.
SECOND DOCTOR: Ah.

As the Doctor mourns for Omega a materialisation noise is heard:

DOCTOR: The Time Lords! Look, they've sent me a new dematerialisation circuit. And my knowledge of time travel law and all the dematerialisation codes, they've all come back. They've forgiven me. They've given me back my freedom!

Finally Mr Ollis arrives home...

MRS OLLIS: And where do you think you've been, Arthur Ollis? I've been worried sick about you, I have. Everybody's been searching. Where have you been? Soldiers looking for you. You didn't come home for your dinner. Well?
OLLIS: You'd never believe me, woman. Supper ready?

We complain often enough about television programs pulling story solutions out of thin air: here the solution has been sign posted throughout and it involves the second Doctor's recorder which fell into the force field generator and was thus protected from anti matter conversion. We'll ignore that the Doctor turned the force field off for the Tardis to get converted. The science of the matter & anti-matter colliding producing an explosion is sound (ish) but we're onto wobblier ground with everything being returned home, reconverted back to positive matter and the Doctors being stuck back into the Tardis! Doctor Tyler drew our attention to some time wasting padding in the previous episode and there's more provided here as five characters are slowly one by one transported back to this world. I'm pretty certain this episode sets a record for "most number of people in the Tardis" at SEVEN with the Second & Third Doctors, Jo Grant, Brigadier Lethbridge Stewart, Sergeant Benton, Doctor Tyler & Mister Ollis. This is Sergeant Benton's only visit to the inside of the Tardis but the Brigadier will get another visit some years later.

As the visitors leave we get our first good look at the Tardis doors for a while. The outsides are still sporting the flat panels they gained in The Colony in Space, when the sets saw double use as The Master's Tardis, but they're now painted blue like the Doctor's Tardis exterior.

This episode marks a turning point for the series. Both Producer Barry Letts and Script Editor Terrance Dicks had been not 100% comfortable with the "Doctor exiled to Earth" idea and had been stretching it for some time. Now the Doctor gets his freedom back and can roam the Galaxy more freely. Unit will return, usually at the start and end of a season of stories for a few years yet.

Second Doctor Patrick Troughton continued to be a much in demand actor and returns twice more to the show in both The Five Doctors and The Two Doctors but sadly this episode marks the last acting role for First Doctor William Hartnell. As we've seen he wasn't at all well during the making of this story and he died just over two years later on 23rd April 1975 aged 67.

Three Doctors has never been a go to story for me but I loved seeing it this time round. As you probably know I have a few blog entries saved up so sometimes I watch more than on episode in a day. I watched all four episodes on the same day, and found that it rolls along nicely especially compared to the later half of the previous season. The first 2 episodes are especially fabulous as Troughton towers over everything. Apparently he and Pertwee's working methods differed slightly, while Pertwee was a word perfect man Troughton tended to improvise somewhat round the script. However a friendship grew between the two and tales of their later convention exploits, including a water pistol battle, are numerous. They would reunite on screen ten years later during the Five Doctors.

The Three Doctors is the second story featuring the Third Doctor Jon Pertwee that I saw when it was repeated as the fourth story in the Five Doctors season in 1981. Confusingly it was shown *after* the Carnival of Monsters, which was the show broadcast after this one and makes reference to the Time Lords returning the Doctor's freedom to travel through time & space. So although I'd already seen the Third Doctor & Jo, this was my first encounter with Brigadier Lethbridge-Stewart, Sergeant Benton, UNIT and the Time-Lords.

Monday 2nd November Tuesday 3rd November Wednesday 4th November Thursday 5th November	First Doctor	An Unearthtly Child
Monday 9th November Tuesday 10th November Wednesday 11th November Thursday 12th November	Second Doctor	The Krotons
Monday 16th November Tuesday 17th November Wednesday 18th November Thursday 19th November	Third Doctor	The Carnival of Monsters
Monday 23rd November Tuesday 24th November Wednesday 25th November Thursday 26th November	First, Second & Third Doctors	The Three Doctors
Monday 30th November Tuesday 1st December Wednesday 2nd December Thursday 3rd December	Fourth & Fifth Doctors	Logopolis

I've heard it suggested that the reason the story was shown after Carnival of Monsters was that the day the first episode was shown was the show's 18th Birthday.... I'm not sure I believe this but it got me thinking..... wouldn't An Unearthly Child have fitted better showing the first episode of that on 23 November? The season would then have run thus:

Monday 23 November Tuesday 24 November Wednesday 25 November Thursday 26 November	First Doctor	An Unearthtly Child
Monday 30 November Tuesday 01 December Wednesday 02 December Thursday 03 December	Second Doctor	The Krotons
Monday 07 December Tuesday 08 December Wednesday 09 December Thursday 10 December	First, Second & Third Doctors	The Three Doctors
Monday 14 December Tuesday 15 December Wednesday 16 December Thursday 17 December	Third Doctor	The Carnival of Monsters
Monday 21 December Tuesday 22 December Wednesday 23 December Thursday 24 December	Fourth & Fifth Doctors	Logopolis

The last episode of the season, the fourth part of Logopolis, would then have aired on Christmas Eve a little ahead of the firth Doctor's début proper on 4th January 1982. Oddly enough there was a Doctor Who repeat, of sorts, on Christmas Eve that year: K-9 & Company got it's one and only repeat screening.

The Three Doctors was novelised by Terrance Dicks in 1975. It's first cover bears a distinct resemblance to the cover of Fantastic Four #49, published in April 1966. Especially note the fingers and the energy beams coming from them.

Coincidentally The Three Doctors is one of the earliest Target novels to be rejacketed with a new cover!

The Three Doctors was released on video on 5th August 1991 alongside Masque of Mandragora..... but I had a copy 2 days previous courtesy of a dealer at a central London comic mart. It was re-released in September 2002 as part of the Time Lord collection boxset for WHSmiths along with a vastly improved War Games and The Deadly Assassin.

The original DVD of this story was released on 24th November 2003, the closest Monday (DVD releases always come out on a Monday in the UK) to the program's 40th anniversary. There were two versions of the packaging for this DVD: the normal version and a version with a model of Bessie packed in. This DVD has a major fault with a repeated scene in episode two which was only fixed when The Three Doctors received a special edition version as part of Doctor Who Revisitations 3 along side a newly Vidfired Tomb of the Cybermen and an improved Robots of Death.

332 The Three Doctors Episode Three

EPISODE: The Three Doctors: Episode Three
OVERALL EPISODE NUMBER: 332
STORY NUMBER: 065 TRANSMITTED: Saturday 13 January 1973
WRITER: Bob Baker & Dave Martin
DIRECTOR: Lennie Mayne
SCRIPT EDITOR: Terrance Dicks
PRODUCER: Barry Letts
RATINGS: 8.8 million viewers
FORMAT: DVD: Doctor Who Revisitations 3: The Tomb of the Cybermen, The Three Doctors & The Robots of Death
EPISODE FORMAT: 625 video

"Those who oppose the will of Omega shall not live! Destroy him!"

The Third Doctor, Jo & Doctor Tyler are taken to see the ruler of this world, Omega, a Time Lord who the Doctor thought destroyed. He was the solar engineer that gave the Time Lords' Time Travel by detonating a star as a Supernova. He feels he was abandoned but the Doctor protests that they thought he had died. He survived in the anti-matter Universe by force of will and controls it by his mind. Omega detects more visitors as the UNIT HQ carrying the Tardis, Second Doctor, Brigadier & Sergeant Benton arrives. The Brigadier believes the Doctor has transported UNIT HQ to Cromer. He goes to find a phone, pursued by the Doctor, who still wants his recorder, and Benton. The Brigadier locates the missing game warden Ollis who's been stuck in the wasteland for a while and sighted The Third Doctor, Jo & Doctor Tyler being taken off by the Gell Guards who have now captured the Second Doctor & Benton. They are taken to Omega where they and the Third Doctor are imprisoned. The Brigadier plans to attack Omega's palace. Jo gets the Doctors to use their will to form a door in their cell allowing their escape. The Doctors find their way to chamber where Omega controls the Black Hole's singularity but Omega is angered that they are free. They fight the dark side of Omega's mind in a psychic battlefield as Jo, Benton & Tyler escape meeting the Brigadier & Ollis on their way out. The First Doctor is summoned by the Time Lords, who are desperately low on energy. They send him through the black hole to aid his other two selves as the Third Doctor is overcome by Omega.

It would be fair to say that the Brigadier does not take his first journey in The Tardis very well, even if it is one under the control of an external force!

SECOND DOCTOR: Well, we appear to have arrived.
BRIGADIER: Corporal Palmer. Come in, Palmer.
SECOND DOCTOR: I don't think you'll get through with that thing.
BRIGADIER: Why not?
SECOND DOCTOR: It hasn't quite got the range.
BRIGADIER: What are you talking about, Doctor? They're only just outside the building.
SECOND DOCTOR: Brigadier
BRIGADIER: Corporal Palmer, do you read me?
SECOND DOCTOR: I think you should prepare yourself for a bit of a shock.
BENTON: Can we take a look outside, Doc?
SECOND DOCTOR: We can try..... Well, I never.
BENTON: It seems to have gone, sir.
BRIGADIER: Yes, well, it looks quiet enough. Right, Doctor, if you'll just open that door, I'll see what's going on.
SECOND DOCTOR: I really wouldn't advise it.
BRIGADIER: Oh, come along now, Doctor.
SECOND DOCTOR: Oh, all right. Oh dear, oh dear, oh dear, I do wish you'd listen to me. Come along, we'd better follow him..... That's extraordinary. That stuff must have found the Tardis a bit indigestible even without the force field on, so it swallowed a bit of the surrounding matter as well. Hmm. Rather like taking a pill with a swig of water.
BRIGADIER: Well, we seem to have got rid of it. Benton, you stay here.
BENTON: So you think we've moved, is that it, Doctor?
SECOND DOCTOR: Oh, I'm quite sure we have.
BENTON: Well, where do you reckon we are?
SECOND DOCTOR: Not where he thinks we are.

Confronted with UNIT's HQ sitting in a different location he Brigadier once again goes into complete denial:

BRIGADIER: Now see here, Doctor, You have finally gone too far.
SECOND DOCTOR: I rather think we all have. What's it like out there?
BRIGADIER: There's, well, there's sand everywhere!
SECOND DOCTOR: Oh, splendid. Who's for a swim?
BRIGADIER: Do you realise what you've done? You've stolen the whole of UNIT HQ. Now what am I going to tell Geneva? That the whole blessed building has been picked up and put down on some deserted beach? We're probably miles from London!

SECOND DOCTOR: I'm afraid we're a little bit further than that, Brigadier.
BRIGADIER: You mean we're not even in the same country? There'll be international repercussions. This could be construed as an invasion.
BENTON: It's not just a matter of the same country, sir. If the Doctor's right, we're not even in the same universe.
BRIGADIER: What? Oh, nonsense, Benton. I tell you that's a beach out there. It's probably Norfolk or somewhere like that.
DOCTOR: Oh, please, if you'd only listen to me.
BRIGADIER: Right, now I'll tell you what we'll do. You two stay here. See that nobody wanders in. We can't have the place overrun with holiday makers. I'll nip out, find a phone and tell the authorities exactly where we are. I'm fairly sure that's Cromer. Back in a jiff!

There's less of Second Doctor Patrick Troughton in this episode than the last one which is a shame but he does get to deliver a crucial line, still hunting for his missing recorder.

SECOND DOCTOR: Just a minute. I think I'll have another look for my recorder.
BENTON: Doctor, when are you going to face the facts? You've lost your recorder and that's that.
SECOND DOCTOR: Oh, no, I'm sure it's in the Tardis somewhere. I shan't be a minute.
BENTON: Doctor! Look.
SECOND DOCTOR: Oh my giddy aunt!

To a first time viewer this could be viewed as narrow minded and silly but it's actually keeping the missing instrument in mind so that when it plays a crucial role in the plot next episode it's not been plucked out of thin air, so a good albeit repetitive use if Chekov's Gun.

And of course we get Stephen Thorne at his mad, shouty best as Omega, who reveals for the first time some of the history of the Time Lords:

DOCTOR: Yes, most impressive, I must admit that.
TYLER: Almost worth the trip just to see this place.
JO: Yes, but who brought us here, and why?
OMEGA: I did. I am the one who brought you here.
DOCTOR: Who are you?
OMEGA: In the legends of your people I am called Omega.
DOCTOR: Omega? But that's impossible. Omega was destroyed.
OMEGA: No, brother Time Lord, I was not destroyed, as you can see. Take the man and the girl.
DOCTOR: Where are you taking them?
OMEGA: They will not be harmed, Doctor. They have no part in my revenge.
OMEGA: I have been grievously wronged, Doctor, and now it is time for my vengeance!

OMEGA: Without me, there would be no time travel. You and our fellow Time Lords would still be locked in your own time, as puny as those creatures you now so graciously protect.
DOCTOR: You knew your mission was dangerous.
OMEGA: Dangerous, yes, but I completed it, and I did not expect to be abandoned. Many thousands of years ago, when I left our planet, all this was then a star until I arranged its detonation.
DOCTOR: You were the solar engineer. It was your duty.
OMEGA: It was an honour, or so I thought then. I was to be the one to find and create the power source that would give us mastery over time itself.
DOCTOR: Well, you succeeded, and are revered for it.
OMEGA: Revered? Here? I was abandoned.
DOCTOR: The histories say that you were lost in the supernova.
OMEGA: I was sacrificed to that supernova. I generated those forces, and for what? To be blown out of existence into this black hole of antimatter? My brothers became Time Lords, but I was abandoned and forgotten!
DOCTOR: No, not forgotten. All my life I've known of you and honoured you as our greatest hero.
OMEGA: A hero? I should have been a god!

DOCTOR: Well, theoretically, of course, all this is quite impossible.
OMEGA: Here, Doctor, everything is possible. Be seated.
DOCTOR: Thank you. Tell me, how did you manage to survive?
OMEGA: How does anyone survive? Force of will. Mind, you might say, over antimatter.
DOCTOR: And this organism stuff that you sent to bring us here?
OMEGA: Created from the raw stuff of matter. An organism that can exist in your world and mine. It brought you here and imbued you with its properties so that you too could exist in both worlds.
DOCTOR: But how do I fit into this picture?
OMEGA: There are some things that even I cannot do, not alone, and at this point in my plans I need the help of a brother Time Lord.
DOCTOR: Oh, I see.
OMEGA: And it pleases me to use you against them.
DOCTOR: And if I give you my help, do you really think you can defeat the Time Lords? All of them?
OMEGA: But I am defeating them, Doctor. All of their power is insufficient to prevent the cosmic energy drain which I have caused.
DOCTOR: And if I refuse to cooperate?
OMEGA: Then you will face the wrath of Omega, you and those miserable humans who accompany you.
(A communications device beeps. Omega goes over to it and hears a message made up of high pitched beeps.)
OMEGA: Investigate immediately but do not harm them.
DOCTOR: Them?
OMEGA: Well, Doctor, it seems that we have more company.

BENTON: Well, who is this Omega, anyway?
DOCTOR: A Time Lord. One of the greatest of all my race.
DOCTOR 2: Our race.
DOCTOR: Our race. Yes, sorry.
DOCTOR 2: Long, long ago, we learnt the secret of time travel, but in order to make it a reality we had to have a colossal source of energy.
DOCTOR: Omega provided that energy by a fantastic feat of solar engineering. We thought he was destroyed, instead of which he finished up here.
DOCTOR 2: Yes, it seems that his imprisonment was the price of our freedom to travel in time.
JO: Even so, you can't let him smash everything up. Well, look, he's not all-powerful, you know, or else why did he need to bring you here?
DOCTOR: Yes, that's true.

Stephen Thorne, here playing Omega, we previously saw as Azal in The Dæmons, and he had recently played, but not yet been seen on screen as, an Ogron in Frontier in Space. He returns as Eldrad in The Hand of Fear. More on this story in a bit... He'd also voiced Aslan in The Animated The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe and Treebeard in in the acclaimed Radio 4 adaptation of The Lord of the Rings. He became a great friend of Nicholas Courtney and would sign Courtney's nomination for the Equity council every year. You can hear him interviewed in Toby Hadoke's Who Round #191.

OMEGA: You dare threaten to destroy me? You wish to fight the will of Omega?
DOCTOR: Yes, if I must.
OMEGA: Then you shall, but you will fight the dark side of my mind. The dark side of my mind.

Regular stuntman Alan Chuntz plays the version of Omega that fights the Doctor. He was previously a UNIT Soldier in The Invasion, Technician Harvey & a Security Guard in The Seeds of Death, one of Collinson’s Men & a UNIT Soldier in the Ambassadors of Death, a Technician, UNIT solider and RSF Soldier in Inferno, during which he was injured when Jon Pertwee ran him over in Bessie, an Auton in Terror of the Autons, a Prisoner in Mind of Evil and a Sea Devil & Sailor in The Sea Devils. He returns as a Security Guard in The Green Death, a Guard in Planet of Spiders, a soldier in Genesis of the Daleks, a Vogan in Revenge of the Cybermen, the Doctor's stunt double in Planet of Evil, the Chauffeur in Seeds of Doom, a Horda Pit Guard in Face of Evil, a Coolie in Talons of Weng-Chiang, a guard in State of Decay and a Masked Villager in The Visitation. He also did stunt work on the Sean Connery James Bond film You Only Live Twice and on The Italian Job.

For the more physical elements of this sequence Jon Pertwee was doubled, as he frequently was, by Terry Walsh, another series regular. He was a Militiaman in The Smugglers, a Soldier in The Web of Fear, a UNIT Soldier in The Invasion, The Ambassadors of Death & Inferno, in the last of which he also played a Technician and an RSF Soldier, an Auton Policeman & Unit Soldier in Terror of the Autons, a UNIT Motorcyclist in The Mind of Evil, a Primitive, Colonist & IMC Guard Rogers in Colony in Space, Castle Guard Barclay & a Sea Devil in The Sea Devils, an Overlord Guard in The Mutants and the Window Cleaner in The Time Monster. He returns as a Guard in The Green Death, a Warehouse Looter in Invasion of the Dinosaurs, Jack, an Exillon & a Zombie in Death to the Daleks, The Guard Captain & a Guard in The Monster of Peladon, the Man with Boat in Planet of the Spiders, a Bouncer in Robot, Zake in The Sontaran Experiment, a Thal Soldier, Muto and Kaled Scientist in Genesis of the Daleks, a Vogan in Revenge of the Cybermen, a Crew Member in Planet of Evil, the Executioner in The Masque of Mandragora, a Horda Pit Guard in The Face of Evil, Mensch in The Power of Kroll and Doran in The Creature from the Pit.

Walsh stunt doubled for the Doctor in Inferno, Terror of the Autons, Day of the Daleks, Curse of Peladon, The Sea Devils, Carnival of Monsters, Frontier in Space, The Green Death, The Time Warrior, Death to the Daleks, Monster of Peladon, Planet of the Spiders, The Sontaran Experiment, Revenge of the Cybermen, Planet of Evil, The Android Invasion, The Seeds of Doom, The Deadly Assassin, The Face of Evil, The Androids of Tara, The Creature from the Pit. He was also the double for The Master in The Sea Devils, the Minotaur in the Time Monster, Mike Yates in The Green Death & Planet of the Spiders, Harry Sulivan in The Sontaran Experiment, Sorenson in Planet of Evil, Chancellor Goth in The Deadly Assassin, Count Grendel in The Androids of Tara and a Stuntman on Power of Kroll. He was Fight Aarranger for The Sea Devils, The Mutants, The Green Death, Death to the Daleks, Monster of Peladon, Planet of the Spiders, The Sontaran Experiment, The Android Invasion, The Seeds of Doom, The Deadly Assassin, The Face of Evil, The Androids of Tara & The Creature from the Pit. He also doubled for The Doctor in the Children In Need Spoof The Dimensions in Time and played the Duelling Guard and a Mercenary in The Ultimate Adventure where he also staged the fights.

He was also in the Adam Adamant Lives! episode - D for Destruction as Watts, which we like because it has Patrick Troughton and a load of control panels in it! In Space: 1999 he was Clan Guard in Journey to Where, the Rescue Eagle Pilot in The Mark of Archanon, a Technician in Space Warp and a Security Guard in The Seance Spectre. He was in Superman II as a KFC Man / French Officer and An American Werewolf in London as the Taxi Driver Who Crashes His Cab. He did stunt work on The Italian Job, the Roger Moore James Bond film The Spy Who Loved Me, Superman, Superman III & Superman IV: The Quest for Peace, Douglas Camfield & Robert Holmes' The Nightmare Man, the aforementioned An American Werewolf in London, Krull and Robin of Sherwood.

The Gell Guards are populated from the ranks of recent Daleks operators, although one hasn't been seen on screen in that roll yet!

Regular Dalek Operator John Scott Martin made his Doctor Who début 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, Evil of the Daleks & Day of the Daleks. He'll return as a Dalek in 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 a Mechanoid in The Chase, the Robot in Colony in Space, Charlie & a Coven Member in the Dæmons, a Mutant in the Mutants, a mutant in Frontier in Space, Hughes in The Green Death, a Ministry of Defence Guard in Robot, Kriz in Brain of Morbius, the Virus Nucleus in Invisible Enemy. 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.

Alongside him is his frequent colleague Murphy Grumbar. He was first a Dalek, credited as Peter Murphy, in The Daleks & The Dalek Invasion of Earth, then as Murphy Grumber he's Dalek in The Space Museum, Mechanoid in The Chase and a Dalek in The Evil of the Daleks. He returns as Arcturus in The Curse of Peladon, a Gell Guard in The Three Doctors, a functionary in Carnival of Monsters, a Dalek in Frontier in Space, Planet of the Daleks and, as Murphy Grunbar, in Death to the Daleks.

Cy Town made his debut as a Dalek Operator in Frontier in Space, filmed immediately before this story but shown two stories after! He fulfils the same role in the remaining Daleks stories appearing in Planet of the Daleks, Death to the Daleks, Genesis of the Daleks, Destiny of the Daleks, Resurrection of the Daleks, Revelation of the Daleks and Remembrance of the Daleks. He was also an Auton in Spearhead from Space returning as a Technician in Doctor Who and the Silurians, a technician in Inferno, a Prisoner, Audience Member & Medical Orderly in The Mind of Evil, a Soldier in Invasion of the Dinosaurs, a Vogan in Revenge of the Cybermen part one, an Android Villager in Android Invasion, a Brother in The Masque of Mandragora, an Bi-Al member in The Invisible Enemy, a Guard in The Sun Makers, a Castrovalvan Warrior in Castrovalva, a Guest Gambler in Enlightenment, a Passerby in Attack of the Cybermen, Execution Victim Harold L/drone in The Happiness Patrol and a Haemovore in The Curse of Fenric. Outside of Doctor Whohe appears in the Monty Python's Flying Circus episodes Spam as a Surfer and - The Money Programme as a Trumpeter plus the film Monty Python's The Meaning of Life as a Restaurant Diner. In Doomwatch he's a Man in Flood, he's a Technician in all six episodes of Moonbase 3, a Security Guard in The Sweeney Golden Boy, in Quadrophenia he's a hairdresser, in Blake's 7 he's a Rebel Technician / Federation Trooper in Blake, he's a Coach Passenger in Miss Marple: Nemesis and in Jeeves and Wooster he's the Vicar in Wooster with a Wife (or, Jeeves the Matchmaker). And if you want to know what he looks like outside of his Dalek shell then there's some screencaps of him on his Aveleyman page.

Ricky Newby was a Dalek Operator in Day of The Daleks and a Mutant in the Mutants. There's a lot of comedy on his CV including an appearance in The Young Ones: Cash.

The exterior scenes on Omega's world are filmed at Springwell Quarry, situated in Rickmansworth near the story's other locations. The Doctor Who team will return here for 1982's Earthshock, 1984's The Twin Dilemma & 1987's Delta & the Bannermen. Four appearances may make it the most used quarry, and indeed exterior location, in Doctor Who!

This is Director Lennie Mayne's second directorial assignment after The Curse of Peladon and it's the third story written by Bob Baker & Dave Martin, after Claws of Axos and The Mutants. Writers and Director will combine again in a few years for the Hand of Fear which features Stephen Thorne as Eldrad, who plays Omega here, and Rex Robinson, playing Doctor Tyler here, as Dr. Carter.

331 The Three Doctors: Episode Two

EPISODE: The Three Doctors: Episode Two
OVERALL EPISODE NUMBER: 331
STORY NUMBER: 065 TRANSMITTED: Saturday 06 January 1973
WRITER: Bob Baker & Dave Martin
DIRECTOR: Lennie Mayne
SCRIPT EDITOR: Terrance Dicks
PRODUCER: Barry Letts
RATINGS: 10.8 million viewers
FORMAT: DVD: Doctor Who Revisitations 3: The Tomb of the Cybermen, The Three Doctors & The Robots of Death
EPISODE FORMAT: 625 video

"Keep it confused. Feed it with useless information. I wonder if I have a television set handy....."

With the Third Doctor gone the creature quietens down allowing Benton & the Second Doctor to leave the Tardis. The Brigadier arrives believing that one of the Doctor's experiments has gone wrong and he's reverted to his earlier appearance. The Time Lords' power is being drained further by a black hole leading to the universe of anti-matter. The Third Doctor & Jo wake in a barren wasteland. While they explore they are followed by one of the creatures that attacked UNIT HQ. The Second Doctor works out that the creature at UNIT HQ is made of anti matter and tries to contain it. The Third Doctor & Jo find a number of items that had vanished from their world including Bessie. The Second Doctor finishes building a containment device but is called away leaving Benton in charge of the equipment. However the creature reacts when he throws his chewing gum wrapper at it growing stronger as Benton increases the containment field forcing the Second Doctor, Benton and, at long last, The Brigadier into the Tardis. Jo & the Third Doctor find Doctor Tyler in the wasteland. They explain to him that they are at the other end of the light-streak on his photographic plates on a stable world of anti matter within the black hole. The Doctor speculates they have been kidnapped but by who? Their kidnapper is observing them and sends the Gell Guard creatures to fetch them. The Doctor works out what he's done and tries to find his recorder to help him think. The Third Doctor, Jo & Doctor Tyler are brought to a palace in the wasteland. Doctor Tyler attempts to escape but is swiftly recaptured. The Second Doctor puts the Brigadier in touch with Corporal Palmer who reports UNIT HQ is surrounded. The First Doctor appears on the monitor and advises the Second to turn the Tardis forcefield off. Tyler wonders how they survive, as positive matter, in the anti-matter world without causing a massive explosion. The Third Doctor tells them that they have been converted to anti-matter. The Second Doctor obeys the First, deactivating the Tardis forcefield. The Gell Guards surrounding UNIT HQ vanish, and then so does the building which we see being dragged through the black hole.

Oh that was fab.

The entire episode is completely driven for me by Second Doctor's reunion & interaction with the Brigadier:

SECOND DOCTOR: Steady now, Sergeant. He knows what he's doing. At least I hope he does.
BENTON: Yes, but what about Jo?
SECOND DOCTOR: Yes, it's a pity she ran after him like that. Let's have a look, shall we?
BENTON: Will they be all right?
BENTON: Well, where are they? Doctor!
SECOND DOCTOR: As far as I can see, that stuff's gone to a great deal of trouble to find me, er, him, so whoever or whatever it was that sent it can't merely want to kill him. No, no, they've been transported somewhere.
BENTON: Transported? What do you mean, transported? Transported to where?
SECOND DOCTOR: No, wait a minute. Do you know, Sergeant, I think our friend has gone off the boil, so to speak.
BENTON: Right then. Now I'm going to take this chance to blow it to bits. I'll get a grenade. We'll soon see
SECOND DOCTOR: No, I think we could try a more subtle approach. Let's turn off the force field and open the doors first, shall we?
BENTON: Right.
SECOND DOCTOR: Wait a minute. Let me go first. Hmm. Awaiting further instructions, I would think.
BENTON: You're not going near that thing, Doctor, are you?
SECOND DOCTOR: It's all right. I think it was just hiccups. Fascinating.
BRIGADIER: For heaven's sake be careful, Doctor!
SECOND DOCTOR: No, no, Brigadier. Leave it alone. It's not dangerous for the moment. It seems to think it's achieved its mission.

BRIGADIER: Oh, no.
SECOND DOCTOR: Oh, yes.
BRIGADIER: Yes, but you're not the
BENTON: Yes, it is, sir. It's the first one.
SECOND DOCTOR: How are you, Brigadier?
BRIGADIER: Pretty well, thanks. Doctor, what the blazes are you doing? Why have you changed your appearance? And what's happened to Miss Grant?
SECOND DOCTOR: There you are. It's all quite simple really.
BRIGADIER: Yes, well, I'm sorry. Well, I don't believe a word of it. Look, just tell me this. Are you or are you not the Doctor that I met during the Yeti business, and then later when the Cybermen invaded?
SECOND DOCTOR: Of course I am. You can see that.
BRIGADIER: Right. But then you subsequently appeared on Earth during that trouble with the Autons, only then you'd changed into a tall, thin fellow.
SECOND DOCTOR: Had I really? How fascinating.
BRIGADIER: Doctor, I warn you.
SECOND DOCTOR: It's no use your asking me about all this, Brigadier. As far as I'm concerned, it hasn't happened yet. Don't you see? I'm just a temporal anomaly.
BRIGADIER: It's quite obvious to me what's happened. You've been mucking around with that infernal machine of yours.
BENTON: Be careful, sir.
BRIGADIER: You've been mucking around with that infernal machine of yours, and somehow or other you've changed back your appearance and shot poor Miss Grant off to heaven knows where.
BENTON: It's not quite as simple as that, sir, honestly.
BRIGADIER: Now that'll do, Benton. Just two things I want from you, Doctor. An effective way of controlling that stuff and the safe return of Miss Grant.
BENTON: What about our Doctor, sir? Don't you want him back?
BRIGADIER: Enough of that nonsense, Benton. I've got him back. As long as he does the job, he can wear what face he likes.
SECOND DOCTOR: Well, I'll do my best, but I can't make any promises.
BRIGADIER: In that case, you'd better consult those all-powerful superiors of yours for their advice.
SECOND DOCTOR: Oh, I don't think that'd do any good. At the moment they're far from being all-powerful. That's why it's been left up to me and me and me.

You have to laugh as the Brigadier refuses to believe the Doctor's story, and won't even listen to Benton, coming up with his own version of events. I'd say he's sticking his head in the sand but we really want to be saving the euphemism for what he does in the next episode!

The Second Doctor continues the series occasional digs at the medium it's part of:

SECOND DOCTOR: So wherever they are, Miss Grant and my other self, we can't contact them. That's the problem with antimatter. You can see the effect but never the cause. It's like being punched on the nose by the invisible man.
BRIGADIER: Then what's this stuff?
SECOND DOCTOR: The invisible man. Antimatter.
BRIGADIER: But I thought you said that matter and antimatter couldn't meet without an explosion.
SECOND DOCTOR: Yes, that's right.
BRIGADIER: So, it shouldn't exist here, but it does.
SECOND DOCTOR: Yes. Awkward, isn't it? As far as I can see, there's only one explanation.
BRIGADIER: Yes?
SECOND DOCTOR: Well, this stuff, or whoever sent it, is cleverer than we are. Unfortunate, isn't it.
BRIGADIER: And there's nothing that even you can do?
SECOND DOCTOR: Oh, I wouldn't say that. We can make sure it stays harmless for a start.
BRIGADIER: Oh, that's a relief. Look, can I leave you to get on with that? Those other things are still outside there. I must contact Geneva.
BENTON: Doc, I think the strain's been a bit too much for him. What are we going to do now?
SECOND DOCTOR: Keep it confused. Feed it with useless information. I wonder if I have a television set handy?

Big moment this episode as The Brigadier *finally* gets to enter The Tardis, as they flee from the enraged blob:

BENTON: Doctor! Doctor! Doctor!
SECOND DOCTOR: What is it? Oh!
BRIGADIER: Benton, what have you done?
BENTON: I did what the Doctor told me, sir, but it wouldn't work. It's gone mad.
SECOND DOCTOR: Into the Tardis, quickly! Come on, Brigadier!

SECOND DOCTOR: Yes, it's quite cozy, isn't it? Oh, you'll soon get used to it, old chap. Relative dimensions and all that.
BRIGADIER: So this is what you've been doing with UNIT funds and equipment all this time. How's it done? Some sort of optical illusion?
SECOND DOCTOR: Oh, no, no, no. They come like this. Really.
BRIGADIER: Yeah.
BENTON: Hey, Doc, it's going berserk out there.
SECOND DOCTOR: Yes, it is, isn't it.
BRIGADIER: All right, now we're in here, what do we do?
SECOND DOCTOR: Oh, we have a think. Care for a jelly baby?

Is this the first mention of the Fourth Doctor's favourite confection in the show? Then as an added bonus he gets the Brigadier's radio working by whacking it on the Tardis console years before a "delicate technical adjustment" became common practice in the computer support profession!

BRIGADIER: Corporal Palmer, this is the Brigadier. Do you read me? Over.
SECOND DOCTOR: You're wasting your time. You'll never get through with the force field on.
BRIGADIER: I've got to find out what's going on out there.
SECOND DOCTOR: Let's have a look at this thing.
SECOND DOCTOR: I'll try to set you up a communications unit.
BRIGADIER: Be careful.
SECOND DOCTOR: It's all right. Don't worry. I can boost this through the Tardis's communication circuit. I think.
BRIGADIER: Oh, I give up.
BENTON: With respect, sir, aren't we wasting time?
BRIGADIER: Yes, we are.
SECOND DOCTOR: Are you still worried about your other Doctor, Sergeant?
BENTON: Well, yes, I am, and Miss Grant.
SECOND DOCTOR: Well, I shouldn't worry too much if I were you. In fact, I rather envy them.
BENTON: You what?
SECOND DOCTOR: Yes, I think they're having a very interesting time.

SECOND DOCTOR: Here we are, Brigadier. Have a try with that. It's all right, it won't bite you.
BRIGADIER: Corporal Palmer? Come in, Palmer.

PALMER: Corporal Palmer here. Over.
BRIGADIER: Corporal Palmer, this is the Brigadier. Now listen. We're pinned down in the laboratory. What's the situation there? Over.
PALMER: Ah, sir, we've been trying to reach you. The building is still surrounded but we're just standing by for further orders. Over.
BRIGADIER: Now listen, Palmer. I want every man to maintain vigilance, but no further offensive action, is that clear? Over.
PALMER: But sir, I thought
BRIGADIER: That's an order, Palmer!
PALMER: Roger, sir. Wilco.
BRIGADIER: Keep in contact. Out.
BENTON: Doc.
SECOND DOCTOR: Hmm?
BENTON: Hey, Doctor, it's the old boy.
SECOND DOCTOR: Oh, excuse me.
FIRST DOCTOR: Made any progress?
SECOND DOCTOR: No, none at all. And you?
FIRST DOCTOR: Hardly. I'm trapped in this infernal time eddy.
SECOND DOCTOR: What about our fellow Time Lords?
FIRST DOCTOR: Growing steadily weaker. They can't seem to check their energy loss.
SECOND DOCTOR: We can't help you, I'm afraid.<

FIRST DOCTOR: Oh yes, you could.
SECOND DOCTOR: Oh? How?
FIRST DOCTOR: Well, first turn off your force field.
SECOND DOCTOR: What? But I don't
FIRST DOCTOR: Off, I said.
SECOND DOCTOR: But I still don't see
FIRST DOCTOR: Oh, use your intelligence.
BRIGADIER: Who in the name of heaven was that?
SECOND DOCTOR: I'm afraid you'd never believe me.

BRIGADIER: But you're not going to turn off the force field?
SECOND DOCTOR: Yes, I think so.
BRIGADIER: But why?
SECOND DOCTOR: Because he told me to, and I've always had a great respect for his advice.
BENTON: Doctor, if you switch the force field off, that thing out there can get at the Tardis.
SECOND DOCTOR: Precisely! Hold tight, everyone.

Anyone in any doubt that Doctor Tyler's escape attempt is padding out a slightly under running episode is put right by his "that was a bit of a waste of time wasn't it?" comment on his recapture!

Jon Pertwee's third & fourth season, Doctor Who's ninth & tenth, appear on screen in this order, which is the order I've been watching them:

Season 9

Day Of The Daleks
The Curse Of Peladon
The Sea Devils
The Mutants
The Time Monster

Season 10

The Three Doctors
Carnival Of Monsters
Frontier In Space
Planet Of The Daleks
The Green Death

However this story was produced out of sequence to allow for the availability of Second Doctor Patrick Troughton, as ever much in demand. The following story, The Carnival of Monsters, was filmed first at the end of the series ninth season followed by the story after that, The Frontier in Space, before The Three Doctors was produced. This isn't the first time a story has been filmed out of sequence, in fact it had happened the previous year for the Sea Devils. The production order for these two season is thus:

Recording Block Nine

KKK: Day Of The Daleks
LLL: The Sea Devils
MMM: The Curse Of Peladon
NNN: The Mutants
OOO: The Time Monster
PPP: Carnival Of Monsters

Recording Block Ten

QQQ: Frontier In Space
RRR: The Three Doctors
SSS: Planet Of The Daleks
TTT: The Green Death
UUU: The Time Warrior

The final story of this block, filmed in May 1973, was held over for the Eleventh season, mainly filmed from September 1972 onwards and broadcast from mid December 1973 onwards.

Note the three letter codes. Each production, even the earliest without overall story titles has a code. Unearthly Child is A, The Daleks is B etc through to story Z The Gunfighters. We then start again with AA for the Savages, BB for the War Machines through to ZZ for, coincidentally, Troughton's last story the War Games. Pertwee's first story Spearhead from space is AAA and off we go again.

The Time Lords are all known to us from other Doctor Who stories where, in two cases, they previously played Time Lords!

Clyde Pollitt is the Time Lord Chancellor and he previously played a Time Lord, presumably the same Time Lord, in The War Games. Clyde Pollit is the brother of Derek Pollit who was the Welsh Driver Evans in the Web of Fear.

President of the Time Lords is Roy Purcell who previously appeared in The Mind of Evil as Chief Prison Officer Powers. You can see him in Doomwatch as Dr. Barton in Public Enemy, I, Claudius as Vitellius in Some Justice and in The Professionals as Richardson in Kickback.

Graham Leaman previously played The Controller in The Macra Terror Price in Fury from the Deep, The Grand Marshall in The Seeds of Death episode five & sixs and a Time Lord here, again presumably the same Time Lord, in Colony in Space. He also has Doomwatch on his CV appearing in the second season opener You Killed Toby Wren as Professor Eric Hayland, which exists and can be found on The Doomwatch DVD, and Cause of Death as Wilfred Ridge, the father of one of the leading chracters, John Ridge. Sadly this appearance is one of the many later Doomwatch episodes which is missing.

The silent Time Lord is Anthony Lang who was previously an Egyptian Slave in Golden Death & Escape Switch he 9th & 10h episodes of the Dalek Masterplan, a Scotsmen in Hold/Highlanders in The Highlanders, Airport Personnel on Plane/worker at airport in The Faceless Ones and a Control Room Assistant in Ambassadors of Death. He returns as a Kaled Councillor in Genesis of the Daleks. He can be also seen in Return of the Jedi as Emperor Palpatine's Advisor Sim Aloo and in the opening The Crimson Permanent Assurance segment of Monty Python's The Meaning of Life

The intention was that the Second Doctor would be accompanied by Jamie but actor Frazer Hines was committed to work on Emerdale Farm where he played Joe Sugden. It would seem his role is largely filled by what Sergeant Benton does in this story which might be worth remembering when you watch the next episode. Corporal Palmer, who appears in the first two episodes, probably fulfils the function Benton would have had.

Meanwhile Richard Franklin, as Captain Yates, is absent from an Earth bound UNIT story for the first time since his debut. At the time he was involved in a theatre production, which was known about quite some distance in advance. However it's worth imagining what a nice touch it would be if he was in charge of the troops left defending UNIT HQ before it vanishes at the end of this second episode!

The original DVD of this story has an authoring error at the end of this episode which repeats a shot towards the end causing audio & video to become out of sync - it's the UNIT soldier staring at the departed UNIT HQ meaning the title crash in slightly too early. Some fans have been up in arms over this for years but it's only now with very precise instructions that I've been able to spot it..... and I don't think it matters one bit. There's far worse DVD faults out there but fixing this has contributed too this story being included in the Doctor Who Revisitations 3 DVD set with Tomb of the Cybermen and Robots of Death.

This episode was repeated on BBC as part of the Five Faces of Doctor Who on Tuesday 24 November 1981 at 17:40.