338 Frontier in Space Episode One

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Applause please for how the Doctor escapes from the cell:

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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