Underworld (TV story)

"The Quest is the Quest."

- Jackson

Underworld was the penultimate story of Season 15, and the first over which script editor Anthony Read had complete creative control. Read had requested that writers Bob Baker and Dave Martin make the script explicitly allegorical of the ancient myth of Jason and the Quest for the Golden Fleece.

Beyond this, though, Underworld was unusual in number of regards. Perhaps most obviously, it was the serial that used by far the most colour separation overlay (CSO) in the programme's history. Rampant inflation had eaten away at the budget for the back half of the season, and using CSO in virtually every shot of Underworld was the only feasible way to preserve production of The Invasion of Time. It also advanced the mythos of the Time Lords, by explaining the origin of their non-interference policy. Ultimately, though, these novelties may not have impressed the average Doctor Who fan. According to one large, if unscientific, poll, Underworld was the worst adventure starring Tom Baker, and one of the five worst of all time.

Synopsis
The TARDIS arrives on a Minyan space craft, the R1C, commanded by a man named Jackson. Jackson and his crew are on a long quest to recover the Minyan race banks from a ship called the P7E which left their planet centuries ago. The Doctor helps to free the R1C after it becomes buried in a meteorite storm, but it then crashes into another newly-formed planet.

Inside the planet is a system of caves at the heart of which is the P7E. The P7E's computer, the Oracle, was programmed to protect the race banks but subsequently went insane and - with the aid of its servants, the Seers - imposed its rule upon the Minyan survivors and their descendants. It allows Jackson to take what appear to be the race banks, but they are actually imitations containing fission grenades.

The Doctor realises the deception and obtains the genuine race banks. He then tricks the Oracle's guards into taking the grenades back to their leader. The resulting explosion destroys the planet and the P7E and boosts the R1C off on a voyage to Minyos II, carrying with it the Minyan survivors.

Plot
to be added

Cast

 * The Doctor - Tom Baker
 * Leela - Louise Jameson
 * Voice of K9 - John Leeson
 * Ankh - Frank Jarvis
 * Guard Klimt - Jay Neill
 * Herrick - Alan Lake
 * Idas - Norman Tipton
 * Idmon - Jimmy Gardner
 * Jackson - James Maxwell
 * Lakh - Richard Shaw
 * Naia - Stacey Tendeter
 * Orfe - Jonathan Newth
 * Rask - James Marcus
 * Tala - Imogen Bickford-Smith
 * Tarn - Godfrey James
 * Voice of the Oracle - Christine Pollon

Crew

 * Assistant Floor Manager - Gary Downie
 * Costumes - Rupert Jarvis
 * Designer - Dick Coles
 * Film Editor - Richard Trevor
 * Incidental Music - Dudley Simpson
 * Make-Up - Cecile Hay-Arthur
 * Producer - Graham Williams
 * Production Assistant - Mike Cager
 * Production Unit Manager - John Nathan-Turner
 * Script Editor - Anthony Read
 * Special Sounds - Dick Mills
 * Studio Lighting - Mike Jefferies
 * Studio Sound - Richard Chubb
 * Theme Arrangement - Delia Derbyshire
 * Title Music - Ron Grainer
 * Visual Effects - Richard Conway

Story Notes

 * The Minyan spacecraft set turned out to be more expensive than anticipated thus almost all other scenes were created using CSO.
 * The story is a very obvious play on the story of Jason and the Argonauts as the names of various characters are quite similar: Jackson/Jason, Herrick/Heracles, Tala/Atalanta, Orfe/Orpheus, Minyos/Minos, R1C/Argossey, P7E/Persephone.
 * This story had a working title of Underground.

Ratings

 * Part 1 - 8.9 million viewers
 * Part 2 - 9.1 million viewers
 * Part 3 - 8.9 million viewers
 * Part 4 - 11.7 million viewers

Myths

 * Imogen Bickford-Smith was going to replace Louise Jameson as the Doctor's companion. Though an actual news story at the time, it was a complete fabrication of the actor's agent, who had gotten wind of Jameson's impending departure.  Producer Graham Williams never considered retaining Bickford-Smith beyond Underworld.

Filming Locations

 * BBC Television Centre (TC3 and TC4), Shepherd's Bush, London

Discontinuity, Plot Holes, Errors

 * The climax to episode one relies on some very odd ideas about the laws of gravity. Particles of rock would not typically be attracted so rapidly to the hull of such a small spaceship, unless some additional force(s) were at work.
 * How does firing the ships laser canons (presumeably in a fixed direct(s)) shift the rock from the whole of the hull?

Continuity

 * Further information is revealed of Minyos in BFG: The Inquiry.
 * In DW: Mawdryn Undead there is seen another example of Time Lord technology allowing for perpetual regeneration.

Video and DVD Releases
Released as Doctor Who: Underworld.

VHS release:

DVD release:
 * UK March 2002
 * US May 2003
 * Australia May 2002


 * none as of May 2009, although Bob Baker has said that he, Tom Baker and Louise Jameson have completed some recording work for a future BBC DVD release.

Novelisation

 * Main article: Doctor Who and the Underworld

Novelised as Doctor Who and the Underworld by Terrance Dicks in 1980.