Colony in Space (TV story)

Colony in Space was the fourth serial of season 8 of Doctor Who. It was narratively significant for being the first off-Earth story recorded in colour. It was the first time that any companion had travelled in the TARDIS with the Doctor since The War Games, and therefore, Jo Grant's first visit to another planet. It also introduced the Interplanetary Mining Corporation (IMC), which would later feature in several stories in other media. The Virgin Missing Adventures novel, The Menagerie, would retcon a link between The Space Pirates and Colony through the IMC. Subtextually, the script was Malcolm Hulke's intentional science fictional comment upon the struggle between European settlers and Native Americans.

Colony was also the first Doctor Who directorial assignment for Michael Briant, who had previously been a production assistant, amongst other things, during the Innes Lloyd and Peter Bryant producerships. Briant would later direct some of the most iconic serials of the 1970s, including The Robots of Death and The Sea Devils.

Synopsis
The Time Lords discover that the Master has stolen their secret file on the Doomsday Weapon and grant the Doctor a temporary reprieve from his Earth exile to deal with the crisis. He and Jo arrive on the planet Uxarieus and become enmeshed in a struggle between an agrarian colony and a powerful mining corporation.

Plot
The Time Lords discover that the Master has stolen their secret file on the Doomsday Weapon, and allow the Third Doctor temporary control of the TARDIS for him to deal with the situation. The Doctor is showing Jo around the TARDIS for the first time when it spontaneously activates and dematerialises. Jo is terrified at first, but the Doctor is excited at the prospect of being, temporarily at least, free from the bounds of imprisonment on Earth.

They arrive on the planet Uxarieus in the year 2472, where they encounter an agrarian colony of Earth, led by Ashe. Despite their uneasy truce with the mute Uxarien primitives, the colony struggles to survive; their crops are failing without explanation, the outer settlements are being attacked by a mysterious monster, and they fear they will lose their charter in favour of the powerful and corrupt Interplanetary Mining Corporation. Some of the colonists wonder if they should return to Earth despite its horrible pollution, overpopulation, and repressive government.

Morale worsens when a dishevelled man named Norton arrives, claiming to be the last survivor of another Earth colony beyond the mountains. The monsters wiped out most of his fellows, he claims, and the Uxarieans picked off the rest. Soon after, a little too coincidentally, an IMC mining ship lands nearby claiming mineral rights to the planet - Uxarieus is rich in the much-needed mineral duralinium - and are 'surprised and shocked' to discover an agrarian colony already there. The Captain of the IMC ship, Dent, sends for an adjudicator to decide which claim will be honoured.

The Doctor's subsequent investigation reveals that the 'monster' is actually an IMC robot (with a holographic device to create the image of an enormous lizard). Norton is actually an IMC employee, who creates further problems when he murders Holden, the colonists' chief scientist, and vandalises their power supply. Captain Dent tries to force the colonists to leave, first with implied and then overt threats. Armed hostility erupts between IMC and the colonists before the Adjudicator arrives. Much to the Doctor and Jo's surprise, the Adjudicator is actually the Master, bearing forged credentials. He hopes to discover the location of the Doomsday Weapon, developed by the ancient ancestors of the Uxarieans and hidden somewhere on the planet. Jo is kidnapped by the primitives and taken to an underground city. The Doctor follows and discovers the Guardian, overseer of the city and the last of the ancient Uxarieans. The Doctor reasons with the Guardian, and he lets them go free provided they never return to the city.

The Master rules in favour of IMC. Dent, now in effective control of the planet, threatens to have the colonists executed for murder, assault and vandalism of IMC personnel and property unless they depart immediately. Despite their fears that their spaceship is in poor condition, the colonists have no choice but to leave. Jo watches in horror as the ship explodes shortly after takeoff.

The Master and Doctor discover the Doomsday Weapon, which can cause any star in the Universe to go supernova, in the Guardian's chamber. With this weapon, the Master plans to rule the Universe and offers the Doctor a partnership; the appalled Doctor declines. The Doctor convinces the Guardian the Doomsday Weapon is responsible for the decline and fall of the Uxariean civilisation. The Guardian allows the Doctor and Master to leave, and destroys himself, the Weapon, and the city. The Master escapes, but the Doctor and Jo are overjoyed to learn that the colonists are safe; they escaped shortly before takeoff except for Ashe, who sacrificed himself to launch the ship. The colonists overpower Dent and his henchmen, and with sufficient evidence of their illegal activity, they are confident the real Adjudicator will rule in their favour. The radiation from the Doomsday Weapon was the cause of their crop failures, and the Doctor assures the colonists that their future is now secure. The TARDIS returns the Doctor and Jo to UNIT seconds after they left.

Cast

 * The Doctor - Jon Pertwee
 * Jo Grant - Katy Manning
 * Brigadier Lethbridge-Stewart - Nicholas Courtney
 * The Master - Roger Delgado
 * David Winton - Nicholas Pennell
 * John Robert Ashe - John Ringham
 * Eric Leeson - David Webb
 * Jane Leeson - Sheila Grant
 * Norton - Roy Skelton
 * Mary Ashe - Helen Worth
 * Martin - John Line
 * Mrs. Martin - Mitzi Webster
 * Primitive and Voice - Pat Gorman
 * Robot - John Scott Martin
 * Time Lord 1 - Peter Forbes-Robertson
 * Time Lord 2 - John Baker
 * Time Lord 3 - Graham Leaman
 * Caldwell - Bernard Kay
 * Captain Dent - Morris Perry
 * Morgan - Tony Caunter
 * Jim Holden - John Herrington
 * Allen - Stanley McGeagh
 * Long - Pat Gorman
 * Alec Leeson - John Tordoff
 * Guardian - Norman Atkyns
 * Alien Priest - Roy Heymann
 * Colonist - Pat Gorman
 * Rogers - Terry Walsh
 * Extra - Brian Gilmar
 * Extra - Valentino Musetti

Crew

 * Assistant Floor Manager - Graeme Harper
 * Costumes - Michael Burdle
 * Designer - Tim Gleeson
 * Film Cameraman - Peter Hall
 * Film Editor - William Symon
 * Incidental Music - Dudley Simpson
 * Make-Up - Jan Harrison
 * Producer - Barry Letts
 * Production Assistant - Nicholas John
 * Script Editor - Terrance Dicks
 * Special Sounds - Brian Hodgson
 * Studio Lighting - Ralph Walton
 * Studio Sound - David Hughes, Tony Millier
 * Theme Arrangement - Delia Derbyshire
 * Title Music - Ron Grainer
 * Visual Effects - Bernard Wilkie

The Doctor

 * The Doctor claims to be an expert in agriculture during John Robert Ashe's plea with the colonists in part one.

The Master

 * The Master pretends to be an Adjudicator.

Organisations

 * IMC has a mining contract for Uxarieus.

Planets

 * The Doctor recognises the planet Uxarieus.
 * Earth during this period is home to a hundred billion people, is polluted and has a repressive government.
 * In a discussion between the Doctor and the Master, it is revealed that the Earth's sun will explode about ten billion years from the time of this story.

Species

 * The Uxarieans have mutated into three varieties, all psychic, the highest of which can communicate and teleport small items.

TARDISes

 * The Master's TARDIS is a more advanced model than the Doctor's.
 * The Master uses a non-lethal gas in his TARDIS to capture the Doctor.

Technology

 * IMC still use tape spools.

Weapons

 * After five hundred years, firearms, rather than energy weapons, are still the preferred weapon of choice within the Human Empire.
 * The Time Lords secretly send the Doctor to Uxarieus, since they're aware that the Master has stolen the Doomsday Weapon report and the file on the planet.

Story notes

 * David Tennant (the Tenth Doctor) was born the day after the original broadcast of Episode Two.
 * Director Michael Briant voiced the commentary accompanying a propaganda film watched by the Doctor on the IMC spaceship in Episode Two. This part was originally intended for Pat Gorman – who was subsequently still credited on Episodes One and Two as 'Primitive and Voice'.
 * Briant had intended that the role of Morgan be played by Susan Jameson. However, he was overruled by Head of Drama Serials Ronnie Marsh, who believed that a woman in that role wouldn't be appropriate for a family audience, (REF: The Third Doctor Handbook) as it might impart an unintended sexuality to some scenes. Because she was already signed to a contract when Marsh got involved, she was still paid her full salary.
 * Bernard Kay (Caldwell) previously played Carl Tyler in DW: The Dalek Invasion of Earth, Saladin in DW: The Crusade and Detective Inspector Crossland in DW: The Faceless Ones. More than three decades later, he would play Major Dickens in BFA: Night Thoughts.

Ratings

 * Episode 1 - 7.6 million viewers
 * Episode 2 - 8.5 million viewers
 * Episode 3 - 9.5 million viewers
 * Episode 4 - 8.1 million viewers
 * Episode 5 - 8.8 million viewers
 * Episode 6 - 8.7 million viewers

Myths

 * The main action of this story takes place on the planet Exarius. (The name given to the planet in Malcolm Hulke's script for Episode One is Uxarieus.)

Filming locations

 * Old Baal Clay Pit, Carclaze, Cornwall
 * BBC Television Centre (Studio 3 & 4), Shepherd's Bush, London

Production errors

 * In episode two the monitor screen on board their ship turns bright blue in every close up.
 * In episode three, as Winton, pursued by IMC guards, falls at Caldwell's feet, seagulls can be heard.
 * 23 March 2472 will be a Thursday, not a Tuesday.
 * In the last scene of episode six, after the Brigadier has repeated his "come back at once" line, the shadow of a crew member can be seen projected across his front.
 * In episode four, when the diminutive leader of the Primitives exits from the wall, its puppeteer, particularly his hand, is visible.
 * Briant admits in the commentary track for the dvd release and in the accompanying documentary IMC Needs You! that the reason the TARDISes pop in and out of sight in episodes 1 and 6 instead of phasing out is that he just didn't know they were supposed to.

Continuity

 * This is the first time since DW: The War Games that the TARDIS travels to another planet.
 * From the Brigadier's perspective, the Doctor and Jo were only away from UNIT headquarters for a matter of seconds. It is thus the only televised example of Rose Tyler's admonition to her mother in DW: World War Three that the TARDIS is "a time machine. I could go travelling around suns and planets and all the way out to the end of the universe, and by the time I get back, ten seconds would've passed. Just ten seconds."
 * This story gives us a glimpse of Time Lords on Gallifrey. Time Lords are again depicted as wearing black and white robes, as they were in DW: The War Games.
 * The Doctor and Jo gain entry to the Master's TARDIS using the key the Doctor obtained in DW: Terror of the Autons. However, the Doctor appears not to have the key at the conclusion of this story. He probably never retrieved it from Morgan after he dropped it on the ground.
 * This is the first time Jo Grant sees the interior of the Doctor's TARDIS. Much of the first half of episode one revolves around Jo's adjustment to her new status as a time/space traveller. Though having been the Doctor's companion for some time, she reveals that she never really believed that the Doctor could travel in time and space until this story. Thus, this story has many features of the traditional "first story" for a new companion.
 * The Adjudicators are expanded upon in NA: Lucifer Rising and Original Sin.
 * The Doctor himself poses as an earth magistrate, the Examiner, on the planet Vulcan in The Power of the Daleks.

Timeline

 * This story occurs after BE: A Visit to the Cinema
 * This story occurs before DWM: The Dragon of Hyacinth Lodge

Comic strip adaptation

 * The opening scenes of episode 1 were adapted as a two-page comic strip illustrated by Frank Bellamy in the 10th April 1971 issue of Radio Times.

VHS releases
This story was released as Doctor Who: Colony in Space.

Released:


 * UK November 2001 (as part of the Master box set which also contains The Time Monster)
 * Australia December 2001 (as part of the Master box set which also contains The Time Monster)
 * US January 2003 (the only place it is available separately)

DVD Release
The commentary was recorded in January 2011, and the DVD was released on the 24th of October, 2011.