The Twin Dilemma (TV story)

Synopsis
A race of giant gastropods has taken over the planet Jaconda. Their leader, Mestor, now intends to cause an enormous explosion in order to spread his people's eggs throughout the galaxy, and he kidnaps juvenile twin geniuses from Earth to work out the necessary mathematical equations. Space fighters led by Lieutenant Hugo Lang are dispatched to get the twins back, but they come under attack and Lang is the sole survivor when his ship crashes on the asteroid Titan 3.

A newly regenerated Doctor and Peri become involved and help Jaconda's elderly former ruler Professor Edgeworth, who is really a Time Lord named Azmael, to defeat Mestor and free the planet's bird-like indigenous people from the gastropods' reign of terror. Azmael, however, sacrifices his life in the process.

The danger over, The Doctor tells Peri, "I'm the Doctor - whether you like it or not!"

Cast

 * The Doctor - Colin Baker
 * Peri - Nicola Bryant
 * Edgworth / Azmael - Maurice Denham
 * Hugo Lang - Kevin McNally
 * Mestor - Edwin Richfield
 * Romulus - Gavin Conrad
 * Remus - Andrew Conrad
 * Sylvest - Dennis Chinnery
 * Noma - Barry Stanton
 * Drak - Oliver Smith
 * Fabian - Helen Blatch
 * Elena - Dione Inman
 * Chamberlain - Seymour Green
 * Prisoner - Roger Nott
 * Jocondan Guard - John Wilson

Crew

 * Assistant Floor Manager - Stephen Jeffery-Poulter, Beth Millward
 * Costumes - Pat Godfrey
 * Designer - Valerie Warrender
 * Film Cameraman - John Baker, John Walker
 * Film Editor - Ian McKendrick
 * Incidental Music - Malcolm Clarke
 * Make-Up - Denise Baron
 * Producer - John Nathan-Turner
 * Production Assistant - Christine Fawcett
 * Production Associate - June Collins
 * Script Editor - Eric Saward
 * Special Sounds - Dick Mills
 * Studio Lighting - Don Babbage
 * Studio Sound - Scott Talbott
 * Theme Arrangement - Peter Howell
 * Title Music - Ron Grainer
 * Visual Effects - Stuart Brisdon

Story Notes

 * This story had working titles of; A Stitch In Time, A Switch In Time.
 * New opening and closing title sequences make their debut a more colourful version than the previous one, incorporating Colin Baker's face rather than Peter Davison's designed by Sid Sutton and Terry Handley.
 * The cat badge worn by the Doctor in his lapel for this story was hand-made and painted by Suzie Trevor, and purchased for the programme from a specialist badge shop in central London.
 * Fabian was originally envisaged as a male character, and the Jocondan Chamberlain as a female one.
 * The Doctor attempting to strangle Peri marks the first time on television that the Doctor has intentionally attacked a companion (discounting such events as his physical confrontation with and subsequent partial electrocution of Ian Chesterton in DW: An Unearthly Child, his knocking out of John Benton in DW: Invasion of the Dinosaurs, and his tying up Harry Sullivan and throwing him in a closet in DW: Robot).

Ratings

 * Part 1 - 7.6 million viewers
 * Part 2 - 7.4 million viewers
 * Part 3 - 7.0 million viewers
 * Part 4 - 6.3 million viewers

Myths

 * The Edgeworth character was originally intended to be the first Doctor. (He wasn't.)

Filming Locations

 * Springwell Quarry, Springwell Lane, Rickmansworth, Hertfordshire
 * Gerrards Cross Sand and Gravel Quarry, Gerrards Cross
 * BBC Television Centre (TC3 & TC8), Shepherd's Bush, London

Discontinuity, Plot Holes, Errors

 * The altered revitaliser machine sends Peri 10 seconds back in time, and thus... back to the TARDIS? The revitaliser itself does not achieve this. However, the Doctor is fully aware that the TARDIS would detect any unusual time/space disturbance in its viscinity and redirect it to the control room for the Doctor to study (See Pyramids of Mars, The Awakening, Timelash, and The Greatest Show in the Galaxy, to name a few).
 * Why does Azmael bother with the 'Edgworth' alias? Anything to help cover his tracks. He has just kidnapped two children.

Continuity

 * The transmat beam leaves behind a dusty residue, an effect also produced by the transmat used in DW: Bad Wolf.

DVD and Video Releases

 * The Twin Dilemma will be released on DVD on September 7th, 2009. This is the last Colin Baker story to be released on DVD.

The Mighty 200
When Readers of DWM got the chance to vote for their serials, The Twin Dilemma came in at 200 making it readers least favourite Doctor Who story

Novelisation

 * Main article: The Twin Dilemma (novelisation)


 * Novelised as The Twin Dilemma in 1985 by Eric Saward.