Delta and the Bannermen (TV story)

Delta and the Bannermen was the third story of Season 24. It was the first serial since Planet of Giants to utilise a three-part structure, and was the first to do so intentionally. Following Delta, the three-parter would become a standard feature of the Sylvester McCoy era. During the broadcast of Delta and the Bannermen that fans began to direct their anguish at Nathan-Turner. As a result, Delta and the Bannermen is often referenced as an example of the lows the show sunk to in its final years of original broadcast.

While under the working title Flight of the Chimeron, it was originally scripted that Mel should leave at the end of this story; she was to be replaced by a character called Ace. Ultimately Langford chose to stay and Ace's character became Ray. The name Ace was used for a companion who joined in the following story, Dragonfire.

Delta and the Bannermen made use of underlying darkness, a theme that would become more prevalent in the following two seasons. The persona of McCoy's Doctor began to develop, with many of his witticisms displayed here.

Synopsis
The time: 1959. The place: Shangri-La holiday camp, South Wales. The Seventh Doctor and Mel want time out. The hedonistic alien Navarinos want to catch some vintage rock and roll, and two CIA agents want to know what happened to their country's missing satellite.

When the beautiful Chimeron princess Delta shows up on the scene, the murderous Bannermen soon follow in hot pursuit. The stage is set for a fiery showdown that will decide the fate of an entire civilisation.

Part one
On the planet Chumeria, the Chimerons are being killed, the Bannermen gunning them down. Gavrok orders them to take no prisoners; the Chimerons retaliate but to no avail. Only Delta and a single male Chimeron are left. They make a break for the Bannerman ship. Onboard Gavrok is waiting, he shoots the male down and prepares to kill Delta when the male shoots Gavrok in the lower chest, injured he falls from the craft. The male instructs Delta to take a mysterious object before dying. Delta then takes off in the craft.

The TARDIS lands at toll port G715. There the Doctor and Mel are welcomed by the Tollmaster. They discover that they are the 10 billionth customers and so get free parking and a trip of the fabulous 50’s tour, a whole week in 1959 Disneyland, Earth. The tour is conducted by Nostalgia Tours.

In Wales, two American CIA agents pull up beside a police box. One of them, Jerome Weismuller takes out the phone and makes a call. He is told by the president’s right-hand man to track a new satellite. He tells this to his partner Hawk.

Back at the toll port, Mel and the Doctor discover they will be travelling with the Navarino 1950’s club. The Navarinos pass through a Transformation arch to appear human.

They discover they will be travelling on a bus capable of flight. The Doctor and Mel greet Murray, their pilot, however the Doctor elects to follow on in the TARDIS leaving Mel to travel on the bus.

On the Bannerman ship, Delta receives a transmission from Gavrok stating wherever she goes he will follow, he informs her she is the last of her kind. Delta lands at the toll port and boards the bus just as it takes off.

In Wales, the two Americans are attempting to pick up signals from the satellite with no success. Meanwhile, in space, the satellite is released and the bus crashes into it. In Wales the two agents answer the phone and are told the satellite has gone haywire and that it will hit Earth near their location.

The Doctor uses the TARDIS to control the bus’ descent encasing it in an anti-gravity spiral, he places it down on Earth and lands nearby. They discover they are in Wales at the Shangri-La camp, they are greeted by the camp leader Burton. They decide to stay at the camp until the bus if fixed. The group are each assigned a room with Delta and Mel being together. The Doctor and Murray meet Billy, the resident mechanic who offers to help in repairing the bus. The trio manage to pull the embedded satellite from a large dent in the front of the bus. The Doctor enters the TARDIS and emerges with a Quarb crystal, the only one this side of the Softel Nebula. The crystal is required to fix the bus, Billy removes the old crystal and the Doctor gives Murray the new one. A friend of Billy’s, Rachel Defwydd (known as Ray,) arrives, she hand Murray a tool and tells the Doctor she always carries them to be prepared. Murray is installing the crystal when he breaks it, the Doctor tells him he could accelerate growth in the TARDIS’ thermo-booster and grow a crystal in 24 hours. Ray informs them of a dance later and they agree to attend.

In their compartment Delta is frightened by a loud noise, she is told it is the dinner gong by Mel whom she pulls a gun on. Mel moves to leave and tells Delta she can be trusted, she then exits to go to dinner. Delta opens the mysterious object revealing a strange-looking sphere within. At the toll port the Bannermen are questioning the Tollmaster, he tells them he lost track of the bus after it crashed and so is unable to locate it. Gavrok then shoots him; he instructs his men to plot a course for Earth and tells them he wants every informer in the galaxy looking for her.

In the camp, at dinner, Mel sits with the Doctor and informs him of Delta possessing a gun and being edgy. Billy sits with Delta as they eat.

Later, at the Get to know you dance, the Doctor inspects Billy’s stereo. Billy informs him he made it from spare part from the war. Billy then goes up on stage and starts singing. Murray and Mel and dancing and the Doctor talks with Ray who tells him she has had a crush on Billy since she was a child. Billy then proceeds to sing Why Do Fools Fall in Love for Delta; this saddens Ray who then dances with the Doctor.

Outside Weismuller and Hawk are arguing over who should leave the tent to blow out the fire, eventually Hawk goes. The Doctor exits the Dance and Delta leaves soon after, the Doctor follows her. In a storage room the Doctor finds Ray crying over Billy. A passenger of the tour and mercenary, Keillor, enters and the Doctor and Ray hide. Keillor uses a radio to contact Gavrok and informs him regarding the whereabouts of Delta, he asks for the reward, 1 million Units. He uses the radio to give them a signal to follow, the Doctor sneezes alerting the mercenary to their presence.

In their compartment, Delta thanks Mel for being kind to her, she tells her that there is something she should know, they turn as the sphere breaks and a green alien emerges. In the storage room the mercenary finds the Doctor and Ray and prepares to kill them declaring he kills for both money and enjoyment.

Part two
Onboard his craft Gavrok tells the pilot to arm the beacon hunter, he then fires it and Keillor is ionised. The blast knocks the Doctor and Ray unconscious. Billy arrives at Delta and Mel’s compartment. He enters to find Delta cradling the green alien, she invites him in.

Meanwhile a bee keeper, Goronwy, is tending his bees. The two Americans pull up outside and inquire to him if he has seen any lights in the sky. He tells them lots of times, he says he seen pulsing lights and shooting stars. They ask if he has seen anything recently, he tells them he will ask his bees. Back at the compartment Delta tells Billy everything, she tells him the alien is a baby Chimeron and she is a princess, the trio then leave Mel to sleep, and take a drive on Billy’s motorbike, The Vincent. The Doctor awakes in time to see them driving away, he returns to wake Ray and explains the beacon was detonated by the Bannermen to kill the mercenary. The pair then return to find Mel and inquire as to where Billy and Delta have gone but Mel doesn’t know. He tells he they need to evacuate the camp and Mel agrees to tell Murray to get the tour party out.

Billy and Delta arrive by river, Delta tells Billy the child will double in size and weight in the next few hours. The Doctor and Ray try to explain the impeding attack by the Bannermen to Burton but he refuses to believe it. He tells the Doctor he will be convinced if he sees the Doctor’s spaceship. Mel wakes Murray and informs him of the threat. The Doctor shows Burton his ship and he agrees to the evacuation. Murray tells everyone of the attack and they hurriedly pack to leave. The Doctor goes to check if the crystal is ready. Burton announces on the tannoy for all staff to assemble in his office. The Doctor gives Murray the near-finished crystal and tells him to leave with or without him. He then leaves with Ray to find Delta. Burton explains the crisis to his staff and tells them to leave. Billy, Delta and the Child are seated by a river. The child makes a ringing noise; Delta tells Billy it is a song and a defence mechanism. The Doctor and Ray search for the trio, back at the camp Burton assists in the evacuation. On board his craft Gavrok regrets destroying the beacon. He instructs his men that a full technology scan needs to be carried out to find Delta.

Hawk is still attempting to find the satellite signal. Ray and the Doctor arrive and enquire if they have seen Delta and Billy, they haven’t. Meanwhile, the crystal is ready and Murray installs it. Delta is feeding the child, she tells Billy she needs to get to the brood planet where a case can be brought against Gavrok and the Bannermen. The Doctor and Ray find them and tell them of the Bannermen coming to find her. They leave for the camp as Gavrok finds a high technology source.

Hawk gives up on finding the satellite and they watch the Bannermen landing their craft. The Bannermen then take them prisoner, Gavrok leaves two men to guard them. Murray has fuelled up the bus and is ready to leave. He reluctantly agrees to leave Mel to wait for the Doctor, he boards the craft and is about to take off when the Bannermen arrive and shoot it. The passengers are all killed. Gavrok asks Mel if Delta was amongst them and she says yes.

Happily the Bannermen celebrate their victory but then watch as Delta passes on a motorbike. They fire upon them to no avail. Burton tells Gavrok to keep Mel alive as a hostage; he declares he will use them as bait.

Delta picks up signals from Goronwy’s bees telling her to come. Goronwy agrees to shelter Delta and the child. The Doctor borrows Billy’s bike and a pillowcase to make a white flag. He then travels to where the Bannermen are stationed, they shoot his flag. Outraged the Doctor demands Mel and Burton are set free, he declares he will testify that he showed some mercy if he does so. Gavrok tells him he will never be brought to trial. The Bannermen release Mel and Burton, as the trio prepare to leave the Bannermen take aim at them.

Part three
The Doctor, Mel and Burton leave on Billy’s motorbike the white flag flying from it. Gavrok fires a flare gun into the sky, the tow Bannermen guarding the Americans attach a metal bar to chain the pair together, the guards then leave them. Ray then arrives and frees them with an Allen key from her bag. The former guards fire a tracker dart at Billy’s bike as the Doctor drives it past.

At Goronwy’s hives Billy is helping in their car. Goronwy shows them his honey store containing thousands of jars. Delta tells Billy that soon the child will grow again and that she is feeding her Chimeron jelly to aid her growth. Ray brings the two Americans to the house, when no one is looking Billy takes a packet of the jelly. The Bannermen guards return to find the Americans gone, they report this and the successful tracking of the bike to Gavrok and are ordered to follow the signal.

Gavrok booby traps the Doctor’s TARDIS with a Sonic cone. He demonstrates its defensive capabilities to his men. The Doctor drives to a field and attaches the tracker to a goat. He then drives to Goronwy’s house. Back at their craft the Bannermen prepare to take off. The two guards arrive at Goronwy’s house, the Chimeron child grows again and emits a loud piercing noise, this shatters windows and sends the two Bannermen into disarray. Delta shoots and kills one, the other escapes. The Bannerman ship lands in the field were the Doctor placed the tracker. The Doctor turns on Goronwy’s radio and places a piece of Delta’s clothing under the door, they then leave.

The Bannermen find the tracker, the guard who escaped reports to Gavrok that they have a hideout in Goronwy’s house, they then travel to the house. Back at his TARDIS the Doctor notices the booby trap; Hawk doesn’t believe the Doctor and declares he will ring the chief. He reaches out and his hand is burnt by the cone. The Bannermen fire upon Goronwy’s house. The Doctor declares that of the cone explodes with its full force it could kill everyone. The Bannermen raid Goronwy’s honey store. The Jars fall upon them, covered in honey the bees attack them. Delta catches Billy eating the jelly and he tells her that if he is to come with her he must become a Chimeron. The Bannermen land outside the camp and move in to attack.

The Doctor and Billy install a speaker on the roof of the camp, the child Chimeron then sings into the microphone. In disarray the Bannermen stumble around and Gavrok falls into the sonic cone and is atomised. Weismuller ties up the Bannermen. Meanwhile Billy has fully changed into a Chimeron. He dresses in their attire. Billy explains that without him changing into a Chimeron the species can’t survive.

The three Chimerons then board their ship with the Bannermen prisoners onboard. They say their goodbyes and depart. The Doctor reveals that Gavrok absorbed so much energy from the sonic cone it is now derelict. Goronwy gives the Doctor a jar of 1928 Hibiscus blossom as a leaving present.

As Burton welcomes a new bus full of guests, the Doctor gives the Americans their satellite. They thank him, happy that they can report success. The Doctor and Mel then leave in the TARDIS.

Cast

 * The Seventh Doctor - Sylvester McCoy
 * Mel - Bonnie Langford
 * Gavrok - Don Henderson
 * Delta - Belinda Mayne
 * Weismuller - Stubby Kaye
 * Hawk - Morgan Deare
 * Tollmaster - Ken Dodd
 * Burton - Richard Davies
 * Billy - David Kinder
 * Ray - Sara Griffiths
 * Murray - Johnny Dennis
 * Keillor - Brian Hibbard
 * Chima - Tim Scott
 * Bollitt - Anita Graham
 * Adlon - Leslie Meadows
 * The Lorells - Robin Aspland, Keff McCulloch, Justin Myers, Ralph Salmins
 * Vocalists - Tracey Wilson, Jodie Wilson
 * Goronwy - Hugh Lloyd
 * Vinny - Martyn Geraint
 * Callon - Clive Condon
 * Arrex - Richard Mitchley
 * Young Chimeron - Jessica McGough, Amy Osborn
 * Chimeron Princess - Laura Collins, Carley Joseph

Crew

 * Assistant Floor Manager - Christopher Sandeman, Kim Wilcocks
 * Costumes - Richard Croft
 * Designer - John Asbridge
 * Film Cameraman - William Dudman
 * Incidental Music - Keff McCulloch
 * Make-Up - Gillian Thomas
 * OB Cameraman - Alastair Mitchell, Chas Snare
 * Producer - John Nathan-Turner
 * Production Assistant - Rosemary Parsons
 * Production Associate - Anne Faggetter
 * Script Editor - Andrew Cartmel
 * Special Sounds - Dick Mills
 * Stunt Arranger - Roy Scammell
 * Theme Arrangement - Keff McCulloch
 * Title Music - Ron Grainer
 * Visual Effects - Andy McVean

Races and Species

 * The Navarino are squat, wrinkly, purple creatures who can shape change and time travel.
 * Chimeron males and infants are green. They were nearly wiped out by the Bannermen.
 * Goronwy keeps bees that send out warnings of approaching danger.

Technology

 * The American satellite resembles the Russian satellite, Sputnik.
 * The Doctor's TARDIS is equipped with an Anti-gravity spiral.
 * The Bannermen use a sonic cone, which the Doctor says will destroy everyone when activated; it is activated but only kills Gavrok.
 * The Navarino's use a Transformation arch, taking on a Human appearance.
 * The Doctor plays with an electric guitar.
 * Hawk and Weismuller drive a Morris Minor.

Earth locations

 * The bus lands outside the Shangri-La holiday camp, Wales near Llandrudnod Wells, 1959.

Sport Clubs

 * Jerome Weismuller wears a New York Yankees baseball cap and jacket.

Story notes

 * Working title for this story was: The Flight Of The Chimeron and Flight of the Chimeron. This was the title in place when the story was filmed; the final title wasn't decided upon until the fall of 1987. The title was a play on the name of a popular musical group of the 1980s, Echo and the Bunnymen.
 * The Doctor's question mark umbrella makes its first appearance. It was preferred by McCoy in comparison to the question mark pullover.
 * Sylvester McCoy can be seen wearing his glasses - normally removed before recording - in some long shots of him riding a motor bike.
 * Keillor, the alien bounty hunter, is never referred to by name in the story's dialogue; his name is given only in the closing credits.
 * At the time the episode was produced, Bonnie Langford was considering leaving the series midway through the season, and so the young girl Ray was intended to be her replacement. Langford ultimately chose to stay for the complete season, and the idea of having Ray join the TARDIS crew was dropped; elements of the character, however, later inspired the creation of Ace, who ultimately became Mel's replacement at the end of the series. Coincidentally, Sophie Aldred auditioned for the role of Ray but she did not get it but got the part of Ace instead.
 * This was the first 3-episode story (in the traditional 25-minute episode format) since Planet of Giants in 1964; each of McCoy's seasons would have serials of this length.
 * This was the first and only classic-series story to be extensively produced in Wales; (although The Green Death and The Five Doctors have had scenes filmed in Wales, in the case of The Green Death, it was set in Wales as well). When the series returned in 2005, it would be primarily produced in Wales, with a number of its earth-based stories also set there (as well as its spinoff, Torchwood). As noted below, the revived series even used some of the same locations as this story.
 * On several occasions, the Doctor is heard mangling earth idioms; this aspect of the Doctor's personality was mostly abandoned after this story.
 * The final version of the story includes only one brief scene featuring the Doctor inside the TARDIS console room. The "first edit" of episode 1, included on the 2009 DVD, includes an additional console room scene with Mel (in which it was revealed the Doctor keeps petty cash in a jar secreted beneath the console!). According to the production notes commentary, the original script called for another console room scene with Burton and Ray, but this was cut otherwise the two actors would have had to have been brought to London to film the scene.
 * Another actress had been cast as Ray, but was injured during rehearsals with the motorbike. The actress nonetheless received full pay.
 * It was during this story's broadcast that fan backlash against producer John Nathan-Turner began to pick up steam and receive media coverage.
 * In part 2 Billy entered Delta's room with flowers and is surprised to see the baby. In the original edit for part 1 Billy entered before the egg hatched and is most surprised when he watches it hatching.

Music
The story's setting in the late-1950s resulted in a number of vintage songs from the era being heard or performed (though all had to be rerecorded by series composer Keff McCulloch and the Lorells. The songs heard in the serial are:
 * Rock Around the Clock
 * Singing the Blues
 * Why Do Fools Fall in Love
 * When the Red, Red Robin
 * The Honeysuckle and the Bee
 * Mr. Sandman
 * Goodnight, Sweetheart
 * That'll Be the Day
 * Only You
 * Lollipop
 * Who's Sorry Now?
 * Happy Days Are Here Again

McCulloch appears on screen with the band performing a few of these. According to the DVD commentary, his then-fiancé was one of the backup singers on the recordings.

Ratings

 * Part 1 - 5.3 million viewers
 * Part 2 - 5.1 million viewers
 * Part 3 - 5.4 million viewers

Myths
to be added

Filming locations

 * Springwell Quarry, Springwell Lane, Rickmansworth, Hertfordshire
 * Majestic Holiday Camp on Barry Island, South Glamorgan, Wales (The camp no longer exists, but Barry Island would be the filming location for parts of the 2005 episodes The Empty Child and The Doctor Dances.)
 * Pyscodlyn Mawr Reservoir, Hensol Forest, Welsh St Donats, South Glamorgan
 * Sutton Farm, Fort Road, Penarth, South Glamorgan
 * Coed Y Wallas, Castle upon Alun, Mid Glamorgan
 * British Tissues Hangar (Now known as Georgia Pacific GB Ltd), Llandow Trading Estate, Llandow, South Glamorgan
 * BBC Television Centre (TC3), Shepherd's Bush, London

Production errors

 * In the long shots of the Doctor driving the Vincent he is wearing his glasses but in the close ups he is not. The glasses were used by Sylvester McCoy to read, he had forgotten to remove them.
 * Jerome Weismuller's nylon mesh "trucker hat"-style baseball cap would not have been available in 1959.

Continuity

 * The Navarino make an appearance in NA: Return of the Living Dad. This is their first appearance.

Timeline

 * Delta and the Bannermen occurs after: BFA: Flip-Flop
 * Delta and the Bannermen occurs before: ST: Uranus

DVD, VHS and audio release

 * Delta and the Bannerman was released to DVD in the UK (region 2) on 22nd June 2009, region 4 on 6th August followed by a North American DVD release on 1st September.

Special features:
 * An alternate version of Episode 1, with additional scenes not in the broadcast version.
 * Stripped for Action - The Story of Doctor Who Comics.
 * But First This - archival on-location featurette featuring interviews with Sylvester McCoy, Bonnie Langford and Ken Dodd.
 * Raw footage of the interviews filmed for But First This.
 * Wales Today - A BBC News report on the making of the story
 * Hugh and Us - An interview with Hugh Lloyd
 * Clown Court - A 1988 appearance by Sylvester McCoy on a segment of The Noel Edmunds Saturday Roadshow, during which bloopers from this story, along with bonus outtakes from Silver Nemesis (including Sophie Aldred) and The Visitation (including Peter Davison) are shown, followed by outtakes of McCoy's appearance in Clown Court.
 * Trails and continuity announcements
 * Audio commentary by Sylvester McCoy, Sara Griffiths, Chris Clough, and Andrew Cartmel.
 * Photo Gallery
 * Production note subtitles
 * PDF content: Radio Times listings
 * Exclusive trailer for the DVD release of The War Games

Notes:
 * Remastering for DVD release completed by Doctor Who Restoration Team.
 * This is one of only a handful of Doctor Who DVD releases for which a "making of" documentary was not produced.

Novelisation and its audiobook

 * Main article: Delta and the Bannermen (novelisation)


 * Novelised as Delta and the Bannermen by Malcolm Kohll in 1989.