Battlefield (TV story)

Synopsis
The TARDIS materialises in the English countryside near the village of Carbury, where a nuclear missile convoy under the command of UNIT's Brigadier Winifred Bambera has run into difficulties. Lying on the bed of the nearby Lake Vortigern is a spaceship from another dimension containing the body of King Arthur, supposedly held in suspended animation, and his sword Excalibur.

Ancelyn, a knight from the other dimension, arrives on Earth to aid the King but is followed by his rival Mordred and the latter's mother, a powerful sorceress named Morgaine. They all recognise the Doctor as Merlin - a fact that the Time Lord attributes to events in his own future.

A battle breaks out between UNIT and Morgaine's men. Brigadier Lethbridge-Stewart has come out of retirement to assist in the crisis and ends up using silver bullets to kill the Destroyer - an awesomely powerful creature unshackled by Morgaine to devour the world - although he himself is almost killed in the process.

Morgaine tries to fire the nuclear missile but is overcome by shock when the Doctor tells her that Arthur is in fact dead. She and her son are then taken prisoner by UNIT.

Plot
to be added

Cast

 * The Doctor - Sylvester McCoy
 * Ace - Sophie Aldred
 * Alistair Gordon Lethbridge-Stewart - Nicholas Courtney
 * Morgaine - Jean Marsh
 * Brigadier Winifred Bambera - Angela Bruce
 * Mordred - Christopher Bowen
 * Ancelyn - Marcus Gilbert
 * Doris Lethbridge-Stewart - Angela Douglas
 * Shou Yuing - Ling Tai
 * Peter Warmsly - James Ellis
 * Pat Rowlinson - Noel Collins
 * Elizabeth Rowlinson - June Bland
 * Sergeant Zbrigniev - Robert Jezek
 * Flight Lieutenant Lavel - Dorota Rae
 * Knight Commander - Stefan Schwartz
 * Major Husak - Paul Tomany
 * The Destroyer - Marek Anton

Crew

 * Assistant Floor Managers - Matthew Purves, Julian Herne
 * Costumes - Anushia Nieradzik
 * Designer - Martin Collins
 * Incidental Music - Keff McCulloch
 * Make-Up - Juliette Mayer
 * OB Cameramen - Paul Harding, Alan Jessop
 * Producer - John Nathan-Turner
 * Production Assistant - Rosemary Parsons
 * Production Associate - June Collins
 * Script Editor - Andrew Cartmel
 * Special Sounds - Dick Mills
 * Stunt Arranger - Alf Joint
 * Theme Arrangement - Keff McCulloch
 * Title Music - Ron Grainer
 * Visual Effects - Dave Bezkorowajny

Story Notes

 * This story had the working title of; Storm Over Avallion.
 * Jean Marsh previously played Sara Kingdom in The Daleks' Master Plan.

Quotes

 * The Doctor: "That Brigadier, was the beginning of the end of the world."

Ratings

 * Part 1 - 3.1 million viewers
 * Part 2 - 3.9 million viewers
 * Part 3 - 3.6 million viewers
 * Part 4 - 4.0 million viewers

Myths

 * The incidental music for this story was originally to have been provided by the rock group Hawkwind. (It wasn't.)

Location Filming
to be added

Discontinuity, Plot Holes, Errors

 * When Morgaine strikes Brigadier Lethbridge-Stewart's helicopter, the smoke box used for this effect can clearly be seen attached to the back of the left landing skid.

Continuity

 * Brigadier Lethbridge-Stewart last appeared in screen in Mawdryn Undead.
 * Doris was first mentioned in Planet of Spiders.
 * The Doctor meets Lethrbidge-Stewart for the 'first time' (from the Brigadier's perspective) in NA: No Future (and then wipes his memory of the event so he could meet him for the first time in this story).


 * Bambera reappears in NA: Head Games'',
 * Lethbridge Stewart reappears after this story in NA: Happy Endings (where his memory is restored) and EDA: The Shadows of Avalon.

DVD and Video Releases
to be added

Target Novelisations

 * Novelised as Battlefield in 1991 by Marc Platt.