Mission to the Unknown (TV story)

Summary
On the planet Kembel three men struggle to repair their crashed spaceship in a hostile jungle. (For a more detailed summary click here

Cast & Characters

 * The Doctor - William Hartnell (Does not appear)
 * Marc Cory - Edward De Souza
 * Jeff Garvey - Barry Jackson
 * Gordon Lowery - Jeremy Young
 * Malpha - Robert Cartland
 * Dalek - Robert Jewell
 * Dalek - Kevin Manser
 * Dalek - John Scott Martin
 * Dalek - Gerald Taylor
 * Dalek voice - David Graham
 * Dalek voice - Peter Hawkins

Uncredited Cast

Crew

 * Writer - Terry Nation
 * Director - Derek Martinus
 * Producer - Verity Lambert
 * Assistant Floor Manager - Marjorie Yorke
 * Costumes - Daphne Dare
 * Designer - Richard Hunt
 * Designer - Raymond Cusick
 * Make-Up - Sonia Markham
 * Production Assistant - Angela Gordon
 * Script Editor - Donald Tosh
 * Special Sounds - Brian Hodgson
 * Studio Lighting - Ralph Walton
 * Studio Sound - George Prince
 * Theme Arrangement - Delia Derbyshire
 * Title Music - Ron Grainer

Story Title and Production Code
Perhaps more than any other Doctor Who story, Mission to the Unknown generates confusing and debate over both the title used and the serial/production code allocated.

All Doctor Who stories from this period have no overall onscreen title, with the story referred to either by a production code or an internal title by the production team. (For example the early 1965 story featuring Nero was Serial M or The Romans.) The two were confusingly used interchangeably in many production and overseas sales documents.

Mission to the Unknown generates further confusion because some documents do not refer to it as a serial but rather as a "cutaway episode". As the story was produced alongside Galaxy 4 the two appear to have been referred to together. Several of the production codes offered are either Serial T or Serial T +, an appendage.

Early in 1965 the term Dalek Cutaway started to be used to describe the episode in the production office. The onscreen title Mission to the Unknown came later but both continued in circulation, with Dalek Cutaway seemingly being used in places as both a story title and and a production term. The abbreviation DC also appears on a few early production documents.

Design documents successively refer to the episode as Serial T/A and later Serial T Episode 5. The episode's camera script gives Dalek Cutaway as a description and a handwritten addition states Serial T Episode 4 (which is the wrong number). Later when the videotape of the episode was wiped the relevant paperwork referred to Serial Ta Episode 1/1.

When it came to offering the story for sale overseas, the synopsis sent by BBC Enterprises gave the title as Mission to the Unknown (Dalek Cutaway). The 1974 Enterprises document A Quick Guide to Doctor Who, which listed the stories produced so far for potential overseas buyers, gave the title as Dalek Cutaway (Mission to the Unknown) and did not offer any production code at all.

When fans started compiling reference books in the mid 1970s it was this latter document which formed the basis of many lists. The story was referred to alternatively as Dalek Cutaway and Mission to the Unknown on many occasions, whilst the production code went vacant until the discovery of the design documents stating T/A. In more recent years the exploration of the BBC's written archives has exposed the problems of the title and production code

Influences

 * James Bond
 * The Day of the Triffids

Ratings

 * Mission to the Unknown - 8.3m viewers

Myths

 * The members of the alliance were named Malpha, Desmir, Stifka, Hjbuj, Pteron, Dbremen and Leemon. (These names, apart from Malpha, were made up for an Australian fan-published novelisation). In the transmitted story only Malpha and the planet Gearon are named.

Location Filming
This story was filmed at Ealing studios in London and BBC Television Centre TC3 in London

Continuity

 * This story is continued in The Daleks' Master Plan which concludes the Daleks attempts to invade the Galaxy
 * The term "the Solar System" here seems to refer to the entire Milky Way Galaxy. This may be because Humanity control the whole Galaxy and the Solar System is at the heart of this Empire

Discontinuity

 * Why would the Daleks announce their secret plans on the loudspeaker?

Quotes
Malpha - "This is indeed an historic moment in the history of the universe. We six from the outer galaxies joining with the power from the solar system, the Daleks. The seven of us represent the greatest war force ever assembled. Conquest is assured!"

Story Arcs
The First History of the Daleks Arc

Similar stories

 * The Daleks' Master Plan
 * The Face of the Enemy

More Info

 * Story Synopsis
 * Story Transcript
 * Story Novelization
 * Story Statistics
 * Story in the Media

Public Releases

 * DVD Release - This story has not been released on DVD.
 * Video Release - This story has not been released on Video
 * Due to the lack of available footage for this story no video release has been possible
 * A reconstruction of this story has been made using the available images and audio by Loose Cannon Productions.
 * For more information on this reconstruction and the material available click here