The Ark in Space (TV story)

Synopsis
The TARDIS arrives on an apparently deserted and deactivated space station Nerva, otherwise known as the Ark, orbiting Earth in the far future. There the Doctor, Sarah and Harry discover the last survivors of the human race held in suspended animation, Earth having been evacuated thousands of years earlier when solar flares threatened to destroy all life.

The station has been visited by a Wirrn, an insect life form, which has laid its eggs in the solar stacks and absorbed the body and mind of one of the sleeping humans. The Doctor's reactivation of the station's systems causes the humans to start to revive. Their leader, nicknamed Noah, becomes infected by one of the emerging larvae and is slowly taken over.

The Doctor and his friends meanwhile gain the trust of the other humans, now led by a med-tech named Vira. Together they manage to lure the hatched Wirrn insects into a shuttle craft and then eject it into space.

In a final act of humanity, Noah - by this time fully transformed into a Wirrn - deliberately neglects to set the shuttle's stabilisers, causing it to explode.

Plot
The Fourth Doctor's first trip in the Tardis, brings him, Harry and Sarah, to the Nerva Beacon, where the Doctor investigates the ship and learns that there are humans in suspended animation. Later, the Doctor battles Noah and the Wirnn to save humanity. The Doctor, Harry, and Sarah leave the Tardis behind, and beam to earth.

Cast

 * The Doctor - Tom Baker
 * Sarah Jane Smith - Elisabeth Sladen
 * Harry Sullivan - Ian Marter
 * Vira - Wendy Williams
 * Noah/Lazer — Kenton Moore
 * Rogin — Richardson Morgan
 * Lycett — John Gregg
 * Libri — Christopher Master
 * The Wirrn — Stuart Fell, Nick Hobbs
 * High Minister's Voice — Gladys Spencer
 * Voices on Nerva — Peter Tuddenham

Crew

 * Assistant Floor Manager - Russ Karel
 * Costumes - Barbara Kidd
 * Designer - Roger Murray-Leach
 * Incidental Music - Dudley Simpson
 * Make-Up - Sylvia James
 * Producer - Philip Hinchcliffe
 * Production Assistant - Marion McDougall
 * Production Unit Manager - George Gallacio
 * Script Editor - Robert Holmes
 * Special Sounds - Dick Mills
 * Studio Lighting - Nigel Wright
 * Studio Sound - John Lloyd
 * Theme Arrangement - Delia Derbyshire
 * Title Music - Ron Grainer
 * Visual Effects - John Friedlander, Tony Oxley

Story Notes

 * The Nerva Beacon sets are reused for Revenge of the Cybermen.
 * The whole story bears resemblance to the Ridley Scott film 'Alien' released in 1979.
 * It is only mentioned once by Vira but Noah's name is Lazer, Noah being a joke on his role on Nerva.
 * No one but the regular cast take part in Part One of this story, the last time this occurred was episode one of The Edge of Destruction.

Ratings

 * Part 1 - 9.4 million viewers
 * Part 2 - 13.6 million viewers
 * Part 3 - 11.2 million viewers
 * Part 4 - 10.2 million viewers

Myths
to be added

Filming Locations

 * BBC Television Centre (Studio 3 & TC1), Shepherd's Bush, London

Discontinuity, Plot Holes, Errors

 * If there are thousands of people on Nerva, why is there only 1 shuttle and a transmat with only 3 pads?

Continuity

 * The Ark in Space is part of a set concerning Nerva Beacon without TARDIS travel; beginning in The Ark in Space and continuing through The Sontaran Experiment, Genesis of the Daleks and then ending in Revenge of the Cybermen set back aboard Nerva beacon at an earlier point in time.


 * EDA: Placebo Effect features the Wirrrn and delves further into their history and psychology.

DVD Releases

 * The Ark in Space was released on DVD in 2002 by BBC Worldwide.

Video Releases
to be added

Laserdisc releases

 * Released on Laserdisc in 1990.

Audio release
Excerpts from Dudley Simpson's score, arranged by Heathcliff Blair, were released by Silva Screen in the early 1990s on their compilation CD Pyramids of Mars: Classic Music from the Tom Baker Era (FILMCD 134)

Target Novelisations

 * Novelised as Doctor Who and the Ark in Space by Ian Marter.