Snakedance (TV story)

Snakedance was the second story in the twentieth season of Doctor Who. A sequel to Kinda, it featured the return of the Mara, and Nyssa's first direct contact with the Mara. A third Mara tale was intended for the following season, which would have then made this the middle chapter of a trilogy, but writer Christopher Bailey was unable to complete the third set of scripts. Three decades later, a sequel to this story — though not the one Bailey had attempted — was created for audio in the form of Big Finish's The Cradle of the Snake.

The story was significant for its cast. In particular, it was one of Martin Clunes' very first television roles — though it was not his debut. Clunes' outrageous costumes and youthful appearance make it a story often sampled whenever the multi-award-winning actor appears on television chat programmes. (DOC: Snake Charmer) Snakedance was also notable for featuring Brian Miller — husband of Sarah Jane Smith's portrayer, Elisabeth Sladen — in a significant role.

Writers involved in the production of the BBC Wales version of Doctor Who have expressed affection for this serial. In 1995, Steven Moffat was a participant in a wide-ranging, public discussion about Doctor Who with Andy Lane, David Bishop and Paul Cornell. He ranted about the "crap" nature of the majority of the 1963 version of the show, but called Snakedance "one I couldn't really fault". He would build upon this opinion in a 1996 essay, in which he called Snakedance and Kinda "the two best Who stories ever". Likewise, Robert Shearman has called Snakedance "my favourite" Doctor Who story, and is heavily featured on the DVD release explaining why.

Synopsis
Tegan falls once more under the influence of the Mara and directs the TARDIS to the planet Manussa. There the Federator's son Lon and his mother Tanha are preparing for a ceremony to celebrate the banishment of the Mara five hundred years earlier.

The Mara takes control of Lon and uses him and Tegan to obtain from Ambril, the Director of Historical Research, the 'Great Crystal' - the large blue stone that originally brought it into being by focusing energy from the minds of the planet's one-time inhabitants. The Mara now plans to use the crystal during the ceremony to bring about its return to corporeal existence.

The Doctor and Nyssa, aided by Ambril's assistant Chela, locate Ambril's aged predecessor Dojjen, who predicted the Mara's rebirth before wandering off into the wilderness. The Doctor allows himself to be bitten by a snake in order to enter a state of mental commune with Dojjen, who tells him that fear is the only true venom and that in order to defeat the Mara he must find the still point within himself.

The Doctor and his friends then return to the caves where the ceremony is being held. The Doctor, by concentrating his thoughts with the aid of a small replica of the great crystal, is able to find the still point and repel the Mara.

Plot
to be added

Cast

 * The Doctor - Peter Davison
 * Tegan - Janet Fielding
 * Nyssa - Sarah Sutton
 * Lon - Martin Clunes
 * Ambril - John Carson
 * Tanha - Colette O'Neil
 * Chela - Johnathon Morris
 * Dojjen - Preston Lockwood
 * Dugdale - Brian Miller
 * Fortune Teller - Hilary Sesta
 * Hawker - George Ballantine
 * Puppeteer - Barry Smith
 * Megaphone Man - Brian Grellis

Crew

 * Assistant Floor Manager - Maggy Campbell
 * Costumes - Ken Trew
 * Designer - Jan Spoczynski
 * Film Cameraman - John Baker
 * Film Editor - Alastair Mackay
 * Incidental Music - Peter Howell
 * Make-Up - Marion Richards
 * Producer - John Nathan-Turner
 * Production Assistant - Rita Dunn, June Collins
 * Production Associate - Angela Smith
 * Production Manager - Margot Hayhoe
 * Script Editor - Eric Saward
 * Special Sounds - Dick Mills
 * Studio Lighting - Henry Barber
 * Studio Sound - Martin Ridout
 * Theme Arrangement - Peter Howell
 * Title Music - Ron Grainer
 * Visual Effects - Andrew Lazell

Astronomical objects

 * Manussa is in the Scrampus system, and is a colony of a Federation formed by one of Lon's ancestors (part of a network of former Earth colonies).

Species

 * The Mara was created on Manussa, and ruled, turning the former Manussan Empire into the Sumaran Empire.

Story notes

 * A Top Gear episode briefly showed a photo of Martin Clunes portraying Lon during the "Star in a reasonably priced car" section, with Jeremy Clarkson using it to humiliate Clunes.
 * Jonathan Ross used a clip from Snakedance to introduce Clunes to his audience in a 2010 episode of The Jonathan Ross Show.

Ratings/Appreciation Index

 * Part 1 — 6.7 million viewers | 95th place | AI 65
 * Part 2 — 7.7 million viewers | 75th place | AI 66
 * Part 3 — 6.6 million viewers | 98th place | AI 67
 * Part 4 — 7.4 million viewers | 78th place | AI 67

Myths

 * Kate Bush wrote this under a pseudonym. She didn't. 
 * This was Martin Clunes' television debut. Although all participants insist this is true on the DVD commentary, it's not.  It was his first major role on TV, but he had previously appeared in The White Guard, a BBC Play of the Month'' which aired on 20 September 1982.

Filming locations

 * BBC Television Centre (TC6), Shepherd's Bush, London

Production errors

 * Lon claims that the fake crystal is made of glass. However, the practical effect of it being smashed does not convincingly confirm Lon's statement. It obviously shatters like plastic or polystyrene.

Continuity

 * The Mara debuted in DW: Kinda and reappeared in BFA: The Cradle of the Snake.

Timeline

 * This story occurs after ST: Men of the Earth
 * This story occurs before DWM: Blood Invocation

DVD releases
It was released on DVD in a box set called Mara Tales with Kinda on 7th March 2011 in Region 2. The two episodes have been updated, with CGI Mara instead of the original puppets.



Video releases
Released on VHS in December 1994 in the UK markets, February 1994 in Australian markets and September 1995 in US markets.

Novelisation and its audiobook

 * Main article: Snakedance (novelisation)


 * Novelised by Terrance Dicks in 1984.