The Space Museum (TV story)

The Space Museum was the seventh story in the second season of Doctor Who. It was the first story to deal with the dimensions of time as well as space. While it presented many original science fiction elements, it still retained the elements of a typical story of the era.

The story's cliff-hanger also presented fans with a preview somewhat of the Daleks' third appearance. Their return was awaited impatiently, a fact that was baited by the appearance of a Dalek shell in part one. This shell was the final appearance of the original Dalek design. The Daleks at the end of The Final Phase do not have the metal band of their predecessors.

Synopsis
The TARDIS jumps a time track and the travellers arrive on the planet Xeros. There they discover their own future selves displayed as exhibits in a museum established as a monument to the galactic conquests of the warlike Morok invaders who now rule the planet. When time shifts back to normal, they realise that they must do everything they can to try to avert this potential future.

Vicki helps the native Xerons to obtain arms and thereby to revolt against the Moroks. The revolution succeeds and the travellers go on their way, confident that the future has been changed.

The Space Museum (1)
The occupants of the TARDIS find themselves materialising on a planet replete with many different specimens of space technology. The Doctor states that they landed far quicker than he ever has before. Ian and Barbara discover that they seem to have switched clothes since just before they landed as previously they had been in their crusade clothes of the twelfth century. Whilst this concerns his companions, the Doctor explains this away as being merely "time and relativity" and states that their old clothes will be haning up in the wardrobe. Vicki confirms this is the case. Following the Doctor's orders she also fetches a glass of water from the food machine As she does so she is startled by something that cause her to drop the drink. To her suprise as the glass smashed on the floor it immediatly reforms itself and leaps back into her hand. She reports this to the Doctor who states that all should be explained when they explore the planet, which he know postulates to be a museum due to the fact that the space craft are all lined up in chronological order.

Once they leave the TARDIS they discover that the planet is entirely extinct and has nothing living on it. Ian discovers that their footprints make no tracks in the dust. they head towards a large building in the middle of the spacecraft.

Once there they find the doors impenetrable, however they soon open to reveal two men. The travellers hide from the men, however as they pass Vicki sneezes loudly. To the travellers suprise the two men do not appear to hear her. The Doctor says this is unexplainable but begins to explore the building. As they walk through the many corridors they are startled by a Dalek, which they soon discover is nothing more than a museum piece. As they discuss Daleks, a species that Vicki has only read about in books, they soon see two different men coming. They hide from them but are suprised to see that although they appear to be speaking to each other it remains inaudible to the travellers. Ian wonders if they speak at a different frequencey to humans, the Doctor doubts this but says that he has no other explanations at the moment.

As they continue to explore the museum Vicki discovers that they cannot physically touch any of the museum pieces on display and that their hands simply pass through them. The Doctor speculates that this may suggest that they are not actually where they think they are. Yet again they encounter three men who go about their business unaware of the presence of the travellers. This further confims the Doctor's theory.

They continue to explore the museum and are shocked to find the Doctor's TARDIS as a display in one of the rooms. Barbara, Ian and Vicki, although confused as to how the ship came to be here, state that they think they should leave the planet. The Doctor soon proves this to be impossible due to the fact that the TARDIS also cannot be touched. The Doctor then points out a display case containing the bodies of the four travellers. He states that the TARDIS must have jumped a time track when they materalised meaning that they now temporarily occupy a fourth dimension. This enables them to be simultaneously in the cases in one reality as well as standing looking at themselves in the fourth dimension. The Doctor suggest that the only course of events is to wait at the museum until such a time as they arrive in the real reality. He suggests that what they are seeing in front of them is merely a possibilty as to what may happen at some point in the future and that it can still be combatted. He notes that the versions of them in the display cases are wearing the same clothes as they are wearing now so it is only a matter of time before the two realities merge again. No sooner does he say this but Barbara notices a strange feeling. The reel of time seems to rewind and two men discover the TARIDS. At the same time as this occurs the display cases disappear leaving the Doctor to announce "We have arrived."

The Dimensions of Time (2)


The curator of the museum, Lobos recieves news of the alien ship that has landed on the site of his planet. Whilst concerned he is also rather pleased to have the monotony of his day broken by an intruder. He orders his men to find the visitors before the rebels find them. However he is too late, a group of three rebels have already heard about the arrival of the travellers and intend on intercepting them before Lobos' men do in order to befriend them and overthrow the opressive rule that Lobos, who is a representative of the Moroks, has over them.

Meanwhile in the museum the travellers have liberated a gun from the exhibition in order to help them bluff there way out of the museum, The four friends have a discussion as to how best to avoid the future that they saw in the fourth dimension. It is suggested that they do the opposite as to what they would normally do, however they decide to try and escape as if they escape then they will never be captured in the first place. They begin to navigate the labyrinthine corridors searching for escape. As they make their way through the corridors they are pursued by the rebels who decide that, so as not to startle the travellers, the best course of action will be to capture one of them in order to explain the situation that they find themselves in. It is not long before the opportunity shows itself. As the travellers walk through the corridors the Doctor is distracted by an exhibit and falls behind his friends. The rebels grab him and carry him away. The Doctor plays dead and the rebels decide to split up. One of the rebels, called Darko, elects to stay behind and watch the Doctor while the others go to track the rest of the travellers.

The remaining trio of travellers, now aware of the Doctor's disapperance, argue of how best to continue in order to reunite themselves with the Doctor as well as save them from their possible future. They decide that it is best to push on for the exit.

By the time the two rebels return they discover that Darko has been tied up. They question him as to what happened but he has no memory after being knocked unconcious. They go to seek the Doctor who they assume escaped back into the museum, however he is hiding in the hollowed out shell of the Dalek. As he escapes he is accosted yet again, but this time by the Moroks.

Barbara, Ian and Vicki, now tired and cranky, decide to use a piece of yarn to ensure that they are not crossing over the same paths. They destroy Barbara's cardigan in order to do this. Eventually they find the exit. As they pull back the doors they see that the TARDIS has been captured.

The Doctor finds himself in a room with nothing in it other than a chair. As he sits on it bars come across locking him in place. A wall slides up to reveal Lobos sitting in a chair. Lobos explains that the museum is a homage to the great history of the Moroks and that it remains silent due to the fact that the Moroks are now peace loving creatures. Lobos begins to question the Doctor as to who else he came here with. The Doctor refuses to disclose this information but Lobos somehow knows anyway. He explains that the chair that the Doctor sits in allows his thoughts to be transplanted into a video screen on his desk. When Lobos continues to question the Doctor he uses the strength of his brain to confuse and misdirect Lobos. Lobos tires of this and summons his guards to take the Doctor away to the preperation room where he will be turned into an exhibit.

The Search (3)
Vicki has meanwhile made contact with the Xerons and, hearing of their enslavement, aids them in their plans to stage a revolution. The Moroks step up their resistance, but it seems luck and cunning are on the side of the Xerons. They attack the Morok armoury and Vicki outwits its controlling computer. With their new weapons the Xerons are able to begin a revolution which slowly takes hold. The Moroks try to use deadly zaphra gas to poison the rebels and seize control of the situation, but this too is a failure. Ian uses a hostage to gain access to the governor's quarters. He pulls a gun on Lobos and asks him to show him where the Doctor is. A door opens revealing the time lord.

The Final Phase (4)
Ian has meanwhile freed the Doctor from Lobos, who had begun the process of freezing him and turning him into an exhibit. They find Barbara and Vicki in the Museum’s endless corridors, but are soon all captured together. It looks like the time track prediction of their future as museum exhibits will soon be realised after all.

Help comes from the Xeron revolutionaries, who kill Lobos and the other Morok captors. The Xerons then go about destroying the hated Museum as the TARDIS crew slips away. They take with them a time/space visualiser as a souvenir. On the planet Skaro, their departure is noted by the Daleks.

Cast

 * The Doctor - William Hartnell
 * Ian Chesterton - William Russell
 * Barbara Wright - Jacqueline Hill
 * Vicki - Maureen O'Brien
 * Sita - Peter Sanders
 * Dako - Peter Craze
 * Third Xeron - Bill Starkey
 * Lobos - Richard Shaw
 * Tor - Jeremy Bulloch
 * Morok Messenger - Salvin Stewart
 * Morok Technician - Peter Diamond
 * Morok Guard - Lawrence Dean
 * Morok Guard - Peter Diamond
 * Morok Guard - Ken Norris
 * Morok Guard - Salvin Stewart
 * Morok Commander - Ivor Salter
 * Xeron - Michael Gordon
 * Xeron - Edward Granville
 * Xeron - Bill Starkey
 * Xeron - David Wolliscroft
 * Morok Guard - Billy Cornelius
 * Dalek Voice - Peter Hawkins
 * Dalek Machine Operator - Murphy Grumbar
 * Extra - Brian Proudfoot

Crew

 * Writer - Glyn Jones
 * Director - Mervyn Pinfield
 * Producer - Verity Lambert
 * Script Editor - Dennis Spooner
 * Designer - Spencer Chapman
 * Assistant Floor Manager - Caroline Walmsley
 * Assistant Floor Manager - John Tait
 * Costumes - Daphne Dare
 * Costumes - Tony Pearce
 * Fight Arranger - Peter Diamond
 * Make-Up - Sonia Markham
 * Production Assistant - Snowy White
 * Special Sound - Brian Hodgson
 * Studio Lighting - Howard King
 * Studio Sound - George Prince
 * Studio Sound - Ray Angel
 * Theme Arrangement - Delia Derbyshire
 * Title Music - Ron Grainer

Story notes

 * All episodes exist in 16mm telerecordings
 * Episode 3 was held in the BBC Film & TV Library when it was audited in 1978
 * Negative Film Prints of all 4 episodes have been found
 * A clearer print of episode 1 was returned to the BBC in 1981
 * The episodes of this story went by different titles during the production stage. Episode 1 was originally known as The Four Dimensions of Time and Episode 4 was originally known as Zone Seven.
 * William Hartnell does not appear in Episode 3.
 * Of all the William Hartnell stories with individual episode titles, this is the only one for which only one overall story title has ever been used. See also Disputed story titles.
 * Episode 1 begins with a brief reprise of The Crusade episode 4, which is currently the only surviving film footage of that episode
 * Features a guest appearance by Jeremy Bulloch who is better known for his appearance as Boba Fett in The Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi
 * Richard Shaw, who spoke with a Cockney accent, was cast as Governor Lobos, but was asked to deliver his lines with a BBC accent. His accent slips only once, when he bellows at an underling use "maximum securi'ee!" He later appeared as Cross in Frontier in Space with his own accent
 * The incidental music was all from stock recordings rather than being specially composed for the story
 * In a nice piece of internal continuity, William Russell starts gently banging his fists together as he leaves the TARDIS interior set and carries this through to the next scene, following a recording break, as he emerges from the police box onto the Xeros surface set; this gives the effect of a continuous piece of action, and helps maintain the illusion that the TARDIS interior really is inside the police box shell.
 * This was one of the stories selected to be shown as part of BSB's Doctor Who Weekend in September 1990.
 * In episode two a character refers to the Doctor's friends as his companions. This is one of the earliest, and possibly the very first time, that the Doctor's associates are referred to on screen as companions.
 * Episode 1 features a rare use (for the 1960s) of a filmed insert of an interior location, specifically a room in the TARDIS, due to the need to show a special effect (Vicki dropping a glass and the glass repairing itself) that at the time could not be rendered on videotape. The switch from video to film was rendered unnoticeable in the filmed recordings of the serial that were circulated after its UK broadcast and when the story was recovered in the 1980s, but is once again quite noticeable following the serial's vidFIRE remastering for DVD release in 2010.
 * The four episodes were produced at the same time the Dr. Who and the Daleks film was in production.

Ratings

 * The Space Museum - 10.5 million viewers
 * The Dimensions of Time - 9.2 million viewers
 * The Search - 8.5 million viewers
 * The Final Phase - 8.5 million viewers

Myths

 * This was a low budget due to the high cost of some of the other stories this season (The story had a similar budget and cost about the same to make as the other 4 part stories at the time)

Filming locations

 * Ealing Television Film Studios

Production errors

 * When they exit the TARDIS, the main characters cast shadows across the mountains in the distance.

Continuity

 * The Doctor manages to fix the Time/Space Visualiser in DW: The Chase and uses it again in BFA: The One Doctor.
 * The Faction Paradox use a similar device in EDA: The Ancestor Cell to show Fitz his future.
 * A device like the Time/Space Visualiser is seen in TN: Ghost Ship.
 * The TARDIS jumps its own time track again in PDA: Festival of Death and NSA: Prisoner of the Daleks, and the Doctor considers at first that this may have occurred in DW: Amy's Choice.
 * In NA: No Future it is revealed that the Monk was once an adviser to the Moroks.
 * The Doctor also visits a literal "space museum" in DW: The Seeds of Death and visits a similar museum in DW: Dalek.

Timeline

 * This story takes place after DW: The Crusade
 * This story takes place before PDA: The Eleventh Tiger

DVD releases

 * This story was first released on DVD in the UK on 1 March 2010 as part of a boxset with The Chase. The one disc set includes a restored version of the story, as well as the following special features:
 * Commentary by William Russell (Ian), Maureen O’Brien (Vicki), Glyn Jones (Writer) and Peter Purves (Moderator).
 * Defending the Museum
 * My Grandfather, the Doctor
 * A Holiday For The Doctor
 * Coming Soon Trailer
 * Radio Times Billings
 * Production Subtitles
 * Photo Gallery


 * Editing for DVD release completed by Doctor Who Restoration Team.

VHS releases
The Space Museum was released on VHS together with the surviving episodes of DW: The Crusade.


 * UK Release: July 1999 / US Release: January 2000
 * PAL - BBC Video BBCV6805
 * NTSC - CBS/FOX Video 2000020
 * NTSC - Warner Video E1399

Novelisation and its audiobook

 * Main article: The Space Museum (novelisation)


 * Novelised as The Space Museum by Glyn Jones in 1987.