The Ribos Operation (TV story)

Synopsis
The Doctor is recruited by the White Guardian to seek the six segments of the Key to Time, and given a new assistant, the Time Lady Romana. The quest for the first segment takes them to Ribos, a medieval planet that galactic confidence trickster Garron is trying to sell to the Graff Vynda-K.

Plot
to be added

Cast

 * The Doctor - Tom Baker
 * Romana I - Mary Tamm
 * Voice of K9 - John Leeson
 * The White Guardian - Cyril Luckham
 * Garron - Iain Cuthbertson
 * Unstoffe - Nigel Plaskitt
 * Graff Vynda-K - Paul Seed
 * Sholakh - Robert Keegan
 * Shrieve Captain - Prentis Hancock
 * Shrieves - Oliver Maguire, John Harmill
 * Binro - Timothy Bateson
 * The Seeker - Anne Tirard

Crew

 * Assistant Floor Manager - Richard Cox
 * Costumes - June Hudson
 * Designer - Ken Ledsham
 * Incidental Music - Dudley Simpson
 * Make-Up - Christine Walmesley-Cotham
 * Producer - Graham Williams
 * Production Assistant - Jane Shirley
 * Production Unit Manager - John Nathan-Turner
 * Script Editor - Anthony Read
 * Special Sounds - Dick Mills
 * Studio Lighting - Jim Purdie
 * Studio Sound - Richard Chubb
 * Theme Arrangement - Delia Derbyshire
 * Title Music - Ron Grainer
 * Visual Effects - Dave Havard

Story Notes

 * This story marks the beginning of the quest for the Key to Time, with all stories in Season 16 being linked around this theme. This was the first time a story arc encompassed an entire season.


 * The original credits list the White Guardian as simply "The Guardian." This may be a hint at a suspicion the Doctor voices at the climax of "The Armageddon Factor," that he and Romana have along been working for the Black Guardian disguised as his more benevolent counterpart.


 * The Key to Time prop was created by visual effects designer Dave Havard.


 * New companion Mary Tamm had attended RADA with her predecessor, Louise Jameson.


 * Originally, the shortened form of Romanadvoratrelundar's name was to be "Romy."


 * On the night before the last day of recording The Ribos Operation, Tom Baker was bitten on the left side of his upper lip by a dog belonging to Paul Seed (who played the Graff Vynda-K). Publicity photographs from late April show Baker with a plaster cast on that lip, and the wound had to be concealed with makeup, much to the actor's discomfort. The scar was quite noticeable on screen, and also throughout most of this season and the next.

Ratings

 * Episode 1 - 8.3 million
 * Episode 2 - 8.1 million
 * Episode 3 - 7.9 million
 * Episode 4 - 8.2 million

Myths
to be added

Location Filming
to be added

Discontinuity, Plot Holes, Errors
to be added

Continuity

 * The Black Guardian appears in The Armageddon Factor.
 * The White Guardian next appears in Enlightenment.

Video Release

 * Released on VHS in April 1995 in PAL and NTSC formats, with the UK version featuring cover art by Colin Howard and spine art by Andrew Skilleter.

DVD Release

 * Released on DVD in the United States (Region 1) in episodic format in October 2002. Extras include commentary by Tom Baker and Mary Tamm, a photo gallery and production information subtitles.

Target Novelisations
to be added