The Sensorites (TV story)

Summary
The Doctor, Ian, Barbara and Susan arrive in the TARDIS on board a spaceship. Their initial concern is for the ship's human crew who are suffering from telepathic interference from the Sensorites, but Susan communicates with the Sensorites and finds that the aliens are fearful of an attack from the humans and are just defending themselves. Travelling to the Sense Sphere (the Sensorites' planet) the Doctor then seeks to cure an illness the Sensorites and Ian have succumbed to, but finds that this has been caused by deliberate poisoning. The political maneuvering of the Sensorite City Administrator adds an additional threat to the TARDIS crew as he seeks to discredit and implicate them

Cast & Characters

 * Dr. Who - William Hartnell
 * Ian Chesterton - William Russell
 * Barbara Wright - Jacqueline Hill
 * Susan Foreman - Carole Ann Ford
 * John - Stephen Dartnell
 * Carol Richmond - Ilona Rogers
 * Captain Maitland - Lorne Cossette
 * First Sensorite - Ken Tyllsen
 * Second Sensorite - Joe Greig
 * Third Sensorite - Peter Glaze
 * Fourth Sensorite - Arthur Newall
 * First Elder - Eric Francis
 * Second Elder - Bartlett Mullins
 * First Scientist - Ken Tyllsen
 * Second Scientist - Joe Greig
 * Warrior - Joe Greig
 * Commander - John Bailey
 * First Human - Martyn Huntley
 * Second Human - Giles Phibbs
 * Sensorite - Anthony Rogers (uncredited)
 * Sensorite - Gerry Martin (uncredited)

Crew

 * Writer - Peter R. Newman
 * Director - Mervyn Pinfield (episodes 1-4), Frank Cox (episodes 5-6)
 * Producer - Verity Lambert
 * Script Editor - David Whitaker
 * Designer - Raymond Cusick
 * Assistant Floor Manager - Dawn Robertson
 * Assistant Floor Manager - Val McCrimmon
 * Associate Producer - Mervyn Pinfield
 * Costumes - Daphne Dare
 * Incidental Music - Norman Kay
 * Make-Up - Jill Summers
 * Make-Up - Sonia Markham
 * Production Assistant - David Conroy
 * Special Sound - Brian Hodgson
 * Studio Lighting - Peter Murray
 * Studio Sound - Jack Brummitt
 * Studio Sound - Les Wilkins
 * Theme Arrangement - Delia Derbyshire
 * Title Music - Ron Grainer

Influences

 * Yangtze Incident
 * Fireball XL5

Ratings

 * Strangers in Space - 7.9m viewers
 * The Unwilling Warriors - 6.9m viewers
 * Hidden Danger - 7.4m viewers
 * A Race Against Death - 5.5m viewers
 * Kidnap - 6.9m viewers
 * A Desperate Venture - 6.9m viewers

Myths

 * The Humans responsible for poising the water supplies were part of a group called INEER (The initials INEER were meant to be the end of the word Engineer)
 * Arthur Newall appeared in Doctor Who as a Dalek (he in fact appeared in this story as a Sensorite)

Location Filming

 * This story was filmed at BBC Television Centre Studio TC3, and Lime Grove Studio D

Continuity

 * The Doctor has only 1 heart at this stage of his life
 * Despite travelling together for years the Doctor and Susan have never argued
 * Susan was born on Gallifrey as it is confirmed she and the Doctor are from the same planet.
 * Susan has telepathic abilities which the Doctor is not aware of however it is suggested that many of those on Gallifrey have such abilities as the Doctor suggests her skills could be perfected if she gets home
 * Many of the novels deal with the idea that the Time Lords have telepathic abilities
 * Gallifrey is similar to Earth but the sky at night is burnt orange and the tree leaves are bright silver
 * The Doctor once argued with Henry VIII as he wanted to be sentenced to The Tower of London where the TARDIS was located
 * The Doctor and Susan encountered telepathic plants on the planet Esto

Discontinuity

 * During episode 1 while the Doctor is delivering his lines the camera hits the table in front of him
 * The drill marks are visible before Maitland starts to use the drill
 * It is stretching credibility to the extreme to suggest that the Sensorites can only recognise each other by the sashes they wear
 * Despite this story being set in the 28th Century the astronauts wore contemporary looking space suits. Not a trend which is seen in other stories set in this time period

Quotes
The Doctor - "It all started out as a mild curiosity in the junkyard and now it's turned out to be quite a great spirit of adventure."

City Administrator - 'Weakling! Betrayer of our people! Coward! I should imprison you in some room wherein no light can shine and fill that room with noise!'

Story Arcs
None

Similar stories
To be added

More Info

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

Public Releases

 * DVD Release - This story has not yet been released on DVD
 * Video Release - Released as Doctor Who: The Sensorites


 * UK Release: June 2000 / US Release: October 2003
 * PAL - BBC Video BBCV7276
 * NTSC - Warner Video E1852


 * Released as part of The First Doctor Collection boxset in the UK - BBCV7278


 * Released as part of The End of the Universe Collection in the US