The Wheel in Space (TV story)

The Wheel in Space was the seventh and final story of Season 5. It introduced new companion Zoe Heriot, played by Wendy Padbury.

Synopsis
The TARDIS materialises on board a spaceship, the Silver Carrier, where the Doctor and Jamie are attacked by a Servo Robot. Jamie manages to contact a nearby space station known as the Wheel and they are rescued. Meanwhile, the Silver Carrier discharges some Cybermats, which also travel to and enter the station. These pave the way for the penetration of the station by Cybermen, who intend to use its direct radio link with Earth as a beacon for their invasion fleet.

The Doctor sends Jamie and a young woman named Zoe Heriot over to the Silver Carrier to fetch the TARDIS's vector generator rod. Meanwhile he manages to free the Wheel's crew from the Cybermen's hypnotic control and to destroy all the Cybermen on the station.

When Jamie and Zoe return, he installs the rod in the station's X-ray laser, making it powerful enough to destroy the Cyber-fleet. An approaching force of space-walking Cybermen is also vanquished.

Episode one
The explosion of the mercury fluid link forces the Second Doctor and Jamie McCrimmon to evacuate the TARDIS to avoid mercury fumes, and until the mercury can be replaced, the craft is marooned. They find themselves on a space vessel, deserted apart from a Servo-Robot. The robot detects the intruders and in response redirects the rocket from aimless wandering. The shock of a course change causes the Doctor to hit his head, briefly concussing him. The robot also releases a group of egg-shaped white pods into space, and the mysterious things direct themselves toward a nearby spaceship shaped like a giant wheel, attaching themselves to its exterior by a seeming act of will. When the robot becomes aggressive, Jamie succeeds in destroying it, but the Doctor is very weak and collapses.

The Wheel is an Earth space station observing phenomena in deep space and is staffed with a small international crew. The crew members are concerned by the sudden drops in pressure which, unbeknown to them, coincide with the pods attaching themselves to the exterior of the Wheel. Controller Jarvis Bennett is also worried that the Silver Carrier, a missing supply vessel eighty million miles off course, has suddenly turned up nearby and is not responding to radio contact. He decides to destroy it with the Wheel’s powerful x-ray laser.

Episode two
Jarvis is only prevented from doing so when they hear a deafening burst of noise from the vessel. Jamie has managed to alert them to his presence aboard the Carrier and shortly thereafter he and the unconscious Doctor are both rescued and taken aboard the Wheel. While the resident medic, Doctor Gemma Corwyn, sees to the Doctor, Jamie is given a guided tour by the sparky young para-psychology librarian, Zoe Heriot.

Gemma knows that Jamie is lying, so Bennett remains suspicious of the new arrivals, fearing they could be saboteurs opposed to the space program. He decides to use the x-ray laser on the Carrier now that the two refugees have been rescued, little realizing that the TARDIS is still on board. Jamie intervenes to sabotage the laser with quick set plastic.

Meanwhile, aboard the rocket, two pods similar to the ones which attactched themselves to the wheel draw energy from around it. A three fingered silver hand punches it's way out of the top of one of them.

Episode three
Jamie's sabotaging of the laser only further infuriates Bennett, especially as there is a potential meteor shower heading for the Wheel – and they now have no way to repel it. As a result of this Jarvis confines Jamie and the Doctor to the sickbay. When the Doctor recovers he does not approve of Jamie's action. He also remains groggy and unclear, but convinced that a major danger lurked on the Silver Carrier. Zoe has calculated that the ship did not drift to their sector but was deliberately piloted there. The Wheel’s crew, however, are more concerned with the impending meteor shower.

It turns out that the two large pods contained Cybermen, who discuss their plans with the cyber-planner (an immobile unit which is in control of the cybermen) over a video communicator. The small pods they sent to the Wheel contained Cybermats and these have been sent to begin consuming the bernalium rods in the Wheel’s stores. The bernalium is essential to power the x-ray laser. The Cybermen have deliberately engineered the star in Messier 13 to go nova, thus forcing the Wheel crew to look to their bernalium stores only to find them missing. When this happens the Cybermen expect the crewmen will instead come to the Silver Carrier for an alternate source of bernalium, which can then be transported into the Wheel – with a surprise inside.

Engineer Bill Duggan indeed has noted the depleted stocks and the presence of the Cybermats. His delay in reacting allows another crewman, Kemel Rudkin, to fall victim to the Cybermats. Jarvis Bennett overreacts with panic to this state of affairs, briefly stripping Duggan of his position and imposing tighter controls. The Doctor has a more practical solution – he uses the x-ray machine to scan inside a pod that has been found but cannot be opened. Jarvis sends two crewmen, Laleham and Vallance, to the Silver Carrier to look for bernalium. Once there, the Cybermen reveal themselves and take control of their minds. They then order Laleham and Vallance to take them to the Wheel and help them.

Episode four
Laleham and Vallance are used to prepare the bernalium crates destined for the Wheel with two Cybermen hidden inside. This ruse works and the crates are soon aboard the Wheel. The Cybermat within the pod is easily identified, but Bennett does not accept the danger. Indeed, medic Gemma Corwyn, who has formed an alliance with the Doctor, fears for Bennett’s mental state as he seems unable to deal with escalating events. Over time his behaviour seems to be becoming more and more bizarre and detached from reality.

Duggan and Leo Ryan are glad to have access to a new power supply for the laser, which they are slowly repairing. An engineer called Chang is killed by the emerging Cybermen when he is sent to fetch the new bernalium supply. They dispose of his body in an oven. Laleham and Vallance arrive at the laser with the bernalium supply for Duggan, who also falls victim to the same mind control process and becomes the third agent of the Cybermen. Duggan is sent to destroy communications with the Earth. He smashes the control panel and gets electrocuted in the process.

The Doctor has meanwhile deduced that the fortuitous supply of bernalium has a deeper significance. He has also reasoned that the late Duggan was being mind controlled and instructs Dr Corwyn to use a basic transistor system attached to each of the crews' necks as a means of repelling this technique. The Doctor and Jamie go to the loading bay and discover the crate's false bottom, which confirms the prescence of the Cybermen aboard the Wheel. Behind them, a cyberman is coming down the steps.

Episode five
The Doctor and Jamie are undetected and the cyberman leaves with some bernalium. However, they're ambushed by cybermats. The crew use a sonic wave to disable all the mats aboard the Wheel. Gemma and Zoe show Jarvis a dead cybermat, but he refuses to believe they're under attack. Gemma relieves Jarvis of his command as he's obviously unfit to be the station controller.

The death of Duggan is no obstacle to the Cybermen as another engineer, Flannigan, is found to replace him. Laleham is killed trying to subdue Flannigan when Vallance misses with a gun. A cyberman takes control of Flannigan's mind. The Cybermen have invested time in repairing the x-ray laser, evidently needing it ready for use. Thus when the meteorites are finally due to hit they can be deflected and obliterated. The Cybermen want the Wheel intact so they can use it's radio beam for their fleet to home in on. They want to invade the Earth, desperate for the planet's mineral wealth.

The human crew have managed to fully repair the x-ray laser and use it to defend against the incoming meteorites. The Doctor decides that he needs the time vector generator which he earlier removed from the TARDIS. Jamie and Zoe are chosen for a space-walk to the rocket. Gemma shows them to the airlock, but hides in the oxygen room. She overhears Vallance and a Cyberman plotting to poison the air supply, and warns the Doctor before she is killed by a cyberman. Meanwhile, Jamie and Zoe are caught up in the meteor shower.

Episode six
Leo switches over to sectional air supply, meaning the Cybermen can't poison their air. Shocked back to consciousness by Gemma's death, the insane Jarvis Bennett is killed when he seeks revenge. Leo assumes control as the Doctor warns there is a vast Cyberman spacecraft heading for the Wheel. The cyber-planner suspects that someone aboard knows of their methods. Vallance identifies everyone on-board, and the cyber-planner & cybermen recognise the Doctor. The planner decides he must be killed. Jamie and Zoe tune into this conversation aboard the rocket and go back with the time vector generator to warn the Doctor.

The humans need to contact Earth, but Duggan's suicide mission made this impossible. They need spare parts. Flannigan pretends to be normal and says he will meet up with the Doctor in corridor 6 and give them to him. This is a plan by the Cybermen to ambush the Docctor and kill him. The Doctor suspects this and so goes through the air tunnels to the power room to fetch them. When the Cybermen don't find him in corridor 6 they order Flannigan to go to the control room and destroy the forcefield.

Jamie and Zoe get back, and Flannigan takes them to the control room. He is overwhelmed by Leo and Enrico Casali, the communications officer, and his conditioning is broken. The Doctor is cornered in the power house by the two Cybermen and They reveal their plans to him (see episode 5 paragraph 2). When they try to destroy him he electrocutes one with a machine he wired up. A large group of Cybermen start spacewalking towards the Wheel. Jamie and Flannigan go to the loading bay and free Vallance from cyber-control. Flannigan uses quick setting plastic in a fire extinguisher to kill the last cyberman, and he turns on the deflector shield, which deflects the cybermen into space. The Doctor uses the time vector generator to boost the power of the x-ray laser and is successful in destroying the advancing Cybership.

With the invasion repelled, the Doctor and Jamie return to the Silver Carrier with the mercury they need to repair the TARDIS. They are accompanied by Zoe, who quietly stows away as the time vessel departs. She is determined to stay and so, to warn her of the dangers ahead, the Doctor uses a mental device to project images from his mind to the viewscreen, which tell her of his and Jamie's encounter with the Daleks in their search for the Dalek Factor...

Cast

 * The Doctor - Patrick Troughton
 * Jamie McCrimmon - Frazer Hines
 * Zoe Heriot - Wendy Padbury
 * Dr. Gemma Corwyn - Anne Ridler
 * Servo Robot - Freddie Foote
 * Leo Ryan - Eric Flynn
 * Tanya Lernov - Clare Jenkins
 * Jarvis Bennett - Michael Turner
 * Enrico Casali - Donald Sumpter
 * Bill Duggan - Kenneth Watson
 * Elton Laleham - Michael Goldie
 * Armand Vallance - Derrick Gilbert
 * Kemel Rudkin - Kevork Malikyan
 * Chang - Peter Laird
 * Sean Flannigan - James Mellor
 * Cyberman - Jerry Holmes
 * Cyberman - Gordon Stothard
 * Voice - Peter Hawkins
 * Voice - Roy Skelton

Crew

 * Assistant Floor Manager - Marcia Wheeler
 * Costumes - Martin Baugh
 * Designer - Derek Dodd
 * Film Cameraman - Jimmy Court
 * Film Editor - Ron Fry
 * Incidental Music - Brian Hodgson and the BBC Radiophonic Workshop
 * Make-Up - Sylvia James
 * Producer - Peter Bryant
 * Production Assistant - Ian Strachan
 * Script Editor - Derrick Sherwin
 * Special Sounds - Brian Hodgson
 * Studio Lighting - Mike Jefferies
 * Studio Sound - John Holmes
 * Theme Arrangement - Delia Derbyshire
 * Title Music - Ron Grainer
 * Visual Effects - Bill King, Trading Post

Story notes

 * The working title for this story was; The Space Wheel.
 * Patrick Troughton makes no appearance in Episode 2 as he was on holiday during the week when it was recorded. The Doctor is seen only as an unconscious figure, with Chris Jeffries doubling for Troughton.
 * This story is the first to have an incidental music score as well as sound effects provided by the BBC's Radiophonic Workshop.
 * Only Episodes 3 and 6 exist in the BBC Archives. Episode 6 was transmitted from a 35 mm film print and retained in the BBC Film Library (although Episode 5 was not). A private collector obtained a copy of Episode 3 and returned it in 1983.

Cast Notes

 * Patrick Troughton did not appear in episode 2 as he was on holiday. Thus, a body double was used to substitute for the unconscious Doctor.
 * Deborah Watling's appearance in episode 1 was a recap from the end of the previous story Fury from the Deep. Unusually, Deborah received an on-screen credit for this appearance.
 * Michael Goldie previously played Craddock in The Dalek Invasion of Earth (1964), whilst Kenneth Watson had played Craddock in the theatrical version of this story, Daleks - Invasion Earth 2150 AD (1966).


 * The Cyberplanner has the exact same voice as the Cybercontroller from The Tomb of the Cybermen.

Production Notes

 * The story that was originally planned for this spot in the production schedule was to have portrayed a Dalek/Cybermen confrontation. Although this was disallowed by Terry Nation, he did give an important concession in return. He allowed for future Dalek stories — something that was not seen as certain at the time. His precondition for this permission would remain in effect the rest of his life: he had to be given the first right of refusal to write the script on any proposed Dalek storyline. Meanwhile, Kit Pedler, whose involvement with the original idea for a Cyber/Dalek war is uncertain, brought an entirely different Cybermen story to the table in the form of "The Space Wheel". He was teamed with David Whitaker to bring this idea to script form. The idea of a Cyber/Dalek war festered in the minds of both Doctor Who fans and production staff alike. It would not be realised until the 2006 episodes DW: "Doomsday".
 * The spacesuits wore by Jamie and Zoe later turned up as costumes in Star Wars: A New Hope and Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back (most famously worn by Bossk the Bounty Hunter).

Ratings

 * Episode 1 - 7.2 million viewers
 * Episode 2 - 6.9 million viewers
 * Episode 3 - 7.5 million viewers
 * Episode 4 - 8.6 million viewers
 * Episode 5 - 6.8 million viewers
 * Episode 6 - 6.5 million viewers

Myths

 * This story went considerably over budget. (It was one of the few stories of the second Doctor's era to come in under budget.)
 * There is a suspenseful scene in which the two Cybermen menace Zoe in the Wheel's library. (There is no such scene. The photographs that exist of this were specially posed for publicity purposes only.)
 * Only two Cyberman costumes were used in the making of this story. (A third was put together from stock for the sequence in Episode 6 where a force of Cybermen space-walk toward the Wheel.)
 * Eric Flynn, who plays Leo Ryan in this story, was the son of Hollywood film star Errol Flynn. (Eric Flynn is not related to Errol Flynn)

Filming locations

 * Ealing Television Film Studios, Ealing Green, Ealing
 * Lime Grove Studios (Studio D), Shepherd's Bush, Hammersmith & Fulham
 * Riverside Studios (Studio 1) Hammersmith & Fulham (footage captured on 35mm film)
 * BBC Television Centre (TC1 & TC3) Shepherd's Bush, Hammersmith & Fulham

Production errors

 * When Zoe is discovered hiding in the box in the TARDIS, the background is simply TARDIS interior circles painted onto a draped cloth. In longer shots, the join between the TARDIS set walls and the cloth is jarringly obvious.

Continuity

 * A clip from DW: The Evil of the Daleks is used for a sequence where the Doctor shows Zoe, (in the TARDIS), what she may face if she travels with him. This was used as a way to introduce a repeat of The Evil of the Daleks the week following the original broadcast of The Wheel in Space. However, the clip used is actually from the end of Episode One, rather than the beginning of the existent Episode Two, meaning that this story contains a few frames of footage from the currently missing Episode One of The Evil of the Daleks.
 * Ironically, Zoe would never encounter the Daleks on television; decades later, the Big Finish Productions audio story CC: Fear of the Daleks would tell of an encounter between Zoe and the Daleks, set immediately after the Doctor's telepathic re-run.
 * The incorporation of the rebroadcast of Evil of the Daleks into continuity remains a unique circumstance in the history of Doctor Who, and indeed perhaps television in general. Although "clip shows" are common, in which flashbacks to past episodes are featured and are sometimes (in science fictional contexts) incorporated into the plot, this was a case where the production team actually incorporated a "reliving" of the events of a complete story into the continuity of the series.
 * The Time Vector Generator also plays a part in MA: Invasion of the Cat-People NA: Birthright and Iceberg.

Timeline

 * This story occurs after ST: One Step Forward, Two Steps Back
 * This story occurs before DWM: Dream a Little Dream For Me

Home video and audio releases

 * The surviving episodes (3 and 6) were released on the Cybermen: The Early Years video
 * They were also included in the Lost in Time DVD
 * Editing of surviving episodes DVD release completed by Doctor Who Restoration Team.

Novelisation and its audiobook

 * Main article: The Wheel in Space (novelisation)


 * Novelised as The Wheel in Space in 1988 by Terrance Dicks.