State of Decay (TV story)

Synopsis
The Doctor, Romana, K9 and Adric - an Outler from Alzarius who has stowed away aboard the TARDIS - arrive on a planet where the native villagers live in fear of 'the Wasting' and of three Lords named Zargo, Camilla and Aukon who rule from an imposing Tower. The Lords are soon revealed to be vampire servants of the last of the Great Vampires, a race referred to in Time Lord mythology.

The Great Vampire is about to be revived from its resting place beneath the Tower - in fact the spaceship in which the Lords, in their original human forms, came to E-Space - but the Doctor launches one of the ship's three shuttle craft and it pierces the heart of the creature, killing it. The Lords, deprived of their master, crumble to dust.

Plot
to be added

Cast

 * Fourth Doctor - Tom Baker
 * Romana II - Lalla Ward
 * K9 Mk2 - John Leeson
 * Adric - Matthew Waterhouse
 * Aukon - Emrys James
 * Camilla - Rachel Davies
 * Zargo - William Lindsay
 * Ivo - Clinton Greyn
 * Marta - Rhoda Lewis
 * Tarak - Thane Bettany
 * Habris - Iain Rattray
 * Kalmar - Arthur Hewlett
 * Veros - Stacy Davies
 * Karl - Dean Allen
 * Roga - Stuart Fell
 * Zoldaz - Stuart Blake

Crew

 * Assistant Floor Manager - Lynn Richards
 * Costumes - Amy Roberts
 * Designer - Christine Ruscoe
 * Executive Producer - Barry Letts
 * Fight Arranger - Stuart Fell
 * Film Cameraman - Fintan Sheehan
 * Film Editor - John Lee
 * Incidental Music - Paddy Kingsland
 * Make-Up - Norma Hill
 * Producer - John Nathan-Turner
 * Production Assistant - Rosalind Wolfes
 * Production Unit Manager - Angela Smith
 * Script Editor - Christopher H. Bidmead
 * Special Sounds - Dick Mills
 * Studio Lighting - Bert Postlethwaite
 * Studio Sound - John Howell
 * Theme Arrangement - Peter Howell
 * Title Music - Ron Grainer
 * Visual Effects - Tony Harding

Story Notes

 * The story was originally entitled The Witch Lords and was written by Dicks to open Season 15. At that time (mid-1977) the BBC was preparing to mount a major production of Dracula and so cancelled the story. Dicks' replacement script was Horror of Fang Rock.
 * This is the second story in the 'E-Space Trilogy'.
 * Working titles for this story included; The Wasting, The Vampire Mutations and The Witch Lords.

Ratings
to be added

Myths
to be added

Location Filming
to be added

Discontinuity, Plot Holes, Errors
to be added

Continuity

 * Blood Harvest and The Eight Doctors features a return to the planet seen in this story.
 * Goth Opera continues the events in both this story and Blood Harvest.

DVD and Video Releases

 * State of Decay was released by BBC Worldwide on video as part of a boxed set featuring; Full Circle, State of Decay and Warriors' Gate].

Novelisation

 * Main article: Doctor Who and the State of Decay


 * Novelised by Terrance Dicks in 1982 as Doctor Who and the State of Decay.