The Rescue (TV story)

The Rescue was the third story of Season 2 of Doctor Who. Maureen O'Brien joined the cast as companion Vicki in this story.

Summary
The TARDIS crew are still missing Susan Foreman when they land on an unnamed planet, which the Doctor later recognises as Dido, a world he has visited before. The trio soon encounter two survivors of a space crash, Vicki and Bennett, who are awaiting a rescue ship in three days time. Vicki is also in fear of Koquillion, a bipedal inhabitant of Dido who is stalking the area and encounters the time travellers, attacking Barbara. Vicki finds her injured and rescues her from Koquillion, and they share reminiscences. Vicki’s father was amongst those who died when the most of the survivors of the crash were lured to their deaths by the natives of Dido. She is evidently very lonely, having befriended an indigenous rodent Sand Beast for company. However, while Ian and the Doctor reach the ship tempers become fraught when Barbara mistakes the Sand Beast for a threat and kills it.

The Doctor begins to suspect things are not as they seem – especially when he finds things in Bennett’s room. He follows Bennett through a trap door in the floor of his cabin and reaches a temple carved from rock where he unmasks Koquillion as Bennett. He reveals he killed a crewmember on board the ship and was arrested, but the ship crashed before the crime could be radioed to Earth. By killing the other crew in an explosion – and with Vicki asleep and unaware of the situation – he covered his original crime. The Koquillion alias has been used to keep Vicki in check until the rescue ship was due. At this point two silent natives of Dido arrive and force Bennett to his death over a ledge. With nothing left for her on Dido, Vicki is welcomed aboard the TARDIS.

Cast & Characters

 * The Doctor - William Hartnell
 * Ian Chesterton - William Russell
 * Barbara Wright - Jacqueline Hill
 * Vicki - Maureen O'Brien
 * Bennett / Koquillion - Ray Barrett
 * Space Captain - Tom Sheridan
 * Sand Monster - Tom Sheridan (uncredited)
 * Inhabitant of Dido - John Stuart (uncredited)
 * Inhabitant of Dido - Colin Hughes (uncredited)

Crew

 * Writer - David Whitaker
 * Director - Christopher Barry
 * Producer - Verity Lambert
 * Script Editor - Dennis Spooner
 * Designer - Raymond Cusick
 * Assistant Floor Manager - Valerie Wilkins
 * Associate Producer - Mervyn Pinfield
 * Costumes - Daphne Dare
 * Film Cameraman - Dick Bush
 * Film Editor - Jim Latham
 * Incidental Music - Tristram Cary
 * Make-Up - Sonia Markham
 * Production Assistant - David Maloney
 * Special Sound - Brian Hodgson
 * Studio Lighting - Howard King
 * Studio Sound - Richard Chubb
 * Theme Arrangement - Delia Derbyshire
 * Title Music - Ron Grainer

Influences

 * It! The Terror from Beyond Space

Ratings

 * The Powerful Enemy - 12.0m viewers
 * Desperate Measures - 13.0m viewers

Myths

 * The inhabitants of Dido are known as Didonians (There is no evidence provided in the episode to support this).

Location Filming

 * Model filming took place at Ealing Studios.
 * Studio filming took place at Riverside Studio 1, Hammersmith, London.

Continuity

 * The Doctor tells Ian and Barbara about a previous visit to the planet Dido.
 * Reference is made to Susan's departure (The Dalek Invasion of Earth.
 * The Doctor, Ian and Barbara talk about how they met (An Unearthly Child.
 * The crew discuss there previous problems with caves ( The Daleks, Marco Polo).

Discontinuity

 * There is no back in the TARDIS prop used and consequently the cave wall is visible behind.
 * In episode 2 a stage hand can be seen behind Vicki's pet.
 * When Barbara fires at Susan's pet, the firework can be seen to fall off the gun.
 * The Doctor explains how peaceful the natives of the planet Dido are. This would seem to be inconsistent with the traps which they have built into their caves.

Quotes
Doctor - "We can travel anywhere and everywhere in that old box as you call it. Regardless of space and time... and if you like adventure, my dear, I can promise you an abundance of it."

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 Rescue/The Romans


 * The next episode caption has been removed from episode 2
 * Released as a double tape with The Romans
 * UK Release: September 1994 / US Release: March 1996
 * PAL - BBC Video BBCV5378 (2 tapes)
 * NTSC - Warner Video E1313 (2 tapes)
 * NTSC - CBS/FOX Video 8338 (2 tapes)