The Moonbase (TV story)

The Moonbase was the sixth story of Season 4 of Doctor Who. The return appearance of the Cybermen solidified their place as one of the series' key villains. This story was the first in Doctor Who history with sequences taking place on Earth's Moon.

Synopsis
The TARDIS arrives in 2070 AD on the Moon, where a weather control station under the command of a man named Hobson is in the grip of a plague epidemic - in reality the result of an alien poison planted by the Cybermen. Jamie is knocked unconscious and lapses into a delirium, leaving the Second Doctor, Ben, and Polly to fight off a massive Cyberman attack.

Episode one
The TARDIS makes a bumpy landing on the moon in the year 2070. They go outside in spacesuits and Jamie is injured when they fool around. They discover the Moonbase - a weather control station that keeps Earth's weather in check. It is staffed by international crew under Hobson the controller. They are using a gravity machine called the gravitron to control the weather. The Doctor investigates a mystery: patients have collapsed in comas and have been infected by a virus. All victims are confined to the sickbay. Jamie is put in the medical wing until his fever subsides. International Space Control responds to the crisis by quarantining the Moonbase, a precaution made more valid as a patient starts to die. Soon a crew member disappears in the food stores without a trace. Jamie, delirious, begins to mumble about the phantom piper, his clan's variant of the Grim Reaper. A Cyberman appears in the medical wing.

Episode two
The Cyberman abducts a patient which Polly witnesses. She informs the Doctor and the others, but Hobson doesn't believe her due to lack of evidence. Hobson soon notices the Moonbase's radio transmissions are being monitored. More people are infected by the virus and the Cybermen abduct them all. The Doctor soon works out the Cybermen have infected the sugar in the food stores to make the virus spread, thus explaining the virus' seemingly random attack pattern - depending on the crew's preference for sugar in their food or drink. They contact base but the radio transmissions are blocked. Later in the medical wing a Cyberman appears and advances towards the Doctor and his friends with a gun.

Episode three
Bob, a crew member, is killed. The Cybermen contact the cyber fleet. The leader reveals the dead crew members have been augmented and are under Cyber control. More Cybermen emerge from hiding and take over central control. They intend to use the gravitron to destroy life on Earth and send Doctor Evans, the first victim, to operate it. Ben, Polly and Jamie (now recovered) use a cocktail of several chemicals, each of which attack a certain type of plastic, to dissolve the Cybermen's chest units. The fleet land and deploy reinforcements, which advance in force across the lunar surface toward the Moonbase.

Episode four
The Cybermen destroy a relief craft and use radio controlled beams to reactivate the augmented crew members. They are soon killed by the crew. The Cyberleader threatens that if the resistance continues they will fire. They use a large cannon to fire shots at the Moonbase, which are deflected by the gravitron. The Doctor aims the gravitron at the surface and the Cybermen and fleet are cast off into space. Hobson repairs the gravitron and the Doctor and his companions slip away. The TARDIS scanner reveals a large claw...

Cast

 * The Doctor - Patrick Troughton
 * Ben Jackson - Michael Craze
 * Polly - Anneke Wills
 * Jamie McCrimmon - Frazer Hines
 * Hobson - Patrick Barr
 * Benoit - Andre Maranne
 * Nils - Michael Wolf
 * Sam - John Rolfe
 * Voice from Space Control - Alan Rowe
 * Ralph - Mark Heath
 * Dr. Evans - Alan Rowe
 * Scientists - Barry Ashton, Derek Calder, Arnold Chazen, Leon Maybank, Victor Pemberton, Edward Phillips, Ron Pinnell, Robin Scott, Alan Wells
 * Voice of Controller Rinberg - Denis McCarthy
 * Cybermen - John Wills, Sonnie Willis, Peter Greene, Keith Goodman, Reg Whitehead, John Levene
 * Cybermen Voices - Peter Hawkins

Crew

 * Assistant Floor Manager - Lovett Bickford
 * Costumes - Sandra Reid, Mary Woods, Daphne Dare
 * Designer - Colin Shaw
 * Film Cameraman - Peter Hamilton
 * Film Editor - Ted Walter
 * Make-Up - Gillian James, Jeanne Richmond
 * Producer - Innes Lloyd
 * Production Assistant - Desmond McCarthy
 * Script Editor - Gerry Davis
 * Special Sounds - Brian Hodgson
 * Studio Lighting - Dave Sydenham
 * Studio Sound - Gordon Mackie
 * Theme Arrangement - Delia Derbyshire
 * Title Music - Ron Grainer

Cybermen

 * The Cybermen were believed destroyed ages ago (reference to The Tenth Planet).
 * The Cyberman would make use of viruses and biological agents in Revenge of the Cybermen.
 * The Cybermen recognise the Doctor despite his regeneration (possibly due to their encounter with him on 20th century Earth).

Earth technology

 * The Moonbase was established around 2050 to control the Earth's weather via the Gravitron.
 * The Gravitron runs on thermonuclear power and manipulates gravity.

Foods and Beverages

 * The virus (Neurotrope X) is in the sugar.
 * Polly serves coffee and tea.

Planets

 * The Moonbase is on the Moon.

Science

 * The Cybermen shoot a hole in the Moonbase, making it lose oxygen.
 * The Cybermen's chest unit appears to be made of a kind of plastic.
 * Ben is quite knowledgeable about certain things on the moonbase. He knows that the Gravitron uses thermonuclear power, that interferon is a viral antibody, that acetone is present in nail varnish remover and that the spray from the fire extinguishers would evaporate in a vacuum.

Timeline

 * The Doctor mentions that he studied under Lister in Glasgow in 1888.

Story notes

 * This story had the working title The Return of the Cybermen.
 * This is the first story in which John Levene (who later played Sergeant Benton) appears.
 * In an early edit of the script the Cybermen had names.
 * Talkback from the headphones of the crew on the studio floor is clearly audible at times during Episode 4 (the same problem as had earlier caused the opening episode of the first Dalek story to have to be remounted) - for example, a voice can be clearly heard saying "Cue" at the start of the scene where the controlled scientists are first activated by the Cybermen.
 * Alan Rowe is credited as 'Voice from Space Control' and 'Dr. Evans' (separate on-screen captions) for Episodes 1 and 3, only as 'Voice from Space Control' for Episode 2 and only as 'Dr. Evans' for Episode 4. He is billed as 'Voice from Space Control/Dr. Evans' in Radio Times for Episode 3.
 * All of the actors playing the scientists were credited without specific roles under the heading 'Others in Cast' in Radio Times.
 * Mark Heath is credited as 'Ralph' for Episode 1, and as 'Scientist' for Episode 3. He is billed without specific role under the heading 'Others in Cast' in Radio Times for Episode 3.
 * John Wills and Sonnie Willis, playing Cybermen, are credited without specific role under the heading 'Others in Cast' in Radio Times for Episode 1.
 * BBC could reanimate Episodes 1 and 3 of this story as full audio exists for both of them.

Ratings

 * Episode 1 - 8.1 million viewers
 * Episode 2 - 8.9 million viewers
 * Episode 3 - 8.2 million viewers
 * Episode 4 - 8.1 million viewers

Filming locations

 * Ealing Television Film Studios, Ealing Green, Ealing
 * Riverside Studios, Hammersmith, London
 * Lime Grove Studios (Studio D)

Production errors

 * In Episode 2, when a Cyberman tries to zap Polly while she tends to Jamie, he misses, but she falls anyway.
 * Hobson notes they need to keep a hurricane in the Pacific Ocean. However, the Gravitron is pointed at the Atlantic and the hurricane is threatening Miami.
 * Closeups of the transparent dome from the outside only show the Gravitron, not any of the desks, controls, people, etc.
 * The examination tables in the sickbay are very light and wobble frequently. The most obvious cases are when the Cyberman takes one of the crew off one and later when he hops up off the table, almost knocking it over completely.
 * When Evans sneaks into the Gravitron control room, he puts the cloth helmet on back to front (in the next scene it's the right way round).
 * When the Cybermen's spaceships land, the wire that is holding them is clearly visible.

Continuity

 * The final clip of the episode leads into DW: The Macra Terror.
 * International Space Command previously appeared in DW: The Tenth Planet.
 * The Cybermen shoot energy from their hands; this style is later repeated in DW: The Tomb of the Cybermen and Rise of the Cybermen.
 * There are various references to DW: The Tenth Planet.

Timeline

 * This story occurs after DW: The Underwater Menace.
 * This story occurs before DW: The Macra Terror.

Home video and audio releases

 * The two surviving episodes (2 and 4) were released on the Cybermen: The Early Years video.
 * The surviving episodes were also released on the Lost in Time DVD, along with full audio of the two missing episodes.
 * Editing of the surviving episodes' DVD release was completed by the Doctor Who Restoration Team.
 * The soundtrack of the story was released with linking narration by Frazer Hines on 2 April 2001. It was re-released on 4 August 2011 as part of the box set Doctor Who: The Lost TV Episodes - Collection Three.