The Savages (TV story)

The Savages — initially introduced as Dr. Who and the Savages by the "Next Episode" caption at the end of the previous adventure, The Gunfighters — was the ninth story of season 3 of Doctor Who. It was the first to be wholly commissioned and produced by producer Innes Lloyd and script editor Gerry Davis; it followed several serials which bore the duo's names, but had actually been substantially pre-produced by John Wiles and Donald Tosh.

It heralded the new production era in a couple of small but significant ways. It was the first story to use an overall, on-screen title. No serial before this one had a title, but were instead comprised of episodes with individual titles. It was also the first story to have a production code of more than a single character.

More significantly, it was the new production team's first opportunity to impact the casting of the regulars. Peter Purves was written out by the end of the story. It was also Jackie Lane's last full serial and the final televised off-Earth story for the First Doctor. William Hartnell showed a pre-regenerative weariness and would be eased out of the series in twelve episodes. It therefore had a certain commonality with Warriors' Gate and Resurrection of the Daleks as the point at which an incarnation of the Doctor began to lose long-term companions before an impending regeneration.

The end of this story also marked the first time since "An Unearthly Child" that the First Doctor journeyed with just a single female companion. Narratively, therefore, the end of The Savages was an important point for writers in other media. Several books featured the Doctor/Dodo team in the wake of The Savages, such as PROSE: The Man in the Velvet Mask.

Synopsis
The TARDIS has arrived on a far-distant and seemingly idyllic world. Yet the Doctor, Steven and Dodo learn it hides a terrible secret: the apparently civilised Elders maintain their advanced society by draining and transferring to themselves the life-force of the defenceless Savages.

Outraged at this exploitation, the Doctor is seemingly helpless to prevent it when some of his own life-force is tapped by the Elders' leader, Jano. In the process, however, Jano also acquires some of the Doctor's attitudes and conscience. Turning against his own people, he enlists the Savages to destroy the Elders' transference laboratory — a task with which the time travellers gladly assist.

Steven agrees to remain behind on the planet to become leader of the newly united Elders and Savages.

Episode 1
The Doctor is exploring the bleak scrub land outside the TARDIS on this new vista. He takes with him an instrument which he is investigating his surroundings with.

Steven is concerned at the length of the Doctor's absence, but Dodo dismisses his worries. Dodo and Steven argue which causes Steven to go off and search for the Doctor.

The Doctor is being watched, as he tells himself his friends will be in for a surprise. He hears Steven calling for him, but ignores it tetchily.

Back at the TARDIS, Dodo suspects she is being watched. Unseen behind her a group of primitive-looking me are observing her. Eventually she spots a man in animal skins with an axe, approaching her. She screams, bringing Steven back and causing the man to scrabble out of sight Steven surmises they must be well in the past, and the Doctor must be mistaken.

The Doctor is certain where he is. As he continues to walk, two hiding savages, Chal and Tor, discuss this new creature: he is not of their people, but he doesn't carry a light-gun. They decide to kill him. The Doctor calls out to whomever is hiding, saying he means no harm. To his surprise two other figures are alerted by his presence; two soldiers, Captain Edal and Exorse. They welcome the "Traveller from Beyond Time," as they call him. They explain that he has been expected for many years. They are disturbed to find him carrying a weapon (the Doctor corrects them, showing them his reacting vibrator, a scientific instrument), and has companions with him. The pair seem surprised his has companions. They insist he accompany Edal to the Elders of their city, while Exorse is instructed to find and bring the Doctor's friends.

Steven, still on bad terms with Dodo, accuses her of imagining the man. As he says this a spear is thrown at Steven and Dodo. As more savages appear and attack, they make a dash back to the TARDIS. They are met by Exorse, at which point the onslaught haunts. He accompanies them to the city to be reunited with the Doctor.

The Doctor is met by the Elders' leader, Jano, and his councillors, who greet him like an old friend. Jano shows how they have charted the Doctor's voyages, and tells him they wish to bestow upon him the office of a High Elder. He is offered robes of office, and they exchange compliments. Steven and Dodo arrive, and are welcomed and presented with gifts: Steven, an ornate dagger; and Dodo, a jewel-studded mirror. As Steven and Dodo are led off on a tour, Jano has many questions for their honoured guest.

Edal, suspicious of these new arrivals, begins patrol with Exorse. Chal sends a young girl, Nanina, to the caves to warn their people the hunt has begun.

Steven and Dodo are accompanied by Avon and Flower, who guide them through the city. The whole of the city is artificial. They explain to the travellers that, though they never go outside and have no concept of "real" things, they are allowed to develop and become what is best for each person. However Flower expresses some regrets with regards to not being allowed to know how the city is run.

Nanina runs into Exorse she hides but is finally caught by the soldier. He fires his light-gun, which seems to imprison and control her. He directs her out and leads her away. Chal appears and offers himself in her place, but is ignored.

The Doctor questions the Elders on how they have become such an advanced society. Jano explains they have learned to tap life's vital force and transfer the energy directly into themselves. Energy, explains Jano, can be transferred directly to a member of their community when needed using a process He describes as "animal vitality."

On the outskirts of the city Nanina is being directed further into the buildings.

As their tour continues Steven gets more and more impressed with how the city is run but Dodo is sceptical. She asks about the savages and is all but ignored by her tour guides. She is also blocked from going down a certain corridor in the city. Loitering behind Dodo sees Nanina being led into a diamond-shaped entrance and tells Steven. She wants to go off on her own, but Steven keeps her with the tour.

Senta, a scientist, is in charge of the energy transfer process, and is just finishing one when Exorse arrives. He releases a savage from the lab, and the half-conscious man is led down an exit corridor. Sent and Exorse engage in conversation about their new guests.

Dodo slips away from the tour through a door that she sees Exorse using on his exit. She comes across the savage Senta was draining, wide-eyed and stumbling, and his arms reach out towards her.

Episode 2
The savage drags himself past Dodo, a door at the end of the corridor opens, but he collapses. Dodo helps the savage outside. Chal and Tor are outside the door waiting. Dodo is shocked by the appearance of the men and goes back inside as the door closes.

Inside the laboratory Nanina is being connected by Senta and his assistants for energy transfer; they ignore her cries and pleas. Dodo listens from outside. They put Nanina in a glass cubicle which fills with a gas which extracts her vitality. Senta refers to this process as vaporisation.

Steven, Avon, and Flower continue to search for Dodo. Steven runs to find the Doctor, but the Doctor and Jano assure him that nothing could happen to her inside the city. Steven is unsure and continues the search.

Following the sounds of machinery Dodo enters the laboratory and is detained by the scientists, who believe she must be there for transference.

Edal has joined Steven search. Steven wants to search down the corridor with the laboratory but Edal prevents Steven. Edal goes himself.

Dodo fights back, surprising the scientists, and threatens to smash some of their equipment if they don't back off. Senta is called to deal with Dodo. They realise that she is one of the travellers, and Edal arrives to escort her out of the laboratory. Meanwhile, the scientists have forgotten about Nanina, almost killing her. She is released in just the same way as the previous savage.

Steven and Dodo are reunited. Dodo is curious as to what was happening in the laboratory but is knocked back by Edal who says they must be taken to the Elders. Avon and Flower are told to wait for the guards, as they will have to answer to the Elders for their negligence in allowing Dodo to wander off. Avon tries to take the blame so as to protect Flower. The two are left and are very worried about their fate.

Dodo and Steven are reunited with the Doctor who shrugs off Dodo's enquiries as to the vaporisation process. The Doctor offers to show Jano files about his time travels, and all three travellers return to the TARDIS. Edal reports to Jano. Jano is very concerned as to what Dodo has seen and also says he is concerned about the Doctor. Jano orders Edal to follow the Doctor.

Once alone the Doctor confides he doesn't trust the Elders, hence why he didn't listen to Dodo whilst they were present with him. The three of them come across the man Dodo met in the lab, and the Doctor realises that the savages are the source of the Elders' power. Steven and Dodo return to the TARDIS to fetch medicine for the savage whilst the Doctor remains to care for him. Edal interrupts this and roughly orders the savage away, revealing his contempt for them, stating that they are lesser than they are. The Doctor angrily insists that he leave the dazed man alone. Edal forces the Doctor at light-gunpoint to return to the city. Steven returns with the medicine the Doctor asked for, but he is nowhere to be found. The capsules contained within the container are given to the savage, and he begins to recover. A group of savages watch and approach, spears ready. Tor, thinking that Steven and Dodo are from the city, wants to attack, but Chal warns against that. As they get closer Tor calls for the attack and the Savages break out of the undergrowth. Wylda, the injured savage, stops the party from harming Steven and Dodo explaining that they were caring for him. He also tells them that the Doctor was taken.

The Doctor confronts the Elders and condemns them as a threat to common humanity. Jano says the Doctor is standing in the way of human progress, and all progress is based on exploitation; the Doctor calls it protracted murder and compares them to the Daleks. The Doctor is given over to Senta.

In the outside world Steven and Dodo try and incite the savages into an uprising but Chal explains that this is futile due to the light guns. He also informs Steven and Dodo that the Doctor will be vaporised just like they were.

Edal leads the Doctor to the laboratory and introduces him to Senta. When he tells Senta that the Doctor is to be his next victim Senta is unsure and warns it has never been tried on a higher form of life. The Doctor tries to force his way passed Edal but is captured by Edal's light-gun, strapped to a gurney, and wheeled into a cubicle. The experiment begins. Initially the readings appear too high and Senta is on the verge of calling off the experiment however the. It sloth begins to be extracted in mammoth proportions. The Doctor lies lifeless in the cubicle.

Episode 3
Jano is highly pleased at the success of the experiment, and realises that the other time-travellers will make excellent sources as well. Edal is ordered to find and bring back Steven and Dodo. Chal and the savages decide to protect the two strangers, as they have heard the guards are hunting them. They will take them to their caves, where even the guards hesitate to go.

Jano orders the intransference of the Doctor's energy into himself. Inside the caves, Nanina is recovering. Steven and Dodo marvel at the beauty of the carving and painting on the cave walls, and Chal laments that most of their talents have been taken from them. Exorse arrives at the caves and orders the strangers outside. Chal takes Steven and Dodo to hide inside the many passages of the cave; though there is no other way out, Exorse will have to find them.

Exorse forces one of the savages to tell him which way the strangers have gone. Steven provokes and draws Exorse on, trapping him by using Dodo's mirror to reflect the light-gun's beam back, imprisoning him. The strangers are hailed as gods.

The Doctor is led to the guest apartments to recover. In secret, Senta performs the intransference on Jano. Steven plans to use his light-gun to get into the city, and asks Chal to show them a way in. Tor and Nanina stay to guard Exorse; Tor wants to kill him but Nanina prevents it. Exorse is grateful.

Steven captures and disables the guard, and Chal shows him how to open the door. Steven and Dodo go inside. Jano emerges from the intransference a rather different man — he has taken on some of the personality of the Doctor. Jano alternates between sounding like himself and the Doctor; he has to stop himself from damaging the equipment. Edal and Senta have spotted Steven and Dodo, and they set a trap for them. They leave the Doctor in one of the corridors for them to find. As Steven and Dodo try to help the Doctor, a door slams shut on them. They are trapped, and a gas is released that chokes them.

Episode 4
Edal commands Steven and Dodo to give up their light-guns. Dodo does so but Steven resists. Jano witnesses the troubles of his friends, and opens the doors while Steven still has his light-gun. They escape with the Doctor. Jano denies having released the strangers, and orders that he will lead the patrol to find them.

Chal finds the strangers and helps Dodo carry the Doctor to the caves; Steven remains behind to hold off the patrol. Jano splits up the patrol, intending to go on alone to the Valley of Caves, but a suspicious Edal goes with him. Steven is outnumbered, so he retreats.

In the caves, Nanina fights to protect Exorse from Tor, realising that killing him is not the answer. Steven escapes into the caves, pursued by Jano and Edal. The Doctor is given the same capsules he gave to Wylda. Recovering, the Doctor orders that Jano is not to be harmed. He decides they must destroy the source of the Elders' power, the transfer laboratory, and hopes they already have a friend on the inside who will help them.

Jano orders Edal and his guards to return to the city; he will bring back the Doctor and his companions. Edal agrees, but under protest. As night falls, those in the caves wait for someone the Doctor believes is still outside. Edal reports to Senta and the Elders that he believes Jano has changed, and that they are betrayed.

Jano meets the Doctor in the caves and the savages are terrified at his presence. The Doctor knows it is safe, and Chal tells his people to trust the Doctor. The Doctor tells Jano that he knew Jano would take the intransference himself, and now he has been given a sense of right and wrong he never had.

Exorse frees himself and escapes. Nanina follows and tries to reason with him, saying he owes her his life, but he leaves her. Senta tells the Elders about the secret intransference, and Edal takes command. Exorse reports back that he did not see Jano.

The Doctor, Steven, and Dodo lead a party of savages, with Jano at the back covering them with a light-gun. He triumphantly enters the laboratory with his prisoners, and has Edal removed. Sealing the doors, he tells all present that he wants all this equipment, the source of their power on this planet, destroyed. Senta protests, arguing that the savages are not capable of the development that their people have achieved. Jano says the savages are their equals, and that he must right the wrong inflicted upon them. With Edal and the guards locked outside, Senta is powerless as Jano, the Doctor, Steven, Dodo, Chal, Tor, Nanina, and even Exorse, destroy the laboratory equipment with their bare hands. Edal finally breaks in, but Steven disables him with a light-gun.

Jano and Chal are ready to work together, and ask the Doctor to be a mediator, to help during the early days of this new community when mistrust will still be present. The Doctor refuses, but Chal knows the leader he wants: Steven. Jano agrees, but Steven is very reluctant to leave the Doctor and Dodo. With both sides asking for his guidance, and the Doctor beaming with pride, Steven accepts. Dodo runs over crying to hug him. They give each other their heartfelt goodbyes.

Not long afterwards, on the surface of the planet, the TARDIS dematerialises.

Cast

 * Dr. Who - William Hartnell
 * Steven Taylor - Peter Purves
 * Dodo Chaplet - Jackie Lane
 * Chal - Ewen Solon
 * Tor - Patrick Godfrey
 * Captain Edal - Peter Thomas
 * Exorse - Geoffrey Frederick
 * Jano - Frederick Jaeger
 * Avon - Robert Sidaway
 * Flower - Kay Patrick
 * Nanina - Clare Jenkins
 * Senta - Norman Henry
 * Wylda - Edward Caddick
 * First Assistant - Andrew Lodge
 * Second Assistant - Christopher Denham
 * Third Assistant - Tony Holland
 * Savage - John Dillon
 * Guard - Tim Goodman

Crew

 * Assistant Floor Manager - Gareth Gwenlan
 * Costumes - Daphne Dare
 * Designer - Stuart Walker
 * Incidental Music - Raymond Jones
 * Make-Up - Sonia Markham
 * Producer - Innes Lloyd
 * Production Assistant - Norman Stewart
 * Script Editor - Gerry Davis
 * Special Sounds - Brian Hodgson
 * Studio Lighting - Graham Sothcott
 * Studio Sound - Norman Greaves
 * Theme Arrangement - Delia Derbyshire
 * Title Music - Ron Grainer

Technology

 * The Elders know of the Doctor, calling him "the Traveller from Beyond Time". They say they have watched his progress through time and space, and have awaited his arrival. However, they did not expect anyone to be travelling with the Doctor.
 * The Doctor uses a portable reacting vibrator for calculations, mistaken for a weapon.
 * The Elders developed the technology to drain life force from humanoid beings, with a process named in-transference.
 * In the TARDIS' emergency cabinet, there are capsules marked D403 able to restore life force in the victims of the Elders.

Species

 * The Doctor refers to the Daleks when he says he will fight the evil of the Elders.
 * The Doctor refers to himself and to Edal as human beings.
 * Edal refers to the Doctor's friends as his companions.

Weapons

 * The Elders use a light-gun able to paralyse victims and then force them to move only as directed by the captor.
 * The Doctor reaffirms that he never carries weapons.

Story notes

 * This story had a working title of The White Savages.
 * Steven Taylor departs from travelling with the Doctor.
 * Frederick Jaeger (Jano) gives an impersonation of William Hartnell, a performance in which he was coached by Hartnell himself, when Jano has absorbed some of the Doctor's life-force.

Ratings

 * Episode 1 - 4.8m viewers
 * Episode 2 - 5.6m viewers
 * Episode 3 - 5.0m viewers
 * Episode 4 - 4.5m viewers

Broadcast dates

 * Episode 1 - 28th May 1966, 5.35pm
 * Episode 2 - 4th June 1966, 5.35pm
 * Episode 3 - 11th June 1966, 5.35pm
 * Episode 4 - 18th June 1966, 5.35pm

Duration

 * Episode 1 - 23'41"


 * Episode 2 - 23'57"


 * Episode 3 - 24'59"


 * Episode 4 - 24'41"

Myths

 * The Elders' light guns were realised on screen simply by means of a powerful light positioned at the end of the prop. (Although they did incorporate a light, the guns also emitted dry ice smoke to give the impression of the weapon being fired.)

Filming locations

 * Shire Lane Quarry, Chalfont St Peter, Buckinghamshire
 * Callow Hill Sandpit, Virginia Water, Surrey
 * Ealing Television Film Studios
 * Riverside Studio 1, Hammersmith, London

Production errors
to be added

Continuity

 * The Doctor experiences an energy drain here after experiencing advanced ageing (TV: The Daleks' Master Plan) and overexertion while fighting the Mandarin, (TV: The Celestial Toymaker) and will soon experience a second life-force depletion that leads to his regeneration. (TV: The Tenth Planet)

Home video and audio releases

 * 8mm off air clips from episode four (including Steven's departure) are on Disc 1 of Lost in Time.
 * The soundtrack to this story was released with linking narration by Peter Purves on 2 April 2001. It was re-released in 2011 as part of the box set Doctor Who: The Lost TV Episodes - Collection Two.