Snakedance (TV story)

Snakedance was the second story of Season 20 of Doctor Who. It was written by Christopher Bailey, directed by Fiona Cumming and featured Peter Davison as the Fifth Doctor, Sarah Sutton as Nyssa and Janet Fielding as Tegan Jovanka.

A sequel to Kinda, it featured the return of the Mara and Nyssa's first direct contact with the Mara. Three decades later, a sequel to this story — though not the one Christopher Bailey had attempted — was created for audio in the form of Big Finish's The Cradle of the Snake.

The show had a noteworthy cast. It was one of Martin Clunes' earliest television roles, though not his debut. His outrageous costumes and youthful appearance make it a story often sampled whenever the multi-award-winning actor appears on television chat programmes. (DOC: Snake Charmer) Snakedance also featured Brian Miller — husband of Sarah Jane Smith's actor, Elisabeth Sladen — in a significant role.

Writers involved in the production of the BBC Wales version of Doctor Who have expressed affection for this serial. In 1995, Steven Moffat was a participant in a wide-ranging, public discussion about Doctor Who with Andy Lane, David Bishop and Paul Cornell. He ranted about the "crap" nature of the majority of the 1963 version of the show, but called Snakedance "one I couldn't really fault". He would build upon this opinion in a 1996 essay, in which he called Snakedance and Kinda "the two best Who stories ever". Likewise, Robert Shearman has called Snakedance "my favourite" Doctor Who story. He is heavily featured on the DVD release, explaining why.

Synopsis
Tegan falls once more under the influence of the Mara and directs the TARDIS to the planet Manussa. There, the Federator's son Lon and his mother Tanha are preparing for a ceremony to celebrate the banishment of the Mara five hundred years earlier.

The Mara takes control of Lon and uses him and Tegan to obtain from Ambril, the Director of Historical Research, the 'Great Crystal' - the large blue stone that originally brought it into being by focusing energy from the minds of the planet's one-time inhabitants. The Mara now plans to use the crystal during the ceremony to bring about its return to corporeal existence.

The Doctor and Nyssa, aided by Ambril's assistant Chela, locate Ambril's aged predecessor, Dojjen, who predicted the Mara's rebirth before wandering off into the wilderness. The Doctor allows himself to be bitten by a snake to enter a state of mental commune with Dojjen, who tells him that fear is the only true venom and that to defeat the Mara he must find the still point within himself.

The Doctor and his friends return to the caves where the ceremony is being held. The Doctor, by concentrating his thoughts with the aid of a small replica of the great crystal, finds the still point and repels the Mara.

Part 1
A man is sitting in the middle of sand. He is wearing a precious-looking necklace.

Tegan has decided to return to the TARDIS. But she is having strange dreams, just like she did back on Deva Loka. She tells the Doctor and Nyssa about it. The Doctor worries that the Mara could still be alive, not as a physical form, but in the mind.

On the planet Manussa, Tanha wants Lon to be prepared for the ceremony to celebrate the end of the Mara. He isn't really bothered, but is interested in a jewel kept between the teeth of a model snake. It is Ambril's - an artefact kept for many years, as a symbol of the Mara. They decide to set off to the cave, where Ambril will explain the ceremony's proceedings. Under the influence of the Mara, Tegan has set the TARDIS controls to Manussa, a planet known well to the Doctor. She also talks of a dream she's been having, of a cave, shaped in the jaws of a snake. The Doctor creates a hypnosis machine that inhibits the brainwaves associated with dreaming to protect Tegan. Upon their arrival on the planet, they decide to investigate.

On a local street, a man is shouting to the crowds about a hall of mirrors. Lon finds it hilarious and is pulled along by his mother, so that they can reach the cave. There, Ambril explains the legend of the snake and how they will add to the ceremony using the stories. They enter the cave and travel far through the tunnels inside. The Doctor is searching for the cave, which Tegan had a vision of in her dreams. They finally find it and the Doctor enters, telling Nyssa to look after Tegan outside. As a consequence of her dreams, Tegan is frightened when a merchant approaches selling wriggling toy snakes, bought by children on Manussa. She runs away and Nyssa tries to follow her, but loses her in the crowds.

Tegan enters a fortune teller's tent and, because she removes the hypnosis machine, she is eventually controlled by the Mara. The fortune teller explains that her stories aren't real, but then becomes aware of a snake's skull appearing in her crystal ball. It explodes violently and the fortune teller screams.

Part 2
Tegan (the Mara) escapes from the tent. The fortune teller is helped out of the tent by locals, completely overwhelmed by the situation.

The Doctor has appeared in the cave where Lon is having a lesson on the Mara legend. Ambril is surprised by the Time Lord's appearance. The Doctor is keen to note that the legend is very real. Lon finds this curious. Ambril believes that the Doctor is crazy.

Nyssa finally finds Tegan, who is laughing about the fortune teller. Nyssa soon realises that she is under the influence of the Mara again, her emotions different to what Tegan would express. Tegan then runs again and this time Nyssa loses her for real. Tegan has secretly entered the hall of mirrors.

Nyssa arrives just outside the cave where Lon, Tanha and Ambril have just emerged to return to the palace. The Doctor is behind them. Nyssa explains about Tegan's disappearance. The Doctor looks worried. He wants to return to the TARDIS though to monitor the wavelengths of an interesting blue jewel he has obtained. The Mara in Tegan is interested in the mirrors, remembering that she was trapped by a circle of mirrors before on the Kinda world. Dugdale finds her talking to herself in the mirror, and is also influenced by the Mara when he looks into the mirror. Tegan orders him to bring Lon.

The Doctor and Nyssa are now inside the TARDIS where the Doctor is creating a circle where he can project thoughts into the jewel. When he tries along with Nyssa, the jewel lights up, but only when they concentrate.

Lon arrives at the hall of mirrors and is quickly taken by the Mara. They then proceed to the cave and behind the symbolic wall where they use Dugdale as a servant.

Part 3
The Doctor returns to the palace to try to persuade Ambril to believe him. Ambril is unimpressed and orders the Doctor to be jailed. Nyssa overhears everything and tries to work by herself.

Lon arrives in Ambril's office to gather the jewel, which opens the symbolic wall and will eventually bring back the Mara. Ambril doesn't know that Lon is under an influence. The Doctor tries to persuade Chela to get him out, but with no luck.

Lon lures Ambril to the cave with the promise of discovering priceless historical artefacts. Once inside, Ambril is cornered by the possessed Lon, Dugdale and Tegan, who pressure him to return the Great Crystal during the ceremony. After Ambril agrees and Lon leads him away, the mark of the serpent on Tegan's arm manifests as a live snake.

Chela brings the Doctor a diary written by Dojjen, Ambril's predecessor as Director of Historical Research. Dojjen believed that the Mara had not been destroyed and would someday return. He eventually left his post to study the forbidden teachings of the Snake Dancers. Nyssa searches Ambril's office for the key to the jail cell, but Tanha catches her in the act and has her locked up alongside the Doctor. The Doctor and Nyssa read through Dojjen's diary and realise that the ancient Manussans manufactured crystals that could conduct mental energy. The unanticipated result was that the crystals absorbed and reflected the Manussans' own negative thoughts and emotions, creating the Mara. As centuries passed, the Manussans forgot that they themselves had brought the Mara into being. The Doctor deduces that Dojjen learned this truth from the Snake Dancers, the only people who kept the knowledge alive.

Lon and Ambril return to the palace, where a dazed Ambril informs Tanha and Chela that at the impending ceremony, the Great Crystal will be restored to its original place. Alarmed, Chela frees the Doctor and Nyssa in hopes that they can intervene. They attempt to flee the palace, but are surrounded by guards. Lon claims that the three are plotting his death, and orders the guards to kill them.

Part 4
Tanha overrides Lon's order and allows the Doctor a chance to speak. The Doctor realises that Lon has fallen under control of the Mara. Ambril offers to reveal the Great Crystal, and as he, Tanha and Lon are distracted, the Doctor seizes the opportunity to escape with Nyssa and Chela.

Determined to destroy the Mara completely, the Doctor uses his crystal to summon Dojjen. Dojjen and the Doctor enact the Snake Dance ritual, in which live snakes bite their wrists, allowing them to communicate telepathically. Guilt-ridden over what has befallen Tegan, the Doctor asks how he can save her and defeat the Mara once and for all. Dojjen urges him to find the "still point" within himself. Tanha questions Lon's strange behaviour, but he brushes aside her suspicions. In the cave, the ceremony proceeds according to custom until Lon stuns the audience by announcing that the Mara has returned. The Doctor, Nyssa and Chela burst onto the scene, but are too late to stop Lon from placing the Great Crystal in the mouth of the snake on the cave wall. Tegan appears holding the Mara in the form of a snake wrapped around her arm. The Mara feeds on the crowd's fear and panic, growing larger and stronger.

The Doctor alone is unaffected. He focuses mental energy into his crystal in a battle of wills against the Mara. Although his resolve is tested when the Mara speaks to him with Tegan's voice, he refuses to submit. Dojjen adds his own mental energy to the effort, helping to subdue the Mara long enough for the Doctor to pull the Great Crystal from the wall. The Mara's influence is broken, and the snake falls to the ground, dead.

Restored to herself, Tegan weeps with horror at having felt the rage and hatred of the Mara inside of her. The Doctor comforts her, assuring her that the Mara has been destroyed.

Cast

 * The Doctor - Peter Davison
 * Tegan Jovanka - Janet Fielding
 * Nyssa - Sarah Sutton
 * Lon - Martin Clunes
 * Ambril - John Carson
 * Tanha - Colette O'Neil
 * Chela - Johnathon Morris
 * Dojjen - Preston Lockwood
 * Dugdale - Brian Miller
 * Fortune Teller - Hilary Sesta
 * Hawker - George Ballantine
 * Puppeteer - Barry Smith
 * Megaphone Man - Brian Grellis

Crew

 * Assistant Floor Manager - Maggy Campbell
 * Costumes - Ken Trew
 * Designer - Jan Spoczynski
 * Film Cameraman - John Baker
 * Film Editor - Alastair Mackay
 * Film Sound - Ron Blight
 * Incidental Music - Peter Howell
 * Make-Up - Marion Richards
 * Producer - John Nathan-Turner
 * Production Assistant - Rita Dunn, June Collins
 * Production Associate - Angela Smith
 * Production Manager - Margot Hayhoe
 * Script Editor - Eric Saward
 * Special Sounds - Dick Mills
 * Studio Lighting - Henry Barber
 * Studio Sound - Martin Ridout
 * Theme Arrangement - Peter Howell
 * Title Music - Ron Grainer
 * Visual Effects - Andrew Lazell

Astronomical objects

 * Manussa is in the Scrampus system. It is a colony of the Federation of Three Worlds formed by one of Lon's ancestors (part of a network of former Earth colonies).

Species

 * The Mara was created on Manussa, and ruled, turning the former Manussan Empire into the Sumaran Empire.

Individuals

 * Nyssa exchanges her Trakenite outfit, which she tended to wear since her meeting with the Fourth Doctor, for a long-collared, white and blue-stripped shirt and striped grey skirt.

Story notes
to be added

Ratings/Appreciation Index

 * Part one — 6.7 million viewers | 95th place | AI 65
 * Part two — 7.7 million viewers | 75th place | AI 66
 * Part three — 6.6 million viewers | 98th place | AI 67
 * Part four — 7.4 million viewers | 78th place | AI 67

Myths

 * Kate Bush wrote this under a pseudonym. She didn't. 
 * This was Martin Clunes' television debut. Although all participants insist this is true on the DVD commentary, it's not.  It was his first major role on TV, but he had already appeared in The White Guard, a BBC Play of the Month'' which aired on 20 September 1982.

Filming locations

 * BBC Television Centre (TC6), Shepherd's Bush, London

Production errors

 * Lon claims that the fake crystal is made of glass. However, the practical effect of it being smashed does not convincingly confirm Lon's statement. It obviously shatters like plastic or polystyrene.

Continuity

 * The Doctor, Nyssa and Tegan previously encountered the Mara on Deva Loka in the company of Adric. (TV: Kinda) Tegan recounts the events in a dream state induced by the Doctor. The three of them and Turlough would later encounter the entity, once again on Manussa, though centuries before the rise of the Sumaran Empire. (AUDIO: The Cradle of the Snake)
 * In her trance, Tegan recalls climbing a tree and dropping apples of Aris' head while under the influence of the Mara.
 * The Doctor would later tell Nyssa that he planned to catch up with Dojjen at some point in the future. (AUDIO: The Cradle of the Snake)

DVD releases
This story was released on DVD in a box set called Mara Tales with Kinda on 7th March 2011 in Region 2. The two episodes have been updated, with CGI Mara instead of the original puppets.

Contents:
 * Audio Commentary by actors Peter Davison (Fifth Doctor), Janet Fielding (Tegan Jovanka) and Sarah Sutton (Nyssa).
 * Snake Charmer - Making Of featurette with director Fiona Cumming, writer Christopher Bailey, script editor Eric Saward and designer Jan Spoczynski
 * Deleted Scenes
 * In Studio - Behind the scenes during recording of effects sequences
 * Saturday Superstore (featuring Peter Davison)
 * Photo Gallery
 * PDF materials - Radio Times listings
 * Coming Soon
 * Easter Egg - In Conversation - Christopher Bailey & Robert Shearman



It was released as issue 103 of Doctor Who DVD Files.

Video releases
This story was released on VHS in December 1994 in the UK markets, February 1994 in Australian markets and September 1995 in US markets.

Digital releases
The story is available for streaming in the US through Hulu Plus or Amazon Instant Video in the UK.

It is also available to download through iTunes.