The Twin Dilemma (TV story)

Synopsis
A race of giant gastropods has taken over the planet Jaconda. Their leader, Mestor, now intends to cause an enormous explosion in order to spread his people's eggs throughout the galaxy, and he kidnaps juvenile twin geniuses from Earth to work out the necessary mathematical equations. Space fighters led by Lieutenant Hugo Lang are dispatched to get the twins back, but they come under attack and Lang is the sole survivor when his ship crashes on the asteroid Titan 3.

A newly regenerated Doctor and Peri become involved and help Jaconda's elderly former ruler Professor Edgeworth, who is really a Time Lord named Azmael, to defeat Mestor and free the planet's bird-like indigenous people from the gastropods' reign of terror. Azmael, however, sacrifices his life in the process.

Plot: The Doctor behaves very strangely after his traumatic regeneration. He tries to strangle Peri, and wants to live like a hermit, but The Doctor inadvertantly becomes involved in solving a crime, and must prevent destruction to the planet Tittan 3. The danger over, The Doctor tells Peri he is The Doctor, whether she likes it or not!

Cast

 * The Doctor - Colin Baker
 * Peri - Nicola Bryant
 * Edgworth / Azmael - Maurice Denham
 * Hugo Lang - Kevin McNally
 * Mestor - Edwin Richfield
 * Romulus - Gavin Conrad
 * Remus - Andrew Conrad
 * Sylvest - Dennis Chinnery
 * Noma - Barry Stanton
 * Drak - Oliver Smith
 * Fabian - Helen Blatch
 * Elena - Dione Inman
 * Chamberlain - Seymour Green
 * Prisoner - Roger Nott
 * Jocondan Guard - John Wilson

Crew

 * Assistant Floor Manager - Stephen Jeffery-Poulter, Beth Millward
 * Costumes - Pat Godfrey
 * Designer - Valerie Warrender
 * Film Cameraman - John Baker, John Walker
 * Film Editor - Ian McKendrick
 * Incidental Music - Malcolm Clarke
 * Make-Up - Denise Baron
 * Producer - John Nathan-Turner
 * Production Assistant - Christine Fawcett
 * Production Associate - June Collins
 * Script Editor - Eric Saward
 * Special Sounds - Dick Mills
 * Studio Lighting - Don Babbage
 * Studio Sound - Scott Talbott
 * Theme Arrangement - Peter Howell
 * Title Music - Ron Grainer
 * Visual Effects - Stuart Brisdon

Story Notes

 * New opening and closing title sequences make their debut a more colourful version than the previous one, incorporating Colin Baker's face rather than Peter Davison's designed by Sid Sutton and Terry Handley.
 * The cat badge worn by the Doctor in his lapel for this story was hand-made and painted by Suzie Trevor, and purchased for the programme from a specialist badge shop in central London.
 * Fabian was originally envisaged as a male character, and the Jocondan Chamberlain as a female one.

Ratings

 * Part 1 - 7.6 million viewers
 * Part 2 - 7.4 million viewers
 * Part 3 - 7.0 million viewers
 * Part 4 - 6.3 million viewers

Myths

 * The Edgeworth character was originally intended to be the first Doctor. (He wasn't.)

Filming Locations
to be added

Discontinuity, Plot Holes, Errors

 * The altered revitaliser machine sends Peri 10 seconds back in time, and thus... back to the TARDIS?

Continuity
to be added

DVD and Video Releases

 * Released on video in episodic format. Not yet released on DVD

Target Novelisations

 * Novelised as The Twin Dilemma in 1985 by Eric Saward.