Ghost Light was the second serial of season 26 of Doctor Who. Although two stories followed its broadcast, it was the last story of the classic series to be produced and the last to feature significant recording at BBC Television Centre.
Synopsis
The Doctor brings Ace to Gabriel Chase, an old house that she once burnt down in her hometown of Perivale. However, trying to get Ace to accept her guilt is not the real reason the Doctor came here; a mysterious and highly mentally unstable being slays below them.
Plot
Part one
The Seventh Doctor brings the TARDIS and Ace to a room which seems to be a cross between a nursery and an old laboratory. As Ace examines the artefacts in the room, wondering where they are, the Doctor simply tells her, "It's a surprise." Ace expresses her concern that this might be a haunted house, saying that after one she'd been in before she would never go into another.
They decide to explore the Victorian house which reminds Ace of a museum. A clock reads after midnight. On the floor lies a metal snuff box with the initials RFC embossed on it. The Doctor scans it and finds that it is radioactive. A man shows up and soon mentions "atrocities that are rumoured about this house". He says he came here to find the explorer Redvers Fenn-Cooper and the box is the first evidence he was here. Before Ace can stop him, he pockets the radioactive box. He means to save Fenn-Cooper from "the clutches of that braggart Josiah Samuel Smith".
The Doctor and Ace follow the man as he explores another room of the old house. Suddenly the man aims an elephant rifle at them and starts describing Fenn-Cooper's adventures, insisting he must find him. As the Doctor dodges out of the way, the curtain behind him slips open and the man sees his reflection in the window and lowers his gun in recognition, saying, "Redvers, I've found you!"
A woman in black, two others in 1800's maid's garb, and a hunched butler enter. The woman in black says, "Fenn-Cooper, we were worried about you," then roughly twists his arm up behind his back and marches him out. The butler, Nimrod, explains that the man is unbalanced and is under their care at the house. He then says his master, Mr Smith, asks if they would join his other guest in the drawing room.
There they meet the Reverend Ernest Matthews who assumes the Doctor is actually Josiah Smith and begins criticising Smith's ethics - referring to Ace's modern clothing - and far reaching support of the theory of evolution. Matthews had heretofore been conversing with Smith's ward, Gwendoline, and the Doctor asks her if she could loan Ace some appropriate clothes for dinner. After the girls leave, the real Josiah Smith comes in wearing dark glasses and dims the lights. He then welcomes them to the old house which is called Gabriel Chase.
Ace and Gwendoline are playfully trying on men's clothes when they hear Fenn-Cooper start screaming. They and the rest of the household converge at his door. The Doctor makes his way in to see a bright light pouring from the snuff box, but Nimrod forces him back out again.
Back in the drawing room, Ace and the Doctor observe that Nimrod is a Neanderthal. Ace becomes agitated at having just heard that they are in the house called Gabriel Chase. She shouts "You tricked me!" and turns and runs off. The Doctor catches up with her and they relay that this was (will be) the haunted house she entered in her home town of Perivale near London. She had gone in on a dare in 1983 at the age of 13 and felt an evil presence. As Ace tells the story, she becomes agitated and again runs off. Josiah Smith comes in asking for the Doctor's help to defeat a vile and base creature pitted against him.
Ace finds her way to a small elevator which takes her deep below the house to a large stone chamber with alien technology apparent in its simple lit panels. A threatening voice speaks to her, then two alien bipeds move towards her.
Part two
In rescuing Ace, the Doctor releases an evolving creature trapped in the cellar, known as Control. The party moves to the ground level. Control remains trapped in the cellar for the moment. The cellar is really a vast, stone spaceship. The Doctor works his way through the stuffed animals in Gabriel Chase and finds a human in suspended animation, Inspector Mackenzie, who came to the house two years earlier in search of the owners. The Doctor revives him, and together they seek to unlock the mysteries of Gabriel Chase.
The husks which attacked Ace were the remains of Smith, an alien who has been evolving into forms approximating a human and casting off his old husks as an insect would. For his pains, Smith transforms Matthews into an ape and places him in a display case. The Doctor helps Control release the trapped creature from the cellar, a being known as Light, who takes the form of an angel-like being.
Part three
Thousands of years in the past, an alien spaceship came to Earth to catalogue all life on the planet. After completing its task and collecting samples including Nimrod, the leader, Light, went into slumber. By 1881 the ship had returned to Earth.
The year is 1883. While Control remained imprisoned on the ship to serve as the "control" subject of the scientific investigation, events transpired such that Smith, the "survey agent", mutinied against Light, keeping him in hibernation on the ship. Smith began evolving into the era's dominant life-form ā a Victorian gentleman ā and also took over the house. By 1883 Smith had lured and captured the explorer Fenn-Cooper within his den. Utilising Fenn-Cooper's association with Queen Victoria, he plans to get close to her so he can assassinate her and take control of the British Empire to make it a better place.
Light is displeased by all the change on the planet while he was asleep. While Light tries to make sense of it all, Smith tries to keep his plan intact, but events are beyond his control. Angry that his catalogue is now missing the correct information, Light childishly decides to destroy all organic life to stop evolution after taking apart one of the maids to understand how humans work. He turns Gwendoline and her missing mother, revealed to be Lady Pritchard, to stone in a bid to stop the speed of evolution. Inspector Mackenzie meets a sticky end and is turned into a primordial soup to serve at dinner. As Control tries to "evolve" into a lady and Ace tries to come to grips with her feelings about the house, the Doctor tries to keep the upper hand in all the events that have been set in motion.
The Doctor finally convinces Light of the futility of opposing evolution, which causes him to overload and dissipate into the surrounding house. It was this presence that Ace sensed and which caused her to burn the house down in 1983. Also, Control's complete evolution into a lady derails Smith's plan as Fenn-Cooper, having freed himself from Smith's brainwashing, chooses to side with her. In the end, with Smith the new Control creature imprisoned on the ship, Control, Fenn-Cooper and Nimrod set off in the alien ship to explore the universe.
The Doctor asks Ace if she has any regrets about burning the house now; Ace tells him she wishes she blew it up instead. The Doctor only smiles and says, "Wicked."
Cast
- The Doctor - Sylvester McCoy
- Ace - Sophie Aldred
- Josiah - Ian Hogg
- Mrs. Pritchard - Sylvia Syms
- Redvers Fenn-Cooper - Michael Cochrane
- Control - Sharon Duce
- Gwendoline - Katharine Schlesinger
- Reverend Ernest Matthews - John Nettleton
- Nimrod - Carl Forgione
- Mrs Grose - Brenda Kempner
- Inspector Mackenzie - Frank Windsor
- Light - John Hallam
Crew
- Writer - Marc Platt
- Assistant Floor Manager - Stephen Garwood
- Camera Supervisor - Spencer Payne
- Costumes - Ken Trew
- Designer - Nick Somerville
- Graphic Designer - Oliver Elmes
- Incidental Music - Mark Ayres
- Make-Up - Joan Stribling
- Production Assistant - Valerie Whiston
- Production Associate - June Collins
- Production Manager - Gary Downie
- Properties Buyer - Nick Barnett
- Script Editor - Andrew Cartmel
- Special Sounds - Dick Mills
- Studio Lighting - Henry Barber
- Studio Sound - Scott Talbott, Keith Bowden
- Stunt Arranger - Paul Heasman
- Technical Coordinator - Richard Wilson
- Theme Arrangement - Keff McCulloch
- Title Music - Ron Grainer
- Videotape Editor - Hugh Parson
- Video Effects - Dave Chapman
- Vision Mixer - Susan Brincat
- Visual Effects - Malcolm James
- Producer - John Nathan-Turner
- Director - Alan Wareing
References
- The Doctor calls Ace "Eliza" - a reference to the fictional character Eliza Doolittle from Pygmalion - while trying to get her to behave in line with the prevailing Victorian mores. This is echoed in Ace helping Control to fulfil her desire to be a proper lady, including elocution lessons (the primary means of training in Pygmalion).
- This story references Arthur Conan Doyle and suggests that his novel, The Lost World, might have been inspired by Redvers' claim to have discovered a place in the jungle where dinosaurs still live.
- The Doctor asks who was it that said Earthmen never invite their ancestors round to dinner, a reference to The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy.
- Redvers tells the Doctor that he is hunting the crowned Saxe-Coburg ā the Queen of England. This is a reference to the House of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha, to which Queen Victoria's husband, Prince Albert, belonged. Their grandson George V would change the name to The House of Windsor in 1917, due to anti-German sentiment at the time.
- Josiah offers a banana to Matthews, who begins to turn into a monkey.
- The Doctor quotes the phrase "up the wooden hill to Bedfordshire" when he is encouraged to go to bed.
- While dining with Josiah, the Doctor hums the tune of "Rule, Britannia!".
- A painting of Queen Victoria hangs in Gabriel Chase.
- Mrs Grose gives Ace scrambled egg, hot buttered toast, kedgeree, kidney, sausage and bacon for breakfast.
- The song Gwendoline is playing on the piano is "That's the Way to the Zoo", composed by J.F. Mitchell around 1881. The chorus is as follows:
- That's the way to the zoo, that's the way to the zoo.
- The monkey house is nearly full, but there's room enough for you.
- Take a bus to Regent's Park, make haste before it shuts,
- Next Monday I will come and bring you such a lot of nuts!
Story notes
- This story had working titles of The Bestiary and Life-Cycle. (Marc Platt also briefly jokingly referred to the story as Not The Bestiary when John Nathan-Turner, disliking the title The Bestiary, asked him to change it.)
- As revealed in the production notes for the DVD release, the story was renamed Das Haus der Tausend Schrecken (translation: 'The House of the Thousand Frights/Horrors') in German.
- Ghost Light was the last serial of the original series ever produced. The last recorded sequence was the final scene between Mrs Pritchard and Gwendoline where, before the eyes of a horrified Nimrod, Light turns them to stone so they will never change again. It was not, however, the last to be screened ā both The Curse of Fenric and Survival, produced beforehand, followed it in transmission order.
- Michael Cochrane (Redvers Fenn-Cooper) is credited as "Redvers" in Radio Times for part one.
- Radio Times credits John Nettleton (Reverend Ernest Matthews) as "Rev. Ernest Matthews" for part one, and as "Rev. Matthews" for part two.
- Frank Windsor (Inspector Mackenzie) is credited as "Mackenzie" in Radio Times.
- A sound effect was inadvertently omitted from the scene of Control entering the lift and the Doctor, Ace and Inspector Mackenzie in the hallway in part two. The sound of the lift mechanism engaging with a clunk and the lift descending should have been added in between the Doctor suddenly raising his voice and saying āIt's very clever, climbing up the lift shaft. But I had hoped the Control creature might bring something with it. And for that, it will need the lift!ā, and the Doctor and Ace heading for the drawing room. (PROSE: Ghost Light)
- Although Ghost Light would no doubt have greatly benefited from an extended BBC Video release, as was done with The Curse of Fenric in 1991, such a project was made impossible by the master 625 line PAL colour videotapes containing the extra recorded footage being erased for reuse shortly after the story was broadcast.
- The story evolved out of an earlier, rejected script entitled Lungbarrow. It was to be set on Gallifrey in the Doctor's ancestral home and deal with the Doctor's past, but producer John Nathan-Turner felt it revealed too much of the Doctor's origins. It was reworked to make evolution and the idea of an ancient house central to the story. Marc Platt used elements of his original idea for his Virgin New Adventures novel Lungbarrow.
Ratings
- Part one - 4.2 million viewers
- Part two - 4.0 million viewers
- Part three - 4.0 million viewers
Myths
- Few of the cast could make sense of the storyline. (This is true, as confirmed by cast interviews included with the DVD release of the story.)
- The final scene filmed was the ending bit with the Doctor and Ace. (While that was the final scene in the episode the final scene filmed was when Light turns Mrs Pritchard and Gwendoline to stone.)
Filming locations
- Stanton Court, 11 Greenhill, Weymouth, Dorset
- BBC Television Centre (TC3), Shepherd's Bush, London
Production errors
- When the Doctor and Ace emerge into the corridor from the upper observatory in part one, Sophie Aldred is wearing a ring, one of her own which she had forgotten to remove before recording. Fortunately, Aldred noticed and removed the ring in time for the close-up of Ace reaching out to touch Fenn-Cooper's snuffbox.
- When the Doctor tests Redvers for radiation, a cameraman's reflection can be seen in the door of the open cabinet that Redvers is looking into.
- At the end of the scene in part one when Mrs Grose leaves Gabriel Chase, a tiny sliver of the actual studio floor can be seen by Mrs Grose's left (i.e. the viewer's right).
- Katharine Schlesinger's first name was misspelled as "Katherine" for the broadcast of parts one and two and for the whole serial in Radio Times. (This on-screen misspelling has been corrected for the BBC Video and DVD releases.)
- When Ace pushes the maid into the room and slams the door behind her in part three, there is a bad case of wobbly wall syndrome. The wall proves equally unstable a few scenes later when Gwendoline and the maid break out.
Continuity
- Ace would later tell the Doctor that her friend Manisha Purkayastha was killed when her flat was attacked by the firebomb attack which scorched her flat. (PROSE: Blood Heat)
- The Torchwood Institute would later investigate the Doctor's involvement in the Gabriel Chase incident. (COMIC: The Time Machination)
- The Timewyrm would later reprimand the Doctor for his actions in Gabriel Chase. (PROSE: Timewyrm: Revelation)
DVD, VHS and home audio release
DVD releases
This story was released as Doctor Who: Ghost Light.
It was released:
- Region 2 - 20 September 2004
- PAL - BBC DVD BBCDVD1352
- Region 4 - 3 February 2005
- Region 1 - 7 June 2005
- NTSC - Warner Video E2218
Content:
- Light in Dark Places Documentary - A look back at the making of the story.
- Deleted/Extended Scenes
- Shooting Ghost - A unique look at the studio recording process.
- Writer's Question Time - Marc Platt answers questions at a 1990 Doctor Who convention.
- 5.1 Mix
- Music-only Option
- Photo Gallery
- Production Subtitles
- Easter Eggs-
- On the main menu move down to Episode Selection and press the left arrow to reveal a hidden Doctor Who logo. Press select and you'll get the unexpurgated version of the song that Gwendoline is heard playing in the story.
- On the Special Features menu move down to Writer's Question Time and press the left arrow to reveal a hidden Doctor Who logo. Press select and you'll get the continuity announcements from the original BBC broadcast. Also included with the continuity announcements are the original versions of the end credits for parts one and two, which misspelled Katharine Schlesinger's first name as "Katherine".
- Commentary: Sophie Aldred, Andrew Cartmel, Marc Platt, and Mark Ayres
Notes:
- Editing for the DVD release was completed by the Doctor Who Restoration Team.
It was released as issue 96 of Doctor Who DVD Files.
VHS releases
This story was released as Doctor Who: Ghost Light.
It was released:
Digital releases
- The story is available to download through iTunes.
Audio releases
- The musical soundtrack of this story was released by Silva Screen in 1993.
Script book
- In July 1993, Titan Books published the scripts for the serial as part of its Doctor Who: The Scripts line of books.
External links
- Ghost Light at the BBC's official site
- Ghost Light at RadioTimes
- Ghost Light at the Doctor Who Reference Guide
- A Brief History of Time (Travel): Ghost Light
- The Locations Guide to Doctor Who - Ghost Light
