Changes: Silver Nemesis (TV story)

Revision as of 11:18, 26 January 2009

Synopsis

The Doctor and Ace visit England in 1988, where three rival factions - the Cybermen, a group of Nazis and a 17th century sorceress named Lady Peinforte - are attempting to gain control of a statue made of a living metal, validium, that was created by Rassilon as the ultimate defence for Gallifrey.

Silver Nemesis — De Flores and guard prepare to fire at the Doctor

The statue has three components - a bow, an arrow and the figure itself - that must be brought together in order for it to be activated. They have been separated since 1638 when, in order to foil the first attempt by Peinforte to seize it, the Doctor launched the figure into orbit in a powered asteroid.

This asteroid has been approaching the Earth at twenty-five yearly intervals ever since, leaving a succession of disasters in its wake, and has now crash-landed near Windsor Castle.

The Doctor plays the three factions off against one other and eventually appears to concede defeat to the Cyber Leader. However, this is just part of a carefully-laid trap, and the Cybermen's fleet is totally wiped out by the statue.

Plot

to be added

Cast

The Doctor - Sylvester McCoy
Ace - Sophie Aldred
De Flores - Anton Diffring
Karl - Metin Yenal
Lady Peinforte - Fiona Walker
Richard Maynarde - Gerard Murphy
Mathematician - Leslie French
Secruity Guard - Martyn Read
Mrs Remington - Dolores Gray
Cyber-Leader - David Banks
Cyber-Lieutenant - Mark Hardy
Cyberman - Brian Orrell
Skinheads - Chris Chering, Symond Lawes
Jazz Quartet - Courtney Pine, Adrian Read, Ernest Mothle, Frank Tontoh

Crew

Assistant Floor Managers - Lynn Grant, Jeremy Fry
Costumes - Richard Croft
Designer - John Asbridge
Incidental Music - Keff McCulloch
Make-Up - Dorka Nieradzik
OB Cameramen - Barry Chaston, Alan Jessop
Producer - John Nathan-Turner
Production Assistant - Jane Wellesley
Production Associate - June Collins
Script Editor - Andrew Cartmel
Special Sounds - Dick Mills
Stunt Arrangers - Paul Heasman, Nick Gillard
Theme Arrangement - Keff McCulloch
Title Music - Ron Grainer
Visual Effects - Perry Brahan

File:Nemeis rises.jpg

Nemesis rises

References

Lady Peinforte time travels from 1638 to 1988.
Neo-Nazis
The Cybermen (in particular the Cyber-Leader) recognise the Doctor.
Ace states that her stereo was destroyed by the Daleks and that the Doctor built her another to replace it.

Gallifrey

Gallifrey
From Nemesis Lady Peinforte learned of a grim secret of the Doctor's from the "Old Time, the Time of Chaos".
Validium is a Gallifreyan living metal.

Peinforte calls the validium her Nemesis.

Minerals

Ace uses gold to fight the Cybermen, and Lady Peinforte's arrows are made of gold.

Story Notes

This story had working titles of; The Harbinger, Nemesis.
Nicholas Courtney is present in the large crowd scene in the palace.
This story marked the 25th anniversary of Doctor Who.
Courtney Pine guest stars as himself in Part One.
The Doctor's new stereo (for Ace) was to have Zygon like speakers, but these were replaced with more conventional technological ones.
The gasworks site (the site of the warehouse and main battle sequence) takes place on the site which would become the site for the Millennium Dome.

Ratings

Part 1 - 6.1 million viewers
Part 2 - 5.2 million viewers
Part 3 - 5.2 million viewers

Myths and rumours

John Nathan-Turner attempted to get the real Queen Elizabeth II to appear as herself in the serial (much as members of the Royal Family had appeared on an episode of Coronation Street). This could not be arranged, so an impersonator was enlisted.

Filming Locations

Greenwich Gas Works, Tunnel Avenue, North Greenwich (Where the Nemesis lands)
Arundel Castle, Arundel, West Sussex (Stand in for Windsor Castle)
London Road, Arundel, West Sussex (One of the roads Peinforte and Richard walk down)
Casa Del Mar, Aldsworth Avenue, Goring-by-Sea, West Sussex (De Flores' house)
Arundel Estate (now known as Arundel Park), Arundel, West Sussex
High Street / Tarrant Street, Arundel, West Sussex
St Mary's House, The Street, Bramber, West Sussex (Exterior of Peiforte's house)
Black Jack's Mill, Harefield, Middlesex (Location where Ace and the Doctor are listening to music)

Discontinuity, Plot Holes, Errors

The Cybermen know of Lady Peinforte but they have never encountered her before. How they know of her is unclear.
Lady Peinforte's arrows are made of gold, so apart from fighting Cybermen, they're the most useless arrows ever created. (Although they may have been intended to kill with their poisoned tips rather than impact alone)
There's a few cases of people standing about doing nothing for no real reason - firstly, when the Doctor and Ace get the bow to the statue, none of the cybermen do anything to stop them.
Secondly, neo-nazi leader had the bow at the statue, the Doctor makes no attempt to stop him and has to rely on the Cyberleader to kill him.
Thirdly, Lady Peinforte makes no attempt to stop the Cyberleader getting the bow, or to take it from the Doctor.
Finally, the Cyberleader stands perfectly still, waiting for Peinforte's servant to stab him with the arrow.
How is that arrow still in the tardis door anyway? The Doctor removed it when taking to Ace about the Nemesis, and the tardis materialisation is seen several times with no arrow in it.
Why did Peinforte wait till the Doctor and Ace were in the tardis before firing the arrow in the first place?

Continuity

Ace compares the events she encounters here with DW: Remembrance of the Daleks, Ace also mentions that her stereo was destroyed by the Daleks (which occurred in the same story).

This is the last episode to feature Cybermen before Doctor Who's cancellation, and the last episode to date to feature active Mondasian Cybermen.

In the new 2005 series a Mondasian Cyberman head appeared in DW: Dalek.
Alternate universe Cybus Cybermen were introduced in DW: Rise of the Cybermen and thus far have been the only version of the Cybermen to appear in the new series (other than the head shown in Dalek).

Lady Peinforte shows her servant, Richard Maynard, his grave. In DW: Revelation of the Daleks, the Doctor explains to Peri that if he took her to Earth after she had died, she could see her own gravestone.

The Doctor plays chess against an unknown opponent, thought to be Fenric. The Doctor battles Fenric later on in DW: The Curse of Fenric, but before this, in the story Battlefield, Morgaine speaks of how she always beat the Doctor at chess, Morgaine and Fenric both powerful beings from another dimension.

Battlefield also deals with Time as a major factor. Lady Peinforte's tomb does not contain her bones because she is destroyed in space when the Nemesis explodes. In 'Battlefield', the events occur because of what the Doctor will do in the future, leading to the Doctor writing himself a note and claiming that he should have given himself more warning.

In EDA: Interference: Book Two there is another Validium based weapon featured.

At the end of Part Two the Doctor dematerialises the TARDIS as an arrow hits it, the same thing happens at the end of DW: The Shakespeare Code.

The extended edition features a painting of Ace in early French garb, this is explained in NA: Set Piece.

Queen Elizabeth II would appear again years later in Voyage of the Damned (with an indirect reference to her made in The Christmas Invasion).

Timeline

(Timeline refers to all Doctor Who media and attempts to place this story within the timeline)

Silver Nemesis occurs after: to be added
Silver Nemesis occurs before: to be added

DVD and Video Releases

to be added

Novelisation

Main article: Silver Nemesis (novelisation)

Novelised as Silver Nemesis in 1989 by Kevin Clarke.

External Links

Template:Season 25

@@ Line 110: / Line 110: @@
 *The Cybermen know of Lady Peinforte but they have never encountered her before. How they know of her is unclear.
 *Lady Peinforte's arrows are made of gold, so apart from fighting Cybermen, they're the most useless arrows ever created. (Although they may have been intended to kill with their poisoned tips rather than impact alone)
+*There's a few cases of people standing about doing nothing for no real reason - firstly, when the Doctor and Ace get the bow to the statue, none of the cybermen do anything to stop them.
+*Secondly, neo-nazi leader had the bow at the statue, the Doctor makes no attempt to stop him and has to rely on the Cyberleader to kill him.
+*Thirdly, Lady Peinforte makes no attempt to stop the Cyberleader getting the bow, or to take it from the Doctor.
+*Finally, the Cyberleader stands perfectly still, waiting for Peinforte's servant to stab him with the arrow.
+*How is that arrow still in the tardis door anyway?  The Doctor removed it when taking to Ace about the Nemesis, and the tardis materialisation is seen several times with no arrow in it.
+*Why did Peinforte wait till the Doctor and Ace were in the tardis before firing the arrow in the first place?
 ==Continuity==

Tardis