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CAST
Regular Cast
Patrick Troughton (Dr Who), Frazer Hines (Jamie), Wendy Padbury (Zoe)
Guest Cast
Louise Pajo (Gia Kelly), John Witty (Computer Voice), Ric Felgate (Brent) [1-4], Harry Towb (Osgood) [1], Ronald Leigh-Hunt (Radnor), Terry Scully (Fewsham) [1-5], Christopher Coll (Phipps) [1-4], Martin Cort (Locke) [1-2], Philip Ray (Eldred), Alan Bennion (Slaar), Steve Peters, Tony Harwood [2-6], Sonny Caldinez [4-6] (Ice Warriors), Derrick Slater (Security Guard) [4], Hugh Morton (Sir James Gregson) [5], Graham Leaman (Grand Marshall) [5-6].
CREW
| Written by | Brian Hayles |
| Directed by | Michael Ferguson |
| Produced by | Peter Bryant |
sypnosis
It is the 21st Century and Earth is totally dependent on T-Mat, a revolutionary form of instant travel. When the system breaks down The Doctor and friends make a hazardous journey to the relay station on the moon only to find that it has fallen into the hands of the Ice Warriors who plan to invade Earth.
Using T-Mat, the Ice Warriors transport seed pods to Earth which burst, disgorging a deadly Martian fungus. This spreads rapidly, extracting vital oxygen from the atmosphere. Can The Doctor outwit the evil Ice Warriors and destroy the fungus in time to save a dying world?
NOTES
- The working title of this story was The Lords of the Red Planet.
- Although Brian Hayles is solely credited as the story’s author, series script editor Terrance Dicks rewrote Episodes 3 through 6 of the script, partially as he considered Hayles’s original ending lackluster and unworkable but also because originally Jamie McCrimmon was to have been replaced by a new companion called Nik by this story, but then actor Frazer Hines postponed his departure. Dicks was co-credited on the sleeve of the VHS release for his writing duties on the serial.
- Patrick Troughton does not appear in Episode 4 as he was on holiday when it was being recorded. A double stands in for him in some shots where The Doctor is seen unconscious on the floor.
- Model sequences of the Earth and the Moon are used as a backdrop to the story title, writer and episode number captions at the start of each episode.
- A prop previously seen as the TARDIS astral map, as introduced in season two’s The Web Planet, appears as one of the exhibits in Eldred’s museum of space flight.
- Zoe’s leather outfit was primrose yellow in colour. Actress Wendy Padbury was allowed to keep it as an addition to her own wardrobe after recording of the story was completed.
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