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As the build up begins to our 150th episode next week, we present to you this week commentary tracks for the 150th classic series story - the Seventh Doctor adventure Dragonfire. Our story begins on Iceworld, a trading port on the dark side of planet Svartos, the Doctor chances across Sabalom Glitz and joins him [...]

As the build up begins to our 150th episode next week, we present to you this week commentary tracks for the 150th classic series story – the Seventh Doctor adventure Dragonfire. Our story begins on Iceworld, a trading port on the dark side of planet Svartos, the Doctor chances across Sabalom Glitz and joins him [...]

Paul J. Salamoff - writer of the acclaimed graphic novels DISCORD, LOGAN'S RUN: LAST DAY and LOGAN'S RUN: AFTERMATH talks to Cultdom about his latest project 'Tales of Discord' - a 5 part pre-story to 'Discord' and the Kickstarter campaign to support the project. http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/741501895/tales-of-discord-the-complete-series

The Seventh Doctor and Ace visit a human colony on the planet Terra Alpha, and are unsettled by the planet's unnaturally happy society. Cheerful music plays everywhere; the planet's secret police force, the Happiness Patrol (governed by the vicious and egotistical Helen A, who is obsessed with eliminating unhappiness), roam the streets wearing bright pink and purple uniforms, while they hunt down and kill so-called 'Killjoys', and the TARDIS gets repainted pink so as not to look depressing. While exploring the planet, the Doctor and Ace encounter Trevor Sigma, the official galactic censor, who is visiting Terra Alpha to discover why so many of the population have disappeared. The Doctor and Ace have a brief period of incarceration in the Waiting Zone (Terra Alpha's version of prisons,) to find out more about the planet's laws against unhappiness, and meet unhappy guard Susan Q, who becomes a firm ally, and allows Ace to escape when she is taken away from the Doctor to be enrolled in the Happiness Patrol. The Doctor, meanwhile, encounters another visitor to the planet, Earl Sigma, a wandering harmonica player who stirs unrest by playing the Blues. Earl and the Doctor venture to the Kandy Kitchen, where most of the missing population of Terra Alpha vanished to, and discover Helen A's twisted executionist, the Kandy Man; a grotesque, sweet-based robot, created by Gilbert M, one of Helen A’s senior advisers. The Doctor manages to outwit the Kandy Man by gluing him to the floor with lemonade, and he and Earl escape in to the candy pipes below the colony, where dwell the native inhabitants of Terra Alpha, now known as Pipe People. They want to help overthrow the tyranny of Helen A. The Doctor returns to the surface, and begins stirring up trouble, supporting public demonstrations of unhappiness, encouraging the people to revolt, and attempting to expose Helen A's 'population control programme' to Trevor Sigma. Ace and Susan Q have meanwhile both been recaptured, and have been scheduled to appear in the late show at the Forum, where the penalty for non-entertainment is death. The Doctor and Earl rescue them both, and the four head off to Helen A’s palace for a final showdown, while a revolution takes full effect outside the palace walls. The first to be disposed of is Helen A’s pet Stigorax, Fifi, a rat-dog creature used to hunt down the Pipe People, which is crushed in the pipes below the city when Earl causes an avalanche of crystallised sugar with his harmonica. Then the Pipe People destroy the Kandy Man in a flow of his own fondant surprise (previously used to drown Killjoys). Realising that she is beaten, Helen A attempts to escape the planet in a rocket, only to discover that the rocket has already been commandeered by Gilbert M and Joseph C, her husband. She tries to flee, but the Doctor stops her, and tries to teach her about the true nature of happiness, which can only be understood if counter-balanced by sadness. Helen A at first sneers at the Doctor; but when she discovers the remains of her beloved pet Fifi, she collapses in tears, and finally feels some sadness of her own. The revolution complete, the Doctor and Ace slip away, leaving Earl, Susan Q and the Pipe People to rebuild the planet – but only once the TARDIS has been repainted blue. Continuity The Doctor tells Ace about the events of Invasion of the Dinosaurs and mentions the Brigadier at the start of this story. The Seventh Doctor and Ace later meet the Brigadier in Battlefield. The Doctor mentions his nickname in his academy days on Gallifrey was "Theta Sigma". The Doctor's classmate Drax referred to him by this nickname in The Armageddon Factor, as did River Song (in writing) in The Pandorica Opens. In the serial Battlefield, Mordred tells the Doctor, who is threatening him with a sword, to "Look me in the eye. End my life!", which is the same line the Doctor says to a sniper threatening his life in this story. Production Serial details by episode EpisodeBroadcast dateRun timeViewership (in millions) "Part One" 2 November 1988 24:51 5.3 "Part Two" 9 November 1988 24:48 4.6 "Part Three" 16 November 1988 24:25 5.3 [2][3][4] Working titles for this story included The Crooked Smile.[5] In the story, the Doctor sings "As Time Goes By", the song famously sung by Dooley Wilson in the 1942 film Casablanca. Helen A was intended to be a caricature of then British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher. In 2010, Sylvester McCoy told the Sunday Times: "Our feeling was that Margaret Thatcher was far more terrifying than any monster the Doctor had encountered." The Doctor's calls on the drones to down their tools and revolt was intended as a reference to the 1984-1985 miners' strike.[6] Most of this element was eventually toned down.[5] John Normington played Morgus in The Caves of Androzani, and later appeared in "Ghost Machine", an episode of the Doctor Who spin-off Torchwood. Patricia Routledge was originally going to play Helen A,[citation needed] but Sheila Hancock was later cast. The production team considered transmitting this story in black and white to fit with its intended film noir atmosphere.[5] A fan myth holds that the third episode was supposed to be animated, but this was never the case.[7] Broadcast and reception Bassett's complained over the similarity between the Kandy Man in this story and their trademark character.[8] The BBC agreed not to use the Kandy Man again.[5] In The Discontinuity Guide, Paul Cornell, Martin Day and Keith Topping identify a gay subtext to the story: "there's entrapment over cottaging, the TARDIS is painted pink, and the victim of the fondant surprise is every inch the proud gay man, wearing, as he does, a pink triangle."[9] The story ends with Helen A's husband abandoning her and leaving with another man. Rowan Williams, Archbishop of Canterbury, referred to this story in his 2011 Easter sermon, on the subject of happiness and joy.[10] In print A novelisation of this serial, written by script-writer Graeme Curry, was published by Target Books in February 1990. Adapting his scripts rather than the televised version, Curry's book includes scenes cut during editing and his original envisioning of the Kandy Man with a human appearance, albeit with powdery white skin and edible candy-cane glasses. An unabridged reading of the novelisation by Rula Lenska was released by BBC Audiobooks in July 2009. Doctor Who book The Happiness Patrol Series Target novelisations Release number 146 Writer Graeme Curry Publisher Target Books Cover artist Alister Pearson ISBN 0-426-20339-9 Release date 15 February 1990 Preceded by ' Followed by ' VHS and DVD releases This serial was released on VHS on 4 August 1997. This story was released on DVD on 7 May 2012 alongside Dragonfire as part of the "Ace Adventures" box set. [11][12] References ^ From the Doctor Who Magazine series overview, in issue 407 (pp26-29). The Discontinuity Guide, which counts the four segments of The Trial of a Time Lord as four separate stories and also counts the unbroadcast serial Shada, lists this story as number 153. Region 1 DVD releases follow The Discontinuity Guide numbering system. ^ Shaun Lyon et al. (2007-03-31). "The Happiness Patrol". Outpost Gallifrey. Archived from the original on 2008-05-11. Retrieved 2008-08-30. ^ "The Happiness Patrol". Doctor Who Reference Guide. Retrieved 2008-08-30. ^ Sullivan, Shannon (2007-08-07). "The Happiness Patrol". A Brief History of Time Travel. Retrieved 2008-08-30. ^ a b c d The Happiness Patrol at Doctor Who: A Brief History Of Time (Travel) ^ "Doctor Who 'had anti-Thatcher agenda'", Daily Telegraph, 14 February 2010 ^ BBC - Doctor Who Classic Episode Guide - The Happiness Patrol - Details ^ Cadbury Global :: Our Brands :: Bassett's Brand Information ^ Cornell, Paul; Day, Martin; Topping, Keith (1995). "The Happiness Patrol" (reprinted on BBC Doctor Who website). The Discontinuity Guide. London: Virgin Books. p. 343. ISBN 0-426-20442-5. Retrieved 21 April 2009. ^ Williams, Rowan (24 April 2011). "Archbishop of Canterbury's 2011 Easter Sermon". archbishopofcanterbury.org. Retrieved 6 May 2012. ^ DWM 433 ^ http://www.doctorwhonews.net/2011/05/dwn030511125312-dvd-schedule-update.html External links Wikiquote has a collection of quotations related to: Seventh Doctor The Happiness Patrol at BBC Online The Happiness Patrol at the Doctor Who Reference Guide Script to Screen: The Happiness Patrol, by Jon Preddle (Time Space Visualiser issue 42, January 1995) Reviews The Happiness Patrol reviews at Outpost Gallifrey The Happiness Patrol reviews at The Doctor Who Ratings Guide Target novelisation On Target — The Happiness Patrol

Paul J. Salamoff - writer of the acclaimed graphic novels DISCORD, LOGAN'S RUN: LAST DAY and LOGAN'S RUN: AFTERMATH talks to Cultdom about his latest project 'Tales of Discord' - a 5 part pre-story to 'Discord' and the Kickstarter campaign to support the project. http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/741501895/tales-of-discord-the-complete-series

Paul J. Salamoff - writer of the acclaimed graphic novels DISCORD, LOGAN'S RUN: LAST DAY and LOGAN'S RUN: AFTERMATH talks to Cultdom about his latest project 'Tales of Discord' - a 5 part pre-story to 'Discord' and the Kickstarter campaign to support the project. http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/741501895/tales-of-discord-the-complete-series

Paul J. Salamoff - writer of the acclaimed graphic novels DISCORD, LOGAN'S RUN: LAST DAY and LOGAN'S RUN: AFTERMATH talks to Cultdom about his latest project 'Tales of Discord' - a 5 part pre-story to 'Discord' and the Kickstarter campaign to support the project. http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/741501895/tales-of-discord-the-complete-series

Welcome to Boom Town! No Bob Geldof here, just a funny, well written tying-up-of-ends for the Slitheen. And we talk about it! And we talk about other stuff (big surprise). Listen...enjoy.


Episode 38: Dining with Monsters

This week, Phil & Paul cast their eye over The Forest Of The Dead, the conclusion to River Song's opening story in Series 4 of Doctor Who. It's another enjoyable story of the reviewing pair but it's not long before they air their gripes about where it went wrong. During the course of their conversation this week, they go wildly off topic and start discussing Steven Moffats overall contribution to Doctor Who and whether his writing was better before he became show runner.
However, all of this is tempered by the news that we have lost another Doctor Who actor in the form of Caroline John and the lads take the opportunity to celebrate her character, Liz Shaw.

Christopher Hamilton Bidmead is a polarizing figure in Doctor Who fandom, with some hating his tenure as script editor and writer whilst others loved the shift he oversaw from clownish antics to more science-based storytelling. Where do the Three Who Rule stand on this vitally important matter? Why does Steven love Castrovalva? What is the Watcher, really? Why does Bidmead hate the TARDIS so much (or does he)? The answer, dear friends, is SCIENCE!

Check out the show notes at http://www.radiofreeskaro.com

Christopher Hamilton Bidmead is a polarizing figure in Doctor Who fandom, with some hating his tenure as script editor and writer whilst others loved the shift he oversaw from clownish antics to more science-based storytelling. Where do the Three Who Rule stand on this vitally important matter? Why does Steven love Castrovalva? What is the Watcher, really? Why does Bidmead hate the TARDIS so much (or does he)? The answer, dear friends, is SCIENCE!

Check out the show notes at http://www.radiofreeskaro.com

Christopher Hamilton Bidmead is a polarizing figure in Doctor Who fandom, with some hating his tenure as script editor and writer whilst others loved the shift he oversaw from clownish antics to more science-based storytelling. Where do the Three Who Rule stand on this vitally important matter? Why does Steven love Castrovalva? What is the Watcher, really? Why does Bidmead hate the TARDIS so much (or does he)? The answer, dear friends, is SCIENCE!

Check out the show notes at http://www.radiofreeskaro.com

Whoa, deja vu! Didn't we cover this already...? Well, yes and no. In this episode, Andrew and Sarah revisit the 'companion question'- who is a companion, and who is just a frequent guest star? In the unusual eras of Pertwee's Earth Exile and the New Series and its specials... what does it take to join the hallowed ranks? Who makes the cut, who doesn't, and why? Plus, a wretched monkey.

This week, Phil and Paul cast their eye over The Forest of The Dead, the conclusion to River Song's opening story in Series 4 of Doctor Who.  It's another enjoyable story for the reviewing pair but it's not long before they air their gripes about where it went wrong.  During the course of their conversation this week, they go wildly off topic and start discussing Steven Moffats overall contribution to Doctor Who and whether his writing was better before he became show runner.

However, all of this is tempered by the news that we have lost another Doctor Who actor in the form of Caroline John and the lads take the opportunity to celebrate her character, Liz Shaw.

This week, Phil and Paul cast their eye over The Forest of The Dead, the conclusion to River Song's opening story in Series 4 of Doctor Who.  It's another enjoyable story for the reviewing pair but it's not long before they air their gripes about where it went wrong.  During the course of their conversation this week, they go wildly off topic and start discussing Steven Moffats overall contribution to Doctor Who and whether his writing was better before he became show runner.

However, all of this is tempered by the news that we have lost another Doctor Who actor in the form of Caroline John and the lads take the opportunity to celebrate her character, Liz Shaw.

Best Moments in New Who - 2005 onwards plus our thoughts on actress Caroline John (who passed away just recently) & her role as Doctor Who assistant Liz Shaw

Summary:
Adam J Purcell, Andy Simpkins, Fake Keith and the Real Keith Dunn talk about the Doctor Who (and other): Anniversary Stories, play some Dead or Alive! and Dinner Party Guests, find some general news and a variety of other stuff, specifically:

• 00:00 – Intro and theme tune.
• 01:01 — Welcome!
• 01:24 – News:
• 01:35 — Doctor Who: The regenerated Experience.
• 02:30 — Blake’s 7: Audio cast reunion play.
• 03:58 — Robocop: Remake casts big acting names.
• 05:55 — Shatner: BP Olympics medal lookalike.
• 06:38 — Rush: Some popular beat album based on steampunk with Kevin J Anderson novel.
• 07:45 — Mini Cooper: Steampunked car.
• 08:58 — Xena: Lucy, Lawless by name…
• 12:31 – Doctor Who (and more): Anniversary stories.
• 29:56 – Dead or Alive!
• 36:45 – Dinner Party Guests.
• 41:47 – Emails and listener feedback.* Hit us yourself at show@StaggeringStories.net
• 53:36 – Farewell for this podcast!
• 54:30 — End theme, disclaimer, copyright, etc.

Vital Links:

• Staggering Stories.
• Staggering Stories: Podcast Drinking Game, Fifth edition.
• BBC: Doctor Who.
• Blake’s 7.
• Wikipedia: Robocop.
• William Shatner.
• Rush.
• Wikipedia: Mini.
• Stephen Stanton.
• Wikipedia: Edward Goery.
• ForceCast.net.
• ForceCast.net: Uncle Moralos Bedtime Stories (Video).
• Wikipedia: Phil Coulson.
• The Liberating Podcast.
• The Tin Dog Podcast.
• Doctor Who Podcast Alliance.
• Facebook: Staggering Stories Group.

Best Moments in New Who - 2005 onwards plus our thoughts on actress Caroline John (who passed away just recently) & her role as Doctor Who assistant Liz Shaw

Best Moments in New Who - 2005 onwards plus our thoughts on actress Caroline John (who passed away just recently) & her role as Doctor Who assistant Liz Shaw

Best Moments in New Who - 2005 onwards plus our thoughts on actress Caroline John (who passed away just recently) & her role as Doctor Who assistant Liz Shaw

Aliens fake an alien landing ("Aliens of London" / "World War Three"), and The Doctor's oldest foes return ("Dalek"). One of these stories is downright awful due to all of the ill-conceived and poorly executed humor, horrible costumes and dated computer imagery, and the damn farting! While the other story features a Dalek slaughtering hundreds of people just for the hell of it. Also, Tom Deja gives his thoughts about Rose, Dan explains why he's not too keen on Doctor Who getting so close to the real world, and Mike drinks a beer.

Play, re-play, triple play, wet summer, dry wine

A little later than intended, this week’s Kasterborous podKast (with a “K”) turns its attention to the matter of the Doctor’s sartorial elegance (or in some cases, lack of…)

There isn’t a single incarnation of the friendly Time Lord who hasn’t raised eyebrows with his choice of attire. While some choices have been great, others have been… less successful, shall we say. Christian Cawley, Brian Terranova and James McLean have a right old chat about the situation in the latest podKast, concluding with a declaration of their individual favourite looks across Doctor Who’s 49 years.

Dear listener, did you know you can also listen to the podKast via iTunes?. If that’s not your thing, why not You can subscribe to our RSS feed – or you can simply press play in the box above!

Oh yes you can!

The Blue Box Podcast - Episode 12: Seven Brought to you every Saturday by Starburst Columnist - JR Southall, Lee Rawlings, Mark Cockram and Simon Brett

Cloyingly sentimental? Exuberantly uplifting? That's not what our favorite family SF/adventure/horror saga has been about, with rare exceptions, over the last almost-50 years. And yet we fans can still turn to it when things are looking a little grim. There's something that Doctor Who does to brighten our day without even trying…

(Take the Facebook poll!)

This is the wonderful interview I conducted with Toby Hadoke who is an actor, comedian and moderates Doctor Who DVD commentaries. Enjoy

9.7 MB

It's Doctor Who and The Oseidon Adventure! Yes, the Tom Baker Big Finish! Just how good is it? And what about the 4th Doctor series overall? Siobhan and Elisabeth have a good old natter. Oh, and stay listening at the end.. there's a very old treat in store....

The DWO WhoCast - 'I built it myself - all my own work!'

It's Doctor Who and The Oseidon Adventure! Yes, the Tom Baker Big Finish! Just how good is it? And what about the 4th Doctor series overall? Siobhan and Elisabeth have a good old natter. Oh, and stay listening at the end.. there's a very old treat in store....

The DWO WhoCast - 'I built it myself - all my own work!'

Your intrepid hosts, Sarah Burrow and P.G. Bell conclude their commentary on the return of the Silurians. Frankly, it could have done with a few dinosaurs...

As the humans and Silurians teeter on the brink of war, we discuss the thorny issue of gender politics in crisis situations, wonder why the new Silurians act more like Cybermen than reptiles, and ask why on earth Chris Chibnall decided to have a secondary character start narrating the action half way through the story.

And, of course, there's that ending...

Length: 54 minutes

Download: Click Here (Right click and "Save Link/Target As...")

"I always find that violent exercise makes me hungry. Don't you agree?"

Yes, Gallifrey's very own silver-haired and rather wrinkly James Bond is at it again in 1972's salty six-part saga, The Sea Devils.

Jim and Martin marvel as the Doctor frolics above, on and below the sea, Jo fights, frets and flies a hovercraft and the Master shows off most of his wardrobe (string vests strangely absent).

Mr Creosote rolls in from Whitehall and eats everything in his path, Trenchard bores the hind legs off a donkey and Cap'n Hart offs an alarming amount of amphibians.

All that with copious sandwiches thrown in. Who could ask for more from Who?

"I always find that violent exercise makes me hungry. Don't you agree?"

Yes, Gallifrey's very own silver-haired and rather wrinkly James Bond is at it again in 1972's salty six-part saga, The Sea Devils.

Jim and Martin marvel as the Doctor frolics above, on and below the sea, Jo fights, frets and flies a hovercraft and the Master shows off most of his wardrobe (string vests strangely absent).

Mr Creosote rolls in from Whitehall and eats everything in his path, Trenchard bores the hind legs off a donkey and Cap'n Hart offs an alarming amount of amphibians.

All that with copious sandwiches thrown in. Who could ask for more from Who? 

As they inch closer towards the end of this ‘epic’ our plucky heroes must face the Freudian nightmare that is Terror Of The Vervoids. Can they survive Pip and Jane Baker without a script editor ? Just what will they think of Mel? Why is Honor Blackman wearing a track suit? And is this really Murder On The Orient Express in space, or is it strangely closer to a certain long gone British soap opera? To misquote the Valeyard: ‘Stop the Matrix, I want to get off!’

Enter Tom Baker and his amazingly long run as The Fourth Doctor! It all begins with Robot. Mike, Mike, and Dave are joined by Rondo Award-Winning Artist of the Year Mark Maddox for a look at...

Earth Station Who is a show dedicated to the culture around the BBC icon Doctor Who. Join Mike F, Mike G and Dave as we explore the 50 year history and fandom surrounding the Doctor With reviews, interviews and just general talk you never know WHO might pop up.

I am joined this week by Phil Cannon one of the hosts of the excellent Who’s He? Podcast to discuss the polarizing 3rd Doctor story, “Inferno.”

Even though Phil and I don’t quite see eye-to-eye on this story we had a most enjoyable time discussing it and I hope you have a most enjoyable time listening to that discussion. I don’t want to say anymore lest I give away too much about one of my favorite episodes of the podcast so far. Go forth and stream or download, whichever you prefer!

Find Phil on Twitter @Whos_He_Podcast

The Who’s He? Podcast website is here

And on iTunes here

At long last, the Wheel of Fortune selects a Colin Baker story for Josh and Steven to discuss in the form of Mindwarp, comprising of Parts 5-8 of 1986's The trial of a Time Lord. What did you hosts think of this controversial instalment? Listen and find out!

 

 

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This week, the Earth Station One crew once again takes a timey-whimey ride in the TARDIS for a look at those lucky enough to share a ride with The Doctor. Join Mike, Mike, Bobby, and William along with Jason and Rita from the Transmissions from Atlantis podcast and Mary Lou Who as we discuss our … Continue reading →

Special thanks to Vishal for the cover art.

No Doctor and No Companions SYNOPSIS: On the planet Kembel, Space Security Service agent Marc Cory is investigating a recent sighting of a Dalek spaceship. His suspicion that the creatures may have established a base here proves well-founded. EPISODE LIST: Episode 1 -Mission To The Unknown CREDITS: Writer:Terry Nation Director: Derek Martinus LINKS: Full size cover art Vishal's Website - allvishal.com

Special thanks to Vishal for the cover art.

No Doctor and No Companions SYNOPSIS: On the planet Kembel, Space Security Service agent Marc Cory is investigating a recent sighting of a Dalek spaceship. His suspicion that the creatures may have established a base here proves well-founded. EPISODE LIST: Episode 1 -Mission To The Unknown CREDITS: Writer:Terry Nation Director: Derek Martinus LINKS: Full size cover art Vishal's Website - allvishal.com

Special thanks to Vishal for the cover art.

No Doctor and No Companions SYNOPSIS: On the planet Kembel, Space Security Service agent Marc Cory is investigating a recent sighting of a Dalek spaceship. His suspicion that the creatures may have established a base here proves well-founded. EPISODE LIST: Episode 1 -Mission To The Unknown CREDITS: Writer:Terry Nation Director: Derek Martinus LINKS: Full size cover art Vishal's Website - allvishal.com

Special thanks to Vishal for the cover art.

No Doctor and No Companions

SYNOPSIS:

On the planet Kembel, Space Security Service agent Marc Cory is investigating a recent sighting of a Dalek spaceship. His suspicion that the creatures may have established a base here proves well-founded.

EPISODE LIST:

Episode 1 -Mission To The Unknown

CREDITS:

Writer:Terry Nation

Director: Derek Martinus

LINKS:

Full size cover art

Vishal's Website - allvishal.com

Iceworld is a space-trading colony on the dark side of the planet Svartos. It is a mysterious place of terror and rumour ruled by the callous and vindictive Kane, who buys supporters and employees and makes them wear his mark iced in to their flesh. Kane’s body temperature is so cold that one touch from him can kill. In Kane’s lair is a vast cryogenic section where mercenaries and others are being frozen and stored, with their memories wiped for future unquestioning use as part of an army; including a freezer cabinet into which Kane deposits himself when he needs to cool down. There is also, most peculiarly, an aged sculptor who is carving a statue from the ice. The TARDIS materialises in a refrigeration sales section on Iceworld and the Seventh Doctor and Mel Bush venture outside. They soon meet up with their roguish old acquaintance, Sabalom Glitz, who owes Kane a substantial amount of money. Glitz has come to Svartos to search for a supposed treasure guarded by a dragon. It is located in the icy caverns beyond Iceworld and by chance Glitz has a map, which he won from Kane in a gamble – in fact, Kane wanted him to have the map because he wishes to use Glitz as a pawn in his own search for the treasure. Thus the map contains a tracking device in its seal. Kane in return has Glitz’s ship, the Nosferatu, which he orders destroyed. Without realising he is being used, Glitz heads off on the search with the Doctor in tow – though women are not allowed on the expedition so Mel stays with a young, rebellious waitress they have met called Ace. It is only a matter of time before Ace behaves appallingly to customers and is fired. Mel is stunned to hear that Ace is a human from late twentieth century Earth who only arrived on Iceworld after a bizarre chemistry experiment caused a time-storm in her bedroom. Kane’s staff are not happy. Once they have taken his coin they are his for life – as Ace wisely realises when she rejects such an offer. Officer Belazs was not so clever, and is keen to escape Kane’s service. She thus arranges for the Nosferatu not to be destroyed, hoping to use the craft to escape Iceworld. When this fails she tries to persuade Officer Kracauer to help her overthrow Kane, but he is one step ahead. Their attempt to alter the temperature in his chambers and kill him fails, so Kane exacts his revenge and kills them both. The same fate awaits the ice sculptor who has now finished his statue, which is of a woman called Xana. In the ice caverns it has taken time but the Doctor and Glitz have encountered the dragon, which turns out to be a biped which did not so much breathe fire as fire lasers from its eyes, but not the treasure. Mel and Ace have now ventured into the caverns too and they meet their allies and are actually defended by the dragon, which guns down some of Kane’s cryogenically altered soldiers who have been sent into the ice caverns to kill them. The dragon takes them to a room in the ice, which is some sort of control area and contains a pre-recorded hologram message. The hologram explains that Kane is one half of the Kane-Xana criminal gang from the planet Proamnon. When the security forces caught up with them Xana killed herself to avoid arrest, but Kane was captured and exiled to the cold, dark side of Svartos. It turns out that Iceworld is a huge spacecraft and the treasure is a crystal inside the dragon’s head, which acts as the key that Kane needs in order to activate the ship and free himself from exile. The dragon is thus both Kane’s jailer and his chance of freedom. Kane has overheard the location of the key through the bugging device on the map and now sends his security forces to the ice caverns to bring him the head of the dragon, offering vast rewards for such bravery. He also uses his cryogenic army to cause chaos in the Iceworld shops, driving the customers out and towards the docked Nosferatu. This is brutally accomplished. When the Nosferatu takes off Kane blows it up. The only survivors are a young girl called Stellar and her mother, who have become separated but both survive the massacre. Shortly afterward two of Kane’s troopers succeed in killing the dragon and removing its head, but are killed in the process. The Doctor has meanwhile realised that Kane has been a prisoner on Svartos for millennia. He retrieves the head of the dragon and is then told by intercom that Kane has captured Ace but is willing to trade her for the “dragonfire”. The Doctor, Glitz and Mel travel to Kane’s private chambers for the exchange. Kane rises to the Doctor’s taunts but still powers up Iceworld as a spacecraft, which now detaches itself from the surface of Svartos. However, when Kane tries to set course for Proamnon to exact his revenge he realises he has been a prisoner so long that the planet no longer exists, having been destroyed through late-stage stellar evolution of its sun. In desperation, he opens a screen in the surface of his ship and lets in hot light rays, which melts him. The Doctor now loses a companion but also gains one. Glitz has claimed Iceworld as his own spacecraft, renamed Nosferatu II, and Mel decides to stay with him to keep him out of trouble. The Doctor acquires Ace instead, promising to take her home to Perivale via the “scenic route”. Continuity This story marks the final appearance of Bonnie Langford as a regular cast member. Langford would only reprise her role as Mel once on television, in Dimensions in Time (1993). Langford departed the series of her own volition after being dissatisfied in the role. In recent years, she has reprised the character in several audio plays by Big Finish Productions, including playing an alternate universe version of Mel in the Doctor Who Unbound audio He Jests at Scars.... The character of Sabalom Glitz, with whom Mel departs to explore the galaxy, first appeared in The Mysterious Planet. This story also marks the first appearance of Sophie Aldred as Ace. Aldred actually auditioned for the part of the tomboy Ray from Delta and the Bannermen (1987), but lost the part to Sara Griffiths. Briggs, who had created the character of Ace, had stated in Ace's character outline for Dragonfire that she had slept with Glitz on Iceworld.[2] The Paul Cornell-written New Adventures novel Love and War implies (and his later novel Happy Endings confirms) that Ace lost her virginity to Glitz. The Doctor's acceptance of Ace as a companion is part of a larger game that would see its culmination in The Curse of Fenric. In the Virgin New Adventures novel Head Games by Steve Lyons it is revealed that the Seventh Doctor mentally influenced the brighter and more idealistic Mel to leave so that he could become the darker and more manipulative Time's Champion. This story marks the only farewell scene between the Seventh Doctor and one of his companions. Mel's departure scene was adapted from Sylvester McCoy's screen test, where Janet Fielding was hired to act as a departing companion and a villain.[3] McCoy stated that he always liked that particular screen test script and he lobbied for its inclusion in Dragonfire. One of the alien customers in the cafe is an Argolin from The Leisure Hive. Ace's first appearance begins her habit of calling the Doctor "Professor". The Doctor corrects her here, but rarely objects to her continuous use of the name over the next two seasons. Production Serial details by episode EpisodeBroadcast dateRun timeViewership (in millions) "Part One" 23 November 1987 24:01 5.5 "Part Two" 30 November 1987 24:40 5.0 "Part Three" 7 December 1987 24:26 4.7 [4][5][6] Working titles for this story included Absolute Zero, The Pyramid's Treasure and Pyramid in Space[7]. In one scene, the Doctor distracts a guard by engaging him in a philosophical conversation. One of the guard's lines, about the "semiotic thickness of a performed text", is a quotation from Doctor Who: The Unfolding Text, a 1983 media studies volume by John Tulloch and Manuel Alvarado. Story editor Andrew Cartmel had suggested that writers read The Unfolding Text to familiarise themselves with Doctor Who and its history, which inspired Ian Briggs to quote the academic text in his script, in a playful self-reference. Features a guest appearance by Patricia Quinn. See also Celebrity appearances in Doctor Who. The literal cliffhanger at the end of episode 1 in which the Doctor lowers himself over a guard rail to dangle over an abyss from his umbrella for no apparent reason comes under frequent criticism for its seeming absurdity. As scripted, the Doctor did have a logical motivation for his actions. According to Cartmel in a later interview, the passage leading to the cliff was meant to be a dead end, leaving the Doctor no option but to scale the cliff face. As shot, however, this reasoning became unclear.[7] For the effects shot of the death of Kane, a wax bust of the actor's screaming face was made and filmed being melted down to a skull within, this footage being sped up to achieve the effect. Though this is very similar to the death of Toht in Raiders of the Lost Ark, for the family audience of Doctor Who the colour red was carefully avoided in the bust. Ronald Lacey, who had portrayed Toht in the film, was director Chris Clough's first choice to play Kane, but was unavailable [8] John Alderton and David Jason were also considered for the part of Kane, but both were also not available for the role.[9] Reception On UK Gold (now known as G.O.L.D.) in 2003 to celebrate the 40th anniversary of Doctor Who, over a weekend DrWho@40weekend was shown which consisted of the best serials of each Doctor voted by the viewing public. Dragonfire was the serial chosen as the best seventh Doctor serial.[citation needed] DrWho@40weekend also included interviews with the cast and crew of the series overall. The Doctor Who Appreciation Society voted the serial to be the best one of its season. In print Doctor Who book Dragonfire Series Target novelisations Release number 137 Writer Ian Briggs Publisher Target Books Cover artist Alister Pearson ISBN 0-426-20322-4 Release date 16 March 1989 Preceded by ' Followed by ' A novelisation of this serial, written by Ian Briggs, was published by Target Books in March 1989. VHS and DVD release The story was released on VHS in late December 1993. The story was released on DVD on 7 May 2012, coupled with The Happiness Patrol as part of the "Ace Adventures" box set. [10][11] References ^ From the Doctor Who Magazine series overview, in issue 407 (pp26-29). The Discontinuity Guide, which counts the four segments of The Trial of a Time Lord as four separate stories and also counts the unbroadcast serial Shada, lists this story as number 151. Region 1 DVD releases follow The Discontinuity Guide numbering system. ^ ""A Brief History of Time (Travel)" - The Curse of Fenric". ^ Cartmel, Andrew (2005). Script Doctor: The Inside Story of Doctor Who 1986-89. Reynolds & Hearn Ltd. ISBN 1-903111-89-7. ^ Shaun Lyon et al. (2007-03-31). "Dragonfire". Outpost Gallifrey. Archived from the original on 2008-05-11. Retrieved 2008-08-30. ^ "Dragonfire". Doctor Who Reference Guide. Retrieved 2008-08-30. ^ Sullivan, Shannon (2007-08-07). "Dragonfire". A Brief History of Time Travel. Retrieved 2008-08-30. ^ a b Dragonfire at Doctor Who: A Brief History Of Time (Travel) ^ Fact of Fiction, Doctor Who Magazine Issue 444 ^ Fact of Fiction, Doctor Who Magazine Issue 444 ^ DWM 433 ^ http://www.doctorwhonews.net/2011/05/dwn030511125312-dvd-schedule-update.html External links Wikiquote has a collection of quotations related to: Seventh Doctor Dragonfire at BBC Online Dragonfire at the Doctor Who Reference Guide Script to Screen: Dragonfire, by Jon Preddle (Time Space Visualiser issue 38, March 1994) Reviews Dragonfire reviews at Outpost Gallifrey Dragonfire reviews at The Doctor Who Ratings Guide Target novelisation On Target — Dragonfire

Special thanks to Vishal for the cover art.

No Doctor and No Companions

SYNOPSIS:

On the planet Kembel, Space Security Service agent Marc Cory is investigating a recent sighting of a Dalek spaceship. His suspicion that the creatures may have established a base here proves well-founded.

EPISODE LIST:

Episode 1 -Mission To The Unknown

CREDITS:

Writer:Terry Nation

Director: Derek Martinus

LINKS:

Full size cover art

Vishal's Website - allvishal.com

Special thanks to Vishal for the cover art.

No Doctor and No Companions

SYNOPSIS:

On the planet Kembel, Space Security Service agent Marc Cory is investigating a recent sighting of a Dalek spaceship. His suspicion that the creatures may have established a base here proves well-founded.

EPISODE LIST:

Episode 1 -Mission To The Unknown

CREDITS:

Writer:Terry Nation

Director: Derek Martinus

LINKS:

Full size cover art

Vishal’s Website - allvishal.com

Welcome to another week of THE Doctor Who Podcast, quite simply the finest Doctor Who podcast around and frankly you should feel honoured and humbled as this episode downloads its way to you! A very intimate affair this week, with Trevor and Ian together in the Campervan, having a bit of a geek out. The [...]