Earthshock
| 122 - Earthshock | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Cast | |||
| Production | |||
| Directed by | Peter Grimwade | ||
| Written by | Eric Saward | ||
| Script editor | Antony Root | ||
| Produced by | John Nathan-Turner | ||
| Executive producer(s) | None | ||
| Production code | 5X | ||
| Series | Season 19 | ||
| Running time | 4 episodes, 25 mins each | ||
| First broadcast | March 8 - March 16, 1982 | ||
| Chronology | |||
| |||
Earthshock is a serial in the British science fiction television series Doctor Who, which was first broadcast in four twice-weekly parts from March 8 to March 16, 1982. This serial is the final regular appearance of Matthew Waterhouse as the Doctor's companion Adric.
Synopsis
The year is 2526: a group of seven palentologists and gelogists have been killed with the exeption of one. Proffessor Kyle is being escourted by a group of soldiers lead by Lt. Scott and Sargent Mitchell who are going to investigate the murders. The TARDIS drops the Fifth Doctor and his companions in the middle of the investigation and when the Doctor arrives he is accussed of murdering some of Scott's Troops and Kyle's group. However why are these deadly androids patrolling the tunnels, and what are they protecting... and who are they working for?
Plot
Lieutenant Scott and his men climb up a bleak hillside, escorting Professor Kyle to a camp set up by Scott's team. The scanning equipment at the campsite is directed at a cave and set up to delect mammalian life forms. Kyle had been part of a scientific expedition investigating the caves for fossil remains, but the expedition has all but disappeared. The lack of readings suggests they are all dead. Kyle insists on accompanying Scott and his men into the caves to find out what happened, while two remain outside to maintain a constant scan. As they investigate, the squad is being stalked by two dark figures.
Meanwhile, in the TARDIS, Adric is arguing with the Fifth Doctor about the lack of attention and respect he receives compared to Tegan or Nyssa. Finally, he declares that he wishes to return to his home planet of Terradon, which the Doctor loudly proclaims is not possible, However, Adric is insistent that he can calculate the coordinates to guide the TARDIS back into E-Space.
Scott's squad splits into two groups, but a strange jangling sound comes over the communications system, and a flare appears on the outside scanner indicating members of the squad who are killed. Outside, Walters and Synder see more lifeforms appear on the scanner — the TARDIS crew, which have just landed in the caves. However, Scott instantly assumes that the newcomers must be responsible for the deaths, especially when he is informed that one of the new lifesigns shows two heartbeats.
The Doctor, meanwhile, is examining the fossils of dinosaurs on the cave walls and musing about how he had always wanted to find out how they died. As the wounded party is making slow progress, Snyder goes in to help, but they are attacked by the dark figures. The jamming increases, and Snyder is reduced to a pile of smoking remains. As the survivors start to investigate, they continue to be picked off one by one.
Scott and the remainder of his squad come across the Doctor and his companions and capture them. Scott accuses the Doctor of the murders and while the Doctor tries to convince him otherwise, the dark figures continue their approach. Digging away at a recent rockfall, they discover the remains of the scientists as well as a metal hatch which begins to emit a trilling sound. The dark figures pick up their pace and begin to attack as everyone dives for cover.
The Doctor realises that the attackers are androids, which is why they did not show up on the scans. The androids appear to be defending the hatch and shrug off the troopers' counterattacks. Kyle recognises the sound the androids are making, and realises that they were the ones who murdered the others. As an android focuses its gaze on the Doctor, the image is transmitted elsewhere to their masters: the Cybermen. The Cyber-Leader orders that the androids destroy them all...
Adric wanders out of the TARDIS ,trying to locate The Doctor, because he wants to find out what signal is being recieved by The TARDIS. He able to distract one of the androids long enough for Scott and his team to destroy the android. The other one is subjected to intense fire at one point is too destroyed.
The Doctor has realised that the signal is being transmitted to what ever is the hatch and runs to The TARDIS and is able to jam the transmission. He and Adric run back out with the Doctor's tool kit and The Doctor asks Tegan and Nyssa to get the group back into the TARDIS where they will be safe as the Doctor and Adric start to explore the hatch to discover a cyberbomb inside. The Doctor fiddles around with the bomb and manages to reactivate the bomb. Adric and the Doctor race to disarm the bomb.
Notes
- The working title for this story was Sentinel.
- This was the first Cyberman story since Revenge of the Cybermen (1975). Before the title was changed to Earthshock, Producer John Nathan-Turner was adamant about keeping the return of the Cybermen a secret. He instructed Eric Saward not to have any reference to the Cybermen in the story's title. Nathan-Turner even turned down the Radio Times' offer to provide advance publicity of the Cybermen on their cover. The success of this convinced Nathan-Turner to continue to mine the series' past continuity for ideas and old enemies.
- This was the last story to feature Matthew Waterhouse as Adric. Waterhouse would reprise his role twice: a brief cameo in the following serial Time-Flight (1982) and an appearance during the Fifth Doctor's regeneration in The Caves of Androzani (1984). Waterhouse has since moved to New England where he teaches theatre. However, Waterhouse still participates in Doctor Who conventions and records commentary tracks for DVD releases.
- This was the first story to feature the death of a companion since the death of Katarina (and, arguably, Sara Kingdom) in The Daleks' Masterplan (1965).
- After the success of using archive footage for the flashback sequence in Logopolis (1981), Producer John Nathan-Turner consulted with series continuity adviser Ian Levine and asked him to prepare another such montage for this story. Levine selected one clip from all of previous Doctors, save for Jon Pertwee who never had a Cyberman story. Levine's selections included: the First Doctor serial The Tenth Planet (1966), the Second Doctor serial The Wheel in Space (1968) and the Fourth Doctor serial Revenge Of The Cybermen. All the clips were presented in monochrome to preserve continuity, as the first two extracts were originally recorded in black and white.
- A small continuity problem arises because of the clip from Revenge, which takes place on the Nerva Beacon which was supposedly built in the 29th or 30th centuries (The Ark in Space). As Earthshock takes place in 2526, how the Cybermen have access to records from the future is puzzling, unless (as Lawrence Miles suggests in his reference work About Time 5) they, too, are time travellers. This also fits with the Cybermen using a stolen timeship in Attack of the Cybermen (1985) and explains why these Cybermen are of a more advanced design than those in Revenge, as well as how the freighter, once modified by the Cyberman, could develop time travel capability.
- This is the only serial to have a silent end credits sequence, occurring in the final episode where the usual end-credits starfield is replaced by a closeup of Adric's shattered badge. Furthermore, the credits for episode 4 were rolled instead of being presented as static captions. This was the first time this occurred since The War Games (1969).
- This is the first story to feature David Banks as the Cyber Leader. Banks would reprise his role in The Five Doctors (1983), Attack of the Cybermen (1985) and Silver Nemesis (1988). Banks would later play the Doctor in the 1989 stage play Doctor Who - The Ultimate Adventure. He would also later write a book on the Cybermen. Banks's rendition of "Excellent!" to indicate approval became a catchphrase associated with the Cybermen.
- This story was novelised by Ian Marter and published by Target Books in 1983.
- This story was released on DVD in the UK in August of 2003 as part of the Doctor Who 40th Anniversary Celebration releases, representing the Peter Davison years, with many extra features.
- Although credited as script editor, Antony Root in fact did no work on Earthshock. He was credited to avoid Saward, who had by this time replaced him in the job, being credited as such on his own work, which contravened BBC regulations.
- Fan reaction at the time Earthshock was broadcast was extremely positive, both due to the surprise revelation of the Cybermen and the unexpected death of Adric, the latter always a controversial character. More recently, some reviewers have argued that the shocks and twist only serve to cover up the plot inadequacies. However, the story still remains highly rated in fan polls, coming in 17th in the 1997 Doctor Who Magazine annual survey.
- The exterior sequences were shot on 29 October 1981 at Springwell Lock Quarry, Rickmansworth, Buckinghamshire.
External links
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