Serial 4H · Classic
Series Episodes 406 409:
Planet Of Evil
The Doctor and Sarah respond to a distress signal emanating from the
planet Zeta Minor, at the very edge of the universe. There they discover
that a research team has been systematically hunted down by an invisible
anti-matter monster. The only survivor is Professor Sorenson, who has
discovered a mineral which could serve as an almost limitless power
source. When a rescue mission led by Salamar also arrives on Zeta Minor,
the time travellers find themselves accused of murdering the scientific
expedition. The Doctor must find a way to convince Salamar of the truth
before Sorenson, corrupted by the anti-matter, dooms them all.
When they began planning for Doctor Who's thirteenth season,
producer Philip Hinchcliffe and script editor Robert Holmes agreed that
the programme had spent too much time on Earth in recent years. To this
end, they engaged designer Roger Murray-Leach in preliminary discussions
about creating a truly alien environment within the confines of the BBC
Television Film Studios at Ealing, London. Murray-Leach had designed
three serials for Season Twelve -- most notably The
Ark In Space -- and both men had been impressed with his
work.
For the story which would make use of the proposed sets, Hinchcliffe
suggested taking inspiration from the 1956 science-fiction classic
Forbidden Planet, which he had enjoyed in his youth. Whereas the
film had seen a monster revealed to be the embodiment of the dark side
of a scientist's mind, Hinchcliffe suggested the notion of a monster
which represented the malign aspects of a planet. Holmes, for his part,
was interested in an adventure which drew upon Robert Louis Stevenson's
seminal 1886 novel Strange Case Of Dr Jekyll And Mr Hyde, in
which an experiment caused a good-natured scientist to transform into a
violent, debased alter ego.
The scripts' jungle environment would provide Roger
Murray-Leach with considerable freedom in his design work
To write such a serial, Holmes approached Louis Marks, with whom he had
previously worked on several occasions. Marks had twice contributed to
Doctor Who in the past, most recently scripting Day Of The Daleks in 1971. It was decided
that Marks' scripts would be set in a jungle environment; this would
contrast with the barren world of Forbidden Planet, and provide
Murray-Leach with considerable creative freedom in his design work.
Marks, who was under contract to the BBC as a script editor, received
staff clearance for his Doctor Who work on May 19th, 1975; in
reality, he had begun writing them much earlier in the year.
Marks' adventure came to be called Planet Of Evil, although
“The Planet Of Evil” was also employed on occasion. While
scheduled for production after Pyramids Of
Mars, it would be transmitted first in order to give Season
Thirteen a better balance between stories set on Earth and in space, and
between those recorded on location and in studio. Shortly before
production began, Hinchcliffe requested an amendment to the closing
moments of Planet Of Evil. In Marks' original version, Sorenson
did not reappear after plunging into the black pool. Hinchcliffe felt
that this was not a suitable fate for a well-intentioned character, and
so Holmes rewrote the ending to have Sorenson survive.
Assigned to direct Planet Of Evil was David Maloney, who had
recently completed work on the previous season's Genesis Of The Daleks. As hoped, Murray-Leach
was brought aboard as the serial's designer. With no location filming
allocated to the production, Murray-Leach was given the freedom to
design a fabulously detailed, exotic and alien jungle set at Ealing to
represent the surface of Zeta Minor, for filming on June 11th and 12th.
This set proved so successful that it was extensively photographed by
the BBC Educational Service, which would use it as an example of design
excellence for years afterwards. Nonetheless, some problems did result:
in particular, it was virtually impossible to appropriately position
sound booms, which meant that much of the dialogue had to be
redubbed. Work at Ealing continued on June 13th, when scenes in the void
were filmed. Model shots were also completed there on the 17th.
As usual, studio recording for Planet Of Evil took place in
fortnightly blocks on Mondays and Tuesdays. The first of these, at BBC
Television Centre Studio 6 in White City, London, encompassed June 30th
(for most of Episode One) and July 1st (for Episode Two). The second
session occurred on July 14th and 15th, this time in TC3. The Monday
dealt with Episode Three, plus the TARDIS sequences for Episode One. The
Tuesday was entirely devoted to the serial's concluding installment.
The first three episodes of Planet Of Evil were preceded by
Walt Disney's The Mouse Factory and a news update, and followed
by the new season of Bruce Forsyth And The Generation Game. On
October 11th, the entire evening schedule -- including Planet Of
Evil Episode Three -- was delayed by twenty minutes to accommodate
an extra-length edition of Grandstand, which was marking its
one-thousandth broadcast. The following week, Doctor Who obtained
a new lead-in as The Basil Brush Show replaced the Disney
programme. This version of the BBC Saturday schedule would later be
fondly remembered as a television classic.
- Doctor Who Magazine #183, 19th February 1992, “Archive:
Planet Of Evil” by Andrew Pixley, Marvel Comics UK Ltd.
- Doctor Who Magazine Special Edition #8, 1st September 2004,
“Bohemian Rhapsody” by Andrew Pixley, Panini Publishing
Ltd.
- Doctor Who: The Complete History #24, 2016, “Story 81:
Planet Of Evil”, edited by Mark Wright, Hachette Partworks
Ltd.
- Doctor Who: The Handbook: The Fourth Doctor by David J Howe,
Mark Stammers and Stephen James Walker (1992), Virgin Publishing.
- Doctor Who: The Seventies by David J Howe, Mark Stammers and
Stephen James Walker (1994), Virgin Publishing.
- In·Vision #8, September 1988, “Production”
edited by Justin Richards and Peter Anghelides, Cybermark Services.
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Original Transmission
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Episode 1 |
Date |
27th Sep 1975 |
Time |
5.45pm |
Duration |
24'02" |
Viewers (more) |
10.4m (19th) |
Episode 2 |
Date |
4th Oct 1975 |
Time |
5.46pm |
Duration |
22'30" |
Viewers (more) |
9.9m (24th) |
Appreciation |
56% |
Episode 3 |
Date |
11th Oct 1975 |
Time |
6.07pm |
Duration |
23'50" |
Viewers (more) |
9.1m (29th) |
Appreciation |
57% |
Episode 4 |
Date |
18th Oct 1975 |
Time |
5.46pm |
Duration |
23'43" |
Viewers (more) |
10.1m (26th) |
Appreciation |
54% |
Cast
Doctor Who |
Tom Baker (bio) |
Sarah Jane Smith |
Elisabeth Sladen (bio) |
Sorenson |
Frederick Jaeger |
Vishinsky |
Ewen Solon |
Salamar |
Prentis Hancock |
De Haan |
Graham Weston |
Ponti |
Louis Mahoney |
Morelli |
Michael Wisher |
Braun |
Terence Brook |
Baldwin |
Tony McEwan |
O'Hara |
Haydn Wood |
Reig |
Melvyn Bedford |
Crew
Written by |
Louis Marks (bio) |
Directed by |
David Maloney (bio) |
|
Production Assistant |
Malachy Shaw Jones |
Production Unit Manager |
Janet Radenkovic |
Title Music by |
Ron Grainer & |
BBC Radiophonic Workshop |
Title Sequence |
Bernard Lodge |
Incidental Music by |
Dudley Simpson |
Special Sound |
Peter Howell |
Costume Designer |
Andrew Rose |
Make-Up |
Jenny Shircore |
Visual Effects Designer |
Dave Havard |
Studio Lighting |
Brian Clemett |
Studio Sound |
Tony Millier |
Film Cameramen |
Kenneth MacMillan |
Stan Speel |
Film Sound |
Colin March |
Film Editor |
MAC Adams |
Script Editor |
Robert Holmes (bio) |
Designer |
Roger Murray-Leach |
Producer |
Philip Hinchcliffe (bio) |
Working Titles
The Planet Of Evil |
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