The TARDIS lands on a planet in the far future, where the Elders live in an advanced city and enjoy a life of peace and prosperity. Jano, the leader of the Elders, knows something of the Doctor's exploits, and invites the time travellers to tour the city. Dodo slips away, and discovers that the Elders thrive because they have harnessed the life energy of the primitive Savages, who dwell in the wasteland beyond the city. The Doctor becomes determined to help the Savages, but he is captured by the Elders. Jano reveals that he intends to harvest the Doctor's life energy for himself...

Around December 1965, Ian Stuart Black was attending a script conference at the BBC when, on an impulse, he paid a visit to the Doctor Who production office. A regular viewer of the show, Black thought that his children would be impressed if he earned a Doctor Who credit, and discussed ideas with producer John Wiles and story editor Donald Tosh. Black wanted to examine mankind's darker impulses in an adventure that eschewed standard action tropes; this was very much in line with the sophisticated approach the production team wanted to bring to Doctor Who. A storyline was commissioned shortly before Christmas, for delivery in mid-January 1966. In the interim, however, Wiles and Tosh resigned from Doctor Who and were replaced by Innes Lloyd and Gerry Davis.

On the strength of Black's storyline, Davis commissioned him to write “The White Savages” on January 19th. For a time, it was thought that this serial might replace Donald Cotton's comedic The Gunfighters, which neither Lloyd nor Davis liked; in the end, however, “The White Savages” would follow it on the schedule. Since The Gunfighters (Serial Z) had exhausted the alphabetical method of assigning production codes, “The White Savages” was designated Serial AA.

Ian Stuart Black was asked to incorporate Steven's departure into his scripts

When Peter Purves received the contract extension which culminated with “The White Savages” on February 24th, it was with the proviso that this would be his last Doctor Who adventure. Lloyd and Davis felt that his character, Steven Taylor, was shallow and did not work well as a source of audience identification. Purves was himself wearying of Steven's lack of development after a promising start, and he was already considering leaving Doctor Who. Black was therefore asked to incorporate Steven's departure into his scripts; it was planned that Steven's replacement would join the Doctor and Dodo in the next serial, The War Machines, on which Black was also working. Purves' forthcoming departure was announced to the press on April 26th, by which time it was known that Jackie Lane would also be leaving Doctor Who midway through The War Machines.

By the time production on the serial began in late April, its title had been truncated to The Savages, apparently to avoid any implied racism. The director would be Christopher Barry, whose last Doctor Who work had been on The Romans in early 1965. Filming took place at the BBC Television Film Studios in Ealing, London on April 27th and 28th, for material set at the city walls and in the Valley of Caves. Barry's team then went on location for two days. April 29th was spent at Shire Lane Quarry near Chalfont St Peter in Buckinghamshire, filming scenes set in the area of the wasteland where Nanina is captured. May 1st saw cast and crew visit Oxshott Quarry in Surrey, which doubled as the ravine where the TARDIS materialised.

Studio recording for The Savages began on May 13th. As usual, each installment was taped on consecutive Fridays at Riverside Studio 1 in Hammersmith, London. William Hartnell was struggling with his ability to memorise dialogue and so, on May 27th, he was effectively given a respite for episode three, in which the Doctor had no lines. Hartnell instead worked with Frederick Jaeger to incorporate the Doctor's mannerisms into Jano's personality. Unusually, the first eight scenes of part four were recorded immediately after part three was completed. This ensured that the dry ice used to represent the gas attack on Steven and Dodo would not have to be used a second time. The taping of episode four on June 3rd marked Peter Purves' final work on Doctor Who. Although he was ready to move on, he did suggest that a serial be developed in which the Doctor returned to the planet of the Elders and the Savages, to discover that Steven's leadership had become thoroughly corrupt.

With The Savages, Lloyd decided to cease the practice of giving each Doctor Who episode its own title, making sure that viewers clearly understood when a new serial was starting. Thus it was The Savages “Part 1” which aired on May 28th. The same day, Doctor Who was shifted backwards in the schedule by fifteen minutes, changing places with the BBC news update. It was still preceded by Juke Box Jury, while The Munsters now normally aired after the news and weather. However, the misadventures of Herman Munster and his clan were preempted by cricket following the broadcasts of both The Savages part two and part four.

• Doctor Who Magazine #295, 20th September 2000, “Archive: The Savages” by Andrew Pixley, Panini Publishing Ltd.
• Doctor Who Magazine Special Edition #7, 12th May 2004, “I'm Into Something Good” by Andrew Pixley, Panini Publishing Ltd.
• Doctor Who: The Complete History #8, 2016, “Story 26: The Savages”, edited by Mark Wright, Hachette Partworks Ltd.
• Doctor Who: The Handbook: The First Doctor by David J Howe, Mark Stammers and Stephen James Walker (1994), Virgin Publishing.
• Doctor Who: The Sixties by David J Howe, Mark Stammers and Stephen James Walker (1992), Virgin Publishing.