Five centuries ago, Manussa was the seat of the Mara's empire. There it was seemingly destroyed by the Great Crystal, but was really only banished into dreams. Now many Manussans consider the Mara to be little more than a fairytale, while it has been patiently awaiting the opportunity to restore its power. Seizing control of Tegan's mind, the Mara compels her to direct the TARDIS to Manussa. There she corrupts Lan, the Federator's son, who will be the vessel for the Mara's return. With few besides the Snakedancers in the hills standing guard against the Mara, only the Doctor can prevent its return and save his companion.

By the time Kinda, Christopher Bailey's first Doctor Who serial, was wrapping up production in August 1981, he and script editor Eric Saward were already discussing a possible sequel. Saward thought that the Mara, the villain of the piece, was ripe for further exploration, and that this would be an opportunity to develop Tegan Jovanka. Bailey was wary of returning to Doctor Who, having been unhappy with the extent of the rewrites Saward had performed on his scripts for Kinda, but he relented when he was promised that any such interference would be minimal. Working closely with Saward, Bailey drafted an outline for a new story called Snakedance -- sometimes referred to as “Snake Dance” -- which was commissioned on September 28th. Happy with the outcome, Saward requested the full scripts from Bailey on November 9th.

As with Kinda, Bailey infused the names he chose for Snakedance with hidden meanings. Buddhist terms again made an appearance, inspiring Manussa (“the human realm”), Tanha (“craving”) and Dugdale (from duggati, “unhappy existence”). Dojjen was an homage to Dōgen, a master of Zen Buddhism who lived in thirteenth-century Japan. Dugdale had earlier been called Duchan -- a platform used by Hebrew priests -- while Chela was named for a Hindi word meaning “religious disciple”. Snakedance was soon pencilled in as the second story to be broadcast as part of Season Twenty, but the first into production. Studio-bound and hence immune to the vagaries of spring weather, it was a better candidate for recording in April than the intended season opener, Arc Of Infinity, which would boast extensive location filming in the Netherlands.

Nyssa would be portrayed as an increasingly mature young woman throughout the year's early stories

While Bailey was working on his scripts for Snakedance, it was decided that Nyssa had been developed as far as possible, and Sarah Sutton would bow out of Doctor Who midway through its twentieth season. At Sutton's urging, it was agreed that Nyssa would be portrayed as an increasingly mature young woman throughout the year's early stories, and Bailey was asked to incorporate this evolution into his scripts. The regular Doctor Who cast each received new contracts in February 1982. Reflecting the plans for her character, Sutton was booked for twenty out of twenty-six episodes on the 10th; however, the same day, Janet Fielding was contracted for only eighteen episodes, suggesting that there may have been some uncertainty about how much longer Tegan would remain on the show. On the 11th, Peter Davison's services were secured for the entirety of Season Twenty.

Another change for the new year would be the clothes worn by the companions. Producer John Nathan-Turner had insisted upon a uniform look during Season Nineteen, with Adric, Nyssa and Tegan all wearing essentially the same costume in every adventure. This approach would now be abandoned, with both Nyssa and Tegan changing their outfits from story to story. Meanwhile, Nathan-Turner himself was beginning to consider life after Doctor Who. He pitched several new series to the BBC during the early part of 1982; most notable amongst these was Impact, an updated version of the mid-Sixties BBC soap opera Compact.

The director assigned to Snakedance was Fiona Cumming, who had worked on Castrovalva the previous year. After making that serial, Cumming had informed Nathan-Turner of her willingness to return to Doctor Who, but indicated that she was more interested in character-oriented scripts. Consequently, Nathan-Turner thought that Cumming would be an ideal fit for Snakedance. Amongst the cast Cumming assembled was Brian Miller, playing the showman Dugdale; he was the husband of Elisabeth Sladen, who had played companion Sarah Jane Smith in the mid-Seventies.

On March 17th, two weeks prior to the start of production on Snakedance, Davison was asked to film what he believed to be a promotional trailer for Australian television in Trafalgar Square. In fact, this was a ruse concocted by Nathan-Turner. When Davison arrived on location, he was surprised to find Sarah Sutton and Janet Fielding already there in full costume, along with Matthew Waterhouse, who had played Adric. Davison was even more surprised to discover that they were accompanied by Eamonn Andrews, and that he was the subject of Andrews' popular programme This Is Your Life. This occasion marked the second time that a Doctor Who star had been featured on the retrospective, following Jon Pertwee in 1971. Davison's episode of This Is Your Life aired on March 25th.

The sets for Snakedance had to be assembled very quickly, disappointing designer Jan Spoczynski

Just shy of two months elapsed between the end of Doctor Who's nineteenth recording block and the start of its twentieth. On March 31st, production on Snakedance began at the BBC Television Film Studios in Ealing, London, for the scenes set in the hills. The rest of the serial was taped in two three-day blocks at BBC Television Centre Studio 6 in White City, London. Designer Jan Spoczynski had wanted to use an outside firm to build various set elements for Snakedance, but permission to do so was withheld until almost the very last minute. Consequently, the sets had to be assembled very quickly, often by repurposing construction from other programmes. Spoczynski was disappointed with the results.

The first session in TC6 ran from April 12th to 14th. Cumming started with a day which focussed on the marketplace. The second day concentrated on scenes in and around Ambril's office. Several sets were in use on the third day, including those for the hall of mirrors, the Doctor's cell, and various corridors. The second studio block spanned April 26th to 28th. Sequences in the cave were recorded on all three days, while the first day also dealt with material in Lon and Tanha's chambers, and action in the TARDIS was taped on the final day.

In post-production, it was discovered that the concluding installment was badly overrunning, forcing Cumming to restructure much of the episode. One major sequence -- in which the Doctor reassured Tegan that she no longer had to worry about the Mara -- was dropped altogether, and would instead be held over to the start of the next serial, Mawdryn Undead. Meanwhile, Snakedance would prove to be Christopher Bailey's last televised Doctor Who story. Late in 1982, he began developing a narrative ultimately called “The Children Of Seth”, only to become so disillusioned by the process that he abandoned his scripts, and decided to leave the television industry altogether.

• Doctor Who Magazine #227, 5th July 1995, “Archive: Snakedance” by Andrew Pixley, Marvel Comics UK Ltd.
• Doctor Who Magazine #327, 5th March 2003, “Moments Of Pleasure” by Benjamin Cook, Panini Publishing Ltd.
• Doctor Who Magazine Special Edition #1, 2001, “Diamond Life” by Andrew Pixley, Panini Publishing Ltd.
• Doctor Who: The Complete History #36, 2017, “Story 124: Snakedance”, edited by Mark Wright, Hachette Partworks Ltd.
• Doctor Who: The Eighties by David J Howe, Mark Stammers and Stephen James Walker (1996), Virgin Publishing.
• Doctor Who: The Handbook: The Fifth Doctor by David J Howe and Stephen James Walker (1995), Virgin Publishing.
• In·Vision #64, May 1996, “Production” edited by Anthony Brown, Cybermark Services.