Inside the Spaceship
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Template:Doctorwhobox Inside the Spaceship is a serial in the British science fiction television series Doctor Who, which was first broadcast in 2 weekly parts on February 8 and February 15, 1964.
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Synopsis
The Doctor, Barbara, Ian and Susan all appear to be acting strangely. Unexpected events are happening on the TARDIS, the travellers are becoming suspicious of each others motives, and the Doctor even accuses Ian and Barbara of sabotage. Fearing that they have been taken over by some alien force, he drugs them and attempts to explore the problem without interference.
Gradually it becomes clear that the series of strange events are an attempt by the TARDIS itself to warn them that something is wrong. The Doctor traces the problem to a broken spring, and correcting this brings all back to normal. The Doctor is forced to do what he least enjoys - apologise, and admit that he was wrong.
Notes
- The two episodes of the serial had individual titles. They were, respectively, "The Edge of Destruction" and "The Brink of Disaster".
- The only cast to appear are the Doctor and his companions, and the story is set entirely within the confines of the TARDIS. Both of these result from budgetary restrictions and the origins of this story as a hasty "filler" episode to bring the series up to thirteen episodes. Despite these limitations, the story is remarkably effective; exploring the characters of the travellers and deepening their relationships.
- This episode introduces the idea that the TARDIS console and time column directly harness the energies which drive the ship; and that the TARDIS is "alive", and somewhat self-aware. These ideas would come up again on occasion as the original series progressed, but would become major plot points during the first year of the new series, in particular in the episodes Boom Town and The Parting of the Ways.
Alternate titles
As was the case with other early Doctor Who serials, there are differences of opinion as to what the generally accepted title of this two-part story should be. Officially, the story is known as Inside the Spaceship, even though this title never actually appears on screen in either episode. Various sources have used one or the other of the separate episode titles to refer to the complete story:
- Beyond the Sun
- The Edge of Destruction
The Edge of Destruction was used as the title of Nigel Robinson's novelisation of the story, and also used for the home video release of the episodes.
See: Doctor Who story title controversy
External links
- Cast and Crew list, on the BBC website (http://www.bbc.co.uk/cult/doctorwho/episodeguide/edgeofdestruction/castcrew.shtml)