The Mysterious Planet
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Template:Doctorwhobox The Mysterious Planet is a serial in the British science fiction television series Doctor Who, which was first broadcast in four weekly parts from September 6 to September 27, 1986. It is part of the larger narrative known as The Trial of a Time Lord, comprising the whole of the 23rd season.
Synopsis
The Doctor is summoned to a Gallifreyan space station to face trial; accused of "conduct unbecoming a Time Lord" and transgressing the First Law of Time. The prosecution is presented by the Valeyard and the judge and jury are all Time Lords. The Valeyard's first piece of evidence against the Doctor concerns events on the planet Ravalox.
The Doctor and Peri decide to visit the planet Ravalox to fulfil the Doctor's curiosity about its apparent destruction. But very soon, they find out that Ravalox hides a secret ... not only are a group of dwellers living in what looks suspiciously like a circa 1980s London Underground Station, but there are also two rogues named Glitz and Dibber, seemingly out to make a quick Grotzit or three, and the Tribe of the Free to deal with. And exactly what is it that the L3 Service Robot Drathro is so keen to hide?
Notes
- The actor playing Merdeen, Tom Chadbon, had appeared in the classic 1979 Doctor Who story City of Death starring Tom Baker as the Doctor.
- The uncredited actor inside the Drathro costume is Mike Ellis, father of Blue Peter presenter Janet Ellis and grandfather of Brit-Pop songstress Sophie Ellis-Bextor. Janet Ellis had previously appeared in the 1979 Doctor Who story The Horns of Nimon.
- The opening model shot of the Time Lord Space Station where the trial is held throughout the season was the most expensive model shot from the classic series run. The sequence depicts the Time Lord Space Station orbiting in space then dragging the TARDIS inside via the use of a tractor beam.
- Dominic Glynn was hired to score the music for The Mysterious Planet, and John Nathan-Turner offered him the chance to rearrange the opening title music. His new score for the opening theme was the shortest lived, lasting this season alone (not counting Paddy Kingsland's 1973 version, which was never even used). Some see it as an improvement on the Peter Howell version, while others criticize it for not being "scary" enough. However, it has since been used on Big Finish Productions audio plays featuring Colin Baker as the Sixth Doctor.
- From this serial onwards, all location work would be recorded on Outside Broadcast (OB) tape instead of 35mm film. The BBC had been encouraging the replacement of film cameras with OB cameras since the early 1980s on the grounds that they were cheaper, and mixed with studio-shot material better.
- In this serial the First Law of time refers to non-interference, as opposed to a Time Lord meeting a past or future incarnation as stated in earlier serials.
External links
- Cast and Crew list, on the BBC website (http://www.bbc.co.uk/cult/doctorwho/episodeguide/trialtimelord1/castcrew.shtml)