Season 1, Episode 3 | 2 parts | First broadcast: 8–15 February 1964 | Writer: David Whitaker | Director: Richard Martin and Frank Cox
Cast
- William Hartnell as the Doctor
- Carole Ann Ford as Susan Foreman
- William Russell as Ian Chesterton
- Jacqueline Hill as Barbara Wright
Summary
While attempting to correct the TARDIS’s faulty navigation circuits, the Doctor, Susan, Ian, and Barbara are knocked unconscious by a violent explosion. As they come to, strange and increasingly sinister events unfold aboard the ship, and mutual suspicion turns the four travellers against one another, until the Doctor realizes the TARDIS itself is trying desperately to warn them of an impending, ship-threatening disaster.
Interesting Facts
- This two-part serial was written as an inexpensive “bottle episode” filler, set entirely within the existing TARDIS set, in case the series was not renewed beyond its initial 13-episode order.
- Story editor David Whitaker wrote the script in only two days, drawing on the atmosphere of classic ghost stories.
- It is the only First Doctor serial confined entirely to the TARDIS interior, with no other sets or locations used.
- Both episodes survive in the BBC archive.
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