Season 2, Episode 7 | 4 parts | First broadcast: 24 April – 15 May 1965 | Writer: Glyn Jones | Director: Mervyn Pinfield
Cast
- William Hartnell as the Doctor
- William Russell as Ian Chesterton
- Jacqueline Hill as Barbara Wright
- Maureen O’Brien as Vicki
Summary
A time-jump lands the TARDIS crew on the planet Xeros, where they find themselves out of step with time itself, unseen and unheard by the museum’s occupants. To their horror, they discover their own future selves already on display as exhibits, and must find a way to change their fate before it becomes fixed by helping the native Xerons rise up against their oppressive Morok rulers.
Interesting Facts
- This serial is notable for its unusual first episode, in which the travellers are literally out of sync with time, exploring a museum where their own stuffed, mounted future selves are already on display.
- It was writer Glyn Jones’s only television script for Doctor Who; he was reportedly unhappy that Terry Nation was brought in to revise elements of his scripts.
- The story raises questions about predestination and free will unusually explicitly for the era, asking whether the future the travellers have glimpsed can truly be avoided.
- All four episodes survive in the BBC archive.
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