Season 15, Episode 6 | 6 parts | First broadcast: 4 February – 11 March 1978 | Writer: “David Agnew” (Graham Williams and Anthony Read) | Director: Gerald Blake
Cast
- Tom Baker as the Doctor
- Louise Jameson as Leela
- John Leeson as the voice of K9
- Milton Johns as Kelner
- Christopher Tranchell as Andred
Summary
Returning unexpectedly to Gallifrey to claim the presidency, the Doctor appears to strike a shocking alliance with the invading, paper-thin alien Vardans, alarming his fellow Time Lords and even his own companions. In truth playing a dangerous double game, the Doctor is secretly working to protect Gallifrey from a far greater threat lurking behind the Vardan invasion, forcing him into increasingly ruthless deception before the truth of his plan can be revealed.
Interesting Facts
- This is Louise Jameson’s final regular serial as Leela, who chooses to remain on Gallifrey and marry the Time Lord guard Andred rather than continue travelling with the Doctor.
- Extensive location filming took place inside a real, then-disused hospital building, giving the TARDIS’s vast interior corridors an unusually sprawling, atmospheric scale.
- The story was credited to the pseudonym “David Agnew” after being substantially rewritten in-house by the production team under a tight deadline.
- It reveals a far larger and more labyrinthine interior of the TARDIS than had previously been depicted, an idea rarely revisited so extensively afterward.
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