Season 6, Episode 1 | 5 parts | First broadcast: 10 August – 7 September 1968 | Writer: Norman Ashby (Mervyn Haisman and Henry Lincoln) | Director: Morris Barry
Cast
- Patrick Troughton as the Doctor
- Frazer Hines as Jamie McCrimmon
- Wendy Padbury as Zoe Heriot
- Ronald Allen as Rago
Summary
The TARDIS lands on an irradiated testing island belonging to the staunchly pacifist planet Dulkis, where the Doctor, Jamie and new companion Zoe encounter the ruthless Dominators and their robotic servants, the Quarks. The Dominators plan to detonate the planet’s core to convert Dulkis into fuel for their fleet, and the Doctor must convince the passive Dulcians to fight back before it is too late.
Interesting Facts
- This is Zoe Heriot’s first full adventure as a regular companion after her debut in the previous story, The Wheel in Space.
- Writers Mervyn Haisman and Henry Lincoln had the story’s episode count cut from six to five after a dispute with the production team, and asked for their names to be replaced by the pseudonym “Norman Ashby” as a result.
- It introduces the Quarks, boxy robotic henchmen designed with hopes of merchandising success rivalling the Daleks, though they never reappeared on television.
- The serial is notable for its critique of pacifism taken to an extreme, portraying the Dulcians’ total non-violence as a dangerous vulnerability rather than a virtue.
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