Season 15, Episode 5 | 4 parts | First broadcast: 7–28 January 1978 | Writer: Bob Baker and Dave Martin | Director: Norman Stewart
Cast
- Tom Baker as the Doctor
- Louise Jameson as Leela
- James Maxwell as Jackson
- Jonathan Newth as Orfe
Summary
Encountering the ancient Minyan spaceship P7E still searching for the fabled Race Banks after countless millennia, the Doctor and Leela join its aging, immortal crew on a final search that leads deep beneath the surface of a newly formed planet. There, degenerated descendants of the original crew now serve the ship’s tyrannical computer Oracle underground, in a story that consciously echoes the Greek myth of Jason and the Argonauts’ quest for the Golden Fleece.
Interesting Facts
- The story’s plot deliberately parallels the myth of Jason and the Argonauts, right down to character names evoking figures from the legend.
- Extensive use of Colour Separation Overlay for the underground cave sequences was an ambitious but divisive effects choice, giving the sets an unusually artificial, glossy look.
- It reveals that the Time Lords’ ancestors, the Minyans, once shared their advanced technology with Minyan explorers, directly tying into established Time Lord backstory.
- Budget constraints stemming from the previous story’s overspend meant Underworld had one of the tightest production budgets of the season.
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