Season 22, Episode 2 | 2 parts | First broadcast: 19–26 January 1985 | Writer: Philip Martin | Director: Ron Jones
Cast
- Colin Baker as the Doctor
- Nicola Bryant as Peri Brown
- Martin Jarvis as the Governor
- Nabil Shaban as Sil
- Forbes Collins as the Chief Officer
Summary
Low on the rare mineral Zeiton-7 needed to repair the TARDIS, the Doctor and Peri are forced to land on the brutal prison planet Varos, where the population is pacified by broadcasts of state-sanctioned torture and executions as entertainment. Caught up in a power struggle between the beleaguered Governor and the slug-like off-world trader Sil, who is manipulating Varos’s mineral trade for his own profit, the Doctor must survive the planet’s televised death-games to secure the Zeiton-7 and escape.
Interesting Facts
- The story is widely read as a satire of reality television and violence as entertainment, a notably prescient theme for its time.
- It introduces Sil, played by Nabil Shaban, a memorably grotesque alien merchant who proved popular enough to return in a later serial.
- The serial’s frank depiction of on-screen torture and disturbing violence made it one of the most controversial installments of the era.
- Martin Jarvis, who plays the Governor, had previously appeared in two earlier Doctor Who serials in different roles across the show’s history.
No Responses