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Doctor Who Snakedance by Terrance Dicks the Essential Terrance Dicks Stories, As Chosen by Fans

Read Ebook {PDF EPUB} by The essential Terrance Dicks stories, as chosen by fans. Coming this August is a two-volume celebration of this much-loved storyteller, collecting ten of Terrance Dicks’ best Doctor Who novels, as chosen by fans. You can pre-order The Essential Terrance Dicks Volumes One and Two now. Terrance Dicks was at the heart(s) of Doctor Who for over 50 years - from joining production of The Invasion in 1968 as a Script Editor to his final short story in 2019. Terrance wrote 64 Target novels from his first commission in 1973 to his last, published in 1990, helping introduce a generation of children to the pleasures of reading and writing, with fans including Neil Gaiman, Sarah Waters, Mark Gatiss, Alastair Reynolds, Russell T Davies, Steven Moffat, Frank-Cottrell Boyce, and Robert Webb, among many others. This special two-volume collection, published on the anniversary of Terrance’s death, features the very best of his Doctor Who Target novels as chosen by fans - from his first book, The Invasion , to his masterwork, the 20th anniversary celebration story , voted all- time favourite. With forewords by Frank Cottrell-Boyce and Robert Webb, The Essential Terrance Dicks is a masterclass in contemporary fiction, by a writer of unlimited imagination. Volume One contains, complete and unabridged: Doctor Who and the Invasion of Earth Doctor Who and the Abominable Snowmen Doctor Who and the Wheel in Space Doctor Who and the Auton Invasion Doctor Who and the Day of the . Volume Two contains, complete and unabridged: Doctor Who and the Doctor Who and the Doctor Who and the Talons of Weng-Chiang Doctor Who and the Horror of Fangn Rock Doctor Who and the Five Doctors. Robert Webb said in his foreword to Volume Two: "All readers are travellers in time and space. A story takes our imagination on a journey through strange lands, meeting strange people and doing things we would never do in our ordinary lives. For as long as we are holding that book, reading makes Time Lords of us all. " You can pre-order The Essential Terrance Dicks Volumes One and Two now ahead of its release on the 26th August 2021. Doctor Who writer and script editor Terrance Dicks dies aged 84. The former Doctor Who writer and script editor Terrance Dicks has died aged 84. Dicks had a long association with the BBC’s longest-running sci-fi show, writing episodes from the late 1960s until the early 1980s. He also served as its script editor from 1968 to 1974 and wrote numerous Doctor Who novels. The programme’s official fan site confirmed the news in a post on Twitter. “Just received comms that legendary #DoctorWho writer, Terrance Dicks has died,” it read. “Genuinely gutted. An incredibly talented man who we had the pleasure of interviewing over the years. He also regularly took part in Q&As on the DWO Forums. He will be sorely missed!” Dicks’ first Doctor Who writing credit was for the ’s swansong, in 1969. He also worked as a scriptwriter for shows including ITV’s The Avengers and produced BBC adaptions of literary classics such as Oliver Twist, David Copperfield and Vanity Fair. Chris Chibnall, the programme’s current producer and showrunner, paid tribute to “one of the greatest contributors to Doctor Who’s history, on- screen and off … responsible for some of the show’s greatest moments and iconic creations.” Chibnall said: “As the most prolific and brilliant adaptor of Doctor Who stories into Target novels, he was responsible for a range of books that taught a generation of children, myself included, how pleasurable and accessible and thrilling reading could be. “Doctor Who was lucky to have his talents. He will always be a legend of the show. Everyone working on Doctor Who sends his family and friends our love and condolences at this difficult time.” The novelist Neil Gaiman, who went on to pen his own episodes of Doctor Who, tweeted: “I remember reading his and ’s book The Making of Doctor Who when I was 11 or 12, and deciding then that I would one day write an episode of Doctor Who, because they had shown me how. RIP Terrance Dicks.” Dicks was born in , east London, and studied English at Cambridge University before going into TV writing. In the 1970s and 80s he turned his hand to children’s fiction, and also wrote more than 50 Doctor Who spin-off novels between 1974 and 2007, including The Sarah Jane Adventures. At the time of his death the father of three was living in , north London, with his wife Elsa. In 2013, Dicks told the tech and science website the Register that he believed the endurance of Doctor Who was down to its variety but added that working on it was often a challenge. “When I arrived, the script situation was fairly diabolical and chaotic – they were very often late, and shows were falling through,” said Dicks. “The most extreme example I can think of is when a four-parter and six-parter had fallen through, and [script editor] came into my office and said: ‘Terrance, we need a 10-part Doctor Who and you’re going to write it and we need it next week.’” Author Jenny Colgan, who writes Doctor Who books under the name JT Colgan, said that Dicks’ novelisations were “always the best”. “Like many children’s authors he was wildly undervalued – despite being a key ingredient in a lifelong love of reading, particularly among boys, he received almost no official recognition whatsoever,” she said. “He claimed to be no stylist but his short chapters, clear sentences and ability to get to the point extremely quickly influenced a generation of writers. When I met him as a new Doctor Who novelist he looked at me and asked sternly if I was planning to ‘sex up’ Doctor Who, as there were very few female Doctor Who writers then. ‘Yes,’ I said. ‘I’m calling it 50 Shades of .’ After that, I think we were friends.” Terrance Dicks obituary. Terrance Dicks, who has died aged 84, had a long association with the popular BBC series Doctor Who. He was the show’s script editor from 1968 to 1974, wrote numerous episodes, and adapted more than 50 of the television stories into bestselling novelisations. Published by , they could reasonably be claimed to have inspired legions of children to take up reading in the 1970s and 80s. A great number of those children became writers too, with Neil Gaiman, Mark Gatiss and Paul Cornell among those acknowledging his influence on them. The books captured the imagination and excitement of the TV scripts and their prose was ambitious yet accessible, broadening the vocabulary of their young readers – ’s pockets, for example, were “capacious”, and “wheezing, groaning” is the closest anyone has got to accurately describing the noise made by the arrival of the Tardis. He also wrote, with Malcolm Hulke, the show’s first ever behind-the-scenes book, The Making of Doctor Who (1972, rewritten by Dicks in 1976), in which he described the Doctor as “never cruel or cowardly”. This distillation of the hero’s character was so apt that the writer and executive producer Steven Moffat (a fan since childhood) ultimately wrote it into the 50th anniversary episode, The Day of the Doctor (2013), and Peter Capaldi’s valedictory regeneration speech in 2017’s Twice Upon a Time. Dicks had joined Doctor Who as an assistant script editor in 1968, five years into the series. Quickly promoted to script editor, he found himself doing major surgery as stories fell through around him, ultimately co-writing (with Hulke) the second doctor ’s swansong, the 10-part classic The War Games (1969), which introduced the Doctor’s people, the Time Lords, and so added another layer to the show’s mythology. The first year of the new doctor revitalised the ailing series, and Dicks found himself simpatico with the incoming producer : together the pair introduced Roger Delgado as , a new nemesis for the Doctor, and devised the popular companions (played by Katy Manning) and (). Under the aegis of Letts and Dicks, the show featured killer plastic daffodils (Terror of the , 1971), monsters rising from the sea (, 1972) and huge maggots (, 1973, a dire warning about the dangers of industrial pollution), as Pertwee’s stylish, virtuous Doctor battled ambitiously staged invasions with wit and ingenuity. Dicks was responsible for helping his writers to maintain the Doctor’s moral integrity and mould their scripts into the programme’s notoriously small budget and tricky production schedule. When Dicks, Letts and Pertwee left at the end of Planet of the Spiders (1974), Doctor Who was riding high, winning the Writers’ Guild of Great Britain award for best children’s drama script. Dicks convinced the incoming script editor Robert Holmes that it was traditional for the outgoing incumbent to be commissioned upon departure and so wrote ’s opening adventure, (1974), establishing the ’s zanier, more unpredictable persona. Unhappy with alterations to his next script, (1976), Dicks decreed that it should “go out under some bland pseudonym”. It did, credited to “Robin Bland”, a move Dicks greeted with characteristic good humour (indeed, “blandrobin” became part of his email address). (1977) is a claustrophobic masterpiece dripping with mordant humour and suspense as a shape-changing alien picks off the well-drawn, dwindling inhabitants of a lighthouse, while State of Decay (1980) is a clever meld of vampire legend and science fiction. The special feature-length episode The Five Doctors (1983) – by now in the lead role – is an effective and entertaining 20th anniversary celebration despite Dicks being obliged to include a host of popular monsters, various companions and every incarnation of the central character. Rewrites were imposed late in the day to cover Baker’s unwillingness to take part but cunning use of archive footage left most viewers none the wiser. Dicks’s first Target novelisations appeared in 1974, and he continued producing them until the early 90s, when the company was acquired by Virgin and there were no more TV stories left to adapt. Virgin then produced original Doctor Who fiction titles and he penned their second release, : Exodus (1991), and later launched a new range for BBC Books with The Eight Doctors in 1997. He wrote two spin-off stage plays (The Seven Keys to , 1974, and The Ultimate Adventure, 1989), contributed books based on Doctor Who’s successful 2005 relaunch, and happily appeared at conventions and on DVD special features: a proud and generous ambassador for the show. His final short story, Save Yourself, will be published in BBC Books’ Doctor Who: The Target Storybook next month. Born in East Ham, east London, Terrance was the only son of Bill, a tailor’s salesman, and his wife Nellie (nee Ambler), a waitress who later worked alongside Bill running a pub, the Fox and Hounds, in . At East Ham grammar school Terrance excelled at English due to his voracious appetite for all kinds of literature (he was a lifelong bibliophile) from the classics to pulp thrillers and adventure stories. He won a scholarship to study English at Downing College, Cambridge, in 1954 and after graduation joined the Royal Fusiliers for his national service. On demobilisation he worked as an advertising copywriter until Hulke, his landlord and mentor, asked Dicks to work with him on The Avengers (four scripts, 1962-69). He wrote three radio plays in 1966-67 and then joined the storylining team of ATV’s Crossroads until mid-1968 when he moved to the BBC and Doctor Who. During his time on the show he and Letts devised Moonbase 3 (1973), an attempt at more adult science fiction, and they continued their fruitful partnership as producer and script editor after they left with BBC classic serials including Great Expectations (1981), The Hound of the Baskervilles (1982, with Tom Baker as Holmes), Beau Geste (1982), Dombey and Son (1983), Jane Eyre (1983), Goodbye Mr Chips (1984), The Invisible Man (1984) and The Pickwick Papers (1985). Eventually becoming a producer Dicks oversaw Oliver Twist (1985), Alice in Wonderland (1986), Brat Farrar (1986), David Copperfield (1986 – nominated for the Bafta for best children’s programme), The Diary of Anne Frank (1987), Vanity Fair (1987) and The Franchise Affair (1988). He also wrote more than 150 children’s adventure books including the Mounties trilogy (1976), the Star Quest trilogy (1979-83), The Baker Street Irregulars (1978-87), The Adventures of Goliath (1984-93) and The Unexplained (2000-2001), and penned several non-fiction works for children. He married Elsa Germaney, a teacher and later a Quaker recording clerk, in 1963. She survives him, along with their sons, Stephen, Jonathan and Oliver, and their granddaughters, Amy and Nelly Rose. Terrance William Dicks, writer, producer and script editor, born 14 April 1935; died 29 August 2019. Terrance Dicks. It seems that the life of a vampire’s chief henchman is no better than that of an Alzarian milkmaid. No wonder he turned to drink. This is 1980’s State of Decay, eliciting the cheesiest ever episode of this podcast from The Two Who Fool (About). In a land where rubber bats wheel in an unrealistic green sky, the Doctor stops a door with his nose while prefers to play undead rather than talk to (who walks like he has a second badge for Mathematical Excellence secreted up his fundament). For a feudal society, there’s no shortage of fashion statements. The bloodthirsty local gentry model a nice line in goth cosmetics while their agricultural underlings wear miniskirts, string toupees and beards cannibalised from a busted sofa. Underneath it all, an enormous Nosferatu makes a breakthrough and gets a big hand. So do Jim and Martin think this story is a Great One or a big Wasting of time? Episode 112: Invasion of the Dinosaurs. “There’s your monster maker… Caught in the act.” And lo… Barry Letts did advance upon him, spitting tacks and brandishing a rubber T-Rex, with insertion on his mind. Yes, this is yer actual Invasion of the Dinosaurs – a tale of double talk, double-crosses and double denim. The Doctor drives stuff, Sarah discovers stuff and Yates says “Stuff you!” to his UNIT family (and to everyone outside the central London elite bubble). Have the cast been selectively aged and rejuvenated by Whitaker’s time experiments? Is the science as shaky as the Whitehall walls? And is it worth gambling your house on? Will Lis Sladen ever get the underwear she doesn’t need? And where will Jim and Martin place the story on a scale of Jurassic Park to The Goodies? To find out the answers to some or none of these questions, listen here. Episode 100: The War Games. “You have returned to us, Doctor. Your travels are over.” But thankfully not forever. It was, still, a long way from being all over. So Jim and Martin stagger to their century milestone with their biggest story yet, The War Games. It’s an epic tale of trials, tribulations, heavily corrected (and impaired) vision, and a Very. Stupid. Voice. The Doctor plays with fridge magnets, Jamie plays the fool, Zoe plays Villa like a violin and the War Lord plays with his real live toy soldiers – and gets a Paddington stare for his trouble. Romans gawp and mince, wigs wander almost as far as the accents, and the scenery is chewed up, gargled and spat out – even when it’s as wobbly as a Quark under enemy fire. So do Jim and Martin think this is a worthy end for a very worthy Doctor? Or was it ten parts of terrible tedium? Episode 097: . “I am usually referred to as the Master.” Or some very slight variation thereof. Terror of the Autons is a story where a bloomin’ cockernee is masquerading as an Italian, a as an astral Mr Benn, Autons as an army of Frank Sidebottoms, and the man himself as BT’s most sackable employee. Yet the Master can’t muster the energy to think up an even vaguely misdirecting pseudonym. Plenty of imagination elsewhere though with unfriendly neighbourhood Bobbies, dolls that are a bit too clingy, armchairs that give you a hug, a phone you can really get tied up on and gift daffs you really shouldn’t look in the mouth. Can the grumpy Doctor, scatty Jo, and a Maxi full of UNIT defeat the Master and the Nestene Unconvincingness? And did Jim and Martin find all this plastic fantastic or as flat as Old Ma Farrel’s CSO kitchen? Episode 092: . “You’re liable to wake up Old Nick going that deep!” And imagine old Nick’s horror when he woke up after a BBC stag do and found that someone had given him a comedy eye-patch and a joke shop scar. But it’s not just the Brig who’s had an unsympathetic makeover in Inferno‘s alt-right universe. Cuddly is now brutal bastard Benton and lovely Liz has adopted a nasty wig and an equally nasty attitude. Professor Stahlman, of course, is equally gittish wherever you find him, but Greg Sutton’s sexist tendencies have been crushed under the fascist jackboot – and he seems even less likely to achieve penetration with this particular Petra. Throw in some technicians in wolf’s clothing (and Christmas cracker teeth), a soldier shooting himself off a gasometer and lashings of automatic door porn, and we have something of a great big melting pot. But do Jim and Martin think Inferno burns brightly or does it feel like the end of the world? Snakedance (TV story) Snakedance was the second serial of season 20 of Doctor Who . A sequel to , it featured the return of the and 's first direct contact with the Mara. Three decades later, a sequel to this story — though not the one Christopher Bailey had attempted — was created for audio in the form of Big Finish's The Cradle of the Snake . The show had a noteworthy cast. It was one of Martin Clunes' earliest television roles, though not his debut. His outrageous costumes and youthful appearance make it a story often sampled whenever the multi-award-winning actor appears on television chat programmes. (DOC: Snake Charmer ) Snakedance also featured Brian Miller — husband of Sarah Jane Smith's actor, Elisabeth Sladen — in a significant role. Writers involved in the production of the BBC Wales version of Doctor Who have expressed affection for this serial. In 1995, Steven Moffat was a participant in a wide-ranging, public discussion about Doctor Who with Andy Lane, David Bishop and Paul Cornell. He ranted about the "crap" nature of the majority of the 1963 version of the show, but called Snakedance "one I couldn't really fault". [1] He would build upon this opinion in a 1996 essay, in which he called Snakedance and Kinda "the two best Who stories ever". [2] Likewise, Robert Shearman has called Snakedance "my favourite" Doctor Who story. He is heavily featured on the DVD release, explaining why. Contents. Synopsis [ edit | edit source ] The TARDIS makes an unplanned landing on Manussa, where preparations are underway to celebrate the defeat of the Sumaran Empire five centuries earlier. But the ancient evil of the Mara lives on, and Tegan, who has been haunted by disturbing dreams since her time under the Wind chimes on Deva Loka, is now a pawn in its plan to re-enter the physical world and subjugate the Manussan people. Only the Doctor can stop the Mara - but first he must convince the authorities that he is not just a deluded fool who believes in children's fairytales. Plot [ edit | edit source ] Part one [ edit | edit source ] A man is sitting in the middle of sand. He is wearing a precious-looking blue necklace. Tegan has decided to return to the TARDIS. But she is having strange dreams, just like she did back on Deva Loka. She tells the Doctor and Nyssa about it. The Doctor worries that the Mara could still be alive, not as a physical form, but in the mind.and. On the planet Manussa, Tanha wants Lon to be prepared for the ceremony to celebrate the end of the Mara. He isn't really bothered but is more interested in a jewel kept between the teeth of a model snake. It is Ambril's - an artefact kept for many years, as a symbol of the Mara. They decide to set off to the cave, where Ambril will explain the ceremony's proceedings. The Doctor and Nyssa listen to Tegan's dream. Under the influence of the Mara, Tegan has set the TARDIS controls to Manussa, a planet known well to the Doctor. She also talks of a dream she's been having, of a cave, shaped in the jaws of a snake. The Doctor creates a hypnosis machine that inhibits the brainwaves associated with dreaming to protect Tegan. Upon their arrival on the planet, they decide to investigate. On a local street, a man is shouting to the crowds about a hall of mirrors. Lon finds it hilarious and is pulled along by his mother so that they can reach the cave. There, Ambril explains the legend of the snake and how they will add to the ceremony using the stories. They enter the cave and travel far through the tunnels inside. Lon outside the Cave of the Snake. The Doctor is searching for the cave, which Tegan had a vision of in her dreams. They finally find it and the Doctor enters, telling Nyssa to look after Tegan outside. As a consequence of her dreams, Tegan is frightened when a merchant approaches selling wriggling toy snakes, bought by children on Manussa. She runs away and Nyssa tries to follow her but loses her in the crowds. Tegan enters a fortune teller's tent and, because she removes the hypnosis machine, she is eventually controlled by the Mara. The fortune teller explains that her stories aren't real but then becomes aware of a snake's skull appearing in her crystal ball. It explodes violently and the fortune teller screams. Part two [ edit | edit source ] Tegan escapes from the tent. The fortune teller is helped out of the tent by locals, completely overwhelmed by the situation. The Doctor has appeared in the cave where Lon is having a lesson on the Mara legend. Ambril is surprised by the Time Lord's appearance. The Doctor is keen to note that the legend is very real. Lon finds this curious. Ambril believes that the Doctor is crazy. Nyssa finally finds Tegan, who is laughing about the fortune teller. Nyssa soon realises that she is under the influence of the Mara again, her emotions different to what Tegan would express. Tegan then runs again and this time Nyssa loses her for real. Tegan has secretly entered the hall of mirrors. The Mara speaks to Tegan in the mirror. Nyssa arrives just outside the cave where Lon, Tanha and Ambril have just emerged to return to the palace. The Doctor is behind them. Nyssa explains about Tegan's disappearance. The Doctor looks worried. He wants to return to the TARDIS though to monitor the wavelengths of an interesting blue jewel he has obtained. The Mara in Tegan is interested in the mirrors, remembering that she was trapped by a circle of mirrors before on the Kinda world. Dugdale finds her talking to herself in the mirror, and is also influenced by the Mara when he looks into the mirror. Tegan orders him to bring Lon. The Doctor and Nyssa are now inside the TARDIS where the Doctor is creating a circle where he can project thoughts into the jewel. When he tries along with Nyssa, the jewel lights up, but only when they concentrate. The possessed Lon and Tegan. Lon arrives at the hall of mirrors and is quickly taken by the Mara. They then proceed to the cave and behind the symbolic wall where they use Dugdale as a servant. Part three [ edit | edit source ] The Doctor returns to the palace to try to persuade Ambril to believe him. Ambril is unimpressed and orders the Doctor to be jailed. Nyssa overhears everything and tries to work by herself. Lon arrives in Ambril's office to gather the jewel, which opens the symbolic wall and will eventually bring back the Mara. Ambril doesn't know that Lon is under an influence. The Doctor tries to persuade Chela to get him out, but with no luck. Lon lures Ambril to the cave with the promise of discovering priceless historical artefacts. Once inside, Ambril is cornered by the possessed Lon, Dugdale and Tegan, who pressure him to return the Great Crystal during the ceremony. After Ambril agrees and Lon leads him away, the mark of the serpent on Tegan's arm manifests as a live snake. Chela brings the Doctor a diary written by Dojjen, Ambril's predecessor as Director of Historical Research. Dojjen believed that the Mara had not been destroyed and would someday return. He eventually left his post to study the forbidden teachings of the Snake Dancers. The Mara puppet show. Nyssa searches Ambril's office for the key to the jail cell, but Tanha catches her in the act and has her locked up alongside the Doctor. The Doctor and Nyssa read through Dojjen's diary and realise that the ancient Manussans manufactured crystals that could conduct mental energy. The unanticipated result was that the crystals absorbed and reflected the Manussans' own negative thoughts and emotions, creating the Mara. As centuries passed, the Manussans forgot that they themselves had brought the Mara into being. The Doctor deduces that Dojjen learned this truth from the Snake Dancers, the only people who kept the knowledge alive. Lon and Ambril return to the palace, where a dazed Ambril informs Tanha and Chela that at the impending ceremony, the Great Crystal will be restored to its original place. Alarmed, Chela frees the Doctor and Nyssa in hopes that they can intervene. They attempt to flee the palace but are surrounded by guards. Lon claims that the three are plotting his death, and orders the guards to kill them. The Mara begins to manifest using Dugdale's fear. Part four [ edit | edit source ] Tanha overrides Lon's order and allows the Doctor a chance to speak. The Doctor realises that Lon has fallen under the control of the Mara. Ambril offers to reveal the Great Crystal, and as he, Tanha and Lon are distracted, the Doctor seizes the opportunity to escape with Nyssa and Chela. Determined to destroy the Mara completely, the Doctor uses his crystal to summon Dojjen. Dojjen and the Doctor enact the Snake Dance ritual, in which live snakes bite their wrists, allowing them to communicate telepathically. Guilt-ridden over what has befallen Tegan, the Doctor asks how he can save her and defeat the Mara once and for all. Dojjen urges him to find the "still point" within himself. Power flows toward the Mara. Tanha questions Lon's strange behaviour, but he brushes aside her suspicions. In the cave, the ceremony proceeds according to custom until Lon stuns the audience by announcing that the Mara has returned. The Doctor, Nyssa and Chela burst onto the scene, but are too late to stop Lon from placing the Great Crystal in the mouth of the snake on the cave wall. Tegan appears holding the Mara in the form of a snake wrapped around her arm. The Mara feeds on the crowd's fear and panic, growing larger and stronger. The Doctor alone is unaffected. He focuses mental energy into his crystal in a battle of wills against the Mara. Although his resolve is tested when the Mara speaks to him with Tegan's voice, he refuses to submit. Dojjen adds his own mental energy to the effort, helping to subdue the Mara long enough for the Doctor to pull the Great Crystal from the wall. The Mara's influence is broken, and the snake falls to the ground, dead. Restored to herself, Tegan weeps with horror at having felt the rage and hatred of the Mara inside of her. The Doctor comforts her, assuring her that the Mara has been destroyed. Cast [ edit | edit source ] Crew [ edit | edit source ] References [ edit | edit source ] Astronomical objects [ edit | edit source ] Manussa is in the Scrampus system. It is a colony of the Federation of Three Worlds formed by one of Lon's ancestors (part of a network of former Earth colonies). Species [ edit | edit source ] The Mara was created on Manussa, and ruled, turning the former Manussan Empire into the Sumaran Empire. Individuals [ edit | edit source ] Nyssa exchanges her Trakenite outfit, which she tended to wear since her meeting with the Fourth Doctor, for a long-collared, white and blue- stripped shirt and striped grey skirt. Story notes [ edit | edit source ] In the DVD extras, Christopher Bailey states that the idea for the serial came from a story or article about isolated Christian sects in the Arizona desert that handled snakes as part of religious rituals. The religious groups he is referring to actually are located in Appalachia, areas such as Tennessee (where it originated), Kentucky and Georgia, not Arizona. The last episode overran, leading to the removal of a scene where the Doctor comforts Tegan about her ordeal. It was used in the next story (although it includes the explanation that the Mara could only be destroyed during the process of its becoming, creating a minor plot hole if the serial is watched in isolation). is rather embarrassed about his role in this serial, mostly because chat shows have kept bring clips out from it showing him in the silly costumes. Once again, Christopher Bailey used Buddhist terms - Manussa (“the human realm”), Tanha (“craving”) and Dugdale (from duggati, “unhappy existence”). Dojjen was an homage to Dogen, a Zen master who lived in thirteenth-century Japan. Dugdale had earlier been called Duchan (a platform used by Hebrew priests), while Chela was named for a Hindi word meaning “religious disciple”. Two weeks prior to the start of production, Peter Davison was asked to film what he believed to be a promotional trailer for Australian television. In fact, this was a ruse concocted by John Nathan-Turner. In reality, when Davison arrived on location, he was surprised to find Matthew Waterhouse, and Janet Fielding already there in full costume. Davison was even more surprised to discover that they were accompanied by Eamonn Andrews, and that he was the subject of This Is Your Life . The occasion marked the second time that a Doctor Who star had been featured on the show, the other being Jon Pertwee in 1971. Designer Jan Spoczynski had wanted to use an outside firm to build the sets, but permission was withheld until almost the very last minute. Consequently, the sets had to be constructed very quickly, and Spoczynski was disappointed with the results. , Eleanor Bron, Judi Dench, Elspeth Gray, Sheila Hancock, Jean Marsh, Anna Massey, Kate O'Mara, Barbara Shelley, Joan Sims, Elizabeth Spriggs, Wanda Ventham and Fiona Walker were considered for Lady Tanha. joked that he saw the story as a bit of rest, so that Janet Fielding could do her "heavy, evil" acting. and Janet Fielding disliked their costumes, with Sutton going so far as to say it made her look fat. Peter Davison says on the DVD commentary that it looks worse than 's costume. According to John Nathan-Turner, the staircase in the Chamber of Lom was used for A Song for Europe . The BBC's Head of Serials read thought the script and thought the storytelling was obscure and confusing. He felt it was mistake to pursue this line of storytelling, but John Nathan-Turner and disagreed because they liked the originality and promised more conventional storytelling for the rest of the season. got the directing job when she told John Nathan-Turner that she preferred character-driven stories. Ratings [ edit | edit source ] Part one — 6.7 million viewers Part two — 7.7 million viewers Part three — 6.6 million viewers Part four — 7.4 million viewers. Myths [ edit | edit source ] Kate Bush wrote this under a pseudonym. ( She didn't.) This was Martin Clunes' television debut. ( Although all participants insist this is true on the DVD commentary, it's not. It was his first major role on TV, but he had already appeared in The White Guard , a BBC Play of the Month which aired on 20 September 1982.) Filming locations [ edit | edit source ] (TC6), Shepherd's Bush, London. Production errors [ edit | edit source ] Lon claims that the fake crystal is made of glass. However, the practical effect of it being smashed does not convincingly confirm Lon's statement. It obviously shatters like plastic or polystyrene. Continuity [ edit | edit source ] The Doctor, Nyssa and Tegan previously encountered the Mara on Deva Loka in the company of Adric. (TV: Kinda ) Tegan recounts the events in a dream state induced by the Doctor. The three of them and Turlough would later encounter the entity, once again on Manussa, though centuries before the rise of the Sumaran Empire. (AUDIO: The Cradle of the Snake ) In her trance, Tegan recalls climbing a tree and dropping apples of Aris' head while under the influence of the Mara. (TV: Kinda ) The Doctor would later tell Nyssa that he planned to catch up with Dojjen at some point in the future. (AUDIO: The Cradle of the Snake ) Whilst imprisoned, Nyssa wished the Doctor still has the sonic screwdriver, following its destruction in TV: The Visitation . Home video and audio releases [ edit | edit source ] DVD releases [ edit | edit source ] This story was released on DVD in a box set called Mara Tales with Kinda on 7th March 2011 in Region 2. The two episodes have been updated, with CGI Mara instead of the original puppets.

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