Arc of Infinity

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124 - Arc of Infinity
Doctor	Peter Davison (Fifth Doctor)
Writer	John Byrne
Director	Ron Jones
Script Editor	Eric Saward
Producer	John Nathan-Turner
Executive producer(s)	None
Production code	6E
Series	Season 20
Length	4 episodes, 25 mins each
Transmission date	January 3–January 12, 1983
Preceded by	Time-Flight
Followed by	Snakedance

Arc of Infinity is a serial in the British science fiction television series Doctor Who, which was first broadcast in four twice-weekly parts from January 3 to January 12, 1983.

1 Synopsis
2 Plot
3 Cast
4 Notes
5 External links
- 5.1 Reviews
- 5.2 Target novelisation

[edit] Synopsis

Shielded by a collapsed star, lurks a malevolent presence, an alien consisting of pure anti-matter. Its intention? To bond with a Time Lord and so cross over into this dimension through the Arc of Infinity — the gateway to all dimensions. The chosen Time Lord is the Doctor. To avert disaster, he is recalled to Gallifrey before the collision of matter and anti-matter leads to the destruction of all dimensions

[edit] Plot

Dressed to impress, the Fifth Doctor in costume - or is it?

Spoiler warning: Plot and/or ending details follow.

On Gallifrey a Time Lord traitor is at work stealing the bio-data code of another Time Lord and killing a technician who stumbles across the crime. The traitor provides the bio-data to a creature known as the Renegade, which is composed of anti-matter and uses the bio-data to invade the TARDIS of the Fifth Doctor and start to invade his metabolism. His companion Nyssa of Traken helps him recover. The Renegade is shielded in this attempt by the Arc of Infinity, a curious curve between the dimensions containing quad radiation which can shield anti-matter. The Doctor decides to head to Gallifrey to track down the supplier of his bio-data, conscious that unless the creature trying to cross universes is stopped that its incursion could cause a fatal chain reaction to our universe.

The High Council of the Time Lords is also taking the matter seriously and has decreed that the Doctor’s TARDIS should be recalled for the same reason. The Chancellery Guard under the over-zealous Commander Maxil seizes the Doctor and Nyssa. He stuns the Doctor to ensure his delivery to the High Council. When the Doctor is brought before the High Council the new Lord President, Borusa, is inscrutable while Chancellor Thalia and Cardinal Zorac are openly hostile; only his old friend Councillor Hedin seems pleased to see him. The President stresses the gravity of the situation since the Renegade poses such a threat to the Universe, and the High Council has had no alternative but to issue a Warrant of Termination on the Doctor to ensure the Renegade can no longer bond with him. The Doctor is taken away protesting, sure his bio-data has been compromised and stolen from within the High Council. Fortunately an old friend, Damon, who is another technician in the records section, provides him with the proof he needs that a member of the High Council did indeed steal his bio-data extract. The Doctor is soon taken for execution, despite Nyssa’s attempts to save him, and placed in a dispersal chamber. Sentence is carried out.

The supposed death of the Doctor, however, has not solved the situation. Unbeknownst to the High Council, his mind has been taken into the Time Lord living repository of knowledge, the Matrix, while his body is hidden behind a force shield in the termination cubicle. The Renegade, who demands an opportunity to return to the Universe it once inhabited, contacts him. The truth of the aborted execution is discovered by the wily Castellan, who tells first Nyssa and Damon that the Doctor is alive; and then the High Council.

Meanwhile in Amsterdam, Netherlands the Doctor’s former companion Tegan Jovanka arrives looking for her cousin Robin Stuart. She is greeted by his friend Colin Frazer who explains that Robin has disappeared while they were crashing in the crypt of the Frankendael mansion. When neither of them can persuade the police to take an interest they decide to investigate the crypt themselves. They find a hypnotised Colin working for a curious birdlike creature which is armed with a deadly weapon. They are rendered unconscious and their minds scanned, revealing to the Renegade, who has established its base in a TARDIS hidden at the Frankendael, that Tegan knows the Doctor. The Renegade uses Tegan as bait to force the Doctor to obey him, also releasing Colin from his slavery as a reward. The Doctor is returned to normal space on Gallifrey where he makes for the High Council Chamber. Lord President Borusa has fallen under suspicion of being a traitor because the Castellan reveals it was his codes that were used to transmit the bio-data. The truth, however, is that Councillor Hedin is the Time Lord in league with the Renegade. He is in awe of his master - the mighty Omega, first of the Time Lords and pioneer of time travel (see The Three Doctors). Hedin wishes to release Omega from his exile in a universe of anti-matter, not realising the great Time Lord has been driven mad by his years of solitary confinement. The Castellan kills Hedin, but this does not prevent Omega using the Arc of Infinity to seize total control of the Matrix and, therefore, the organisation of Gallifrey.

Fortunately the Doctor and Nyssa manage to slip away and return to the TARDIS. They use scant knowledge provided by Tegan to determine that Omega has established its base in Amsterdam on Earth, and head there immediately, desperately trying to find the Frankendael crypt she described. After a lengthy hunt they find the lair defended by the birdlike creature, the Ergon, and Nyssa disposes of it with its own matter-converter gun. They reach Omega’s TARDIS at the point at which both the ship is destroyed and Omega makes full transference to Earth using the arc of infinity. When he peels his decayed mask away he reveals the features of the Doctor. Omega heads off into Amsterdam with the Doctor and Nyssa in hot pursuit. Within a short time the Doctor’s prediction of an unstable transfer begins to come true: Omega’s flesh decays and it his clear his new body is not permanent. When the Doctor and Nyssa catch up with him it is a painful task for the Doctor to use the Ergon’s anti-matter converter on Omega, expelling him back to his own universe of anti-matter. The Time Lord High Council on Gallifrey detects the end of the threat.

Once Tegan has checked on her cousin’s progress in hospital, she decides to rejoin the TARDIS crew. This time it is as a willing traveller. The Doctor, Tegan and Nyssa depart Amsterdam.

[edit] Cast

The Doctor — Peter Davison
Nyssa — Sarah Sutton
Tegan Jovanka — Janet Fielding
President Borusa — Leonard Sachs
Chancellor Thalia — Elspet Gray
Councillor Hedin — Michael Gough
The Castellan — Paul Jerricho
Cardinal Zorac — Max Harvey
Commander Maxil — Colin Baker
Omega/The Renegade — Ian Collier
Damon — Neil Daglish
Talor — John D. Collins
Colin Frazer — Alastair Cumming
Robin Stuart — Andrew Boxer
Hotel Receptionists — Maya Woolfe, Guy Groen
The Ergon — Malcolm Harvey

[edit] Notes

The working titles for this story were The Time Of Neman and The Time Of Omega.
Every story during Season 20 featured an adversary from the past. For this serial, it was Omega, who last faced the first three incarnations of the Doctor in the 10th anniversary story The Three Doctors (1973).
For Parts One and Two, the character of Omega was credited as "The Renegade" on the end credits.
Colin Baker (who would later succeed Peter Davison as the Sixth Doctor) appeared in the serial as Commander Maxil. It was his performance in this role (which, according to Baker, producer John Nathan-Turner repeatedly told him to "tone down") that first brought him to the attention of the production office. Baker reprised the role of Maxil as an uncredited cameo in the 2006 Big Finish Productions audio play Gallifrey: Appropriation.
Features a guest appearance by Michael Gough (who had previously played the malevolent Celestial Toymaker in the story of the same name). See also Celebrity appearances in Doctor Who.
This episode's Castellan, played by Paul Jerrico, would return in The Five Doctors (1983).
A novelisation of this serial, written by Terrance Dicks, was published by Target Books in July 1983.