The Moonbase
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| 033 – The Moonbase | |
| Doctor | Patrick Troughton (Second Doctor) |
|---|---|
| Writer | Kit Pedler |
| Director | Morris Barry |
| Script Editor | Gerry Davis |
| Producer | Innes Lloyd |
| Executive producer(s) | None |
| Production code | HH |
| Series | Season 4 |
| Length | 4 episodes, 25 mins each |
| Transmission date | February 11–March 3, 1967 |
| Preceded by | The Underwater Menace |
| Followed by | The Macra Terror |
The Moonbase is a serial in the British science fiction television series Doctor Who, which was first broadcast in four weekly parts from February 11 to March 3, 1967.
Contents |
[edit] Synopsis
The Second Doctor travels in the TARDIS to 2070 and lands on the Moon, where a weather control station under the command of a man named Hobson is in the grip of a plague — in reality the result of an alien poison planted by the Cybermen.
[edit] Plot
The TARDIS makes a bumpy landing on the Moon in the year 2070 and, dressed in spacesuits, the Second Doctor and his companions Jamie, Polly and Ben venture outside and enjoy the low gravity environment. Jamie is injured while they fool around.
The only building on that part of the moon’s surface is the Moonbase, a weather tracking and managing station which is staffed by an international crew managed by the bullish Hobson. They are using the gravity machine the Gravitron to control the Earth’s weather. When the time travellers arrive, the Doctor ingratiates them in the usual manner and is on hand to do some detective work because some of the crew have been collapsing in comas with a strange virus that spreads throughout the body. International Space Control responds to the crisis by quarantining the Moonbase – a precaution made more valid after one of the patients in the sickbay dies of the mysterious virus.
Something is definitely amiss because another of the Moonbase crew has disappeared in the food stores, and the radio operator has also noticed the Moonbase radio transmissions are being monitored from somewhere else on the moon. Jamie has been placed in the sickbay where, feverish and delirious, he begins mumbling about a “Phantom Piper” he claims to have seen. The figure is a Cyberman and Polly recognises it and is able to tell the Doctor their old enemies are stalking the Moonbase. The Cyberman seems to have taken the bodies of dead crewmen, and all of them have now vanished.
While Hobson deals with the Gravitron, which is becoming difficult to control with fewer staff, the Doctor decides to focus on the cause of the viral disease. He eventually works out the neurotropic virus has been spread through infected sugar from the food stores – and is thus an organised scheme to destabilise the crew. The Cybermen within the Moonbase now emerge from hiding and use their weapons to take control of the central control centre of the Moonbase. The Cybermen want to use the Gravitron to destroy all life on Earth by altering the weather. They have reconditioned the three missing crewmembers, none of whom were really dead, and turned them into zombie-like slaves, and they are sent into the heart of the Gravitron to subvert the machine.
Using fire extinguishers, nail varnish remover and other objects that attack plastic, Ben, Polly and a recovered Jamie lead a fightback from their incarceration in the medical wing. The Cybermen in the initial attack force are dealt with – but this only prompts a bigger squad of Cybermen to attack. They advance on the Moonbase through the vacuum of the Moon’s surface. The evil creatures destroy a relief craft dispatched to help the Moonbase crew and also use radio controlled beams to reactivate their zombies inside the base. The Cybermen then erect a large cannon and threaten to blow the base open unless the humans stop their resistance. In response the Doctor ensures the Gravitron is pointed at the surface of the moon and uses its intense powers to blast the Cybermen army into space. As Hobson and his team reorientate the Gravitron to its proper use, the Doctor and his companions slip away. Back in the TARDIS they dematerialise, and then activate the scanner to reveal a monstrous claw waving around...
[edit] Cast
- Dr. Who — Patrick Troughton
- Polly — Anneke Wills
- Ben Jackson — Michael Craze
- Jamie McCrimmon — Frazer Hines
- Hobson — Patrick Barr
- Jules Benoit — André Maranne
- Nils — Michael Wolf
- Sam — John Rolfe
- Ralph — Mark Heath
- Voice from Space Patrol & Dr Evans — Alan Rowe
- Voice of Controller Rinberg — Denis McCarthy
- Scientists — Barry Ashton, Derek Calder, Arnold Chazen, Leon Maybank, Victor Pemberton, Edward Phillips, Ron Pinnell, Robin Scott, Alan Wells, Mark Heath
- Cybermen — John Wills, Sonnie Willis, Peter Greene, Keith Goodman, Reg Whitehead
- Cybermen Voices — Peter Hawkins
[edit] Notes
- The working title of this story was The Return of the Cybermen.
- A novelisation of this serial, written by Gerry Davis, was published by Target Books in February 1975 under the title Doctor Who and the Cybermen. A Turkish translation was published in 1975.
- Frazer Hines' character, Jamie McCrimmon, was not in the original storyline due to his sudden addition as a cast regular. The script was edited to account for Hines' addition by having Jamie consigned to unconsciousness for much of the story.
- A final clip, used to carry the story into the subsequent adventure, The Macra Terror (1967) was filmed separately during the making of that story, as the Macra prop was too large to be brought into the studio.
- This story features the debut of actor John Levene as a Cyberman. Levene would return as a Yeti in The Web of Fear (1968), and would go on to play the semi-regular character Sergeant Benton during the Patrick Troughton, Jon Pertwee and Tom Baker eras.
- Episodes 1 and 3 of this story are missing from the BBC archives. Episodes 2 and 4 of this story were released on VHS in July 1992 as part of the video Cybermen - The Early Years. They were released on DVD in November of 2004 in a set entitled Lost in Time. The audio tracks for episodes 1 and 3 were also included on the Lost in Time collection.
[edit] External links
- The Moonbase episode guide on the BBC website
- Photonovel of The Moonbase on the BBC website
- The Moonbase at Doctor Who: A Brief History Of Time (Travel)
- The Moonbase at the Doctor Who Reference Guide
[edit] Reviews
- The Moonbase reviews at Outpost Gallifrey
- The Moonbase reviews at The Doctor Who Ratings Guide
[edit] Target novelisation
- Doctor Who and the Cybermen reviews at The Doctor Who Ratings Guide
- On Target — Doctor Who and the Cybermen
