The Three Doctors: Episode Two

EPISODE: The Three Doctors: Episode Two
OVERALL EPISODE NUMBER: 331
STORY NUMBER: 065 TRANSMITTED: Saturday 06 January 1973
FIVE FACES OF DOCTOR WHO REPEAT: Tuesday 24 November 1981
WRITER: Bob Baker & Dave Martin
DIRECTOR: Lennie Mayne
SCRIPT EDITOR: Terrance Dicks
PRODUCER: Barry Letts
RATINGS: 10.8 million viewers
FORMAT: DVD: Doctor Who Revisitations 3: The Tomb of the Cybermen, The Three Doctors & The Robots of Death
EPISODE FORMAT: 625 video

"Keep it confused. Feed it with useless information. I wonder if I have a television set handy....."

With the Third Doctor gone the creature quietens down allowing Benton & the Second Doctor to leave the Tardis. The Brigadier arrives believing that one of the Doctor's experiments has gone wrong and he's reverted to his earlier appearance. The Time Lords' power is being drained further by a black hole leading to the universe of anti-matter. The Third Doctor & Jo wake in a barren wasteland. While they explore they are followed by one of the creatures that attacked UNIT HQ. The Second Doctor works out that the creature at UNIT HQ is made of anti matter and tries to contain it. The Third Doctor & Jo find a number of items that had vanished from their world including Bessie. The Second Doctor finishes building a containment device but is called away leaving Benton in charge of the equipment. However the creature reacts when he throws his chewing gum wrapper at it growing stronger as Benton increases the containment field forcing the Second Doctor, Benton and, at long last, The Brigadier into the Tardis. Jo & the Third Doctor find Doctor Tyler in the wasteland. They explain to him that they are at the other end of the light-streak on his photographic plates on a stable world of anti matter within the black hole. The Doctor speculates they have been kidnapped but by who? Their kidnapper is observing them and sends the Gell Guard creatures to fetch them. The Doctor works out what he's done and tries to find his recorder to help him think. The Third Doctor, Jo & Doctor Tyler are brought to a palace in the wasteland. Doctor Tyler attempts to escape but is swiftly recaptured. The Second Doctor puts the Brigadier in touch with Corporal Palmer who reports UNIT HQ is surrounded. The First Doctor appears on the monitor and advises the Second to turn the Tardis forcefield off. Tyler wonders how they survive, as positive matter, in the anti-matter world without causing a massive explosion. The Third Doctor tells them that they have been converted to anti-matter. The Second Doctor obeys the First, deactivating the Tardis forcefield. The Gell Guards surrounding UNIT HQ vanish, and then so does the building which we see being dragged through the black hole.

Oh that was fab.

The entire episode is completely driven for me by Second Doctor's reunion & interaction with the Brigadier:

SECOND DOCTOR: Steady now, Sergeant. He knows what he's doing. At least I hope he does.
BENTON: Yes, but what about Jo?
SECOND DOCTOR: Yes, it's a pity she ran after him like that. Let's have a look, shall we?
BENTON: Will they be all right?
BENTON: Well, where are they? Doctor!
SECOND DOCTOR: As far as I can see, that stuff's gone to a great deal of trouble to find me, er, him, so whoever or whatever it was that sent it can't merely want to kill him. No, no, they've been transported somewhere.
BENTON: Transported? What do you mean, transported? Transported to where?
SECOND DOCTOR: No, wait a minute. Do you know, Sergeant, I think our friend has gone off the boil, so to speak.
BENTON: Right then. Now I'm going to take this chance to blow it to bits. I'll get a grenade. We'll soon see
SECOND DOCTOR: No, I think we could try a more subtle approach. Let's turn off the force field and open the doors first, shall we?
BENTON: Right.
SECOND DOCTOR: Wait a minute. Let me go first. Hmm. Awaiting further instructions, I would think.
BENTON: You're not going near that thing, Doctor, are you?
SECOND DOCTOR: It's all right. I think it was just hiccups. Fascinating.
BRIGADIER: For heaven's sake be careful, Doctor!
SECOND DOCTOR: No, no, Brigadier. Leave it alone. It's not dangerous for the moment. It seems to think it's achieved its mission.

BRIGADIER: Oh, no.
SECOND DOCTOR: Oh, yes.
BRIGADIER: Yes, but you're not the
BENTON: Yes, it is, sir. It's the first one.
SECOND DOCTOR: How are you, Brigadier?
BRIGADIER: Pretty well, thanks. Doctor, what the blazes are you doing? Why have you changed your appearance? And what's happened to Miss Grant?
SECOND DOCTOR: There you are. It's all quite simple really.
BRIGADIER: Yes, well, I'm sorry. Well, I don't believe a word of it. Look, just tell me this. Are you or are you not the Doctor that I met during the Yeti business, and then later when the Cybermen invaded?
SECOND DOCTOR: Of course I am. You can see that.
BRIGADIER: Right. But then you subsequently appeared on Earth during that trouble with the Autons, only then you'd changed into a tall, thin fellow.
SECOND DOCTOR: Had I really? How fascinating.
BRIGADIER: Doctor, I warn you.
SECOND DOCTOR: It's no use your asking me about all this, Brigadier. As far as I'm concerned, it hasn't happened yet. Don't you see? I'm just a temporal anomaly.
BRIGADIER: It's quite obvious to me what's happened. You've been mucking around with that infernal machine of yours.
BENTON: Be careful, sir.
BRIGADIER: You've been mucking around with that infernal machine of yours, and somehow or other you've changed back your appearance and shot poor Miss Grant off to heaven knows where.
BENTON: It's not quite as simple as that, sir, honestly.
BRIGADIER: Now that'll do, Benton. Just two things I want from you, Doctor. An effective way of controlling that stuff and the safe return of Miss Grant.
BENTON: What about our Doctor, sir? Don't you want him back?
BRIGADIER: Enough of that nonsense, Benton. I've got him back. As long as he does the job, he can wear what face he likes.
SECOND DOCTOR: Well, I'll do my best, but I can't make any promises.
BRIGADIER: In that case, you'd better consult those all-powerful superiors of yours for their advice.
SECOND DOCTOR: Oh, I don't think that'd do any good. At the moment they're far from being all-powerful. That's why it's been left up to me and me and me.

You have to laugh as the Brigadier refuses to believe the Doctor's story, and won't even listen to Benton, coming up with his own version of events. I'd say he's sticking his head in the sand but we really want to be saving the euphemism for what he does in the next episode!

The Second Doctor continues the series occasional digs at the medium it's part of:

SECOND DOCTOR: So wherever they are, Miss Grant and my other self, we can't contact them. That's the problem with antimatter. You can see the effect but never the cause. It's like being punched on the nose by the invisible man.
BRIGADIER: Then what's this stuff?
SECOND DOCTOR: The invisible man. Antimatter.
BRIGADIER: But I thought you said that matter and antimatter couldn't meet without an explosion.
SECOND DOCTOR: Yes, that's right.
BRIGADIER: So, it shouldn't exist here, but it does.
SECOND DOCTOR: Yes. Awkward, isn't it? As far as I can see, there's only one explanation.
BRIGADIER: Yes?
SECOND DOCTOR: Well, this stuff, or whoever sent it, is cleverer than we are. Unfortunate, isn't it.
BRIGADIER: And there's nothing that even you can do?
SECOND DOCTOR: Oh, I wouldn't say that. We can make sure it stays harmless for a start.
BRIGADIER: Oh, that's a relief. Look, can I leave you to get on with that? Those other things are still outside there. I must contact Geneva.
BENTON: Doc, I think the strain's been a bit too much for him. What are we going to do now?
SECOND DOCTOR: Keep it confused. Feed it with useless information. I wonder if I have a television set handy?

Big moment this episode as The Brigadier *finally* gets to enter The Tardis, as they flee from the enraged blob:

BENTON: Doctor! Doctor! Doctor!
SECOND DOCTOR: What is it? Oh!
BRIGADIER: Benton, what have you done?
BENTON: I did what the Doctor told me, sir, but it wouldn't work. It's gone mad.
SECOND DOCTOR: Into the Tardis, quickly! Come on, Brigadier!

SECOND DOCTOR: Yes, it's quite cozy, isn't it? Oh, you'll soon get used to it, old chap. Relative dimensions and all that.
BRIGADIER: So this is what you've been doing with UNIT funds and equipment all this time. How's it done? Some sort of optical illusion?
SECOND DOCTOR: Oh, no, no, no. They come like this. Really.
BRIGADIER: Yeah.
BENTON: Hey, Doc, it's going berserk out there.
SECOND DOCTOR: Yes, it is, isn't it.
BRIGADIER: All right, now we're in here, what do we do?
SECOND DOCTOR: Oh, we have a think. Care for a jelly baby?

Is this the first mention of the Fourth Doctor's favourite confection in the show? Then as an added bonus he gets the Brigadier's radio working by whacking it on the Tardis console years before a "delicate technical adjustment" became common practice in the computer support profession!

BRIGADIER: Corporal Palmer, this is the Brigadier. Do you read me? Over.
SECOND DOCTOR: You're wasting your time. You'll never get through with the force field on.
BRIGADIER: I've got to find out what's going on out there.
SECOND DOCTOR: Let's have a look at this thing.
SECOND DOCTOR: I'll try to set you up a communications unit.
BRIGADIER: Be careful.
SECOND DOCTOR: It's all right. Don't worry. I can boost this through the Tardis's communication circuit. I think.
BRIGADIER: Oh, I give up.
BENTON: With respect, sir, aren't we wasting time?
BRIGADIER: Yes, we are.
SECOND DOCTOR: Are you still worried about your other Doctor, Sergeant?
BENTON: Well, yes, I am, and Miss Grant.
SECOND DOCTOR: Well, I shouldn't worry too much if I were you. In fact, I rather envy them.
BENTON: You what?
SECOND DOCTOR: Yes, I think they're having a very interesting time.

SECOND DOCTOR: Here we are, Brigadier. Have a try with that. It's all right, it won't bite you.
BRIGADIER: Corporal Palmer? Come in, Palmer.

PALMER: Corporal Palmer here. Over.
BRIGADIER: Corporal Palmer, this is the Brigadier. Now listen. We're pinned down in the laboratory. What's the situation there? Over.
PALMER: Ah, sir, we've been trying to reach you. The building is still surrounded but we're just standing by for further orders. Over.
BRIGADIER: Now listen, Palmer. I want every man to maintain vigilance, but no further offensive action, is that clear? Over.
PALMER: But sir, I thought
BRIGADIER: That's an order, Palmer!
PALMER: Roger, sir. Wilco.
BRIGADIER: Keep in contact. Out.
BENTON: Doc.
SECOND DOCTOR: Hmm?
BENTON: Hey, Doctor, it's the old boy.
SECOND DOCTOR: Oh, excuse me.
FIRST DOCTOR: Made any progress?
SECOND DOCTOR: No, none at all. And you?
FIRST DOCTOR: Hardly. I'm trapped in this infernal time eddy.
SECOND DOCTOR: What about our fellow Time Lords?
FIRST DOCTOR: Growing steadily weaker. They can't seem to check their energy loss.
SECOND DOCTOR: We can't help you, I'm afraid.<

FIRST DOCTOR: Oh yes, you could.
SECOND DOCTOR: Oh? How?
FIRST DOCTOR: Well, first turn off your force field.
SECOND DOCTOR: What? But I don't
FIRST DOCTOR: Off, I said.
SECOND DOCTOR: But I still don't see
FIRST DOCTOR: Oh, use your intelligence.
BRIGADIER: Who in the name of heaven was that?
SECOND DOCTOR: I'm afraid you'd never believe me.

BRIGADIER: But you're not going to turn off the force field?
SECOND DOCTOR: Yes, I think so.
BRIGADIER: But why?
SECOND DOCTOR: Because he told me to, and I've always had a great respect for his advice.
BENTON: Doctor, if you switch the force field off, that thing out there can get at the Tardis.
SECOND DOCTOR: Precisely! Hold tight, everyone.

Anyone in any doubt that Doctor Tyler's escape attempt is padding out a slightly under running episode is put right by his "that was a bit of a waste of time wasn't it?" comment on his recapture!

Jon Pertwee's third & fourth season, Doctor Who's ninth & tenth, appear on screen in this order, which is the order I've been watching them:

Season 9

Day Of The Daleks
The Curse Of Peladon
The Sea Devils
The Mutants
The Time Monster

Season 10

The Three Doctors
Carnival Of Monsters
Frontier In Space
Planet Of The Daleks
The Green Death

However this story was produced out of sequence to allow for the availability of Second Doctor Patrick Troughton, as ever much in demand. The following story, The Carnival of Monsters, was filmed first at the end of the series ninth season followed by the story after that, The Frontier in Space, before The Three Doctors was produced. This isn't the first time a story has been filmed out of sequence, in fact it had happened the previous year for the Sea Devils. The production order for these two season is thus:

Recording Block Nine

KKK: Day Of The Daleks
LLL: The Sea Devils
MMM: The Curse Of Peladon
NNN: The Mutants
OOO: The Time Monster
PPP: Carnival Of Monsters

Recording Block Ten

QQQ: Frontier In Space
RRR: The Three Doctors
SSS: Planet Of The Daleks
TTT: The Green Death
UUU: The Time Warrior

The final story of this block, filmed in May 1973, was held over for the Eleventh season, mainly filmed from September 1972 onwards and broadcast from mid December 1973 onwards.

Note the three letter codes. Each production, even the earliest without overall story titles has a code. Unearthly Child is A, The Daleks is B etc through to story Z The Gunfighters. We then start again with AA for the Savages, BB for the War Machines through to ZZ for, coincidentally, Troughton's last story the War Games. Pertwee's first story Spearhead from space is AAA and off we go again.

The Time Lords are all known to us from other Doctor Who stories where, in two cases, they previously played Time Lords!

Clyde Pollitt is the Time Lord Chancellor and he previously played a Time Lord, presumably the same Time Lord, in The War Games. Clyde Pollit is the brother of Derek Pollit who was the Welsh Driver Evans in the Web of Fear.

President of the Time Lords is Roy Purcell who previously appeared in The Mind of Evil as Chief Prison Officer Powers. You can see him in Doomwatch as Dr. Barton in Public Enemy, I, Claudius as Vitellius in Some Justice and in The Professionals as Richardson in Kickback.

Graham Leaman previously played The Controller in The Macra Terror Price in Fury from the Deep, The Grand Marshall in The Seeds of Death episode five & sixs and a Time Lord here, again presumably the same Time Lord, in Colony in Space. He also has Doomwatch on his CV appearing in the second season opener You Killed Toby Wren as Professor Eric Hayland, which exists and can be found on The Doomwatch DVD, and Cause of Death as Wilfred Ridge, the father of one of the leading chracters, John Ridge. Sadly this appearance is one of the many later Doomwatch episodes which is missing.

The silent Time Lord is Anthony Lang who was previously an Egyptian Slave in Golden Death & Escape Switch he 9th & 10h episodes of the Dalek Masterplan, a Scotsmen in Hold/Highlanders in The Highlanders, Airport Personnel on Plane/worker at airport in The Faceless Ones and a Control Room Assistant in Ambassadors of Death. He returns as a Kaled Councillor in Genesis of the Daleks. He can be also seen in Return of the Jedi as Emperor Palpatine's Advisor Sim Aloo and in the opening The Crimson Permanent Assurance segment of Monty Python's The Meaning of Life

The intention was that the Second Doctor would be accompanied by Jamie but actor Frazer Hines was committed to work on Emerdale Farm where he played Joe Sugden. It would seem his role is largely filled by what Sergeant Benton does in this story which might be worth remembering when you watch the next episode. Corporal Palmer, who appears in the first two episodes, probably fulfils the function Benton would have had.

Meanwhile Richard Franklin, as Captain Yates, is absent from an Earth bound UNIT story for the first time since his debut. At the time he was involved in a theatre production, which was known about quite some distance in advance. However it's worth imagining what a nice touch it would be if he was in charge of the troops left defending UNIT HQ before it vanishes at the end of this second episode!

The original DVD of this story has an authoring error at the end of this episode which repeats a shot towards the end causing audio & video to become out of sync - it's the UNIT soldier staring at the departed UNIT HQ meaning the title crash in slightly too early. Some fans have been up in arms over this for years but it's only now with very precise instructions that I've been able to spot it..... and I don't think it matters one bit. There's far worse DVD faults out there but fixing this has contributed too this story being included in the Doctor Who Revisitations 3 DVD set with Tomb of the Cybermen and Robots of Death.

The Three Doctors: Episode One

EPISODE: The Three Doctors: Episode One
OVERALL EPISODE NUMBER: 330
STORY NUMBER: 065 TRANSMITTED: Saturday 30 December 1972
FIVE FACES OF DOCTOR WHO REPEAT: Monday 23 November 1981
WRITER: Bob Baker & Dave Martin
DIRECTOR: Lennie Mayne
SCRIPT EDITOR: Terrance Dicks
PRODUCER: Barry Letts
RATINGS: 9.6 million viewers
FORMAT: DVD: Doctor Who Revisitations 3: The Tomb of the Cybermen, The Three Doctors & The Robots of Death
EPISODE FORMAT: 625 video

"Oh, so you're my replacements - A dandy and a clown!"

For no obvious reason it's been a few years since I last saw the Three Doctors....

At the Minsbridge Wildlife Sanctuary, Warden Arthur Ollis is guarding a crashed experimental balloon. Doctor Tyler arrives to collect his equipment, speaking to Mrs Ollis and waving at her husband as he parks. However there is a crackling and Mr Ollis vanishes before Doctor Tyler reaches him. A concerned Doctor Tyler calls UNIT. He explains to the Brigadier, Doctor & Jo what has happened and that his cosmic ray monitoring device has been producing odd results. He's left to develop the latest results but when he opens the box containing the device he vanishes and a glowing substance emerges. Coming out of the drains it attacks a returning Doctor & Jo, who've been to see the crash site & Mrs Ollis, causing Bessie to vanish. They shelter inside UNIT HQ. The Doctor finds the developed photographic plate from the device which Doctor Tyler had been working on. On it is a distorted picture of the missing Mr Ollis. The Doctor concludes that the thing is hunting him and has taken first Ollis, then Tyler and finally Bessie by mistake. Blobby clawed creatures appear and attack UNIT HQ. The Brigadier orders a withdrawal but Sergeant Benton is trapped in the lab with the Doctor & Jo when the original thing returns. They retreat into the Tardis. Trapped, the Doctor sends an SOS to the Time Lords..... The Time Lords, however, are suffering a massive power drain on their resources. Unable to help him directly they summon the Second Doctor. Our Doctor, the Third, hears a materialisation noise and finds a recorder moments before the Second Doctor appears, whom Sergeant Benton recognises from The Cyberman Invasion. The Third Doctor telepathically explains situation to the Second. They argue, and the Time Lords decide to send the First Doctor to supervise. He becomes trapped in the space time vortex but appears on the monitor screen advising them that the thing is a space time bridge and they should cross it. Tossing a coin to decide who gets to go, the Third doctor leaves the Tardis, pursued by Jo and they vanish.

There's some good stuff in here. It seems like it's a fairly standard Doctor Who story until the moment when the Second Doctor arrives and acts everyone else, his successor included, completely off the screen. There's an energy to him.

THIRD DOCTOR: That's odd. Nobody touched anything did they?
BENTON + JO: No.
THIRD DOCTOR: But you heard it though, didn't you?
JO: Yes, and felt it too. Could it be that stuff outside?
THIRD DOCTOR: No, I don't think so. Hello, what's this? It seems strangely familiar. Is it yours, Jo?
JO: A flute? No.
THIRD DOCTOR: Well, properly speaking it's a recorder.
SECOND DOCTOR: Thank you. I was wondering where that had got too. You haven't been trying to play this have you? Oh. I can see you've been doing the Tardis up a bit. Hmm. I don't like it!

A little sly reference there to this being the debut of the revamped Tardis set.... which actually takes it back to much closer it's original appearance than what we saw in The Time Monster!

SECOND DOCTOR: Oh my word. Oh dear, we are in trouble, aren't we. Just as well I turned up!
JO: Doctor, who on earth...
BENTON: Doctor! Where did you spring from?
SECOND DOCTOR: Now don't tell me. Corporal Benton, isn't it?
BENTON: Sergeant Benton now.
SECOND DOCTOR: How do you do, my dear fellow.
BENTON: Nice to see you.
SECOND DOCTOR: I haven't seen you since that nasty business with the Cybermen.
BENTON: It happened all those years ago.
JO: Who is he and how did he get in here.
THIRD DOCTOR: Well it's a bit difficult to explain, Jo.
JO: He's not one of them, is he?
THIRD DOCTOR: Well, not so much one of them as one of us. One of me to be precise.
SECOND DOCTOR: Oh no, no, no, no. I'm sorry, my dear, I hate to be contrary but I can see he's a little bit confused, poor old chap, and I do feel you should have the correct explanation. You don't mind, do you.
THIRD DOCTOR: Yes.
SECOND DOCTOR: I didn't think you would. You see, Jo. I may call you Jo, mayn't I? You see, he is one of me.
JO: Oh, I see. You're both Time Lords.
SECOND DOCTOR: Well quite. Well, not quite.
JO: Oh.
SECOND DOCTOR: Not, not just Time Lords. We're the same Time Lord.
THIRD DOCTOR: Now please, you're only confusing my assistant. Jo, it's all quite simple. I am he and he is me.
JO: "And we are all together, goo goo ga joob?"
DOCTORS: What?
JO: It's a song by the Beatles.
SECOND DOCTOR: Oh, how does it go?
THIRD DOCTOR: Oh, please be quiet.
JO: Look, is he really you?
THIRD DOCTOR: Yes, yes, I'm afraid so.
BENTON: I think he is Miss Grant. You see, when the Brig and I first met the Doctor, he looked like him.
JO: How?
THIRD DOCTOR: Yes, that's what I'd like to know. You've got no right to be here.
SECOND DOCTOR: Perhaps
THIRD DOCTOR: What about the First Law of Time?
SECOND DOCTOR: Perhaps I could explain?
THIRD DOCTOR: Perhaps you could.
SECOND DOCTOR: Well, our fellow Time Lords out there are just as much under siege as we are.
THIRD DOCTOR: What?
SECOND DOCTOR: And they couldn't send anyone to help you. But they did summon up enough temporal energy to lift me out of my bit of our time stream and pop me down here, into my own future, so to speak.
THIRD DOCTOR: Why?
SECOND DOCTOR: My dear fellow, you are being a bit dim, aren't you? Your effectiveness is now doubled!
THIRD DOCTOR: Halved, more like.
SECOND DOCTOR: Now, now. There's no need to be ungracious. Suppose we have a look at our problem, shall we? Er, you don't mind, do you?
THIRD DOCTOR: Oh, be my guest.
SECOND DOCTOR: Oh, thank you.

The Beatles song Jo quotes is I am the Walrus, released five years prior to this story but two years after the Beatles appearance in The Chase.

Then the First Doctor pops up, distant, removed but with a better grasp of the situation than either of his successors. Fabulous.

SECOND DOCTOR: Well, you've been fiddling with it, haven't you?
THIRD DOCTOR: It was perfectly all right until you touched it. Now if only you'd leave things to me.
SECOND DOCTOR: If we were to leave things with you, my dear fellow, we'd be in a fine pickle, wouldn't we.
THIRD DOCTOR: Look, you lost the image, not me.
BENTON: There they go again.
SECOND DOCTOR: I did not loose the image!
THIRD DOCTOR: I set this thing up
JO: Doctor, look. Both of you!
THIRD DOCTOR: What?
JO: Look.

FIRST DOCTOR: Ah, there you are. I seem to be stuck up here. Hmm? Hmm? Oh, so you're my replacements. Huh. A dandy and a clown. Have you done anything?
SECOND DOCTOR: Well, we've, er, assessed the situation.
FIRST DOCTOR: Just as I thought. Nothing.
THIRD DOCTOR: Well it's not easy, you know.
SECOND DOCTOR: It's not as if we know what that stuff is.
THIRD DOCTOR: No.
FIRST DOCTOR: Then I'll tell you. It's a time bridge.
SECOND DOCTOR: It's a what?
THIRD DOCTOR: I see.
FIRST DOCTOR: Now, what's a bridge for, eh?
SECOND DOCTOR: Well, er
THIRD DOCTOR: Crossing?
FIRST DOCTOR: Right. So stop dilly-dallying and cross it!

I saw this scene many many years ago on Blue Peter, in 1981 or earlier, and watched it trying to figure out which of the men I could see on screen was the Doctor.... Little did I know!

The Doctor's got a new lab in this story, replacing the old brick one, last seen in Day of the Daleks, and this seems likely connected to a move for UNIT HQ at some point.. The Unit headquarters we see here appears to be out in the country whereas the older one, seen during the first few Pertwee years might of been in central London. Both of the UNIT regulars in this story, Mike Yates being absent, get some fine stuff to do starting with the famous reaction from the Brigadier having realised the Doctor's just given a scientist he met five minutes previously the run of the place!

DOCTOR: Tell me, Professor, is this machine of yours functioning properly?
TYLER: Far as I can tell. Haven't developed that latest plate yet, of course.
DOCTOR: Then I suggest that you do so immediately and let me know the result of your findings. Jo, you and I are going to take a look at the scene of the crime.
JO: Right.
DOCTOR: I think you'll find everything you need here.
TYLER: Oh, right. Er, thanks Oh, I can manage now, thank you.
BRIGADIER: I'm delighted to hear it. Make yourself at home. We're only supposed to be a top secret security establishment. Liberty Hall, Doctor Tyler. Liberty Hall.

That's an odd fluff by Jon Pertwee in this episode: Everyone else refers to Tyler as Doctor Tyler yet he calls him by the more senior academic rank of Professor.

DOCTOR: Right, force field on.
JO: You were going off without me, weren't you?
DOCTOR: Well, Sergeant, aren't you going to say it that it's bigger on the inside than it is on the outside. Everybody else does.
BENTON: It's pretty obvious, isn't it? Anyway, nothing to do with you surprises me anymore, Doctor.
DOCTOR: Oh, thank you for the complement.

Benton's reaction to the inside of the Tardis is fabulous though, refusing to say that it's bigger on the inside because it's obvious and nothing to do with the Doctor surprises him any more. Interestingly the Brigadier who hasn't been shown to go into the Tardis on the screen yet: His sergeant gets there first.

The story put about for several years was that the genesis for the Three Doctors came about when William Hartnell stuck his head round the Doctor Who production office door while looking for work at the BBC. In fact Barry Letts & Terrance Dicks had had many letters over the years wanting a multi Doctor team up so decided to celebrate the program's tenth anniversary by doing so. The anniversary itself was still nearly a year away but this was the start of the show's tenth season so..... They rang Hartnell at home and asked him to take part and he agreed. However his health wasn't good suffering from a condition called arteriosclerosis which limited what he could do. His wife rang Barry Letts, concerned at what her husband had agreed to do and the script was crafted accordingly. In the event Hartnell's appearances are limited to him appearing on the monitor screen where he's sat in a chair and reading his lines off of cue cards but somehow this ends a remote gravitas to his performance. He, Troughton & Pertwee are in the same place just once: for the publicity session and cover photograph for The Radio Times which are now believed top have been taken at Ealing Studios, probably on Monday 6th November 1972 when Hartnell's filmed inserts were shot along with a fight scene featuring Jon Pertwee for episode three. Barry Letts had learnt from his experience with the Terror of the Autons Radio Times cover, featuring Roger Delgado's Master in the middle which earned the show's star's wrath, and had a quiet word with the photographer placing Pertwee in the centre of the picture.

Of the guest cast in these episodes we'll assume you know who William Hartnell & Patrick Troughton are......

Rex Robinson, playing Doctor Tyler, will return as Gebek in The Monster of Peladon, and Dr. Carter, also in The Hand of Fear. All 3 of his appearances are directed by Lennie Mayne who evidently takes the Camfield/Letts approach to casting actors he knows and is comfortable working with! He was also in The Professionals as the Superintendent in Cry Wolf and Superman IV: The Quest for Peace as the Subway Engineer.

Rex Robinson is married to Patricia Prior who plays Mrs. Ollis!

They'd worked together several times before including on the Mickey Dunne episode No Flowers by Request where they play a Man & a Woman. This is once again directed by Lennie Mayne and also features Laurie Webb, who plays Mr. Ollis in The Three Doctors as Lennie Carson and John Scott Martin, one of this story's Gell Guards, as Sergeant Lowther! Robinson & Prior appear again together in the Mogul episode - Some of the Mud Is Bound to Stick, also directed by Mayne, as Roshida & the Secretary respectively - I see Hand of Fear's Renu Setna in the cast there. Robinson & Webb appear together in the Brett episode The Trump Card (director L Mayne!) as a Prisoner Officer and Senator Loman respectively - Our Time Lord President Roy Purcell is in that as is David Billa, a regular extra and UNIT soldier here! Robinson has a recurring role in Warship as Lieutenant Commander Junnion: he meets Webb in Hot Pursuit, where he plays a Customs Officer, and Prior in A Standing and Jumping War where she's Diana Bennett. No prizes for guessing who directed those episodes! Many years later Robinson & Prior make a final acting appearance together in One by One where they play Charlie & Elsie Gates in Changing Places. No Lennie Mayne there, but the series creator Anthony Read, episode writer Johnny Byrne and director Andrew Morgan all have Doctor Who form! You can hear Prior & Robinson interviewed together on Toby Hadoke's Who's Round #45

As we've said Laurie Webb plays Mr. Ollis. In addition to his collusions with Mayne, Robinson & Prior listed above he appears as the Dog Owner in the surviving Doomwatch episode The Inquest which you can see on the The Doomwatch DVD. Yes, it was directed by Lennie Mayne! You can hear him interviewed in Toby Hadoke's Who's Round #156

The speaking UNIT soldier in this story in Corporal Palmer played by Denys Palmer. Under him are a number of soldiers played by regular extras Pat Gorman, David Billa Leslie Bates, Terrance Denville, David Melbourne and Terry Sartain.

The majority of the locations used in this story feature in this episode with most found near Rickmansworth in Hertfordshire where filming took place between 7-9 November 1972.

Springwell Lock & Springwell Lake are seen on Doctor Tyler's journey to find his weather balloon and he talks with Mrs Ollis at Summerfield Bungalow.

The UNIT HQ scenes were filmed at Denham Manor on the 10th November 1972. The same location serves as UNIT HQ over ten years later for the Five Doctors, the 20th anniversary story.

Immediately following that on BBC2 at 18:05 the fourth episode of series 2 of The Adventure Game aired. The guests for this episode were Tessa Hamp, Nerys Hughes & Derek Griffiths. Then on BBC One at 19:20 was the ninth episode of Blake's 7's fourth season Sand.

Carnival of Monsters: Episode Four

EPISODE: Carnival of Monsters: Episode Four
OVERALL EPISODE NUMBER: 337
STORY NUMBER: 066 TRANSMITTED: Saturday 17 February 1973
FIVE FACES OF DOCTOR WHO REPEAT: Thursday 19 November 1981
WRITER: Robert Holmes
DIRECTOR: Barry Letts
SCRIPT EDITOR: Terrance Dicks
PRODUCER: Barry Letts
RATINGS: 9.2 million viewers
FORMAT: DVD: Doctor Who Revisitations 2: Seeds of Death, Carnival of Monsters & Resurrection of the Daleks
EPISODE FORMAT: 625 video

" I'm sorry to have to tell you, gentlemen, but you are all in very serious trouble! You are, I take it, the representatives of authority on this planet? Then you have allowed the importation and the operation of a machine that is expressly forbidden by intergalactic law!"

The Doctor is restored to his full size. The officials tell the Doctor where he is and he's pleased to find the Tardis. He tells them they have allowed the import of a machine forbidden by intergalactic law. Vorg thinks the Doctor is a carnival performer but the Doctor berates him from using the scope to hold intelligent lifeforms. Knowing the scope is failing the Doctor retrieves a device from the Tardis which allows him to be reinserted into the machine to rescue Jo. He leaves Vorg with instructions to activate the device again later. The humans in the malfunctioning scope collapse due to the heat. The Drashigs escape from the scope and go on the rampage. Vorg finds the missing part in his baggage and uses it to reactivate the eradicator & destroy the Drashigs.

Vorg activates the Doctor's device causing the specimens inside to be returned to where they came. The Doctor & Jo materialise by the scope as it blows up. Back in 1926 Major Daly finally finishes his book as he bids Clare good night. Vorg regales Plectrac with tales of how he defeated the Drashig and then engages him in a game of chance as the Doctor & Jo leave in the Tardis.

Finally, after three episodes of being trapped in the scope with the Drashigs & the Bernice's crew, the Doctor escapes into Inter Minor and gets to interact with the rest of the characters in the story! And, thanks to the events of the last few episodes, he's rather angry!

SHIRNA: It's one of the Tellurians.
PLETRAC: Hurry, it must be eradicated!
SHIRNA: Why? He hasn't done anything wrong. Are you all right, dear?
PLETRAC: Don't touch it. It's probably crawling with germs.
VORG: He's right, Shirna. Come away. The thing must be destroyed.
PLETRAC: Eradicator detachment, one charge, maximum intensity.
KALIK: Wait!
PLETRAC: Stand aside, Kalik.
KALIK: This procedure is not in order.
PLETRAC: Not in order?
KALIK: The eradicator cannot be used without authority from the tribunal.
PLETRAC: In an emergency, it's perfectly
KALIK: One alien hardly constitutes an emergency.
PLETRAC: The function of this tribunal is to keep this planet clean. This Tellurian creature comes from outside our solar system and is a possible carrier of contagion. Furthermore the creature may be hostile.

DOCTOR: Will you kindly stop referring to me as the creature, sir, or I may well become exceedingly hostile.
PLETRAC: Silence! This tribunal is deliberating.
DOCTOR: The tribunal is not deliberating. The tribunal is arguing. And quite nonsensically, if I may say so.
PLETRAC: The tribunal will not tolerate insolence from unauthorised lifeforms.
DOCTOR: Will one of you kindly explain to me exactly where I am? Which planet, I mean?
KALIK: You are on Inter Minor.
DOCTOR: Inter Minor? Not Metebelis Three, the famous blue planet of the Acteon galaxy?
ORUM: Oh, no.
DOCTOR: I see. Oh, thank heavens the Tardis is safe, anyway.
PLETRAC: This container is yours?
DOCTOR: Yes, it is indeed. And, oh yes, just as I thought. A miniscope. Now this is outrageous! Who is responsible for this device? Is it yours?
PLETRAC: Certainly not! It is the property of this Lurman. The female is his assistant.
DOCTOR: And you, sir, you are?
PLETRAC: Chairman Pletrac of the Admissions Tribunal.
ORUM: One wonders why the tribunal is submitting to questioning by this creature. Shouldn't it be the other way round?
DOCTOR: Well, I'm sorry to have to tell you, gentlemen, but you are all in very serious trouble.
ORUM: Really? One almost admires its audacity.
DOCTOR: You are, I take it, the representatives of authority on this planet?
PLETRAC: One's authority comes direct from President Zarb himself.
DOCTOR: Then you have allowed the importation and the operation of a machine that is expressly forbidden by intergalactic law.
PLETRAC: One did not allow it! One has already ordered the deportation of the Lurmans and their machine.
DOCTOR: But for the moment the machine is here and it is in operation. Surely you'll scarcely deny that?
PLETRAC: Well, strictly speaking, one must concede that, er, in a sense
DOCTOR: Then you are responsible, are you not? As a direct result of your carelessness, my young companion is trapped inside this machine, in a situation of extreme peril.

PLETRAC: Look, one is forced to remind you that the question before this tribunal is your own eradication as a menace to public health.
DOCTOR: If you will allow me to rescue my young companion, and give what help I can to the rest of the unfortunates trapped in here, then I am prepared to overlook the entire matter.
ORUM: One is indeed overwhelmed.
DOCTOR: If not, then you'll just have to take the consequences. Let me know when you've made up your mind.

Interestingly here the Doctor does not understand Vorg's carnival speak: it's the one of the few points, if not the only point, in the series history he doesn't understand what's being spoken to him!

VORG: Marvellous, Shirna! What audacity, eh? Do you know, I do believe he's one of us?
SHIRNA: One of us? He's a Tellurian.
VORG: Of course, but I recognise the type. He's in the carnival business, I'm sure. I mean, look at his manner and look at his clothes. Don't forget that I've worked many a Tellurian fairground.
SHIRNA: You may be right. He's certainly got the style.
VORG: Oh, I'd wager on it. He's got the measure of these grey faced idiots right enough.

VORG: I bet he understands the palare. Listen to this.
SHIRNA: Eh?
VORG: The Tellurian carnival lingo. Watch. Palare la carny?
DOCTOR: I beg your pardon?
VORG: Varda the Bona Palone?
DOCTOR: I'm sorry.
VORG: Niente dinari round here, y'jills.
DOCTOR: I must apologise. I'm afraid I do not understand your language.
VORG: Oh, you understand, all right. You're a showman, the same as me, ain't you.
DOCTOR: Are you a showman, sir?
VORG: Allow me to introduce myself. I am the great Vorg! And this beautiful young lady is Shirna, my assistant.
DOCTOR: Delighted, Miss Shirna. I am the Doctor.
VORG: Doctor. Great title, you know. Doctors, Professors, always pulls them in.
DOCTOR: Tell me, sir, are you in charge of this disgraceful device?
VORG: Yes, why? Is something wrong?
DOCTOR: Yes, something is very wrong. I too have an assistant, you know, and she's trapped inside this machine. Now somehow I've got to get her out.

The twin dangers of the escaping Drashigs and the failing scope add some urgency to this final episode which provides a good resolution to the story: Kalik's coup is quashed at the start with only his blood shed, while Vorg finds himself the hero of the piece and returns to his old tricks with three magum pods and a yorrow seed to earn a living! The Bernice is returned safely home, presumably due to arrive at it's Bombay destination the next day:

DALY: Who is it?
CLAIRE: Only me. I didn't wake you, did I?
DALY: Of course not.
CLAIRE: I wouldn't want to wake you just to say goodnight.
DALY: I've been reading.
CLAIRE: Have you finished it?
DALY: Yeah. Seems like the longest book I've ever read in me life.
CLAIRE: It does seem to have been a long trip somehow. Daddy?
DALY: Hmm?
CLAIRE: Oh, nothing.
DALY: Disappointing ending, you know. Fellow became a missionary. I thought he was going to marry her.
CLAIRE: Oh, you are an old romantic, aren't you, Daddy? I'll bet half your stories about the East are just romances.
DALY: You'll see for yourself tomorrow, Claire. Bombay!
CLAIRE: I'm looking forward to that.
DALY: Don't think young Andrews is though.
CLAIRE: That's what I mean, you see. Romantic. Goodnight, Daddy.
DALY: Goodnight, my child. Sleep well.

In a nice little touch the last we see of the Bernice is Major Daly finally crossing off on the calendar the day that they've been living again and again inside the Scope!

You can say Carnival of Monsters is about things, and several issues have been suggested including immigration, television and Zoos, but above all of these it manages to be a cracking Doctor Who story. Later Doctor Who stories will try and be "about" stuff but be rubbish to watch. This is fab, and seems to have a myriad of issues underneath. While Inferno's my favourite Pertwee story it's a little long for an evening's viewing at 7 parts, so Carnival of Monsters is probably the one I watch the most, is my favourite four part Pertwee and probably my second favourite Third Doctor story.

Carnival of Monsters was repeated on BBC2 on the 16th to 19th November 1981 as part of the Five Faces of Doctor Who repeat season, but oddly shown the week before it's preceding televised story The Three Doctors! It was the first Third Doctor story I saw.

Carnival of Monsters was novelised by Terrance Dicks. My local library had a copy so it got read several times when I was younger. It was released on video in March 1995 with the alternate edit of episode 2 featuring the unbroadcast theme music. Carnival of Monsters was first released on DVD in July 2002 as the second Jon Pertwee release with a commentary by Katy Manning & Barry Letts. A special edition DVD re-release occurred on 28 March 2011 as part of Doctor Who Revisitations - Volume 2 along with the Seeds of Death and Resurrection of the Daleks. A new commentary for Carnival was recorded featuring Peter Halliday, Cheryl Hall, Jenny McCracken, Brian Hodgson (who makes his last credited appearance as providing Special Sound for this story) & Terrance Dicks moderated by Toby Hadoke. For my money it's the best commentary of the entire range with several lesser used performers getting to share their thoughts.

Carnival of Monsters: Episode Three

EPISODE: Carnival of Monsters: Episode Three
OVERALL EPISODE NUMBER: 336
STORY NUMBER: 066 TRANSMITTED: Saturday 10 February 1973
FIVE FACES OF DOCTOR WHO REPEAT: Wednesday 18 November 1981
WRITER: Robert Holmes
DIRECTOR: Barry Letts
SCRIPT EDITOR: Terrance Dicks
PRODUCER: Barry Letts
RATINGS: 9 million viewers
FORMAT: DVD: Doctor Who Revisitations 2: Seeds of Death, Carnival of Monsters & Resurrection of the Daleks
EPISODE FORMAT: 625 video

"What we all need, is something to unite us. We need a sense of purpose. We need a new leader. We need a war!"

The Drashigs pursue the Doctor & Jo by smell. Vorg tells the officials a tale of the Drashigs eating a crashed spaceship. The Doctor detonates marsh gas with sonic screwdriver to cover their escape back to the cave, aided by Vorg's physical intervention. The Doctor deduces that they are trapped in a Minicscope, a device which he had the High Council of the Time Lords ban. This one was missed from the recall. The Drashigs escape into the scope's workings as the officials try to decide what to do. Kalik admits to Orum that he hoped the Drashigs would escape which was why he suggested Vorg intervene. he hopes they escape from the machine to provoke a rebellion against his brother Zarb. The Doctor & Jo return to the Bernice for rope to escape down the shaft. Daly & Andrews hear the Drashigs and investigate, discovering Jo and capturing her. The Drashigs break through the hull bulkhead into the ship. Kalik sabotages the eradicator, hiding it's power supply in the scope to incriminate Vorg and potentially allow the Drashigs into the city. The ship's crew attack the Drashigs with explosives damaging the scope's workings. The humans resume their preset patterns, annoying Jo, as the Doctor escapes into the scope and into the outside world......

For most viewers this episode is about some rampaging monsters but we continue our little digs at television:

JO: That, that swamp place. It wasn't the real outside, was it?
DOCTOR: No. I thought it was at first, though.
JO: But that hand, that came from the real outside, didn't it? The giants were trying to help us.
DOCTOR: Yes. By jingo, I've got it! I know what this is.
JO: What?
DOCTOR: We're in a miniscope!
JO: Miniscope?
DOCTOR: Yes, you know, Jo, it's like, it's like one of those things, those glass cases that people keep colonies of ants in.
JO: Well, yes, but I don't see. Well, wait a minute. Do you mean that that Major Daly and all those people on the ship are in a sort of a peepshow?
DOCTOR: That's right, Jo, and you and I are inside its works.
JO: And outside there are people and creatures just looking at us for kicks?
DOCTOR: Very probably.
JO: They must be evil and horrible.
DOCTOR: No, not necessarily, Jo. Thoughtless, maybe.
JO: Thoughtless?
DOCTOR: Well, haven't you ever been to the zoo? Have you never kept goldfish in a bowl?
JO: Well, yes, but that's slightly different. We're not animals.
DOCTOR: We are to those creatures up there, Jo. Roll up! Roll up! Roll up! And see these funny little creatures in their native habitat! Watch them go through their funny little tricks! Poke them with a stick and make them jump!
JO: Oh, stop it, Doctor. It's not funny.
DOCTOR: No. Oh no, believe me, I'm just as angry as you are. As a matter of fact, I had a great deal to do with the banning of these miniscopes.
JO: You did?
DOCTOR: Yes, I did. I managed to persuade the High Council of the Time Lords they were an offence against the dignity of sentient lifeforms.
JO: But I thought the Time Lords never interfered?
DOCTOR: Yes, well, they don't as a rule. But, frankly, I made such a nuisance of myself. Well, they banned the things.
JO: But, well, if these Scope things were banned, how come we're inside one?
DOCTOR: I don't know. Officially, they were all called in and destroyed.
JO: And somehow this one was missed.
DOCTOR: It looks like it. The Tardis must have materialised in its compression field.
JO: So, here we are all cosily wrapped up with the other specimens.
DOCTOR: Yeah, but not for long, Jo. We'll soon get out of here.
JO: Will we? Seems to me we have a choice of being shot by those idiots on the ship, or eaten by those horrors out there.

Meanwhile the previous comical officials start to take a more sinister tone as Kalik plots against his brother Zarb.

ORUM: You expected the Drashigs to follow the Tellurians?
KALIK: They follow a scent blindly, so that primitive told us.
ORUM: What's to be gained by that?
KALIK: Possibly the world.
ORUM: What?
KALIK: The Tellurians will try to escape.
ORUM: And?
KALIK: The Drashigs will follow them.
ORUM: What good will that do any of us?
KALIK: Listen, Orum. For thousands of years, ever since the great space plague, our world has stood alone and been the stronger for it. Now Zarb is trying to change our ways.
ORUM: Because the functionaries are growing restive. They need distractions.
KALIK: What the functionaries need, Orum, what we all need, is something to unite us. We need a sense of purpose. We need a new leader. We need a war!
ORUM: How do you propose to achieve all that, Kalik?
KALIK: By leading the rebellion against my dear brother Zarb.
ORUM: Zarb's position is secure. How can a rebellion succeed?
KALIK: The Drashigs escape from the machine and then into the city. They would cause havoc before finally being destroyed. The Central Bureau would be forced to admit to serious miscalculation. And on whose part, Orum? Who would be blamed?
ORUM: President Zarb.
KALIK: Exactly. The Drashigs are only here because of Zarb's liberal-minded weakness.
ORUM: Popular feeling would be aroused against him, certainly. But you're forgetting one thing.
KALIK: What?
ORUM: The eradicator. Even if the Drashigs do escape, they'll never get into the city.

There's some fab comedy dialogue in this episode with Vorg, talking about the Scope:

SHIRNA: Look at those dials, Vorg.
VORG: What about them?
SHIRNA: They're suddenly dropping back, all of them. All the circuits.
VORG: They can't be.
SHIRNA: Well, look for yourself. It's a general power failure.
VORG: Don't be ridiculous. The power system's fully protected.
SHIRNA: Well?
VORG: Well, it can't be a power failure.
SHIRNA: The generators?
VORG: The generators were built by the old Eternity Perpetual Company. They're designed to last forever. That's why the company went bankrupt!

Onto the Bernice: Major Daly is played by Tenniel Evans who is most famous for his role in the long running radio series Navy Lark with Jon Pertwee. Seeing that Patrick Troughton was leaving Doctor Who he suggested to Pertwee the he should replace him! Later in his career Evans himself replaced Troughton in ITV comedy series The Two Of Us after Troughton's death. He had previously appeared in two Out of the Unknown episodes: season one's Sucker Bait, where he played Rodriguez and which you can see on the Out of the Unknown DVD Set, and season 2's missing The Prophet, featuring the robots from the Mind Robber, where he plays QT-1. He appeared in Yes Minister as Martin, the Foreign Secretary in The Official Visit & The Writing on the Wall

Ian Marter plays Lt John Andrews, having been previously considered for the role of UNIT Captain Mike Yates but couldn't commit to a long term engagement. However Barry Letts, Doctor Who's producer and the director of Mike Yates' introduction in Terror of the Autons, remembered Marter and cast him in this story which he also directs. Marter later goes on to play Doctor Harry Sullivan, the fourth Doctor's companion the last regular role Letts cast as producer. After Doctor he had a recurring role as Quentin Ingram in Crown Court, a series which featured many Doctor Who actors and which you can read about at the Furchester Crown Court Blog.

Likewise Jenny McCracken, who played Claire Daly, had auditioned for Letts as Jo Grant, coincidentally alongside Cheryl Hall, who plays Shirna. Both got into last 6 for role, and Letts remembered them and recalled them for this story. Some years later McCracken's agent went bust owing her a not inconsiderable amount of money. Writing to many casting directors Barry Letts was one of the few people she rang up. He immediately found a role for her in a forthcoming classic serial, which her IMDB entry suggests was Lady Bolgolam in Gulliver in Lilliput, and he continued to cast her in those productions.

The boat's captain, seen only in the location sequences in this episodes, is played by Andrew Staines making the third of his four Doctor Who appearances having been in The Enemy of the World as Benik's Sergeant & Terror of the Autons as Goodge. We'll see him again in Planet of the Spiders as Keaver, one of Lupton's gang. All four are directed by Barry Letts: While listening to the Who Talk commentary for Enemy of the World I was surprised to discover that he is the son of actress Pauline Letts, Barry's sister! (who in turn I'd seen in the BBC version of Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy) Toby Hadoke interviews him for Who's Round 160 where he reveals that his uncle usually used him as a late replacement when someone dropped out!