Galaxy 4
018 – Galaxy 4 | |||
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Doctor Who serial | |||
![]() The Drahvins are depicted as beautiful but ultimately cruel, in contrast to the unattractive but friendly Rills.[1] They were originally male, but rewritten as female due to the emerging women's liberation movement.[2][3] | |||
Cast | |||
Guest
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Production | |||
Directed by | Season 3 | ||
Running time | 4 episodes, 25 minutes each | ||
Episode(s) missing | 3 episodes (1, 2, 4)[c] | ||
First broadcast | 11 September 1965 | ||
Last broadcast | 2 October 1965 | ||
Chronology | |||
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Galaxy 4
Emms, an avid Doctor Who viewer since its beginning, was commissioned to write Galaxy 4 by outgoing story editor Dennis Spooner after submitting an unsolicited story idea: show two conflicting races—one beautiful and one ugly—and flip convention by making the beautiful race evil. Spooner's successor Donald Tosh handled the bulk of the rewrites. Although Verity Lambert was credited as producer, Galaxy 4 was the first serial to be produced by her successor John Wiles. Mervyn Pinfield was originally assigned to direct the story but his failing health shortly into production prevented him from continuing, and he was replaced by Derek Martinus, a new director. Galaxy 4 was the penultimate serial of the show's second recording block but was pushed to open the third season. Filming took place at the Television Centre in July 1965.
Galaxy 4 received high viewership numbers, with an average of 9.9 million viewers across the four episodes; and the third episode became the most-viewed of the third season with 11 million viewers. Contemporary and retrospective reviews were generally positive, with praise for its concept and originality. The videotapes of the serial were
Plot
The
With Steven held as hostage to ensure their co-operation, the Doctor and Vicki are sent by the Drahvins to try to seize control of the Rill ship. The Doctor works out that the ammonia-breathing Rills (voiced by Robert Cartland) are a very advanced species: when he meets one, he is impressed, particularly by their use of telepathy. The huge and impressive, horned warthog-like Rill explains that they have offered to take the Drahvins away with them but Maaga has refused, preferring to maintain a state of war. The Doctor tells the Rills of the true life remaining in the planet and promises to help them escape, since the solar energy converters on the Rill craft have not gathered enough power to effect a lift-off. The Doctor and Vicki return to the Drahvin ship to find Steven unconscious after Maaga has tried to kill him by leaving him in a depressurised airlock. They all return to the Rill vessel, where the Doctor successfully develops a power converter linked to the TARDIS, which charges the Rill craft. Maaga leads the Drahvins in a final assault, but the Chumblies defend their ship long enough for it to power up and leave the planet. A Chumbley helps the Doctor, Vicki, and Steven to return to the TARDIS. After they leave, the planet explodes, killing the Drahvins.
In the TARDIS, Vicki identifies a planet on the scanner. On the planet, an astronaut (Barry Jackson) wakes up in an alien jungle, repeating the phrase "I must kill".[13]
Production
Conception and writing
Schoolteacher-turned-screenwriter William Emms, a science-fiction fan and avid Doctor Who viewer since its beginning in 1963, submitted an unsolicited story idea to producer Verity Lambert and story editor Dennis Spooner in early 1965.[14] His idea was to show two conflicting races—one beautiful and one ugly—and flip convention by making the beautiful race evil.[1] Spooner commissioned Emms to write the serial,[15] then named Doctor Who and the Chumblies on 1 March 1965, with a script due date set for 15 April.[2] In mid-April, Spooner's successor Donald Tosh began working on Doctor Who, and handled the bulk of the rewrites for Emms's scripts; Spooner departed in mid-May.[2] Emms disliked the amendments, which had included the reduction of four main cast members to three, and replacing the role of Barbara Wright—who had departed in the previous season—with Steven, which he felt made little sense as Steven was a trained astronaut and would not allow himself to become trapped in an airlock.[16] The show's cast were also unhappy with the script; Hartnell and O'Brien felt that the dialogue and behaviour were inconsistent with their characters, and Purves felt that his dialogue was not changed enough from the original script with Barbara.[17] According to Emms, Hartnell's role on the show was threatened if he did not follow the script.[18]
Galaxy 4 was the penultimate serial of the show's second recording block, which had begun with the
Casting and characters
The Chumblies were named from the combination of the words "chum" and "friendly".
Filming
A week of filming took place at Ealing Studios on 21–25 June 1965, largely for the serial's effects, such as the opening of the first episode and conclusion of the fourth. The first day of production was focused on effects and long shots of the Chumblies on the planet.[27] Live action shooting began the following day, requiring the Chumbley operators.[21] A photocall for the Chumblies and Drahvins took place at Ealing on 24 June;[28] this was also Martinus's first day on the programme, when Hartnell, O'Brien, and Purves were released from rehearsals of the third episode of the preceding serial, The Time Meddler (1965), to film inserts. Martinus had planned for long tracking shots in the first episode to indicate the expanse of the set, but the camera crew convinced him to focus primarily on Hartnell, as viewers were mostly interested in his performance. Hartnell also wanted to offer guidance to Martinus, based on his decades of experience in the industry.[5] The cast had troubles during the rehearsal process for the serial due to transitions within the production staff: Purves was upset following Spooner's departure as he had developed much of Steven's character, and Hartnell's relationship with Wiles began with difficulties; O'Brien helped Hartnell through his struggles with the production, and Purves began developing a friendship with him, inviting him to dinner every fortnight.[29] Weekly recording for the serial began on 9 July 1965 in Studio 4 of the Television Centre;[18] the final episode was recorded on 30 July.[30] To depict the destruction of the planet in the last episode, an exploding planet prop was filmed and then shown in reverse.[31] The serial's final scene with Jackson as astronaut Garvey was filmed alongside the following story, "Mission to the Unknown", on 6 August 1965, and inserted into Galaxy 4 during editing.[9] Recording for the four episodes cost a total of £9,950.[e]
Reception
Broadcast and ratings
Episode | Title | Run time | Original air date | UK viewers (millions) | Appreciation Index |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | "Four Hundred Dawns"† | 22:21 | 11 September 1965 | 9.0 | 56 |
2 | "Trap of Steel"† | 24:51 | 18 September 1965 | 9.5 | 55 |
3 | "Air Lock" | 24:19 | 25 September 1965 | 11.3 | 54 |
4 | "The Exploding Planet"† | 24:47 | 2 October 1965 | 9.9 | 53 |
The serial was broadcast on
The videotapes of the serial were
At the Missing Believed Wiped event on 11 December 2011, it was announced that the third episode had been discovered earlier that year among materials owned by former television engineer Terry Burnett,[33][37] who had purchased it at a school fete in the 1980s but not realised its significance until speaking to Ralph Montagu, head of heritage at Radio Times;[38][39] the final shots and closing credits were missing from the episode,[33] and the tapes featured some visual discrepancies that required cleaning.[38]
Critical response
After the broadcast of the second episode, Bill Edmund of Television Today wrote that the characters were "a little sluggish after their holiday", praising Vicki and Steven's replacement of Ian and Barbara but describing the story as "rather slow".
Retrospective reviews were positive. In
Commercial releases
ISBN 0-491-03691-4 | |
A novelisation of this serial, Galaxy Four by William Emms, was published in hardback in 1985 by
Home media
Music and sound effects from the serial were included on
The existing clip from the first episode of Galaxy 4 was featured in the documentary The Missing Years, released on VHS as part of The Ice Warriors Collection in November 1998, and on DVD as part of Lost in Time in November 2004. Using off-screen photographs, animation, and audio recordings, an abridged reconstruction of Galaxy 4 was included in the Special Edition DVD release of The Aztecs in March 2013, alongside the full recovered third episode.[11] The third episode was added to the streaming service BritBox in the United Kingdom on 26 December 2019.[48][49]
Animated release
The animation was produced during the COVID-19 pandemic,[52]: 20:41 with key production members located around the world: Grech and the post-production team Thaumaturgy in Sydney, executive producers Gary Russell and Jason Haigh-Ellery in the United Kingdom, executive producer Mark B. Oliver in New York, and the animation team Digitoonz Media & Entertainment in India.[52]: 21:31 [53]: 12 Grech cited several Australian inspirations for the reconstruction, such as the Outback for the orange and red desert, and the Waratah for the planet's red flowers.[52]: 1:37 The animation team took some creative liberties with the space and setup of some locations to represent the original production team's vision if they had not been encumbered by budget restraints.[52]: 8:23 The bright colours of the Rills' ship was inspired by the similar colours of the USS Enterprise's bridge from Star Trek: The Original Series[52]: 11:13 The animation was screened at BFI Southbank on 7 November 2021.[51] Starburst reviewer Paul Mount praised the release's special features, but described the animation as "half-hearted" and noted that it was "likely to be left on the shelf to gather dust".[46]
Notes
- ^ a b Mervyn Pinfield directed some early footage for the serial before his failing health prevented him from continuing;[4] he was uncredited.[5]
- Les Structures Sonores: from the group, Jacques Lasry's work was used in all four episodes,[6] while Daniel Ouzounoff was used in the first two,[7] and Jacques Chollet in the second.[8] The fourth episode also uses a piece from Trevor Duncan.[9]
- ^ Six minutes exist from the first episode.[10]: 14:50
- ^ Alternatively written as Galaxy Four[11][12]
- ^ The four episodes cost £3,100, £2,094, £2,293, and £2,463, respectively.[32]
References
- ^ a b Wright 2017, pp. 20–21.
- ^ a b c d e f g Wright 2017, p. 21.
- ^ a b c Walker 1994, p. 11.
- ^ a b Walker 1994, p. 12.
- ^ a b c Wright 2017, p. 27.
- ^ Wright 2017, pp. 28–31, 33.
- ^ Wright 2017, pp. 28–30.
- ^ Wright 2017, p. 30.
- ^ a b Wright 2017, p. 33.
- ^ a b c Vanezis, Paul (2021). Finding Galaxy 4 (DVD documentary). BBC Studios.
- ^ a b c d Wright 2017, p. 40.
- ^ a b Tantimedh, Adi (16 September 2021). "Doctor Who Missing Story "Galaxy Four" Gets Animated This November". Bleeding Cool. Avatar Press. Archived from the original on 16 September 2021. Retrieved 21 September 2022.
- ^ Wright 2017, p. 19.
- ^ Wright 2017, p. 20.
- ^ Walker 1994, p. 9.
- ^ Wright 2017, pp. 21–22.
- ^ a b c Walker 1994, p. 15.
- ^ a b Wright 2017, p. 29.
- ^ Wright 2017, pp. 23–24.
- ^ a b c Wright 2017, p. 24.
- ^ a b c Wright 2017, p. 26.
- ^ Wright 2017, pp. 26–27.
- ^ a b c Walker 1994, p. 13.
- ^ Wright 2017, p. 22.
- ^ Walker 1994, pp. 13–14.
- ^ Wright 2017, p. 31.
- ^ Wright 2017, p. 25.
- ^ Howe, Walker & Stammers 1994, p. 203.
- ^ Wright 2017, p. 28.
- ^ Wright 2017, p. 32.
- ^ Walker 1994, p. 14.
- ^ Howe, Walker & Stammers 1994, pp. 204–206.
- ^ a b c d Wright 2017, p. 39.
- ^ a b c Wright 2017, p. 36.
- ^ Wright 2017, pp. 38–39.
- ^ Molesworth 2010, p. 139.
- ^ Plunkett, John (12 December 2011). "'Lost' Doctor Who episodes from 1960s returned to BBC". The Guardian. Archived from the original on 20 March 2015. Retrieved 19 September 2022.
- ^ a b Mulkern, Patrick (11 December 2011). "Doctor Who: two long-lost episodes uncovered". Radio Times. Immediate Media Company. Archived from the original on 7 January 2012. Retrieved 19 September 2022.
- ^ Ley, Shaun (12 December 2011). "Missing Doctor Who episodes discovered". BBC. Archived from the original on 9 July 2014. Retrieved 19 September 2022.
- ^ a b Wright 2017, p. 37.
- ^ Wright 2017, p. 38.
- ^ Cornell, Day & Topping 1995, pp. 44–60.
- ^ Howe & Walker 1998, p. 104.
- ^ Muir 1999, pp. 114–115.
- ^ Mulkern, Patrick (27 January 2009). "Galaxy 4". Radio Times. Immediate Media Company. Archived from the original on 14 May 2021. Retrieved 21 September 2022.
- ^ a b Mount, Paul (20 November 2021). "Doctor Who – Galaxy 4". Starburst. Starburst Magazine Limited. Archived from the original on 20 November 2021. Retrieved 21 September 2022.
- ^ Unsworth, Martin (1 March 2019). "Demon Announce New DOCTOR WHO LPs for Record Store Day". Starburst. Starburst Magazine Limited. Archived from the original on 20 September 2022. Retrieved 21 September 2022.
- ^ "Classic Doctor Who comes to BritBox". DoctorWho.tv. BBC Studios. 19 December 2019. Archived from the original on 17 May 2022. Retrieved 12 April 2023.
- ^ Jeffery, Morgan (19 March 2020). "Doctor Who on BritBox: How to watch, plus what's available to stream and what isn't". Radio Times. Immediate Media Company. Archived from the original on 21 April 2021. Retrieved 12 April 2023.
- ^ Molina-Whyte, Lidia (15 September 2021). "First look at Doctor Who's Galaxy 4 animation starring William Hartnell". Radio Times. Immediate Media Company. Archived from the original on 15 September 2021. Retrieved 21 September 2022.
- ^ a b c "BBC Studios announce Doctor Who: Galaxy 4 Animation, due for release on 15th November 2021". BBC Studios. 16 September 2021. Archived from the original on 16 September 2021. Retrieved 21 September 2022.
- ^ a b c d e f g Hadoke, Toby; Grech, Chloe (2021). Doctor Who: Galaxy 4 — "The Exploding Planet" (DVD commentary). BBC Studios.
- ^ Doctor Who: Galaxy 4 (leaflet). BBC Studios. 2021. LEAFLET147.
Bibliography
- ISBN 0-426-20442-5.
- ISBN 978-1-845-83156-1.
- ISBN 978-1-845-83941-3.
- Molesworth, Richard (2010). Wiped!: Doctor Who's Missing Episodes (2013 ed.). Prestatyn: ISBN 978-1-845-83080-9.
- ISBN 978-0-786-40442-1.
- Walker, Stephen James (1994). "Background". In McElroy, John (ed.). Doctor Who: The Scripts. 'Galaxy 4'. London: ISBN 9-781-85286-566-5.
- Wright, Mark, ed. (2017). "Galaxy 4, Mission to the Unknown, The Myth Makers and The Daleks' Master Plan". Doctor Who: The Complete History. 6 (47). London: ISSN 2057-6048.
External links
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