Underworld (Doctor Who)
096 – Underworld | |||
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Doctor Who serial | |||
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Companions
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Production | |||
Directed by | Season 15 | ||
Running time | 4 episodes, 22 minutes each | ||
First broadcast | 7–28 January 1978 | ||
Chronology | |||
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Underworld is the fifth serial of the
In the serial, the crew of an alien Minyan spaceship go on a hundred-thousand-year quest in search of a ship containing a genetic bank that would restore the Minyans' species.
Plot
In the history of the Time Lords, their involvement with the Minyans of Minyos is regarded as a disaster. The Minyans looked on them as gods but, having learnt much from their science, later expelled the Time Lords, who thereafter adopted a policy of non-intervention. The Minyans resented the Time Lords for their dominion over Minyos. Subsequently, the Minyans engaged in a civil war, using the advanced weapons the Time Lords gave them. In the final conflict, the Minyans destroyed their world. Two ships left Minyos before the final conflict, one carrying the race bank of the Minyans, the other intended to find the race bank and bring the Minyans to a new homeworld - Minyos II. The Minyan civilisation retained some Time Lord gifts, including cellular rejuvenation and the use of pacifier guns to alter the mental state of the aggressor.
At the
Civilisation on the P7E planetoid has taken a curious turn. Most of the population, the Trogs, live as slaves digging rock for fuel and sustenance, but they are culled and killed in rock collapses called Skyfalls. This situation is overseen by guards who are in turn responsible to two robots called Seers. In overall control is the Oracle, a powerful super-computer which has shaped the perverse society. Evidently the P7E became trapped in the planet millennia earlier and the entire basis of the mission was lost over time. The Doctor and Leela encounter Idas, a young man nearly killed in a Skyfall, learning how the local population is managed and terrorised. The Seers and Oracle exist in a protected Citadel at the heart of the planetoid (clearly the P7E) and the Doctor, Leela and Idas venture there, in the process rescuing Idas’ father Idmon who was due to be sacrificed to the Oracle. Other slaves are freed too, and flee to the R1C where Jackson makes them welcome. However, the crucial race banks remain in the control of the Oracle. The Doctor, Leela, and Idas venture to the Citadel to get the precious cargo. However, the Seers have meanwhile captured Herrick and give him what he thinks are the two race banks to take back to his ship. Jackson, Orfe and Tala are overjoyed, little realising that their friend has actually brought fission bombs back to the R1C.
The Doctor makes it to the core of the Citadel and confronts the Oracle. He succeeds in locating and stealing the real race banks and then heads off with Leela and Idas to get back to the probe ship. The Doctor gives the real race banks to Jackson, and then takes the fakes out of the craft. Idas takes advantage of the situation to round up the other Trogs and lead them to the safety of the R1C, while the Doctor engineers the return of the fission grenades to the Oracle. With moments to spare, the R1C blasts away, loaded with the slaves and the race banks, and is pushed outward from the planetoid by the explosion of the fission grenades. The TARDIS crew depart, wishing the Minyans well as they journey on to Minyos II, their quest complete.
Production
Underworld was recorded entirely in-studio in October 1977.
Background
The serial borrows many elements and parallels from
Broadcast and reception
Episode | Title | Run time | Original air date | UK viewers (millions) [5] |
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1 | "Part One" | 22:36 | 7 January 1978 | 8.9 |
2 | "Part Two" | 21:27 | 14 January 1978 | 9.1 |
3 | "Part Three" | 22:21 | 21 January 1978 | 8.9 |
4 | "Part Four" | 22:53 | 28 January 1978 | 11.7 |
Paul Cornell, Martin Day, and Keith Topping wrote of the serial in The Discontinuity Guide (1995), "The direction is a bit lazy, and the design could be better ... The plot settles down to be dullish, but much more worthy than its reputation would suggest. The CSO's not that bad, either."[6] In The Television Companion (1998), David J. Howe and Stephen James Walker noted the bad reputation the serial had, but felt that it was better than that and a good example of the era. They praised the extra level the story takes by offering comparisons to Greek mythology, as well as the model work and CSO.[7] In 2010, Patrick Mulkern of Radio Times panned the story and its "vapid characterisation, dodgy science and a dearth of anything dramatically engaging". While he liked some scenes and also found the visual effects good, he did not feel that compensated for the unengaging story and lack of comedic direction.[1]
Commercial releases
In print
ISBN 0-426-20068-3 | |
A novelisation of this serial, written by Terrance Dicks, was published by Target Books in January 1980 under the title Doctor Who and the Underworld. The novelisation opens with a lengthy history of the Minyans and the P7-E.
Home media
Underworld was released on VHS in March 2002. It was released on the U.S. iTunes Store in August 2008. The story was released on 29 March 2010 in a DVD box set called "Myths and Legends" along with the Third Doctor serial The Time Monster and the Fourth Doctor serial The Horns of Nimon. It was released individually in Region 1 on 7 July 2010. In March 2024, the story was released again in an upgraded format for Blu-ray, being included with the other stories from Season 15 in the Doctor Who - The Collection Box Set.[8]
References
- ^ a b Mulkern, Patrick (14 November 2010). "Underworld". Radio Times. Retrieved 30 November 2013.
- ^ McGinlay, Richard. "Doctor Who: Underworld – Video review". Sci-Fi Online. Retrieved 9 October 2008.
- ISBN 1-84511-162-1.
- ISBN 1-84511-162-1.
- ^ "Ratings Guide". Doctor Who News. Retrieved 28 May 2017.
- ISBN 0-426-20442-5.
- ISBN 978-0-563-40588-7.)
{{cite book}}
: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link - ^ Doctor Who – The Collection Season 15 Blu-Ray. Release date: 18 March 2024. BBC Video. ASIN: B0CRZ88MYK
External links
Target novelisation
- Doctor Who and the Underworld title listing at the Internet Speculative Fiction Database