Frontios
132[1]–Frontios | |||
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Doctor Whoserial | |||
Cast | |||
Others
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Production | |||
Directed by | Ron Jones | ||
Written by | Christopher H. Bidmead | ||
Script editor | Eric Saward | ||
Produced by | John Nathan-Turner | ||
Executive producer(s) | None | ||
Music by | Paddy Kingsland | ||
Production code | 6N | ||
Series | Season 21 | ||
Running time | 4 episodes, 25 minutes each | ||
First broadcast | 26 January 1984 | ||
Last broadcast | 3 February 1984 | ||
Chronology | |||
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Frontiosis the third serial of the21st seasonof the Britishscience fiction televisionseriesDoctor Who,which was first broadcast in four twice-weekly parts onBBC1from 26 January to 3 February 1984.
Set in the far future, the serial involves the alien Gravis (John Gillett) enslaving the last surviving humans to mine the planet for use as a spaceship for the Gravis.
Plot
[edit]![]() | This episode's plot summarymay betoo long or excessively detailed.(June 2017) |
TheTARDISlands in the far future, on the planet Frontios, where some of the last vestiges of humanity are struggling for survival. The planet is being attacked by meteor showers orchestrated by an unknown enemy responsible for the disappearance of several prominent colonists, including the colony's leader, Captain Revere. After witnessing Revere being "eaten by the ground," Security Chief Brazen claims Revere died of natural causes. Revere's son, Plantagenet, assumes the leadership of the colony.
TheFifth Doctor,TeganandTurloughemerge in the middle of the bombardment and decide to help the colonists. Needing better light in the medical facility, the Doctor sends Tegan and Turlough to fetch equipment from the TARDIS. However, they find that the ship's inner door is stuck, preventing them from getting beyond the console room. Norna, Tegan and Turlough obtain an acid-battery from the research room to power the lights. On their way back, however, they are forced to render the Warnsman unconscious to avoid capture. Following a second bombardment, the TARDIS is seemingly destroyed; all that is left is the Doctor'shat stand.
Plantagenet orders the execution of the Doctor, but Turlough intercedes. Plantagenet tries to attack the Doctor with a crowbar but suffers a heart attack. The Time Lord saves his life using the battery, yet Plantagenet is dragged into the ground.
![](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/3/3c/Tractator_%2811028049444%29.jpg/220px-Tractator_%2811028049444%29.jpg)
The Doctor, Tegan and Turlough discover that the culprits are the Gravis and his Tractators, giant insects with incredible powers over gravity. The disappeared colonists are being used to power the Gravis' machines. Turlough briefly undergoes a nervous breakdown because the Tractators once attempted to invade his home world long ago; his mind contains a deep, horrific "race memory"of the event. Plantagenet was kidnapped to replace Captain Revere, the current driver who is now brain dead. The Gravis intends to transform Frontios into an enormous spaceship and further spread the Tractators. The Doctor, Turlough, Brazen and his guards rescue Plantagenet by knocking out the Gravis, but Brazen is killed in the process.
Tegan wanders around in the tunnels and comes across bits of the TARDIS's inner walls. She is chased by the Gravis, who has now regained consciousness, and two Tractators. She comes upon one of the TARDIS's inner doors and opens it, finding herself in the TARDIS console room, where the Doctor, Turlough and Plantagenet are congregated around the console. The Doctor ushers the Gravis in and then tricks him into reassembling the TARDIS by using his power over gravity. The Gravis pulls the TARDIS back into its normal dimension. Once fully assembled, the Gravis is effectively cut off from his fellow Tractators, which revert to a harmless state.
After depositing the now-dormant Gravis on the uninhabited planet of Kolkokron and returning to Frontios, the Doctor gives Plantagenet the hat stand as a farewell token and asks that his own involvement in the affair not be mentioned to anyone, especially the Time Lords. Once the TARDIS has left Frontios, its engines start making a worrisome noise. The Doctor appears to be helpless as the ship is being pulled towards the centre of the universe.
Production
[edit]Episode | Title | Run time | Original air date | UK viewers (millions) [2] |
---|---|---|---|---|
1 | "Part One" | 24:39 | 26 January 1984 | 8.0 |
2 | "Part Two" | 24:35 | 27 January 1984 | 5.8 |
3 | "Part Three" | 24:30 | 2 February 1984 | 7.8 |
4 | "Part Four" | 24:26 | 3 February 1984 | 5.6 |
Script editor Eric Saward contacted writerChristopher H. Bidmeadin July 1982 with a view to writing a script. Its original title wasThe Wanderer[s].The scripts were formally commissioned on 26 November 1982 under the titleFrontious.The scripts were delivered on 16 February 1983 and accepted three weeks later subject to some rewrites.[3]The director wasRon Jones,who had directed three earlier Fifth Doctor stories. The designer assigned to the serial, Barrie Dobbins died before production (later revealed as suicide) and was replaced by David Buckingham.[4]He started on production on 8 July 1983, just six weeks before recording. Soon after this, another shock came to the production when actorPeter Arne,who had been hired to play Mr Range, was murdered on 1 August 1983. This was just hours after he had attended a costume fitting for his character at the BBC. His murder was reported widely in the British media the following day, with many reports making mention of his upcoming part inDoctor Who.[4]He was replaced byWilliam Lucas.[5]Other actors of note featured inFrontiosincludedPeter Gilmore(as Brazen), who had found fame during the 1970s in the lead role ofThe Onedin Line.Lesley Dunlop,playing Norna, was widely experienced, despite her being just 27 and went on to appear inDoctor Whoagain, in 1988'sThe Happiness Patrol.Jeff Rawlehad also found fame in the 1970s as the lead inBilly Liarand later starred inThe Sarah Jane AdventuresstoryMona Lisa's Revenge.It was during rehearsals for this story thatColin Bakerwas announced as the new actor, asPeter Davisonhad by this time decided to leave the show.Frontioswas filmed in two three-day recording blocks in the BBC Television Centre's Studio 6 from 24 August to 9 September 1983.
Bidmead was instructed to include a monster in the script, something he was unhappy with since he felt that theDoctor Whomonsters looked "cheap" and had limited dialogue. His two earlier stories,LogopolisandCastrovalvafeatured no monsters. The Tractators were inspired by woodlice, which had infested his flat. Dancers were hired to wear the Tractator costumes with the idea that they would coil and twist their bodies in line with the idea of woodlice, but the costumes were too restrictive for this. The dancers were hired fromPineapple Studios.One glitch in the continuity of the series occurs in this story, as companionKamelionis missing when the TARDIS is destroyed. The writers ofThe Discontinuity Guidetheorise that he is disguised as the hatstand.[6]
Soon after the story was broadcast, Saward commissioned Bidmead to write a story for Season 23 featuring the Tractators and the Master. This was ultimately abandoned as the series itself was soon put on hiatus.Frontiosproved to be his last televised story forDoctor Who. [3]
Commercial releases
[edit]In print
[edit]![]() | |
Author | Christopher H. Bidmead |
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Cover artist | Andrew Skilleter |
Series | Doctor Whobook: Target novelisations |
Release number | 91 |
Publisher | Target Books |
Publication date | 10 December 1984 |
ISBN | 0-426-19780-1 |
The story was novelised by Bidmead and published byTarget Booksin December 1984. Bidmead includes many gruesome images of the Tractators technology including a hovering translation device. The cliffhanger that led intoResurrection of the Daleksis removed.
An unabridged reading of the novelisation by its author was released as a 4CD audiobook in April 2015.
Home media
[edit]Frontioswas released on a doubleVHSset withThe Awakeningin September 1997. It was released on DVD in May 2011. This serial was also released as part of theDoctor Who DVD Filesin Issue 100 on 31 October 2012.
References
[edit]- ^From theDoctor Who Magazineseries overview, in issue 407 (pp26-29).The Discontinuity Guide,which counts the unbroadcast serialShada,lists this as story number 133.Region 1DVDreleasesfollowThe Discontinuity Guidenumbering system.
- ^"Ratings Guide".Doctor Who News.Retrieved28 May2017.
- ^abDoctor WhoFrontiosBBC DVD. Production subtitles
- ^abDoctor WhoFrontios- "Driven to Distraction". BBC DVD documentary
- ^"Frontios ★★★".
- ^Cornell, Paul;Day, Martin;Topping, Keith(1995)."Frontios".The Discontinuity Guide.London:Virgin Books.p. 299.ISBN0-426-20442-5.Retrieved20 April2009.
External links
[edit]![](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/f/fa/Wikiquote-logo.svg/34px-Wikiquote-logo.svg.png)
- FrontiosatBBC Online
- Extended Edit: FrontiosinTime Space Visualiser
- FrontiosatDoctor Who World
Reviews
[edit]Target novelisation
[edit]- Frontiostitle listing at theInternet Speculative Fiction Database