Galaxy 4
 |
| 018 – Galaxy 4 | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Doctor Who serial | |||
 The Drahvins and a Chumbley | |||
| Cast | |||
Others
| |||
| Production | |||
| Directed by | Derek Martinus Mervyn Pinfield (uncredited) | ||
| Written by | William Emms | ||
| Script editor | Donald Tosh | ||
| Produced by | Verity Lambert | ||
| Executive producer(s) | None | ||
| Production code | T | ||
| Series | Season 3 | ||
| Running time | 4 episodes, 25 minutes each | ||
| Episode(s) missing | 3 episodes (1, 2 and 4) | ||
| First broadcast | 11 September 1965 | ||
| Last broadcast | 2 October 1965 | ||
| Chronology | |||
| |||
Galaxy 4 is the first serial of the third season in the British science fiction television series Doctor Who, which was first broadcast in four weekly parts from 11 September to 2 October 1965.
Plot
The Doctor, Vicki, and Steven Taylor arrive on an eerily silent planet and encounter curious small robots, which Vicki names Chumblies. It is unclear whether the robots are hostile, when one is disabled by a party of female, cloned Drahvins, from the planet Drahva in Galaxy 4. It is revealed that this unknown planet is also in Galaxy 4, but is not given a name. The Drahvins are dominated by their leader, Maaga, who treats her other warriors with bullying contempt. The Drahvins are at war with the reptilian Rills, the masters of the Chumblies, and both races have crashed spaceships on this planet.
The planet will be destroyed in 14 planetary cycles and, with the Drahvin ship irreparable, Maaga and her warriors are keen to capture the Rill ship, which they believe has been made functional again. Maaga paints a picture of the Drahvins as the attacked species in the scenario, but the Doctor has witnessed some of the Drahvin aggression and is clearly not convinced. He also reworks the probability on the planet’s destruction and calculates it will break up in just two days' time. The Doctor tries to keep this new finding from the Drahvins, but Maaga reveals her true colours and forces the truth from him at the point of a gun.
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 Rills are a very advanced species: when he meets one he is impressed, not least by their telepathy. The ugly, horned, ammonia-breathing Rill explains that the Rills have offered to take the Drahvins away with them but Maaga has refused, preferring to maintain the state of war she began when the Drahvins shot down the Rill craft. 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 then 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 on the Rill craft, but the Chumblies defend their ship long enough for it to power up and leave the planet. One Chumbley left behind to aid the time travellers helps them get back to the TARDIS. Once the ship leaves, the planet explodes, with the Drahvins perishing on the dying world.
The story ends with a lead in to "Mission to the Unknown" with Vicki looking at a planet, and wondering what is happening on it. The action then switches to the planet, where a man in a jungle is chanting "Must Kill"
Production
Template:Doctor Who episode head The working title for this story was The Chumblies. Different resources alternatively spell out the title: Galaxy Four.
The BBC no longer holds the complete serial in its archives, although on 11 December 2011 it was announced that episode three, "Air Lock", had been discovered earlier in 2011 among material bought by former TV engineer Terry Burnett.[1][2]
Broadcast and reception
The ratings for this story ranged from 9 million viewers for Episode 1 and a peak of 11.3 million viewers for Episode 3.
Ian Levine claimed that the Doctor Who Appreciation Society obtained legal permission to privately screen this serial at a convention in 1978, only to find that the BBC had junked the episodes about three weeks prior.[3] Later research subsequently showed this to be mistaken, as the DWAS never held any agreement to show the serial, and BBC Enterprises appear to have junked at least one of the episodes by the end of 1976.[4]
In print
Template:Doctor Who book A novelisation of this serial, written by William Emms, was published by Target Books in November 1985, entitled Galaxy Four.
The script of this serial was published by Titan Books in July 1994, edited by John McElroy. It was correctly titled Galaxy 4. At the time of printing, the only audio recording known to exist was a poor quality copy of the second episode "Trap of Steel" which had several parts completely inaudible.[5]
VHS, DVD and CD releases
All audio-visual material known to exist for this story prior to the rediscovery of Air Lock in 2011 was released on VHS as part of the documentary The Missing Years. The same material was released on DVD by the BBC in 2004 as part of the Lost in Time box set. The recently discovered material is expected to be released in 2013 on The Aztecs-Special Edition DVD .[speculation?]
The soundtrack for the serial is intact and has been released commercially, with linking narration provided by Peter Purves. See List of Doctor Who audio releases.
See also
References
- ^ "Missing Episodes Recovered!". BBC. 11 December 2011. Retrieved 15 August 2012.
- ^ Plunkett, John (12 December 2011). "'Lost' Doctor Who episodes from 1960s returned to BBC". The Guardian. Retrieved 26 December 2011.
- ^ Levine, Ian (1992). "The Mark of Destruction: The truth behind the missing episodes of Doctor Who (part one)". DWB (103): 12–15.
{{cite journal}}: Unknown parameter|month=ignored (help) - ^ Bignell, Richard (2005). "Withdrawn, De-accessioned and Junked". Nothing at the End of the Lane — the Magazine of Doctor Who Research and Restoration (2): 44–49.
{{cite journal}}: Unknown parameter|month=ignored (help) - ^ Emms, William (1994). McElroy, John (ed.). Doctor Who - The Scripts: Galaxy 4. London: Titan Books. pp. 2, 5–6. ISBN 1-85286-566-0.
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External links
Reviews
- Template:DWRG
- Galaxy 4 reviews at Outpost Gallifrey
Target novelisation
Audio Adaptation
- Galaxy 4 audio reviews at Outpost Gallifrey