Doctor Who (1963) 15.05.X

Into the Unknown: The Making of Underworld

2009

30 minutes

People Interviewed

• Anthony Read, script editor (1976-79)
• Bob Baker, writer
• Dick Coles, designer
• AJ Mitchell, electronic effects designer
• Norman Tipton, Idas
• Jonathan Newth, Orfe

Doctor Who (1963) 15.05.04

Underworld - Part Four

The Doctor, Leela, Idas, and the crew of the R1C break into the P7E. The crew of the R1C fight with the guards while the Doctor, Leela, and Idas go after the golden cylinders which contain the race banks of the Minyan people.

The seers decide to release Herrick and give him the golden cylinders. A temporary truce is declared. Herrick returns with the others and the cylinders (which turn out to be fakes) to the R1C.

The Doctor finds the real golden cylinders and has a chat with the oracle, the P7E's computer. It doesn't give up the golden cylinders willingly. The Doctor, Leela, and Idas return to the R1C. The fake golden cylinders are bombs, according to K-9's analysis. The Doctor returns them and comes back with all the Trogs.

The R1C blasts off and leaves the planet. The P7E blows up.

Doctor Who (1963) 15.05.03

Underworld - Part Three

The Doctor reverses the blowers. The noxious gas is sucked out of the caverns. The Doctor heads back to the R1C once he has recovered from the effects of the gas. He sends K-9 to find the crew of the R1C.

The Doctor, Leela, and Ilas go looking for Idmon, father of Ilas, who is due to be executed. They use a back entrance to get into the P7E. They are spotted and captured by the guards and brought to the chamber where Idmon is about to be executed. Ilas interferes with the ceremony and saves his father's life.

Jackson and the other crew members of the R1C show up just in time to help the Doctor, Leela, Ilas, and the other Trogs (workers) escape from the guards of the P7E. Herrick gets captured but everyone else gets away.

Doctor Who (1963) 15.05.02

Underworld - Part Two

The Doctor's plan works. The R1C, the spaceship, blasts its way out of the debris that is forming around it. The crew uses the last of the fuel to escape from the debris. They pick up the signal from the P7E and follow it. They crash through the soft crust of a planet. They sink below the surface until they find the solid core of the planet.

There are people living down there. Some of the people are workers, others are guards. The crew goes out to do to a little reconnaissance. They insist that the Doctor and Leela stay behind in the R1C. The Doctor only hesitates briefly once the others have left before heading out for a look around.

The Doctor and Leela are spotted by the guards but manage to get away. Idas, one of the workers, runs away from the guards. He gets into the R1C. The Doctor and Leela find him there and try to help him. The Doctor heads out again even though it is clear that the area around the R1C is being fumigated. He collapses after being overcome by the smoke, while tinkering with some machinery he finds.

Doctor Who (1963) 15.05.01

Underworld - Part One

The TARDIS avoids getting sucked into a space nebula by teleporting onto the nearest spaceship. It is a Minyan spacecraft and has been traveling throughout the universe for 100,000 years. The four remaining crew members are searching for the P7E, a spacecraft which carries the only hope for their rebirth of their people.

The Minyans (Jackson, Herrick, Orfe, Tala) react negatively when they discover that they have crossed paths with a Time Lord. They have some knowledge of the Time Lords whom they refer to as gods. They use a pacifying ray on Leela when she threatens to shoot them with a weapon (Liebemann laser) she found in the store room in which the TARDIS materialised.

The spaceship starts to veer into the nebula. The Doctor offers to help. He hooks K-9 up to the ships computer and K-9 gets the spaceship to veer away from the nebula.

Jackson has the ship change course when they pick up the signal of the P7E coming from within the nebula. The Doctor tries to convince Jackson to not head back into the nebula but the captain won't listen. The ship is quickly surrounded by smaller bits of debris which cling to the hull. The thickness of the debris increases quite quickly. Herrick tries firing the ship's main gun but it doesn't seem to do any good.