C04S02 The tenth planet
Synopsis
The TARDIS lands at the South Pole in 1986. The arrival coincides with the appearance of Earth's forgotten twin planet Mondas along with visitors from that world – the emotionless Cybermen. It's up to the Doctor and his friends to stop the creatures before they convert Earth's population into similar cyber creations – but the encounter will have a devastating effect on the Doctor...
Cover notes
It was the end but the moment had been prepared for. The Tenth Planet stands out as one of the biggest game-changing stories in the history of Doctor Who. Not only does it introduce viewers to the Cybermen for the first time – popular emotionless creatures that would appear again and again for years to come – but it also reveals something that we didn't know about the Doctor. If his body becomes too old or damaged, he can change it...
For three years, William Hartnell had starred as the Doctor, a role he loved and helped create – the curmudgeonly old man, who was brilliant, stubborn, childlike and mischievous; someone who insisted that history shouldn't be interfered with, but who consistently broke all the rules...
Behind the scenes, the production team decided to break all the rules too. Ill health was preventing Hartnell playing the part, tensions were fraught on set and those in control of the series knew that something had to change. And what better way to keep Doctor Who alive than change the actor who played the Doctor and build it into the grammar of the series. And this is it. This is where it all happens. In the last episode – especially animated for this realse – almost without warning, Hartnell's Doctor announces those famous words before rushing back to his ship: It's far from being all over.
In retrospect, never a truer word has been spoken. Watched by his companions, the Doctor collapses in the TARDIS and starts to change. And it seems not a moment too soon...
Cast
| The Doctor | William Hartnell | listed as Dr. Who |
| Polly Wright | Anneke Wills | |
| Ben Jackson | Michael Craze | |
| General Cutler | Robert Beatty | |
| Dyson | Dudley Jones | |
| Barclay | David Dodimead | |
| Schultz | Alan White | ep. 1,2 |
| Williams | Earl Cameron | ep. 1,2 |
| Tito | Shane Shelton | ep. 1 |
| American Sergeant | John Brandon | ep. 1 |
| Wigner | Steve Plytas | |
| RADAR Technician | Christopher Matthews | |
| Cyberman Krail | Reg Whitehead | ep. 2 |
| Cyberman Talon | Harry Brooks | ep. 2 |
| Cyberman Shav | Gregg Palmer | ep. 2 |
| Geneva Technician | Ellen Cullen | ep. 2,3,4 |
| T.V. Announcer | Glenn Beck | ep. 2 |
| Cyberman voice | Roy Skelton | ep. 2,4 |
| R/T Technician | Christopher Dunham | ep. 3,4 |
| Terry Cutler | Callen Angelo | ep. 3,4 |
| Cyberman Krang | Harry Brooks | ep. 4 |
| Cyberman Jarl | Reg Whitehead | ep. 4 |
| Cyberman Gern | Gregg Palmer | ep, 4 |
| cyberman voice | Peter Hawkins | ep. 4 |
Crew
| Written by | Kit Pedler | |
| Written by | Gerry Davis | ep. 3,4 |
| Title music | Ron Grainer and the BBC Radiophonic Workshop | |
| Costumes by | Sandra Reid | listed final episode only; probably all |
| Make-up by | Gillian James | listed final episode only; probably all |
| Lighting | Howard King | listed final episode only; probably all |
| Sound | Adrian Bishop-Laggett | listed final episode only; probably all |
| Story Editor | Gerry Davis | |
| Designer | Peter Kindred | |
| Producer | Innes Lloyd | |
| Director | Derek Martinus |
DVD Extras
| Anneke Wills Christopher Matthews Earl Cameron Alan White Donald van der Maaten Christopher Dunham Peter Kindred |
commentary track | |
| Frozen Out | Cast and crew look back on the making of The Tenth Planet | |
| episode 4 VHS reconstruction | The reconstruction of the mission fourth episode of The Tenth Planet using audio, stills and surviving clips. which featured on the BBC Video VHS release of the story back in 2000. | |
| William Hartnell interview | Shortly after leaving Doctor Who, star William Hartnell joined the 1966 Christmas pantomime tour of Puss in Boots. Interviewed in his dressing room for BBC Bristol's Points West programme, Hartnell talks frankly about Daleks, the merits of pantomime and his own thoughts on his future career in this extremely rare glimpse into the mind of the man who first brought the role of the Doctor to life. | |
| Doctor Who Stories - Anneke Wills | Anneke Wills looks back on her role as Polly in the series, in an interview recorded for the BBC's Story of Doctor Who in 2003. | |
| The Golden Age | Historian Dominic Snadbrook examines the myth of a "Golden Age" of Doctor Who. | |
| Boys! Boys! Boys! | Peter Purves, Frazer Hines and Mark Strickson reminisce about their time as companions to the First, Second and Fifth Doctors respectively. | |
| Companion Piece | A psycologist, writers and some of the Doctor's companions over the years examine what it means to be a Time Lord's fellow traveller. | |
| Blue Peter | Two weeks before the show's tenth anniversary, the Blue Peter team take a look back at Doctor Who's history. Ironically, the strict preservation of Blue Peter's history means that the clip of the first regeneration has been preserved, but the final episode of The Tenth Planet that it came from was never again seen after its use here. | |
| photo gallery | ||
| Radio Times listings |
Special Edition DVD Extras
BluRay Extras
Loose Canon Extras
Commentary
| serial code : | DD |
| episode count : | 4 |
| initial broadcast date : | 1966-10-08 |
| DVD release date : | |
| DVD SE release date : | |
| BluRay release date : | |