C06S05 The seeds of death
Synopsis
By the late 21st Century and Mankind is totally dependent on T-Mat, a revolutionary form of instant transport, moving people, food and medicines around the world. When the system breaks down, Earth is soon crippled by global shortages.
Travelling to the relay station on the Moon, the Doctor, Jamie and Zoe discover the horrific trouth: the Ice Warriors have hijacked T-Mat and plan to claim Earth for themselves, using T-Mat to transport deadly seed pods full of a fungus that will absorb the planet's oxygen. The Doctor must race against time to defeat the Martian invaders - or condem the human race to suffocation...
Cover notes
When this story was conceived, written and screened, man had yet to walk on the surface of the Moon. With amazing foresight, The Seeds of Death predicts that, once reaching the Moon is taken for granted, manned Lunar missions would become obsolete. An incredible stance to take in 1969, yet not too far removed from the situation of today.
Patrick Troughton's time as the Doctor is renowned for the array of original and memorable monsters it featured. The Ice Warriors prove to be effective villans in their encounters with the Second Doctor, and certainly match up to their contemporaries - Daleks, Cybermen and Yeti - in terms of popularity during Troughton's tenure on Doctor Who. Their creator, Brian Hayles, imbued the Ice Warriors with a sense of noble savagery, and later stories would, uniquely, see this warrior race become allies of the Doctor. In The Seeds of Death, we have a traditional base-under-siege tale which manages both to entertain and provide it's fair share of classic Doctor Who moments...
Cast
| The Doctor | Patrick Troughton | listed as Dr. Who |
| Jamie McCrimmon | Frazer Hines | |
| Zoe Heriot | Wendy Padbury | |
| Gia Kelly | Louise Pajo | |
| computer voice | John Witty | |
| Brent | Ric Felgate | ep. 1,2,3,4 |
| Osgood | Harry Towb | ep. 1 |
| Radnor | Ronald Leigh-Hunt | |
| Fewsham | Terry Scully | ep. 1,2,3,4,5 |
| Phipps | Christopher Coll | ep. 1,2,3,4 |
| Locke | Martin Cort | ep. 1,2 |
| Eldred | Philip Ray | |
| Slaar | Alan Bennion | |
| Ice Warrior | Steve Peters | |
| Ice Warrior | Tony Harwood | ep. 2,3,4,5,6 |
| Security guard | Derrick Slater | ep. 4 |
| Ice Warrior | Sonny Caldinez | ep. 4,5,6 |
| Sir James Gregson | Hugh Morton | ep. 5 |
| Grand Marshall | Graham Leaman | ep. 5,6 |
Crew
| Written by | Brian Hayles | |
| Title music | Ron Grainer and the BBC Radiophonic Workshop | |
| Special sound | Brian Hodgson | listed final episode only; probably all |
| Incidental music by | Dudley Simpson | |
| Visual effects designed by | Bill King (Trading Post) | listed final episode only; probably all |
| Costumes | Bobi Bartlett | ep. 1,6; probably all |
| Make-up | Sylvia James | listed final episode only; probably all |
| Lighting | Fred Wright | listed final episode only; probably all |
| Sound | Bryan Forgham | listed final episode only; probably all |
| Film Cameraman | Peter Hall | listed final episode only; probably all |
| Film Editor | Martyn Day | listed final episode only; probably all |
| Script Editor | Terrance Dicks | |
| Designer | Paul Allen | |
| Producer | Peter Bryant | |
| Director | Michael Ferguson |
DVD Extras
| Frazer Hines Wendy Padbury Michael Ferguson Terrance Dicks |
commentary track | |
| Sssowing the Ssseedsss | An all-new 25-minute feature about the on-screen realisation of the Ice Warriors themselves, and the making of The Seeds of Death. | |
| The Last Dalek | BBC designer Tony Cornell was working at Ealing film studios in May 1967, during the filming of the climatic Dalek battle scenes from The Evil of the Daleks - a story which is now missing from the BBC archives. He took an 8mm film camera with him, and made this 10-minute black and white silent film of the day's events. Original effects designers Michealjohn Harris and Peter Day provide a commentary on the action. | |
| New Zealand Censor clips | When Doctor Who was sold to New Zealand in the 1960s, some episodes had small sequences removed before screening, because they were considered too frightening, disturbing or violent. In 2002, a reel of these censored clips was discovered in a private collection by New Zealand fan Graham Howard. It was found to contain material from the missing episodes of The Web of Fear (1968) and The Wheel in Space (1968) which are presented for the first time on this DVD. | |
| TARDIS-Cam No. 5 | Another brand-new model sequence from BBCi's TARDIS-cam feature is included on this disc. | |
| episode 6 commentary track recording excerpt | (easter egg) excerpt from the recording of the commentary track for episode 6 | |
| photo gallery |
Special Edition DVD Extras
| Lords of the Red Planet | A look back at the creation of the Ice Warriors, and their re-appearance in The Seeds of Death. | |
| Monster Masterclass | Director Michael Ferguson talks about his experiences directing some of Doctor Who's most famous monster stories. | |
| Monsters Who Came Back For More! | Nick Briggs and Doctor Who Magazine's assistant editor Peter Ware take a look at the reasons why monsters often return for further adventures. | |
| TARDIS-Cam 6 | A model vignette created for the BBC's Doctor Who website [note: same clip as marked TARDIS-Cam No.5 on the original release DVD] | |
| Radio Times listings |
Commentary
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| serial code : | XX |
| episode count : | 6 |
| initial broadcast date : | 1969-01-25 |
| DVD release date : | |
| DVD SE release date : | |
| BluRay release date : | |
| 40th Anniversary Edition | |
| Special Edition part of the Revisitations 2 boxset | |