C07S03 The ambassadors of death
Synopsis
Something has gone seriously wrong with Mars Probe 7. With no contact from the astronauts since the rocket started its return journey from Mars, Space Control is now extremely worried about the fate of the crew. A rescue mission recovers something - but whatever it is, it certainly isn't human. To find out what has happened to the astronauts, the Doctor must head into space without the TARDIS...
Cover notes
In Doctor Who, Earth in the 1970s is extremely unlucky when it comes to alien invasions. It is therefore fortuitous that Jon Pertwee's Third Doctor is exiled there during that period.
By The Ambassadors of Death, the third story of season seven, the new Doctor has already prevented a plastic Auton invasion and also helped stop reptilian Silurians reclaim our world. Now he comes up against a sci-fi favourite - invaders from Mars. There's a Doctor Who twist, of course, with aliens that probably aren't actually Martians, and with the real enemy a little bit closer to home...
The story started life as discussions with writer David Whitaker and the Doctor Who production team in 1968. However, by the time is was being made, it was a very different series with a new set of rules and characters. The Third Doctor without a working TARDIS, Liz Shaw and UNIT were all added to the story, originally called The Invaders from Mars, and it took three writers to complete the seven-part serial.
The Ambassadors of Death is an exciting example of a new era of the series. The story makes good use of the new colour separation effect - CSO - a technique that producer Barry Letts was keen to experiment with. Scenes were written into the production especially so that CSO could be used. And, with complex action sequences and effective stunts, this is Doctor Who meets James Bond meets classic sci-fi movie, and it sits perfectly in this first run of Earth-based stories for the Third Doctor.
Cast
| The Doctor | Jon Pertwee | listed as Doctor Who |
| Liz Shaw | Caroline John | |
| Brigadier Lethbridge Stewart | Nicholas Courtney | |
| Ralph Cornish | Ronald Allen | ep. 1,2,3,4,5,6 |
| Taltalian | Robert Cawdron | ep. 1,2,4 |
| Carrington | John Abineri | [ep. 4,5,6,7 listed as General Carrington] |
| Van Lyden | Ric Felgate | ep. 1,2,3,6 |
| John Wakefield | Michael Wisher | ep. 1,2,7 |
| Miss Rutherford | Cheryl Molineaux | ep. 1,2 |
| Grey | Ray Armstrong | ep. 1,2 |
| Collinson | Robert Robertson | ep. 1,2 |
| Quinlan | Dallas Cavell | ep. 2,3,4,5 |
| Control Room assistant | Bernard Martin | ep. 2 |
| Dobson | Juan Moreno | ep. 2 |
| Corporal Champion | James Haswell | ep. 2 |
| Unit Sergeant | Derek Ware | ep. 2 |
| Reegan | William Dysart | ep. 3,4,5,6,7 |
| Heldorf | Gordon Sterne | ep. 3 |
| Astronaut | Steve Peters | ep. 3,4,5,7 |
| Astronaut | Neville Simons | ep, 3,4,5,7 |
| Lennox | Cyril Shaps | ep. 4,5 |
| UNIT soldier | Max Faulkner | ep. 4 |
| Masters | John Lord | ep. 4 |
| Astronaut | Ric Felgate | ep. 4,5,7 |
| Flynn | Tony Harwood | ep. 5 |
| Sergeant Benton | John Levene | ep. 5,7 |
| Private Parker | James Clayton | ep. 5 |
| Control Room assistant | Joanna Ross | ep. 5,6,7 |
| Control Room assistant | Carl Conway | ep. 5,6 |
| Technician | Roy Scammell | ep. 5 |
| Alien space captain | Peter Noel Cook | ep. 6,7 |
| Alien's voice | Peter Halliday | ep. 6,7 [ep. 7 listed as Alien's voices] |
| Lefee | Steve Peters | ep. 6 |
| Michaels | Neville Simons | ep. 6 |
| Private Johnson | Geoffret Beevers | ep. 7 |
Crew
| Written by | David Whitaker | |
| Written by | Malcolm Hulke | not listed in credits |
| Written by | Trevor Ray | not listed in credits |
| Title music | Ron Grainer and the BBC Radiophonic Workshop | |
| Incidental music | Dudley Simpson | |
| Film Cameraman | A.A. Englander | |
| Film Cameraman | Tony Leggo | ep. 4,6,7 |
| Film Editor | Don Godden | ep. 1,3,5,6,7 |
| Film Editor | Chris Wimble | ep. 2,4,7 |
| Action by | HAVOC | ep. 1,2,3,4,5,7 |
| Visual effects | Peter Day | |
| Visual effects | Ian Scoones | ep. 7 |
| Costumes | Christine Rawlins | ep. 1,7; probably all |
| Make-up | Marion Richards | ep. 1,7; probably all |
| Lighting | Geoff Shaw | listed final episode only; probably all |
| Lighting | Dave Sydenham | listed final episode only; probably all |
| Lighting | Ralph Walton | listed final episode only; probably all |
| Sound | Gordon Mackie | listed final episode only; probably all |
| Special Sounds by | Brian Hodgson and the BBS Radiophonic Workshop | listed final episode only; probably all |
| Script Editor | Terrance Dicks | |
| Designer | David Myerscough-Jones | |
| Producer | Barry Letts | |
| Director | Michael Ferguson |
DVD Extras
| Caroline John Nicholas Courtney Peter Halliday Geoffrey Beevers Michael Ferguson Terrance Dicks Derek Ware Roy Scammell Derek Martin |
commentary track | |
| Mars Probe 7: Making The Ambassadors of Death | Cast and crew look back at the making of the story. | |
| Tomorrow's Times - The Third Doctor | The on-going series looking at the press coverage of Doctor Who reaches the Jon Pertwee era; presented by Peter Purves. | |
| trailer | The original BBC trailer for the story. | |
| photo gallery | ||
| Radio Times listings |
Commentary
| serial code : | CCC |
| episode count : | 7 |
| initial broadcast date : | 1970-03-21 |
| DVD release date : | |
| DVD SE release date : | |
| BluRay release date : | |