C09S04 The mutants
Synopsis
When a strange message pod turns up at UNIT HQ, the Doctor and his assistant Jo suddenly find themselves involved in another dangerous mission for the Time Lords. The TARDIS takes them to Skybase One above the inhospitable Solos. It is the 30th Century and the planet is about to gain independence from Earth's glorious empire. But someone on Solos has other plans and, alarmingly, the natives are slowly mutating into fierce-looking creatures. It's time for the Doctor and Jo to find out why...
Cover notes
The Mutants is the penultimate story of Doctor Who's ninth season and is a good example of a script that reflects social and political issues of its time.
Writers Bob Baker and Dave Martin, who wrote The Claws of Axos the previous year, submitted an idea for a story about colonial oppression on an alien planet, and eventually developed the story along with script editor Terrance Dicks. Originally called Independence, the anti-apartheid themes are clear from the start.
Trips to murky alien planets like Solos were a rare treat during the Doctor's adventures in the early 1970s - and this is the third time since he had been exiled to Earth that the Time Lords send the Doctor on a special mission, a particularly handy plot device that gets the TARDIS into time and space and away from Earth-based stories featuring the UNIT 'family'.
The atmospheric location filming includes scenes shot in the Chislehurst Caves in Kent. These man-made caves, which were made for chalk and flint in the 13th Century, provide a suitably eerie setting for the caves on Solos. The planet's surface is also filmed in Kent - in what was the Western Quarry in Northfleet. The quarry has since closed and, since 1999 is now home to a large shipping centre!
The mutant monsters of the story's title are well realised and nightmarish in appearance. Although the Mutt creatures never returned for another Doctor Who adventure, look out for one slightly altered Mutt costume that turns up and the beginning of The Brain of Morbius a few years later...
Cast
| The Doctor | Jon Pertwee | listed as Dr. Who [eps. 1,2,3,4] listed as Doctor Who [eps. 5,6] |
| Jo Grant | Katy Manning | |
| Marshal | Paul Whitsun-Jones | |
| Varan | James Mellor | ep. 1,2,3,4 |
| Ky | Garrick Hagon | |
| Administrator | Geoffrey Palmer | ep. 1 |
| Stubbs | Christopher Coll | ep. 1,2,3,4,5 |
| Cotton | Rick James | |
| Varan's son | Jonathan Sherwood | ep. 1,2 |
| Jaeger | George Pravda | ep. 2,3,4,5,6 |
| Sondergaard | John Hollis | ep. 3,4,5,6 |
| old man | Sidney Johnson | ep. 3 |
| Solos guard | Roy Pearce | ep. 4 |
| Guard warrior | David Arlen | ep. 4 |
| Skybase guard | Martin Taylor | ep. 5 |
| Solos guard | Damon Sanders | ep. 5 |
| Mutt | John Scott Martin | ep. 5 |
| Investigator | Peter Howell | ep. 6 |
Crew
| Written by | Bob Baker | |
| Written by | Dave Martin | |
| Title music | Ron Grainer and the BBC Radiophonic Workshop | |
| Incidental music | Tristram Cary | |
| Special sounds by | Brian Hodgson | |
| Film Cameraman | Fred Hamilton | |
| Film Sound | Dick Manton | |
| Film Editor | Dave King | |
| Visual effects designer | John Horton | |
| Costume design | James Acheson | listed ep. 1,6; probably all |
| Make-up | Joan Barrett | listed ep. 1,6; probably all |
| Studio Lighting | Frank Cresswell | listed ep. 1,6; probably all |
| Sound | Tony Millier | listed ep. 1,6; probably all |
| Script Editor | Terrance Dicks | |
| Designer | Jeremy Bear | |
| Producer | Barry Letts | |
| Director | Christopher Barry |
DVD Extras
| Katy Manning Garrick Hagon Christopher Barry Terrance Dicks Bob Baker Brian Hodgson Jeremy Bear |
commentary track | |
| Mutt Mad | Cast and crew look back at the making on the story. | |
| Race against time | Noel Clarke narrates a documentary looking at the representation of non-white actors in Doctor Who and on British TV as a whole. | |
| Dressing Doctor Who | Costume designer James Acheson takes an affectionate look back over his earlier work on Doctor Who. | |
| Blue Peter | Peter Purves examines some Doctor Who monsters prior to the opening of an exhibition of visual effects. | |
| photo gallery | ||
| Radio Times listings |
Commentary
| serial code : | NNN |
| episode count : | 6 |
| initial broadcast date : | 1972-04-08 |
| DVD release date : | |
| DVD SE release date : | |
| BluRay release date : | |