C10S03 Frontier in space
Synopsis
It is the year 2450, and a fragile peace exists between the great empires of Earth and Draconia. The TARDIS materialises aboard an Earth cargo ship which comes under attack. Arrested and accused of espionage, the Doctor is sentenced to life imprisonment on the Moon, but salvation arrives in an unexpected form...
Can the Doctor and Jo stop the Master's plan to provoke a galactic war and reveal the deadly enemy waiting for the chance to destroy both empires?
Cover notes
Barry Letts and Terrance Dicks had made grand plans for the tenth anniversary season of Doctor Who. Not only would it feature the reappearance of William Hartnell and Patrick Troughton alongside Jon Pertwee in The Three Doctors, but there would also be an epic 12-part story to rival The Daleks' Masterplan (1965/6).
In the event, two linked six part stories were commissioned. Frontier in Space, the first of these stories, is an ambitious project realised through extensive model work, careful scripting, inventive use of locations and impressive design. It presents a future permeated with 1970s Cold War sensibilities, bleak, unfriendly and distrustful, where two galactic empires teeter on the brink of war. But this future is far from black and white. As in Doctor Who and the Silurians (1970 and The Sea Devils (1972), Malcolm Hulke portrays two morally ambiguous adversaries and highlights the fear and latent aggression on both sides as they are manipulated by a third party.
Perhaps unexpectedly, it is the presence of the Master that brings humour and lightness to the story. Roger Delgado's performance is beguiling, playfully masterminding the escalation of tension and relishing being in control. Given that this was Delgado's last appearance as the Master before his untimely death, it is all the more tragic that his final moments on screen are edited to a rather hasty and unsatisfactory conclusion.
Conceived with great ambition, Frontier in Space is somewhat compromised in its climax by the need to dovetail into Planet of the Daleks, but remains a first-class space opera realised on a grand scale.
Cast
| The Doctor | Jon Pertwee | listed as Dr. Who |
| Jo Grant | Katy Manning | |
| President of Earth | Vera Fusek | ep. 1,2,3,5,6 |
| General Williams | Michael Hawkins | ep. 1,2,3,5,6 |
| Draconian Prince | Peter Birrel | ep. 1,2,5,6 |
| Gardiner | Ray Lonnen | ep. 1,2 |
| Kemp | Barry Ashton | ep. 1,2 |
| Hardy | John Rees | ep. 1,2 |
| Stewart | James Culliford | ep. 1,2 |
| newscaster | Louis Mahoney | ep. 1,2 |
| Draconian space pilot | Roy Pattison | ep. 1,2 |
| secretary | Karol Hagar | ep. 1,2,3 |
| The Master | Roger Delgado | ep. 3,4,5,6 |
| Professor Dale | Harold Goldblatt | ep. 3,4 |
| Patel | Madhav Sharma | ep. 3 |
| Prison Governor | Dennis Bowen | ep. 3,4 |
| Cross | Richard Shaw | ep. 3,4 |
| Sheila | Luan Peters | ep. 3 |
| technician | Caroline Hunt | ep. 3 |
| Lunar guard | Laurence Harrington | ep. 3 |
| Draconian captain | Bill Wilde | ep. 4,5 |
| Draconian Emperor | John Woodnutt | ep. 5 |
| Draconian messenger | Ian Frost | ep. 5 |
| Earth cruiser captain | Clifford Elkin | ep, 5 |
| First Ogron | Stephen Thorne | ep. 5,6 |
| Second Ogron | Michael Kilgarriff | ep. 5,6 |
| Third Ogron | Rick Lester | ep. 5,6 |
| Congressman Brooke | Ramsay Williams | ep. 6 |
| newscaster | Bill Mitchell | ep. 6 |
| pilot of space ship | Stanley Price | ep. 6 |
| Dalek | John Scott Martin | ep. 6 |
| Dalek | Cy Town | ep. 6 |
| Dalek | Murphy Grumbar | ep. 6 |
| Dalek voice | Michael Wisher | ep. 6 |
Crew
| Written by | Malcolm Hulke | |
| Title music by | Ron Grainer and the BBC Radiophonic Workshop | |
| Incidental music by | Dudley Simpson | |
| Special sound | Dick Mills | |
| Visual effects designer | Bernard Wilkie | listed ep. 1,6; probably all |
| Visual effects designer | Rhys Jones | listed ep. 1,6; probably all |
| Lighting | Ralph Watson | listed ep. 1; probably all |
| Sound | Brian Hiles | listed ep. 1; probably all |
| Costumes | Barbara Kidd | listed ep. 1; probably all |
| Make-up | Sandra Shepherd | listed ep. 1; probably all |
| Masks by | John Friedlander | listed ep. 1; probably all |
| Script Editor | Terrance Dicks | |
| Designer | Cynthia Ključo | |
| Producer | Barry Letts | |
| Director | Paul Bernard |
DVD Extras
| Katy Manning Barry Letts Terrance Dicks |
commentary track | |
| Perfect scenario: Lost Frontier | In the far future, the remaining population of an oxygen-depleted planet Earth lies in enforced stasis in The Field of Dreams. Looking for ideas to help him re-connect to his captive audience, Zed, a young scenariosmith, turns to the world of Doctor Who for inspiration... | |
| The Space War | Cast and crew look back at the making of the story. | |
| Roger Delgado: The Master | A biography of actor Roger Delgado, featuring previously unseen photographs, rare excerpts from his many BBC TV appearances and interviews with those who knew and loved him. | |
| Stripped for Action: The Third Doctor | The series looking at the Doctor's comic book adventures reaches his third incarnation. | |
| Coming soon | An exclusive new trailer for a forthcoming Doctor Who DVD release from 2 entertain. | |
| photo gallery | ||
| Radio Times listings |
Commentary
| serial code : | QQQ |
| episode count : | 6 |
| initial broadcast date : | 1973-02-24 |
| DVD release date : | |
| DVD SE release date : | |
| BluRay release date : | |
| part of the Dalek War boxset | |