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Serial 6C: Time-Flight
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| Plot |
| Production |
Shortly thereafter, however, Grimwade was hired to direct Full Circle and then Logopolis. This meant that work on Xeraphin had to be halted until the end of the season, and with the near total overhaul of the regular cast (the exit of Tom Baker and the introduction of Peter Davison, Sarah Sutton and Janet Fielding), significant changes would need to be made. On the other hand, the delay gave producer John Nathan-Turner extra time to gain permission to film at Heathrow and on board a Concorde -- neither of which a television had ever been allowed to do at that time. Eventually, however, Nathan-Turner managed to secure the necessary clearances, although British Airways was finally convinced to allow the Doctor Who team on board a Concorde when Nathan-Turner dropped false hints that he was in similar discussions with Air France.
Xeraphin was formally commissioned on September 22nd. By this time, it had been decided to include the Master in the scripts, replacing an evil Xeraphin spirit as the chief villain of the piece. Nathan-Turner was planning to include the Master in two stories every season for at least three years beginning with Season Nineteen -- Anthony Ainley was already booked for the year's opening story, at this stage still the abortive Project Zeta-Sigma by John Flanagan and Andrew McCulloch. It was decided to use the pseudonym Leon Ny Taiy (an anagram of "Tony Ainley") to credit the actor for episode one, to preserve the surprise of his unmasking at the end of part two.
Grimwade was also asked to make it seem that Tegan was being written out of the series at the end of episode four. This would act as both a tease to keep viewers' interest during the long break between seasons (now nine months due to the switch of Doctor Who to twice-weekly broadcasts) and a safety mechanism in case Nathan-Turner and incoming script editor Eric Saward decided the character wasn't working. (Ultimately, it would be agreed in September that Tegan would return for Season Twenty, months before this scene was actually recorded.)
Grimwade continued to slowly work on Xeraphin around directing assignments on Kinda and Earthshock. Saward found the process rather gruelling, not the least because he was less enamoured of the Master than Nathan-Turner, and had hoped to kill off the character in Xeraphin. A late addition was the cameo appearance of Adric in episode two as a hallucination, which was a suggestion of Nathan-Turner's. Meanwhile, Andrew Morgan, whose credits included Blake's 7, was asked to direct Xeraphin. He disliked the scripts, however, and when he was subsequently offered work on another BBC programme, he declined the offer at short notice. Left with little time to find a new director, Nathan-Turner turned to Ron Jones, who was just finishing up his first such assignment on Black Orchid. Jones would therefore begin work on the new serial immediately afterward.
In the middle of December 1981, the title of Serial 6C was changed to Time-Flight, which was thought to be more compelling than Xeraphin. Location work then began at Heathrow on January 6th, 1982. Filming aboard British Airways' back-up Concorde was slated for the 8th, but this had to be rescheduled for the 11th when the craft had to be pressed into service.
Studio recording then began with a two-day session on Tuesday, January 19th. Unfortunately, various delays meant that all the required material could not be completed by the end of the 20th, and extra time had to be scheduled for the 24th. Also around this time, it became clear that part three was desperately short on material. On the 25th, Saward asked Grimwade to contribute a further seven minutes for the episode -- this included extra TARDIS and corridor sequences, as well as extended scenes in the sarcophagus. The serial -- and Season Nineteen -- was completed with a three-day block beginning on Monday, February 1st.
Matthew Waterhouse played Adric for the final time on the 2nd, marking his final Doctor Who work. Waterhouse's acting career has been mainly confined to the theatre since leaving the programme, with his work including a one-man version of Mark Twain's The Adventures Of Huckleberry Finn.
| Details |
| Episode | Date | Time | Duration | Viewers | Audience App. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 22nd March 1982 | 6.57pm | 24'56" | 10.0m (26th) | |
| 2 | 23rd March 1982 | 7.06pm | 23'58" | 8.5m (48th) | |
| 3 | 29th March 1982 | 6.57pm | 24'29" | 8.9m (46th) | |
| 4 | 30th March 1982 | 6.52pm | 24'30" | 8.1m (64th) |
| Producer | John Nathan-Turner |
| Script Editor | Eric Saward |
| Writer | Peter Grimwade |
| Director | Ron Jones |
| Designer | Richard McManan-Smith |
| Costume | Amy Roberts |
| Incidental Music | Roger Limb |
Principal Guest Cast: Anthony Ainley (The Master), Judith Byfield (Angela Clifford), Michael Cashman (Bilton), Peter Dahlsen (Horton), Keith Drinkel (Scobie), Richard Easton (Captain Stapley), Brian McDermott (Sheard), Nigel Stock (Professor Hayter).
Novelisation: Time-Flight by Peter Grimwade (book 74), January 1983; photomontage cover.
Video Release: Time-Flight, episodic format, July 2000; PAL (BBC Video cat.# 6878) and NTSC (Warners cat.# E1528) formats available; photomontage cover.
Rankings: 146th (51.87%, Doctor Who Dynamic Rankings website, 22nd June 1999); 155th (46.16%, DWM 1997 Annual Survey).
| Sources |
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