|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| Previous Story: Planet Of Fire | Next Story: The Twin Dilemma |
|
Serial 6R: The Caves Of Androzani
|
| Plot |
| Production |
Peter Davison had informed Saward and producer John Nathan-Turner that he would be leaving Doctor Who after Season Twenty-One, his third in the title role. Davison was wary of typecasting, and had been advised by former Doctor Patrick Troughton that three years in the role should be his limit. After failing to convince his star to sign on for one more season, Nathan-Turner decided to have Davison exit in the year's penultimate adventure, the idea being to give the audience a chance to experience the new Doctor before the long break between seasons. This would just be the second time that a regeneration had occurred mid-season (the other being the very first change of lead actor, from William Hartnell to Troughton, in 1966's The Tenth Planet).
Holmes was enthused at the prospect of writing a regeneration story, and in May composed an outline entitled Chain Reaction, inspired by the 1911 Gaston Leroux novel The Phantom Of The Opera (also a basis for an earlier Holmes effort, Season Fourteen's The Talons Of Weng-Chiang), amongst other sources. At this point, the Doctor's regeneration was a result of wounds from the gunrunners and overall physical exhaustion. Only afterward was this modified to include the Doctor's and Peri's exposure to spectrox toxaemia. The serial's title was also changed, to The Caves Of Androzani, by the time it was formally commissioned on July 28th. By now, Davison's replacement had been cast, in the form of Colin Baker.
Saward made only two notable additions to Holmes' scripts. One was the portion of the concluding scene beginning with Peri's recovery; the other was the explanation for the Doctor wearing a celery stick (to alert him to certain gases to which he is allergic). Nathan-Turner, meanwhile, replaced the entry for The Caves Of Androzani on his planning board with one for a made-up story called The Doctor's Wife. The producer believed that fans were somehow getting access to information from his office, and indeed before long reports about The Doctor's Wife began appearing in the fan press.
The director assigned to Serial 6R was Graeme Harper, who had gotten his start in the television business as an actor before later deciding he preferred to work behind the cameras. Harper had come to Nathan-Turner's attention when he worked as an assistant director on Warriors' Gate three years before, and had been instrumental in helping that story's director, Paul Joyce, complete the required scenes. Harper afterward completed the BBC's director's course and did some work on the soap opera Angels amongst other productions, before going freelance and being hired by Nathan-Turner for The Caves Of Androzani. Harper had high hopes with regard to casting the serial, and especially the role of Sharaz Jek. Offers were made to Tim Curry (renowned for playing transvestite Doctor Frankenfurter in the cult classic The Rocky Horror Picture Show) amongst others, and indeed Harper claims to have hoped to attract either Mick Jagger or David Bowie. In the end, though, the part went to ballet dancer Christopher Gable, who had originally been approached to play Salateen.
Three days of location filming began on November 15th, at Masters Pit in Wareham, Dorset. The Caves Of Androzani was then due to return to the studio for a two-day block beginning on December 1st. However, the BBC had once again been hit with industrial action -- this time by the scenery shifters -- and the dates were lost. Nathan-Turner decided to allocate the serial two days originally assigned to the season's final story, The Twin Dilemma. As a result, recording did not begin until two weeks later, with a three-day session starting on Thursday, December 15th, and picked up again with two days from Wednesday, January 11th, 1984.
Harper proved to be a meticulous director, often recording scenes shot by shot. As a result, the production quickly got badly behind schedule, and so overruns of fifteen and thirty minutes were granted on December 17th and January 12th, respectively. Nonetheless, it grew apparent that Harper would not be able to complete all the material in time, and so Holmes and Saward collaborated on ways to excise as many remaining scenes as possible. The opening TARDIS sequence, in which the Doctor explains that he wants to collect sand to practise the art of glassblowing he had once learned at a monastery, was discarded (to be replaced by voiceovers on the first location shot), as was a major scene from episode four in which the Doctor kills the magma beast by tricking it into jumping over the edge of a cliff. Even with these cuts, recording still finished with only seconds to spare.
Amongst those present on the final studio day were all of the Fifth Doctor's past companions -- Matthew Waterhouse (Adric), Sarah Sutton (Nyssa), Janet Fielding (Tegan), Mark Strickson (Turlough) and Gerald Flood (the voice of Kamelion), as well as Anthony Ainley (the Master). Nathan-Turner wanted to include in The Caves Of Androzani something similar to the clips montage he had used for the Fourth Doctor's regeneration in Logopolis. Aware that so many former castmembers would be present for Davison's wrap party, he asked Saward to script one-line cameo appearances for each of them, to appear a regenerative illusions. Initially, it was thought that neither Sutton (who would have been starring in the theatrical Cinderella had production fallen on its original December date) nor Ainley (whose agent was holding out for more money) would be able to appear. Fortunately, this did not prove to be the case, although Sutton was suffering from chicken pox at the time.
Also present on the 12th was the new Doctor, Colin Baker. Baker was due to record his lone scene on this day, only to discover that Davison's trousers would not fit his portlier frame. Consequently, he performed his sequence with them unbuttoned -- also affording him the chance to moon Davison's then-wife, Sandra Dickinson. The regeneration was finally broadcast at the conclusion of The Caves Of Androzani episode four on March 16th, bringing Peter Davison's time on Doctor Who to an end. The installment included specially-crafted closing titles, featuring Baker's face, and led off with Baker's credit instead of Davison's.
Davison found himself regretting his decision to leave Doctor Who, having enjoyed many of his scripts for Season Twenty-One -- especially The Caves Of Androzani. At this point, though, it was of course far too late to change his decision, given that Baker had already been cast and announced to the public as the Sixth Doctor. Davison continued his prolific career after leaving Doctor Who, with roles in Campion, A Very Peculiar Practise, the feature film Black Beauty and new series of All Creatures Great And Small amongst others. Davison returned to play the Fifth Doctor in the thirtieth anniversary charity special Dimensions In Time, narrated two novelisations of his stories for release as audio tapes, hosted the video special Daleks -- The Early Years, recorded the unreleased The Davison Years special, and appeared on several audio plays from Big Finish Productions.
| Details |
| Episode | Date | Time | Duration | Viewers | Audience App. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 8th March 1984 | 6.41pm | 24'33" | 6.9m (66th) | 65% |
| 2 | 9th March 1984 | 6.41pm | 25'00" | 6.6m (75th) | |
| 3 | 15th March 1984 | 6.42pm | 24'36" | 7.8m (62nd) | 65% |
| 4 | 16th March 1984 | 6.41pm | 25'37" | 7.8m (62nd) | 68% |
| Producer | John Nathan-Turner |
| Script Editor | Eric Saward |
| Writer | Robert Holmes |
| Director | Graeme Harper |
| Designer | John Hurst |
| Costume | Andrew Rose |
| Incidental Music | Roger Limb |
Principal Guest Cast: Anthony Ainley (The Master), Martin Cochrane (Chellak), Christopher Gable (Sharaz Jek), Robert Glenister (Salateen), Roy Holder (Krelper), Barbara Kinghorn (Timmin), David Neal (President), John Normington (Morgus), Maurice Roeves (Stotz).
Novelisation: The Caves Of Androzani by Terrance Dicks (book 92), November 1984; covers by Andrew Skilleter (original and 1992 rerelease).
Video Release: The Caves Of Androzani, episodic format, January 1992; PAL (BBC Video cat.# 4713) and NTSC (Warners cat.# E1183) formats available; cover by Andrew Skilleter.
DVD Release: The Caves Of Androzani, episodic format, June 2001; Region 2/4 (BBCDVD cat.# 1042) and Region 1 (Warners cat.# E1608) formats available; photomontage cover (the Region 2/4 and Region 1 covers differ, however). Extras include commentary by Peter Davison, Nicola Bryant and Graeme Harper, the original BBC1 trailer, a BBC News item about Davison leaving Doctor Who, a BBC News interview with Davison, a South East At Six News feature with Davison and John Nathan-Turner, an eight-minute featurette with commentary, a five-minute featurette with commentary by Christopher Gable about Sharaz Jek, an isolated music soundtrack, and a photo gallery.
Rankings: 3rd (83.12%, Doctor Who Dynamic Rankings website, 22nd June 1999); 3rd (88.51%, DWM 1997 Annual Survey).
| Sources |
Back to Doctor Who On
Television
| Previous Story: Planet Of Fire | Next Story: The Twin Dilemma |