top of page

110) MEGLOS

27 September - 18 October 1980

Average Viewing Figure: 4.7M

Plot

On the planet Tigella the last Zolfa-Thuran plans to steal a sacred Dodecahedron from the Tigellans

Cast

Tom Baker (The Doctor), Lalla Ward (Romana), Bill Fraser (General Grugger), Frederick Treves (Lieutenant Brotadac)

Edward Underdown (Zastor), Jacqueline Hill (Lexa), Colette Gleeson (Caris), Crawford Logan (Deedrix), Christopher Owen (Earthling)

John Leeson (Voice of K-9), Simon Shaw (Tigellan Guard)​

Crew

John Flanagan, Andrew McCulloch (Writers), Paddy Kingsland, Peter Howell (Incidental Music), Dick Mills (Special Sound) 

Marilyn Gold (Production Assistant), Angela Smith (Production Unit Manager), Hermonie Stewart (Director's Assistant)

Valerie McCrimmon (Assistant Floor Manager), Steven Drewett (Visual Effects Designer), David Jervis (Video Effects)

Graham Giles (Vision Mixer), Brendan Carr (Technical Manager), Alec Wheal (Senior Cameraman)

Ian Williams, Sam Upton (Video Tape Editors), Bert Postlethwaite (Lighting), John Holmes (Sound), June Hudson (Costume Designer)

Cecile Hay-Arthur (Make-Up Artist), Christopher H Bidmead (Script Editor), Sid Sutton (Title Sequence), Philip Lindley (Designer)

Barry Letts (Executive Producer), John Nathan-Turner (Producer), Terence Dudley (Director)

​

Uncredited Crew

Alex Bridcutt (Assistant Floor Manager), Karen Loxton (Director's Assistant), Alan Sandbrook (Floor Assistant), Andrew Hunter (Grams Operator)

Crew 11 (Camera Crew), Chick Hetherington (Show Working Supervisor), Sarah Leigh (Costume Assistant), Catherine Whitfield, Margaret Magee

Jan Lee, Janet Philips (Make-Up Assistants), Mary Greaves (Design Assistant), Al Huxley (Props Buyer), Jane Judge (Production Secretary)

Mike Kelt (Visual Effects Assistant)

Broadcast

76) THE ARK IN SPACE

Filming Locations

  • Television Centre: Studio 3

  • Television Centre: Studio 8

Deaths

  • General Grugger [destroyed]

  • Lieutenant Brotadac [killed when Zolfa-Thura explodes]

  • Lexa [shot dead]

  • Meglos [dies when Zolfa-Thura explodes]

  • Gaztaks [dies when Zolfa-Thura explodes]

Production Days

  • 6 Days between Wednesday 25 June - Saturday 12 July 1980

Production Errors

  1. During part one, the wires which hold the planet up over Zolfa Thura can be seen â€‹â€‹

  2. During part one, The Doctor says he wasn't allowed to see the dodecahedron on his last visit, but in episode three, he remembers seeing it. 

  3. The cactus gloves which Tom Baker wears do not hide his wrists on several occasions 

  4. During part one, one of the Gaztaks holding the Earthling trips and nearly falls over

  5. During part three, a cough can be heard off-screen coming from somewhere in the recording studio

  6. Grugger says he's lost 50 per cent of his six crew on Tigella, but there are more than 3 left when they arrive on Zolpha-Thura

Working Titles

Number of Production Days: 5

  • The Golden Star

  • The Last Zolfa-Thuran

Verdict

Meglos lacks any and all interesting values and characters to make this a decent piece of television. The writing is very lazy which often makes it look like scenes are out of any sort of order, which results in a dissatisfying adventure. The characters are poor especially Brotadac who spends most of his time, sticking out his tongue, looking confused and being a general nuisance. The acting is very mechanical, and Baker does not take advantage whilst playing the villain. Meglos is a boring antagonist which no sense of characteristics. The plotting is also very poor with scenes leading nowhere and very little persuasion needed to convince everyone that there is a doppelganger going about. The death of Lexa is beyond lethargic, she literally just take one step and she is dead. Meglos is not worth the time or energy to get annoyed about. *​

bottom of page