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58) COLONY IN SPACE

10 April - 15 May 1971

Average Viewing Figure: 8.5M

Plot

The Time Lords send The Doctor to the planet Uxarieus to prevent, The Master from using the Doomsday Weapon, meanwhile a human colony on Uxarieus is being terrorised by mysterious creatures, who disappear into the night 

Cast

Jon Pertwee (The Doctor), Peter Forbes-Robertson (First Time Lord), John Baker (Second Time Lord), Graham Leaman (Third Time Lord)

Katy Manning (Jo Grant), Nicholas Courtney (Brigadier Lethbridge-Stewart), John Scott Martin (Robot), David Webb (Leeson)

Sheila Grant (Jane Leeson), John Line (Martin), John Ringham (Ashe), Mitzi Webster (Mrs Martin), Nicholas Pennell (Winton)

Helen Worth (Mary Ashe), Roy Skelton (Norton), Pat Gorman (Primitive/Long/Colonist), Bernard Kay (Caldwell), Morris Perry (Dent)

Tony Caunter (Morgan), John Herrington (Holden), Stanley McGeagh (Allen)Roger Delgado (The Master), Roy Heymann (Alien Priest)

John Tordoff (Alec Leeson), Norman Atkyns (Guardian)

​

Uncredited Cast

Terry Walsh, Dinny Powell, Alf Joint, Mike Horsburgh, Les Clark, Valentino Musetti, Stewart Anderson, Emmett Hennessy

Walter Turner, Mike Stephens (Primitives), Charles Pickless, Ken Halliwell, Bob Blaine, Alan Peters, Brian Gilmar, John Caesar

Ian Elliott, Jay McGrath, Les Conrad, Clay Hunter, Charles Finch, Monique Briant, Terry Walsh, Max Diamond

Valentino Musetti, Bill Horrigan (Colonists), Brian Gilmar, Brian Justice, Les Clark, Keith Simon, Stewart Stephens, Mike Stephens

Bob Blaine, Barry Stephens, Jay Neill, Les Clark, Mike Horsburgh, Dinny Powell, Alf Joint (IMC Guards)  

Stanley Mason Antonia Moss (Alien Priests), Terry Walsh (Rogers)

Crew

Uncredited Crew

Pauline Silcock (Director's Assistant), Bernard Fox (Technical Manager), Derek Medus (Film Sound Recordist)

Eddie Dougall (Film Sound Assistant), Alec Curtis (Film Camera Assistant)

Ian Scoones, Colin Mapson, John Friedlander (Visual Effects Assistants), Gordon Phillipson (Grams Operator), John Turner (Floor Assistant)

Jim Stephens (Vision Mixer), Crew 19 (Camera Crew)​

Broadcast

Filming Locations

  • Caravel Studios, Slough

  • Ealing Studios

  • The Old Baal  China Clay Pit, Carclaze, Cornwall

  • BBC Television Centre: Studio 4

  • BBC Television Centre: Studio 3

Deaths

  • Leeson [killed by the IMC Robot]

  • Jane Leeson [killed by the IMC Robot]

  • Ashe [sacrifices his own life]

  • Norton [shot and killed by Winton]

  • Morgan [shot and killed]

  • Holden [killed by Norton]

  • Allen [killed by a Primitive]

  • Alien Priest [killed during the destruction of his city]

  • Alec Leeson [shot and killed by Norton]

  • Guardian [killed during the destruction of his city]

  • Alien Priests [killed during the destruction of their city]

  • Primitive [killed by Allen]

    • other Primitives, Colonists and IMC Guards are also killed​

Production Days

  • 13 Days between Early February - Saturday 3 April 1971 

Production Errors

  1. Why is Jo sceptical about the Tardis's abilities when she saw it dematerialise in The Claws of Axos 

  2. The calendar in the Leeson's dome gives the date as Monday 2 March 2472. This is incorrect, the 2 March 2472 will be a Wednesday. Unless of course, a radical change occurs with Earth's rotation

  3. During episode three seagulls can be heard when Winton is pursued by IMC Guards, and falls at Caldwell's feet

  4. A crewmember's shadow can be seen on the Brigadier's front during the final scene of episode six

  5. During episode one when The Doctor and Jo are in the Tardis, Jo is wearing a pink shirt with black stripes. Her shirt changes to grey with black stripes when she exits the Tardis, and changes back to pink when held hostage 

  6. During episode three, Winton's handcuffs open before Caldwell gets a change to open them

  7. During episode four, a boom microphone briefly appears during a scene set in the Colonists dome 

  8. When the leader of the Primitives, the Guardian emerges, Norman Atkyns and his hand is briefly visible 

Working Titles

  • [no known working titles]

Verdict

After seven long adventures, The Doctor gets a trip to an alien planet which appears to mirror the colonisation of America and the exploitation of the natives. There is great design work, the colonists settlement, the aliens priests and natives and even the buggies. The story can be a little dull at times and the main selling point – The Doomsday Weapon – fails to arrive until episode six. The Master who supposedly steals the secrets to the Weapon shows up half-way through and acts as an intergalactic judge rather than wandering the planet to find the weapon. There is a lot of room to accommodate the big cast where some characters provide very meaningless tat and filler. The primitives are decent aliens and their society is something reminiscent of the human race but they are horribly underused and sometimes only serve to die and add to the body count. As it is Colony in Space is something to get hyped up about and is overtly good Doctor Who.  ***​

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