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67) FRONTIER IN SPACE

24 February - 31 March 1973

Average Viewing Figure: 8M

Plot

Arriving in the year 2540, The Doctor and Jo are caught in the middle of a war between The Human Race and Draconians

Cast

Jon Pertwee (The Doctor), Katy Manning (Jo Grant), Roger Delgado (The Master), Vera Fusek (President of Earth)

Michael Hawkins (General Williams), John Woodnutt (Draconian Emperor), Peter Birrel (Draconian Prince), Ray Lonnen (Gardiner)

Barry Ashton (Kemp), John Rees (Hardy), James Culliford (Stewart), Louis Mahoney (Newscaster), Roy Pattison (Draconian Space Pilot)

Lawrence Davidson (Draconian First Secretary), Timothy Craven (Cell Guard), Harold Goldblatt (Professor Dale), Madhav Sharma (Patel)

Dennis Bowen (Prison Governor), Richard Shaw (Cross), Luan Peters (Sheila), Caroline Hunt (Technician), Karol Hagar (Secretary)

Laurence Harrington (Lunar Guard), Bill Wilde (Draconian Captain), Ian Frost (Draconian Messenger), Clifford Elkin (Earth Cruiser Captain)

Ramsey Williams (Congressman Brook), Stanley Price (Pilot of Space Ship), Stephen Thorne (First Ogron), Michael Kilgarriff (Second Guard)

Rick Lester (Third Ogron), John Scott Martin, Murphy Grumbar, Cy Town (Daleks), Michael Wisher (Dalek Voices)

Uncredited Cast

Bill Burridge, Ken Wade, Ray Millar, Terry Sartain, Kevin Moran, Andy Devine, Les Bates, Bill Matthews, Stuart Myers (Draconians)

James Griffin, Dennis Plenty, Terry Denville, David Bila, Emmett Hennessey, Wolfgang Van Jurgen (Earth Guards), Maurice Purvis

Steve Kelly, Geoff Todd, Maurice Bush, Bruce Wells, Chris Stevens (Ogrons), Dennis Plenty, Terry Denville, Geoff Witherick

Emmett Hennessey, George Ribitt, Derek Hunt, David Billa, Brian Nolan, Ian Yardley (Prison Guards), Leslie Bates, Steve Tierney

Laurence Held, Gary Dean (Lunar Guards), John Moore, Jean St. Louis, Nelly Griffiths, Dana Michie, Nancy Gabrielee, John Hughman

George McFarlane, Fred Looker,  Monika, Michael Mulcaster, David Layton (Prisoners), Bill Matthews, Andy Devine (Draconian Guards)

Ken Wade Steve Tierney, Richard King, Rodney Cardiff (Draconian Emperor Guards), John Scott Martin (Mutant), Pat Gorman (Sea Devil)

Geoff Witherick, Leslie Bates, David Waterman, Richard King, Steve Tierney (Williams' Earth Guards),  John Bradburn (Ogron Eater)

Crew

Malcolm Hulke (Writer), Ron Grainer (Title Music), Dudley Simpson (Incidental Music), Dick Mills (Special Sound)

Bernard Wilkie, Rhys Jones (Visual Effects Designers), Ralph Walton (Lighting), Brian Hiles (Sound), Barbara Kidd (Costume Designer)

Sandra Shepherd (Make-Up), John Friedlander (Masks), Terrance Dicks (Script Editor), Cynthia Kljuco (Designer)

Barry Letts (Producer), Paul Bernard (Director)

Uncredited Crew

Tommy Dawson, Ron Bristow (Technical Managers), Mike Turner, Shirley Coward (Vision Mixers), Christopher Moss (Floor Assistant)

Sarah Newman (Production Secretary), Ruth Hyde (Props Buyer), George Bayton (Music Copyist), Gordon Phillipson (Grams)

Ray Angel (Post-Production Sound)

Broadcast

Filming Locations

  • Bray Studios

  • Hayward Gallery, Belvedere Road, London

  • Beachfields Quarry, Redhill, Surrey

  • Fitzroy Park, Highgate, London

  • Ealing Film Studios: Stage 3A

  • Television Centre: Studio 3

  • Television Centre: Studio 4

Deaths

  • Ogrons [killed in many ways]

  • Prison Guards [killed by Ogrons]

  • Ogron [eaten by the Ogron Eater]

Production Days

  • 23 Days between Monday 13 August 1972 - Monday 22 January 1973

Production Errors

  1. Jo's tights continually change colour from scene to scene, and sometimes she isn't wearing them at all 

  2. The strings supporting Jon Pertwee whilst he performs The Doctor's escape from The Master prison transport ship are visible. Strings are also visible during The Doctor's spacewalk later on in the narrative 

  3. When The Doctor rolls back on a chair to escape the Draconians, it is obvious that Jon Pertwee did not perform in the scene, but rather a stunt double with a wig 

  4. A studio technician can be seen inside the airlock as The Doctor performs his space-walk in episode four

  5. If The Master's device makes one see their greatest fear, why does Jo see a Sea Devil and a Mutant? Surely someone like Azal would have been a much perfect fit

  6. After knocked to the floor, Jo clearly has The Master's gun in her hand as she helps The Doctor. The gun disappears in the following shot when Jo helps The Doctor into the Tardis 

  7. Where exactly did The Master go?​​

Working Titles

  • Frontiers in Space

Verdict

An epic space-opera drama executed efficiently with grander production designs, and a variety of model shots which create a grand scale of adventure as the narrative continually moves from location to location. Overall the direction is slicker and tighter compared to others, and a  much better effort from Paul Bernard. The dialogue-heavy script is aided by a continuously moving plot, the introduction of small characters, and clever editing where the focus immediately shifts to the next scene; it cuts out any potential filler material which would have undermined the quality of the scripts. The scripts are repetitive though; the endless escapes, captures, interrogations, and certain space journeys can have a draining effect; the variety of direction elevates the repetition structure. There’s also a clever moment, where The Doctor disregards the Daleks being involved in the space war. Until episode 6 where the Daleks appear out of nowhere it subverts expectations for what would be a typical Master teaming up with alien menaces storyline. Episode 4 is possibly the strongest with The Doctor, Jo, and The Master holding down a majority of the runtime entirely on their own.
   There’s plenty more to commend in Frontier in Space, the cast of characters are richly diverse, with several non-British Caucasian characters taking on minor important roles. The chauvinism of the Draconian hierarchy and monarchy matches perfectly with the President of Earth, who is a strong female authority figure. The Draconians themselves are not merely here to fill in the monster role, their involvement within the plot allows them to take more active roles, even though their political agendas can be skipped over, they’re diversely rich in character, and it’s not surprising Jon Pertwee named them as his favourite monsters. Frontier in Space is well-structured, and can be enjoyable in one-sitting; it’s just a shame about the ending. It’s poorly realised, and doesn’t end Roger Delgado’s time on the show on a high-note (tragedy later put proper future plans on permanent hold).****

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