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69) THE GREEN DEATH

19 May - 23 June 1973

Average Viewing Figure: 7.7M

Plot

In a small town in Wales deadly Maggots begin to emerge from a local mine, as a supercomputer plots to take over the world, but who is the boss of Global Chemicals, and why are they never seen?

Cast

Jon Pertwee (The Doctor), Katy Manning (Jo Grant), Nicholas Courtney (Brigadier Lethbridge-Stewart), Jerome Willis (Stevens)

Stewart Bevan (Clifford Jones), Tony Adams (Elgin), John Rolfe (Fell), Ben Howard (Hinks), Roy Skelton (James)

Richard Franklin (Captain Yates), John Levene (Sergeant Benton), Mostyn Evans (Dai Evans), Talfryn Thomas (Dave), Roy Evans (Bert)

John Dearth (BOSS' Voice), Mitzi McKenzie (Nancy), Richard Beale (Minister of Ecology), Ray Handy (Milkman)

Jean Burgess (Cleaner), John Scott Martin (Hughes), Brian Justice (Yates Guard), Terry Walsh (Security Guard)

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Uncredited Cast

Roger Mundy, Laurie Boyton, Mansel Wilks, Geoffrey Morgan, Michael Cunningham (Guards), David Braddick, John Jeffries

Wayne Warlow, Roger Mundy, Laurie Boyton, Frank Darroch, Mansel Wilks, Rendle Morris, Gordon Cecil (Male Villagers)

Vincent Gardener, Geoffrey Morgan (Male Wholewealers), Jill Alexandra, Tricia Selby (Female Wholewealers)

Denis Plenty, Leslie Bates, Steve Ismay, Pat Gorman, Billie Horrigan, Alan Chuntz (Security Guards), Sonny Willis, Reg Cranfield (Villagers)

Frank Seton, David Waterman (Miners), Evan Ross (Cabinet Minister), Brychan Powell (Prime Minister (Sir Jeremy))

Jean Channon (Lotus Position Girl (Hilda)), Ken Halliwell (Sculptor), Keith Norrish (Long-Haired Boy), Alison Daumler (Hippie Girl)

Robert Birmingham (Hippie Boy), Jessica Stanley-Clarke (Flautist (Jessie)), Edward Wyman, Roger Knott, Roger Chappie, John Cadwalader

Bill Baker, Peter McGowan, David Braddick, John Jeffries, Leslie Bates, David Billa (UNIT Soldiers)

Lyn Melley (Wholeweal Girl), Pat Gorman (Wholeweal Man)

Crew

Robert Sloman (Writer), Terry Walsh (Fight Arranger), Ron Grainer (Title Music), Dudley Simpson (Incidental Music)

Dick Mills (Special Sound), Bill Matthews, Ken Lowe (Film Cameramen), Simon Wilson (FIlm Sound), Alistair Mackay (Film Editor)

Ron Oates (Visual Effects Designer), Barbara Kidd (Costume Designer), Ann Rayment (Make-Up), Mike Jefferies (Studio Lighting)

Richard Chubb (Studio Sound), Terrance Dicks (Script Editor), John Burrowes (Designer), Barry Letts (Producer)

Michael Briant (Director)

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Uncredited Crew

Colin Mapson, Richard Conway (Visual Effects Designers)

Broadcast

Filming Locations

  • Troed-y-Rhiw Jestyn, Deri, Mid-Glam

  • Ogilvie Colliery, Deri, Mid-Glam

  • Colliery Quarry, Deri, Mid-Glam

  • RCA Factory, Bryn-Mawr,Powys

  • Ealing Film Studios

  • Television Centre: Studio 3

Deaths

  • Stevens [triggers an explosion]

  • Fell [forced into taking his own life by BOSS]

  • Hinks [infected with Global Chemicals' chemicals]

  • James [killed by BOSS]

  • Dai Evans [infected with Global Chemicals' chemicals]

  • Bert [infected with Global Chemicals' chemicals]

  • BOSS [destroyed in an explosion]

  • Hughes [infected with Global Chemical's chemicals]

  • Maggot [eats a deadly fungus]

  • Maggots [fed a deadly fungus]

  • Giant Fly [crashes to the ground]

Production Days

  • 14 Days between Monday 12 March - Monday 30 April 1973

Production Errors

  1. During episode one, when Dai Evans is on the telephone, a hand belong to an unknown crew member appears a the bottom right giving the actor an cue to start speaking​​

  2. When The Doctor escapes from Global Chemicals it is clearly during the day. When Captain Yates is caught it is evidently dark. The following scene is set during the daylight again 

  3. When Jo sits in a cable car, her helmet does not have a lamp, yet it again one shortly afterwards

  4. The giant fly egg squeaks when picked up by The Doctor, revealing it to be nothing more than a balloon

  5. When various character looks through Professor Jone's microphone, they are effectively looking at nothing. This is because the object they are looking at is rotated to a position where none of the lenses is pointing at it 

  6. During the scene when Sergeant Benton rescues Cliff and Jo the ground both shakes and flexes

  7. During episode six, BOSS refers to Captain Yates as "Captain". However up to this point both BOSS and Stevens have only known Captain Yates as "Mr Yates", and therefore BOSS shouldn't know that Yates is a Captain

  8. Despite being Vegetarians, Professor Jones and his Wholewealers appear to be wearing sheep skins

Working Titles

  • The Amoeboids - (outline)

Verdict

A tale about the dangers of pollution, companies only interested in money, profits and efficiency, and a subtle subplot about big fancy companies getting backed up by fancy Cabinet Ministers and the unseen Prime Minster. The scripts are intelligent, often quite funny (mainly from Pertwee under a couple of guises), thought-provoking and sometimes provide shocking imagery. The story pits The Doctor against two very different types of enemies – Maggots (Nature) and BOSS (Technology) who are both very original and both effectively brought to life. The Maggots are one of very few monsters one could feel sorry for; their gigantic size and deadly abilities are only the result of man’s wrong doings. The Doctor himself feels saddened that he had to kill the mutated giant-fly, and we as viewers sadly agree.
The story also has time to parody the hippie movement, vegetarianism and computers one day taking place of the human workforce. There is a pleasurable pace to the whole thing utilising the Welsh Countryside as an ideal place for a down-to-Earth story. The story just can’t help but have a loving relationship for Jo and the brilliant dashing young Professor. Praise is due where appropriate: the relationship between Jo and Professor Jones goes through every possible motion/emotion; they loathe each other/they can’t stand each other/they make a loveable pair/they genuinely care about each other. The marriage proposal and celebrations are rightly deserved, which brings an end to one of Doctor Who’s more mediocre companions time with The Doctor to an end. The last shot is one of the saddest of all time.*****
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