 "Frontier in Space" is the first half of a two-parted linked 12-episode story (designed as such after Producer Barry Letts and Script Editor Terrance Dicks wished to challenge "The Daleks' Master Plan" as the show’s longest story, but then decided against it on the advice of "The Daleks' Master Plan" Director Douglas Camfield).
This story exemplifies the 'space opera' approach not seen in the show for some time and introduced the Draconians the reptilian aliens who had apparently fought a war with Earth and were now embroiled in an uneasy peace. Despite being their first on-screen appearance The Doctor reveals that he has met the Draconians before where in he helped the Draconians with a space plague. Hence why they receive him as an honoured guest.
This story is significant as it would be the last appearance in Doctor Who of Roger Delgado as The Master. His final scene being the confusion outside the TARDIS which ended in him accidentally shooting The Doctor before disappearing with the panicking Ogrons. Sadly Roger Delgado was tragically killed in an automobile accident on the 18th June 1973 in Turkey, en-route to a location shoot for a film called Bell of Tibet. His untimely death was less than three months after this story’s broadcast and brought a premature end to both a beloved Doctor Who character, and indeed a well respected member of the acting profession.
As a result of Roger Delgado's death, the writers chose not to cast a new actor in the role of The Master and instead abandoned future plans for the character's interaction with the Third Doctor. He was originally slated to make one final appearance during the following year in a story, due to be written by Robert Sloman, which would have revealed the true nature of The Doctor and The Master's relationship and would have written The Master out of the show in his sacrifice to save The Doctor's life. Barry Letts began work on Delgado's swansong, "The Final Test", with Robert Sloman in early 1973. Unfortunately, this story never made it into production.
The Master would eventually return several years later in the 1976 Fourth Doctor story "The Deadly Assassin" but would not become a regularly recurring villain again until the 1981 story "The Keeper of Traken" during which the part was passed to Anthony Ainley, who would become a recurring guest star during the final seasons of the original run of the show.
Although "Frontier in Space" was scheduled to be the third broadcast story of the season - after "The Three Doctors" and "Carnival of Monsters" - it was actually recorded first in the tenth production block. This was because Patrick Troughton's schedule forced a delay in the recording of "The Three Doctors", while "Carnival of Monsters" had already been completed at the end of the preceding recording block.
In episode four, The Doctor is heard describing to his companion Jo Grant the details of his trial (that were seen at the end of "The War Games") by the Time Lords which resulted in his forced regeneration and exile to Earth.
At one point, in a moment of leisure, The Master is seen reading "The War of the Worlds" by H. G. Wells.
The Master is heard to characterise the Daleks, his ostensible allies, privately, as ‘stupid tin boxes’ and that The Doctor ‘does not fear death’.
When The Master is dying in the 2007 Tenth Doctor story "The Sound of Drums/Last of the Time Lords" The Doctor tries to restore his will to live, reminding him of their adventure with the Daleks from this story.
It is revealed that on occasions the TARDIS can travel in hyperspace (this is confirmed by Romana's comments on hyperspace in 1978 Fourth Doctor story "The Stones of Blood"). We also learn that it helps The Doctor to get to a precise destination if he knows exactly where and when they are.
The Doctor is heard to state that when he ‘borrowed’ the TARDIS from the Time Lords that he intended to return it to them.
The Daleks are again led by a gold Dalek and again they recognise The Doctor.
It is revealed that the Draconians have galaxy class battle cruisers, armed with neutronic missiles. Nobles address the Emperor with 'My life at your command' and the power of the throne depends on the great families for support. Female Draconians are not equal to males, and are not permitted to speak in the presence of the Emperor.
The Ogrons are portrayed as being stupid mercenaries, living on a barren, uninteresting planet, where they worship 'The Monster', a blobby orange creature which they fear almost as much as the Daleks. The Ogrons carry neuronic stun guns which can also kill.
It is revealed that The Doctor's Sonic Screwdriver can't undo bolts, unless the polarity of the power source is reversed so making the Sonic Screwdriver into an electromagnet.
Assistant Floor Manager John Bradburn played the Ogron-eating monster seen in the final episode of this story. The final sequence in The Master's headquarters however, was intended to contain more of this giant Ogron-eating monster.
It was planed that the Ogron-eating monster was to be a key element of this story’s climax. As originally written, the end of episode six would see the Ogrons recapturing General Williams and the Draconian Prince, and The Master then confronting The Doctor and Jo. When The Doctor activates the hypnosound machine, he appears to the Ogrons as the Eater. The Master shoots at him, only to have a panicking Ogron felled by the weapon instead. The Master escapes, pursued by the General and the Draconian Prince, while The Doctor and Jo set off in the TARDIS to pursue the Daleks. The conclusion of this story leads directly into the following story "Planet of the Daleks" and reveals that The Master was in league with the Daleks all the time.
Brief shots of a Sea Devil (from "The Sea Devils"), a Drashig (from "Carnival of Monsters") and a mutant Solonian (from "The Mutants") can be seen in the final episode during The Master's torture of Jo.
Director Paul Bernard was instructed to minimize the screen time for this monster, as the effects did not turn out to Barry Letts' liking (he felt it looked like little more than an unthreatening formless blob, rather than the scripted large lizard). Removing this footage resulted in this scene with just the frightened Ogrons running away from something unseen. However, Producer Barry Letts and Script Editor Terrance Dicks felt this end sequence now lacked impact and so a new ending was recorded in the TARDIS, featuring only The Doctor and Jo, as part of the first production block of the following story, "Planet of the Daleks". This was recorded during the first studio day for "Planet of the Daleks" on 22nd January 1973. This meant that the ending of "Frontier in Space" was in fact directed by David Maloney (the Director of "Planet of the Daleks") - David Maloney however, received no on screen credit. This revised ending, which finishes on a cliffhanger with The Doctor seriously injured and sending a message about the Daleks to the Time Lords via the TARDIS's telepathic circuits, created a more distinct link between the two stories.
As it transpired, "Frontier in Space" was Paul Bernard's final work on Doctor Who. He would go on to direct episodes of programmes such as The Tomorrow People and EastEnders.
The closing credits for episode two are incorrect; the credits for episode one were accidentally reused. This means that several cast members did not receive proper credit for their involvement. In particular Lawrence Davison (Draconian First Secretary) and Timothy Craven (Cell Guard) were not credited on-screen, though they were billed in Radio Times. While Louis Mahoney (Newscaster) and Roy Pattison (Draconian Space Pilot) received a credit even though their characters appeared only in the first episode.
Like "Carnival of Monsters" the titles for "Frontier in Space" were prepared with a new arrangement of the theme music performed by Paddy Kingsland on a synthesizer. Known as the "Delaware" arrangement it proved unpopular with BBC executives, so the original Delia Derbyshire theme was restored, although an early edit of episode five still contains the "Delaware" music. This early edit of episode five which is about a minute longer than the transmitted version, was included on the 1995 BBC VHS video release of this story. This early edit was never intended for public viewing.
This story was published by Target novelisation in September 1976 under the title "Doctor Who and the Space War". This was the last time Target would give a novelisation a substantially different title than that of the story on which it was based. This novel also abandons the cliffhanger ending of the televised program and has The Doctor simply leaving The Master on the Ogron’s planet to pursue the Daleks.
The Virgin Books' The New Adventures story "Love and War", written by Paul Cornell, is set after this story when Earth and Draconia are in relative peace. The war touched off by The Master during this story is the Second Dalek War, which will profoundly affect the life of future companion Bernice Summerfield.
| |
|
The Firsts:
The first (and only) appearance for the Draconians.
Despite being the third shown this story was the first recorded in the tenth production block.
Barbara Kidd's first involvement in the show as Costume Designer.
|
|
(Position = 63 out of 159)
(Position = 113 out of 200)
(Position = 127 out of 241)
