"Doctor Who" Four to Doomsday: Part 1 (1982)

User Rating:

6.9/10   

Director:

John Black

Writer:

Terence Dudley (writer)

TV Series:

"Doctor Who" (1963)

Original Air Date:

18 January 1982 (Season 19, Episode 5)

Genre:

Adventure | Drama | Sci-Fi

Plot:

Trying to transport Tegan to Heathrow airport on present-day Earth, The TARDIS accidentally lands on-board...

Plot Keywords:

Australian | Time Lord | Alien | Companion | Renegade

Cast

Peter Davison	...	The Doctor
Stratford Johns	...	Monarch
Matthew Waterhouse	...	Adric
Sarah Sutton	...	Nyssa
Janet Fielding	...	Tegan Jovanka
Paul Shelley	...	Persuasion
Annie Lambert	...	Enlightenment
Burt Kwouk	...	Lin Futu
Ilario Bisi-Pedro	...	Kurkutji
Nadia Hamman	...	Villagra
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Philip Locke	...	Bigon / Control (voice) (uncredited)

Directed by
John Black

Writing credits
Terence Dudley		(writer)

Produced by
John Nathan-Turner	....	producer

Original Music by
Roger Limb

Production Design by
Tony Burrough

Costume Design by
Colin Lavers

Makeup Department
Dorka Nieradzik	....	makeup artist

Production Management
Henry Foster	....	production manager

Sound Department
Alan Machin	....	sound
Dick Mills	....	special sound

Visual Effects by
Dave Chapman	....	video effects
Mickey Edwards	....	visual effects designer
Sid Sutton	....	title sequence

Camera and Electrical Department
Don Babbage	....	lighting
Alec Wheal	....	senior camera operator

Editorial Department
Carol Johnson	....	vision mixer
Rod Waldron	....	editor: video tape

Music Department
Ron Grainer	....	composer: title music (uncredited)
Peter Howell	....	music arranger: title theme (uncredited)

Other crew
Jean Davis	....	production assistant
Robert Hignett	....	technical manager
Val McCrimmon	....	assistant floor manager
Antony Root	....	script editor
Angela Smith	....	production associate

Writing credits
Sydney Newman		(creator) uncredited

Produced by
Peter Bryant	....	associate producer (1966)

Production Design by
David Buckingham
Bob Cove		(1970s)
Victor Meredith
Geoff Powell
Michael Trevor

Costume Design by
Anushia Nieradzik

Makeup Department
Dorka Nieradzik	....	makeup designer (1982, 1984-1988)

Art Department
Peter Brachaki	....	production designer: TARDIS interior

Special Effects by
Mat Irvine	....	special effects (1970s-1980s)
Ian Scoones	....	special effects (1960s-1980s)
Ron Thornton	....	special effects (1980s)
Bernard Wilkie	....	special effects (1960s-1970s)

Visual Effects by
Mitch Mitchell	....	special video effects (1960's-1970's) (as A. J. Mitchell)
Oliver Elmes	....	title sequence designer (1987-1989) (uncredited)
Bernard Lodge	....	title sequence designer (1963-1979) (uncredited 1963-1969)
Sid Sutton	....	title sequence designer (1980-1986) (uncredited)

Stunts
Alan Chuntz	....	stunts (1960's-1970's)
Peter Diamond	....	stunts (1960s)
Max Faulkner	....	stunts (1960's-1970's)
Stuart Fell	....	stunts (1970s-1980s)
Alf Joint	....	stunts (1960s-1980s)
Derek Martin	....	stunts (1960s-1970s)
Roy Scammell	....	stunts (1960s-1980s)
Lee Sheward	....	stunt coordinator
Terry Walsh	....	stunts (1960s-1970s)
Derek Ware	....	stunts (1960s-1970s)

Camera and Electrical Department
Stewart A. Farnell	....	camera operator (1 episode)
Peter Hamilton	....	camera operator (12 episodes)
Alan Jonas	....	camera operator (6 episodes)
Robert Sleigh	....	camera operator (pilot episode)
Ken Westbury	....	camera operator (4 episodes)

Music Department
Mark Ayres	....	composer: incidental music (1988-1989)
Paddy Kingsland	....	composer: incidental music (1980-1985)
Keff McCulloch	....	composer: incidental music (1987-1989)
Humphrey Searle	....	composer: incidental music (1965)
Dudley Simpson	....	composer: incidental music (1964-1980)

Other crew
Christopher Baker	....	production assistant
Ali Bongo	....	magic advisor
Kenneth J. Bussanmas	....	creative consultant (1979-1985)
Jeremy Hare	....	assistant floor manager (three episodes)

Runtime:

UK:24 min

Country:

UK

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

Australia:PG

Trivia:

This episode was watched by 8.4 million viewers on its original transmission.

Quotes:

Persuasion: He does not conform.
Monarch: Of course. He's a philosopher. A doubter. We need doubt. It's the greatest intellectual galvanizer.

Driven by concepts rather than plot, "Four to Doomsday" is an unusual but worthwhile story

"Four to Doomsday" is a perfect example of why I love Tom Baker's last season and Davison's entire era. No, the stories themselves weren't always good, but perhaps for the first time since the third season of the show in the sixties (with a few exceptions to the ensuing adventure/horror/fantasy with elements of science fiction, admittedly), there were genuinely interesting science fiction concepts being explored, and beyond just that, it's generally done far better and with far more intelligence than the Hartnell era, mostly because John Nathan-Turner and the writers he was working with were now writing for the show's fanbase, which they knew included many adults.

No, Peter Davison's seasons are not nearly as consistently enjoyable and wonderful as Tom Baker's, Graham Williams' rather silly era excepted, but they cover a larger range of topics, and in terms of the quality of the writing and the concepts used, they were pushing "Doctor Who" in a new and fresh direction, some would say 'bloody boring', I would politely disagree. Still, "Four to Doomsday" is a real oddity. A forgotten and neglected gem, perhaps, and hopefully the recent DVD release will change that, but a real oddity nonetheless. There's never been anything quite like this in "Doctor Who". There's big concepts and intellectualism here, but absolutely no overblown dialogue (in fact, some of it is so subtly performed that you could miss the best lines and allusions on first viewing. I didn't even realize that Enlightenment's description of love was taken from Renoir's "La regle du jeu" until I looked in the DisContinuity Guide this morning.

It's rather pointless to try to explain what "Four to Doomsday" is about. It's pretty concept-driven, and the plot is pretty thin. Still, it's worth talking about the quality of the script here by Terence Dudley (who also wrote "Black Orchid" and "King's Demons" and directed "Meglos"). It's really very good. The general lack of a strong plot is the story's biggest weakness, and what keeps it from reaching the potential it had (the story honestly could have been one of the top 10 or so "Doctor Who" stories), but there's enough wit in the dialogue and intelligence in the writing to keep the viewer interested.

"Four to Doomsday" is an odd viewing experience which benefits from good acting, set design, and model work, as well as fine performances. It's a very unusual story, but also a very worthwhile one.

8/10