Doctor Who - The Ultimate Adventure
Encyclopedia
Doctor Who – The Ultimate Adventure was a 1989 stage play, written by Terrance Dicks
based on the long-running British
science fiction television
series Doctor Who
.
The play ran from 23 March and starred Jon Pertwee
(who had played the Third Doctor
in the series) as the Doctor
. On 29 April Pertwee was ill, so his understudy David Banks, who played the Cyber Leader
in the series from Earthshock
onwards, played the Doctor for the matinee and evening performances. Pertwee continued in the role until 3 June and two days later Colin Baker
, who had played the Sixth Doctor
, took over the lead until the run ended on 19 August. The play was adjusted accordingly to conform with the Sixth Doctor's persona.
s and the Cybermen
who have joined forces to kidnap the American
Envoy and ruin a peace conference on Earth. The Doctor's companion is a Frenchman nicknamed Jason, and after failing to stop the Cybermen take the US Envoy from a nightclub, they are joined by a singer named Crystal, who works there. After a trip to Altair Three and then the Bar Galactica, they meet Madame Delilah but are forced to flee along with a small furry creature called Zog.
The time travellers are captured briefly by the Daleks and navigate the ship through an asteroid field before making a series of short trips, arriving finally to confront the Dalek Emperor. The Doctor tricks the Emperor into revealing that the Daleks intend to betray the Cybermen and a battle breaks out between the two. Returning to Earth, the Doctor realises the US Envoy is under Dalek influence and programmed to destroy London
with a Dalekanium bomb. The Doctor breaks his conditioning and defuses the bomb by putting it in a teapot.
The play featured a female Prime Minister
named in the script 'Mrs. T' (a reference to Margaret Thatcher
). The Third Doctor addresses her as Margaret in the play whilst the Sixth Doctor addresses her as Maggie. The Third Doctor also mentions Denis, a reference to Denis Thatcher
, Margaret Thatcher's husband. The play also features some musical numbers including two from Crystal and "Business is Business" from Madam Delilah, the title of which acted as a catchphrase running throughout the play.
(1963) and Planet of the Daleks
(1973). Other ties to the television series included a Draconian
and a Vervoid which make cameo appearances as mercenaries in the Bar Galactica scenes.
There were five new Dalek props built for this production but, unlike the two previous plays, The Curse of the Daleks
and Doctor Who and the Daleks in the Seven Keys to Doomsday
, these were not the same as the television models and were not built by Shawcraft (the original company responsible for the Dalek props). Specific design differences included a more cylindrical shape, featured a single vertical column of hemispheres on the side panels of the skirting. They also had larger rectangular head lights, no discs along the eye stalks and no shoulder slats that were present on post-1966 Daleks. The Dalek Emperor prop was a faithful reproduction of the model that appeared in The Evil of the Daleks
(1967).
The TARDIS
set was also different, featuring roundels in a square rather than a hexagonal grid and a miniature console in which the central column was retracted completely out of view. The Cybermen costumes were identical to those used in Attack of the Cybermen
(1985).
When Colin Baker took over as the Doctor, he was provided a redesigned version of his Sixth Doctor
costume by the production crew. The new version incorporated shades of purple and blue, colours which could not have been used on TV due to interference with blue screen
effects. http://www.freewebs.com/colinbaker/theultimateadventure.htm
The production used a large screen that displayed visual effect sequences and also incorporated lasers into the action. The screen showed such things as the TARDIS spinning through space and a meteor shower. The lasers were used to depict the effect of the Dalek guns, a force field and a time tunnel.
audio drama based on the long-running British
science fiction television
series Doctor Who
.
Terrance Dicks
Terrance Dicks is an English writer, best known for his work in television and for writing a large number of popular children's books during the 1970s and 80s.- Early career :...
based on the long-running British
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
science fiction television
Science fiction on television
Science fiction first appeared on a television program during the Golden Age of Science Fiction. Special effects and other production techniques allow creators to present a living visual image of an imaginary world not limited by the constraints of reality; this makes television an excellent medium...
series Doctor Who
Doctor Who
Doctor Who is a British science fiction television programme produced by the BBC. The programme depicts the adventures of a time-travelling humanoid alien known as the Doctor who explores the universe in a sentient time machine called the TARDIS that flies through time and space, whose exterior...
.
The play ran from 23 March and starred Jon Pertwee
Jon Pertwee
John Devon Roland Pertwee , was an English actor. Pertwee is best known for his role in the BBC science fiction television series Doctor Who, in which he played the third incarnation of the Doctor from 1970 to 1974, and as the title character in the series Worzel Gummidge...
(who had played the Third Doctor
Third Doctor
The Third Doctor is the third incarnation of the protagonist of the long-running BBC television science-fiction series Doctor Who. He was portrayed by actor Jon Pertwee....
in the series) as the Doctor
Doctor (Doctor Who)
The Doctor is the central character in the long-running BBC television science-fiction series Doctor Who, and has also featured in two cinema feature films, a vast range of spin-off novels, audio dramas and comic strips connected to the series....
. On 29 April Pertwee was ill, so his understudy David Banks, who played the Cyber Leader
Cyberman
The Cybermen are a fictional race of cyborgs who are amongst the most persistent enemies of the Doctor in the British science fiction television series, Doctor Who. Cybermen were originally a wholly organic species of humanoids originating on Earth's twin planet Mondas that began to implant more...
in the series from Earthshock
Earthshock
Earthshock is a serial in the British science fiction television series Doctor Who, which was first broadcast in four twice-weekly parts from 8 March to 16 March 1982...
onwards, played the Doctor for the matinee and evening performances. Pertwee continued in the role until 3 June and two days later Colin Baker
Colin Baker
Colin Baker is a British actor who is known for playing Paul Merroney in The Brothers from 1974 to 1976 and as the sixth incarnation of the Doctor in the long-running science fiction television series Doctor Who, from 1984 to 1986.- Background:Colin Baker was born in London, but moved north to...
, who had played the Sixth Doctor
Sixth Doctor
The Sixth Doctor is the sixth incarnation of the protagonist of the long-running BBC television science-fiction series Doctor Who. He was portrayed by Colin Baker...
, took over the lead until the run ended on 19 August. The play was adjusted accordingly to conform with the Sixth Doctor's persona.
Synopsis
The story involves an alliance between the DalekDalek
The Daleks are a fictional extraterrestrial race of mutants from the British science fiction television series Doctor Who. Within the series, Daleks are cyborgs from the planet Skaro, created by the scientist Davros during the final years of a thousand-year war against the Thals...
s and the Cybermen
Cyberman
The Cybermen are a fictional race of cyborgs who are amongst the most persistent enemies of the Doctor in the British science fiction television series, Doctor Who. Cybermen were originally a wholly organic species of humanoids originating on Earth's twin planet Mondas that began to implant more...
who have joined forces to kidnap the American
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
Envoy and ruin a peace conference on Earth. The Doctor's companion is a Frenchman nicknamed Jason, and after failing to stop the Cybermen take the US Envoy from a nightclub, they are joined by a singer named Crystal, who works there. After a trip to Altair Three and then the Bar Galactica, they meet Madame Delilah but are forced to flee along with a small furry creature called Zog.
The time travellers are captured briefly by the Daleks and navigate the ship through an asteroid field before making a series of short trips, arriving finally to confront the Dalek Emperor. The Doctor tricks the Emperor into revealing that the Daleks intend to betray the Cybermen and a battle breaks out between the two. Returning to Earth, the Doctor realises the US Envoy is under Dalek influence and programmed to destroy London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
with a Dalekanium bomb. The Doctor breaks his conditioning and defuses the bomb by putting it in a teapot.
The play featured a female Prime Minister
Prime Minister of the United Kingdom
The Prime Minister of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland is the Head of Her Majesty's Government in the United Kingdom. The Prime Minister and Cabinet are collectively accountable for their policies and actions to the Sovereign, to Parliament, to their political party and...
named in the script 'Mrs. T' (a reference to Margaret Thatcher
Margaret Thatcher
Margaret Hilda Thatcher, Baroness Thatcher, was Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1979 to 1990...
). The Third Doctor addresses her as Margaret in the play whilst the Sixth Doctor addresses her as Maggie. The Third Doctor also mentions Denis, a reference to Denis Thatcher
Denis Thatcher
Major Sir Denis Thatcher, 1st Baronet, MBE, TD was a British businessman, and the husband of the former British Prime Minister, Margaret Thatcher. He was born in Lewisham, London, the elder child of a New Zealand-born British businessman, Thomas Herbert Thatcher, and his wife Kathleen, née Bird...
, Margaret Thatcher's husband. The play also features some musical numbers including two from Crystal and "Business is Business" from Madam Delilah, the title of which acted as a catchphrase running throughout the play.
Production
The script featured numerous Doctor Who in-jokes, including Jon Pertwee's line "reverse the polarity of the neutron flow" and his singing of the Venusian Lullaby. The story also required a Dalek casing to be borrowed by one of the heroes in order to fool the Daleks, a ploy used in television stories The DaleksThe Daleks
The Daleks is a serial in the British science fiction television series Doctor Who, which was first broadcast in seven weekly parts from 21 December 1963 to 1 February 1964...
(1963) and Planet of the Daleks
Planet of the Daleks
Planet of the Daleks is a serial in the British science fiction television series Doctor Who, which was first broadcast in six weekly parts from April 7 to May 12, 1973.-Synopsis:...
(1973). Other ties to the television series included a Draconian
Draconian (Doctor Who)
The Draconians are a fictional extraterrestrial race from the British science fiction television series Doctor Who. Their only television appearance to date was in the 1973 serial Frontier in Space. Unlike many "monster" races in Doctor Who, the Draconians were articulate and portrayed as having a...
and a Vervoid which make cameo appearances as mercenaries in the Bar Galactica scenes.
There were five new Dalek props built for this production but, unlike the two previous plays, The Curse of the Daleks
The Curse of the Daleks
The Curse Of The Daleks is a Dalek stage play, written by David Whitaker and Terry Nation, which appeared for one month at the Wyndham's Theatre in London, beginning on December 21, 1965. It is notable for being Terry Nation's first live-action attempt to exercise his ownership of the Dalek...
and Doctor Who and the Daleks in the Seven Keys to Doomsday
Doctor Who and the Daleks in the Seven Keys to Doomsday
Doctor Who and the Daleks in the Seven Keys to Doomsday was a stage play based on the long-running British science fiction television series Doctor Who. The play ran at the Adelphi Theatre in London, England for four weeks, beginning on 16 December 1974...
, these were not the same as the television models and were not built by Shawcraft (the original company responsible for the Dalek props). Specific design differences included a more cylindrical shape, featured a single vertical column of hemispheres on the side panels of the skirting. They also had larger rectangular head lights, no discs along the eye stalks and no shoulder slats that were present on post-1966 Daleks. The Dalek Emperor prop was a faithful reproduction of the model that appeared in The Evil of the Daleks
The Evil of the Daleks
The Evil of the Daleks is a serial in the British science fiction television series Doctor Who, which originally aired in seven weekly parts from 20 May to 1 July 1967. This serial marked the debut of Deborah Watling as the Doctor's new companion, Victoria Waterfield.Evil was initially intended to...
(1967).
The TARDIS
TARDIS
The TARDISGenerally, TARDIS is written in all upper case letters—this convention was popularised by the Target novelisations of the 1970s...
set was also different, featuring roundels in a square rather than a hexagonal grid and a miniature console in which the central column was retracted completely out of view. The Cybermen costumes were identical to those used in Attack of the Cybermen
Attack of the Cybermen
Attack of the Cybermen is a serial in the British science fiction television series Doctor Who, which was first broadcast in two weekly parts from 5 January to 12 January 1985. It opened Season 22 of the series...
(1985).
When Colin Baker took over as the Doctor, he was provided a redesigned version of his Sixth Doctor
Sixth Doctor
The Sixth Doctor is the sixth incarnation of the protagonist of the long-running BBC television science-fiction series Doctor Who. He was portrayed by Colin Baker...
costume by the production crew. The new version incorporated shades of purple and blue, colours which could not have been used on TV due to interference with blue screen
Blue screen
Blue screen may refer to:*Blue Screen of Death, a fatal system error screen in Microsoft Windows*Blue white screen is an assay useful in biotechnology*Blue screen compositing, a technique for combining two still images or video frames...
effects. http://www.freewebs.com/colinbaker/theultimateadventure.htm
The production used a large screen that displayed visual effect sequences and also incorporated lasers into the action. The screen showed such things as the TARDIS spinning through space and a meteor shower. The lasers were used to depict the effect of the Dalek guns, a force field and a time tunnel.
Audio Adaptation
The Ultimate Adventure is a Big Finish ProductionsBig Finish Productions
Big Finish Productions is a British company that produces books and audio plays based, primarily, on cult British science fiction properties...
audio drama based on the long-running British
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
science fiction television
Science fiction on television
Science fiction first appeared on a television program during the Golden Age of Science Fiction. Special effects and other production techniques allow creators to present a living visual image of an imaginary world not limited by the constraints of reality; this makes television an excellent medium...
series Doctor Who
Doctor Who
Doctor Who is a British science fiction television programme produced by the BBC. The programme depicts the adventures of a time-travelling humanoid alien known as the Doctor who explores the universe in a sentient time machine called the TARDIS that flies through time and space, whose exterior...
.
Cast
- The DoctorDoctor (Doctor Who)The Doctor is the central character in the long-running BBC television science-fiction series Doctor Who, and has also featured in two cinema feature films, a vast range of spin-off novels, audio dramas and comic strips connected to the series....
— Colin BakerColin BakerColin Baker is a British actor who is known for playing Paul Merroney in The Brothers from 1974 to 1976 and as the sixth incarnation of the Doctor in the long-running science fiction television series Doctor Who, from 1984 to 1986.- Background:Colin Baker was born in London, but moved north to... - Jason — Noel SullivanNoel SullivanNoel Sullivan , is a Welsh singer and actor. He was a member of the British pop group Hear'Say. Like the other members of the group, he won his part through the talent show Popstars.-Early life and career:...
- Crystal — Claire Huckle
- Karl — David Banks
- Delilah/Mrs T — Nadine Cox
- Nightclub MC — Bryan Pilkinton
- Envoy/Zog — Derek Carlyle
- Daleks/CybermenCybermanThe Cybermen are a fictional race of cyborgs who are amongst the most persistent enemies of the Doctor in the British science fiction television series, Doctor Who. Cybermen were originally a wholly organic species of humanoids originating on Earth's twin planet Mondas that began to implant more...
— Nicholas BriggsNicholas BriggsNicholas Briggs is a British actor and writer, predominantly associated with the BBC science fiction television series Doctor Who and its various spin-offs, particularly as the voice of the Daleks. Briggs sometimes uses the pseudonym Arthur Wallis...
External links
- The Ultimate Adventure.co.uk — The Ultimate Guide to Terrance Dicks' Doctor Who Stageplay
- Big Finish Productions - The Ultimate Adventure