Frontios
Encyclopedia
Frontios is a serial in the British
science fiction television series Doctor Who
, which was first broadcast in four twice-weekly parts from 26 January to 3 February 1984.
Frontios is mankind’s last colony and the location of hidden dangers.
lands in the far future, on the planet Frontios, where some of the last vestiges of humanity are struggling for survival. The planet is being attacked by meteorite showers orchestrated by an unknown enemy responsible for the disappearance of several prominent colonists, including the colony’s leader, Captain Revere. After witnessing Revere being “eaten by the ground,” Security Chief Brazen engages in a cover up. To the public, Captain Revere died of natural causes. After a state funeral, Revere’s son, Plantaganet, assumes the leadership of the colony.
The TARDIS is mysteriously affected by a meteorite storm and dragged down to the planet by gravity. The Doctor
, Tegan
and Turlough
emerge, in the middle of the bombardment, to investigate. Despite his earlier reservations about getting involved, the Doctor violates the cardinal rule of the Time Lord
s by helping the colonists who were injured by the meteorite bombardment by providing medical assistance.
Needing better light in the medical facility, the Doctor sends Tegan and Turlough to fetch a portable mu-field activator and five argon discharge globes from the TARDIS. However, once they arrive, they find that the ship’s inner door is stuck, preventing them from getting beyond the console room. Norna, Tegan and Turlough obtain an acid-battery from the research room to power the lights. On their way back, however, they are forced to render the Warnsman unconscious to avoid capture. Another bombardment occurs and, in the Warnsman’s absence, catches the colony unawares. When the skies clear, the TARDIS has gone, seemingly destroyed; all that is left is the Doctor’s hat stand.
Plantaganet orders the execution of the Doctor, but Turlough intercedes, using the TARDIS hat stand as a weapon. Plantaganet tries to attack the Doctor with a crowbar but suffers a heart attack. The Time Lord manages to save his life using the battery, but Plantaganet is later dragged into the ground by some mysterious force.
The Doctor, Tegan and Turlough discover that the culprits are the Gravis and his Tractators, giant insects with incredible powers over gravity. Turlough briefly undergoes a sort of nervous breakdown due to the fact that the Tractators once attempted to invade his home world long ago; his mind contains a deep, horrific "race memory" of the event. The disappearing colonists were being used by the Tractators to run their mining machines. Plantaganet was kidnapped to replace Captain Revere, the current driver who is now brain dead. The Gravis intends to transform Frontios into an enormous spaceship. Once successful, he would be able to spread the terror of the Tractators across the galaxy. The Doctor, Turlough, Brazen and his guards rescue Plantaganet by knocking out the Gravis. However, Brazen gets caught by one of the mining machines and is killed while the others escape.
Tegan wanders around in the tunnels and comes across bits of the TARDIS’s inner walls. She is chased by the Gravis, who has now regained consciousness, and two of his Tractators. She inadvertently comes upon one of the TARDIS’s inner doors and she opens it to find herself in the TARDIS console room, which has bits of rock wall mixed in with its normal walls. She also finds the Doctor, Turlough and Plantaganet hovering around the console. The Doctor ushers the Gravis in and then tricks him into reassembling the TARDIS by using his power over gravity. The Gravis pulls the TARDIS back into its normal dimension. Once fully assembled, the Gravis is effectively cut off from his fellow Tractators, which revert to a harmless state.
The Doctor and Tegan deposit the now-dormant Gravis on the uninhabited planet of Kolkokron. Returning to Frontios, the Doctor gives Plantaganet the hat stand as a farewell token and asks that his own involvement in the affair not be mentioned to anyone, especially the Time Lords. Once the TARDIS has left Frontios, its engines start making a worrisome noise. The Doctor appears to be helpless as the ship is being pulled towards the centre of the universe.
in December 1984. Bidmead includes many gruesome images of the Tractators technology including a hovering translation device. The cliffhanger that led into Resurrection of the Daleks is removed.
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 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...
, which was first broadcast in four twice-weekly parts from 26 January to 3 February 1984.
Synopsis
Its inhabitants having fled a dying Earth, the planetPlanet
A planet is a celestial body orbiting a star or stellar remnant that is massive enough to be rounded by its own gravity, is not massive enough to cause thermonuclear fusion, and has cleared its neighbouring region of planetesimals.The term planet is ancient, with ties to history, science,...
Frontios is mankind’s last colony and the location of hidden dangers.
Plot
The TARDISTARDIS
The TARDISGenerally, TARDIS is written in all upper case letters—this convention was popularised by the Target novelisations of the 1970s...
lands in the far future, on the planet Frontios, where some of the last vestiges of humanity are struggling for survival. The planet is being attacked by meteorite showers orchestrated by an unknown enemy responsible for the disappearance of several prominent colonists, including the colony’s leader, Captain Revere. After witnessing Revere being “eaten by the ground,” Security Chief Brazen engages in a cover up. To the public, Captain Revere died of natural causes. After a state funeral, Revere’s son, Plantaganet, assumes the leadership of the colony.
The TARDIS is mysteriously affected by a meteorite storm and dragged down to the planet by gravity. 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....
, Tegan
Tegan Jovanka
Tegan Jovanka is a fictional character played by Janet Fielding in the long-running British science fiction television series Doctor Who. An Australian airline stewardess and a native of Brisbane who was a companion of the Fourth and Fifth Doctors, she was a regular in the programme from 1981 to...
and Turlough
Vislor Turlough
Vislor Turlough is a fictional character played by Mark Strickson in the long-running British science fiction television series Doctor Who. He was a companion of the Fifth Doctor, being a regular in the programme from 1983 to 1984.-Character history:...
emerge, in the middle of the bombardment, to investigate. Despite his earlier reservations about getting involved, the Doctor violates the cardinal rule of the Time Lord
Time Lord
The Time Lords are an ancient extraterrestrial race and civilization of humanoids in the British science fiction television series Doctor Who, of which the series' eponymous protagonist, the Doctor, is a member...
s by helping the colonists who were injured by the meteorite bombardment by providing medical assistance.
Needing better light in the medical facility, the Doctor sends Tegan and Turlough to fetch a portable mu-field activator and five argon discharge globes from the TARDIS. However, once they arrive, they find that the ship’s inner door is stuck, preventing them from getting beyond the console room. Norna, Tegan and Turlough obtain an acid-battery from the research room to power the lights. On their way back, however, they are forced to render the Warnsman unconscious to avoid capture. Another bombardment occurs and, in the Warnsman’s absence, catches the colony unawares. When the skies clear, the TARDIS has gone, seemingly destroyed; all that is left is the Doctor’s hat stand.
Plantaganet orders the execution of the Doctor, but Turlough intercedes, using the TARDIS hat stand as a weapon. Plantaganet tries to attack the Doctor with a crowbar but suffers a heart attack. The Time Lord manages to save his life using the battery, but Plantaganet is later dragged into the ground by some mysterious force.
The Doctor, Tegan and Turlough discover that the culprits are the Gravis and his Tractators, giant insects with incredible powers over gravity. Turlough briefly undergoes a sort of nervous breakdown due to the fact that the Tractators once attempted to invade his home world long ago; his mind contains a deep, horrific "race memory" of the event. The disappearing colonists were being used by the Tractators to run their mining machines. Plantaganet was kidnapped to replace Captain Revere, the current driver who is now brain dead. The Gravis intends to transform Frontios into an enormous spaceship. Once successful, he would be able to spread the terror of the Tractators across the galaxy. The Doctor, Turlough, Brazen and his guards rescue Plantaganet by knocking out the Gravis. However, Brazen gets caught by one of the mining machines and is killed while the others escape.
Tegan wanders around in the tunnels and comes across bits of the TARDIS’s inner walls. She is chased by the Gravis, who has now regained consciousness, and two of his Tractators. She inadvertently comes upon one of the TARDIS’s inner doors and she opens it to find herself in the TARDIS console room, which has bits of rock wall mixed in with its normal walls. She also finds the Doctor, Turlough and Plantaganet hovering around the console. The Doctor ushers the Gravis in and then tricks him into reassembling the TARDIS by using his power over gravity. The Gravis pulls the TARDIS back into its normal dimension. Once fully assembled, the Gravis is effectively cut off from his fellow Tractators, which revert to a harmless state.
The Doctor and Tegan deposit the now-dormant Gravis on the uninhabited planet of Kolkokron. Returning to Frontios, the Doctor gives Plantaganet the hat stand as a farewell token and asks that his own involvement in the affair not be mentioned to anyone, especially the Time Lords. Once the TARDIS has left Frontios, its engines start making a worrisome noise. The Doctor appears to be helpless as the ship is being pulled towards the centre of the universe.
Continuity
- No explanation is given for companionCompanion (Doctor Who)In the long-running BBC television science fiction programme Doctor Who and related works, the term "companion" refers to a character who travels with, and shares the adventures of the Doctor. In most Doctor Who stories, the primary companion acts as both deuteragonist and audience surrogate...
KamelionKamelionKamelion is a fictional character from the long-running British science fiction television series Doctor Who. A shape-changing android voiced by Gerald Flood in its default form, it is a companion of the Fifth Doctor and appears in the television series in two serials between 1983 and...
's absence from this story. - This story remains, to date, the sole appearance of the Tractators in the television series. However, on March 6, 1984, then Doctor Who script editor Eric SawardEric SawardEric Saward was born on 9 December 1944 and became a scriptwriter and script editor for the BBC, resigning from the latter post on the TV programme Doctor Who in 1986....
wrote to Bidmead a request that he write a sequel to Frontios, which would have featured the return of the Tractators and the Doctor’s arch nemesis, the MasterMaster (Doctor Who)The Master is a recurring character in the British science fiction television series Doctor Who. He is a renegade Time Lord and the archenemy of the Doctor....
. This lost story is brought back to life (minus the Master) in the Big FinishBig Finish ProductionsBig Finish Productions is a British company that produces books and audio plays based, primarily, on cult British science fiction properties...
audio The Hollows of TimeThe Hollows of TimeThe Hollows of Time is a Big Finish Productions audio drama based on the long-running British science fiction television series Doctor Who...
. - The short story Life After Queth featured in Short Trips: FarewellsShort Trips: FarewellsShort Trips: Farewells is a Big Finish original anthology edited by Jacqueline Rayner and based on the long-running British science fiction television series Doctor Who. The stories explore the theme of saying goodbye.-Stories:-External links:*...
details an adventure the Doctor, Tegan and the Gravis had on the way to Kolkokron. - The Big Finish audio story Excelis DawnsExcelis DawnsExcelis Dawns is a Big Finish Productions audio drama based on the long-running British science fiction television series Doctor Who. It is part of the Excelis trilogy which continues in Excelis Rising and Excelis Decays...
details an adventure the Doctor had on the way back to Frontios.
Production
- The story’s working title was The Wanderers.
- This story was the final televised story written by former Doctor Who script editor, Christopher H. BidmeadChristopher H. BidmeadChristopher Hamilton Bidmead is a British writer and journalist.Bidmead trained as an actor at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Arts , later playing several roles on stage, television and radio. By the early 1970s he was scriptwriting for Thames Television, producing material for Harriet's Back in...
. - The actors who played the Tractators were all trained dancers, as the script called for the actors to curl around their victims like woodliceWoodlouseA woodlouse is a crustacean with a rigid, segmented, long exoskeleton and fourteen jointed limbs...
. In the event, the Tractator costumes produced were too inflexible for this to be done. - It is unstated what happens to KamelionKamelionKamelion is a fictional character from the long-running British science fiction television series Doctor Who. A shape-changing android voiced by Gerald Flood in its default form, it is a companion of the Fifth Doctor and appears in the television series in two serials between 1983 and...
, who has been inside the TARDIS since The King's DemonsThe King's DemonsThe King's Demons is a serial in the British science fiction television series Doctor Who, which was originally broadcast in two parts on March 15 and March 16, 1983...
. The writers of The Discontinuity GuideThe Discontinuity GuideThe Discontinuity Guide, by Paul Cornell, Martin Day and Keith Topping, is a humorous guidebook to the serials of the original run of the BBC science fiction series Doctor Who. It was first published in 1995 by Virgin Books, which at the time also published licensed Doctor Who...
theorise that he is disguised as the hatstand. - The final episode ends on a cliffhanger, with the TARDIS dragged into a time corridor. The episode was followed by a trailer of clips for the following serial, Resurrection of the DaleksResurrection of the DaleksResurrection of the Daleks is a serial in the British science fiction television series Doctor Who, which was first broadcast in two weekly parts between 8 February and 15 February 1984...
, which continued the story. - In addition to the death of Peter Arne, production designer Barrie Dobbins committed suicide after finishing most of the preparations for the story. His assistant had to complete Dobbins' work.
Cast notes
- The part of Mr. Range was originally to be played by actor Peter ArnePeter ArnePeter Arne was a British character actor best known for various performances in British film and television, including supporting roles in the television series The Avengers, Danger Man, as well as villains in Blake Edwards' Pink Panther series, in a career that spanned 40 years...
, but he was murdered at his home prior to the start of recording. - Jeff RawleJeff RawleJeff Rawle is a British actor, perhaps best known for playing the long-suffering George in the news-gathering sitcom Drop the Dead Donkey...
later played Mr. Harding in Mona Lisa's RevengeMona Lisa's RevengeMona Lisa's Revenge is a two-part story of The Sarah Jane Adventures which was broadcast on CBBC on 12 and 13 November 2009. It is the fifth serial of the third series.-Part 1:Luke enters Clyde's painting for a competition and Clyde wins first prize...
, an episode of The Sarah Jane AdventuresThe Sarah Jane AdventuresThe Sarah Jane Adventures is a British science fiction television series, produced by BBC Cymru Wales for CBBC, created by Russell T Davies and starring Elisabeth Sladen...
. - Lesley DunlopLesley DunlopLesley Dunlop is a British actress.Daughter of the television writer Pat Dunlop, she began as a child actress in the seventies featuring in a BBC version of the classic A Little Princess and as Lydia Holly in the ITV adaptation of South Riding.Her transition to adult roles began by playing Lizzie...
later played Susan Q in The Happiness PatrolThe Happiness PatrolThe Happiness Patrol is a serial in the British science fiction television series Doctor Who, which was first broadcast in three weekly parts from 2 November to 16 November 1988.-Plot:...
.
In print
The story was novelised by Bidmead and published by Target BooksTarget Books
Target Books was a British publishing imprint, established in 1973 by Universal-Tandem Publishing Co Ltd, a paperback publishing company. The imprint was established as a children's imprint to complement the adult Tandem imprint, and became well known for their highly successful range of...
in December 1984. Bidmead includes many gruesome images of the Tractators technology including a hovering translation device. The cliffhanger that led into Resurrection of the Daleks is removed.
Broadcast and VHS release
- This story was released on a double VHSVHSThe Video Home System is a consumer-level analog recording videocassette standard developed by Victor Company of Japan ....
set with The AwakeningThe Awakening (Doctor Who)The Awakening is a serial in the British science fiction television series Doctor Who, which was originally broadcast in two parts on 19 and 20 January 1984.-Synopsis:...
in March 1997. - It was released on DVD in May 2011.