Meglos
Encyclopedia
- Working titles for this story included The Golden Pentangle and The Last Zolfa-Thuran.
- This is one of only two multi-part stories to feature all credited cast members in all episodes, the other being The Edge of DestructionThe Edge of DestructionThe Edge of Destruction is a serial in the British science fiction television series Doctor Who, which was first broadcast in two weekly parts on February 8 and February 15, 1964. The serial is distinguished as a rare "bottle episode", in that the entire story is shot on a single set, with just...
. - This story features the only use in Doctor Who of a camera-linking system known as Scene-Sync that allowed the use of non-static shots of characters superimposed onto a miniature set. As the cameras on the actors were moved, the cameras on the miniature set moved the equivalent scaled amount automatically. The exact scale motion was achieved by trial and error, involving minute adjustments to the voltage delivered to the slave camera's motors.
- Part Four's closing theme was transposed to the lower key of the original theme music.
- During production of this story, Madame TussaudsMadame TussaudsMadame Tussauds is a wax museum in London with branches in a number of major cities. It was founded by wax sculptor Marie Tussaud and was formerly known as "Madame Tussaud's", but the apostrophe is no longer used...
in London debuted The "Doctor Who Exhibition". Included were sculptures of both the Fourth Doctor and his Meglos doppelganger. As a result, Tom Baker is the only person to have appeared twice in the wax museum.
Cast notes
- Jacqueline Hill, who played the First DoctorFirst DoctorThe First Doctor is the initial incarnation of the protagonist of the long-running BBC television science-fiction series Doctor Who. He was portrayed by the actor William Hartnell from 1963 to 1966. Hartnell reprised the role in the tenth anniversary story The Three Doctors in 1973 - albeit in a...
's 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...
Barbara WrightBarbara Wright (Doctor Who)Barbara Wright is a fictional character in the British science fiction television series Doctor Who and a companion of the First Doctor. She was one of the programme's very first regulars and appeared in the bulk of its first two seasons from 1963–65, played by Jacqueline Hill. In the film version...
makes a guest appearance as Lexa, marking the first time a companion has returned to play a role other than their original character. - Brotadac is an anagram of "Bad Actor", an in-joke by the production team.
- Bill Fraser only agreed to take the role of Grugger on condition the character was allowed to kick K-9. His request was granted. He later appeared in the spin-off pilot K-9 and CompanyK-9 and CompanyK-9 and Company was a proposed television spin-off of the original programme run of Doctor Who . It was to feature former series regulars Sarah Jane Smith, an investigative journalist played by Elisabeth Sladen, and K-9, a robotic dog. Both characters had been companions of the Fourth Doctor, but...
In print
A novelisation of this serial, written by Terrance DicksTerrance 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 :...
, was published by Target Books
Target 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 February 1983. Dicks names Meglos' unfortunate human host and bookends the novel with his kidnapping and subsequent return to Earth. A French
French language
French is a Romance language spoken as a first language in France, the Romandy region in Switzerland, Wallonia and Brussels in Belgium, Monaco, the regions of Quebec and Acadia in Canada, and by various communities elsewhere. Second-language speakers of French are distributed throughout many parts...
translation of the book was published in 1987.
VHS and DVD releases
- This story was released on VHSVHSThe Video Home System is a consumer-level analog recording videocassette standard developed by Victor Company of Japan ....
in March 2003 and R2 DVD on 10 January 2011 and an R1 release occurred on 11 January 2011. - In 2002, Paddy KingslandPaddy KingslandPaddy Kingsland is a composer of electronic music best known for his incidental music for science fiction series on BBC radio and television whilst working at the BBC Radiophonic Workshop. Educated at Eggars Grammar School, Alton, in Hampshire, he joined the BBC as a tape editor before moving on to...
and Peter Howell'sPeter HowellPeter Howell is a musician and composer. He is best known for his work on Doctor Who as a member of the BBC Radiophonic Workshop....
incidental music was released on the compilation album Doctor Who at the BBC Radiophonic Workshop Volume 4: Meglos & Full CircleDoctor Who at the BBC Radiophonic Workshop Volume 4: Meglos & Full CircleDoctor Who at the BBC Radiophonic Workshop Volume 4: Meglos & Full Circle was the final installment in the Mark Ayres compiled series of releases of BBC Radiophonic Workshop music. It featured music, by Peter Howell and Paddy Kingsland, for the 1980 Doctor Who serials "Meglos" and "Full Circle"...
.