The Tenth Planet
Encyclopedia
The Tenth Planet is a serial in the 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...

, which was first broadcast in four weekly parts from 8 October to 29 October 1966. It was William Hartnell
William Hartnell
William Henry Hartnell was an English actor. During 1963-66, he was the first actor to play the Doctor in the long-running BBC science fiction television series Doctor Who.-Early life:...

's last regular appearance as the First Doctor
First Doctor
The 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...

, and the first story to feature 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...

. Patrick Troughton
Patrick Troughton
Patrick George Troughton was an English actor most widely known for his roles in fantasy, science fiction and horror films, particularly in his role as the second incarnation of the Doctor in the long-running British science-fiction television series Doctor Who, which he played from 1966 to 1969,...

 also makes his first, uncredited appearance as the Second Doctor
Second Doctor
The Second Doctor is the second incarnation of the protagonist of the long-running BBC television science-fiction series Doctor Who. He was portrayed by character actor Patrick Troughton....

.

Plot

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....

 and his companions Ben and Polly
Polly (Doctor Who)
Polly is a fictional character played by Anneke Wills in the long-running British science fiction television series Doctor Who. A young woman from the year 1966, she was a companion of the First and Second Doctors and a regular in the programme from 1966 to 1967.-Character history:Polly first...

 arrive in the TARDIS
TARDIS
The TARDISGenerally, TARDIS is written in all upper case letters—this convention was popularised by the Target novelisations of the 1970s...

 at the South Pole
South Pole
The South Pole, also known as the Geographic South Pole or Terrestrial South Pole, is one of the two points where the Earth's axis of rotation intersects its surface. It is the southernmost point on the surface of the Earth and lies on the opposite side of the Earth from the North Pole...

 in the year 1986, near the Snowcap base. The base is supervising the mission of the Zeus IV spaceship, running a routine probe on the Earth
Earth
Earth is the third planet from the Sun, and the densest and fifth-largest of the eight planets in the Solar System. It is also the largest of the Solar System's four terrestrial planets...

's atmosphere.

Unusual readings on the spaceship's instruments lead to the discovery of a new planet suddenly approaching Earth. The spaceship begins to experience power losses, and Snowcap personnel begin arrangements to abort its mission.

Back on the base, the Doctor reveals what he knows about the tenth planet: it is Mondas
Mondas (Doctor Who)
Mondas is a fictional planet in the British science fiction television series Doctor Who. Mondas is the homeworld of the Cybermen, a race of cyborgs....

, Earth's former sister planet, and its inhabitants will soon be visiting Earth. True to his prediction, three robotic creatures land outside, killing the guards and disguising themselves in the dead men's furs to gain access.

While everyone is distracted by their efforts to land Zeus IV safely, the creatures are easily able to take over the base. The base personnel and Polly plead with the invaders to allow them to save the lives of the Zeus IV crew, but the creatures say that their lives are irrelevant to them. They explain that they are 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 were once like human beings, but gradually replaced their bodies with mechanical parts, including eliminating the "weakness" of emotion
Emotion
Emotion is a complex psychophysiological experience of an individual's state of mind as interacting with biochemical and environmental influences. In humans, emotion fundamentally involves "physiological arousal, expressive behaviors, and conscious experience." Emotion is associated with mood,...

 from their brain
Brain
The brain is the center of the nervous system in all vertebrate and most invertebrate animals—only a few primitive invertebrates such as sponges, jellyfish, sea squirts and starfishes do not have one. It is located in the head, usually close to primary sensory apparatus such as vision, hearing,...

s. The Cybermen allow the men to make contact with Zeus IV, but it is too late as the ship is dragged away by Mondas and explodes.

The Cybermen explain that Mondas is absorbing energy from Earth and will soon destroy it. They propose to take humans back to Mondas and turn them into Cybermen.

Ben, who has been imprisoned in the projection room after attempting to kill a Cyberman, rigs up the projector to blind incoming Cybermen, allowing him to steal his guard's weapon and kill him. Sneaking back into the Tracking Room, he hands the cyberweapon to General Cutler, the base commander, who kills the remaining two Cybermen. Cutler contacts Space Command HQ in Geneva
Geneva
Geneva In the national languages of Switzerland the city is known as Genf , Ginevra and Genevra is the second-most-populous city in Switzerland and is the most populous city of Romandie, the French-speaking part of Switzerland...

 and is informed that they have sent his son on a mission to rescue the doomed Zeus IV.

Cutler decides it is time to take the fight to the Cybermen and decides to use the powerful Z-bomb to destroy Mondas. Ben argues against using the bomb, saying that Mondas might destroy itself anyway when it absorbs too much energy. The chief scientist at Snowcap, Dr. Barclay, is also concerned, saying that the radiation
Radioactive contamination
Radioactive contamination, also called radiological contamination, is radioactive substances on surfaces, or within solids, liquids or gases , where their presence is unintended or undesirable, or the process giving rise to their presence in such places...

 caused by the exploding planet would cause great loss of life on Earth. Unswayed, Cutler orders Ben to be imprisoned in a cabin with the Doctor, who is unconscious and seemingly ill.

Barclay goes to Ben and tells him how to sabotage the rocket to prevent it from reaching Mondas, but Cutler notices Barclay's absence and catches Ben in the act. Cutler attempts to fire the Z-bomb, but the engines fail on the launchpad thanks to Ben's sabotage. Cutler, enraged, threatens to kill Ben, Barclay, and the Doctor, who has now regained consciousness. Before he can shoot the Doctor, Cutler is killed by the leader of a newly arrived squad of Cybermen.

The Cybermen insist that the rocket pointed at Mondas be dismantled. The Doctor suggests that it would be a good idea to go along with this, and tells the others to play for time, as Mondas cannot take much more energy now. The Cybermen take Polly back to their spaceship as a hostage.

As the Cybermen take over Space Command in Geneva, the Doctor realises that their plan is to destroy the Earth with the Z-bombs, thus saving Mondas. He manages to communicate this revelation to Ben and the others over the intercom before the Cybermen take him prisoner. In the radiation room, Ben surmises that the reason why they need to use humans to do this work rather than doing it themselves is that they are highly susceptible to radiation. Barclay suggests using the rods from the reactor chamber as a portable weapon against the Cybermen. This proves successful, allowing Ben, Barclay, and the others to regain control of the base. More Cybermen enter the Tracking Room, but just at that moment Mondas explodes, disabling all the remaining Cybermen.

Cutler's son contacts the base from Zeus V, telling them that his ship is now back to full power, and Geneva tells Barclay that the Cyberman threat has ended.

Meanwhile, Ben has made his way back to the Cybermen's ship to rescue the Doctor and Polly. The Doctor appears to be very ill and confused and makes his way back to the TARDIS. Inside the TARDIS, the Doctor falls to the floor, and before the astonished eyes of his companions, his cells renew themselves
Regeneration (Doctor Who)
Regeneration, in the British science fiction television series Doctor Who, is a biological ability exhibited by Time Lords, a race of fictional humanoids originating on the planet Gallifrey. This process allows a Time Lord who is old or mortally wounded to undergo a transformation into a new...

 for the very first time, and he transforms into a younger man
Second Doctor
The Second Doctor is the second incarnation of the protagonist of the long-running BBC television science-fiction series Doctor Who. He was portrayed by character actor Patrick Troughton....

.

Continuity

  • Ben and Polly, having returned to their own lives in 1966, meet again in 1986 to sit through the same events in the spin-off
    Doctor Who spin-offs
    Doctor Who spin-offs refers to material created outside of, but related to, the long-running British science fiction television series Doctor Who....

     short story "Mondas Passing" by Paul Grice.
  • 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...

     serial, 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...

    , takes place in 1985, a year before the events of The Tenth Planet. In that serial the Cybermen attempt to alter history so Mondas is not destroyed.
  • The events leading up to this story, from the Cybermen's perspective, are heard in the Big Finish
    Big Finish Productions
    Big Finish Productions is a British company that produces books and audio plays based, primarily, on cult British science fiction properties...

     audio story Spare Parts with the Fifth Doctor
    Fifth Doctor
    The Fifth Doctor is the fifth incarnation of the protagonist of the long-running BBC television science-fiction series Doctor Who. He is portrayed by Peter Davison....

     and Nyssa. The story deals with many aspects left unexplained in this story; such as how Mondas left the solar system and returned again.

Regeneration

  • While the Doctor regenerates at the end of this story, the process was unnamed. In the subsequent programme, The Power of the Daleks
    The Power of the Daleks
    The Power of the Daleks is a serial in the British science fiction television series Doctor Who, which was first broadcast in six weekly parts from 5 November to 10 December 1966. It is Patrick Troughton's first full story as the Doctor.-Plot:...

    , the Doctor stated that he had been "renewed", implying a restoration of youth rather than a change of body. The concept was not called "regeneration" until Planet of the Spiders
    Planet of the Spiders
    Planet of the Spiders is a serial in the British science fiction television series Doctor Who, which was first broadcast in six weekly parts from May 4 to June 8, 1974. It was Jon Pertwee's last serial as the Doctor and marks the first, uncredited appearance of Tom Baker in the role. It also marks...

    .
  • Script Editor Gerry Davis later stated that it was intended for the energy drain from Mondas to be the cause of the regeneration, but that it didn't come across clearly on screen. It is generally assumed that the First Doctor simply dies of old age.

Production

  • In the opening credits for the first episode, Kit Pedler is incorrectly identified as "Kitt Pedler". In the opening credits for the third episode, Gerry Davis is incorrectly identified as "Gerry Davies."
  • William Hartnell did not appear in the third episode. On the Monday before the programme was due to be recorded, he sent a telegram to the production team informing them that he was too ill to work. Gerry Davis rewrote the script to explain the Doctor's absence (his sudden collapse) and gave his dialogue to other characters, most noticeably Ben. This was not as much of an interruption to the episode's production as it would seem, as all four episodes had been written so that Hartnell would have relatively little to do in case of just such an event.
  • The First Doctor's last words were originally scripted as something similar to "No... no, I simply will not give in!" Time was running short towards the end of production, and director Derek Martinus
    Derek Martinus
    Derek Martinus was a Director working in British Television in the 1960s and 1970s. He directed a number of Doctor Who stories including Galaxy 4, Mission to the Unknown, The Tenth Planet, The Evil of the Daleks, The Ice Warriors and Spearhead from Space.-External links:...

     opted not to record the line, wanting to ensure that the regeneration sequence was recorded as well as possible. As a result, the First Doctor's last words were simply "Ah! Yes. Thank you. That's good, keep warm."
  • All four episodes of this story feature a specially designed graphics sequence used for the opening titles and closing credits. Designed by Bernard Lodge, they were intended to resemble a computer printout.

Cast notes

  • Patrick Troughton appears in the final episode, uncredited, as the Second Doctor.
  • William Hartnell would reprise the role of the First Doctor on only one occasion: the tenth anniversary serial The Three Doctors, although a photograph of him would be seen briefly as Troughton first looks into a mirror at the start of Troughton's first serial, The Power of the Daleks
    The Power of the Daleks
    The Power of the Daleks is a serial in the British science fiction television series Doctor Who, which was first broadcast in six weekly parts from 5 November to 10 December 1966. It is Patrick Troughton's first full story as the Doctor.-Plot:...

    ; the first episode begins with a shot of Troughton lying on the TARDIS floor. A clip of Hartnell from part 6 of The Dalek Invasion of Earth
    The Dalek Invasion of Earth
    The Dalek Invasion of Earth is a serial in the British science fiction television series Doctor Who, which originally aired in six weekly parts from November 21 to December 26, 1964....

    was used at the beginning of the 20th anniversary special, The Five Doctors
    The Five Doctors
    The Five Doctors is a special feature-length episode of the British science fiction television series Doctor Who, produced in celebration of the programme's twentieth anniversary. It had its world premiere in the United States, on the Chicago PBS station WTTW and various other PBS member stations...

    (where Richard Hurndall
    Richard Hurndall
    Richard Gibbon Hurndall was an English actor.-BBC radio:Hurndall was born in Darlington and he attended Claremont Preparatory School, Darlington and Scarborough College, before training as an actor at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Arts. He then appeared in several plays at Stratford-upon-Avon...

     would play the First Doctor during most of the episode). A clip of Hartnell from The Tenth Planet was used in 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...

    , when the Cybermen review the Doctor's change of appearance.

Missing episodes

  • The last episode of this serial is missing
    Doctor Who missing episodes
    The Doctor Who missing episodes are the instalments of the long-running British science-fiction television programme Doctor Who that have no known film or videotape copies. They were wiped by the BBC during the 1960s and 1970s for economic and space-saving reasons...

    . It is possibly the most sought-after of the missing episodes, because it contains the historic first regeneration scene (even though a low-quality, truncated copy of this sequence survives and is held in the BBC Archives), and also because it is William Hartnell's final episode. In fact, it is included in a list of the ten most wanted missing programmes, alongside the BBC studio footage from the Apollo 11
    Apollo 11
    In early 1969, Bill Anders accepted a job with the National Space Council effective in August 1969 and announced his retirement as an astronaut. At that point Ken Mattingly was moved from the support crew into parallel training with Anders as backup Command Module Pilot in case Apollo 11 was...

     landings (which is currently held only in soundtrack form).
  • Popular myth has it that the only surviving telerecording copy of the fourth episode was lost when loaned out to the children's programme Blue Peter
    Blue Peter
    Blue Peter is the world's longest-running children's television show, having first aired in 1958. It is shown on CBBC, both in its BBC One programming block and on the CBBC channel. During its history there have been many presenters, often consisting of two women and two men at a time...

    in 1973 when they wished to use a clip from it in a feature on the tenth anniversary of Doctor Who. Although a print of The Daleks' Master Plan
    The Daleks' Master Plan
    The Daleks' Master Plan is a serial in the British science fiction television series Doctor Who. The twelve episodes were aired from 13 November 1965 to 29 January 1966...

    Episode 4 ("The Traitors") was loaned to Blue Peter and not returned to the BBC Film Library, there was never a copy of The Tenth Planet Episode 4 there to have been loaned. Another department – BBC Enterprises
    BBC Worldwide
    BBC Worldwide Limited is the wholly owned commercial subsidiary of the British Broadcasting Corporation, formed out of a restructuring of its predecessor BBC Enterprises in 1995. In the year to 31 March 2010 it made a profit of £145m on a turnover of £1.074bn. The company had made a profit of £106m...

     – was still offering all four episodes for sale to foreign broadcasters until the end of the following year and would not, in any case, have loaned out master negatives.
  • In 1992, a man named Roger K. Barrett (later revealed to be an alias; it being based on the real name of Syd Barrett
    Syd Barrett
    Syd Barrett , born Roger Keith Barrett, was an English singer-songwriter, guitarist, and painter, best remembered as a founding member of the band Pink Floyd. He was the lead vocalist, guitarist and primary songwriter during the band's psychedelic years, providing major musical and stylistic...

    ) claimed to have a videotape recording of Episode 4 of this story, and offered to sell it to the BBC for £500. Before this was revealed as a hoax, the BBC produced a special introduction for an intended VHS release of the story, hosted by Michael Craze
    Michael Craze
    Michael Craze was a British actor noted for his role of Ben Jackson, a companion of the Doctor, in the long-running BBC science fiction television series Doctor Who. He played the part from 1966 to 1967 alongside both William Hartnell and Patrick Troughton.Craze was born in Cornwall...

    , two versions of which were filmed: one explaining that Episode 4 was still missing, the other introducing the story as if it were complete. Also a Documentary called "Missing in Action" which was made in 1993 narrated by Nicholas Courtney this mentions the hoax mentioned above.

Broadcast and reception

The song "Among The Cybermen" by G/Z/R
GZR
GZR is a band led by Black Sabbath bassist/lyricist Geezer Butler. The band has actually been marketed with three different names on the three releases they've had. In 1995, the band was marketed as G//Z/R. In 1997, it was merely Geezer, and in 2005, it was GZR...

 (a band formed by former Black Sabbath
Black Sabbath
Black Sabbath are an English heavy metal band, formed in Aston, Birmingham in 1969 by Ozzy Osbourne , Tony Iommi , Geezer Butler , and Bill Ward . The band has since experienced multiple line-up changes, with Tony Iommi the only constant presence in the band through the years. A total of 22...

 bassist Geezer Butler
Geezer Butler
Geezer Butler is an English musician and songwriter. Butler is best known as the bassist and lyricist of heavy metal band Black Sabbath. He was also involved in Heaven & Hell from 2006 to 2010.-Career:Butler formed his first band, Rare Breed, with old friend John "Ozzy" Osbourne in the autumn of...

) from their 1997 album Black Science was originally about the "death" of the First Doctor in The Tenth Planet. The original chorus was "Doctor Who lies dead among the Cybermen".

In print

A novelisation of this serial, written by Gerry Davis
Gerry Davis (screenwriter)
Gerry Davis was a British television writer, best known for his contributions to the science-fiction genre. He also wrote for the soap operas Coronation Street and United!....

, 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 1976. It was the first Hartnell-era serial novelisation to be commissioned by Target, and the first new adaptation of a Hartnell adventure to be published in nearly ten years.

The novelisation largely follows the original script and so places the action in the year 2000 as well as restoring the Doctor to the third episode. Also, in the first scene in which the Doctor, Ben and Polly appear (in the TARDIS), the Doctor is beginning to show signs of his failing health; sometimes mistakenly addressing Ben and Polly as "Ian" and "Barbara", thereby revealing signs that all is not as it should be. Also, the regeneration of the Doctor occurs in the TARDIS differently. The Doctor uses what appears to be a rejuvenation chamber that assists him in his regeneration.

VHS, DVD and CD releases

  • The story was released on VHS
    VHS
    The Video Home System is a consumer-level analog recording videocassette standard developed by Victor Company of Japan ....

     in the UK in 2000 from BBC Video, with the fourth episode reconstructed by the Doctor Who Restoration Team
    Doctor Who Restoration Team
    The Doctor Who Restoration Team is a loose collection of Doctor Who fans, many within the television industry, who restore Doctor Who episodes for release on DVD....

     using still photos, existing clips and the surviving audio soundtrack. This release was a double-tape set entitled "Doctor Who: The Cybermen Box Set: The Tenth Planet and 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...

    ". In the U.S. and Canada both stories were released individually in 2001.
  • The existing clips from the missing final episode – 8 mm film recordings made by fans and a 16mm film clip of the regeneration (from a 1973 edition of Blue Peter) – were included in the DVD
    DVD
    A DVD is an optical disc storage media format, invented and developed by Philips, Sony, Toshiba, and Panasonic in 1995. DVDs offer higher storage capacity than Compact Discs while having the same dimensions....

     release Lost in Time in 2004. The only surviving clip of the regeneration was also released as a special feature on the DVD releases for The Three Doctors and Castrovalva.
  • The soundtracks for The Tenth Planet and The Invasion
    The Invasion (Doctor Who)
    The Invasion is a serial in the British science fiction television series Doctor Who, which was first broadcast in eight weekly parts from 2 November to 21 December 1968...

    , put together from fan-made recordings, along with a bonus disc, The Origins of the Cybermen, an audio essay by Cyberman actor David Banks, were released on CD in a collector's tin called Doctor Who: Cybermen.

Track listing

Track # Composer Track name
1 Roger Roger
Roger Roger (composer)
Roger Roger was a French film composer and bandleader. His aliases included: Eric Swan, Cecil Leuter, the last being a pseudonym he used for his electronic productions...

"Blast Off!"
2 Walter Scott "Music for Technology"
3 Douglas Gamley
Douglas Gamley
Douglas Gamley was an Australian film composer, who worked on British and American films.He was particularly influenced by Modest Mussorgsky, creating a full orchestral version of his Pictures at an Exhibition, and adapting his Night on Bald Mountain for his score for Asylum...

"Power Drill"
4 Martin Slavin
Martin Slavin
Martin Slavin was a British composer and music director.Slavin was born in London. He served in the army as a Band Sergeant, and after demobilization formed his own seven piece band, working with musicians such as Eddie Calvert and Kenny Baker.In the 1960s, Slavin composed the musical Nancy Wake...

"Space Adventure Part 1"
5 "Space Adventure Part 2"
6 "Space Adventure Part 3"
7 Dennis Farnon "Drama in Miniature Part 1"
8 "Drama in Miniature Part 2"
9 Douglas Gamley "Machine Room"
10 Robert Farnon "Drumdramatics 7"
11 "Drumdramatics 10"

Target novelisation

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