14 minute read
Adventures Go Fourth
THE FOURTH SERIES OF DOCTOR WHO: ADVENTURES BEGINS HERE! LEARN ALL ABOUT THE FIRST FOUR EPISODES EXCLUSIVELY IN THE WIDWWA MAGAZINE!
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For the fourth series of Doctor Who: Adventures was commissioned and produced as the second half of the third series, but broadcast as a separate season. From very early on in pre-production this had been intended, so the opener and finales of both series were both intended to be, just that, but as far as production was concerned, Episode 1 of Series 4 was considered Episode 11 of Series 3, even with the production code 311.
The final episode of Series 3 had originally been a Series 4 episode, but due to the fact that the original Ep310 didn’t really deal with, what had come to be considered as Series 3’s “season arc” about the Revoc, so Ep315 was drafted in as Series 3’s finale, at the last minute, because it featured their next appearance. The content in the episode about the Daleks was new material, scripted later on, to tie in with Series 4’s arc and foreshadow it. The knock-on effect this had for Series 4 was that its reveal of the Daleks being back in Episode 1 was slightly undercut and that Episode 5 was now Data Breach, the original Series 3 finale.
Creatively, the fourth series was, again, much like the third, with the focus being on the same sort of stories. However, Series 4 was given two very important directives by BBC management. The first was to produce an episode about the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee to tie in with the celebrations in the Summer of 2022… the other was to produce an episode about the Centenary of the BBC to tie into the BBC100 celebrations. While the main show was making a whole Centenary Special, the BBC wanted an episode of Doctor Who: Adventures that would teach children specifically about the history of the BBC.
Knowing that the current format of Doctor Who: Adventures couldn’t last forever, Phil Ford decided that one of the episodes, later in the season, would be almost entirely focused around the First Doctor & Susan, as a flashback episode. This was not only intended as a treat for the fans, but a trial run to see if the format would work with a different TARDIS team, and if successful Ford and Young were considering either making an Adventures spinoff series with the First Doctor and Susan, or another TARDIS team, or changing the TARDIS team for a future series of Adventures. None of this was decided, in theory or actuality, but the First Doctor & Susan episode was intended to act as a pilot if the possibility of changing the team and mixing up the format arose, in the future.
The series premiered on 4 July 2022, after a short promotional campaign, which launched a 2 weeks earlier. WIDWWA
Prince of the Daleks
The episode opens with a shot purposely reminiscent of the opening of Remembrance of the Daleks with a spaceship in-orbit of Earth observing transmissions from the planet below. We then cut to 1978 and we’re inside the Stevensons’ house, where the Doctor, Erin and Kyle are having dinner with Danielle and Roger. They are talking about the events of the previous years’ Jubilee, which leads onto a discussion about how they met the Queen, after saving her from a Dalek, and then onto Roger asking the Doctor about the Queen’s other Jubilees. The Doctor makes a few jokes about the events of the Golden and Diamond Jubilees, but then tells Roger that her favourite, by far, was the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee in 2022. This leads to Roger asking whether he could travel in the TARDIS, and see the Platinum Jubilee. Erin and Kyle both try to talk him out of it, but the Doctor obliges, as Roger joins the other two in the TARDIS. Danielle decides to stay behind.
The TARDIS lands outside a busy Buckingham Palace in 2022, with the entire mall covered in union jacks. Roger steps out and takes in the fact he’s in the future. He mentions that he’d be about 98 if he’s still around somewhere, which causes Erin and Kyle to laugh at the thought of Roger surviving to such an age. The three proceed to explore modern London, during the height of the Jubilee celebrations. However, they are interrupted when a group of Daleks teleport down in front of them and begin firing.
A chase ensues across London, as the Daleks try to exterminate the Doctor. Erin and Kyle suggest they call in UNIT but the Doctor says that’s not possible anymore. Roger, unable to effectively run for long, splits off with Erin, as the Daleks just continue to chase after the Doctor and Kyle.
The next part of the episode sees the chase continue, while Roger and Erin arrive at a nearby street party for the Jubilee. Roger comments about the fact that good old fashioned patriotism has endured despite her fiancée’s efforts to undermine it, to which Erin rolls her eyes, but the two are interrupted as a motorcade pulls up at the top of the street, and Prince Charles, the Prince of Wales, steps out onto the street. Roger stands in shock at seeing the Prince, as the media begin to surround him. He and Erin have a small conversation about the fact that Roger remembers Charles being born and how proud he is of him, which is played a little for comedy.
Suddenly, however, the Doctor and Erin run into the street party, with even more Daleks behind them. The Prince’s security draws weapons at the Daleks but they have no effect. The Doctor runs up to Charles and tells him to duck, to which he narrowly avoids a Dalek ray. The Doctor then tells Roger to look after the Prince, much to his delight, while she goes back to converse with Erin and Kyle.
The three of them discuss the best course of action, as the Daleks continue firing, to which they decide it’s best for the Doctor to give herself up, as it’s her the Daleks are after. The Doctor surrenders to the Daleks and is teleported away with them, shortly after, leaving everyone else in the rubble. After a moment, Roger says that they all need to band together to get the street party back up and running, in honour of the Queen. Prince Charles says that he agrees, which jolts everyone into action.
On the Dalek spaceship, we see a montage of the Doctor and the Daleks exchanging conversation, over a period of many hours, but we don’t really hear what they’re talking about. However, we see that it is a long serious discussion, and it ends with the Doctor and the Daleks saying that they’ve reached an agreement. The Doctor then says coldly that they should send an “expendable” Dalek down after her… “to make it look realistic”.
Back on Earth, the street party is up and running again and the Doctor teleports down. She is welcomed by everyone celebrating, but another Dalek comes down after her and begins shooting and firing at everyone. The Doctor attaches a device to the Dalek, blowing it up and once again, saving Prince Charles.
The Prince thanks the Doctor for saving his life and offers a toast to “Her Majesty, the Queen”. As everyone says the toast, while raising their glasses, we see Erin and Kyle looking right at the Doctor, just as everyone says “Queen”, and then we cut to the end credits.
How it Happened?
As part of Queen Elizabeth II’s Platinum Jubilee celebrations, the BBC decided that they wanted Doctor Who: Adventures to feature an episode celebrating the event. The BBC had been in talks with the palace about the possibility of Prince Charles, the Prince of Wales, appearing as himself in the episode, but negotiations were ongoing when the episode was written. Therefore, Ford was instructed to write two versions, one where Prince Charles actually appears and interacts with the Doctor and her companions, and one where this doesn’t happen.
The original version did feature an animated version of the Prince but he didn't speak or get involved with the speaking characters in any way, instead appearing much like his mother in God Save the Queen. The actual recording of Prince Charles’ dialogue came during a set visit that he and the Duchess of Cornwall made to the set of The Daleks’ Master Plan in late 2021. The rest of the episode had already been recorded, and partially animated. The details surrounding the Prince’s involvement in the episode were kept top secret until they were announced in June 2022.
The Marinus Factor
This episode sees a return to the planet Marinus. 100 years after The Keys of Marinus, when the First Doctor gave the natives their autonomy, the Marinus that the Doctor, Erin and Kyle arrive at is, therefore, very different to the one seen in the original serial, now a heavily industrialised and polluted planet. Instantly, when the TARDIS crew arrive on the beach, they see the sheer extent of the pollution everywhere.
The story descends into one of the Doctor having caused the modern iteration of Marinus due to her actions at the end of the Keys of Marinus and, obviously, the episode acts as a commentary on environmentalism and needing to save the Earth. The resolution to the story sees the Doctor and her companions meeting and working with Marinus’ long-discarded scientists, whereby she teaches them about renewables and how to effectively harness them to turn Marinus into a clean and safe planet. The episode finally ends with the trio visiting the planet another 100 years in the future and finding it a utopian paradise.
The King's Wrath
Continuing the Fourteenth Doctor era’s ever present theme of royalty, this episode takes the TARDIS team back to 16th Century England, where they meet Henry VIII, although not intentionally, as the Doctor had intended to take Erin and Kyle several decades later to introduce them to Shakespeare, but instead she accidentally landed the TARDIS inside Hampton Court Palace, and almost instantly ran into Henry VIII, himself, who none of the group realised was the King, at first. They believed themselves to be many years after his death and instead just asked him directions to the Globe Theatre. Henry’s response was one of anger and had them taken to the Tower of London.
Inside the tower, the trio discuss how to get out, all the while they try and figure out what’s going on. They eventually conclude that the man they met was Henry VIII and that they’ve landed in slightly the wrong time and place. The Doctor asks Erin and Kyle everything they know about Henry VIII from school and they try to put together a profile of the man.
Soon after, the cell door opens and the King walks in, having discovered the TARDIS and wanting answers about it. Using the opportunity, the Doctor says that she’ll show him what it does, as long as they are all let free. The King obliges and they return to the Palace and to the TARDIS. The Doctor pretends that the TARDIS is only a police box and therefore (still) blows Henry’s mind, when she opens the hatch and pulls out the telephone, showing Henry “her invention” of communication between two people. Henry is so delighted by it that he invites the Doctor, Erin and Kyle to a banquet that night.
As they sit down to dine, the Doctor notices that the King seems troubled. She asks him about it, and he confides in her that he’s been plagued by mysterious health issues, and he’s desperate for a cure. The Doctor tries not to interfere but following an intense display of emotional blackmail from Henry, she decides to take a look at him, after the meal.
She examines and she quickly realises that the King has a severe case of gout. The Doctor knew that with her help, the King could be cured, but that she couldn’t do so without affecting the web of time. Henry, enraged at this, calls for the Doctor and her friends to be executed, and thus a chase around the palace grounds ensues (played mostly for comedy).
When Henry eventually catches them and is about to throw them back into the Tower, to await execution, the Doctor thinks quickly and pulls out a pack of paracetamol. She gives one to the King and tells him that it will ease his pain but not cure him. The King takes it and soon enough he feels much better. He is so happy that he proposes to the Doctor, but the Doctor rejects his proposal, causing Henry to call for their execution once more, which saw a chase back through the Palace, and this time ending up with the Doctor, Erin and Kyle making their way back to the TARDIS and dematerialising.
The episode finally ends up with Erin and Kyle in the TARDIS laughing and joking as they make-up a rhyme about Henry that goes along the lines of “Divorced, Beheaded, Died, Divorced, Beheaded, Demateralised”... to which the Doctor isn’t impressed.
Murder on the Dancefloor
This episode takes us once again back to 1978, but not into the Stevenson’s home, as the trio don’t make it that far. In fact, as soon as the TARDIS lands, they become distracted by the sound of thumping disco music and follow it to a club called “Murder on the Dancefloor”. Erin and Kyle say they don’t recognise it and that it must’ve been opened recently. They all step inside, deafened by the sheer loudness of the music, to see hundreds of teenagers dancing along. Kyle makes a comment about Disco not usually being his style, quite the opposite in fact, but that this particular piece is actually quite soothing. Erin raises an eyebrow but largely ignores the comment.
As the trio join the dancefloor, they begin to dance and dance and continue again and again, without a second thought. Then suddenly, the Doctor is snapped out of it… because she notices someone falling over and collapsing. She moves over to them, as everyone else continues dancing, and then checks their pulse to find that they’re dead. The Doctor then looks around and sees it… everyone is hypnotised and that there’s something in the music, something evil…
The Doctor tries to get Erin and Kyle but they’re entirely in the music’s trance. The Doctor then pulls out a smartphone and records the music onto it, before leaving and running back to the TARDIS. Inside the TARDIS, she analyses the soundwaves and sees that indeed the music has been altered by an algorithm in order to induce hypnotisation, which after 32 hours of exposure will kill.
Without the help of her companions, the Doctor contacts UNIT and gets through to Benton, who comes over with a taskforce to try and clear the club. They are unable to, however, as everyone still remains hypnotised and just entirely ignores them. The Doctor and Benton discuss the situation and wonder whether they could create an antidote to the hypnotisation, perhaps by creating another piece of music. Instantly the Doctor is struck by an idea… Punk Rock. She goes back into the club and puts a pair of ear defenders over Kyle and almost drags him out of the club. She then administers him some drugs and eventually he comes round. The Doctor explains the situation to which Kyle gets to work writing an antidote.
Meanwhile, the Doctor and Benton continue to investigate and try to find out who set this all up. They break into the office, at the back, and find that the building is registered to a Victor Magister - they both look at each other and roll their eyes.
After writing his song, Kyle goes onto stage, accompanied by his band, who he’d asked to come and help out, and then performs the song. Instantly, the effect begins to become apparent as people begin to come out of the trance. Erin is one of the first and comes up on stage and joins Kyle, singing along, as the couple sing the entire club out of the trance.
The episode ends with the TARDIS trio departing as the Doctor asks Benton to be on the lookout for the Master and to let her know if he turns up.
