3rd Doctor
Invasion of the Dinosaurs
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Producer
Barry Letts

Script Editor
Terrance Dicks

Designer
Richard Morris

Written by Malcolm Hulke
Directed by Paddy Russell
Incidental Music by Dudley Simpson

Jon Pertwee (Doctor Who), Elisabeth Sladen (Sarah Jane Smith), Nicholas Courtney (Brigadier Lethbridge-Stewart), John Bennett (General Finch), Richard Franklin (Captain Yates), John Levene (Sergeant Benton), Ben Aris (Lieutenant Shears) [1], Dave Carter (Sergeant Duffy) [1], Martin Taylor (Corporal Norton) [1], George Bryson (Private Ogden) [1-2], John Caesar (R/T Soldier) [1], Gordon Reid (Phillips) [1], Trevor Lawrence (Lodge) [1], Terry Walsh (Warehouse Looter) [1], Noel Johnson (Charles Grover M.P.) [2-6], Peter Miles (Professor Whitaker) [2-6], Martin Jarvis (Butler) [2-6], James Marcus (Peasant) [2], Pat Gorman (UNIT Corporal) [2], Terence Wilton (Mark) [3-6], Carmen Silvera (Ruth) [4,6], Brian Badcoe (Adam) [4-6], Colin Bell (Private Bryson) [5-6], Timothy Craven (Robinson) [6].


The Doctor and Sarah arrive back in the TARDIS to find London completely deserted - except for the dinosaurs. Has the return of these prehistoric creatures been deliberately planned and, if so, who can behind it all?

Original Broadcast (UK)

Part One12th January, 19745h30pm - 5h55pm
Part Two19th January, 19745h30pm - 5h55pm
Part Three26th January, 19745h30pm - 5h55pm
Part Four2nd February, 19745h30pm - 5h55pm
Part Five9th February, 19745h30pm - 5h55pm
Part Six16th February, 19745h30pm - 5h55pm

Part One titled only Invasion. All other parts are Invasion of the Dinosaurs.

Notes:
  • Released on video in episodic format. [+/-]

    U.K. Release U.S. Release

  1. INVASION OF THE DINOSAURS
    • U.K. Release: October 2003 / U.S. Release: October 2003
      PAL - BBC video BBCV7333
      NTSC - Warner Video E1858

      Part One only survives as a black and white film print.

    • The North American release is also included in The End of the Universe Collection.

  • Novelised as Doctor Who and the Dinosaur Invasion by Malcolm Hulke. [+/-]

    2nd W.H.Allen Edition 1st W.H.Allen Edition

    • Hardcover Edition - Allan Wingate Ltd.
      First Edition: February 1976. Reprinted in 1977.
      ISBN: 85523 061 4.
      Cover by Chris Achilleos.
      Price: £2.25.

    • Paperback Edition - W.H. Allen.
      First Edition: February 1976.
      ISBN: 0 426 10874 4.
      Cover by Chris Achilleos.
      Price: 40p.

    • Paperback Edition - W.H. Allen.
      Virgin Edition First Edition: June 1978. Reprinted in 1979, 1982, 1983, 1984.
      ISBN: 0 426 10874 4.
      Cover by Jeff Cummins.
      Price: 60p.

    • Paperback Edition - Virgin Publishing Ltd.
      First Edition: November 1993.
      ISBN: 0 426 10874 4.
      Cover by Alister Pearson.
      Price: £3.50.
      Retitled: Doctor Who - The Dinosaur Invasion.

  1. FOREIGN EDITIONS:
    • USA, 1979 (Reprinted up to 1989). Doctor Who and the Dinosaur Invasion. Publisher: Pinacle (#3). Cover by David Mann.
  • Doctor Who Magazine Archive: Issue #203.
 
 
 
 
Part One
(drn: 25'29")

London: there are birds and dogs but little else as the entire city is deserted. Toys of children have been left behind. In this quiet, the TARDIS materializes rather noise ridden. They are in the middle of a park. The space time coordinates have gone off a bit and they are not in the Research Center, the Doctor set the coordinates for UNIT HQ. They are in the time zone they left, give or take a few weeks. He tells her she is perfectly safe -- it is not the 19th century or the 21st. They start out to find a telephone to ring the Brigadier but hear a loud crash of trees... the Doctor thinking it the parks department cutting down some trees. At a phone booth, the Doctor cannot get through to the Brigadier. It doesn't work... vandalized. The Doctor calls that an unfair word ...the Vandals were actually quite decent chaps. He wants to find a taxi but she points out a bus stop. A man high up on a scaffolding ladder comes down the steps of a large warehouse but hides when he spots a land rover passing. The man, a looter, comes down and goes into a car and drives away.

The Doctor looks at a chain in his gloved hand. The bus isn't coming. There is no bus, no bikes, no cars, nothing moving. Is it Sunday? Great Britain always closes on Sundays. They start to walk and see car. They try to wave him down but he almost runs them over.

The looter drives to a series of large buildings, stores that are all deserted too. He gets out and carries a leather pouch into one, leaving his car door open.

The Doctor and Sarah follow, carefully and see the car. The Doctor goes into the store but the looter has hidden before they get inside. He comes out with a gun and tells them to get against the wall. The Doctor tells Sarah to do as he says. The Doctor asks what is going on. When the looter leaves and drives away, Sarah almost tried to follow but the Doctor stopped her -- the looter was liable to shoot her out of terror. The police don't answer. The duo hear a loud crash and a roar. They find the car smashed and the man hanging out of it, dead, one side of his face bloody to a pulp.

A phone operator, Ogden, gives Sergeant Benton an update. UNIT HQ reports five more looters in Hyde Park. Organized gangs are looters. They need more detention centers. The Brigadier tells Yates to get them set up.

Sarah and the Doctor find the Metropolitan Police Station locked. They run as they see a land rover stopping and are too late to get to it and the men who shut it in a warehouse. The pair go inside, with the Doctor calling hello. The crooks hide but one comes out with a wrench and attacks the Doctor who uses his karate to stop the man. These men are hiding stolen furs in this garage. Another hits the Doctor from behind but Sarah hits this crook from behind. The man pushes Sarah down but runs with the recovering other man when they hear machine gun fire. Sarah asks if the Doctor is all right and he says, "Not really." He asks her to help him up. Sarah finds the warehouse doors jammed shut. As the Doctor tries to smash it open with his fist a giant flying Pterodactyl comes down the steps, winging at Sarah. The Doctor yells at her to get into the van. Its jaws nearly get them but the Doctor waves his cape at it. They get to the van but the thing smashes its head through the side window at the Doctor as he tries to drive off. He drives out through the doors...

General Finch has imposed Martial Law and supervises UNIT's sighting operations at this temporary HQ in a school on the edge of the evacuated Central Zone. The Brigadier will not allow troops under his command to fire on civilians, even looters. Looters is not the main problem: shortage of observation patrols are. The 8 million people evacuated are already so: but Finch thinks they have to be housed and cared for. The Brigadier wants to find the cause of the incidents and hopes the Doctor will appear to help them out with these. Finch wants to know if the Brigadier is waiting for this "mysterious scientific advisor to reappear" and asks if the Brigadier thinks he will "materialize out of thin air." Any looter who does not surrender immediately is to be shot -- Finch's orders.

Men warn the Doctor and Sarah, who emerge from the van which they stop near the soldiers, to raise their hands or be shot. The Doctor attempts to ask what is going on. They are frisked for weapons and the land rover is searched. Stolen furs, jewels, and money are found.

Number 5 Reception center: a makeshift military base: a man stole a colour TV set, 2 tape recorders, and a radio. He will have a military trial after he is photographed. Sarah and the Doctor are brought in and asked their names by the army sergeant who is under a lieutenant who will arrive later. Sarah tells him she is 23. The Doctor claims to be Dr. John Smith, no relation. He doesn't think the man asking the questions at the desk will believe him if he tells him his real age. When Sarah wants to ask more questions, the Doctor just tells Sarah that they should go and have their photographs taken. The Doctor tells the photographer that the equipment is antiquated. The Doctor happily tells him to take his right side, his best side. Another man gives him a sign, "Shut up and hold that in front of you." He smiles as his pic is taken. He also bows to let Sarah take her pic. The Doctor asks for one pic of both them together and asks the soldier who gave him the sign to come and join in. He herds them to a spot and orders them to sit down on the floor. The Doctor doesn't make Sarah sit. They would rather stand. The Doctor finds some chairs and they sit. The soldier tells him to keep the prisoners quiet. Sarah and the Doctor talk to the looter who was photographed before them. He explains that the military law is because of the monsters.

Outside, a building is being destroyed by a giant Tyrannosaurus Rex, which is coming for a group of soldiers, trapping them. They use guns and a grenade on it as it comes through the building toward them. The blast seems to drive it off.

Ogden, the UNIT radio man the Brigadier and Benton the interference is continuing. The Brigadier and Benton discuss the interference with communications: every time one of the monsters appears there is this interference. The Brigadier gives Benton pictures of the latest looters. A scrappy looking bunch they have here. Another officer at a desk says, "You can say that again." They find the Doctor's picture and one of that journalist girl, Sarah Jane Smith. Benton reminds the Brigadier of a conference with General Finch in 15 minutes and asks if he should go. The Brigadier tells him he has to stay here, to send a despatch. The Brigadier looking at the Doctor's smile, "Typical, absolutely typical. What is the man playing at!?"

The Doctor and Sarah don't want to make a break for it which the looter suggests. He doesn't want to spend 20 years in some detention camp. The Doctor declines, thanking him very much but no. The lieutenant and his aide come in and call the prisoners forward. They are called by their numbers. The Doctor tells the sergeant they have names. The sergeant tells the crimes. The lieutenant orders the looter detained until the emergency is over and then he will be handed over to the civilian authorities. Sarah tries to explain when she and the Doctor are up next. The sergeant will not let him speak but the Doctor is allowed to by the lieutenant. He claims he is the scientific advisor to UNIT and is an old friend of Brigadier Lethbridge-Stewart. The lieutenant calls them guilty and they will be sent to the detention center. They sit back down near the looter, who tells them so. No one will listen to them. The Doctor asks the looter about the idea about escaping. He asks for more a more original plan than jumping the guards. The Doctor starts a fight with the looter, yelling that he grassed on them. The looter gets mad, calling him the Doctor a right dressed up twit. The Doctor stops the looter from choking and hitting him. A guard comes to break it up and the Doctor uses a nerve pinch on the soldier to put him asleep. The looter gets the machine gun and orders Sarah and the Doctor out toward the other soldiers so he can get away clean the other way. The Doctor says, "So much about honor among thieves." As he says this, he kicks the gun out of the man's hands and throws him onto the stage of the school auditorium. "C'mon, outta here, come on!" The Doctor grabs Sarah's hand and they race to a land rover.

They close the car doors quietly. The Doctor tries to find wire to jump the ignition but as he gets out to try out back, soldiers are there with guns, asking if he is ready for the detention center. The Doctor makes a face, smiles and folds his arms as he stands with his back against the jeep.

As they ride in the jeep, Sarah laughs, "Honestly, Doctor." "How was I to know this was a detention center transport?" The Doctor says. She thinks they will be stuck for months sorting mail bags. No one will listen to them, they haven't so far. The jeep stops short. There is a aloud roar. The Doctor and Sarah look out the back of the jeep's curtain and see a giant Tyrannosaurus Rex opening its jaws over the area... towering near a fence and a building...

Part Two
(drn: 24'43")

Bound at the wrists by handcuffs, Sarah and the Doctor vacate the jeep and run off. More grenades are tossed at the Rex. Sarah and the Doctor take shelter in a garage. The thing they just saw died out 65 million years ago, the Doctor states. The Rex backs off from more shells fired by the soldiers, who return and find the Doctor and Sarah gone. In the garage, the Doctor gets the handcuffs off Sarah and himself. Something seems to be watching them. They wonder about their current situation. An egg? Kept as a pet? The Doctor playfully taunts Sarah's ideas but she asks him if he has the explanation. He thinks he has. A peasant tries to get out of the room, calling the Doctor an accursed wizard. Sarah warns the Doctor to be careful as the man pulls a knife and asks the Doctor to take the curse off him. A witch cast a spell on him. He will tell the priest to have her burned. Sarah asks what the name of his king is: Richard who is away in Holy Lands thus John rules. The man wants the Doctor to take him home and attacks the Doctor again with the knife. Sarah jumps the man from behind and as she does a strange warp of time begins and seems to take time backwards for a bit. Sarah wonders what happened but the soldiers arrive, searching. He pushes her to hide to one side of the door. The Doctor almost haiiiis the Brigadier, who comes in and asks what he is doing. The Doctor laughs and asks how he is.

At UNIT HQ, the Brigadier fills them in: after the Doctor and Miss Smith left on their last little jaunt...it all started. Sarah tells the conscending Brigadier that they were helping him and she tries to explain what they've been through. He interrupts to go on: a variety of dinosaurs appeared in Central London area... considerable panic and some loss of life. Benton happily explains the map colour code to the dinos: red for Rex, blue for Triceratops, green for stegosaurus, and pink for Pterodactyl. This temporary HQ was set up on the periphery of the zone. Some criminal activity came about. The Doctor makes tea while they talk. They have contained the dinos so far, keeping them away from the populated areas. Patrols reported dinos vanish. The Doctor deduces the dinos vanish back into the past. Finch and Mike arrive. The Doctor shakes Mike's hand, "Mike, my dear fellow, good to see you again." The Brigadier introduces the Doctor to Finch. The Doctor won't give Finch a reply as to where he has been until the Brigadier tells the Doctor that Finch is in charge of the entire operation. The Doctor goes to shake his hand but Finch will not do that. Finch doesn't want science gobbledygook. Finch thinks a mad scientist was breeding these things. Finch wants Miss Smith evacuated right away but the Doctor tells him that Miss Smith is acting as his assistant. She explains about the man from the time of King John. Mike tells Finch that he should listen to the Doctor, "He's given us a great deal of help in the past." Finch, instead, wants the Doctor to stop interfering when Ogden and Benton report a sighting in Section Five and the Doctor will not hear of shooting at the dino. The Doctor wants a live dino to learn more.

The Doctor asks the Brigadier to take him down to Section Five right away. They go via jeep. A UNIT man on the roof keeps track of the Stegosaurus behind a building. The Doctor gets closer to the vegetarian beast.

Mike tells Sarah, back at Temp UNIT HQ that after that business with giant maggots in Wales, he had to have a spot of leave. Mike thinks it all had to have a reaction on him. Mike rather likes the deserted streets and the air is clean, no cars, no people. Yesterday he saw a fox in Piccadilly. Nightengales in Barkley Square. Sarah likes London the way it was, traffic jams and all.

The Doctor wants to observe the Stego under lab conditions. The thing has a brain about the size of a walnut and an amiable disposition. The Doctor wants rope to capture it. "Of all the lunatic schemes," the Brigadier says. But a time backwards warp hits the Brigadier and the two men as they are about to give the Doctor a hand. The Stego is gone after the time eddy vanishes. The Doctor tells the Corporal not to bother to search for it around the corner.

At HQ, they discuss what happened with Finch: it vanished into thin air. The Brigadier and men were temporally affected by a time eddy, a displacement causes a localized distortion in time. Time running backwards would make the people there not recall what happened. Finch claims time travel is impossible. Sarah tells him she has travelled in time and that the Doctor knows what he is talking about. The Doctor still wants to study the dinos. Mike asks if it is a natural time problem. The Doctor doesn't think so: why all in one spot. Someone is using power to bring the dinos here...making their own power...

In an underground lab in central London's evacuated area, dials are registering millions of volts. A younger man named Butler tells an older Professor Whitaker the next time transference is in one hour, the sequence is carefully calculated. Whitaker asks about the constant distractions: the distractions have made it so that Whitaker is left to operate untouched by the authorities.

Mike watches the Doctor make a device to knock out a dino: a simple molecular reaction. Mike says, "I see." "I doubt it," the Doctor says---the principal hasn't been developed on Earth yet. Mike didn't think dinos had any brains. All creatures have brains. The Doctor will surround the dino with an electrical field when it vanishes and this will give him an accurate fix as to the source of the power and this will allow the Brigadier and his "merry men" time to round up the guilty parties. Sarah comes in, claming Finch is being impossible, trying to have Sarah evacuated and asks what the Doctor is making. The Doctor tells her to ask Captain Yates to explain it. Mike will fix Sarah up with a temporary pass. The Doctor isn't really listening to her. There is something she can do as his assistant: "GO AWAY." She will go and chat out that nice Captain Yates. "I'm sure he'd enjoy that," the Doctor says. Sarah leaves him in peace, going out the door. The Doctor shuts the door and locks it, hoping to get back to work. From another door, before the Doctor can lock it, the Brigadier comes in, asking to know what the Doctor is working on. The Doctor grabs his own head in frustration and crosses his eyes!

Butler announces a "friend from UNIT" is here. He was told not to come here, Whitaker states. An emergency has arisen and he must see Whitaker. Butler brings in...Captain Mike Yates who warns him.

Minister with Special Powers, the Right Honorable Charles Grover is brought in and introduced to the working and ignoring Doctor. When the Doctor picks his head up, he has a large eyepiece in his right eye. The Doctor finally acknowledge Grover...the chap who had something to do with starting the Save Planet Earth society and wrote a book LAST CHANCE FOR MAN. The Doctor knows of him and gets up, calls him "my dear Grover" and shakes his hand, delighted to meet him, "This planet needs people like you." The Brigadier tells Grover he and the Doctor have a lot in common: the Doctor is very big on this anti pollution business. Grover tells the Brigadier we should all be. It affects all our lives. The Doctor doesn't want Grover to rush away, even though Grover doesn't want to take the Doctor away from his work. The Doctor says, "Nonsense, nonsense," and brings the old man over to his work to show him the device and to explain it. The Brigadier makes a frustrated, jealous face.

While Whitaker doesn't agree, Mike calls the Doctor the greatest scientist on this planet and he can probably find the underground lab of this Operation Golden Age. Whitaker wants Mike to deal with the Doctor. Mike won't harm the Doctor or allow him to be harmed by others--if he allows that, it would make him no better than the people they are trying to replace. Whitaker wants Mike to sabotage the Doctor's stun gun.

All spot patrols of UNIT are on maximum alert. Grover asks why this is happening. The Doctor believes it is a distraction to the people needing to do something...something that would have others getting in the way. The people who did this needed London evacuated so people would not notice what they are doing. Grover asks why not the Yorkshire Moors or the Highlands of Scotland. The Doctor figures it must have something to do with something that is only available to these people in London. Benton comes in to Section 12 Tower Station: a chief engineer spotted a Platosaurus, commonly known as the Brontosaurus, "large, placid and stupid..." The Doctor excuses himself to Grover and will let him know when he's captured the dino.

Whitaker gives Yates a small metallic disk to place on the Doctor's stun rifle.

The Doctor and the Brigadier arrive via jeep in the streets where the Bronto is calmly standing. Yates also arrives and asks where it is. He tells the Doctor and opens the door for him. While the Doctor and the Brigadier go to examine the Bronto, Mike sees the stun rifle in the back of the Brigadier's jeep. A UNIT man named Collins is given orders to put Yates' jeep back. The larger the mass, the greater the temporal displacement for the Doctor's instruments to measure. The Bronto is not dangerous...unless aroused. The Doctor tells a questioning Yates, "Mind you, I wouldn't want to try it on a Tyrannosaurus Rex." Mike gets the gun but plants the disk on it. He hands it to the Doctor, sure that the Doctor is in no danger. The Doctor tells the Brigadier that readying for covering fire won't be necessary. The Brigadier, "Just in case, Doctor." He and four soldiers of UNIT ready to fire just in case.

The Doctor moves close to the Bronto and fires the lever but nothing happens. He checks the connections to his device but as he tries to fire again, the time distortion occurs and the Bronto vanishes. The stun rifle is useless...not working. Behind the Doctor, the Tyrannosaurus Rex roars to life. The Brigadier has his men fire at it but it opens its jaws right at the Doctor...

Part Three
(drn: 23'26")

The Doctor jumps down over a railing but running, he falls and drops the gun. The monster comes at him but Yates makes a dash for it and shoots the beast, which falls. Yates runs to help the Doctor up.

Later, Yates yells at Butler and Whitaker. He wants to tell the Doctor everything but Whitaker will not hear of it. The Doctor must be delayed. The creature is taken to a hangar on the fringe of the zone. Butler wants Yates to sabotage the Doctor's instruments. Once again, the pair promise Yates that the Doctor will not be harmed. Whitaker is not satisfied about that young man's loyalty, "He's much too concerned about this precious Doctor of his."

In the hangar, the Doctor is set up and the dino is chained, asleep. He wanted a Bronto. The Brigadier asks what the difference is. Sarah asks if it will stay asleep. It will for awhile. They will wait for it to dematerialize. Sarah has been checking up on time travel... other people who know about it... one or two have dabbled. The Doctor ponders that they would have to overcome the Blinovitch Limitation Effect. The Doctor thinks that Chung Sen can do it..."Oh hang on, he hasn't been born yet." Sarah mentions a Professor Whitaker, the name of which the Brigadier recalls -- he applied for a government grant which was refused. Whitaker was always an outsider and was called a crank, always mixed up in some feud. Six months ago, he vanished. Sarah has checked up. The Brigadier will check intelligence records. The Doctor would like to see the records. He asks if the Brigadier's UNIT fellows have brought the TARDIS back yet to UNIT HQ -- the Doctor needs some things in it. The Brigadier will give the Doctor a run down there. Sarah will go with them and she is refused bringing a camera into the place by the Brigadier... she is still a journalist, she asks him to remember. He tells her when the crisis is passed, she may. After the trio leave, Yates comes in to do some dirty work.

At UNIT HQ, the minister Grover tells the Doctor that Whitaker is just a harmless eccentric. Sarah talked to Whitaker's colleagues at Oxford, the Science Correspondent at the Times, and the editor of Nature. Grover was assured Whitaker's time travel theory was just worthless. The Brigadier, the Doctor, and Grover leave to see what the Doctor's experiments will be. The TARDIS has been brought back to UNIT HQ. Finch is interested in Sarah's ideas about Whitaker and asks her about it. Finch is told by her, that she will not let go of it. Sarah asks Finch for a pass to take the photos. Finch tells her to see his adjunctant at his UNIT HQ, to show a note to Finch's driver and he will take her there to pick up this pass. Finch also leaves.

Finch is in the hangar with the monster soon... and a hacksaw.

Later, the Brigadier and the Doctor return to UNIT HQ and find Sarah gone. The Brigadier thinks maybe Finch took her to dinner. The Doctor didn't think the two were at the start of a beautiful friendship but The Brigadier makes a call to get a jeep for the Doctor to get back to the hangar and finds out that Miss Smith left in General Finch's car. "Ohh," the Doctor states.

Back at the hangar, Sarah Jane takes out a camera and starts taking pictures of the monster through the observation window. The flashes make it open its eyes. Sarah goes out of the office into the area of the hangar itself and closer to the monster. It slowly starts to move upward. Sarah screams, runs back to the office and slams the door. She finds the exit door locked and cannot get out. The monster gets up and sticks its head at the window.

The Doctor is driving a jeep back. The thing's tail starts to bang against the window and soon smashes it. Sarah is hit by a fallen piece of blinders. As the monster's head sticks fully into the window, the Doctor gets in and nearly trips over a recovering Sarah. He pulls her out as the thing starts to demolish the top of the hangar. Outside, the pair run the length of the hangar to get away and to the jeep. Sarah looks up as the thing smashes the bricks of the side of the building and comes out. They drive off.

Sarah, back at UNIT HQ, tells the Doctor and the Brigadier that somebody tried to kill her. The Brigadier, not wanting to seem unsympathetic, tells her she only has herself to blame. Someone bolted the door on the outside. Benton comes back with the Doctor's instruments. They also found cut chains. All the chains were cut and the Doctor finds his machine sabotaged. The dino vanished but they learned nothing, the Brigadier thinks. The Doctor thinks they learned something: someone in this organization is trying to kill them. Benton thinks the killers were after the Doctor, who will build another detector -- a portable one. It will not be as accurate or as powerful but it will give them the general direction. A small nuclear generator is needed for power like the power being used by the people making dinosaurs appear. Sarah asks why they don't look for one. The Brigadier has already. The Doctor tugs her chin and asks her why she doesn't get some rest. The Doctor leaves for the machine. The Brigadier goes to a conference with Finch. The Brigadier leaves Benton to look after Miss Smith. He asks if she wants tea. Sarah claims this is typical -- run away and play while the grown ups get on with the real work. Sarah thinks there is an independent source...some records must exist, even if it was secret...something secret that even the Brigadier didn't know about. Sarah asks for a jeep and tells Benton to tell the Doctor that she's gone out to play.

Sarah goes to see Grover. He remembers her even though she acts modest that he might not. Grover apologizes that she had to find her own way here... he is short on staff. He offers her tea. The rest of the government is in Harrowgate. Grover has his own power source here and is still in operation. Back in the Cold War days, there were plans to build an underground headquarters for the government in the event of an atomic war. Each was to have its own nuclear generator. Grover was a junior back then but the plans were shelved when the Cold War eased. Sarah thinks one was made in London. Grover asks if the Brigadier and the Doctor know about this. Sarah hasn't told them yet. He offers to take her to a room with no windows where there are secret files, confidential ministerial files going back years. Grover shuts the door behind them and a sliding door covers it. Grover has only been a minister for six months. Number 2-3-1-5 file found by Sarah in the records and read by Grover is about building RAF early warning stations in Scotland. Grover finds another file that astounds him. Sarah was correct: an underground base was built in the center of London. It was right here, under the building. Grover opens the sliding door and Sarah finds a long hall, "After you, Miss Smith..."

Back at UNIT HQ, the Doctor asks Benton to get some electronic equipment. He asks about Miss Smith, revealing Sarah went out to play. "You know sometimes, that girl baffles me," the Doctor claims.

Sarah calls Grover and his colleagues mad. Grover thinks he and they are the only ones who are sane. Grover must leave and doubts her friends will find her where she is going. They lock her in a red room with a blue orb and light. The light starts to pulsate and Sarah, in a kind of airflight chair, finds herself losing consciousness from it. Sarah is in a processing center room.

When Sarah wakes up a handsome man welcomes her, a new "sister". Mark is the man's name and he explains: she is welcomed to the People and that they are on a spaceship, on their way, soon to arrive on a planet that is to be their new home. Sarah gets up and looks out the window... to see outerspace, stars, and a planet..."We left Earth three months ago," Mark tells her...

Part Four
(drn: 23'33")

Finch comes to UNIT HQ, complaining about losing a dinosaur and having Miss Smith almost killed. He also asks why the Doctor is allowed to persist in his useless schemes. The Doctor tells Finch because of sabotage his plans failed but he has a new scheme. He shows Finch the cut chains and asks the Brigadier if the new car of his is here. The Brigadier brought it over when he moved the HQ. It is in the garage. The Doctor carries out his equipment. The Brigadier sees him out.

When they leave, Yates wants to know what is going on from Finch. He agreed to sabotage not to murder.

The Brigadier tells the Doctor he will never get this new car of his off the ground. The Doctor tells him speed is of the essence, thus he drives off in a new hovercraft the Whomobile. He drives through the streets of a deserted London.

In a spacecraft, the Elders of the People -- one of whom is Lady Cullingford -- whom Sarah recognizes as a conservationist interviewed by Sarah about the pollution of rivers and the passing of a Private Member's bill against it. Cullingford is now called Ruth. Sarah recognizes the man Elder as Nigel Castle, the novelist, now called Adam. Mark is John Critchton, the athlete who jumped 2.6362 meters in the last Olympics. Adam tells her they are heading for a small planet very like Earth, New Earth. It is at an earlier stage of development, clean air, simple pastoral people. They will guide them to see that the evil that hit Earth's people will not take over the people on New Earth. There are over 200 people on between this and six other ships as she sees on a monitor screen. They show her a room of people sleeping in suspended animation. This will save food and oxygen. A three months journey which is almost over. Sarah cannot believe she's been on this ship for three months. She feels her head...maybe the wound she received when the Rex attacked.

The Doctor is still in the hovercraft and tracing using his equipment. He passes a newsstand with evacuation order postings and martial law declared. The Doctor stops at the gates to Moorgate Underground Station. He unlocks the gates and goes down steps using a large flashlight. The Doctor tries something with a handkerchief but hides under a rail as Butler arrives and uses keys to operate a secret lift built into a cleaner's closet! The Doctor manages to get inside the secret lift and finds the hanger used to make it operate. Butler and Whitaker do not at first see the light warning them that the lift is coming down. Butler, complaining about going up to the streets -- and risking getting shot as a looter, then sees the blue lift is being used.

The Doctor arrives and finds a post to the reactor room and communications room as well as sleeping quarters. A camera monitors his movements to Whitaker and Butler. Whitaker thinks Butler lead him here. Butler sees the Doctor is heading toward the reactor. He presses a button. In the halls, sliding metal doors block his way. Another closes behind him as he moves through another hall and he moves toward the cabinet room. Another blocks him. The Doctor rubs his neck as a lift opens. He enters it and this alerts Butler to his being inside. On a machine, Whitaker watches prehistoric Earth and sees a Pterodactyl. Whitaker operates a lever and the time eddy makes it vanish from prehistoric Earth. Soon it attacks the Doctor in the station. The Doctor takes cover in the lift and it sticks its head in. He uses a mop to ward off its jaws. Then he goes back out and fights against it. He tosses the mop at it and runs up the steps.

Sarah asks Ruth if people have the right to choose what kind of life they want. Ruth and Adam as well as Mark think when people choose there is a lot of moral degradation, lying, cheating, dishonesty, cruelty, and permissiveness. Sarah tells them there is also a lot of love, kindness and honesty. Mark thinks the strain of awakening strained her mind. Adam thought everyone was perfectly chosen. Ruth and Adam figure she needs to be reeducated. Sarah thinks there is nothing wrong with her mind. They take her to be reeducated.

The Brigadier is taken by the Doctor to the railway lift. In the closet, nothing works. Operation Golden Age removed the secret lift.

This prompts the Brigadier and the Doctor to go to Grover, who explains Miss Smith was on the same lines as they. Grover shows them the files about the project of building the underground station being abandoned. The Doctor tells Grover he prefers to rely on the evidence of his own eyes. The Doctor also asks about Miss Smith. Grover asks the two for tea. Grover calls his driver in...it is Butler, who claims he took Sarah back to UNIT HQ.

In the Reminder Room, Sarah watches a movie about pollution of the air, the rivers, and the oceans. Mark comes in to give Sarah some pure bread... and not much of it. He tells her they all come here from time to time to remind them of the reasons they are on this mission. Mark tells her to continue watching the movie and leaves her.

Ruth tells Adam and Mark they cannot afford this girl's disruptive influence. Adam thinks it is one girl. Ruth thinks if she doesn't respond to reeducation, they will have to destroy Sarah. Mark does not like this but says nothing.

In Operation Golden Age, Finch, Grover, Yates, and Whitaker confer. When the experiment is over, the colonists will be allowed to emerge onto their new Earth. Finch tells them the Doctor and UNIT are onto Whitaker, trying to trace him. Yates warned them not to underestimate the Doctor and Grover agrees, suspecting the Doctor suspects his involvement. Grover thinks Finch can block the Brigadier in taking action to find their base. They want to discredit the Doctor.

In UNIT HQ, the Doctor frets, sitting with his hand on his cheek. The Brigadier tells the Doctor there is no evidence. The Doctor tells him Grover is involved. The monsters are a side issue... to clear Central London. Some vast scheme is underway, quickly moving toward its climax, the Doctor claims. The Brigadier cannot use explosives to get back to the underground. He needs permission from Finch, who will insist on referring to Grover. Benton tells the Doctor he has a call and puts the call through via the UNIT operator. Whitaker is on the phone and tells the Doctor it is Grover's fault and Grover tricked him into thinking this was a government project. Whitaker lies and tells he escaped Grover and is afraid to move from the old hangar where the Doctor had his experiments. He wants the Doctor to come to him alone...he doesn't trust anyone else. The Doctor leaves. Butler puts a surveillance machine on.

The Doctor arrives with his cape on at the hanger and finds a device on, a mysterious bit of equipment which tells Butler the Doctor has arrived. Whitaker puts on the time eddy device and makes a stegosaurus appear in the hangar. Finch and the Brigadier arrive in the office bringing two men with them. Finch says, "there's your monster maker, Brigadier, caught in the act..." Finch blames the Doctor who looks around at them...

Part Five
(drn: 24'38")

Sarah is trying not to watch the movies of pollution and atomic threat. Mark comes in and asks how she is. Tired, hungry, and having a headache, she replies. He tells her she is in grave danger, warning her about the Elders. She thinks the time she spent in suspended animation affected her thinking in some way. She asks him to take her back to the Elders but makes a dash out the door past Mark, locking him in.

UNIT HQ: Finch, the Brigadier, and two guards return. Finch orders Yates to lock the Doctor up. The Doctor blames Finch for arranging the whole thing. The Brigadier wants to "interrogate" the prisoner. Finch orders Yates to keep the Doctor under close arrest. The Doctor goes to Yates and tells him to raise men with explosives -- he has a good idea where their base is. Mike goes to Benton to order him lock the Doctor up in a cell and under constant guard and to talk to no one. "So it was you, Mike," the Doctor states. "I'm sorry, Doctor," Mike leaves to talk to Finch and the Brigadier. Benton orders the two guards to fix up an empty store room, put in a camp bed, and fix up the windows on the cells. When the guards leave, Benton asks what is going on. The Doctor tells Benton that it is Mike on the inside who is working against them. "Come on, Doctor," Benton doesn't believe him. Benton tells the Doctor to start overpowering him with a bit of his Venusian venusure. The Doctor uses the neck pinch to knock him out.

Grover and Butler report to Whitaker. Soon, the Doctor and his associates and everyone else on this planet but the three of them and their chosen ones will never have existed. By a different application, Whitaker is about to reverse time in a limited field. Butler breaks a cup under the time field top device. When Whitaker operates the machine, the cup flies together into Butler's hand. Whitaker rolled back time for a few seconds.

Sarah sneaks around on the spaceship and hides from Adam. After he gets a drink and leaves, she opens a sliding a door to the control room. She tries working the devices there but none of what she does has an effect. The controls seem to be fakes.

Mark, in the Reminder Room, watches movies of political violence and resistance against authority. Sarah returns but he grabs her. She tries to tell him what she's found.

Benton, in hat, tells the Brigadier, Finch, and Yates about the Doctor's escape. When Finch notes there is not a mark on Benton. The Brigadier explains that the Doctor uses a unique form of unarmed combat. Finch tells Benton he will be court martialed and orders Yates and the Brigadier to cooperate with his search and to shoot to kill the Doctor on sight. Finch orders Yates to put Benton under arrest. After Finch and his men leave, the Brigadier tells Benton to put himself under arrest. He asks where the Doctor has gone. He also tells Benton that they have to find the Doctor before General Finch does and asks Benton to round up his men.

Sarah shows Mark the controls that do not work. They are supposed to be in another solar system, closest to Earth. Mark tells her one of their members invented a new space drive that enabled them to travel the four light years away, thus it would not take hundreds of years to reach there. Sarah shows him the scar on her head: it would have healed. He counters that is due to her being in suspended animation. Sarah doesn't think they are on a spaceship at all and that she hasn't been here that long. She closes the airlock and puts her self out a hatch...not into space. Adam enters after she is gone and asks Mark about Sarah. Adam wants to chat with Sarah but Mark tries to dissuade him. Adam thinks they should all spend time in the Reminder Room before they arrive.

The Doctor drives a Rover through the streets of London. He drives away from a pursuing Rover and hides in a warehouse for a bit and then drives out when they pass.

Sarah gets out into a hallway and overhears a talk between Whitaker and Butler. She has to hide when Whitaker orders Butler to check the reactor is on full power. Butler passes her. Sarah gets to a lift. Grover is called about his car being ready. Sarah is back in the file room soon enough and finds the door sliding away to the room door. She goes out of it and runs to the exit door.

A helicopter tracks the Doctor's Rover as he drives past trees. They are called that the Doctor is heading for the commons. The Doctor drives down a country rode but backs around and returns the way he came as another Rover comes after him. The copter comes over trees, alerted the Doctor is somewhere among the trees. The Rover stops and finds the Doctor's Rover deserted, the door to his car open. A soldier gets out and looks among the trees. The Doctor watches as four men get out and start searching for him in the thich trees. From hiding the Doctor watches but sneaks out. A soldier takes out a cigarette to sit on a drain area and smoke. The Doctor slips out of hiding among bushes, quietly slips up to the men's Rover, and calls the copter that they have the prisoner and to call all the other patrols off. The Doctor thinks well of himself and smiles. The copter leaves but one of the returning men fires his machine gun at the Doctor, who drives off, not smiling now. The man gets in the Doctor's previous Rover and tries to start it but it won't start.

Sarah has returned to UNIT HQ where a junior officer named Bryson keeps asking for her pass. He won't tell her where the Brigadier is but does when she insists. He also tells her the Doctor is responsible for these monsters. "Oh, don't be ridiculous," she says. She writes a note for the Brigadier and asks him to see that the Brigadier gets it. Finch returns... Sarah being glad to see him. Sarah says she knows everything and who is behind all this. Before Sarah can tell him, Finch dismisses Bryson. Sarah tells her it is Grover behind all of this. Finch tries to dismiss what Sarah is saying and wants Finch to come to Grover's office with her. Soon enough, he and Sarah arrive at Grover's room and go to the file room... a lift. Sarah gets it open but Finch pulls a gun on her. "Oh boy... I really do choose my friends, don't I," she scoffs at herself. "I think you know the way," Finch says. He brings her back down to Grover and Whitaker.

Finch tells Whitaker he did very well to incriminate the Doctor. A last wave of dinosaurs will invade London as part of the final phase to drive out all people. Finch will withdraw all troops including UNIT. Finch leaves Sarah with Grover. She doesn't want to go back on their fake spaceship. She tells him what he is doing is cruel. The people are going to a new world... Earth by taking it back to an earlier and purer age. All on Earth will have vanished, they and their ancestors having never been born. Sarah thinks that is horrible...worse than murder. Whitaker puts on his device and makes a Triceratops appear in London. A Brontosaurus, a Stegosaurus, and a Rex also are made to appear.

The Doctor drives down a street to see a Bronto blocking it near a large building. He drives another way but suddenly a time eddy occurs and another Tyrannosaurus Rex appears in front of his vehicle...

Part Six
(drn: 25'34")

The Doctor stops the Rover and gets out, running to a blocked entrance. He tries to lift the locked gate but cannot. The Rex comes closer. From another street the Bronto appears and the Rex moves toward it. The Doctor watches as the two heads of the dinosaurs clash, the Rex biting the neck of the Bronto. It also smashes its tail into the Bronto's head. As the Rex continues to bite the neck, the Doctor runs beneath them. He runs right into a jeep with Finch in it. One of the men points a long gun at the Doctor, who stands with his hands on his hips. Finch tells the man, "Leave him to me." The Brigadier and Benton drive up, the Brigadier telling Finch that the Doctor is a UNIT prisoner and he will be taken into custody. Benton levels his machine gun at Finch. Finch claims it is mutiny but the Brigadier tells him he is only doing his job. Finch tells them to take this man and put him under close arrest.

Butler shuts Sarah up in an old storage room. She will be coming with them. Sarah sees a grill to some kind of vent.

Byson at UNIT HQ tells a returning Brigadier, Doctor, and Benton that Finch has ordered all forces to evacuate. The Brigadier was telling the Doctor that what he wants is for UNIT to full scale mutiny. The spotter patrols are out of the area. "Good grief," the Brigadier says. The Brigadier is told Finch is in the conspiracy just as Grover is. "Is everybody involved in this conspiracy?" The Brigadier asked. He cannot believe it when the Doctor tells him Captain Yates is but Benton submits Yates's strange behavior lately. The Doctor finds the note from Sarah. Bryson tells them it was left early this morning. She left with Finch. The Brigadier tells Benton he wants to call Geneva, International UNIT -- to put pressure on the government. The Doctor wants to attack the base now. The Brigadier tells an asking Bryson they are not evacuating. Bryson, when he finds out they not, asks what he should do. The Brigadier tells him to go and make some tea.

Finch arrives and cancels Benton's call, holding a gun on the three. Capt. Yates appears and tells the Brigadier he is sorry.

Sarah gets the grid off and finds a large ventilation shaft to crawl through. Finch is out of the room. Yates tells the Doctor that Operation Golden Age is going to roll back time. The world the way it is too corrupt and complicated, it used to be a cleaner and simpler place. The Doctor tells him there never was a golden age. The Doctor explains to the Brigadier that they can do this: a protective field will save everyone in it but everyone else will not exist. Mike holds a gun on the Doctor, who understands his ideals and in many ways sympathesizes with them but he feels they should take the world that they have and make what they can with it, not take away the existence of generations of people. Yates tells Benton he doesn't really care if he is within the zone or not -- he's not important. Bryson returning with the tea tray, innocently surprises Yates, who turns his way. Benton uses this to kick the gun from Yates's hand and grabs him in a choke hold, turning him to the front.

Adam is welcoming a new woman into awakening. Mark is present and other people are being revived out of suspended animation. Ruth alerts Adam to Sarah's escape. Mark finds Sarah in the control room adjacent to their room. She tells them they are under Central London--the whole ship is a fake. Mark believes her. Sarah gets up and tells him they have to tell the People the truth.

While the Brigadier helps but thinks they should wait for reinforcements, the Doctor and Benton load up rope, explosives that can blow you way into the bank of England, and other equipment. The Doctor tells them if they wait, reinforcements will vanish. He and the Brigadier leave to stop Operation Golden Age.

Sarah and Mark are not having luck telling the People the truth. One man sold his house. Ruth and Adam arrive, Ruth calling Sarah mad and wanting to lock her up. Adam seems to have doubts and believes Sarah. Ruth thinks the girl is contaminating the rest of them and must be confined. Ruth and another older lady hold Sarah by the arms. Mark tries to leave but is also held. Adam moves to see if they are telling the truth. He finds the bogus controls and uses the radio, asking to speak to Charles Grover.

The Brigadier and the Doctor drive through London as a Rex roars, its head filling the sky. A Bronto blocks the street and the Rex is behind them. "Hang onto your hat, Brigadier!"

Butler tells Grover that Adam insists on talking to him. Sarah has stirred up much trouble. Grover will dress to meet him...in a spacesuit.

A Stegosaurus is in front of a store near where the Brigadier and the Doctor have parked their Rover. The Brigadier gets out and throws a bomb at it. It moves, the Brigadier gets back in the Rover and he and the Doctor drive off.

An airlock depressurizes. Ruth tells Adam he had no right to call Grover. Adam thinks Grover has much to answer for. They were told a shuttle from another ship has brought Grover over to them. Grover is in a spacesuit and fakes the depressurisation of the airlock. Finally, he talks to Adam.

The Brigadier never thought he would find himself blowing up a tube transport station and if the Doctor is wrong the Brigadier will have a lot of explaining to do to London Transport. The Doctor says, "Don't worry, Brigadier, I'm never wrong." If they don't hurry, there won't be a London transport to apologize to.

Grover tells Adam and Miss Smith they are a problem to him now as he meets with them in the storeroom which has become their prison cell. Millions of people will be wiped out. Adam listens at the door. The people will never have been born. Conned, decent people were chosen by Grover and they might object to people being wiped out. Mark cannot accept this. Grover will hope they will adjust to life in the new world. Sarah and Mark will go on telling the People the truth. Grover hopes in the future they can be friends.

A Triceratops is in the tube tunnel with the Doctor and the Brigadier. The Doctor tells the Brigadier it is none too bright. The Brigadier uses a flare to hold it back.

Adam waits until Grover leaves, enters and unties Sarah and Mark. They have to get to the flight deck and get to that airlock to open it.

The Doctor has finished setting up the explosives. The Brigadier is down to his last flare. He joins the Doctor on the steps and they set off the blast which makes a nice hold down the lift. The Doctor wants to climb down on his own: less conspicuous that way. He tells the Brigadier to get those reinforcements now.

The Brigadier returns to his Rover using to call Benton. Benton can only raise one mobile patrol. Benton will bring them along but Benton turns to find Finch holding a gun on him. Benton will not be allowed to send reinforcements now even if the Brigadier is in trouble. Benton fakes a turn to the radio but turns to grab the gun from his seat. The two struggle with the gun. Finch yells that Benton will be court martialed for this. "Yes sir," Benton bangs Finch's gun hand on the table as they fight, "Very sorry sir!"

Adam confronts Ruth and the People with Sarah's story. Sarah moves to the airlock. Ruth thinks it will kill them all. Sarah shuts the door and the others watch via a window as Sarah opens the hatch to outside. Sarah returns and tells them the people who tricked them are out there and now is the time to demand an explanation.

In the halls, the Doctor hides from Butler and uses his karate to down Butler and nerve pinches him to boot.

Grover tells Whitaker that General Finch should be here soon. As long as he is in the protective field, Finch should be all right. Grover orders Whitaker to start the machine, to pull a lever. Mark and the People arrive, Mark holding Whitaker. The People lead by Adam and Ruth discuss with Grover why he shouldn't do this. Soon, the Doctor, Benton, the Brigadier, and other soldiers arrive.

In the distraction, Whitaker throws Mark off and pulls the lever. A time transference starts and time starts to recede. Only the Doctor is able to partly resist the pressure. The Earthlings are frozen in time. The Doctor moves to reach the lever and does. He pushes it back off and adjusts the rest of the machinery. At this moment, Grover rushes to the levers but Whitaker yells, "No! He's reversed the polarity!" He tries to stop Grover, grabbing his hands. Both Grover and Whitaker vanish in a time eddy, along with the machine's device. Sarah asks where: back to their Golden Age. "I hope they like it," the Doctor states.

At UNIT HQ, the Brigadier and Sarah question the Doctor about what happened. Time was reversed for the world outside the forcefield. For those inside the field, time stood still for a bit...except for the Doctor. Sarah asks why but answers her own question, "Oh, don't tell me... you're a Time Lord," she laughs. She reflects, "Poor Grover..." The Brigadier states Grover was mad. The Doctor agrees but at least he realized the danger that this planet could become one vast garbage dump inhabited only by rats... the poisonous chemicals, the oil, the filth...but it is simply greed. The Brigadier has to write his deposition to court martial Finch. The Brig can give Captain Yates extended sick leave and a chance to resign quietly -- the best he can do. "Poor Mike," the Doctor comments. The Brigadier leaves, asking Benton to come with him. Before he leaves, Benton leans in on the Doctor and Sarah, "Still, I'll say one thing, not many sergeants get to punch a General on the nose?" Benton turns, thinking the Brigadier took off ahead of him, finds the Brigadier right there. The Brigadier says, "Don't just make a habit of it." The pair leave.

The Doctor tells Sarah he told her he would get her home safely. Sarah mentions his cheek, "Of all the cheek!" The Doctor claims it is not his fault people were up to no good while they were away. Sarah comments, "Alien monsters, robber barons, then dinosaurs. It'll be a long time before I get in that TARDIS again." The Doctor calls that a pity. He wanted to take a trip to Florana, one of the most beautiful planets in the universe: always carpeted with perfumed flowers, seas are as warm milk, sands soft as swan's down, the steams flow with water as clear as crystal. As he goes on explaining about Florana, Sarah laughingly tells him to count her out and tries to resist this talk of a trip in the TARDIS. She covers her ears as he leans in close, explaining more about it...

Source: Charles Mento

Continuity Notes:
 
 
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