"Doctor Who"
The Seeds of Doom: Part 1 (1976)

Director:

Douglas Camfield

Writer:

Robert Banks Stewart (writer)

TV Series:

"Doctor Who" (1963)

Original Air Date:

31 January 1976 (Season 13, Episode 21)

Genre:

Adventure | Drama | Sci-Fi

Plot:

Plot Keywords:

Medical | Space Hero | Doctor Who | Scientist Hero | Christ Allegory

Cast

Tom Baker	...	Doctor Who
Elisabeth Sladen	...	Sarah Jane Smith
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Michael Barrington	...	Sir Colin Thackeray
Tony Beckley	...	Harrison Chase
John Challis	...	Scorby
Kenneth Gilbert	...	Richard Dunbar
John Gleeson	...	Charles Winlett
Seymour Green	...	Hargreaves
Mark Jones	...	Arnold Keeler
Michael McStay	...	Derek Moberley
Hubert Rees	...	John Stevenson

Country:

UK

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

Australia:G

Filming Locations:

Athelhampton House, Athelhampton, Dorset, England, UK

Trivia:

Michael McStay, who plays Moberley, was injured in a car crash between studio taping and location taping.

Quotes:

The Doctor: I've got a pistol.
Sarah Jane Smith: But you'd never use it!
The Doctor: True. But they don't know that, do they?

"I haven't come 10,000 miles to discuss the weather." Great start.

*** This comment may contain spoilers ***

Doctor Who: The Seeds of Doom: Part 1 starts in Antartica where World Ecology Berau scientists Derek Moberley (Michael McStay), Charles Winlett (John Gleeson) & John Stevenson (Hubert Rees) find a mysterious alien pod buried deep in the permafrost that they cannot identify. Back in London & politician Richard Dunbar (Kenneth Gilbert) has called in UNIT to assist & they send the Doctor (Tom Baker) to meet him, Dunbar show's the Doctor a photo of the mysterious pod & he recognises it & says he'll investigate. Along with his assistant Sarah Jane Smith (Elisabeth Sladen) the Doctor travels to Antartica & to the bureau's base, there Charles has been infected by the pod which is turning him into a living plant with a strong dislike of humans...

Episode 21 from season 13 & not to be confused with similarly titled Doctor Who story The Seeds of Death (1969) from the Patrick Troughton era this Doctor Who adventure was originally aired here in the UK during January 1976 this six parter was the sixth & final story from Tom Baker's second season as the Doctor. directed by Douglas Camfield this is one of the absolute classics in mine, & many other's, opinion. The script by Robert Banks Stewart is in keeping with a lot of the rest of season 13 in that it has significant horror overtones which I've alway liked, here the parallels to The Thing From Another World (1951), John Carpenter's brilliant remake The Thing (1982) was still 6 years away, are obvious with the Antartic setting & the discovery of an alien in the ice along with a touch of Day of the Trffids (1962) with it's killer plants who want to take over the world. Both aspects are integrated very well, there's also another sub plot about someone wanting to steal the pod which means there's more going on than usual, more than enough to maintain ones interest & at only 25 minutes to cram it in this episode moves along like a rocket & is never less than entertaining.

The production values on The Seeds of Doom are unusually high for a low budget Doctor Who, don't get me wrong it's still cheap but it looks good which is where so many Doctor Who stories fail. From the atmospheric night time exterior shots of the Artic base to the shocking & scary revelation as the Doctor removes Charles bed-sheet to reveal him becoming a living plant to better than usual model work (it's still not very good though) & good well lit sets that create atmosphere. The only things which aren't that great in The Seeds of Doom is the extremely fake looking snow, it looks like polystyrene chips & in truth probably was!

The Seeds of Doom: Part 1 is a fantastic opener to a fantastic horror themed story from a time when Doctor Who actually tried to be scary & a serious production rather than the camp pantomime it would later become. Great stuff although I'm not sure about Sarah Jane's yellow flared overalls!