Paddy Kingsland

A documentary about the BBC Radiophonic Workshop, responsible for creating some of the most memorable television and radio music in British popular culture, including "The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy" and Doctor Who (1963).

8.1/10

The Fifth Doctor tries to take Tegan back to Heathrow Airport but the TARDIS arrives in the 17th century instead of the 20th. The time travellers find a space capsule has crash-landed nearby and that its alien occupants, three Terileptil prison escapees, intend to wipe out all indigenous life on Earth by releasing rats infected with an enhanced strain of the great plague. The creatures are also using a sophisticated android to strike terror into the local villagers. Aided by itinerant thespian Richard Mace, the Doctor tries to unravel the evil plot.

The Doctor's latest regeneration has proven more unstable than his previous ones. His two assistants, Tegan and Nyssa, help him recuperate on the tranquil planet of Castrovalva. But are things as peaceful as they seem on Castrovalva? What has happened to Adric? And more importantly, where is the Master? As the Doctor begins to recover he realises that the Master has laid a trap even more intricate than he could have imagined and that he will stop at nothing to gain his revenge over the Doctor.

The Doctor goes to Logopolis to repair the TARDIS' chameleon circuit, not knowing that a shadowy watcher is spying on him. Meanwhile, his old enemy the Master has only recently gained secure longevity by possessing the body of Tremas, and revels in his safety. He has plans of his own for the planet of mathematicians, Logopolis, and a plan that could spell doom for the entire universe. The Master's plan could rock Logopolis, the keystone of all life. Could this mean the unravelling of the causal nexus and the end of the universe itself? The Doctor must pit his wits against the Master in a desperate battle to thwart his plans. But he is aware that this might be a fight which could easily spell the end of his life.

The TARDIS falls through a CVE into E-Space and arrives on the planet Alzarius. There the inhabitants of a crashed starliner and a group of young rebels called the Outlers, led by a boy named Varsh and including his brother Adric, are terrorised by a race of Marshmen who emerge from the marshes at a time known as Mistfall. The Doctor discovers that the starliner's inhabitants are not the descendants of its original crew, as claimed by their leaders, the Deciders, but evolved Marshmen. With the Time Lord's help and encouragement, the starliner is repaired and able to leave the planet.

On Tigella, two opposing factions are irrevocably divided over one fundamental issue: the Dodecahedron, a mysterious artefact which provides the entire planet's energy. With the Savants and the Deons locked in a crippling stalemate, and their civilisation on the brink of collapse, the Tigellan leader Zastor seeks the Doctor's help. But the Doctor and Romana have been trapped aboard the TARDIS in a timeloop by Meglos, the last of the Zolpha Thurans, who will stop at nothing to steal back the awesome power of the Dodecahedron.

Still trapped in E-Space, the Doctor's TARDIS materialises on a medieval planet. The townsfolk live in fear of the Three Who Rule, who govern from their mighty castle. Investigating, the Fourth Doctor discovers that the Three Who Rule are ancient astronauts who became vampires long ago, and their castle is actually their spaceship. When Romana and Adric are kidnapped, the Doctor must ally himself with a band of renegade peasants to stop the resurrection of one of Gallifrey's greatest enemies: the King Vampire itself.