5F. The Armageddon Factor

TRANSMISSION DETAILS:

500. Part One                      20.01.79   6.25pm - 6.50pm   7.5M/93rd/65%
501. Part Two                      27.01.79   6.25pm - 6.50pm   8.8M/49th/---
502. Part Three                    03.02.79   6.25pm - 6.50pm   7.8M/76th/---
503. Part Four                     10.02.79   6.25pm - 6.50pm   8.6M/60th/---
504. Part Five                     17.02.79   6.20pm - 6.45pm   8.6M/66th/---
505. Part Six                      24.02.79   6.30pm - 7.00pm   9.6M/36th/66%

PRINCESS ASTRA: Lalla Ward; MARSHAL OF ATRIOS: John Woodvine (1-4,6); MAJOR SHAPP: Davyd Harries (1-4,6); SURGEON MERAK: Ian Saynor (1-4,6); "HERO": Ian Liston (1); "HEROINE": Susan Skipper (1); GUARDS: John Cannon (1), Harry Fielder (2); THE SHADOW: William Squire (3-6); PILOT: Pat Gorman (3-4); TECHNICIAN: Iain Armstrong (3); DRAX: Barry Jackson (5-6); MUTE: Stephen Calcutt (5-6); THE BLACK GUARDIAN: Valentine Dyall (6). UNCREDITED: PATIENTS: (all 1) Frank Arbisman, Barbara Hampshire, Juliet St Davis, Ian Sheridan, Terry Ward, Albert Welch; NURSES: Val McKinnon (1), Judy Roger (2); VOICES: Ian Liston (2); GUARDS: (all 1-3) Peter Caton, Tony O'Leary, Peter Roy, Richard Sheekey, Barry Summerford, Reg Turner; TECHNICIANS: (all 1-3) Peter Bithiel, Constance Carling, Gerry Dean, Bill Hughes, Malcolm Ross, David Wilde; MUTES: Michael Braben (3-6), James Haswell (3-4), Ridgewell Hawkes, Danny Rae (3-4), Derek Suthern (5-6); EXTRAS: Michael Gordon-Brown (6), Eddie Whiting (3-6)

STORY:

The trail for the Key to Time is near an end, and there is only one more segment to find. As they have had no dealings with the Black Guardian, the Doctor is warned that this may be when they meet him.

The TARDIS mnaterialises in an underground labyrinth on Atrios. Atrios is at war with a neighbouring planet, Zeos. Casualities are high, and the medical centre is up to full capacity. Princess Astra is always keen to help the victims, and she does not agree with the Marshall.

Every fleet the Atriosans send up always gets destroyed, and Zeos almost seems unharmed. The Doctor says he can help, and says he can build a pshycological barrier that would make the Zeons not want to attack atrios. For that he must have a Zeon prisoner to test. The Marshall says that in war there are no prisoners, but it is strange that no-one recalls seeing a Zeon.

The Black Guardian has a servant, the Shadow, who is on a hidden third planet in between. The Doctor is led to the third planet and encounters an old friend, Drax, who built mentalis, the Zeon computer, to fight the war.

With Drax's help the Doctor escapes from the Shadow with Romana. Princess Astra is the final segment of the Key to Time, and when the Key is assembled the Doctor has power over ALL time. The Black Guardian appears as the White Guardian, although the Doctor tricks him into revealing his identity. The Doctor says that the Key is too powerful for any one being, or any Guardian, and orders it to split up, where all the pieces return to their original states.

STUDIOS: Television Centre Studio 3, Ealing Film Studios

WORKING TITLE: Armageddon

NOTES: This is the last story in which Mary Tamm plays Romana
Part Six was scheduled for thirty minutes instead of the usual twenty five, one of only two occasions when this happens
Part Five is the only episode of Doctor Who to have been interrupted by a transmission breakdown on its original transmission
Lalla Ward (who plays Princess Astra) is the new regenerated Romana in the next season

NOVELISATION: The Armageddon Factor Terrance Dicks

VIDEO: The Armageddon Factor