Tom Baker
Season Seventeen

5G. The Creature from the Pit

Writer: David Fisher
Director: Christopher Barry
Designer: Valerie Warrender
Incidental Music: Dudley Simpson

TRANSMISSION DETAILS:

514. Part One                      27.10.79   6.00pm - 6.25pm   9.3M/43rd/---
515. Part Two                      03.11.79   6.05pm - 6.30pm  10.8M/23rd/67%
516. Part Three                    10.11.79   6.00pm - 6.25pm  10.2M/36th/---
517. Part Four                     17.11.79   6.00pm - 6.25pm   9.6M/36th/---

CAST:

LADY ADRASTA: Myra Frances; MADAM KARELA: Eileen Way; TORVIN: John Bryans; EDU: Edward Kelsey; AINU: Tim Munro; HUNSTMAN: David Telfer (1,4); ENGINEER DORAN: Terry Walsh (1); TOLLUND: Morris Barry (1); ORGANON: Geoffrey Bayldon (2-4); GUARDSMASTER: Tommy Wright (2-3); GUARDS: Philip Denyer (2-3); David Redgrave (3). UNCREDITED: HANDMAIDEN: Gail Hunter (1-2); ENGINEER: Bobby James (1); STUNTMEN: Max Faulkner (1), Terry Walsh (1); GUARDS: Roy Brent (1), John Cannon (1-3), Ian Munroe (1-3), Ron Nunnery (1-3), Robert Smythe (1-2), Barry Summerfield (1-2), Derek Suthern (1-3), Reg Turner; BANDITS: Douglas Bather (1,3); Laurie Goode (1,3), Billy Gray (1), Mike Handley (1), Ridgewell Hawkes (1), Nick Joseph (1,2,4), Jerry Judge (1), George Miller (1,2,4), Reg Woods; BEARERS: Peter Caton, Alf Mangan

STORY:

Receving a distress call the TARDIS materialises on the planet Chloris. Chloris is a lush green world, but is short on metals. All available is controlled by Lada Adastra.

Lady Adastra keeps control over her people with the Huntsman and his wolfweeds. A group of bandits, lead by Torvin, attempt to steal whatever metals they can from the Palace.

The Doctor is captured by Lady Adastra, and in an attempt to escape jumps into the pit. The pit is used by Lady Adastra to get rid of all who incur her wrath. It is the entrance to a cave system in which lives an imennse green golbular creature. The creature's own planet lacks the chlorophyll that the creature needs, but does have an abundance of metal. Chloris has an abundance of chlorophyll.

The creature, an ambassador from the planet Tythonus, planned to trade metals with the Cholrisans. The first person it came in contact with was Lady Adastra who imprisoned it as it threatened her monopoly on metals. The creature kills Adastra, and warns the Doctor that the planet will soon be destroyed by a neutron star.

The Doctor manages to tractor the neutron star out of the path of Chloris, saving the planet and its people.

STUDIOS:

Television Centre Studio 6, Ealing Television Film Studios

NOVELISATION:

The Creature from the Pit David Fisher

VIDEO:

The Creature from the Pit

Tom BakerSeason Seventeen