William Hartnell
Season One

C. The Edge of Destruction

Writer: David Whitaker
Directors: Richard Martin (1) and Frank Cox (2)
Designer: Raymond P Cusick
Incidental Music: Stock

TRANSMISSION DETAILS:

12. The Edge of Destruction       08.02.64   5.15pm - 5.40pm  10.4M/21st/61%
13. The Brink of Disaster         15.02.64   5.15pm - 5.40pm   9.9M/31st/60%

STORY:

The Doctor, in an attempt to return Ian and Barbara to their own time, experiments with a new combination on the TARDIS console. The result is an explosion, and everyone blacks out. When they recover, Susan and Barbara believe that an alien force was influencing the TARDIS.

The Doctor accuses Ian and Barbara of sabotage, claiming that they were blackmailing him to return them to their own time. Even susan begins to suspect her former teachers.

They all realise that the effects were the TARDIS's defence mechanism warning them of impending disaster, which has also been causing the pshycological disturnbances that they had all been experiencing.

The fast return switch that the Doctor had used on leaving Skaro had become jammed, and was leading the TARDIS towards Event One - the release of energy that created the Universe. The problem is a faulty spring, and once replaced the TARDIS begins to operate the same as before, leaving the Doctor with some appologies.

BLOOPERS:

Episode 1: You can see the studio floor in the "white void" outside the TARDIS door in early shots.

STUDIOS:

Lime Grove Studio D

ALTERNATIVE TITLES:

Inside the Spaceship, Beyond the Sun

NOTES:

This story features no guest cast and is set entirely within the TARDIS

NOVELISATION:

The Edge of Destruction Nigel Robinson

VIDEO:

The Edge of Destruction

William HartnellSeason One