THE ARK IN SPACE

Written by Robert Holmes (Based on an idea by John Lucarotti).

Directed by Rodney Bennett.

Transmitted originally: 25 January 1975 to 15 February 1975.

"It may be quite irrational of me, but humans are quite my favourite species." - 'The Doctor'

THE STORY

The TARDIS arrives on an apparently deserted and deactivated space station, Nerva, otherwise known as the Ark, orbiting Earth in the far future. There the Doctor, Sarah and Harry discover the last suruvivors of the human race held in suspended animation, Earth having been evacuated thousands of years earlier when solar falres threatened to destroy all life. The station has been visited by the Wirrn, an insect lifeform, which has laid its eggs in the solar stacks and absorbed the body and mind of one of the sleeping humans.

The Doctor's reactivation of the station's systems causes the humans to start to revive. Their leader, nicknamed Noah, becomes infected by one of the emerging Wirrn larvae and is slowly taken over. The Doctor and his friends meanwhile gain the trust of the other humans, now led by a med-tech named Vira. Together they manage to lure the hatched Wirrn insects into a shuttle craft and eject it into space. In a final act of humanity, Noah, now transformed into a Wirrn, causes the ship to explode. The Doctor decides to visit Earth using the Ark's transmat, to ensure it is safe for the sleeping humans to return.

CAST:

The Doctor (Tom Baker), Sarah-Jane Smith (Elisabeth Sladen), Harry Sullivan (Ian Marter), Voices (Gladys Spencer, Peter Tuddenham), Vira (Wendy Williams), Noah (Kenton Moore), Libri (Christopher Masters), Rogin (Richardson Morgan), Lycett (John Gregg), High Minister's Voice (Gladys Spencer), Wirrn Operators (Stuart Fell, Nick Hobbs).

FACTS:

The Doctor uses his yo-yo to take a gravity reading.

The sets for Nerva station were reused for the story 'Revenge of the Cybermen' later in the season.

OTHER FORMATS:

The Fourth Doctor Novelisations

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