PLANET OF EVIL

Written by Louis Marks.

Directed by David Maloney.

Transmitted originally: 27 September 1975 to 18 October 1975.

"Here on Zeta Minor is the boundary between existence as you know it and the other universe which you just don't understand. From the beginning of time it has existed side by side with the known universe. Each is the antithesis of the other. You call it 'nothing', a word to cover ignorance." - The Doctor

THE STORY

The TARDIS picks up a distress call and the Doctor and Sarah trace it to the planet Zeta Minor. There they discover that a Morestran geological survey group has fallen prey to an unseen killer, and only the expedition leader, Professor Sorenson, remains alive. A military mission from Morestra has also arrived to investigate. the culprit is revealed to be a creature from a universe of antimatter, its attacks in retaliation for the removal of anitmatter samples by Sorenson from around a pool that acts as an interface between the two universes. The Morestrans take off in their ship, but it is dragged back to the planet due to the antimatter on board.

Sorenson becomes infected by the anitmatter and gradually transforms into a creature capable of draining the life from others. The Morestran commander, Salamar, becomes increasingly unhinged, attacks Sorenson with a radiation source, which causes him to multiply. The ship is soon overrun by the deadly creatures. The Doctor finds the original Sorenson, and takes him back to the planet in the TARDIS, throwing both him and the antimatter samples into the pool, fulfilling a bargain made with the inhabitants of the other universe to stop the interference. Sorenson reappears unharmed and is returned to the Morestran ship, which is able to leave the planet.

CAST:

The Doctor (Tom Baker), Sarah-Jane Smith (Elisabeth Sladen), Sorenson (Frederick Jaeger), Vishinsky (Ewen Solon), Salamar (Prentis Hancock), De Haan (Graham Weston), Ponti (Louis Mahoney), Morelli (Michael Wisher), Braun (Terence Brook), Baldwin (Tony McEwan), O'Hara (Haydn Wood), Reig (Melvyn Bedford).

FACTS:

The TARDIS console room appears for the first time since season eleven's 'Death to the Daleks'.

'Zeta Major' by Simon Messingham, a 1998 novel featuring the Fifth Doctor, Tegan and Nyssa is a sequel to this story.

OTHER FORMATS:

The Fourth Doctor Novelisations

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