FOUR TO DOOMSDAY

Written by Terence Dudley.

Directed by John Black.

Transmitted originally: 18 January 1982 to 26 January 1982.

"Conformity is the only freedom." - 'Monarch'

THE STORY

The TARDIS arrivers on board a huge spaceship where the Doctor and his companions encounter the frog-like Urbankans and a population of human androids. the androids are drawn from four different ethnic groups - Greek (led by Bigon), Chinese (led by Lin Futu), Mayan (led by Villagra) and Aboriginal Australian (led by Kurkutji) - and perform regular displays of dance and other rituals termed 'recreationals'. The Urbankan's leader, Monarch, aided by his ministers, Persuasion and Enlightenment, is engaged in a complex scheme to plunder the raw materials of Earth needed to enable him to travel back in time, and thereby confirm his belief in his status as the universe's divine creator. Monarch has a poison that he intends to conquer humanity so that Earth can be repopulated with his androids. The Doctor, however, throws a canister of the poison at Monarch, causing him to shrink away to nothing.

CAST:

The Doctor (Peter Davison), Tegan (Janet Fielding), Adric (Matthew Waterhouse), Nyssa (Sarah Sutton), Monarch (Stratfor Johns), Persuasion (Paul Shelley), Enlightenment (Annie Lambert), Bigon (Philip Locke), Lin Futu (Burt Kwok), Kurkutji (Illarrio Bisi Pedro), Villagra (Nadia Hammam).

FACTS:

This was the first story of Peter Davison's tenure as the Doctor to be filmed.

Milton Johns, best known for his roles in 'Z Cars' and its 'Softly, Softly' spin-offs, appears as Monarch.

OTHER FORMATS:

The Fifth Doctor Novelisations

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