THE STORY
The Doctor brings Ace to Gabriel Chase, an old house that she once burnt down in her home town of Perivale. They arrive in 1883 and discover the house is occupied by Josiah Samuel Smith, apparently a Victorian gentleman. Others present include the explorer, Redvers Fenn-Cooper, who has been driven mad after witnessing something terrible within the house, Nimrod, Smith's Neanderthal manservant, Gwendoline, Smith's ward and Mrs Pritchard, the homicidal housekeeper. The Doctor and his companion discover there is a stone spacecraft beneath the house, and Smith is an evolved form of the cargo it was carrying.Smith intends to use Fenn-Cooper in a plot to kill Queen Victoria, so he can restore the British Empire to its former glory. His plans are hampered by Control, a female alien who has also evolved into a human. Ace releases the true owner of the craft, an ancient alien called Light, who came to Earth millions of years ago to catalogue all life on Earth. Discovering evolution has made his work obselete, he plans to destroy the planet. The Doctor convinces him that there is no way to stop change and Light disintegrates. Meanwhile, Control has evolved into a lady, while Smith reverts to a more primitive form. They leave in the spacecraft, with Nimrod and Fenn-Cooper.
CAST:
The Doctor (Sylvester McCoy), Ace (Sophie Aldred), Josiah (Ian Hogg), Mrs Prichard (Sylvia Simms), Redvers Fenn-Cooper (Michael Cochrane), Control (Sharon Duce), Gwendoline (Katharine Schlesinger), Reverend Ernest Matthews (John Nettleton), Nimrod (Carl Forgione), Mrs Grose (Brenda Kempner), Inspector Mackenzie (Frank Windsor), Light (John Hallam).
FACTS:
Although 'Survival' was transmitted last, Ghost Light
was the final Doctor Who story to be made as part of the ongoing series.
Marc Platt originally planned to write a story called 'Lungbarrow', which was to see the Doctor returning
to his home of the same name on Gallifrey, meeting his many strange relatives. The story was eventually published by Virgin books in 1997 as their
final novel to feature the Seventh Doctor.
OTHER FORMATS:
The Seventh Doctor Novelisations
Script book released in 1993, edited by John McElroy, with cover by Alister Pearson
Back to the Seventh Doctor Programme Guide
Forward to 'The Curse of Fenric'.