Galaxy 4

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For the communications satellite, see Galaxy IV.
018 – Galaxy 4
Doctor Who serial

The Drahvins and a Chumbley
Cast
Doctor William Hartnell (First Doctor)
Companions Maureen O'Brien (Vicki)
Peter Purves (Steven Taylor)
Production
Writer William Emms
Director Derek Martinus
Mervyn Pinfield (uncredited)
Script editor Donald Tosh
Producer Verity Lambert
Executive producer(s) None
Production code T
Series Season 3
Length 4 episodes, 25 mins each
Episode(s) missing All 4 episodes
Originally broadcast September 11–October 2, 1965
Chronology
← Preceded by Followed by →
The Time Meddler "Mission to the Unknown"
IMDb profile

Galaxy 4 is a serial in the British science fiction television series Doctor Who, which was first broadcast in four weekly parts from September 11 to October 2, 1965.

Contents

[edit] Synopsis

The Doctor, Vicki, and Steven land on an unknown planet which will soon die on which the hideous Rills with their Chumbley robots, and the Drahvins had crashlanded. The Drahvins try to enlist the Doctor's help to destroy the "evil" Rills, but who are the real villains?

[edit] Plot

The Doctor, Vicki, and Steven Taylor arrive on an eerily silent planet and encounter curious small robots, which Vicki names Chumblies. It is unclear whether the robots are hostile, when one is disabled by a party of female, cloned Drahvins, from the planet Drahva in Galaxy 4. It is revealed that this unknown planet is also in Galaxy 4, but is not given a name. The Drahvins are dominated by their leader, Maaga, who treats her other warriors with bullying contempt. The Drahvins are at war with the reptilian Rills, the masters of the Chumblies, and both races have crashed spaceships on this planet.

The planet will be destroyed in 14 planetary cycles and, with the Drahvin ship irreparable, Maaga and her warriors are keen to capture the Rill ship, which they believe has been made functional again. Maaga paints a picture of the Drahvins as the attacked species in the scenario, but the Doctor has witnessed some of the Drahvin aggression and is clearly not convinced. He also reworks the probability on the planet’s destruction and calculates it will break up in just two days time. The Doctor tries to keep this new finding from the Drahvins, but Maaga reveals her true colours and forces the truth from him at the point of a gun.

With Steven held as hostage to ensure their co-operation, the Doctor and Vicki are sent by the Drahvins to try to seize control of the Rill ship. The Doctor works out that the Rills are a very advanced species: when he meets one he is impressed, not least by their telepathy. The ugly, horned, ammonia-breathing Rill explains that the Rills have offered to take the Drahvins away with them but Maaga has refused, preferring to maintain the state of war she began when the Drahvins shot down the Rill craft. The Doctor tells the Rills of the true life remaining in the planet and promises to help them escape, since the solar energy converters on the Rill craft have not gathered enough power to effect a lift-off.

The Doctor and Vicki return to the Drahvin ship to find Steven unconscious after Maaga has tried to kill him by leaving him in a depressurised airlock. They all then return to the Rill vessel, where the Doctor successfully develops a power converter linked to the TARDIS, which charges the Rill craft. Maaga leads the Drahvins in a final assault on the Rill craft, but the Chumblies defend their ship long enough for it to power up and leave the planet. One Chumblie left behind to aid the time travellers helps them get back to the TARDIS. Once the ship leaves, the planet explodes, with the Drahvins perishing on the dying world.

[edit] Cast

[edit] Production

  • The working title for this story was The Chumblies. Different resources alternatively spell out the title: Galaxy Four.
  • The four episodes of the serial had individual titles. They were, respectively, "Four Hundred Dawns", "Trap of Steel", "Air Lock", "The Exploding Planet".
  • The story's central twist, that the beautiful Drahvins are actually the villains of the piece, was partially ruined by the fact that British newspapers gave away the twist before the story was broadcast.

[edit] In print

Doctor Who book
Book cover
Galaxy Four
Series Target novelisations
Release number 104
Writer William Emms
Publisher Target Books
Cover artist Andrew Skilleter
Release date November 1985 (hardback)

10th April 1986 (paperback)
Preceded by The Twin Dilemma
Followed by Timelash
  • A novelisation of this serial, written by William Emms, was published by Target Books in November 1985, entitled Galaxy Four.

[edit] Broadcast, CD and VHS releases

  • The ratings for this story ranged from 9 million viewers for Episode 1 and a peak of 11.3 million viewers for Episode 3.
  • The BBC no longer holds the serial in its archives. The only remaining visual record of this story consists of about six minutes of footage from Episode 1 and several publicity photographs. See Doctor Who missing episodes.
  • Ian Levine claimed that the Doctor Who Appreciation Society obtained legal permission to privately screen this serial at a convention in 1978, only to find that the BBC had junked the episodes about three weeks prior.[1] Later research subsequently showed this to be mistaken, as the DWAS never held any agreement to show the serial, and BBC Enterprises appear to have junked at least one of the episodes by the end of 1976.[2]
  • All extant audio-visual material for this story was released on DVD by the BBC in 2004 as part of the Lost in Time box set, including a lengthy clip (the longest of any missing episode) which had previously been made available on VHS (see The Ice Warriors): within the The Missing Years documentary.
  • The soundtrack for the serial is intact and has been released commercially, with linking narration provided by Peter Purves. See List of Doctor Who audio releases.

[edit] References

  1. ^ Levine, Ian (July 1992). "The Mark of Destruction: The truth behind the missing episodes of Doctor Who (part one)". DWB (103): pp. 12–15. 
  2. ^ Bignell, Richard (June 2005). "Withdrawn, De-accessioned and Junked". Nothing at the End of the Lane — The Magazine of Doctor Who Research and Restoration (2): pp. 44–49. 

[edit] External links

[edit] Reviews

[edit] Target novelisation

[edit] Audio Adaptation

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Doctor Who season 3 serials
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