The deal

For those of you who haven't got round to reading 'World Game', here's the key bits of background for you on what happens after the second doctor's TV adventures end at the conclusion of the 'War Games'...

World Game
Terrance Dicks

Prologue

The following is an excerot from the genuine and original summary record of the trial of the Doctor. The account with which we were, until now, familiar was substantially re-edited for the public record.

In the High Court of the Time Lords a trial was coming to its end. The accused, a renegade Time Lord known as the Doctor, had already been found guilty. Now it was time for the sentence...

A hush fell as the President of the Court rose and began to speak. 'Doctor, you have been found guilty of two serious offences against our laws. First, you stole a TARDIS and used it to roam through Time and Space as you pleased.'

'Nonsense,' said the Doctor idingnatly. 'I didn't steal it. Just borrowed it for a while.'

The President ignored the interruption. 'More imporantly, you have repeatedly broken our most important law; interference in the affairs of other planets is a serious crime.'

Again the Doctor interrupted. 'I not only admit my interference, I am proud of it! You just observe the evil in the galaxies. I fight against it.'

'We have considered your plea, Doctor, that there is evil in the Universe which must be fought, and that you still have a part to play in that great struggle. It is a plea not without merit.' The President paused. Then he said heavily, 'Regrettably, the Court's hands are tied. The abstraction of an obsolete TARDIS is a relatively trivial matter, and might be pardoned. Temporal interference, however, prolonged and repeated temporal interference, is a far more serious matter. It strikes at the root of out Time Lord policy of non-interference in the affais of the cosmos. It draws attention to our very existence, and for many years our safety has lain in silence and secrecy. In short, aggravated temporal interference of this nature is a capital crime, and the sentence is mandatory.

'It is my painful duty, Doctor, to sentence you to death.'

---

Chapter One

...

It was a difficult meeting, held in a security-sealed conference room just ff Temporal Scanning HQ, The three Time Lords present were members of a special sub-committee of the High Council.

Their usual duties were to oversee the work of the Temporal Scanning Service. Normally this was a bureacratic formality, which consisted of rubber-stamping the latest reports. Now, however, they had a real problem to deal with. And a problem which, horror of horrors, might actually require positive action.

They weren't happy about it.

Ragnar, the most senior, summed up their dilemma... 'The evidence is clear. There has been temporal interference - prolonged and repeated temporal interference. So far it is relativelt trivial. Potentially, however, it is highly dangerous. It risks endangering the very fabric of time. It can no longer be tolerated. Those responsible must be tracked down and identified. Once that has been done they must be neutralised.'

Milvo, the second member of the sub-committee, nodded thoughtfully... 'That may be so. However we ourselves cannot be seen to interfere. Such action runs contrary to all our most cherished principles... Our reputation for detatchment, for non-interference, cannot be comprimised.' He paused thoughtfully. 'Particularly at a time when we are about to put a renegade Time Lord to death for precisely that same reason! It would be most embarrassing to e found committing exactly the same offence ourselves!'

Ragnar frowned... 'Nevertheless, something must be done,' he said irratably. 'Action must be taken. We are all agreed on that, I believe. And we achieve nothing by idly spinning phrases!'

The third member of the sub-committee was - nondescript... His name was Sardon.

'I might, perhaps, be able to offer a solution,' he said mildly.

The other two looked warily at him... He was the representative if the powerful Celestial Intervention Agency, that vast and shadowy organisation that underpinned the formal respectability of Time Lord rule.

The Agency wasn't afraid of getting its hands dirty. Some said they were never clean...

'In my humble opinion, you are right,' he said smoothingly.

'Which of us?' snapped Ragnar.

'Both of you.'

'Since we seem to hold dianetrically opposed opinions,' murmered Milvo, 'it is difficult to see...'

'Not at all,' saod Sardon. He nodded towards Ragnar. 'You are right - the situation is urgent and action must be taken.' He turned to Milvo. 'However, you are also right - the Time Lords cannot be seen to take it.'

'You speak in paradoxes,' protested Milvo. 'How can we act and not act?'

'I did not say we could not act. I said we must not be seen to act.'

'Then how -?'

'We must use an agent. Someone we can control, and if necessary, disown.'

Ragnar looked dubious. 'The task is both delicate and dangerous. It will require a person of great intelligence, courage and ability. It will require many kinds of skills, diplomatic and scientific, not to mention a considerable amount of low cunning. All in all, it calls for a person of truly exceptional quality. Do you have such an agent at your command?'

'I have one in mind.'

'Can he be trusted?' asked Milvo.

'I think so,' said Sardon. 'His life is in my hands.'

'How so?' snapped Ragnar.

'He has just been condemned to death.'

---

...

For all the luxuries of his surroundings, the Doctor knew he was in an oubliette, a superior Time Lord cell for important prisonsers. He knew too that he might be left there to rot for endless days - left indeed until he either regenerated or died of natural causes. On the other hand he might be taken out for execution at any moment.

...

As the Doctor pondered the paradoxes of time travel, the door opened and someone came in. An insignificant-looking someone, a grey man in a grey robe.

The Doctor swung his feet from the couch and rose. 'Execution time? Surely not, I'd hoped for a bit more ceremony. A detatchment of those nice ornamental soliers from the Capitol Guard, solemn drum-beats, that sort of thing.'

The grey man smiled thinly. 'No, it's not execution time yet, Doctor. Perhaps it will never be execution time at all - it's up to you. My name is Sardon. I've come to offer you a deal.'

Chapter Two

...

Chapter Three

'A deal,' aid the Doctor. 'Good old Gallifrey. There's always a deal, isn't there?'

'Fortunately, for you, Doctor, in this case there is. It is up to you to decided whether or not you wish to take advantage of it. If you're too noble to comprimise, you can always choose to stand by your princiles and die.'

...

'I'm willing to listen at least,' he said carelessly. 'After all, I've very little else to do. What do I get out of this proposition of yours?'

'Your life for a start. The death sentence commuted into a period of exile. Eventually, when the fuss has died down and all the scandal you've caused has been forgotteb, there's the possibility of restoration to full Time Lord status.'

'Quite an attractive employment package undr the circumstances,' said the Doctor.

'I should have though so,' agreed his visitor. 'Especially when you consider the current alternative.'

'And what do I have to do to earn all these highly desirable fringe benefits? Something you don't care to dirty your hands with, I suppose?'

'You will be asked to carry out a mission, possibly several missions, for the people I represent.'

'The Celestial Intervention Agency, I take it?'

'If you care to think so, Doctor.'

'What else can I possibly think? Who else but the Agency would be unsruplous enough to employ a condemned criminal like me to do their dirty work?'

...

Hippy Chic

Great interview with one of our fave Who girls of yesteryear, Katy Manning, in the Radio Times (complete with little Bellamy illustrations - although very poor scans!), online here. Don't forget to check the links at the end - the RT site now has a great section on classic Who stories (they are still updating with Colin Baker and haven't got to Sylvester McCoy yet).

Here's a snippet I never knew:

"She’s a bundle of insecurities, especially about her looks. As a teenager in the 60s, she was involved in a horrendous car crash. Dating Richard Eyre (long before he became a theatrical knight), she was driven up to see him at Oxford University by Bamber Gascoigne’s brother, Brian. On the way back, “We went over a roundabout and into a garage. There were no seatbelts in those days. I was thrown through the windscreen and a plate-glass window.”

Gascoigne sustained broken ribs, whereas Katy’s legs were smashed, her back was broken, her face disfigured. She spent almost two years in and out of hospital. “They weren’t entirely sure I’d walk again. I have more metal in my body than an airport can handle. I had a lot of reconstructive surgery. When you kiss this [left] side of my face, it’s skin grafted from my bottom. So it’s kiss my ass!"

And you can't interview Katy without talking about that Dalek photoshoot...

It’s heartbreaking because most of the nation – and her colleagues – thought she was incredibly sexy. “I’d never have done those shots with the Dalek if I thought I was sexy.” She notoriously posed nude with a Dalek in Girl Illustrated in 1978. “I did it for a laugh. It was a lot of fun and it was my idea. Derek Nimmo [co-star in the West End farce Why Not Stay for Breakfast?] was furious because he’d given me those boots for my opening night. Then I wrapped them round a Dalek.”

And the best bit:

Many former Doctor Who stars have published autobiographies. Katy never has and never will. “I am asked all the time. Daily! I’m exaggerating, but I’m a very private person. I’ve been secretive since childhood. It would be so goddamn boring tracking back over my life, which ain’t over yet. There are too many people involved I don’t really need to talk about. And I’ve been a naughty girl. Naughty girls don’t write books!” A throaty cackle. How naughty, Katy? “I think I’ve been about as naughty as you can get.” She gives one of those faraway but saucy, you-name-it/I’ve-done-it grins.

It's a great little interview, well written by someone with an appreciation of Who, and Katy. I actually got quite jealous of the interviewer.

There's also a good gallery of Katy promo pics on the RT site here.

48 years ago today...

From the Radio Times, 15 April 1964, for the launch of the new story, Marco Polo...

Death of a War Lord

The Welsh actor, Philip Madoc, died on 5th March 2012. Madoc is most well known among Who fans for his role as the War Lord in final Troughton story, The War Games. He also appeared alongside Tom Baker in the classic Brain Of Morbius as Solon. Less well known are his appearances in the Krotons (Eelek) and the Power of Kroll (Fenner). He also appeared in the film 'Daleks: Invasion Earth 2150 A.D.', making him (along with Bernard Cribbins) one of the few actors to appear in both the TV series and the film spin-offs. He also appeared in the Big Finish audio dramas Master and Return of the Krotons. Read more about Philip's life in his obituary in The Independent. There's a great series of pages on his roles in Who here. The Whoniverse just got smaller.

Perceptions (Part Ten)

Perceptions (Part Nine)

Perceptions (Part Eight)

Perceptions (Part Seven)

Perceptions (Part Six)

Perceptions (Part Five)

Perceptions (Part Four)

Perceptions (Part Three)

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Perceptions (Part Two)

Perceptions (Part One)

Return of the Zygons?

Doctor Who executive producer Caroline Skinner may have dropped a hint on one of the returning foes for Series 7.

As we've reported here, last year it was revealed that a couple of classic monsters from the 60′s and 70′s will be back.

In an interview with the producer, SFX asked if we might see the Zygons again and her answer was simple: “Wait and see.”

Skinner also teased that episode 1, written by Steven Moffat is, “going to blow everybody’s mind.”

She added that not all of Series 7′s scripts are written yet, “But we’ve got a lot of them and the ones that are written are really, really epic and very exciting.”

Source

Ascendance (Part Ten)

Ascendance (Part Nine)

Ascendance (Part Eight)

Ascendance (Part Seven)

Ascendance (Part Six)