Doctor Who/Survival

Survival
Season 26, Serial 4
Airdate	November 22, 1989 - December 6, 1989
Production Number	7P
by	Rona Munro
Directed by	Alan Wareing
← 26x03 The Curse of Fenric	Telefilm → Doctor Who
Doctor Who — Season Twenty-Six

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Survival is the fourth serial of the twenty-sixth season of Doctor Who, and the one-hundred and fifty-ninth serial overall.

Part One: Sylvester McCoy (The Doctor), Sophie Aldred (Ace), Anthony Ainley (The Master), Julian Holloway (Paterson), Lisa Bowerman (Karra), Norman Pace (Harvey), Gareth Hale (Len), Will Barton (Midge), Sakuntala Ramanee (Shreela), David John (Derek), Sean Oliver (Stuart), Kate Eaton (Ange), Kathleen Bidmead (Woman)

Part Two: Sylvester McCoy (The Doctor), Sophie Aldred (Ace), Anthony Ainley (The Master), Julian Holloway (Paterson), Lisa Bowerman (Karra), Will Barton (Midge), Sakuntala Ramanee (Shreela), David John (Derek), Paul Heasman (Stunt Arranger)

Part Three: Sylvester McCoy (The Doctor), Sophie Aldred (Ace), Anthony Ainley (The Master), Julian Holloway (Paterson), Lisa Bowerman (Karra), Will Barton (Midge), Sakuntala Ramanee (Shreela), David John (Derek), Adele Silva (Squeak), Michelle Martin (Neighbour)

Plot Overview

Northumberland, Sunday in 1989.

Arc Advancement

Characters

The Doctor

• The Doctor fells Sergeant Paterson (a self-defence instructor from Perivale) with a finger to the forehead - and reminds him of his own adage: "A finger can be a deadly weapon."

• He realises they are on the planet of the Cheetah People - intelligent carnivores that no-one knows much about. He uses his pocket watch to find Ace, holding it open close to the ground.

• The Doctor says that he and the Master as "an explosive combination."

The TARDIS

• The Doctor and Ace are both brought 'home' to outside the TARDIS.

The Master

• The Doctor describes the Master as "an evil genius, one of my oldest and deadliest of enemies."

• The Master is able to see through a Kitling's eyes, and says the Cheetah People 'are mine to command'. But he is himself turning into a Cheetah Person as he is affected by the planet. Even back on Earth the power from the planet grows within him - 'the power of tooth and claw' - but he thinks he can control it. He takes the Doctor back to his 'new home' - the planet of the Cheetah People - where they fight.

• Evil as ever, the Master 'persuades' Midge to die when he is injured in a motorbike 'joust' with the Doctor. After he kills Karra, one of the Cheetah People, he sees Ace's grief and laughs.

• It is not clear whether the Master is left on the planet of the Cheetah People as it is destroyed, or whether he escapes to another "home."

Ace

• Ace has asked the Doctor to bring her back to Perivale - where 'nothing ever happens.' The Doctor says she has been away as long as she thinks he has, which she says is 'forever.'

• Sergeant Paterson says the police let Ace off with a warning (though she told the Doctor "You're not my probation officer," in Ghost Light), and her mum has her listed as a missing person. Her friends believe she's either dead or gone to Birmingham.

• When she meets Shreela, Midge and Derek, humans who have been brought to the planet of the Cheetah People, Ace tells them, 'It's just as we;; I'm here - you need sorting out, you lot.' She decides to fight back against the Cheetah People, claiming 'nothing's invincible'.

• Karra says Ace is her sister: "You are like me... you will be'. When she is affected by the nature of the planet and changing into a Cheetah Person, Ace wants to run and hunt...

• Ace brings the surviving humans back "home" - arriving beside the TARDIS. "This is the only home I've got now, right?" The Doctor says the planet lives on inside her, and always will.

Trivia

The Show

• In addition to the last story of the original's series run, it would also be the show's final serial overall as it's revival in 2005 would be traditionally episodic.

• This was the last full story in the series to feature both the Sixth Doctor and Ace. The Sixth Doctor would reappear in the TV movie brief enough to regenerate into the next Doctor and Ace would return in "The Power of the Doctor" special.

• Anthony Ainley's final performance as the Master in the series.

Behind the Scenes

• Producer John Nathan-Turner decided close to airing that a more suitable conclusion should be given to what had been surmised to what might have very well been the last episode (at least for some time). So script editor Andrew Cartmel wrote the short, melancholic closing monologue for the Doctor, which McCoy recorded on the day after part one aired to be dubbed over the final moments of the episode.

• The first episode features an appearance by comedians Gareth Hale and Norman Pace, collectively known as "Hale and Pace". They swapped roles soon before filming, as Hale was originally going to have played Harvey, while Pace was originally going to have played Len. They filmed their cameo in between seasons of Hale and Pace.

Quotes

The Doctor: When is a cat not a cat? When it builds its own cat flap.

The Doctor: There are worlds out there where the sky is burning, where the sea's asleep and the rivers dream, people made of smoke and cities made of song. Somewhere there's danger, somewhere there's injustice, and somewhere else the tea's getting cold. Come on, Ace, we've got work to do.