The Ark
The TARDIS arrives in a verdant forest, which the Doctor, Dodo and Steven assume must be on Earth. They are soon proven wrong when alarms sound in the “forest,” which turns out to be part of a vast spaceship carrying the last remnants of the human race away from a doomed Earth, ten million years in the future when the sun is slowly edging toward its nova stage. The Doctor and his friends also meet the one-eyed alien Monoids, peaceful creatures which seem to languish in a benevolent servitude to the ship’s human crew. But the travelers’ arrival becomes a bad omen when Dodo, suffering from the common cold, accidentally transmits it to the commander of the ship – unaware that the human race ten million years hence lacks her immune system. Condemned for what is perceived to be biological warfare, the Doctor races to immunize the future humans against the cold. Having cleared his name, the Doctor and his friends depart in the TARDIS – but accidentally return to the same place seven centuries later, finding the Monoids in control and the last of the human race in the chains of slavery.
written by Paul Erickson & Lesley Scott
directed by Michael Imison
music by Tristram CaryGuest Cast: Eric Elliott (Commander), Inigo Jackson (Zentos), Roy Spencer (Manyak), Kate Newman (Mellium), Michael Sheard (Rhos), Ian Frost (Baccu), Ralph Carrigan (Monoid Two), Terence Bayler (Yendom), Edmund Coulter (Monoid One), Frank George (Monoid Three), John Caesar (Monoid Four), John Halstead, Roy Skelton (Monoid voices), Stephanie Heesom, Paul Greenhalgh (Guardians), Terence Woodfield (Maharis), Brian Wright (Dassuk), Eileen Helsby (Venussa), Richard Beale (Refusian voice)
Broadcast from March 5 through 25, 1966
LogBook entry & review by Earl Green
Cast: John Woodvine (Mordrin), Julian Fellowes (Hugo), George Winter (Gervase), Nigel Stock (Simon), Gareth Thomas (Owen), Claire Parker (Julia), Michael Sheard (Doctor), Tenniel Evans (Dafydd), Lynn Webb-Turner (Wardress), Will Tacey (Bathroom Knight), Roy Evans (Photographer), Michael Lees (Governor), Christopher Bowen (Helicopter Pilot), Tony Guilfoyle (Sergeant), Spencer Leigh (Wilson)
written by Richard Cooper
Notes: Brigadier Clarke broadcasts Gervase’s speech on “Radio 3 Britain” (though it’s almost certainly due to the series airing on ITV, there’s an easy story justification for this, as the BBC likely didn’t survive the civil war). The end credit music is different for this episode, as is the flowing flag in the background of the credits: for the previous 12 episodes, the Knights of God flag has flown during the credits, while the British Union Jack appears here, accompanied by more triumphant, less oppressive music.
The Doctor barely gets Charley out of yet another near-death scrape, and realizes that they both need a vacation. The Doctor decides to take his companion to the lovely city of Venice…but naturally, overshoots the time frame a little bit and winds up taking her to Venice in the 23rd century, on the day before the fabled city sinks under the water once and for all. But Charley is stunned to see that no evacuation is being carried out – quite the contrary, in fact. Mad Duke Orsino is planning one last revel, and the more inebriated, the better as far as he’s concerned. Other Venetians aren’t taking their last day on Earth quite so calmly. Orsino’s court curator, Churchwell, is all but in a panic about the fate of the Duke’s valuable art collection. Pietro, a member of an amphibious race of gondoliers, has his eye on Charley in hopes of using her in a plot to help his people take over the city. The High Priest of an order that worships the Duke’s late wife means to see an ancient prophecy fulfilled, no matter the cost in human lives. And in his madness, the Duke deputizes someone to the throne, someone who may destroy everyone even before the city crumbles at daybreak. This time, the Doctor and Charley won’t be able to escape by dawn.
Notes: The episode is dedicated to the memory of actor Michael Sheard. All six episodes of Starhyke were released direct-to-DVD in 2009, but finally appeared on the UK satellite channel Showcase TV in 2011. The entire series was produced “on spec” without a specific broadcaster lined up to show it – an expensive gamble in television terms, especially for a show with the production requirements of a science fiction series. Claudia Christian starred as Commander Susan Ivanova in the first four seasons of 
