The Doctor, Romana and K9 follow an urgent distress call to the planet Chloris, whose ruler, Lady Adrasta, lords over the planet’s resources and meets any challenge with a threat of war. But the greatest threat to Adrasta’s empire is her own short-sightedness in imprisoning an ambassador from another world who only wishes to open a peaceful exchange between their two worlds. The Doctor could help to start the negotiations, but he has been consigned to the pit along with the ambassador.
written by David Fisher
directed by Christopher Barry
music by Dudley SimpsonGuest Cast: Myra Frances (Lady Adrasta), Eileen Way (Karela), Geoffrey Bayldon (Organon), David Telfer (Huntsman), John Bryans (Torvin), Edward Kelsey (Edu), Tim Munro (Ainu), Tommy Wright (Guard Master), Terry Walsh (Doran), Morris Barry (Tollund), Philip Denyer, Dave Redgrave (Guards)
Broadcast from October 27 through November 17, 1979
LogBook entry & review by Earl Green
Review: Though Destiny Of The Daleks and City Of Death each had their humorous moments, this is probably the first story in the seventeenth season of Doctor Who that merits the long-held fan criticism that the series had taken a fatally silly turn under the direction of producer Graham Williams and script editor Douglas Adams (who was simultaneously working on Hitchhiker’s Guide To The Galaxy). And with the unintentionally funny cheapness of the huge, squishy, green, and obviously inflatable alien creature, to say nothing of the killer tumbleweeds menacing K-9, there may have been some sound basis for these complaints. The basic story at the heart of this adventure was sound, but the production values – a lot of which seemed to be poured into an obviously artificial “outdoor” set in the studio when a location would have been much more convincing – failed to live up to the promise of the premise.