Doctor Who: Earthshock

EARTH SHOCK - On 25th century Earth, scientists study fossil remains in an underground system when they are savagely attacked. Meanwhile, on boards the TARDIS, an argument develops between the Doctor and Adric, who wants to return to his home planet. It involves a dangerous maneuver which could endanger the entire crew. Adric insists he can plot a safe course, but before he can do it, the TARDIS materializes in the same cave system as the scientists. Upon leaving the ship, the Doctor discovers a dinosaur fossil that occupies the length of the entire cave wall. Some catastrophe wiped out these giant reptiles overnight, but the Doctor can't determine the exact cause. Lt. Scott and his troops capture the Time-Travelers thinking they are responsible for the earlier attacks. During the interrogation, they are attacked by two faceless androids that are able to move at amazing speeds. The troops are, however, able to destroy the androids, but before they all can leave the caves, the Doctor must defuse a powerful bomb. Lt. Scott and Kyle, the surviving scientist, join the Doctor in the TARDIS to trace the controlling intelligence behind the androids. They materialize in the cargo hold of a vast space freighter to discover thousands of coffin-like silver cylinders stacked upon each other. The cylinders, we soon learn, contain Cybermen, who have overtaken the freighter and turned it into a huge bomb targeted at Earth. The Cyberleader escapes on the TARDIS with the Doctor, while Adric is left behind. After overpowering the Cyberguards, the crew makes their escape, but Adric refuses to leave. He struggles to change the course of the freighter, but only succeeds in forcing it through a time warp, flinging it back to pre-historic times. On the TARDIS, the Doctor destroys the Cyberleader, but is helpless as he watches his friend die as the freighter strikes the Earth and explodes. The collision which he just witnessed on the TARDIS viewing screen was the event that wiped out the dinosaurs. Adric sacrificed his life to save the earth.

The mysterious disappearance of an archaeological team is merely the prelude to a deadlier threat for the Doctor and his companions - the Cybermen want to destroy Earth, and will use any means at their disposal. The Doctor's ingenuity is stretched to its very limits as he battles to defeat the Cyber army at any cost. But even he does not realize just how high that cost will be.

Cast
The Doctor - Peter Davison
Adric - Matthew Waterhouse
Nyssa - Sarah Sutton
Tegan - Janet Fielding
Berger - June Bland
Briggs - Beryl Reid
Cyber Leader - David Banks
Cyber Lieutenant - Mark Hardy
First Crew Member - Mark Fletcher
First Trooper - Anne Clements
Kyle - Clare Clifford
Mitchell - Ann Holloway
Ringway - Alec Sabin
Scott - James Warwick
Second Crew Member - Christopher Whittingham
Second Trooper - Mark Straker
Snyder - Suzi Arden
Walters - Steve Morley
Production Credits
Director - Peter Grimwade
Assistant Floor Manager - Nick Laughland
Costumes - Dinah Collin
Designer - Bernard Lloyd-Jones
Film Cameraman - Keith Hopper
Film Editor - Mike Houghton
Incidental Music - Malcolm Clarke
Make-Up - Joan Stribling
Producer - John Nathan-Turner
Production Assistant - Jane Ashford
Production Associate - Angela Smith
Script Editor - Antony Root
Special Sounds - Dick Mills
Studio Lighting - Fred Wright
Studio Sound - Alan Machin
Title Music - Ron Grainer and the BBC Radiophonic Workshop, arranged by Peter Howell
Visual Effects - Steve Bowman
Writer - Eric Saward