Doctor Who: The Ark in Space

The Doctor uses his yo-yo to take a gravity reading, and a cricket ball to try to hit the switch controlling the Ark's defence systems.

THE ARK IN SPACE At a time in the far distant future, Earth has been rendered uninhabitable by solar flames. As a result, a cross-section of the population has been carefully selected and placed in a fully automated space station where, deep frozen, they will wait for the day when they can return to the planet. Thousands of years later, the Doctor arrives with Sarah and Harry in the TARDIS to find that for some reason, long past the date when they should have revived, the inhabitants are still in a state of suspension. The station has been invaded by giant wasp-like creatures, the Wirrn, who intend to absorb the humans, both body and mind. The Doctor defeats the Wirrn so that the now awakening humans can return to begin life once more on earth.

The Fourth Doctor's first trip in the TARDIS brings him, with Sarah Jane and a very skeptical Harry Sullivan, many thousand years into the future to Nerva, a space station in Earth's orbit. The Doctor is amazed to discover that Nerva is nothing less than an ark for the human race. Having evacuated Earth when solar activity threatened all life on the planet, these few hundred survivors have been drifting in suspended animation for thousands of years. Even more perplexing is the discovery that someone has sabotaged Nerva's vital systems. The Doctor reactivates the systems, and one by one, the human race begins to awake from its enforced deep sleep. The future of humankind appears secure until the Doctor learns that the larvae of the Wirrn, a hostil insect race, are also aboard.

Cast
The Doctor - Tom Baker
Harry Sullivan - Ian Marter
Sarah Jane Smith - Elisabeth Sladen
High Minister's Voice - Gladys Spencer
Libri - Christopher Masters
Lycett - John Gregg
Noah - Kenton Moore
Rogin - Richardson Morgan
Vira - Wendy Williams
Voices - Gladys Spencer
Voices - Peter Tuddenham
Wirrn Operator - Stuart Fell
Wirrn Operator - Nick Hobbs
Production Credits
Director - Rodney Bennett
Assistant Floor Manager - Russ Karel
Costumes - Barbara Kidd
Designer - Roger Murray-Leach
Incidental Music - Dudley Simpson
Make-Up - Sylvia James
Producer - Philip Hinchcliffe
Production Assistant - Marion McDougall
Production Unit Manager - George Gallacio
Script Editor - Robert Holmes
Special Sounds - Dick Mills
Studio Lighting - Nigel Wright
Studio Sound - John Lloyd
Title Music - Ron Grainer and the BBC Radiophonic Workshop, arranged by Delia Derbyshire
Visual Effects - John Friedlander
Visual Effects - Tony Oxley
Writer - Robert Holmes