Doctor Who: The Visitation

THE VISITATION Its coordinates slightly off course, the Tardis arrives at Heathrow Airport 300 years too early, in the year 1666. The crew decides to enjoy the countryside and while strolling through the woods, they meet Richard Mace, an itinerant actor. He befriends them and takes them to a barn where the Doctor finds evidence of alien activity. The nearby Manor House has been taken over by the Terileptils, reptilian aliens who have escaped from a prison planet and are intent on taking over the earth. They plan to expose a virus to London that will wipe out the entire population. Adric and Tegan are captured and taken before the alien leader for interrogation while Doctor Who, Nyssa and Mace narrowly escape capture by local villagers who are under the aliens' control. However, the Doctor and Mace are shortly captured while Nyssa is in the Tardis. When the alien android tries to investigate, Nyssa is waiting and a weapon she prepared proves spectacularly effective. The Terileptils leave Manor House and head for their London base where the deadly virus is to be released. Doctor Who, Mace and Tegan are rescued by Adric from the Manor House in the Tardis and also head for London. They pinpoint an unusual energy source and trace it back to the Terileptils' laboratory. In the ensuing fight, a fire breaks out and the aliens perish in flames. Doctor Who is surprisingly reluctant to fight the blaze, escorting his friends back to the Tardis, having said farewell to Mace. As the Tardis slowly dematerializes, a small name plate is revealed on the wall behind it - Pudding Lane. We now realize that these were the events leading to the Great Fire of London in 1666.

A failed attempt to return Tegan (Janet Fielding) to Heathrow Airport lands the Fourth Doctor (Peter Davison) and his companions in 1666 England, instead. Bad timing: The Great Plague is in full sway and fear stalks the land. As if the Grim Reaper weren't enough to worry about, our time- traveling heroes soon discover they have other alien company. Strange lights in the sky prove to be harbingers of monstrous, scale-covered Terileptils, masters of an advanced technology created for evil ends. Fortunately, the good Doctor has more than his sonic screwdriver up his sleeve.

Cast
The Doctor - Peter Davison
Adric - Matthew Waterhouse
Nyssa - Sarah Sutton
Tegan - Janet Fielding
Android - Peter van Dissell
Charles - Anthony Calf
Elizabeth - Valerie Fyfer
Headman - Eric Dodson
Miller - James Charlton
Poacher - Neil West
Ralph - John Baker
Richard Mace - Michael Robbins
Terileptil - Michael Melia
The Squire - John Savident
Villager - Richard Hampton
Production Credits
Director - Peter Moffatt
Assistant Floor Manager - Alison Symington
Costumes - Odile Dicks-Mireaux
Designer - Ken Starkey
Film Cameraman - Peter Chapman
Film Editor - Ken Bilton
Incidental Music - Paddy Kingsland
Make-Up - Carolyn Perry
Producer - John Nathan-Turner
Production Assistant - Julia Randall
Production Associate - Angela Smith
Script Editor - Antony Root
Special Sounds - Dick Mills
Studio Lighting - Henry Barber
Studio Sound - Alan Machin
Title Music - Ron Grainer and the BBC Radiophonic Workshop, arranged by Peter Howell
Visual Effects - Peter Wragg
Writer - Eric Saward