Doctor Who/Galaxy 4

Galaxy 4
018
Airdate	September 11, 1965
Production Number	T
Written by	William Emms
Directed by	Derek Martinus
← 017 The Time Meddler	019 → Mission to the Unknown
Doctor Who — Season Three

Galaxy 4 is the first serial of the third season of Doctor Who, and the eighteenth serial overall.

Guest Stars: Stephanie Bidmead (Maaga), Barry Jackson (Garvey)

Plot Overview

Four Hundred Dawns

The Doctor, Vicki, and Steven land on a desolate asteroid. A robot, that looks a bit like a short, squat, snowman, takes them prisoner. Vicki dubs the robot a "chumblie".

A group of women, the Drahvin, rescue them. The Drahvins are a female dominated, warrior race -- like the Amazons. When they need men (to replenish their numbers), they raid neighboring planets and then kill the men when they have no further need for them. Back at the Drahvin ship, they learn that the chumblies belong to a race known as the Rill. The chumblie outside, tries to get in, but fails.

Steven and the Doctor return to the TARDIS, where the Doctor verifies that the planet will indeeed explode ... but not in 14 days. No, it will explode tomorrow!

Trap of Steel

The Doctor, suspecting treachery, lies to their leader, Magga. He tells her that she was correct: the planet will blow up in 14 days. Maaga demands that they help her capture the Rill ship. Their own ship is beyond repair. The Doctor refuses to help her, saying that he never kills anything. Maaga aims her gun at him, forcing him to admit that the planet will actually blow up in two days, not 14.

The Doctor and Vicki go. Steven says behind as a hostage. As they approach the Rill ship, they sneak past several chumblies. At the Rill site, they find a drilling rig, a control box, and other equipment. The Doctor sets about sabotaging the atmospheric system of the ammonia-breathing Rill. Vicki screams when she sees one of the Rill through a window. It looks horrible.

Air Lock

The Rill communicate through thought. Vicki maintains enough composure to have a converstaion with the Rill. She learns that they killed no one -- it was Maaga who killed the first solider ... her own soldier. The Rill even offered to take the Draivin with them -- an offer which still stands.

Vicki realises that the Rill are not evil, and rushes to stop the Doctor from sabotaging their atmosphere generator. The chumblies repair the damage that the Doctor had already caused.

Back the at Draivin ship, Steven has a gun and is cornered in the air lock. Maaga begins draining the air, in order to force him to surrender. The chumblies hear Steven's sounds of distress, and soon a chumblie is sent with the Doctor and Vicki.

Along the way they are stopped at gunpoint by one of Maaga's subordinates. Vicki lies to her, telling her that they have captured the Rill ship and they now control the robots. The Doctor takes her gun in a brief lapse of attention.

The Exploding Planet

The chumblies rescue Steven and force the Drahvins back into their ship, where they immediately begin plotting a new scheme for taking the Rill ship.

At dawn the Drahvin attack, but the chumblies are able to thwart the attack, stunning them. After saying goodbye, the Rill ship takes off. The Doctor and the others then make their way to the TARDIS. Another Drahvin attack is warded off by a chumblie left behind to assist them. This gives the Doctor and his companions the time they need to get inside the TARDIS and leave. Seconds later, the planet blows up.

Trivia

The Show

• The Drahvin and Rill ships crashed on the planet 400 dawns ago, following a four-dawn standoff and a brief space battle.
• To assist the Rill, a power transfer cable is hooked between the Rill ship and the TARDIS.

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