Production
| Episode | Broadcast date | Run time | Viewership |
|---|---|---|---|
| "Part One" | 4 January 1982 (1982-01-04) | 24:14 | 9.1 |
| "Part Two" | 5 January 1982 (1982-01-05) | 24:13 | 8.6 |
| "Part Three" | 11 January 1982 (1982-01-11) | 23:35 | 10.2 |
| "Part Four" | 12 January 1982 (1982-01-12) | 24:12 | 10.4 |
The working title for this story was The Visitor. This story was the first story aired which featured Peter Davison as the Fifth Doctor. However, it was the fourth story to be recorded as the original planned debut story, Project Zeta Sigma by John Flanagan and Andrew McCulloch, proved unworkable and a replacement had to be commissioned. John Nathan-Turner took advantage of this to give Davison the chance to have a firm idea of how he wanted to play the role before recording the regeneration story.
Episode 1 of this story is notable for being the first episode in Doctor Who history to credit the title character as "The Doctor", rather than "Doctor Who". The credit would remain as "The Doctor" until the series' cancellation in 1989, at the end of Series 26. In the 1996 TV film, no credit was actually given for the Eighth Doctor (although the Seventh Doctor was called the "Old Doctor" in the onscreen credits). For the first season of the 2005 revival, the credit reverted back to "Doctor Who". The title became "The Doctor" again in "The Christmas Invasion" at the request of new star David Tennant.
For the final scene, the script called for Adric to look "pallid" as he was still recovering from the effects of imprisonment by The Master. According to the commentary on the DVD, this was accidentally achieved by Matthew Waterhouse, who had a hangover from the night before from drinking too much Campari. Whilst the cameras were filming The Doctor and Tegan in conversation about who landed the TARDIS, Waterhouse was vomiting behind a tree. The other actors, to their credit, continued acting despite it so the take could be used.
For this story, the series was shifted from its traditional Saturday early evening transmission to a twice-weekly (Monday and Tuesday) slot.
Read more about this topic: Castrovalva (Doctor Who)
Famous quotes containing the word production:
“The myth of unlimited production brings war in its train as inevitably as clouds announce a storm.”
—Albert Camus (1913–1960)
“In the production of the necessaries of life Nature is ready enough to assist man.”
—Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)
“The heart of man ever finds a constant succession of passions, so that the destroying and pulling down of one proves generally to be nothing else but the production and the setting up of another.”
—François, Duc De La Rochefoucauld (1613–1680)