Production
| Episode | Broadcast date | Run time | Viewers |
|---|---|---|---|
| "Part One" | 27 October 1979 (1979-10-27) | 23:32 | 9.3 |
| "Part Two" | 3 November 1979 (1979-11-03) | 24:03 | 10.8 |
| "Part Three" | 10 November 1979 (1979-11-10) | 23:55 | 10.2 |
| "Part Four" | 17 November 1979 (1979-11-17) | 24:07 | 9.6 |
This was actually the first serial of the season to be filmed. As a result, Lalla Ward's performance and manner of dress as Romana is somewhat different than that seen in the previously broadcast serials, since she was still working out her character at the time. It was also the final story to be directed by Christopher Barry, one of Doctor Who's longest-serving contributors.
Although the Doctor's solution to the problem of the neutron star, weaving a shell of aluminium around it, has been criticised as silly, the idea was in fact proposed to David Fisher by members of the Cambridge University Institute of Astronomy. Director Christopher Barry and visual effects designer Mat Irvine were called on the carpet by the BBC management for the appearance of the creature Erato. The phallic appearance of the proboscis in the first episode resulted in uncontrolled laughter in the studio and prompted an overnight change to add a pair of pincers to the creature.
At the start of the story K9 is seen reading The Tale of Peter Rabbit to the Doctor.
Read more about this topic: The Creature From The Pit
Famous quotes containing the word production:
“By bourgeoisie is meant the class of modern capitalists, owners of the means of social production and employers of wage labor. By proletariat, the class of modern wage laborers who, having no means of production of their own, are reduced to selling their labor power in order to live.”
—Friedrich Engels (1820–1895)
“... if the production of any commodity necessitates the sacrifice of human life, society should do without that commodity, but it can not do without that life.”
—Emma Goldman (1869–1940)
“To expect to increase prices and then to maintain them at a higher level by means of a plan which must of necessity increase production while decreasing consumption is to fly in the face of an economic law as well established as any law of nature.”
—Calvin Coolidge (1872–1933)