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:
“The production of obscurity in Paris compares to the production of motor cars in Detroit in the great period of American industry.”
—Ernest Gellner (b. 1925)
“In the production of the necessaries of life Nature is ready enough to assist man.”
—Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)
“I really know nothing more criminal, more mean, and more ridiculous than lying. It is the production either of malice, cowardice, or vanity; and generally misses of its aim in every one of these views; for lies are always detected, sooner or later.”
—Philip Dormer Stanhope, 4th Earl Chesterfield (1694–1773)